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How To Shop For History Curriculum at a Homeschool Convention + Printable Cheat Sheet

February 7, 2014 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

This is a sponsored post and I am proud to be partnering with Great Homeschool Conventions this year because I LOVE their convention philosophy.

Homeschool History How to Shop For Curriculum at a Convention

Affiliate Link Elements

Convention season is just around the corner.  I like to plan early so I have time to mull over my choices, but especially my choices for my favorite subjects like history and geography.

Today, I am focusing on giving you a few things that I look for in a history program.  Instead of listing them in importance to me, I just listed them so you can decide which ones are important to you and which ones can take a backseat this next year.

Homeschool History Cheat Sheet

Too, I have prepared a cheat sheet for you by helping to separate the history vendors into different approaches.  This saves valuable time at a convention because you can spend time with the vendors that fit your approach.

choosing a homeschool history program free cheat sheet

You can download the Vendor Cheat Sheet here.

1.) Time Period Covered Quandary.   Before I purchase, I have to have an idea of what time period I want to focus on.  Do I want to cover history chronologically beginning with the ancients or do I want to hone in on one particular time period?  Look at my post here 8 Ways to Teach Homeschool History Other Than Chronologically if you are undecided.  For example if you want to cover one time period then look at the companies like My Father’s World or Knowledge Box Central.

2.) Children’s Abilities Quandary.  Instead of focusing on your children’s age which may be different than their ability, look for history curriculum that will either quench their thirst for history or scale it back into bite size pieces.  Be sure you are looking at levels above and below your child’s level to be sure you are making a good fit.

3.) History & Bible Together. I am always up for covering more than one subject at a time, but I always like choosing my own Bible reference material too.  Some history curriculum is lighter on Bible content, others not.  You decide what works for you this year.  For example, Story of the World at Rainbow Resource would be lighter on Bible content whereas Mystery Of History has more Bible coverage.  The most important thing to me is that I cover Bible along with history.

4.) Hands-on/Hands-off Learner.  If your child is not interested in crafts and wants to pick up and read and be done with it, then look at some of the text book providers or classical approach providers like Classical Conversations or Bob Jones.   If you’re like me and you would prefer that your children didn’t want to do any hands-on things, but that won’t ever happen (just kidding, I love doing these with my boys and NO I am not a crafty person, I just know it works) then look at the unit study approach and some of the books in the Variety category.  Look at BooksBloom, Great Hall Productions and Usborne books that can be used for hands-on ideas and for living books or audios.

5.) Business Matters.  Look over copyright usage for multiple children or how you are suppose to use it for your personal use.  Can you copy the material? Can you use it with more than one child?  Determine the actual price for you.

For example, though a history program that covers several time periods may be more expensive, it may allow usage for multiple children.

Do your math to compare apples to apples.

Look at this sample: If the cost of the history program is $80.00, then divide that by 3 (or number of children you have) = $26.66.

Then, if it can be used for multiple years, then divide that number again by the number of years.   If it’s a 4 year program, then it’s $6.66 per year per child.

Wow, what a deal, what a steal now.  Use both your business mind-set and teacher mind-set when you are shopping.

Shopping for homeschool history and supplements at a homeschool convention is one of my very favorite luvs and one of the best parts about being a home educator.  I love the smell of all the new books in the convention and the frenzy of shopping at each vendor’s booth.  Even at big conventions I always run into somebody I know too and visiting with each other is such a huge part of the fellowship felt when you go in person.

What about you? What is your favorite part about shopping for curriculum?

Have you decided which convention/s you are going to? Remember to register with Great Homeschool Conventions! Click on the graphic above to register.

I have some more posts on how to choose curriculum and some more free printable checklists to add to your arsenal.  Check it out below!

Free Checklists.

