Homeschool Resources Online

Homeschooling and Children Who Misbehave

2012-02-01T13:20:00.000-08:00

Homeschooling and Children who Misbehave

Parenting styles is often one of the biggest issues that comes up within a group.

Homeschooled children are often better behaved and are more attentive than their public schooled counterparts. A homeschooled child doesn't get to go off to school to do whatever they want to (as long as the teacher doesn't catch them) while their parents aren't watching.

All day long they are with their mom (usually) who is ever observant and intervening should their behavior be inappropriate in the situation (like too loud in a place requiring silence), or not following the golden rule during play.

When a homeschooled child starts to do something that is a potential harm to themselves, another person, or an object or building, there is often an immediate intervention. When this is done consistently and at an early enough age, manners and appropriate behavior becomes the norm and requires very little reinforcement as the child gets older. At least that has been my experience with my own child and my observation of numerous homeschoolers in various parts of the country.

I'm not condoning yelling, or using harsh or corporal punishment. I'm talking about watching your young child like a hawk when you are in a public place or they are playing with others. When they even begin to do something mean, dangerous, or potentially damaging you stop it immediately.

And then, down on your knees, eye to eye with them, you explain in a calm and loving voice why its not O.K. You explain why they could get hurt. Or, you say how would you feel if someone did that to you? And you do it again and again until the kid gets it. It usually doesn't take that long.

There are exceptions however. Some children do whatever they want to without the parent intervening or correcting behavior. Sometimes the parent seems completely oblivious to their child's actions. Children from that type of environment sometimes:

bully other kids,
steal or break toys and other objects,
hit, push or shove others,
are disruptive,
don't listen,
don't follow directions or rules.

Being in a group with a child like that is hard on everyone. The other children are stressed because they don't feel safe. The parents are concerned for their own child's safety and when the child in question misbehaves, no-one really knows what to do.

You are responsible for your child's actions.

The Unwritten Bad Behavior Rule

Its an unwritten homeschool rule that if a child is misbehaving, it's that child's parent that needs to correct it.

If you are leading a group activity, teaching a class, or someone else's child has been left in your care for a play date or some other reason, then you are the adult in charge and you are responsibility for the health, safety, and behavior of that child.

If you are at an activity with other homeschool parents and someone else's child misbehaves, the unwritten rule says you don't correct the child's behavior. You let the child's parent do it.

But what do you do when the child's parent does nothing?

I remember being a new homeschool mom and meeting up with several families for a fun day at the creek. When we got there, several of the boys were standing on a log that jutted out over the water. One of the boys was being exceedingly rough and was pushing, pulling, and prodding the other boys into the water.

Several of them ended up wet, bruised, bleeding, and in tears. Most of the other moms kept giving each other looks in total disbelief that the child's mother didn't stop his poor behavior. It was the first time most of us had ever met. I had only met the child's mother once or twice previously. No-one said anything to her.

If it had been my kid behaving that way, he would have been hauled out of the water immediately and taken home. Hurting others is just not O.K. in my book. And today, having much more experience, I would have talked to the mom.

A parent not taking corrective action when their child misbehaves can be the cause of great distress and disharmony within a group. I've seen it over and over again.

The best course of action is to have a conversation with the parent. It won't be comfortable and it probably won't be easy. But if you can speak honestly, without anger, judgment, or some other negative emotion, and just share the facts of the situation and the discomfort of yourself and your child, then it is often possible to come to some sort of agreement or game plan on what to do in the future.

Nutrition Can Be a Factor in Poor Behavior

I'm certainly not a trained nutritionist or dietician, but we've all read reports about how:

dramatically sugar, food allergies, and chemical additives can impact behavior,
damaging soft drinks, artificial sweeteners, and other "bad" foods can be.
important proper nutrition is to good health and emotional stability.

Before and during your trail adventure, give your kids healthy snakes and fresh water.

Every Outing Puts Homeschooling on Display

Across the board and across the nation homeschooling is misunderstood.

People who have never encountered homeschoolers assume we are doing our children a huge injustice and not giving them a proper education. Or they assume we are religious zealots sheltering our children from "the real world" and brainwashing them with religious dogma. Typically, neither assumption is correct.

Every homeschooler is a representative of homeschooling in the bigger community. When a group of homeschoolers goes for a hike, visits a museum, or takes some other type of field trip, the behavior of the children in the group dictates how those outside the homeschool community view homeschooling.

If kids leave trash or destroy the delicate ecosystems along a trail, run amuck and make lots of noise in places where that's not appropriate, don't listen or follow rules or directions when on a tour, it puts all of homeschooling in a bad light. At a tour location, it can mean that future homeschool groups will not be allowed to visit.

Teach your child manners, how to be respectful of others, how to behave as part of a group, at a museum, and out in the woods.

