Posts tagged ‘homeschooling’

In case you missed any of the other giveaways, there are THREE more chanced to win a FREE YEAR of Lesson Pathways!

SecularHomeschool.com is hosting a giveaway for three free subscriptions to LessonPathways.com. You can find all the details and enter HERE! Good Luck!

This is the final post in a 5 part series written by Bethany of Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom. Be sure to check back to read more great tips for taming the paper beast!”

Welcome to the final segment of the “Put Paper in Its Place” series! If you’re a homeschooler and if you’ve been reading the entire series, this last section should just help you synthesize everything. As you may already suspect, I am not an advocate of keeping every single worksheet, piece of art, or diorama produced by the little darlings. Shocking, I know. Surprisingly, neither am I an advocate for trashing everything. You’ll be pleased to know that a middle ground exists. It’s called a portfolio.

The word portfolio usually strikes fear in the heart of homeschoolers. I have to keep a what? Why would I want to keep all that stuff? But all of the shadow boxes, insect project boards, wooden villages, and authentic medieval costumes won’t fit into a binder! Yes, I have heard all these comments and more whenever the topic of portfolios comes up. Yet, I always reply that a portfolio is not only a necessary thing, but also a good thing. Let me show you how and why.

What is a portfolio, anyway? I decided to look up the word in my official Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition to see what its normal usage is. After all, it’s a unique homeschooling word, right? At least, I thought the way that homeschoolers used the word was specific to us. I almost fell off my chair when I read this definition:

“a selection of a student’s work (as papers and tests) compiled over a period of time and used for assessing performance or progress.”

So much for being revolutionary! Regardless, a portfolio is a collection of your child’s scholarly achievements.

How do you gather all this stuff? Do you just grab the last three pages out of your kids’ hands on June 15 and call it good? Do you wait until your high school senior tells you that his prospective college wants to see his portfolio when he visits tomorrow? No, no, no! On the other hand, you really don’t need to have the exact same number of papers for every subject perfectly typed on the computer and color coded in a set of twelve filing boxes.

A meritorious portfolio does not include every single assignment from every single subject. It includes a representation of work completed: the best writing samples, the best test scores, the best artwork, the best notebooking pages, and the best worksheet pages. It also includes pictures of 3-D projects, field trips, and other activities that can’t be condensed into a single written document. Set aside some work from every academic year. Do it as you go through the year so that it will not be an overwhelming task at whatever point you close out records for each year. I take my children’s desk binders about once a month, choose papers to go into the portfolio, and trash the rest, unless they’re needed for a later test.

The further your child gets academically, the more you may wish to weed out some of the earlier work. You may end up with only one kindergarten handwriting page and one first grade math test by the time your child graduates. That’s fine. Don’t take all of it out, though. I’ve attended homeschool graduations where a portfolio containing selections from twelve years’ worth of work was displayed. It was really neat to see the child’s scholastic progression through the years. Your child may enjoy looking back over her progress as well.

Okay, you’re collecting all of these papers and photos (of larger projects), so where do you put all of them? The best place for a portfolio is in a binder. Yes, even for you file foxes. The main reason for this is that a portfolio should be portable. (Extra bonus points if you notice that both of these words have port as the root, from the Latin word porto, which means I carry.) It’s much easier to carry a binder into a college admission counselor’s office than it is to carry a filing cabinet. You’ll definitely want a 3-inch size for this project. Feel free to let your child choose her favorite color, or buy the kind with the clear pocket on the front and have your student design her own cover.

Put subject dividers into the binder. File the papers from earliest (kindergarten or whatever grade you started homeschooling or saving papers) to the latest within each subject. Just save one out of every ten, twenty, or even thirty pages. Save more tests than regular worksheets. Save the best essays, and choose just one of those essays to show all of the child’s work—outline, rough drafts, corrections, and final draft.

I can hear you now: Why am I making a portfolio? It sounds like way too much work, and it’s not even required by my state! Do I still need to make one even if my child is not headed to college? Obviously, some states make portfolios mandatory, but aside from that, reasons abound for making one. If you choose not to give actual grades or not to fill out a report card (or its equivalent), then a portfolio becomes even more important. A portfolio gives physical evidence that little Johnny really is a genius—just as you always thought! Portfolios preserve hard work, provide evidence for skeptical grandparents or other family members and friends, help with planning for younger siblings, and record grades and/or levels earned and completed.

If you have piles and boxes of papers, start slowly. Set up the binder first so you have a place to put the papers you’re saving. Then go through one stack or box a day, perhaps while you’re watching TV at night, and eventually you will have a lovely portfolio of your child’s academic successes. I’m cringing as I write this, but I just have to reiterate that you must keep up with a project this large or it will get away from you. If you put a few papers into the portfolio every month or so, it will be no big deal, but if you procrastinate, you’ll find it more difficult to subdue the paper piles.

