Homeschool Links for African Americans
August 5, 2009 by Homeschooling Support and Curriculum Tips
Filed under About Homeschooling
The National African American Homeschoolers Alliance: This comprehensive webpage is full of resources and recommendations for African American Homeschoolers with reviews of textbooks, support groups, a fun blog, and more.
Ed Online: Here is a list of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s). These are institutions that existed before integration efforts, and thus are known for providing a conducive learning environment for African American students. Many influential and famous African Americans have graduated from such colleges and universities.
African American Homeschoolers Network: Founded by Meka Hunt, this page is a network of resources for African homeschool parents and their children.
African American Unschooling: This Afrocentric homeschooling page includes several ways to integrate an African American point of view into your homeschool curriculum. Be sure to check out Fungasa, their African American Homeschooling magazine.
A to Z Home’s Cool: This page lists several African American homeschooling support groups, informative articles, and comprehensive websites.
African American Homeschooling Today: This informative blog is dedicated to providing African American homeschoolers up-to-date news and information regarding black homeschoolers.
About.com - Homeschooling: About.com’s homeschooling page has a section specifically for African American homeschoolers.
National Black Home Educators: This page has lots of helpful information for African Americans who are new to homeschooling. Just click on their “Getting Started” link and get ready to homeschool!
Thanks to Mimi Rothschild for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:
Ed Online: Here is a list of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s). These are institutions that existed before integration efforts, and thus are known for providing a conducive learning environment for African American students. Many influential and famous African Americans have graduated from such colleges and universities.
African American Homeschoolers Network: Founded by Meka Hunt, this page is a network of resources for African homeschool parents and their children.
African American Unschooling: This Afrocentric homeschooling page includes several ways to integrate an African American point of view into your homeschool curriculum. Be sure to check out Fungasa, their African American Homeschooling magazine.
A to Z Home’s Cool: This page lists several African American homeschooling support groups, informative articles, and comprehensive websites.
African American Homeschooling Today: This informative blog is dedicated to providing African American homeschoolers up-to-date news and information regarding black homeschoolers.
About.com - Homeschooling: About.com’s homeschooling page has a section specifically for African American homeschoolers.
National Black Home Educators: This page has lots of helpful information for African Americans who are new to homeschooling. Just click on their “Getting Started” link and get ready to homeschool!
Thanks to Mimi Rothschild for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, author, children’s rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of almost 3 decades reside with their 8 children in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. because “our current system of education has broken its promise…” Learning By Grace, Inc. delivers Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children in the United States and throughout the world.
Rothschild has authored a number of books about education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Home Education News Blog contains feature stories on alternatives in education.
Homeschoolers and Self Directed Learning
August 4, 2009 by Homeschooling Support and Curriculum Tips
Filed under About Homeschooling
Homeschoolers engage in self directed learning far more than their publicly schooled counterparts. Homeschoolers quickly become self motivators and the self motivation they come to possess will last them their entire lives, making them responsible citizens in the future. How is it that homeschoolers become self-motivated learners?
First off, because homeschoolers are taught in the home setting, they already have two things going for them on the path to self-motivated, or self directed learning: homeschoolers have their parents as responsible role models, all day every day. Secondly, the homeschooler is not exposed to the poor behaviors of other children. Parents, by example, provide the homeschooler with myriad examples of self motivation and are available to encourage self-directed learning behaviors. Meanwhile, homeschoolers avoid the baneful affects of peer pressure, and they do not mimic the habits of less motivated students.
Homeschoolers develop enthusiasm for learning, because they are in a freer atmosphere than the publicly schooled child. Homeschoolers are encouraged to follow their own interests and will pursue such subjects with unmatched eagerness. The result: a strong sense of self directed learning develops. Homeschoolers establish their own challenges and their own educational adventures- making education a fun thing to embrace.
Homeschooling parents nurture their homeschoolers and urge them to be self directed learners. By acting as a guide to a subject, instead of an authoritarian instructor, homeschooling parents help their children learn without controlling how they learn. The homeschool objective is to allow the student to pursue areas of interest in an interesting way. One homeschooler may want to create a collage about an assignment they are learning, while another may want to write a report. Either way, the subject is mastered, and the homeschooler comes to enjoy the lesson because of the freedoms the child is allowed.
