Now that you have concluded that homeschooling is the way to
broaden the mind of your children, you must get ready for the
thrill and the anguish - the highroad ahead is a bit uneven,
nonetheless the awards are deeper than the struggles before you.
Creating a well-adjusted and well-rounded individual is by no
means a small victory.
It is imperative to check out your state laws on distance
learning in your home sweet home. Some states need an assertion
filed with the State's intellectual acquirement department.
There are in essence 3 sections for homeschooling bills. These
are: private classroom codes, distance learning course of study
laws and equivalency laws. Find your state laws. You may in
addition need to maintain a certificate that gives a history of
the kid's academic accomplishment. It is noteworthy to be
watchful into the legal demands in advance of your commencement
of homeschooling. Some states further set conditions surrounding
the certification and training the parent or teacher must
acquire.
Seek for a support group. If you live in a welcoming or snoopy
region, well-meaning acquaintances will try to discourage you.
At the very least, they may put a lot of disturbed questions in
your mind. A care group that is composed of cherish-minded
public will seclude you from the adverse criticism, pressures
and burdens of sustained kindergarten-
also be helpful when you want to plan fun events and take
pleasure in visits to the zoo, museum, tours to the ice cream
shops etc. Furthermore, if your youth befriend other
home-schoolers they will be able to strengthen continuing ties
that do not decline when their friends change as so many do who
are in the public school system. These groups offer an
imperative path for companionship.
The next noteworthy thing to do is to pick out a general
education course of study. Depending upon the manner of
homeschooling, you may adopt assorted tools that facilitate you
in this process. The World Wide Web is also a rich means for
homeschooling. Do some legwork and hunt for the material that is
obtainable.
Homeschooling requires greatly of your self-discipline and hard
work as well as your children's. Here is a thorough write up of
the things you will need:
1) Excitement to broaden the mind
2) Hard work and determination
3) Self-discipline
4) Time and determination
5) Adjustability
6) Enthusiasm
Look at why you made the choice to opt for homeschooling. Your
aspirations and your reasons are critical pillars on which the
whole edifice of your kid's lessons depends. Furthermore,
consult with your little kids.Ask them what they feel about
homeschooling.
Designate a general education or custom-model of general
studies that easiest suits your kids. Book keeping is an
imperative part of homeschooling.
to be disciplined when you have a plan. Initiate a plan and
review it with your children. Your child does not like to cram
the mind 6-7 hours a day. Make allowance for him or her to
dictate a portion of the time. Adjustability and fun are the
cornerstones of homeschooling. Do not stuff too many skills into
a single term or minute. Let the adolescent learn the skills
that he is ready for.
Gentle parenting is the secret to successful homeschooling.
Kids will make immense advances in comprehending and show larger
excitement. They moreover turn out to be surprisingly well
balanced and well informed when they are educated at home sweet
home.
About The Author: Carol is active in distance learning, home
schooling, and has books on home school guides.
http://www.homescho
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.
Do I look like a student?
Thursday, September 27, 2007
How To Homeschool Your Son Or Daughter
Monday, September 24, 2007
What Is Abeka Home Schooling
When thinking about home schooling, its easy to begin to be
overwhelmed with the right place to begin. Since homeschooling
has received more popularity in the 20th century than in the
past, there are a lot more resources that you could have found
20 years ago. The downside of this is that there's almost too
much information from everyone coming out of the woodwork with
his or her ideas, views, and preferred styles regarding
homeschooling. For instance, you could spend a whole day just
trying to figure out all of your state laws that pertain to
homeschooling! You've probably heard A Beka mentioned quite a
bit if you are investigating homeschooling. Although there are
many types of homeschooling, such as Classical, Montessori,
Eclectic, A Beka is not a type of homeschooling, its actually a
curriculum package for homeschooled parents to use to teach
their children.
A Beka is actually a curriculum that supports one of the
methods of homeschooling: The Christian Method. Actually, A Beka
is one of the most popular Christian homeschooling learning
curriculum. It's a curriculum guide that is published in Florida
by Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida.
A Beka is a complete learning system for your child that has
all of the bells and whistle's, such as, teacher's guides,
templates for testing, suggested lesson plans, and well written
text books. It is well knows that A Beka is a challenging
curriculum and is usually one grade ahead of normal public
schools. For example, second grade A Beka learning curriculum is
equivalent to first grade public school lesson plans.
Its good to note, that A Beka is one of the more expensive
Christian curriculums on the market, but is well worth checking
it out. You can always look for used books, guides, and lessons
plans online or in your Christian book stores if the new
curriculum is out of your spending comfort zone. Its also good
to check with some of your local homeschooling groups or
internet review sites to read up on A Beka curriculum.
