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Childrens Creative CottageWeekend Edition
08/12/06
Subscribers: 210 ============================================================== Contact InformationWebsite: http://www.childrenscreativecottage.com
Email: info@themomscafe.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Weekends Highlights:- In The News
- Organize Your Week
- Featured Article
- Homeschool Resources
- Tips and Updates
- Visit Our Sponsors
============================================================ In The News:Web puts
the home back in homework
From...
Industry Standard
September 19, 2000
Web posted at: 10:54 a.m. EDT (1454 GMT)
by Steffan Heuer
(IDG) -- It's not easy homeschooling your kids. Each year, Shay Seaborne of Woodbridge, Va., finds out what her two elementary-school-age daughters should be learning, then spends hours designing lesson plans, compiling reading lists and coming up with ideas for field trips.
Teaching Caitlin, 10, and Laurel, 7, sometimes requires a massive research effort. Now, at least, Seaborne can rely on a virtual teaching assistant. She's been instructing her kids at home since 1995, but in the past two years, the Web has offered her a growing cache of free or low-cost educational resources and a nationwide network of like-minded parents. Seaborne even moderates her own homeschooling discussion group, which has expanded from 20 members to 231 in the past year. "Going online opened a whole new world for me. I could suddenly discuss things and ask questions," she says. Click Here To Continue Reading This Article =============================================================== Organize
Your Week: Simplifying Your Life With Unique Scheduling
by Lorraine Curry
The simple life is a life lived with a single focus. The more responsibilities a person has, the more complicated life becomes. For generations the focus for women was their families. I have often longed for the past, thinking how wonderful if we could turn back the clock to a simpler time. But, here we are, in a 21st-century world, and now most of us have at least two major responsibilities in our lives: 1) homes-families and 2) running a school. Some of us have added the responsibility of a home business. Others are involved in a ministry or a church that takes a good portion of their time. You may even be attending college, working at a job or doing something else that divides your focus.
If you feel overwhelmed by your responsibilities, here is a unique schedule that you might like to try. Since more can be accomplished when you concentrate on one thing at a time, do just that. Each week will have a different focus. That week most of your activities will be related to that major area, although there will be some things that will have to be done each day, whether or not they are part of that week’s focus. These daily activities will be few, and will include meals, dishes, Bible and devotions.
Week 1 Homeschooling Week
This week, morning to evening you will focus on your children’s education. You will read homeschooling books privately, plan homeschooling, set goals, monitor progress, give tests, read aloud, hear narrations, do projects, research, give your children assignments and tasks for the week(s) you will not be homeschooling. Having “Homeschooling Week” every other week for a year would give you sufficient hours “at task” but if your children can work independently, you could have this formal homeschooling week less often.
Week 2 Cleaning Week
Yes you can clean for a week! I spent a whole month on our house one time! This is when you do the major jobs— appliances, walls, scrubbing and perhaps even painting and sewing for the home.
Week 3 Cooking and Baking Week
Cook one day a month for meals to have on hand for your other weeks. (See Once-A-Month Cooking by Lagerborg and Wilson, Dinner's in the Freezer! or Mega Cooking by Jill Bond for the how-tos of freezer cooking.) This can be a great timesaving activity. Although you and your family will work very hard on cooking day, this system saves a lot of time on all the other days. Another day bake several loaves of whole wheat bread, along with other breads such as muffins and bagels to accompany your freezer meals. This is the week to make some extra-special meals and invite friends to dinner.
Week 4: Business Week (or other major focus area)
This is the week you focus on your business if you have one. Read related books, work on marketing and those important extra projects you can't usually fit in. Your children will be doing independent study, helping with the business or just enjoying their free time.
Week 5: Repeat the cycle or go into another of your focus areas
You may choose to alternate your weeks like this.
Week 1: Homeschooling
Week 2: Cleaning and Cooking
Week 3: Homeschooling
Week 4: Extra Curricular for Mom (or business activities)
Many are already dividing their days into:
Morning: Homeschooling
Afternoon: Business
Evening: Cooking, Laundry, Cleanup
Or you could divide your week:
Monday: Homeschool
Tuesday: Cleaning
Wednesday: Homeschool
Thursday: Shopping/Cooking
Friday: Homeschool
No matter what the focus of each week, never neglect responding to your children and their needs. With many responsibilities, it is even more important that we includes more prayer, Bible reading and meditation on the Scriptures. I've found that when I do this my productivity goes way up. It can't be explained. It is a supernatural law.
Lorraine Curry is the author of 5 Star books, Easy Homeschooling Techniques and Easy Homeschooling Companion. See more ideas for writing and other subjects at http://www.easyhomeschooling.com. See FREE articles, checklists, copywork, subscriptions, ebooks and more at http://www.easyhomeschooling.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorraine_Curry
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============================================================== Featured Article:Year-Round Homeschool: A Smart Idea
By Mary Gusman
Summer school is not just for students who need extra help with academics. For many homeschooled students, school is an every day affair - even in the summer.
Despite the fact that some may feel that homeschooling year-round is tantamount to torturing your children (or yourself), that is hardly the case. In fact, the benefits children and parents gain are numerous:
1. Managing school and life is easier. We can do shorter school days all year - not just in the summer. Since we are spreading out our schoolwork over approximately 240 school days each year instead of 175 or 180, we don't need to spend as much time every day on school. This makes homeschooling a much easier endeavor because it allows time for extra activities all year long and not just in the summer. Shorter school days also provide the opportunity for working parents to consider homeschooling as a viable option for their family.
2. Use it or lose it. Year-round homeschoolers don't experience "summer learning loss," as the U.S. Department of Education calls it(1). In fact, we actually gain at least an extra month of progress every year since we don't have to spend the first month of the school year reviewing concepts that have been forgotten over the summer break. These extra months add up over the years and are typically reflected in higher standardized test scores. Consistent daily teaching is especially important for children with special needs as it prevents the significant regression that may be experienced otherwise. Click Here To Continue Reading Article =============================================================== Homeschooling
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