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Getting BACK TO BUSINESS after a break by Lynn Hogan |
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I have talked to a number of homeschooling parents who have
decided that they are going to "start anew" this year. I am so
pleased to hear that, BUT often that means that they are going
to start the New Year with a flurry of activity and "getting down
to business". There really is nothing wrong with wanting to do
that, but there CAN be something wrong with the implementation
of this idea. Many times this means that we are going to demand
our students "get it together" right out of the January school
box. This may just NOT be possible. Your students may have had
a good 2 weeks or more off from the traditional schooling
activities. It may take a little while for their brains to get
back to the traditional thought processes necessary to function
in full school mode.
When I was a child, my mother used to tell me "don't talk to me until I have my first cup of coffee in the morning". Perhaps you tell your children the same thing. To ask our students who have been on break from traditional school activities to immediately jump into full school mode is asking them to be in at 100% before they have had a chance to "engage their brains". I drink coffee myself now, but I am not sure if Mom wanted the extra time of peace and quiet, or if she wanted the caffeine to do "it's thing", but I do remember that it was very important to her. So, as you get ready to jump back into the school year, please help your student to "ease" back into school. Here are a few ways that you can do that: 1. Let your student/s help you plan your menu for the next month. Then break it down into weeks with grocery lists. Here are classes in home economics, nutrition, and math, not to mention practical living skills. (Obviously this would have to be done on a student's level, but even a 4-year old can tell you what they want for dinner!) 2. If you have access to your library "on-line" and your student is old enough, let him/her help you look for specific library books about something you are studying. Either give them a book list and let them find call letters and see whether or not the book is available or let them have a topic and start researching books that are available on that topic. 3. There are many wonderful sites on the internet where you and your students can get ideas for topics to study and even lesson plans. www.unitstudyhelps.com/lnks.html lists several sites. Another terrific site is Mr. Donn's Lesson Plans and Activities http://members.aol.com/donnandlee/index.html . You and your student/s could come up with some great short lessons to "ease" you back into the school year. We all like to enjoy having a clean slate (You ARE giving your kids a clean slate to start the year off with, right?). This is one way to start the school year off with a "bang" and still not frustrate the teacher or the student/s! © 2002 Lynn Hogan. All rights reserved. Re-printed with permission. |
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Lynn Hogan is a homeschooling veteran of 11+ years and homeschooling her last child who is in 11th grade. Lynn's oldest has just completed her freshman year at Union University with a 4.0!. She is there on 4 year full tuition scholarship To subscribe to Lynn's Homeschoolers Notebook, a free e-mail newsletter that comes out weekly, send an e-mail to: join-hs-notebook@hub.thedollarstretcher.com You can visit Lynn online at her web site, Unit Study Helps | ||
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