-by Mimi Rothschild

You have to have had your head in the sand for the past several years not to have heard of the ever-growing world of social networking websites such as Myspace, gloryLane, and Facebook. But what are these sites, really? And is there a way that you can use them and the internet in general to enhance your home school environment? Although it is a personal decision, as long as you’re careful the general answer would be yes.

First of all, the most important thing to remember about the internet is that it can be a dangerous, unsavory place, particularly for children. Should you decide to embark on the journey of incorporating today’s technology into your home school curriculum, be sure that you are diligent in monitoring the safety of your students.

That being said, what types of things can you do to bring the world wide web into your classroom?

Social networking sites, such as Facebook or the Christian Networking site gloryLane, are ways in which friends can keep in touch with one another, via cyberspace, and are growing in popularity daily. Many of these sites contain groups and causes you can join, ways to share links with your friends and family, and even games you can play. The games can even be interactive and somewhat educational, such as word games and IQ challenges, which will at least get your child thinking. If properly monitored, these sites can be an excellent way to foster socialization, particularly for the only child in a home school home. But be cautioned, just as there are positive aspects to some of these sites, there are, of course, also dangers. If you allow your child to create an account, be sure that the privacy levels are properly in place, and keep close tabs on what your child is doing when visiting their account.

Chat rooms and forums are another way to communicate with others online. There are countless sites that offer the ability to set up a free account and become a member of their communities, some general, others much more specific to a certain hobby or subject. In fact, there are even several out there dedicated to the world of home schooling. These types of sites can be beneficial to your child by encouraging them to develop and share thoughtful opinions with others and participate in worthwhile discussions. However, just as with the social networking sites, you must do your due diligence in properly monitoring any forum or chat activity that your child is participating in.

Blogs are an excellent way to help your child develop a love for writing. There are multiple websites that offer free blogs to anyone who wants to start one. Allowing your child to establish their own blog will help them to become independent, flex their creativity muscles, and share their thoughts and ideas with anyone who is interested in reading it. And the possible subjects or themes of blogs are endless. Is your child especially interested in ballet? Maybe a particular sport piques your son’s interest. Whatever they are passionate about would make great material for their own blog. What better way to encourage your student to write than to allow them to publish their work online, for the world to see?

As always, you must be cautiously optimistic about today’s changing and developing technological resources, and safety is always the key. Remind your child regularly that it is never ok to share personal information, such as address or phone numbers, with anyone they are speaking to online. If you are careful and diligent about it, the internet can be an excellent tool to add a new dimension to your home school classroom.

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Mimi Rothschild is the Founder of LearningByGrace.org the nation’s leading provider of online PreK-12 online Christian educational programs for homeschoolers.

-by Mimi Rothschild

You’re at the library, and your darling child runs to you with a wonderful book she just found. She loves the picture on the cover, and she’s excited about reading it, but how can you be sure it’s at the right reading level for her?

It’s great when there’s a reading level number on the book. You can sometimes find these codes on the back cover at the bottom, or on the front, in a top corner. Unfortunately, these numbers aren’t uniform. One series of books will call their books levels 1, 2, and 3 while another calls the same levels “beginning,” “step one,” and “step two.” It can be useful to work through a series, since the books will consistently get more difficult as they move through the levels. When you’re mixing series, don’t rely on the numbers, because there’s no reason to expect them to match.

Books with numbers like “4.3” are more consistent. This generally means the third month of fourth grade. But there really isn’t a consistent definition of what a fourth grader reads. Your students may read more easily or less easily than the hypothetical kids those numbers are designed for. The good thing about this system is that if your child reads one book marked 2.6 comfortably, then he can probably read another one with the same ranking just as easily, even if it’s not in the same series or from the same publisher. Then you can move up to the next number, and the next, with confidence.

