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2017 New Year New Goals Free Printable (Get It Together)

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2017 New Year New Goals Printable @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

For several years I have updated my More of This and Less of This free printable. And this year is no different.

Today, I have ready the 2017 New Year New Goals Free Printable.

I love this form because it not only reminds me to keep goal setting simple and not pen in a lot of goals so that I can reach them, but more importantly, I remind myself to have Less of This.

It’s important to remind myself that some things I need to let go. I didn’t want to just have pie in the sky goals, but to be reminded to homeschool and live simply.

I can only do that when I let go of things that are not working either at the end of the year.

For some years, the goals have been to be less critical of myself, or to be less harder on my kids or to be less judgmental.

I hope you enjoy the form!

DOWNLOAD HERE 2017 MORE OF THIS AND LESS OF THIS FREE PRINTABLE.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

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Teach Your Homeschooled Teen the Art of Studying (without nagging)

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How to Teach Your Homeschooled Teen the Art of Studying (without nagging) @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Teaching your homeschooled teen the art of studying is a bit like not having a parent’s manual that comes with your kids when they enter the world. Well – almost.

Resources exist overwhelmingly for teaching teens study skills in public schools, but teaching our kids at home can give us a slight edge.

However, it only becomes an advantage if we tap into teaching them how to study along the way. Teaching a teen study skills can be frustrating if you don’t begin when they are young.

How to Spoon-Feed a Homeschooled Teen

Learning should be active and not passive. Spoon-feeding and hovering over our teens won’t propel them to learn the art of studying.

Look at 3 things I learned when teaching a teen to study.

One/ Self-instruction is a must.

Many kids do not do well in public school because they feel trapped with confinements on what they should learn. Avoiding the popular notion that teens need a lot of supervision gives teens a chance to experience independence.

Raising independent and self-taught learners means bucking the current system period.

I learned as I have homeschooled longer to give up the control while supervising them. It begins with self-instruction in what your child is interested in.

Starting out, this doesn’t mean a child guides himself completely because not all children are inclined to even attempt learning the boring things.

Many days teaching my three teens has been more difficult and mentally taxing then when they were toddlers because you have to talk with them not at them as they learn self-governing independence.

And yes there should be sanctions when a teen is not self-studying and is wasting time. But there is a reason a teen is wasting time and it’s called unmotivated.

Two/ Motivation is a GREAT incentive.

Motivation for studying what interests a teen comes first, then self-instruction, not the other way around.

In other words, you can’t expect a teen to be self-taught and independent without him having a compelling reason to be. You can’t just heap subjects onto him, like when he was in elementary grades and then expect him to do them. That was your job then, but it’s not when he is a teen.

Micromanaging in the teen years breeds rebellion and you may end up having an adult child that won’t speak to you. Don’t let that happen.

And don’t make the mistake of swinging to the other end of the pendulum and give him total self-governing.

Teen Study Skills

Don’t stress over it, but look at these sanity-saving tips to gradually dole out independence, which then teaches your teen the art of studying.

  • Choose a topic in a subject. As soon as your child demonstrates a bit of independence, recognize it by allowing him to choose a topic in a subject that you require. Don’t ask him to cover science, but require it. But give him the choice, for example, of studying about rocks, magnets or a bird. For us this happened close to second grade for one child, close to sixth grade for another and closer to middle school for another son.
  • Then, choose subjects. After you have exposed your child to well-rounded out subjects, then give him the choices of which subjects to cover. This normally happens around middle and high school.
  • Give him checklists, organize drawers and student planners to gauge progress. Give him a checklist or some way of knowing what he is doing for the day and when he is finished. The art of how to study can be diminished when your expectations are not clear. Not only are you giving your child clear expectations, but you are doing something VERY important lasting him on into adulthood, which is teaching him how to create expectations, goals and standards for himself. How to study includes setting incremental goals and meeting them. He needs accountability to you first, then next to himself. Early on I set up drawers for each child and in the order I chose for him to cover the subject. That model morphed into choices they made later on as to which subjects they wanted to cover first. I also created student planners and my oldest son enjoyed that the most. My youngest son enjoys taking notes on his iPad. And another son likes picture doodling and part words as he note takes. Each child is different.

organized-drawers-promotes-self-teaching-and-independence-tinas-dynamic-homeschool-plus

  • Listen. More importantly, teens want to be heard. Listen and back him up by letting him try his idea. The best place and time to fail from an idea he had is while he is living with you so he can learn.
  • Take him with you to choose curriculum. My boys made a trip with me to the convention fair each year. If they didn’t have a preference in curriculum, they got a chance to look it over anyway.
  • Teach him his learning style and then help him learn that way. Don’t push your way of learning. I know, I’m probably one of the caring pushiest moms ever, but not all of my boys learn the way I do. Use color coding markers, use a written planner, use an online planner, use an iPad, music in the background works for one son (not me), quiet space for another son, flashcards, index cards and writing in a book (yes allowed). Be willing to move from your comfort zone to the learning zone your child works best in.