It’s no secret that children seek out the approval of their parents, and it is no different for the homeschooled child. Homeschoolers, eager to please their parents will strive to do their best on projects where self-directed learning is required. The warm encouragement that only a parent can offer promotes further self-directed learning in the future. Further, because it is the parent that knows the homeschooler best, they can help their child link their learning experiences to real life experiences that the child has had; it is a proven fact that a new lesson is retained better when it is linked to former learning and experiences.
Thanks to Mimi Rothschild for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:
First off, because homeschoolers are taught in the home setting, they already have two things going for them on the path to self-motivated, or self directed learning: homeschoolers have their parents as responsible role models, all day every day. Secondly, the homeschooler is not exposed to the poor behaviors of other children. Parents, by example, provide the homeschooler with myriad examples of self motivation and are available to encourage self-directed learning behaviors. Meanwhile, homeschoolers avoid the baneful affects of peer pressure, and they do not mimic the habits of less motivated students.
Homeschoolers develop enthusiasm for learning, because they are in a freer atmosphere than the publicly schooled child. Homeschoolers are encouraged to follow their own interests and will pursue such subjects with unmatched eagerness. The result: a strong sense of self directed learning develops. Homeschoolers establish their own challenges and their own educational adventures- making education a fun thing to embrace.
Homeschooling parents nurture their homeschoolers and urge them to be self directed learners. By acting as a guide to a subject, instead of an authoritarian instructor, homeschooling parents help their children learn without controlling how they learn. The homeschool objective is to allow the student to pursue areas of interest in an interesting way. One homeschooler may want to create a collage about an assignment they are learning, while another may want to write a report. Either way, the subject is mastered, and the homeschooler comes to enjoy the lesson because of the freedoms the child is allowed.
It’s no secret that children seek out the approval of their parents, and it is no different for the homeschooled child. Homeschoolers, eager to please their parents will strive to do their best on projects where self-directed learning is required. The warm encouragement that only a parent can offer promotes further self-directed learning in the future. Further, because it is the parent that knows the homeschooler best, they can help their child link their learning experiences to real life experiences that the child has had; it is a proven fact that a new lesson is retained better when it is linked to former learning and experiences.
Thanks to Mimi Rothschild for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, children’s rights activist, author, and Founder and C.E.O. of online education company Learning by Grace, Inc. Rothschild and her husband of twenty-eight years reside in suburban Philadelphia with their eight children.
Feeling that “our current system of education has broken its promise,” Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. to provide families with Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children all over the world.
In addition to her twenty years of experience as a homeschool mother, Rothschild has written a number of books dealing with education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Daily Education News Articles consist of feature stories on online homeschooling and alternative education.
Halloween & Christianity - Other Halloween Options for Christian Homeschoolers
August 4, 2009 by Homeschooling Support and Curriculum Tips
Filed under About Homeschooling
If you’ve decided to keep your homeschool family from participating in Halloween, there are many alternatives that your homeschoolers will love. Not only will they have a great time, they will have a chance to spread His love. Here are five ways to have a blast without compromising the security of your little ones.
1. Family Game Night
If your homeschoolers are staring out the window at trick-or-treaters with tears in their eyes, it’s time to take action. It’s important to focus on fun during Halloween so your homeschool children don’t resent being kept away from Halloween festivities. A family game night is a great way to have some safe uplifting fun. Candy prizes and autumn-themed snacks like candy apples will up the fun factor. Get together with other homeschooling families for some extra competition. Be sure to have one family member pass out candy. If you want, you can also pass out tracts or Bible verses with inspirational messages. It’s wrong to shut yourselves in from people knocking on your door. This will just tell your neighbors that you are strange and unfriendly. If you pass out candy with a “God bless you” or “Jesus loves you,” they will think you are strange and friendly!