Master the Subjects Form – 5 Days Of The Benefits & Challenges of Teaching Mixed Ages Together – Day 4: Embrace Homeschooling Multiple Grades

Teacher’s Manual Checklist – {How To Series} How to Determine if a Teacher’s Manual is Treasure or Trash? + {printable checklist}

Should Homeschool History Be Covered In Chronological Order?
8 Ways to Teach Homeschool History Other Than Chronologically
Curriculum & Conventions: Cures for Cabin Fever
Stop Switching Your Curriculum – Switch Your Course of Study
Finding Curriculum for Unique Learners
How to Choose Curriculum Other Than the Looks Good Method

Hugs and love ya,

2012Tinasignature Day 1. Unit Studies Define & Redefine the Meaning. 10 Days of Diving into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together.

This is also a blog hop. This blog hop is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutual beneficial projects. Visit us on Pinterest, Twitter and Google Plus. And of course, click the image below to visit all the other blog articles from the homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network.

hows-whys

4 CommentsFiled Under: Choose Curriculum, Sponsored Posts, Teach Homeschool History Tagged With: homeschoolconvention, homeschoolhistory

Unlocking the Homeschool Leader Within You

February 2, 2014 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Unlocking the Homeschool Leader Within You

(Kelley and I take time for a quick picture as she gets ready to run the front table for an open house for Susan Wise Bauer.)

Unlocking the homeschooler leader within you may not be a topic that a lot of homeschoolers write about. I don’t know.  What I do know is that at times I hold back from telling you about the other things that make my heart go pitter patter.  Serving other homeschoolers is one of those things. Knowing that a lot of us, including myself, struggle at certain times with the basics of day to day homeschooling, I felt like talking with you about homeschool leadership would certainly fling you into a state of homeschool frazzled.

Homeschool Open House

(vendor set up)

Throwing my paranoia out the window and embracing a no holds barred blogging mantra, I am following my own advice this year.  Sharing a few things about my own conversion to homeschool leadership and sharing tips on this heartfelt topic, I hope you get a spark of encouragement from it.

How To Protect Yourself From Defeatism

A mind-set of expecting the worst from the beginning is not just like a restraint, but it is like a homeschool harness that bridles you.  There are many talented, caring, giving and plain downright extraordinary women and men in homeschool.  Sometimes though you never hear about them because they have already bridled themselves.   Self-defeat is a huge barricade to tear down in the homeschooling world and especially in homeschool leadership.

Another attitude that seems to prevail is the thinking that all homeschool leaders are social type of folks or just really need people around them all the time.   Nope, that couldn’t be further from the truth.  Some leaders are that way, others are not.

There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into managing any group, large or small.  Whether a homeschool leader is good at crunching numbers to maintain a budget or enjoys working by herself maintaining a group website or enjoys editing, there are plenty of chores for quiet behind the scenes doers.  If you are more vocal and don’t mind the microphone like I do there are plenty of jobs for you too.

That brings me to another common factor, which resonates loud with any homeschool leader and that is that there is never enough volunteers to step forward to help.  That has always been the main topic in any leadership conference.  How do we involve others?

What holds them back?  Is it fear that they will have too much on their homeschool plate?  Is it fear thinking they now have to be a social butterfly?  Do they fear that because they are not an organized person there is no way to contribute to leadership?

I have learned that the most important part of a group’s success is the contribution of many, not just the one.  Though there may have been only two people making decisions for any event I sponsored or group I created, I have never had to make major decisions alone.

It’s a given that extra work is involved.  Realistic person that I am, I am here to tell you that sometimes you can’t even imagine the work load.  Also though from my own experience, the blessings have been equally hard for me to put into words for you.

Lasting friendships, shared teaching experiences that ultimately benefited my children, elite and superior tutors for my children and plain downright fun are just a few for me.

Pump Up the Homeschool Endorphins

What makes a person want to serve?  Working with many not just talented homeschool leaders, but caring gentle women, I know that each one has their own reasons to serve.   I don’t think all of the reasons are so apparent at the beginning because leadership is about self-discovery too, but here are some of the reasons I have served.