I hope you’ve found this series on paper to be helpful. The more I wrote, the more I realized could be written; however, this is it for now. I’ve provided you with the tips and encouragement that you need to conquer the paper monster once and for all.

This post was written by Bethany L., homeschool mom, Lesson Pathways contributor and author of the Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom blog.

Teachers are always looking for new ways to engage their students. I’ve found one of the easiest ways to do that is by using technology. Kids LOVE technology. Tell them it’s time for math and they groan. Tell them we’re going to the computer lab to work tessellations on the computer, and suddenly I’m a hero! Lesson Pathways is a wonderful tool that assists busy teachers in offering Internet-based activities to their students. The best part? All the work is already done for them. What teacher wouldn’t love that?

I have personally spent hours sitting at the computer looking for a cool webquest or an online game. Sometimes I’ve looked for my whole class; sometimes I’ve looked for reinforcement or enrichment for a single student. I wish I had been able to access a service like Lesson Pathways all along. It would have saved me valuable time–you know, to fill out paperwork, call parents, attend a staffing…

Among the 36 weeks of curriculum per core subject, per grade (currently through grade 5), you’ll find a wealth of lessons, mini-lessons, hands-on activities, online games, videos, e-books…the list goes on. It’s so easy to use too! The Planner feature is such a useful tool. You can add your entire class in just a few minutes. Once that is set up, you can select the Pathways you want to assign. The part I really like is having the option to assign Pathways to individual students or to the entire class. Again, anything that saves some time is a good thing in my book.

I really like that I can use this anywhere. I can browse Lesson Pathways from home, school, the coffee shop… I don’t have to lug around those big, heavy teacher-edition textbooks. I don’t even need to have a pen with me, for that matter. That’s generally a good thing. I never have a pen when I need it. (I think I was absent the day they taught organization at my university.) I just click on the Pathway I want to use and assign it to either the whole class or just the students I want to use it. I can also print out a worksheet from home and take it to school for copying the next day. I don’t know about you, but I do my best thinking with my bunny slippers on–and well, administration tends to frown on me wearing them to school.

Differentiated instruction is one of my favorite education buzzwords, and Lesson Pathways has a handle on it. The creators of Lesson Pathways are aware of the distinct needs of individual learners and of teacher’s requirements to differentiate instruction for their students. For this reason, the lessons offered address a wide variety of learning styles and methods. The search feature on the site will allow you to find just what you need. For example, type “Mesopotamia” into the search box and 49 pre-screened and carefully selected choices will pop up. You can then filter your search further if you’re looking for, say, a video. All of the Pathways are tagged to help you find resources for special needs or instructional methods.

We all know how overpaid teachers are, right? We just love to spend our own money in the classroom and buy supplies for which we’ll never even dream of being reimbursed. Hmmm…maybe not. The good news is Lesson Pathways isn’t going to break your classroom stipend (if you’re lucky enough to get one). Compared with a tutoring service, boxed curriculum, and other learning sites, you’ll find this service is incredibly cost-efficient.

If you’re still not sure, sign up for a FREE trial with Lesson Pathways. For more information, contact one of the team members at ContactUs@LessonPathways.com.

Be sure to stop by the The Work of Childhood between now and November 4th to find out how to win a FREE one year subscription to LessonPathways.com!!!

While you’re there, check out the archives to read about their family and adventures in homeschooling!

Homeschool co-ops can be formed for a number of reasons. With younger children, they often consist of more organized playgroups for which parents take turns coming up with good activity ideas each week. Sometimes co-ops are formed for academic purposes, focusing on a particular subject. Children may be close in age, or the subject may be one in which siblings of various ages are invited to participate.

Whatever your reasons for forming a co-op, here are some tips for starting and operating one successfully:

• ASSESS the Need for a Co-op
  One of the best ways to start a co-op is to be part of a larger homeschooling support group that meets on a periodic basis. Parents can then form sub-groups based on interests or ages, and co-ops may form out of those groups. It is important to see whether there is real interest in your co-op idea. Sometimes parents spend time and money trying to organize a co-op, but the interest isn’t there in the larger community or the schedule isn’t convenient. Make sure your idea generates some interest either by email or phone or even through a Yahoo! group. After people sign up initially, I make sure I contact them again individually–as the start date gets closer–to make sure they are really interested.