About The Author: Carol Currie is the author of many home
school e-books. She is involved in many groups surrounding home
schools and distance learning techniques.
http://www.homescho
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Virginia Schools Introduce Kids To Award-Winning Author
Middle school students attending two Virginia Schools have had
the opportunity to meet an award-winning author. Sharon Flake
has written a work of fiction about a 13-year-old African
American girl who struggles to fit in with her peers. The book,
Skin I'm In, has universal appeal to students as well as adults.
Kids like those attending Virginia Schools have a great novel to
read that conveys an even greater message – to be happy with who
you are; and Virginia Schools students may gain some insight
into how others feel along the way.
Remember those awkward days of junior high or middle school?
You felt an intense desire to be like everyone else; to stand
out was the last thing on earth that you wanted. To stand out
from the crowd meant that you were different, and would probably
be teased, ridiculed, or even bullied because of it. Flake's
book helps students come to grips with this issue.
The message that the Virginia Public Schools want to send, in
addition to this important life lesson, is to get kids more
excited about becoming literate. They see the book as a way to
inspire reluctant readers in the Virginia Schools to pick up
this book, or any other book, and read. Being able to read
fluently and with complete understanding is a necessity of life.
We must be able to read in order to function in society. You
have to read street signs, packages at grocery stores,
instructions for assembling household products (like your kid's
bike), and bills. Ours is a print-saturated world, and there's
no getting around reading. For those who can't read, it's is a
life that is sorely lacking in the wonderful world of words. The
leaders of the Virginia Schools want to help their students
become more and more literate, and to love doing it. While you
can't force a kid to love to read, you can keep trying, until
you find a book or genre that they're interested in. That's
usually the key that unlocks the joy of reading for kids who are
initially resistant.
Another benefit of the author coming out to the Virginia
Schools is that kids can see that authors are real people. Maybe
some of them dream of becoming an author themselves one day;
meeting and talking with a published author can bring that dream
one step closer to reality. Knowing that others have succeeded
is a great motivation to work hard yourself. Hopefully, the
students in the Virginia Schools who've had this opportunity
will be inspired by it; whether to read more or to become
writers themselves who have attended Virginia Schools.
Virginia Schools recognize the importance of not only helping
students become more literate and excited about it, but to
provide those same Virginia Schools students with real-life
examples of what it means to be a writer. After all, to be a
great writer, you need to be a great reader. To be a great
reader means that you'll be an even greater writer. In this
writer's humble opinion, that's definitely something worth
working for. Go Virginia Schools!
About The Author: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools
K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and
private K-12 schools. For more information please visit
http://www.schoolsk
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Texas Schools Set An Example
Happy Days in Texas Schools
Texas school districts are enjoying a revival, and how! In
recent years, the state's schools are finding increased success
meeting all the measures of a school's success- motivated well
performing students, and schools and teachers who set the bar
higher for themselves. More tellingly, these high achievement
levels of Texas schools cover students across all racial and
linguistic divides, a happy state of affairs in a system where
educational proficiency differences between ethnic groups are
still marked. It's not perfect, but look at the results so far.
Enhanced Student Performance at Texas Schools
According to 2005 education statistics, nine out of ten
children in Texas schools passed the Texas Assessment of
Knowledge and Skills Test. This challenging test aims at
gauging proficiency levels before graduation. This increased
proficiency has long term benefits in other areas as well. Many
students in Texas schools are now opting for AP (Advanced
Placement) courses, and many of them are enjoying successful
results in these exams. In fact in 2004-05, nearly 99,429
students taking the AP tests were graded at 3 or higher on a
scale of 1 to 5. Compare this to the 28,331 students who placed
at the same grade in 1996.
Increasing Program Options at Texas Schools
Yet another measure of a school's functioning is the kind of
opportunities that it can offer its students, and it appears
Texas schools are doing just that. In many Texas schools,
foreign language studies are required to be undertaken for a
minimum of two years in order to be eligible for graduation.
Hiring qualified foreign language teachers has proven to be a
problem in the past, but the Texas schools have found a way of
circumventing this problem by making use of distance learning
techniques and video conferencing equipment. This approach
coupled with innovative teaching methodologies has proven to be
a great success. In fact, it's been so popular that the program
is now being expanded to include courses in other languages,
economics, and psychology.
Challenges of Distance Learning in Texas Schools
The success of this distance learning mechanism in some Texas
schools has prompted the expansion of this program to many other
schools in the state. The system, although successful, isn't
without its challenges. Often teachers provide distance
instruction in more than one school, and that creates problems
when it comes to adjusting dates. School days and breaks may
differ between districts, and this creates challenges for
teachers who have to resort to some really expert juggling to
reach all the Texas schools they serve. However, these are
relatively minor issues, and nothing that can't be aided by
using some good old fashioned determination. And new-fashioned
technology. By using cutting edge equipment to smooth out the
distance learning mechanism these districts are showing the way
to other schools around the country.