  • Instead of telling my sons to be leaders in homeschooling or in their own education, I wanted to set the example.
  • My mission statement written by me and my husband said that we wanted to provide a network of approved friends for my sons to choose from to form lasting friendships.  Speaking personally, I couldn’t do this if I didn’t have a hand in recruiting and approving members.
  • When I first started homeschooling, there weren’t very many large homeschooling conventions around me.  Knowing that others must need the same encouragement I did, I wanted to be sure I was getting homeschool encouragement on a regular basis.
  • I understood early that collaborative strengths of other fearless leaders only benefited my children.  Could my strengths also benefit their children? This equaled a win-win.

Homeschool Conference with Susan Wise Bauer

(after a long night, one quick picture.  Me, then Susan Wise Bauer in the middle and Sheila.)

  • Some of the leaders I have personally worked with deserve a homeschool halo, but most would probably tell you that they started serving because it kept them accountable in their journey.  This is very true for me.   Whether I was preparing for a homeschool leader like Susan Wise Bauer to come and speak or preparing a co-op unit study, the experiences cemented my conviction to keep homeschooling my children.

Though not always, I can tell you that homeschoolers eager to jump out there for leadership were often the ones that burned out quickly.

Key to releasing the homeschool leader in you starts with you.  Some of the best homeschooler leaders I have worked with are the ones that think they can’t lead or rather don’t view themselves as a leader.

Sharing my thoughts and tips about homeschool leadership throughout this year, I will expand more on the how-tos of serving in the homeschool community.

Is there a tiny ember in you flickering for homeschool leadership?  Don’t let it die out.

Hugs and love ya,

2012Tinasignature Free Homeschool Planner Cover– Point Well Taken
Get these tips for making the most out of your homeschool co-op!

Who Needs a Homeschool Co-Op Anyway?
What Are the Basics of a Homeschool Co-Op?
Coordinating the Co-Op
Co-Op Core Leaders Matter
Cherished Co-Ops

2 CommentsFiled Under: Be A Homeschooler Leader Tagged With: homeschoolleaders

Curriculum & Homeschool Conventions –Cures for Cabin Fever

January 17, 2014 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

This is a sponsored post and I am proud to be partnering with Great Homeschool Conventions this year because I LOVE their convention philosophy.

Curriculum & Homeschool Conventions Cures for Cabin Fever

Before Tiny was conceived (okay not a TMI post) and when I only had Mr. Senior 2013 and Mr. Awesome, I started my homeschool journey in a tiny 800 square foot cabin and that included the porch.

Having just two bedrooms and one main living area for both schooling and living was a perfect size as I started my homeschooling journey.  I loved that cabin because not only was it cozy but on the porch I spent countless hours reading and playing with my sons.

As much as I loved it though, I seemed to spend more time at the local teacher store hunting just the right hands on activities for my budding reader.  That is until I found out about homeschool conventions.

Too, because there were times the cabin did feel like cramped quarters, I focused on learning several things as a novice teacher and one was how to navigate a homeschool convention.

Homeschool Convention Tools, Techniques and Tips

Planning in advance with the same passion I planned a family vacation, I was sure to not miss any conventions that were close to me.  Guess what? Even if they weren’t close, I realized soon in my homeschool journey that attending a convention catapulted me ahead in honing my homeschool teaching skills.

Look at some tips I learned when I attended conventions and made an extra effort to attend the bigger ones.

1.  Love them and leave them kids.  When my kids were very young, I would try to leave them at home at least one day with Grandma.  It normally was the second day.  On that day I was more tired but also I had time to look through the booths.   Too, I have had many years of living in the cabin with no family near me so that I could leave my kids.  If it is the same for you, go slow and go the pace of the children.  Do not miss the convention, but take breaks and plan on attending some workshops.  When you attend workshops, you and the kids (hopefully) can sit down, take a break and at the same time still receive some much needed encouragement.

2.  Avoid convention-itis.   Try to give yourself one day to think about what you have looked over and then buy the next day.  However, if there are limited products of the curriculum you want and you already know that you need it, then purchase it and it’s done so you don’t have to go back.

