Homeschooling Tips

I know that some Mommies are new to homeschooling, so I thought I would throw a few resources out there and also some tips. 

When it comes to grade keeping, I've done good and sadly I have done poorly. The year before last I did good. Last year, well let's just say I still need to organize my grades. This year we started using the Homeschool Tracker. I love it. It is a great way to keep grades, keep track of the days of school you have done, etc...I have a free version of it, but might look into upgrading sometime. It is a great way to keep track of your students work, grades, tests, and field trips etc...The link is here
http://www.homeschooltracker.com/tracker_basic.aspx

Another web site I like and have started using some of their products is The Simple Homeschool. Their products are very affordable and you buy and download. You can print off the pages you need, and still have the product for your next child if you want to use it again. I really like this since we have five kids. They have lots and lots of unit studies. The only thing I wish was included with the Unit Studies were tests, but you can make your own tests. You can also sign up and get weekly freebies from them. The link is here
http://thesimplehomeschool.com/

Another organization that I really appreciate is the HSLDA. You can become a member and they will help you if anyone comes to give you trouble over homeschooling. They also offer a lot of other things such as state specific laws for homeschooling. Their link is here
http://www.hslda.org

I love to "laminate" things. I put laminate in quotations because while I love to laminate, it is expensive to do so. I use to buy rolls of clear boxing tape and use that to "laminate" things. But this year I was having the kids make something and the homeschool book said to use clear contact paper to cover what they were making...lightbulb! Now I use clear contact paper to laminate things. I love it. It is an inexpensive way to keep papers looking nice.

Boys...God has blessed us with four boys. You have heard the saying that "Boys will be boys". While this is true to some degree, boys still need discipline and lots of love to turn them into God honoring and well behaved young men. But boys have a lot of energy. They think about things as noises and moving. They have a hard time sitting still. I want to encourage all mommies who have boys, be patient with them. They might have a hard time learning to sit still. Try to find a way to get to their heart. Don't worry about trying to always keep a certain schedule. Be flexible. If they are struggling with a concept, pray about it. Go on line and search for an answer. Talk to other mothers whose boys are older and who have homeschooled their young boys. They can be a wealth of advice. If you need to slow down the material you are learning. It's OK. It is better to slow down and let them learn a concept well. Sometimes when we slow down it opens other doors to teach things that might have been left by the wayside.

Comparing ourselves. Don't compare yourself with other families, other homeschooling moms. When you look at what other homeschooling familes are doing, it can be discouraging. They get more done, their kids are always behaved. They have more money and can buy more things for their kids, their kids are taking pre algebra in fourth grade. Stop comparing. We do not need to keep up with everyone else. It can cause us a lot of discontent to be always comparing ourselves to each other.
We can always find tips and be open to learning something new from others when it comes to homeschooling, but remember what works for one family, might not work for another family. Bathe your day in prayer.

And lastly, don't lay your husband to the side. Remember his needs. Talk to him about the homeschooling. When he makes a suggestion listen to him. Often our husbands suggest something to us and we are quick to say...no that won't work, no that is not how I think we should do it. And you know what? Eventually they will stop suggesting things to us. They will pull away and let us have our way. But we need to go to our husbands. We need to listen to them. And when they want to do something, sometimes instead of arguing over it, we need to listen and do it thier way. I think sometime us wives would be surprised at how something works well that they have suggested. We also need to remember that our husbands are the head of our homes. God put them in that position. We need to love and respect our husbands. We need to be his helper. We need to encourage him. I know that a lot of days we are exhausted at the end of the day, but we need to make sure we love and honor our husbands. I am guilty a lot of thinking about me and what my husband and kids need to do for me. It is good for us to have the mindset of serving our families. Of serving them because we love them. Because we are thankful for them.

And finally, bathe your day in prayer. Ask the Lord for wisdom. The Bible says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."  James 1:5