Teach Consequences But Evaluate Consequence Too

Three/ Consequences is a must.

Learning how to learn means that your child needs consequences, both bad and good for his habits. Shielding our child or always telling them everything not matter how well-intended can turn to nagging.

When I was a teen, I did learn by example. Not all teens learn that way and some have to experience pain.

Teaching my boys that learning by example is more preferable than learning always by experience was important to me, but my boys have to be willing to accept that mindset.

Teaching teens is not always a two-way street, so be prepared for times when they have to suffer bad consequences.

A bad grade worked for one son, but it didn’t for another one.

Telling my son to think about what others will think about him and the example he set worked for another son. He didn’t want to hear my opinion, but teaching him to evaluate what he was going to do or not do when applying himself to how he studied made him think how he would appear to others.

I’ve found that clear consequences, even writing them down has been a useful guide in prodding my teens in the right direction.

After all, college, life and career are full of on the job rules, regulations and earning respect. Don’t forget to teach them at home.

This is the tip of the iceberg of things I’ve learned as two of my sons have now entered the adulthood.

And when your adult sons tell you often how much they deeply value what you taught them about how to study, you won’t be able to hold back tears.

When you take time to teach your teens how to study, you teach them for a lifetime.

Grab my Free Student Planner, 3 Unique Things a Homeschooled Teen Learns From a Teacher’s Manual and I found this book, The Art of Self-Directed Learning: 23 Tips For Giving Yourself an Unconventional Education very inspirational.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

25 Creative and Tasty Edible Math Activities that Keeps Learning Fun

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I have 25 edible math activities that keeps learning fun.

Food and kids connect. And the sweeter the food the better. My boys always perked up when it came to edible learning. Whatever subject it is, edible projects are some of my boys best memories and teaching moments.

Teaching through edible manipulatives is another advantage we have over public school because with so many allergies, public schools are limited in edible hands-on projects.

25 Creative and Tasty Edible Math Activities that Keeps Learning Fun. Yum!

Hands-on Math

So today, I have rounded up 25 ideas for edible math and a few books for some edible fun.

Delicious Edible Math

Move out of those workbooks and grab one or two of these sweet ideas for your next homeschool math lesson. Your kids won’t forget it!

Also, you may love to check out these other helps!

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins and I have a Learning through Cooking Pinterest Board.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

10 Biggest Homeschool Burnout Triggers (and how to cope)

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10 Biggest Homeschool Burnout Triggers (and how to cope)

No matter what you do, positive person or not or how well-organized you are, homeschool burnout looms because the 10 biggest homeschool burnout triggers are linked to life. Avoiding the unexpected is not possible, but you can plan for the unexpected.

Look at these 10 biggest homeschool burnout triggers and a tip or two on how to cope. Besides, instead of telling you how wonderful homeschooling will be, I want you prepared to dig your heels in when times are tough.

One/A pregnancy (complicated or not).

It may seem obvious that a pregnancy causes burnout, but when you have pregnancy brain it can seem otherwise. Somehow I thought I could keep on pushing because we were in a school year.

It took my third pregnancy before I actually planned activities when I would have to stop and rest.

Laid up on the couch and on bed rest for a few weeks, I pulled out activities for my preschooler and kindergartner, which nowadays are called busy bag activities.

Key to keeping your kids entertained and learning is to have everything they need for an activity in a bag. I could get up once, pull down several activities from the closet and have my two boys sit at my feet on the couch while we learned.

Two/ A long term sickness whether it’s your immediate or extended family.

In addition to pregnancy, I have experienced an ICU stay for my husband, an ICU stay for my sister and a long-term facility care for my mother-in-law.

At the time, it can seem that your life will never return to normal. It might not and may be changed. But change is also part of homeschooling.

I did four things to cope with what seemed like insurmountable stress.