And then have fun exploring,
Takara

Homeschool Dinosaur Science Link Paleobiology

2011-12-15T05:45:00.000-08:00

Hi:

Just got word of this quick and to the point post of a walk through behind the scenes of the Paleobiology Department at the Smithsonian Institute.

Dinosaur lovers will really enjoy this:
http://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2011/11/14/behind-the-scenes/

Visit Homeschool Resources Online for more great science links.

Enjoy,
Takara

How to find an Accredited Homeschool Curriculum

2011-12-05T13:18:00.000-08:00

I recently received an email from a woman seeking help. She was planning to take her child out of school and begin homeschooling. The problem is that she was only planning to do that for a little while and the child would then be re-entering the public education system. The school administration insisted that she find an accredited program to use to home educate her child.

She was not in a financial situation to afford many of the accredited programs online. There are many wonderful accredited homeschool programs available, but they do cost a fair bit of money.

You can find a great list of such resources at http://www.homeschoolsantafe.com/Homeschool-Curriculum.htm

This was my response to this woman seeking advice:

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor to homeschool your child. Unfortunately, when I lived in New Mexico I was unschooling with no intention of having my child attend school. So I had no need to care about accreditation. I now live in Virginia.

Unless you plan to continue to homeschool through high school, you probably do need to get an accredited program. Many of the homeschool families I know in Santa Fe have either started having their child attend a private school, or they enroll their child at the Community College as soon as that is possible. In Santa Fe it is age 12. They will get their high school diploma by taking the GED exam.

This list of organizations is from my website. I'm not sure if the one for New Mexico is still in operation. I know the ones for Santa Fe are though, so you might start there. Just ask to join the list and then post to each the information you sent to me. Homeschool parents are typically very helpful with requests like that. Or you could simply put all that in your request to join. The moderator might actually answer your questions.

Homeschool Organizations in New Mexico

Home Learning Community of Santa Fe
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homelearningcommunityofsantafe/

New Mexico Homeschool Community
http://www.newmexicohomeschoolcommunity.com/

Santa Fe Homeschool Association
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/santafehomeschoolassociation/

Both Santa Fe groups have approximately 150 members. The New Mexico site used to be a yahoo email list but is now a website with forums for discussion. Some families choose to be on more than one list so they don't miss anything.

Southwest Home Education - http://www.southwest-home-education.com. This organization hosts the homeschool trip to disneyland and other regional events.

There is an online program that is very good - particularly for your child's age. I don't think it is accredited though. Here is the link: http://www.time4learning.com.

Best of luck,
Takara

Free Electoral College Poster for Teaching Kids About U.S. Elections

2011-11-03T10:11:00.001-07:00

Hi:

I am always looking for new resources for homeschooling and to add to my homeschool website. Recently I came across C-Span Classroom. I just got a f*r*ee giant electoral collage map from them in the mail. It will be a great resource when we talk about elections and how they work in this country. If you would like one, they are still being offered at this link: http://www.c-spanclassroom.org/ You have to scroll about half way down the page. There is a map of the U.S. with numbers on it. The section says Special Offer.

Have a fabulous day,
Takara (Deb)

New and Free Video and Audio Resources

2011-11-02T06:32:00.000-07:00

As a homeschool mom, I am always on the lookout for great online video and audio resources for learning.

I just came across this one today: http://www.learnoutloud.com/content/blog/archives/2011/10/2000_new_free_a.html?utm_source=FROTD&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Free%2BResource%20of%20the%20Day

Learn Out Loud just added 2000 new free resources. I'm sure you will find something there to benefit your home education.

Have a deLightful day,
Takara

Found New Websites for Homeschool and Home Work

2011-10-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

My son, Jess, is very interested in Science. That keeps me constantly on the lookout for the best science sites out there.

Today I found this one called Dr. Universe. http://druniverse.wsu.edu/ It's a great site that answers questions about anything and everything using a comic book format. I found it very entertaining and very educational. Dr. Universe is a cat.

Also while cruising around today looking for science information for teens, I discovered this one. It's called Channel One and it's actually a news channel geared towards teenagers. It talks about all the biggest stories in the news and asks provocative questions about how it might relate to them. http://www.channelone.com/

Have a great day,
Takara

Planning and Scheduling Your Homeschool Education

2011-10-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

Someone asked a question about how other parents help their kid's understand the schedule and planning of their homeschool day or week. This was my response:

People need different things and sometimes it's not obvious what it is they need until you talk about it further.

One thing I do know, though, is that there are basically 2 kinds of people. According to DISC, a personality profiling exam used often for work groups, there are 4. But I lump them into 2 when I'm trying to help people understand the other people they are working with.

