Nothing's New Under the Sun

Nearly everything I've learned about home schooling comes from someone else - nothing's really original with me. But as we plug along at our work, I'm learning new things to incorporate into our routines. The end result is that the kids are loving school work more and more, and I'm finding easier ways of doing things! In that light, I thought I'd share a few.

I pulled out some math worksheets for the boys today, and on a whim I grabbed colored pencils for them to use when filling them out (K had a crayon in his hand, which is what gave me the idea). They were thrilled with the "fancy" pencils and were very motivated to finish their work. Although colored pencil lead is more difficult to erase, the motivation it provided was well worth the extra erasing effort.

A friend mentioned that Mr. Clean Magic Erasers worked well on a white board. Since ours had gathered several "permanent" marks on it, I gave it a try. Wow! It now looks great. I keep it right next to the board and use it instead of the dry-erase one. If the board gets extra dirty, I just add water to the sponge and it takes it right off. What a great tip!

I don't remember how I learned to add and subtract, but I did know that I wanted the boys to visualize calculations rather than simply memorize addition and subtraction flash cards (that's not to say that flash cards don't have a valuable use at times). When my mom gave me several sets of manipulatives, I was really excited! I rotate the sets - some are colorful bears, some are various shapes, and some are little houses and characters - and the boys can use them to see exactly why 7+2=9 by setting up the manipulatives. Eventually they'll be able to do their math lessons without this aid, but right now we're working on the "why" instead of simply the end result. Thanks, Mom!

My mom-in-law recommended that we try a new curriculum next year - one that's based on hands-on unit studies, and the same curriculum she used for Jon. Since I learned via workbooks and loved that method, I was a little uncertain about teaching something out of my comfort zone. I'm realizing, though, that the kids LOVE hands-on training. It only makes sense that they would learn the same way Jon did! As hard as it will be for me to step out of my comfort zone, I think it will work really well for us. I'm really excited! Prior to her suggestion, though, I didn't even know what unit studies were, or that I could teach the same core curriculum to multiple grades and then assign age/grade-appropriate activities.

Everything we do comes from others' tips and suggestions. I'm okay with that; I've always been the type of learner who can copy someone else's ideas but who cannot come up with them on my own. I'm very thankful to everyone who offers ideas and help, because I'd be lost without them!