About The Author: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools
K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and
private K-12 schools. For more information please visit
http://www.schoolsk
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Impoverished Florida Schools Get Tech Makeover
High Poverty Florida Schools have Negligible Tech Equipment
Florida schools have long struggled with the wide disparities
between schools in affluent neighborhoods, and those that serve
the state's weaker sections in high poverty pockets of the
state. Low economic status of the students has been proven to be
detrimental to a student's learning ability. Along with other
factors like the student's intellectual capacity and economic
status of the schools he or she attends, its not anything that
Florida schools can do much about. It's not surprising that most
Florida schools in the state's poorest belts rank so low on
standardized tests.
As a result of these poor performances, many Florida schools
that cater to the poor are denied precious funding that would
otherwise help them introduce new programs, renovate structures,
or upgrade existing tech equipment in their schools. Of all
these possible uses for funding, the most important from the
point of view of preparing students for life in the real world
is undoubtedly access to state of the art computers and
technology. With a knowledge driven global economy in which only
those with at least minimal computer skills will make the cut,
schools that aren't able to offer access to the latest equipment
are in danger of failing their students. Many Florida schools
lag dismally in this regard with many students forced to use
aging equipment or share computers with other students.
Big Business Backs Florida Schools
Now there appears to be some good news for impoverished Florida
schools. Microsoft Corporation'
with several states, including Florida, means the software giant
will shell out funding to each state which will be used by the
state's education department. In Florida's case, this funding
will be in the form of vouchers valued at over $80 million. The
technology vouchers will go towards purchasing new computers and
software, and will directly impact those Florida schools that
would otherwise have no access to the funding for these
upgrades.
Benefits to Florida Schools
The schools expected to benefit are those that have at least
half the student population on reduced price or free lunches.
According to Florida education authorities, at least 1,790
schools with student populations of a total of 1.1 million will
be eligible for these technology vouchers. Half the vouchers
will be utilized for upgrading existing software and purchasing
new ones, while the remainder will be used for hardware. A chunk
of the money will also go towards programs that include
curriculum development, and training of Florida schools
administrators. With this windfall, computer labs at Florida
schools will get a much needed shot in the arm. The main
beneficiaries will be the students in these Florida schools who
will receive much needed access to current technology.
About The Author: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools
K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and
private K-12 schools. For more information please visit
http://www.schoolsk
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Arizona Schools - Did They Overreact?
In the news recently, a middle school student – a 14 year old
boy, to be precise – was suspended from Arizona Schools because
of a drawing he made while sitting in class. No teacher wants to
find his or her student doodling, but must admit that not all
students will be as enamored of their subject as the teacher is.
The Arizona Schools district the boy attends has a zero
tolerance policy concerning weapons; this includes drawing them,
or even writing about them. In response to the Columbine
massacre in 1999, most Arizona Schools have some version of such
a policy in place. (Approximately 96% of all Arizona Schools
have a zero-tolerance policy.)
Understandably, schools need to send the message that it is not
okay to bring weapons to school. Nobody wants to see another
Columbine. We must do all in our power to stop the violence, and
this must include educating students about the harm an
atmosphere of fear can do. Students who go to school every day
afraid for their lives because they don't know if they'll be
attacked or not are not learning, which is the principle purpose
for attending school in the first place. Arizona Schools
understand this, and have sent the message that they will
tolerate no weapons, in any form, even on paper.
Supporters of zero-tolerance policies in place in Arizona
Public Schools (and across the nation) say that this sends the
message that the schools are concerned about the safety of their
students, and are pro-active in the education and prevention of
violence in the schools. They believe that such a policy, and
the punishments, should be on view for the world to see. They
feel that this will frighten the students into behaving
themselves.
In fact, this message conflicts with the reasons zero-tolerance
policies are in place in such systems as the ones in Arizona
Schools. Supporters believe that the fear of being punished will
"scare them straight.
Detractors to zero-tolerance policies in Arizona Schools and
elsewhere have many concerns. They worry that the policies are
unfair, rigid, create fear for students, and infringe upon a
person's right to express themselves. While it's important to
have a safe and secure learning environment, it's easy to see
that individual consideration should be given to some situations
like the one involving the student from Arizona Schools. Those
opposed to zero-tolerance policies like the one in place for
Arizona Schools object because of the probability of punishing
students who may have made mistakes, as opposed to those
planning to commit a criminal act. A 14-year-old boy (or girl)
is an enigma; peer pressure, work load at school, and wildly
fluctuating hormones are all new challenges that these young
teens have to deal with. These kids aren't known for their
excellent decision making skills; the case of the Arizona
Schools student is an example of this.
The Arizona Schools should reconsider this boy's "infraction"
and determine if he's really and truly a threat. That would send
a message that the Arizona Schools system is sensitive to the
diversity of its students.