A great rule of thumb when there are no reading levels on the book is the Four Word Rule. Have your child read one page aloud. If she stumbles on or doesn’t recognize four or more words, then that book is too hard. Have her choose another one, and remember the more difficult one for the future.

If your child’s heart is set on reading a book that seems too hard or too easy, consider trying it anyway. When it comes to books that are too easy, consider that you probably don’t relax with Fyodor Dostoevsky every evening. Sometimes we don’t need a challenge. Reading for pleasure is an important part of adult life, and kids should develop that habit early.

The book that’s too hard? Let your child work diligently on a few pages, and then read some of the wonderful and challenging book aloud for him to enjoy. Later, let him read some more on his own. Learning to read is hard work, but the rewards are worth it. Shared reading can help kids get that lesson.

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Mimi Rothschild is the Founder of LearningByGrace.org the nation’s leading provider of online PreK-12 online Christian educational programs for homeschoolers.

One of the great things about homeschooling is that we can teach each of our children in the very best way for that particular child. One of the learning differences that matters most is the child’s preferred sensory modality.

That’s a long phrase that means that some children learn better through seeing (visual learners), some through hearing (auditory learners), and some through touching (kinesthetic learners). God has given us our senses, and we all use them in the ways that are best for our uniquely created selves.

How Can I Tell My Child’s Preferred Sensory Modality?

When you get out a map, your visual learners might look closely and study it. Your auditory learners might look at it briefly and then look back at you, listening for an explanation, or start reading the names of the countries out loud. Your kinesthetic learners might touch the map, tracing out a route with their fingers.

Some people are more balanced than others, and might seem to use information from different sensory channels equally. Usually, even more balanced learners show their preferred modality when they’re feeling a little stressed.

Your auditory learner might talk to herself when she is working hard on a math test. Your kinesthetic learner might count on his fingers or doodle numbers in the margins. Your visual learner might write in the margins, too, but he’ll be doing it so he can look at the figures to see whether they look right.

Fortunately, all children learn best when they use all their senses, so you don’t have to be sure about their
preferred modalities. Just include a range of different activities in your lessons. It is so easy for us to think of activities that fit our own preferred modality! Sometimes we need to be reminded of the best activities for the other learning modalities.

Activities for Visual Learners
• Looking at charts and diagrams.
• Color-coding information
• Using graphic organizers to show information
• Practicing with flashcards and worksheets
• Using videos

Activities for Auditory Learners
• Listening to lectures
• Discussing information and ideas
• Reading aloud
• Using learning songs and chants
• Reciting information and doing oral practice

Activities for Kinesthetic Learners
• Using manipulatives
• Doing hands-on practice
• Creating models
• Playing games with information
• Using role play and drama

A perfect lesson would include activities for all the senses. We know that practicing new learning in different ways helps children learn better than practicing for the same amount of time using the same approach. Research also shows that multisensory lessons are learned more easily and remembered longer.

Combine different activities to get the most out of each of them and the best for each learner. Learning videos let visual learners watch and auditory learners listen. Let kinesthetic learners follow along with drawings or manipulatives, or try out what they see on their own. Have kinesthetic learners make graphic organizers with their visual learner siblings, and the auditory learners will join in discussing how to sort the information in the organizers. You can even include cooking, gardening, and nature study to bring in the senses of smell and taste. As far as we know, children don’t use these senses as their preferred learning modality, but we have all seen how cooking a dish from a country being studied can bring that lesson to life.

Soon multisensory lessons will be second nature!

-By Mimi Rothschild

Whether you find that your homeschool needs conflict with the use of the family computer for work or play, you have enough students that you feel the need for a second computer, or you’ve had your computer for so long that you just need a new one, there comes a time in the homeschool career when you need to buy a new computer.

How can you choose the best one for your needs?

“Your needs” is the important phrase there. It is possible to pay for features that you won’t use, or to end up feeling frustrated with your new machine. Before you shop, spend some time thinking about your needs.