After a team I was facilitating went through their DISC exams and training, I'd go over it in more detail back at the plant. I'd give them this scenario I made up to drive home the point. This is what I'd say:

"Let's pretend that it's 2:30 p.m. on a Friday. I'm holding in my hands some free tickets to Jamaica ~ or some other exotic location that is "hot" right now for vacationing ~ all expanses paid. Here is the deal. You have between now and 5 p.m. to get what you need and meet me at the airport. Who will be there?"

Several hands would typically fly up into the air. And then everyone in the room starts looking very strangely at one another.

Why?

Because everyone thinks the other people are nuts.

People like me would absolutely be there. A free trip to Jamaica, you bet, no hesitation. And there would be several others who would also absolutely be there. You see those people are spontaneous. They live in the moment. They adapt to change. They need little supervision. They get bored easily. And they hate repetition.

But there is this whole other group of people that would never in a million years even consider such a thing. There are too many things to think about, too many details to put in order. They would not even be tempted to go. They are great at details and prefer repetition and a "routine" of some kind. And for the most part those people need structure. They need a plan.

In a corporate environment, I would tell supervisors and managers that the first group just needs a little bit of direction and they can run with a change. But they need to give those people in the second group about 2 weeks notice before they want some "change" to be implemented. That way the person can think about it, ask questions, and slowly and comfortably adapt to the change.

At my house, I'm the one who is spontaneous. My son likes to know what is going to happen. He isn't an extreme case, he just needs to know more than I do. So we are spontaneous and adapting inside a bigger structure.

What I mean is I've put together a weekly schedule that includes the broad topics we are covering and when, as well as all the things that happen weekly like classes with others, park days, even the typical times he is open to hang out with friends. These are just big chunks of time with the topic listed.

I have this on my google calendar and it is color coded. A certain color for our classes. Red for events we have signed up for or I have paid for. Green for events we are invited to attend, but are not obligated to attend like park days. I pull it up all the time to stay on track. I also have it printed and put inside of our homeschool notebook where I keep track of what we are doing and my favorite resources online.

These are the things we are trying to accomplish each week. The red things have to be done. The green things we try to do as many as possible. Our at home classes are flexible. If we have to move something around because I'm on a phone call or he is skyping with his dad, it's O.K. if we miss the time. But we will make it up some other time during the week. And we both know that.

If I had more than 1 kid, I would probably use one of those pin up boards that is half pin up board and half write on wipe off. I would post the weekly schedule on the pin up part and hand write on the other side any unusual events that are not on the recurring weekly schedule like a doctors visit, along with the time we need to leave for it. Then everyone is on the same page and those who need to know about things before they happen have that opportunity.

Those are my thoughts. Hope they are helpful.

Takara (Deb)

Updates to the Homeschool Videos and Resources Online Website

2011-10-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone:

I spent most of this weekend making sweeping updates to my homeschool resources website.

I would love your feedback and any additional resources you might suggest.

If you have visited the site before, you might need to refresh or reload the page.

Thanks for your input.

Have a fabulous day,
Takara (Deb)

Free Homeschool Books and eBooks

2011-10-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder if you can download homeschool books for free?

Well you can. There are several sites online - including Amazon - where you can download free books for homeschooling or pleasure reading.

Visit this link for my full list of free homeschool books and ebooks. Just scroll down to the section called "Free Books and other Documents Online." There are literally over a million book choices to view on line or to download onto your computer or your book reader like Kindle or nook.

Have a fabulous day,
Takara (Deb)

Cheap Discount Homeschool Books and Curriculum

2011-10-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

I have fun finding great homeschool books and materials at a discount. It's almost a game.

I pick up books and reference guides all over the place. I visit yard sales, used book stores, and second hand stores. Since the turn over at some of these places is fast, you might find nothing one day and a bunch of stuff another. Homeschool book sales are a gold mine. They are often held at the end or beginning of the school year.

Recently we actually did an out and out swap through one of the homeschool boards. Nobody had to buy anything. We just all brought whatever we were no longer using and we could take anything that would be useful for our child(ren).

If I find a series I like, I always google discount or cheap followed by the name. I buy a lot of home school books and materials at Amazon. I also check eBay, but don't often find anything there.

There are a few places that offer used homeschool curriculum for sale. Just google it. Sam's club has several very nice workbooks for subjects up through about 4th grade. You can often find them for sale at a discount at homeschool book sales.

If I know the subject I need something for and I'm not sure about what book or program to choose, while I'm researching I often read the reviews on Amazon. You can learn a lot by doing that.

The homeschool buyers co-op is free to join and offers great discounts on very nice programs. We've enjoyed several of them.

If you want to include on-line learning, time4learning is very inexpensive. We used it through 4th grade. Then my son lost interest.

Homeschool Resources Online

2011-10-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

This new homeschool resources online blog is where I'll be sharing the tools, links, educational materials, and insights I've learned from homeschooling my own child and talking to numerous other homeschool parents from across the U.S.

Please jump in and add your own comments, questions, and suggestions.

Have a fabulous day,
Takara