  • I divided our school subjects in half and did half one day and the other half the next day.
  • I bought each kid a backpack so that we could learn on the go and moved our schoolroom into the backpacks.
  • I purchased easy workbooks because this is the time to use them.
  • I purchased an online subscription to Time4Learning.

Avoiding Top Homeschool Burnout Triggers

Three/ The transition to high school.

You will eventually get to high school and hear my heart when I say that is not the time to quit, but it may seem like it at the time.

If you have a rebellious teen it can make this time period worse.  One tip I learned was to be sure that your teen has a say in what he wants to learn and pursue.

Don’t feel like you have to give up everything you have dreamed of for your child, but know that they are entering adulthood and are a unique person.

Part of being a unique person is recognizing their interests, strengths and weaknesses and then allowing them explore them. When you’re at this point in your journey, remember what brought you to homeschooling, which is being able to raise a unique individual.

Instead of throwing in the towel and sending your kid to public school, work with him and decide whether or not an online high school is an option. Some kids do better by answering to somebody else.

My boys never had to experience this, but we also homeschooled from the beginning, which I have learned makes a huge difference.  If your child has had other teachers besides you, he may view that as normal.

Be willing to compromise, but not give up your standards always makes for a fair way of getting through the high school years.

Four/ When homeschool planning is overly ambitious.

Guilty as charged. I can always tell newer homeschoolers or homeschoolers who will burnout quickly by the exhaustive lists of homeschool subjects they think they will cover.

Writing it down is key to being sure your list is doable.

When you simply list it, and not plug a homeschool subject into a time slot on your day, it stays as overly ambitious. The next step is hitting a brick wall and burnout follows.

Overly ambitious homeschooling can backfire with sad consequences.

I have known families through the years that have lost their teens because they would not yield or compromise their plans. How sad.

Look at the tips on my three part series What Homeschool Subjects to Teach and When to Teach Them and Divide And Conquer The Ever Growing List of Homeschool Subjects.

Five/ Too many fun activities outside the house.

There have been years that we have been able to do more than other years, but balance is the key no matter how fun are the activities.

This is also exacerbated by how many kids you have. Don’t think that a mom with an only child can’t fall into this trap by trying to be sure her kid gets a social life.

Whether you are a mom of many or an only, your child needs you. There is no substitute for your guidance. Be selective on choosing outside activities and one thing I did when my kids wanted different ones was to alternate them each week.

One week we did art and the next week we did music to satisfy all of my kids. We went slower, but all of my kids benefited from mixing up and cutting back our activities.

Six/ Too many volunteer projects by mom.

When I conducted workshops, many of the moms confessed how many volunteer programs they were a part of.

I encourage you to make your family priority. Even good and worthy volunteering projects can add stress and cause burnout when it’s not necessary. As kids grow older and circumstances change, I have been able to do more things I enjoy.

From Daunting to Doable

Seven/ Failing to plan is planning to fail. It’s true.

The opposite end of overly ambitious planning is feeling like your wings would be clipped if you followed a more scripted schedule.

It takes time to find a middle ground that suits your unique personality. Key to success is knowing your personality and knowing how to rein yourself in.

For example, I know that I tend to be a drill sergeant and have my kids march to the minutes on a schedule (nobody liked me when I first started homeschooling).

All these years I have worked on being more flexible by following more of a block schedule or scheduling zones of times.

If you have the opposite problem, then start by scheduling things for 15 minutes at a time until you find a rhythm to fit your style. You can even use a timer in the beginning as you get the feel for the amount of time needed for a subject.

Training yourself to move through your day accomplishing what you plan without pushing you and your kids will lead to a productive and meaningful day.

Eight/ Job loss or change.

Coping with several of these changes too, I learned to cut back my school to just the core subjects as we adjusted to a new schedule or change in income.

We have owned our own business and my husband has worked 7 days a week for 12 hours days. In all the cases of job changes, I have allowed myself a month or so to adjust to the schedule. For example, when my husband worked 12 hours a day for 7 days a week, I got my kids up early as well so that they were ready for bed at the same time as my husband.

If you don’t get the rest of your household in sync with your husband’s schedule and try to maintain different family schedules, it can trigger stress.

Nine/Moving.

When we moved, I always thought I could keep on homeschooling during that stressful time. I learned that learning to pack and moving can come under Home Economics if you train your children while moving.

My boys always wanted to help pack and looking at the positive, moving is a wonderful time to declutter.

Instead of thinking that our schooling was being interrupted, I viewed that time as our time off of school. Of course we had to make up but it’s so much more easier making up when you choose to take time off to move.