• You watch online videos and lessons. You’ll not only want to be sure to have as much memory, or RAM, as possible (for speed and smoothness) and a good video card, but also a good set of headphones so students can comfortably watch lessons without disturbing others, and possibly also sound cards and speakers that allow all students to listen and watch together.
• You use the internet for research. Make sure you get the fastest processor for your money. Graphics cards, hard drive space, and software bundles aren’t so important if this is your main use of the computer. Instead, go for speed – and watch for deals that include a printer so you can print hard copies of the information you find.
• You use the computer to produce papers, web pages, and art projects. You may not need speed, but make sure you have enough memory for all the programs you want to install, and hard drive space enough to store large projects. Bypass the DVD burners for software bundles, but only if they include programs you really need, and are really less expensive than buying the programs individually once you subtract the programs you don’t need.
• You like to work in lots of different places. If it’s important for little brother to do lessons at big brother’s soccer game, in the car while traveling, or at dad’s office, then go for a laptop. If you stay in the schoolroom till it’s time to go out and play, then a desktop machine will give you more for your money.

Computers are becoming more and more affordable, but you still have choices about where to put your dollars. The clearer your ideas about how you want to use your new machine, the better your stewardship can be.

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Mimi Rothschild is the Founder of Learning By Grace, Inc. the nation’s leading provider of online PreK-12 online Christian educational programs for homeschoolers.

-by Mimi Rothschild

Incorporating what is happening in politics today into your homeschool lessons is a critical part of developing well-rounded, balanced students who are armed to face the world as they grow older. There is no better time to do so than now, with another presidential race in progress right before our eyes.

But what is the best way to draw your children in, and make it interesting? How do we instill in them the importance and gravity of selecting a leader for our country? It can be difficult, particularly with the media bias. It is quite evident that most national news networks favor liberal parties in their reporting. So the responsibility to provide your children with a true idea of what is happening in our country lies with you. Talk to them about the presidential race, and the candidates who are running. Explain to them, on their level, the difference in the views of each party, and what they both stand for. Encourage your children to ask questions, and take part in discussions about politics. Depending on their age, ask them to define what they believe to be the most important topics that our future president (and other political leaders) should stand behind.

Discussing current politics is also a great way to tie back into the subject of U.S. History, and remind your students of how this country was founded on freedom and democracy, and most importantly, Christian principles. Relay to them the importance of voting, when they come of age, and how critical it is that we all have a say in who leads this country. Every vote really does count, so make that clear to them at a young age. And don’t forget to make it fun. If you have two or more students, organize mock political debates so they have the opportunity to think critically and articulate. (Not to mention, this will also help with public speaking skills.)

Discussing the topic of government and politics is also a wonderful way to remind children of the importance of praying for our country, and its leaders, so be sure to include this in your devotional as well. If you make a point to work at incorporating current events into your daily lessons, your children are sure to benefit on many levels in the future. And so will our country. God bless America!

-by Mimi Rothschild

Constitution Day is celebrated in the United States on September 17th, since it was on September 17th, 1787 that thirty-nine brave men signed the original document. Now, 221 years later, we can celebrate this special day in our homeschool activities.

Read the Preamble of the Constitution to younger students and with older ones. It’s beautiful!

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Here’s the list of things the framers of the Constitution wanted it to do:

• form a more perfect union (make our country the best it can be)
• establish justice (make sure our country is fair and just)
• insure domestic tranquility (make sure we have peace in our country)
• provide for the common defense (defend our country against enemies)
• promote the general welfare (help people live well)
• secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity (keep freedom for ourselves and our children and their children on into the future)

Help your children say these things in their own words and draw pictures or write sentences describing these goals. Then discuss whether people who did these things for their country would be following the Word of God.

2 Samuel 23:3b-4 reminds us that “He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.”
Romans 13:4 says about the people in the government, “He is God’s servant to do you good.”

Finish with a prayer of thanksgiving for the Constitution!

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