3.  Deploy the Teens.  If you have teens, they can be a great source of help if you put them to work.   My teens enjoyed having a mission.   Let them tour some of the vendors and call you back with prices and information.

4.  Deploy the Gear.  No teens? Grab a super size stroller and it serves as both snack holder and place for the younger ones to sit down.

5.  Money Belt Must.  I always liked having my money belt around my waist so I constantly do not have to bend over.   Some moms I see leave their money on top of the stroller, but in this day and age even at a homeschool convention, we just can’t trust everybody.   By having it around your waist, you can still hold the little ones on your hips too.  My preference only, but I have never liked a backpack because I have seen many folks back into racks and other people.  I do bring a tote though that I can stick papers in that I want to look at later.

6.  Utilize the on-site Storage Room or Services.  Most conventions have free storage rooms for your convention purchases.  Even if they charge you for a space, it really is worth it instead of hauling around all your new purchases.  At the end of the convention, back your car up and load it all up.

7.  Distinguish between Workshops.  Keep in mind there are generally two types of workshops at conventions.  One is a “product workshop” and the other is an “informational workshop”.

A product workshop will be more specific and geared toward selling the product and it generally is hosted by a vendor.  This is not really a negative especially if you are interested in purchasing it for your use.   The product workshops can be so more informative educating you about the use of a product.

Information workshops will be about various homeschooling topics that are of interest to us and are normally put on by a seasoned mom who has had particular success with either a method or is sharing the how-tos of a subject.   Look ahead on the schedule and try to plot out your course of action for the days you are there.

8.  Make Ahead Do Not Forget List.  My packing list normally includes hair clip, phone, extra cell phone, water, lipstick (yes have to be purdyyy), comfortable shoes, tote, credit cards and/or checks, printable list of my curriculum needs and wants and waist belt with cash.  And do not bring all $100.00 bills (I did have a few of them at one time) because not all companies can make change for a $100.00 bill.   Small bills are best.

Get Excited for Great Homeschool Conventions

Homeschool conventions do not have to be a time of wondering around aimlessly with no plan or standing out with a deer in the headlight look.   The first time  attending any homeschool convention can be downright overwhelming, but soon enough the contagious spirit of fellow homeschoolers fills the building.   Walking away with enough zest and vigor to move ahead one more year in my journey, I make it a yearly habit of attending them.

I still love that old cabin with all its charm and character.   It has a special place in my heart because not only was it my first homeschooling area but my craze for curriculum and love for conventions was conceived there.

What about you? Have you decided which convention/s you are going to? Remember to register with Great Homeschool Conventions!

Need some checklists for the convention? Look at the links below:

Master the Subjects Form – 5 Days Of The Benefits & Challenges of Teaching Mixed Ages Together – Day 4: Embrace Homeschooling Multiple Grades

Teacher’s Manual Checklist – {How To Series} How to Determine if a Teacher’s Manual is Treasure or Trash? + {printable checklist}

Hugs and love ya,

2012Tinasignature Day 1. Unit Studies   Define & Redefine the Meaning. 10 Days of Diving into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together.

This is also a blog hop. This blog hop is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutual beneficial projects.   Visit us on Pinterest, Twitter and Google Plus.   And of course, click the image below to visit all the other blog articles from the homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network.

reasons-convention

4 CommentsFiled Under: Attend a Homeschool Convention, Choose Curriculum, Sponsored Posts Tagged With: homeschoolconvention

40 Reasons I Homeschool (And Growing Each Year)

January 8, 2014 | 7 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a secret to tell you and that is I thrive at this time of the year. Call me one of those weird homeschoolers, I don’t mind, but I love cold weather.  My brain goes full throttle ahead.

It might sound like a contradiction, but I also take time to muse about my homeschooling journey.

I am ever so grateful to have the privilege of homeschooling my children. Don’t get me wrong, I am human and go through certain days where I feel it is more like a burden.40 Reasons I Homeschool (And Growing Each Year)When I feel that way, I normally write down something to remind me of the privilege. It is easier as you homeschool longer because each year gives you more positive things to simmer on.