• Organization
  Even though a co-op is generally a group effort among parents, someone still needs to do the initial organizing, or the co-op may not be successful. Once initial interest has been established, the organizer should get parents to volunteer to participate in the co-op. The organizer should communicate well and be specific about times and dates, so parents know how much time and effort their participation will involve. This can actually be the hardest part since some new homeschoolers may over-promise their involvement and have to withdraw when they realize they are involved in too many activities. Also, the organizer has to make sure the parents have some willingness to work together with each other in a cooperative way. Some parents have very different educational goals and philosophies, so it’s better to know up front if you are all on the same philosophical page about the co-op and how it’s presented. I feel better about a group co-op when I really understand parental expectations. This may take more time, but it is worth it to make sure everyone has a willingness to do the work and follow through.

• Establish Ground Rules
  Without basic ground rules, hurt feelings are likely. One biggie is always money. Is there going to be a charge for supplies, and how are the co-op expenses to be paid? Do the co-op leaders give a general outline of what they are going to present before the class, or do the parents just trust each other to take over with their children? What kind of discipline is going to be used if children (or parents) get out of hand and are disruptive? It helps if these ground rules are clear at the beginning, so misunderstandings and feelings of too much responsibility on one parent’s shoulders do not arise. The biggest upsets I have encountered in co-ops have been over whether to pay an individual parent who has professional expertise in the area he or she is teaching. In general, I think it is simpler for parents to donate their time but get reimbursed for supplies.

• Maintain Balance
  Make sure you and the children have a good balance of time in the co-op. One of the things children don’t like is having absolutely no time to play if it’s an academic co-op. There should be some relaxing, social time for both parents and children, ensuring that everyone has fun. I think snacks are an important part of co-op success, but make sure everyone is on the same dietary wavelength here too. Parents can take turns bringing snacks as long as food allergies and dietary restrictions don’t leave some children out of snack time or cause them to eat food that’s not good for them. Diet is another one of those biggies, but if the fare is simple, basically healthy and agreed upon beforehand, everyone should enjoy the balance of learning, relaxing and snacking that marks a successful co-op. I find that children 10 and under really need playtime and are always ready to eat, so my co-ops have at least 20 minutes of unstructured playtime during which they can snack freely on what’s put out for them.

• Keep Communicating and Be Flexible
  Sometimes the goal of a co-op may change based on feedback from the parents and children. Be flexible enough to listen to feedback and make changes that will work for the group as a whole. And, if something really isn’t working for a family, make sure there is a way the family can make a graceful exit. I have personal experience in this area. I was the primary teacher in a co-op and a parent just didn’t realize the amount of work that was involved in my class. She was a new homeschooler and hadn’t really integrated my guidelines for parental involvement in the homework I established. As a result, her son was less prepared than he should have been. We ended up having a good talk about what would work best for her son, and she decided it wasn’t my co-op. She withdrew her child with no hard feelings and a refund of the supply costs.

Co-ops are a wonderful way for children to enjoy learning new skills and information from other parents or even guest speakers. If your co-op is organized well, families are respectful of the ground rules and communication lines are kept open, you are likely to have a successful co-op year.

This post was written by Lilian F., homeschool mom and Lesson Pathways contributor.

“FREE Flashcards”

If you like using flashcards, you know all too well how easy it is to quickly run up a tab when purchasing them! They can easily run anywhere from a $1 a pack to over $5 a pack, and one pack is never enough. You “need” a pack for this and for that and for the other thing. You’re quickly swimming in a sea of flashcard frenzy!

Having seen the price for a pack of flashcards, I quickly decided there was no way I was going to pay the price they were asking when I could easily create flashcards for my daughter with little to no cost at home. What could cost me up to $5 (or more) to buy, I can easily do in as little as ten minutes at home.

How do you make flashcards for FREE? Grab the following supplies and do these quick and easy steps to create your very own free flashcards!

Supplies needed:

• Empty cereal box (or other cardboard)

• Marker

• Scissors

• Bag or rubber band (for storage when you’re done)

(The example in the pictures is for matching numbers to their names.)

The Process:

#1 – Open the cereal box and use the inside “blank” part to write on.

#2 – Use the marker to write/draw out the text/picture you want on the flashcards.

#3 – Use the scissors to cut apart the flashcards.

You’re DONE! See how easy that was? And free, too!

The best part is that when your child loses them (and we all know that flashcards seem to disappear into thin air), you aren’t out any money and you can easily replace them for free!

I’ve used this idea to create puzzles, flashcards, matching games, and more. The sky’s the limit!

This post was written by Ashley P., homeschool mom and Lesson Pathways team member.

Don’t forget to stop by Walking Therein for a great round up of homeschool blog entries. There’s some fantastic inspirational reading, motivation and ideas!

Click to visit this week's Blog Carnvial of Homeschooling at the Walking Therein blog.