2. Attend a Fall Festival
Our church holds an annual fall fest on October 31st. This provides a safe environment for our homeschoolers to go wild. There is a leaf pile with hidden candy treats, a corn maze, and games and activities of all kinds. There are candy prizes galore as well as grand prizes like bicycles, basketballs and Bibles. Jousting, pillow fights, and dunk tanks are just some of the fun carnival-themed games to enjoy. I’ve heard more than once from my homeschoolers that the Fall Festival just has to be more fun than trick-or-treating. If your church doesn’t have a Halloween alternative, think about how you could start one. Get together with other homeschool parents to brainstorm.
3. Have a Bowling Tournament
Bowling tournaments (and goofy golf or laser tag for that matter) are a great way to have fun with the homeschoolers. Bowling alleys are understandably vacant on October 31st. This is a great opportunity for a family-friendly bowling competition. Ambitious homeschooling families will get together with other Christian families for some friendly competition. You can even make up team names complete with family colors or uniforms! Creativity is key!
4. Costume Party
One thing about Halloween that I always enjoyed was dressing up in outlandish costumes. There’s no reason to rob your children of this fun practice with a costume party. As long as the costumes don’t tend towards the macabre side, a costume party can be a great outreach event for a church. One homeschool friend of mine threw a Noah’s Ark theme party. Each child dressed up as a different animal. They put on a short impromptu play based on the story of Noah’s Ark.
5. Have a Pumpkin-Carving Party
Some people think that jack-o-lanterns represent undead souls. I don’t think they have to if you just want to have some creative fun. You can take your kids to a pumpkin patch and then spend the night carving silly faces, animals, or designs into pumpkins. Small pumpkins and gourds will add a nice autumnal feel to any homeschool. A friend of mine carves inspirational Bible verses and messages like “Jesus is Lord” into a series of pumpkins for her front lawn. Be creative! Don’t throw away those mushy pumpkin seeds. Add some salt and throw them in the oven for a fun fall snack.
Thanks to Mimi Rothschild for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:
1. Family Game Night
If your homeschoolers are staring out the window at trick-or-treaters with tears in their eyes, it’s time to take action. It’s important to focus on fun during Halloween so your homeschool children don’t resent being kept away from Halloween festivities. A family game night is a great way to have some safe uplifting fun. Candy prizes and autumn-themed snacks like candy apples will up the fun factor. Get together with other homeschooling families for some extra competition. Be sure to have one family member pass out candy. If you want, you can also pass out tracts or Bible verses with inspirational messages. It’s wrong to shut yourselves in from people knocking on your door. This will just tell your neighbors that you are strange and unfriendly. If you pass out candy with a “God bless you” or “Jesus loves you,” they will think you are strange and friendly!
2. Attend a Fall Festival
Our church holds an annual fall fest on October 31st. This provides a safe environment for our homeschoolers to go wild. There is a leaf pile with hidden candy treats, a corn maze, and games and activities of all kinds. There are candy prizes galore as well as grand prizes like bicycles, basketballs and Bibles. Jousting, pillow fights, and dunk tanks are just some of the fun carnival-themed games to enjoy. I’ve heard more than once from my homeschoolers that the Fall Festival just has to be more fun than trick-or-treating. If your church doesn’t have a Halloween alternative, think about how you could start one. Get together with other homeschool parents to brainstorm.
3. Have a Bowling Tournament
Bowling tournaments (and goofy golf or laser tag for that matter) are a great way to have fun with the homeschoolers. Bowling alleys are understandably vacant on October 31st. This is a great opportunity for a family-friendly bowling competition. Ambitious homeschooling families will get together with other Christian families for some friendly competition. You can even make up team names complete with family colors or uniforms! Creativity is key!
4. Costume Party
One thing about Halloween that I always enjoyed was dressing up in outlandish costumes. There’s no reason to rob your children of this fun practice with a costume party. As long as the costumes don’t tend towards the macabre side, a costume party can be a great outreach event for a church. One homeschool friend of mine threw a Noah’s Ark theme party. Each child dressed up as a different animal. They put on a short impromptu play based on the story of Noah’s Ark.