40 Reasons I Homeschool

By sharing publicly a few of the reasons I homeschool not only sears this in my mind, but I hope it lifts you up too.  Homeschooling should be contagious and I want you to keep having a bad case of it.

Listed in no particular order.

1. I want my sons to have a spiritual relationship and that is my privilege to do.

2.  My sons can focus on their own education, which is their responsibility and to not be responsible for other kids in public school which are their parents’ responsibility.

3. I realized soon after homeschooling that my son is not the only gifted and talented kid. Plenty of gifted children exist in the homeschool world and their interests can be fed in a way that is good for them without giving up their childhood.

4. My sons can exercise first in the morning like they enjoy doing. Now only if I can do that.

5. My sons don’t have to read poorly copied papers from one book as a reader, but I can have as many living books as I can stuff into my home.

6. I never have to kiss them good bye in the morning.

7. If a curriculum or schedule is not working, I don’t need the principal’s approval to change it.  Just do it and move on.

8. We can buy better made school supplies and not have to break them in half to share with other kids. This actually happened to us when Mr. Senior 2013 went to part of Kindergarten public school.  Of course the teacher explained to me that this was to help with fine motor control by having to grasp a smaller crayon.  If that was the case, why didn’t I break them at home and they keep them separate at school?

9. We never collected enough soup labels to help out with the playground at school or library either one.

10. We love peanuts and because we have no allergies here, we can roll around in them at my house if we want to.

11. I can count my all day house cleaning day as a Home Economics 101 course.

12. Because the world IS our classroom, my sons have a no holes barred attitude toward education.

13. Because the Bible is our best copywork source, history and science resource, I won’t give this up in favor of education for the masses.

14. Because my kids are square pegs, I won’t force them to fit in round holes.

15. Because I would never give up our all day reading days, or all day history days, or all day science days, or all day geography days.

16. Our lunches are more healthier, not to mention taste great.  Even peanut butter and jelly tastes better at home.

17. I don’t have to schedule conferences with the teacher.

18. Because the on-site campus policemen don’t have to escort my sons to the bathroom for fear they may be beat up or bullied. Yes, this happened to a friends of ours and it has taken their son quite a few years to recover, but the emotional damage is deep.  We all hug them each time we see them.

19. Because any day can be declared a school holiday.

20. I want my children to learn to be community minded, and avoid learning mindless acts like standing in line. Too, do you ever raise your hand when having conversations with other adults?

21. How does that quote go? “I homeschool because I have seen the village”.

22. Because I wanted my kitchen filled with growing crystals, and can grow mold on purpose, and want my refrigerator filled with all kinds of future science projects.

23. We don’t have to wait on the rest of the class to catch up with us and because we don’t care what the other kids are doing if we don’t want to move on.

24. Because I want my kids socialized in the truest sense of the word and not adopt what the world tries to burden us with.

25. Because I want my children to love reading and I can change our schedule on a whim to feed that habit.

26. Because my husband wants time to influence my sons to grow up to be capable, responsible, loving, hardworking, and spiritual men.  Its hard to do that when they are apart for 8 or more hours each day.

27. Because teaching about not using drugs and reserving (yes I am going there) *sex* for when you are married is our responsibility as parents.  I won’t leave that up to a person whose life may or may not model Bible based thinking.

28. Because regardless of a person’s belief system, I want my sons to respect and love other people. It is our job as parents to live that every day and not just say it.

29. Because once I teach a skill to my older sons, they can model and teach to my younger son. This equals more time spent together as a family.

30. To teach subjects that I am not well versed in, I can hire as many excellent and caring private tutors as I want to. I consult only my budget and not have to wait weeks or years to change my educational budget and get approval for supplemental activities.

31. Because I cannot even begin to imagine what our day would look like if we could not spend as much time on hands-on as we like to.

32. Because learning is not about sitting at the computer all day with a virtual school, but it is about getting outdoors and learning about the creation around us.

33. Because our homeschool has gone way beyond academics and we have made life-long friends who cannot ever be replaced.  We are overflowing with the blessings of their loyal friendship.