Ten/ Unbending, inflexible, stubborn and immovable and no it’s not the toddler.

Flexible, bending and reasonable didn’t exactly abound in my life or should I say they are not my best qualities. However, homeschooling has a way of seasoning you to showcase those qualities.

Learning to adjust your homeschool course, accepting you and your kids shortcomings and allowing others to help you when you need it, keeps you on the sane road to homeschooling.

By giving you this heads up on things that you may experience in your journey, I hope you can enjoy the high moments that you will encounter and remember that the lows will pass.

Also, look at 4 Reasons Your Homeschooled Child is Uninspired To Learn (and what to do) and 3 Tips from the Pros Before You Become a Homeschool Educator.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

6 Best Homeschool Hacks Teaching Multi-Aged Children

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I have sanity-saving homeschool hacks about how to teach multiple ages. Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter.

And having specific how-tos is a must. Today, I have rounded up 6 homeschool hacks teaching multi-age children.

6 Homeschool Hacks Teaching Multi-Age Children @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Look at these specific ways to teach multiple ages of homeschooled children.

Tried and Tested Teaching Tips

1. Let the kids take turns reading.

When kids on the same reading level hear each other read, there may not be any motivation to improve.

But when a younger sibling hears an older sibling reading, it’s personal and can inspire an immature reader to keep improving.

And when an older sibling hears a younger sibling reading, it can reinforce key or basic points about an idea or teaching point in a book or story.

Try reading round robin while each child takes a paragraph and it will keep all of your children learning and it’ll add some fun and spice to your day.

2. Listen to a motivating audio reading together.

Have you ever listened to a story told by Jim Weiss?

If not, you may be missing out. Learning while a story is being told or listening to a book being read is an essential skill to lifelong learning.

Interest is a key point in learning to listen and so it’s important to hear stories that your children are all ears to listen to.

Don’t just pick things to listen to willy nilly and don’t underestimate the value of learning how to listen well.

3. Do Map work.

Map work can be done together while each child works on his own skill set.

The key to not becoming completely stressed out is to find one theme or time period for all the kids to work on together.

For example, if you’re studying the American Civil War then choose one or two maps from that same time period.

Older children can locate battle sites within a certain region or choose battle sites by year. Younger children can label the states involved in the war.

When my boys were younger, they also drew animals that lived in a certain area like deer or birds.

A map can be a project when your child goes beyond just labeling.

Drawing in local foods, animals and landmarks also makes it coming alive.

We would spend a few days working on maps for a certain period.

And by keeping the maps all within the same theme or time period, each child would put what piqued his interest about that area.

It was a great learning experience because my kids would learn from each other as child focused on something differently.

It was an enriching experience for all of us.

Too, instead of all the work being on my shoulders, the children learned research skills and were responsible for their own learning.

4. Do ONE lapbook or notebook for ALL of your children.

Don’t think each child has to do a lapbook. Our Civil War lapbook is a joint project.

Each child added pages and the lapbook turned out unique and memorable.

Joint Civil War Lapbook @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

In addition, learning how to collaborate together, especially with a sibling is a lifelong skill.

More Homeschooling Multiple Ages Tips

If a child can’t get along with his brothers and sisters, he will have a hard time transitioning to a career or college which almost always involves collaborating.

5. Memory work.

Learning poetry or memorizing lists is another easy and valuable way to teach multiple ages.

Each child can memorize an amount of lines or words that corresponds with his age.

This is a ton of fun and more than I realized as we did it through the years.

Each child is normally adamant about repeating back his lines correctly and each sibling listening is equally adamant about correcting him if he falters.(wink)

Look at How To Teach Your Homeschooled Children Shakespeare to grab a helpful resource.

6. Virtual field trips.

For the most part, my boys looked forward to field trips because it meant they could see other kids.

And in today’s technology filled world there is no choice to have to attend only a physical location.

Having a choice of attending a virtual field trip without having to leave your home is a wonderful tool we need to embrace.

Virtual field trips that are interactive allows your kids to learn together without the stress of trying to leave the house when you’re zapped of energy or finances.

Look at my post 7 Benefits of Virtual Field Trips that May Change Your Perspective to get some ideas.

Whether you’re using a boxed curriculum or an eclectic curriculum, these 6 teaching shortcuts will keep learning fun and easier.

Also, grab some tips here 5 Days Of The Benefits & Challenges of Teaching Mixed Ages Together and grab my free form on that page for showing you which subjects are best taught together.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.