About The Author: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools
K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and
private K-12 schools. For more information please visit
http://www.schoolsk
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Unschooling vs. Homeschooling: What's the Difference?
You've done it! You've made the choice to homeschool your children. But now what? There are different methods of homeschooling: school-at-home, Charlotte Mason, classical, and unschooling, to name a few. If you unschool are you really homeschooling, or is it something else entirely?
Unschooling, as it's often called, is one alternative to public school and even homeschooling. Also known as natural learning, independent learning, or child-led learning, unschooling is an approach that flies in the face of traditional thought when it comes to educating your child. So what exactly is unschooling, and how does it differ from homeschooling?
The biggest difference between unschooling and homeschooling is in the mindset. Where homeschooling is basically concerned with your child learning what it normally taught in public schools, unschoolers have a completely different way of looking at their children and at life. Unschooling is based on mutual trust between parent and child and in finding what works best for them.
Homeschoolers might choose to use a specific curriculum as a base for their teaching. Unschoolers, however, may not even use a pre-planned curriculum at all. Unschoolers believe that children learn at all times, and that what they need to learn doesn't necessarily have to come out of a set curriculum.
Another term for unschooling is delight-driven. It's not that a child is given complete freedom from learning; it means that the child is allowed to learn the things that interest them instead of what an institution says they should know. Most often those who unschool learn those things that they will be using in life rather than just what is in a book.
It may seem to an outsider looking in that an unschooler isn't actually doing school work at all. In fact, unschoolers believe that living life is the best education a child can get, so they aren't quite as concerned about what others think. Of course, if you live in a state that has more requirements for homeschoolers, it might seem a little daunting to prove that actual learning is taking place.
Since homeschooling can take on so many faces, it seems that unschooling fits right in after all. All homeschooling parents want the opportunity for their children to learn in an environment where they are encouraged to grow, develop, and flourish. What better way than to allow your child to learn the things that interest them? In doing so, they'll pick up the things that traditional education believes they need to know.
Jane Saeman runs an In-Home Tutoring Service called Aim High Tutors. Find out how to help your student reach their full potential at http://www.aimhightutors.com and http://www.aimhightutors.com/blog
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same With High School Fashion Styles
Value is hot! Most of us will look for deals like shopping at J.C. Penny, Kohl's and department stores that have value And name brands. We all "grow up" during high school (well most of us). High school fashions today declare who we are while we are. We are honing our socialization skills and finding what fashions reflect who we are. This is why there are various looks that high school students have. We've included just a few:
Most of us think by merely donning the varsity team jacket will somehow transform our look into "jock mode". However this does not hide our poor fashion sense or lack there of and neither do large letters and colors of the high school. The ultimate way to key into the Jock Look is by going out for a school sport and making the team and earning the right to wear that jacket. And by sport and team I am not referring to the varsity chess team.
We all remember the geeks and nerds don't we, and some of them were actually us. Usually none by their "un-cool" clothing these prodigies are usually so engulfed with numerous projects that they could care less about what they wear. As with all changes in fashion trends, actually having geeky clothing isn't necessarily a bad thing. Let's face it, geeks and nerds are thriving because of the fact that everyone has a computer. Do you recall when role playing gamers were known to be Satan worshippers? Well today some of them are none as world class cyber athletes. This high school fashion can be scored by being preoccupied with solving the problems of the universe and by wearing a shirt with a witty saying or technological jargon a face it.
While this high school fashion is popular among fans of rock bands making a statement is a definite plus with those we call, "rockers". These are usually shirts that make statements or shirts featuring their favorite band. This fashion usually includes a ton of trinkets and studded bracelets or a tribal necklace. With this high school fashion you need to take on the appropriate attitude to go with it. Being passionate about music is of course essential and having an IPOD or headphones will cinch the look. For the guarantee of turning girls heads a pair of drumsticks or a guitar case will do the trick as well.
Most of us think of BLACK when referring to the Goth fashion of high school clothing. Whether fortunately or not this is not just a high school fashion it is used by numerous people who wish to make statements of sorrow. The accessories are the key really; such as, black eyeliner and lipstick. Don't be swain by thinking these Goths are dressing as such to show their individuality; more or less this form of dress is more commonly done to be included in a group and sort of blend in with people who want to show that they belong.
The toughest fashion look to maintain as you must always stay atop the latest high fashions racing from store to store to obtain the first best outfit ever. Well you also have to know what is "cool" and what is definitely "not cool". And as a true fashionista, you must launch the highest standard of high school fashion.
This is just a few of the high school fashions a foot at your local high school so get out there and look around your local high school and catch one today or create a new one.
Gregg Hall is an author living with his beautiful wife and family in Navarre Beach Florida. Find more about style as well as high school fashion at http://www.styleandentertainment.com