34. Because it is easier to teach children to read than the public school would have you think. Ten to fifteen minutes each day wrapped up in a blanket on the couch with living books and you will have a life-long reader that you have to command to put down his book to finish his math. Oh and a few cheetos and some chocolate milk doesn’t hurt either.

35. Because my goal in high school was to not simply have my sons graduate but to have an introduction to college level courses. And, you want to ask about testing to see what they know?

36. Because as a teacher, my obligation is not to learn how 30 other kids learn best, but just how my children learn best. This equals a hidden, but gratifying joy because I can learn right alongside my children. It is hard to infuse this feeling in a new homeschool teacher until she is actually teaching her children.  It is just surface talk until she is infected with the art of teaching.

37.  It my sons’ privilege, responsibility, and delight to learn. I am not raising passive sit back and let the teacher tell me what to do kids. They are learning independence and not dependence from an early age.

38. Because when it comes to studying our favorite subjects like history and geography, we can arrive at at history destinations via a family vacation.  We can eat, drink and dress the culture and come away with an appreciation of the true value of any culture and not accept what a few pages in a textbook tells us.

39. Too, if you want to know what my sons know about a subject, I can show you our stack of 20 or 30 books on one subject for our unit study and compare with your few pages in a textbook. So testing fear is conquered because I realize standardized testing is a tool that if not wielded right by the holder can be abused.  It’s true when those signs read “To avoid personal injury, select the right tool for the job.”

40. And, lastly because it works!

40 Reasons I Homeschool (And Growing Each Year). I am ever so grateful to have the privilege of homeschooling my children. Don’t get me wrong, I am human and go through certain days where I feel it is more like a burden.When I feel that way, I normally write down something to remind me of the privilege. It is easier as you homeschool longer because each year gives you more positive things to simmer on. Click here to be rejuvenated!!

I shared a few things that rolled off the top of my head and I will be printing this to go in my planner.Also, you’ll love grabbing some go juice from these articles!

  • 4 Undeniable Reasons People Hate Homeschooling (I’m Keeping It Real) 
  • 7 Homeschool Lies I Want to Tell My Younger Self 
  • 6 Things I Won’t Regret After Homeschooling 16+ Years
  • When Homeschooling is Not an Overnight Success (Is it Worth the Risk?)

What about you? What reasons keep you getting up in the morning with a can do spirit?

Reasons Why I Homeschool

Hugs and love ya

7 CommentsFiled Under: Begin Homeschooling, Homeschool During Crisis, Homeschool When Nobody Wants To, Homeschooling, Kick Off Your Homeschool Year Tagged With: homeschool joy, homeschool joys, homeschooljoy, reasonstohomeschool

Dynamic Reader Question–How To Get All those Homeschool Science Experiments Done?

January 4, 2014 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Dynamic Reader Question Homeschool Science How To Get it All Done

Affiliate Link Elements

Whatever I am doing on my blog, your questions are always at the top of my list.

I only had answered part of Laura’s question and now want to answer the second part of her question.

Hi there Tina!!
Laura here (a most grateful “follower” who thinks your site is awesome).  I have two questions.
1.  There are so many neat things to do and neat curriculum with science, how is one to get them all done.  I’ve even thought about doing 2 along side each other.

Sharing with you first on how to pick a science curriculum helps you to see if it will fit in with what you want to get done for the day.

The most important thing I have learned about how to do science is to not ever do a bait and switch and give up hands-on projects.  And, I did this to myself and have nobody to blame.  I started off good when teaching science, but then lost my way.

My oldest son was a bit precocious when it came to learning and I fed his science love through hands-on experiments.

Simply doing something hands-on two or three times a week was the best start to science.  We used several books. Two of them are below.

   


When they were young, it is more important for them to delight in learning.  Understanding all the science and why’s behind an experiment comes later.