5. Have a Pumpkin-Carving Party
Some people think that jack-o-lanterns represent undead souls. I don’t think they have to if you just want to have some creative fun. You can take your kids to a pumpkin patch and then spend the night carving silly faces, animals, or designs into pumpkins. Small pumpkins and gourds will add a nice autumnal feel to any homeschool. A friend of mine carves inspirational Bible verses and messages like “Jesus is Lord” into a series of pumpkins for her front lawn. Be creative! Don’t throw away those mushy pumpkin seeds. Add some salt and throw them in the oven for a fun fall snack.
Thanks to Mimi Rothschild for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, children’s rights activist, author, and Founder and C.E.O. of online education company Learning by Grace, Inc. Rothschild and her husband of twenty-eight years reside in suburban Philadelphia with their eight children.
Feeling that “our current system of education has broken its promise,” Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. to provide families with Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children all over the world.
In addition to her twenty years of experience as a homeschool mother, Rothschild has written a number of books dealing with education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Daily Education News Articles consist of feature stories on online homeschooling and alternative education.
Starting Out in Homeschooling
August 4, 2009 by Homeschooling Support and Curriculum Tips
Filed under About Homeschooling
Many people are deciding to homeschool their kids. It can be a hard decision to make at first, as there are many variables to consider and many schooling options for children. In the end, however, there are a lot of people that do not have much confidence in the safety and security of public schools and are starting to doubt the level of education that comes out of them. Homeschooling your child may be an option you want to look into if you have ever doubted public schools.
One of the first things you’ll want to do when you considering homeschooling is to read and find out as much information about it as possible. You can probably find books on the topic in your public library, so start reading and learn as much as you can about homeschooling, as well as how it works in your particular part of the world. Many people operate homeschooling websites online, so email some of those sites and ask for catalogs and other pieces of information.
The second thing you should do is take the time to learn from others who have homeschooled their kids. Talk to parents and get some of their advice on the matter. You can also find homeschooling support groups in your part of the world or online, so feel free to join up and find out what you can from people that have been there before. You’ll want to arm yourself with information from a variety of sources, both books and people, before you begin to homeschool your child.
The third thing you’ll need to do in order to homeschool your child is to learn about the law in your area. Check out your state’s laws. Homeschooling is legal in many locations, but you should look into the legalities of the specifics. You’ll want to know what you’ll have to do in order to fulfill the state requirements to turn out a successful student from homeschooling.
The fourth thing you need is to design a schooling method. Try turning one part of your home into the classroom so that your child can make that particular area designated for school only. This will allow you to have an environment with your child so that you can teach your child correctly and so that the child can concentrate on his or her work. Check out kids’ furniture stores for desks or other pieces of furniture that could make an area of your home look more like a classroom. Part of a good homeschooling routine is setting up a comfortable environment in which to learn.
You can start teaching your child in a number of ways, but it is important to find out how your child learns best. Include him or her in the process and discover learning together. Allow your child to experience learning in a safe, educational, and responsible environment.
Homeschooling your child can be a great way to bond and teach your child important skills for life. Having an area designed for homeschooling, with kids’ furniture and some nice decoration options, can make the experience even better. Include your child in the process, from start to finish, and give him or her learning experience that will last a lifetime.
Thanks to Lily Morgan for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:
One of the first things you’ll want to do when you considering homeschooling is to read and find out as much information about it as possible. You can probably find books on the topic in your public library, so start reading and learn as much as you can about homeschooling, as well as how it works in your particular part of the world. Many people operate homeschooling websites online, so email some of those sites and ask for catalogs and other pieces of information.
The second thing you should do is take the time to learn from others who have homeschooled their kids. Talk to parents and get some of their advice on the matter. You can also find homeschooling support groups in your part of the world or online, so feel free to join up and find out what you can from people that have been there before. You’ll want to arm yourself with information from a variety of sources, both books and people, before you begin to homeschool your child.
The third thing you’ll need to do in order to homeschool your child is to learn about the law in your area. Check out your state’s laws. Homeschooling is legal in many locations, but you should look into the legalities of the specifics. You’ll want to know what you’ll have to do in order to fulfill the state requirements to turn out a successful student from homeschooling.
