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Homeschooling Tips for Beginners

July 29, 2020 by Rhonda Gales Leave a Comment

Today, I’m sharing parenting advice on homeschooling tips for beginners. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 has affected the world in a detrimental way. Especially, our children’s education. Having a formal classroom setting is beneficial to children from an intellectual stand point as well as socially and emotionally. However, many parents have opted to homeschool their children rather than take a chance on sending them back to a formal school setting and getting sick.

So, we opted to homeschool my grandchildren during the last 3 months of the school year. We made a few mistakes, but for the most part we were successful and they loved being taught at home. I have a few tips on what we did to make the new endeavor successful.

Here are a few homeschooling tips for beginners:

Keep Their Regular Schedule – First, if your children attended public school previously, but you have decided to homeschool for the upcoming school year, keep their current schedule. Get them up the same time you would normally get them up to attend school. Have them eat breakfast, brush their teeth, wash their face and get dressed as if they are going to school. Give them a time on which they need to be down stairs and ready to start their day. We had them get their clothes out the night before and have their bath, teeth brushed and PJs on by 9:00 pm.

Prepare a Space for Them to Learn – Just like we as adults need an office space to work in, kids need a comfortable environment where they can learn. Look for classroom desks for cheap if you can. I found several on yard sale sites. Good Will and Salvation Army are a few other places to look too. A coat of paint will give them new life. If you are unable to locate classroom desks, purchase a card table. Many come with chairs and they are great when the kids need to spread out. If that is not an option, clear the kitchen or dining room table.

Also, make sure you have good lighting and windows in the room if possible. Turn off the electronics unless they will be used for research or on-line activities. You want to create an environment where they can concentrate. Pencil sharpers, highlighters, crayons, scissors, pens, notebooks, notebook paper etc. should be available. Empty cans from dinner products make great houses for the pens, highlighters and pencils. Check out baskets or trays at your local Dollar Tree or Goodwill to hold paper and other craft products.

Purchase a chalkboard if possible. You may be able to find one at of the on-line yard sale sites. Brides who used them for their weddings are great sources. These are great for working out math problems or writing the assignments where they can reference if needed.

Organize Lessons – Furthermore, get creative and think of ways that will engage your children. Check out this post on putting together Strategic Homeschool Lessons. Planning lessons and activities will make it easier to convey goals to your kids. Furthermore, decide if you want to do printables, watch videos or do on-line activities for the assignments. Print any printables out the night before. Make sure videos work before class.

Choose Quality Lesson Plans – Check out sites that offer quality curriculums for the grades that you will be teaching. The site should be geared toward complete homeschool curriculums. You will want lessons in math, science, history, reading, spelling & more. Also, look for sites that offer arts and crafts too.

Consult Other Homeschoolers – If you’re new and unsure of yourself, join a homeschooling group. If you don’t want to join a group, consult another parent who homeschools and ask for tips. Homeschooling is not new, there are parents who have been teaching their children at home for years.

Make Lunch Fun – Next, get as creative with lunch as you do with their lesson plans. Review on-line menus from school and ask what their favorites meals were. Make them. Find ways to make sandwiches interesting if you have small children. Have lunch outside on the patio or picnic table. Check out these yummy carrot recipes for kids.

Include Outside Activities – This can include walks, nature hunts, jumping on the trampoline or just relaxing for a few minutes. But, set a limit just like they have in school. If the weather is nice have them plant a garden, feed the birds or make a snowman if the weather is cold. Why not make snow ice cream or find cold weather experiments to add to your science agenda. The possibilities are endless. A car ride can be a great activity too.

Create a Zoom Account – Last, set up time for your kids to interact on-line with other homeschooled kids. It doesn’t have to be for a long period of time. Just a few minutes to break the monotony, and make sure they are interacting socially with other children. They can play or just have a conversation. This is a great way to remove the feeling of being isolated from other kids. If possible, coordinate with other parents on having a Zoom class. This can be set-up for spelling, reading etc. Again, get creative.

Most importantly, make learning fun. Nothing will distract your children faster than boredom. My daughter actually made Fridays a half day. That really excited my little darlings. They were able to use that time to play educational games on-line or release their stress however they wanted. The kids loved Mrs. Clark’s, their mother, school. Finally, I hope these homeschooling tips for beginners have been beneficial, and you will implement a few.

5 Benefits of the Library

April 14, 2014 by Rhonda Gales

Do you go to your local library or attend information sessions? Going to story hour at the library was a major event when I was growing up and raising my daughter. I don’t hear much about story hour at the library from parents anymore. Did you know that there

I have wonderful memories of spending time at the library during the summer when I was growing up. We spent time having stories read to us, checking out books, and becoming responsible by returning them on time. We have moved into a technological world, and it seems that most books are downloaded these days. As a result, taking kids to the library has become a lost art.

I must admit I like the convenience of being able to download books in the comfort of my home, but also like knowing that the children and I are still picking up a good old fashion book at times. I started a home library for both Xavier and Zarriah.

We added shelves in Zarriah’s room to house her books and Xavier has a book case. Zarriah loves for me to read to her. I think all children should experience visiting a library. Knowledge is power, and we must empower our children.

I have decided to have the children attend a few activities at our local library. I have subscribed to our library’s newsletter so I can keep up with activities that will be offered this summer. Our local library offers activities during the day and evenings. I’m thinking this will be a constructive and educational means of occupying some of their time rather than play video games. A few other benefits of visiting the library:

Teaches consideration for others – Children will learn to keep their voices down.
Provides an opportunity to see others reading – Children need examples, seeing others read will encourage them to read as well.
Story Hour provides an opportunity for group interaction – Children will learn to sit in a group and participate in a group activity.
Teaches listening skills – Listening to the person who is reading will enhance your child’s listening skills.
Enhances social skills – Becoming involved in activities at the library will help children learn or enhance skills. Participating in story hour provides an opportunity to meet other children that they may not encounter in their neighborhood or school.

One program in particular caught my eye, science. They plan to hatch eggs, perform experiments and have the children build structures. I have also found events that will be beneficial to me. For example, I will be attending a session on Traveling Abroad On A Budget. I hope to start traveling internationally within the next year.

Make a trip to the library and get your children involved in their activities.

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Filed Under: Parenting Tips Tagged With: benefits of the library, importance of reading, public libraries, teaching children to read

The Benefits Of Reading To Your Kids

November 14, 2013 by Rhonda Gales

Today, I’m sharing parenting advice on the benefits of reading to your kids. First, to prepare your child for academic success it is recommended that we expose them to books. Furthermore, studies have shown that reading is one of the keys to academic success. My grandchildren love for me to read to them. So, I’ve started a library for both. I’m all for downloading books and apps, but I love seeing shelves full of books in the children’s rooms.

As a matter of fact, I read to my daughter when she was a child. Her love for reading stayed with her. As a result, as she got older she continued to read for hours. To this day, one of my fondest memories was our book fair excursions. We would plan a day where I would meet her at college and we would spend hours at the local book fair. Later, we would discuss our finds as well as the latest happenings on campus over dinner. I do believe that our mutual love for books helped to create a strong mother – daughter bond too.

Additionally, my daughter was an honor student, a member of Who’s Who in America, and a member of the Spanish Honor Society. I believe that her early exposure to books helped her to excel in her academics. Most importantly, start reading to your child at an early age. It’s never too soon.

Furthermore, I’m hoping that our love for reading will be instilled into my grandchildren. Reading must be taught, and it starts at home. My granddaughter mimics her brother. In addition to having books, they also have a Kindle, iPad, and laptop. Both of their reading skills are strong.

Additionally, we’ve taught Xavier how to access various sites on the computer. He’s astute at navigating all of the electronics, and my granddaughter mimics everything her big brother does. He is teaching her the ABC’s, how to count and various colors.

Benefits of reading to your child:

Reading together creates a bond.
Reading helps to build a child’s vocabulary.
Your child will learn to follow a story from beginning to end. (You won’t be able to fool them if you try to skip pages. Especially, if it’s one of their favorite stories.)
Your child will have an appreciation for writing.
Builds a strong foundation for academics.
Your child will take steps to pick up books and read on their own. ”’

Reading tips for parents:

Start reading to your child as early as 6 months.
Select reading material that interest your child and is appropriate to his/her age group. Toddlers love bright colors and books that are simple. Board books are perfect.
Use different voices and pitches (vary your tone) when you read. Young children usually prefer to hear the same story over and over.
Purchase a personalized book for your child. They love reading about themselves. I had a personalized book made for both grandchildren.
PBS has great programs where they focus on words, spelling, and their meaning. Check out you TV Guide for time slots and programs.
Have your child turn the page when you’re reading paper or hard back book. This gets them involved.
Allow your child to ask questions, and be sure to ask your child questions about the story.
Allow your child to select books from his or her age group. This will work with buying in a store or downloading.
Take them to the local library for story hour.
Set an example. If your child sees you reading, they will follow. I read my Kindle while my Xavier is reading his Kindle or iPad. Zarriah has a tablet now too.
Don’t substitute books on tape. The true bonding experience and benefits come from you taking the time to read to your child.