Then, I made the big science goof and gave up hands-on activities when they got a bit older in elementary grades.  I fell victim to the thinking they had to only now write papers, do vocabulary and keep science journals.  Instead of adding that AND keeping the hands-on, I got unbalanced and let the hands-on activities fall by the side.  All along all I needed to do was to revamp my schedule to allow more time for science.  I finally did that, but not before I lost a few precious years with my oldest son.

Hands-On Science or Picky Choosers?

So one hallmark of a well rounded out science program is plenty of hands-on projects.   And, it should stay that way all the way to high school.

Science is about doing, not just reading or watching somebody else do it.

After that there are other things you want to determine about a program before you buy.  For example, if you are short on time already, then you may want to purchase premade kits.

List at this list of questions:

  • Is it secular or Christian? Which do you want?
  • Can it be used for multiple ages?
  • Do you want to learn by subject matter (unit studies) or by mixing and matching topics similar to a textbook?
  • As the kids get older, supplies like microscopes cost a bit more.  How many supplies do you need?
  • Are science kits available? Or, do you have to gather your own supplies?
  • Do the children learn at the computer part of the time? Is it all computer reading or part book and part computer or all book?
  • If you don’t have a science background, then you may want a more helpful teacher guide.  How helpful is the teacher guide? Does it have thorough explanations or is it an answer sheet only?

Superb Science Schedules

After you decide what is important to you in a science curriculum, then you have to make time to do all of those wonderful hands-on science activities.

Don’t do the same thing I did and try to make a middle school budding scientist work on a toddler approved schedule.

Increase the time for science as they get older so that they know how to both research and note their findings AND have time to test those ideas, i.e. hands-on activities.

Too, along the 6th grade or so, you can start off your day with science which is a content subject instead of the skill subjects.  Hopefully, this is past the time your children struggle with the skill subjects.

You know I am a firm believe in writing it all out and that means a schedule too.  Write it all so that you not only see it, but that you as the teacher stick to it. This will help your children have well-rounded out days.  Too, seeing it keeps these ideas from being “pie in the sky” dreams, but makes them reality.

Look at these options.

Schedule. Science Here.
Mon. – Fri. until noon ALL the skill subjects are to be done. Mon. – Fri.
Science every afternoon for an hour.
Mon. – Fri. until noon ALL the skill subjects are to be done. Mon. Wed. Fri. Alternating days to switch with another content subject like history or geography.
Mon. – Fri. until noon ALL the skill subjects are to be done. Mon. Tue.
Two back to back afternoons of science or visa versa make it W,T,F.
Mon. – Fri. start off with science and then start your skill subjects.

The two main keys to being sure you cover science is to 1) not push the skill subjects past the time they are suppose to be done.  I have heard of drill sergeants moms who feel that all lesson plans have to be done before you move on to the other fun subjects.  Skill subjects need to stay to the time scheduled by you.

Remember, it is the *time* for learning that needs to be scheduled, not necessarily the lesson plan.  As long as they are doing it, they are learning.   And, the next 2) thing to do is schedule it.   Just do it.

Though I have used parts of two science curricula, I have never used all of any one curriculum.  I simply used what I needed from each one.

What about you? How does your schedule look for science? Do you have any more tips for Laura?

Too, if you don’t remember the difference between the skill and content subjects, look at my post below:

How to Use Homeschooling Multiple Children Secret Planning Sheet Tinas Dynamic Homeschool Plus  5 Days Of The Benefits & Challenges of Teaching Mixed Ages Together – Day 4: Embrace Homeschooling Multiple Grades

5 Days Of The Benefits & Challenges of Teaching Mixed Ages Together – Day 4: Embrace Homeschooling Multiple Grades

Hugs and love ya,

2012Tinasignature 5 Days Of The Benefits & Challenges of Teaching Mixed Ages Together – Day 4: Embrace Homeschooling Multiple Grades

Linking to

3 Boys and a Dog: Homemaking & Parenting Tips for Busy Folks

2 CommentsFiled Under: Dynamic Reader Question, Teach Homeschool Science, Teach/Which Subjects to Teach/Cover EVERYTHING Tagged With: homeschoolscience

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