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I have two boys ages 9 and 14. I know some homeschooling parents out there have five or six kids but for me it's just these two. We have a special day out of the week that is set aside for "Home Economics".
On "Home Ec." days they get to choose one subject that they can omit for that day.(One of the major reasons why I think Home Ec. day is so popular at our house!)
They choose a recipe that we are going to fix and print it out or copy it from one of our recipe books. They check the pantry for ingredients, prepare a list for the grocery store and hopefully find coupons for some of the items needed.
Home Ec. day is also a day when we have to do all of our chores. Laundry is sorted, things are generaly organized and picked up and we learn something new about household management (ie. how to run the washer, dryer, dishwasher, vacuum....)
After all of our chores (household management class) are finished we set out on the grocery trip.(throw some math in here by searching for the best price)
When all is said and done we have great memories of cooking together and my boys have learned fractions, measurements, following directions and all kinds of useful information.
By the way, they both make GREAT pies!
Fall is such a wonderful time of year. And a great teaching opportunity.
Head outdoors and explore your yard. Collect leaves to make a collage. (you know I love a collage) Investigate the science behind the changing of the leaves. Study the difference between the trees in your yard. Look at the different flowers that are blooming this time of year.
Check out the migration that's going on around you. A great time to teach about hibernation and the life cycle.
How about investigating some of the wives tales associated with different animals appearing? Like the one about the color of "wooly worms" telling you what kind of winter you should expect. Ivestigate where that started.
The possibilities are endless.
If you haven't explored Eduplace.com you are missing out on a great resource for your homeschool. Pick your state and grade level and you're off and running. This site could easily be the best free resource I've found so far. I've always had trouble finding good teaching resources at our local library for social studies. Problem solved! I'll be using Eduplace for our social studies from now on.
Fun Math Games
Lots of printables, boardgames and all kinds of resources for making math fun.
My goal in our homeschooling adventure has always been to teach my children how to learn.
In my perfect world I sit (perfectly dressed and made up of course) quietly blogging and reading my email while my children sit happily reading and advancing to the next lesson in their books all with little help from me. According to popular self teaching methods all of our children should need little help with their work and will advance quite quickly on their own.
Yes, in a perfect world this would all work quite nicely. Alas, I do not live in a perfect world. My children constantly yell "Mom, help!" The response of "Read your chapter and you will find it." is met with "I've read the chapter and it's not in there!" Until finally I point out (within 5 seconds) exactly which page the answer can be found. Frustration abounds.
Amazingly if I sit next to my children while they work they usually can do most of the work themselves. Maybe they just need my presence to help them stay on track or just the thought of my being right there is reassuring.
On to other things.
Has anyone had any experience with Cosmeo.com? I am looking into this for my kids and would appreciate any feedback.
Happy Homeschooling!