The fourth thing you need is to design a schooling method. Try turning one part of your home into the classroom so that your child can make that particular area designated for school only. This will allow you to have an environment with your child so that you can teach your child correctly and so that the child can concentrate on his or her work. Check out kids’ furniture stores for desks or other pieces of furniture that could make an area of your home look more like a classroom. Part of a good homeschooling routine is setting up a comfortable environment in which to learn.
You can start teaching your child in a number of ways, but it is important to find out how your child learns best. Include him or her in the process and discover learning together. Allow your child to experience learning in a safe, educational, and responsible environment.
Homeschooling your child can be a great way to bond and teach your child important skills for life. Having an area designed for homeschooling, with kids’ furniture and some nice decoration options, can make the experience even better. Include your child in the process, from start to finish, and give him or her learning experience that will last a lifetime.
Thanks to Lily Morgan for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:
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Getting Committed Tutors From a Singapore Home Tuition Agency
August 3, 2009 by Homeschooling Support and Curriculum Tips
Filed under About Homeschooling
In Singapore, many parents and students want only committed tutors from tuition agencies. However, as much as they would like to recommend committed tutors , they cannot guarantee that all their tutors will be 100% committed due to various difficulties and reasons. From our past experience, below are some of the factors that may affect the suitability and commitment of the tutors :
Location
If a tutor’s student lives near his house, the tutor may settle for a lower tuition fee and may be more committed since he is able to cut down on travelling time and thus save on transportation fees.
It is therefore beneficial for a parent to provide a tuition agency with his or her postal code and/or detailed address, so that the tuition agency can find tutors as near to the parent’s residence as possible.
Salary
A tutor’s salary may not be the most important of all, but it is significant.
Tutors who take up a low-paying assignment may not commit for a long period. A tuition rate that is $10-15 less than the market rate may be acceptable to a tutor. However, if a parent pays about $50 less than the market rate, the tutor will most likely not commit for long. He or she may even feel unmotivated towards teaching as well.
It is well known that teaching is a respected profession; and MOE teachers nowadays are well paid by the ministry. So our advice to parents is that: give the tutors out there the rewards they deserve. The popular saying “Good stuff comes at a price” applies in this case as well.
Difficult Students
Usually, tutors want to commit their time to teach students who are keen to learn and improve. Moreover, tutors may not be able to help students who don’t wish to help themselves. It takes two hands to clap. So before a parent requests for a change of tutor, he or she should find out whether his child is keen to learn from the child’s tutor in the first place. In certain cases, it may not be the tutor’s fault at all when there is no academic improvement.
So, when a parent request for a tutor from a tuition agency, letting the agency know the character of the child may help the agency in finding the right tutor.
Thanks to Singapore Home Tuition Agency (tuitionc) for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:
Location
If a tutor’s student lives near his house, the tutor may settle for a lower tuition fee and may be more committed since he is able to cut down on travelling time and thus save on transportation fees.
It is therefore beneficial for a parent to provide a tuition agency with his or her postal code and/or detailed address, so that the tuition agency can find tutors as near to the parent’s residence as possible.
Salary
A tutor’s salary may not be the most important of all, but it is significant.
Tutors who take up a low-paying assignment may not commit for a long period. A tuition rate that is $10-15 less than the market rate may be acceptable to a tutor. However, if a parent pays about $50 less than the market rate, the tutor will most likely not commit for long. He or she may even feel unmotivated towards teaching as well.
It is well known that teaching is a respected profession; and MOE teachers nowadays are well paid by the ministry. So our advice to parents is that: give the tutors out there the rewards they deserve. The popular saying “Good stuff comes at a price” applies in this case as well.
Difficult Students
Usually, tutors want to commit their time to teach students who are keen to learn and improve. Moreover, tutors may not be able to help students who don’t wish to help themselves. It takes two hands to clap. So before a parent requests for a change of tutor, he or she should find out whether his child is keen to learn from the child’s tutor in the first place. In certain cases, it may not be the tutor’s fault at all when there is no academic improvement.
So, when a parent request for a tutor from a tuition agency, letting the agency know the character of the child may help the agency in finding the right tutor.
Thanks to Singapore Home Tuition Agency (tuitionc) for contributing this article to our Homeschooling blog:
