If you are planning to homeschool your children here is a set of skills that you should develop. They will help ensure that things run smooth in your home school classes.
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Floating in outer space may look like a cool thing to do, but it’s going to take a lot more than imagination to get you up there. An astronaut is a scientist, a pilot, a computer programmer, a fitness freak and a whole lot more. You need a good understanding of Astrophysics but you also need to know about basic human biology to survive in outer space. Here we take a look at some of the interesting things that a student should be studying in order to become an astronaut at a later date.
Astrophysics
It is the branch of astronomy concerned with the physical nature of stars and other celestial bodies. This branch of astronomy deals with the application of laws and theories involving the interpretation of astronomical observations. Basically speaking, you’re studying the stars for their light, energy, physical movements, chemical reactions and any other property that comes up. What can you do right now? Pick up star gazing. Learn the map of the skies. Find out about the different celestial bodies and how they come together to form the solar system, the galaxy and more.
Aviation and Electronics
You want to be that suited astronaut flying a space shuttle? Well, you better know the basics of flight and that comes under aviation. You will be required to understand exactly how you are flying out into space. Most astronauts are experienced jet plane pilots with at least a thousand hours of flying under their belts. You need to enjoy studying electronics that deals with engines, radios, gyroscopes and more. After all you need to know how to fix your machine if it develops a problem out in space. You can’t wait to be towed to a service station.
Biology and Life Sciences
A large number of experiments that are conducted in space are related to how living beings flourish under the more hostile conditions of outer space. This means that you could be handling anything from microscopic bacteria to plants in a special soil mix. Recording reactions of various living organisms as they adapt to the living conditions. Needless to say, you need to study the basics of biology that helps you understand what you will be experimenting on.
Computer Sciences and Math
As glamorous as being an astronaut may sound, there is a lot of hard work and toil involved in becoming one. Regular studies of computer sciences and mathematics is pretty much compulsory for working in this field. You need to make calculations in aviation, temperature control, handling food supplies, and even programming the level of gravity you need to enforce in the space ship. In short, you need to be clued up on your computer programming as well as math in order to survive as an astronaut.
NASA receives thousands of applications each year from hopefuls and can only take in about a hundred people into their programs each year. There is a lot of competition and this means you not only need to be qualified well, you also need to excel at what you do in order to be considered for their astronaut training programs.
In fact, here’s a letter NASA received from a 9 year old about applying for the position of a Planetary Protection Officer:
“Dear NASA,
My name is Jack Davis and I would like to apply for the planetary protection officer job. I may be nine but I think I would be fit for the job. One of the reasons is my sister says I am an alien. Also, I have seen almost all the space movies and alien movies I can see. I have also seen the show Marvel Agents of Shield and hope to see the movie Men in Black. I am great at vidieo [sic] games. I am young, so I can learn to think like an alien.
Sincerely,
Jack Davis
Guardian of the Galaxy
Fourth Grade”
“Dear Jack,
I hear you are a ‘Guardian of the Galaxy’ and that you’re interested in being a NASA Planetary Protection Officer. That’s great!
Our Planetary Protection Officer position is really cool and is very important work. It’s about protecting Earth from tiny microbes when we bring back samples from the Moon, asteroids and Mars. It’s also about protecting other planets and moons from our germs as we responsibly explore the Solar System.
We are always looking for bright future scientists and engineers to help us, so I hope you will study hard and do well in school. We hope to see you here at NASA one of these days!
Sincerely,
Dr. James L. Green
Director, Planetary Science Division”
Traditional school begins in the morning and most teachers want the children to learn new topics while their minds are fresh. That’s why the heavy learning subjects tend to be taught in the first half before recess and the lighter and more physically demanding subjects tend to congest the second half of the school day in traditional schools. Is this the best way to organize your home school schedule? Not always. In fact most home schooling parents tend to differ when it comes to fixing their schedule. No two families will follow the same home school schedule.
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Since we can find some sort of science in every single activity we undertake in our daily routine, its not that difficult a task to boost your child’s interest in science even if you are homeschooling him. What is important is your attitude towards science. If you had enjoyed many activities based on science in your childhood it would be easier for you to pass on that interest, but for most parents science has hardly been a fascinating subject when they grew up. So what can you do to boost the interest of your child in science at home?
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To be able to develop a scientific understanding of common place events around us it is essential that children understand the basic concepts behind them. In order to do so they need to be taught a few fundamental basics across a multitude of scientific topics. Don’t worry about some topics or concepts being out of their grasp, once you begin teaching them, it will amaze you how quickly they pick up complex concepts. It all comes down to what you share with them and how you do it. Here are a few simple topics that you can begin with.
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If you have decided to make an infographic you need to consider three core components that go into the construction of any infographic. These include the visual aspect, the content and the knowledge being represented. Let us consider each of these core components in further detail.
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What are infographics and how do they help?
Infographics are those attractively displayed facts and figures that are commonly used to illustrate statistics. They can be in the form of time lines, flow charts, marked maps, pie charts, bar graphs, or vein diagrams. Its sort of like a visual representation of numeric data which makes it easy for the reader to understand the numbers involved. They are attractive and easy to remember as compared to just trying to learn up facts and figures by heart. They are used often in magazines and newspapers and can help improve the understanding of a subject at a glance. That is why its a good idea to use inforgraphics as a teaching aid in the homeschool classroom.
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In continuation from the last post we are talking about easy to do activities for elementary level home school science students. These activities help them gain a better understanding of the scientific processes that surround us, grounding them well in building a base for scientific understanding in the future. We spoke of forces, energy, magnets and electricity and now we move on to even more complex scientific principles.
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The popularity of homeschooling has never been higher. More parents are choosing to home school their children than ever before and this has also led to certain styles and models or homeschooling. One term which recently came to my notice was “Eclectic Homeschooling”. Here is what this new term is all about.
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Hydrogen peroxide is used to fuel rockets, airplanes, and other vehicle engines. Chemistry teachers everywhere use it to demonstrate the power of a catalyst.
To speed up a reaction without altering the chemistry of the reaction involves adding a catalyst. A catalyst changes the rate of reaction but doesn’t get involved in the overall chemical changes.
For example, leaving a bottle of hydrogen peroxide outside in the sunlight will cause the hydrogen peroxide to decompose. However, this process takes a long time, and if you don’t want to wait, you can simply toss in a lump of charcoal to speed things along.
The carbon is a catalyst in the reaction, and the overall effect is that instead of taking two months to generate a balloon full of oxygen, it now only takes five minutes. The amount of charcoal you have at the end of the reaction is exactly the same as before it started.
A catalyst can also slow down a reaction. A catalytic promoter increases the activity, and a catalytic poison (also known as a negative catalyst, or inhibitor) decreases the activity of a reaction. Catalysts offer a different way for the reactants to become products, and sometimes this means the catalyst reacts during the chemical reaction to form intermediates. Since the catalyst is completely regenerated before the reaction is finished, it’s considered ‘not used’ in the overall reaction.
In this experiment, you’ll see that there’s a lot of oxygen hiding inside the peroxide – enough to really make things interesting and move around! You’ll also find out what happens to soap when you bubble oxygen through it. Are you ready?
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Click here to go to next lesson on Collision Theory
Just being a homeschooler does not mean that your system of studies is the same as any other homeschooling family’s. Besides the traditional homeschooling technique which is modeled on regular school there are a multiple number of choices in techniques and methods available to homeschooling parents today. Some of these are briefly discussed here.
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Homeschooling parents have a multitude of methods of teaching available to them today. Besides the Charlotte Mason Method, Montessori Method, and Unit Studies that were mentioned in the last blog post there are other techniques that are used by homeschooling families. Here we discuss a few more techniques that can be used by homeschooling parents.
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We have seen that a number of methods to teach homeschooling students exist. So what works best to teach science to homeschool students? There is no one size fits all solution to teaching science. The personality of your child will determine which method is likely to be more successful than the other. At the same time your guidance as a parent is important to introduce the child to the world of science in a systematic and easy to figure out manner. Here are a few tips and tricks that you can use while teaching science to your children.
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For someone who is relatively computer literate it can be easy as pie to find free homeschooling resources online. First open up a search engine such as google, bling or yahoo. Then type in a few keyword phrases related to what you are looking for and viola you have a whole host of websites waiting to be explored.
Unfortunately it can take a while to sift through the search results to find the websites that suit your purpose. This is where the inexperienced browser can get hopelessly lost, but you won’t get lost here. Take a look at these excellent websites that offer free homeschooling resources.
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Visiting the homeschool forums will show you that opinion is divided over having a formal curriculum or just developing your own among homeschooling parents. While some feel that having a formal curriculum is a necessary tool to help teach their children in an organized manner and cover all topics, others want to be more flexible in their approach to homeschooling their children. The truth is there is no “one size fits” all curriculum out there. You have to mix and match the best you can.
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Is looking for free homeschooling science resources eating into your teaching time? Here’s a simple solution. Check out the first website listed below to see what printable worksheets and papers you can use. And use the second website as a great way to pass the time in an educational manner for your children online.
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In homeschooling, as with any other task, it is possible to reduce your stress level by having clearly defined objectives and goals. So before the start of the academic year make a list of learning goals that your child needs to achieve in the coming year. Here are a few factors that you must consider before you set these goals and targets.
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It has come to light that colleges are accepting more and more homeschool students these days. Is this because a larger number of home school students are looking to join regular college nowadays or because it is relatively easier for home schooling students to be accepted in to regular college these days? We don’t know for sure, but here’s what we do know. Colleges love homeschool students for the following reasons.
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When you begin homeschooling your child there are a number of issues that you need to deal with. These include the reason why you chose to homeschool your child rather than send him to regular school, the objectives that you wish to meet and the methods that you will employ to meet these educational objectives for your child. Here also arises the question about whether the homeschool science curriculum you will follow will be a paid one or not.
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Homeschooling is a huge responsibility on the parents because it is them who will determine just how and what the child learns. Every parent has the child’s best interest at heart but does that translate into a good education? Some forethought and a bit of study of the child’s natural inclination can help fix this problem. All you need to do as a parent is prepare yourself.
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Thanks to the fact that you are homeschooling your children, you are in a uniquely flexible place. You can take your children on trips which would otherwise interfere with regular school classes. What’s more you can pick your travels in such a way that the children get a wide exposure to the world at large. Of course it is not possible for everyone to travel all the time, but you can certainly plan on a few special experiences by traveling to some renown spots from around the world. Here are a few experiences of a lifetime that you would probably enjoy just as much as your child will.
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There is an abundance of homeschooling material available in the market and online today. Parents can pick up books, workbooks, and practice sheets from a variety of different vendors. In fact on some homeschooling forums you can even download material that other parents are sharing for free. The question that now arises is, where should you buy your homeschool materials from? The answer depends on what you are looking for in particular.
A homeschooling program includes grade wise curriculum, subject wise lesson plans and a comprehensive list of all the books that you need to teach them. Using a homeschooling program developed by experienced teachers can make your life as a homeschooling parent must simpler. Or it can complicate it beyond belief. It all depends on the kind of homeschooling program you pick and how well it gels with your children.
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There are a number of homeschool supplies that you need to buy for each academic session for your children. Getting them in bulk at the beginning of the academic year can make it easier on you later on. An advantage of getting the homeschool supplies in bulk is that you can often bargain for and get a decent discount on them. Some retailers will give you anything from 5 to 15% off on the supplies you pick up.
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When you are homeschooling your elder child you may find it difficult to occupy the younger one with gainful activity. Here are a few home based science experiments for preschoolers which can help you introduce your younger one to the entertaining world of science.
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There are a number of “best homeschooling” website lists doing the rounds on different social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Some of them can be useful, while others turn out to be pure self promotion by the bloggers themselves. Some of these lists have been investigated and a summary of actually helpful homeschooling websites is provided here and in the upcoming blog posts. Remember this is just a small portion of the huge resource list that is available online.
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Homeschooling your children can be a rather solitary activity for the most with you being the only adult involved in your children’s schooling. Sometimes it helps to know that you are not alone. That is why it is interesting to read about the experiences of other homeschooling mothers through their blogs. And once in a while you may hit a resource that they are sharing which you may have use for. Given here are three websites that may help to offer you a different view on homeschooling than your own.
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Teaching a few children at home is just as demanding as teaching a classroom full of children in regular school. To ensure that you can deal with the presentation of material to your homeschool students it would be a good idea to have some tools to help in the homeschool classroom. Here is a list of suggestions regarding teaching aids.
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There are a lot of reasons people will give you for homeschooling their children and while these may be good and valid reasons, they may not be the only advantages to homeschooling. Here are some advantages of homeschooling your children that other people do not realize. While they may not be evident easily, they do make a major difference in the long run.
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Dealing with challenges is part and parcel of homeschooling your children. Here are a few common problems that you may face and suggestions on overcoming them.
As per legal state requirements you have to grade your child’s test papers when you home school them. This allows the state representative to gain an insight into how the child is progressing in his lessons. Don’t let the thought intimidate you. Take a look at how you can grade the test papers and what a typical grade scale should look like.
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If you’ve ever wanted to sneak a peek into my cabinet of educational games and books for kids, now is your chance. Use this list for gift ideas, boredom busters, and just plain family fun. Some of these games you can pick up at the store, and the rest are the home-made, print-it-out, cut-and-play variety that your kids will really learn from.
Planning out how you will spend your day is an important tool for any homeschooling parent. If you must balance household chores and running errands along with teaching your children their lessons it stands to reason that your time must be well segregated into slots. Here are some things to keep in mind before you set up a home school schedule for your children.
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Teaching works better with visuals. That is why the classroom has a board for the teacher to write down salient points and may be make a diagram or two to explain the facts better. This is why seeing a video is more likely to help you remember concepts. Today there are any number of videos floating on a number of websites online. The trick is finding ones which are actually useful, entertaining and educative all at the same time.
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We all want the best for our children and usually take an active part in making that happen. However there is something like over achieving the goal here where the homeschooling parent tends to go overboard. Are you an overbearing parent who does too much for their kids? Does that make them resent you and unwilling to do what you say? Here are some signs you need to watch out for.
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There are a number of websites dealing with scientific experiments and theory available on the internet. Not all of them are reliable and it’s important to peak your student’s interest with the right website. Here are some science websites that you can encourage your home school students to explore on their own and as part of science lessons in the classroom.
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All too often when you come across a really good resource online you want to share it with others who you know will benefit from it as much as you did. Unfortunately in being a Good Samaritan at times you may be breaking the law. You may not even be aware you are doing something illegal as copyright law is not something everybody understands clearly. Here are a few tips to share resources you find in a legal manner.
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD affects a number of children. Such children make careless mistakes, tend not to pay attention to details, and have a short attention span even with games they play. They seem not to listen when an adult is speaking to them and have difficulty organizing their own thoughts and deeds. All in all they are frustrating for an adult to deal with.
Handling such a child in school can be difficult for the teacher when she has 30 other students asking for her attention. In such a situation it may be better to homeschool such a child. The parent here will require expert knowledge about the medical condition and how to handle the child.
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Decompression is the phase that a child who has been attending regular school goes through when first making the switch to homeschooling. This is a period of time where the focus is on relaxing the child and helping them to understand that the hectic school life is now over. Now the child can have input in deciding what to learn, when to do it and where as well! Of course the homeschool teacher must ensure that the student is not so caught up the freedom of making choices that no actual learning takes place. To that end, here are some activities that are considered educational and will still enable your child to decompress successfully.
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In most cases the decision to homeschool a child is made before the child needs to begin schooling and therefore will associate studies with just the homeschooling method. However, in some cases a parent may move out of the country, or find that regular schools are unable to cater to the special needs of their child, or some other reason may be instrumental in reconsidering their schooling decision. If you have been sending your child to regular school for a while and need shift to homeschooling after a few years, the period of transition can be a challenge if you don’t know what to expect.
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Ted Talks have helped share hundreds of good ideas the world over. Now Ted Ed takes this concept to children and their education. There are a number of interdisciplinary videos available on the Ted Ed website which can be used for teaching homeschooling students. Here we discuss just how you would use a video on the website to structure a lesson in your homeschool classroom.
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There is simple video and then there is educational video content on the internet. While most of us use some video content to supplement learning for our children, there is one excellent source of free educational videos that tends to get overlooked. Adults have been raving about TED talks for a while, but many have no idea about a small subsidiary of TED Talks called Ted Ed.
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If you’ve got a scout troop who is interested in accessing these merit badges for free in exchange for providing feedback on how they are working for you, please contact us right away.
Watching movies is a favorite family activity for most of us. Young children watch animated movies and others on a regular basis. But what if you could turn that activity into something more than mere entertainment? What if you could make the movies a part of your homeschooling curriculum? Read on if you are interested in using movies as a basis for your homeschool lessons.
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In the preliminary years you will be able to conduct homeschool science experiments with your primary grade youngsters without the need of special science equipment. However as the grade levels increase you will be looking at more specialized equipment . Here’s a look at the equipment that you will need at your homeschool science lab.
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Teaching science via experiments in a lab is not necessary, but it is recommended. There are two main benefits of doing lab work with your homeschool science students. The first is the most obvious one, the children think science is fun when they get to do cool experiments. These experiments tend to illustrate the scientific principles that have been deemed appropriate for the grade. The physical experiments help them better understand the concepts that they have been taught in a lecture in class. Essentially the kids have fun doing the experiments and learn better.
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There is a lot of learning that you can sneak into the homeschool class as you help your children gear up for the holiday. You can make some Halloween decorations which can be placed around the house, or carried along while the family goes “Trick or Tricking”.
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Its all about Discipline
If you are going to be homeschooling, you need to make discipline your new best friend. Just make sure that you follow through with your plans for the day and that your children also listen to what you have to say. A routine is what you must develop and stick to.
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There is a great deal of flexibility in setting up your homeschool curriculum, but if real life happens to interfere with this you can end up getting left behind the meticulously planned schedule that you have set. Naturally this will upset you and the children, but it is not the end of the world and you must not treat it with more importance than any other disruption to your regular class schedule.
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If you feel that your child is being deprived of a group classroom setting because he is being homeschooled you can always hold a group class for a specific subject at your home. Host other homeschooling children and their parents can return the favor.
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Depending on the nature of the child, he may be shy or awkward around people he is unfamiliar with. This is true of a certain age group irrespective of whether he is in a regular school or being home-schooled. To help him open up and interact freely with his fellow human beings there are a number of things that you can do as a parent.
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One of the most touted arguments against homeschooling seems to stem from the child’s need for socializing. The social interaction in public schools is said to provide the child with experiences to help him grow into a well rounded individual. The fact that homeschooling isolates the child and does not let him play around with other peers is seen as a major drawback.
Does this mean that your child is going to be an introvert with no social skills if you decide to homeschool him? Not at all. With a little planning and some effort on your part, it is possible to have your home schooled child interact well with other children his age. He can learn all the social skills he need and be considered adept in handling social situations. Here are some socialization strategies for homeschoolers.
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We constantly hear sounds and react to them without even being aware of the interaction. We heard the doorbell and go to check who’s at the door. We wait for the introductory tone as we switch on the computer to know that the operating system has loaded. We listen to the beeps from the washing machine and know that the clothes are done and need to be removed from the machine. Here is a fun experiment that you can conduct with your children to explain the concept of sound.
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Homeschooling students are not used to the rigors of tests that a regular school student goes through. Very often the first standardized test that they attempt can be the cause of a lot of anxiety. The responsibility of making the test fun lies with the parent. There are many ways to take away the anxiety and make it a fun exercise.
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There is a tendency for the heart to race and the anxiety levels to shoot up in students the minute you mention the word examination. Taking a test should not be blown out of proportion. The homeschooling family should understand the importance of a test but should know how to compartmentalize it in the bigger picture as well.
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In some states it is a legal requirement that the homeschooling student take at least one standardized test during the school year. After the sixth grade many homeschooling parents prefer having their wards appear for the SAT. Since home school has not afforded many opportunities for pitting the child’s skills against peers in a large way, the first time the child appears for a standardized test can be a tough one. Here are a few things that can make it much easier on the homeschooling family with respect to these tests.
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Teaching homeschool science is challenging as you want to make it an interesting experience for you child. You want the child to be invested and interested in what you are teaching. In addition you want the child to do a hands on experiment to really understand what’s being done and then make them remember what has been taught for not just the school year but for ever.
Does it seem like a really tall order? It need not be one if you use the simple trick of dividing up the homeschool science into many academic subjects. That way each lesson will be from a different subject, will include a core fun activity and be easy to remember. What subjects should you use? Here’s a guide that you can use. Feel free to improvise and make it easier for your family to implement.
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While printing is commonly the preferred way to write many schools also teach their students how to write in cursive handwriting. Is it necessary for homeschool students to learn how to write in cursive? It is if you live in North Carolina where the state senate has passed a bill that needs all schools to teach their students cursive. Most people never really master cursive and tend to use a combination of print and cursive. So why should students in the age of the computer and internet learn to write cursive?
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If you are considering buying a homeschool curriculum you may like to consider the following points. Make sure that you review the different options available before you finally settle on one. Get opinions from friends who are actually using different products and vouch for them. Fix a budget that works for you and then stick to it.
You may want to look into possible discounts that can be offered before you purchase a product as well. The best time for scooping up discounts is in spring or early summer. Okay, now that you know what all you should do when buying a homeschool curriculum, lets take a closer look at what you should not do.
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You teach your children at home and feel that sometimes one child is picking up lessons faster than the other one. Does that mean there is something wrong with the slow learner? In most cases there may be no problem at all and the different pace of learning may be attributed to how the child learns. However in some rare cases you may be dealing with a learning disorder. Identifying learning disorders in the homeschool classroom requires the parent to watch out for these signs.
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One of the main challenges of homeschooling your children is the fact that there is just no way that you can monitor them all of the time. You need some time for other tasks like preparing lessons, cooking, household chores, errands and the like. So how can you help ensure that your children are engaged when you’re otherwise occupied?
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In the current financial times, every little bit of extra money that comes in helps. So even homeschooling parents tend to work at least part of the time to bring in that financial boost. Here is how to ensure that the work you do does not interfere with homeschooling your kids.
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The summer is a long period of time that students are away from their books. They are not actively learning anything new and in most cases they are not revising what they already know either. This inactivity leads to Summer Brain Drain, or in more technical terms “learning loss”. There are ways to avoid this happening with your children by keeping them in touch with basic studies. Here are some ways to ensure that Summer Brain Drain is not inevitable for your children.
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If you homeschool your children for the full year it may be a good idea to give them a new teacher over the summer. Enroll them in a summer camp being run in your city. The town library usually has activities for children during the summer which may interest your children. Or you could sign them up for a summer enrichment camp that offers multiple activities. Look for a camp that has a good word of mouth reputation when you choose where to send your children.
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Its summer break time for regular schools and as a homeschool parent you are wondering if you should continue teaching your children at home or give them a break. Consider these points before you make a decision to abandon classes during the summer months.
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A large number of families that homeschool may find the “one size fits all” summer camps that are offered in various cities unsuitable for their children.The main object of attending these summer camps is to help develop a well rounded personality where the child is exposed to different types of activities. You can run your own summer camp tailor-made to suit your child’s interests, rather than send them to one outside which you are not happy about.
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Teaching homeschool science can be more rewarding than teaching science in regular school because you have the ability to focus on long term science based activities. While you are limited to a few minutes in regular school in the science lab, the same does not hold true with homeschool science experiments. You can take your time and let an experiment carry on for days together. Here are a few simple science based activities that you can do with your preschool homeschoolers.
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Homeschooling parents tend to pay more for the books and other homeschooling related material because they buy them as individuals. Any vendor who is allowed to sell a larger volume will be happy to give a discount to the bulk purchaser. To take advantage of this many homeschooling families have founded Homeschool Buyer Co-ops, to combine their purchasing power and get better discounts.
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A short break helps increase productivity in the corporate world as per scientific studies conducted on the subject, so it stands to reason that they will help the homeschool teacher in a similar manner. While one can argue that there is no break from being a parent, it is also possible to remove the associated stress with constant parenting by doing a few simple things. Some of these are listed below.
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As a homeschooling parent you would have faced the time when you need to explain to someone you happen to know why you homeschool your child. You need to explain just how you happen to think that the idea of homeschooling is better than regular school. It will help if you start talking like a formal educator like a teacher in school. In order to do so and sound knowledgeable you may like to bone up on some “Educationese”.
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One of the primary challenges as a homeschool parent is to hold and keep the attention of your students in the classroom. While children are usually blessed with very short attention spans you may need them to pay attention much longer than they can manage to keep their attention focused on you. So rather than yelling at them or getting upset here’s a simple way to give them focused play for a short duration and then bring them back to the task at hand. What you need to do is use sensory toys innovatively. Here’s a few ideas on how you can do so.
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If you want to create the formal effect of a science lab for your homeschooling students you need to get some equipment that you would find in a school science lab. This will allow your homeschooling science class to get a more formal structure. Here are some such lab equipments that you can buy and keep in the science lab at your home.
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When a family learns together there should be a goal that helps them map out their learning dynamics. By setting clear and measurable family goals you will help your homeschooling students to gain more confidence in their abilities and a sense of satisfaction with a job well done. Here are some family goals that you can consider adopting for your homeschooling family.
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The simple tin can can be an interesting item from a scientific point of view for a homeschool science student. Here are some science principle based projects for which a tin can may be used. Help your homeschool students explore science principles through fun activities involving everyday items.
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No one knows your child better than you. If as a parent you feel that your child has special needs, make sure that you read up on all the material that you need to understand what your child is going through. Then consider homeschooling your child to provide him with the understanding and care that may not be so forth coming from teachers in a regular school who have to deal with a whole class full of students.
You will need to ensure that you have the child medically diagnosed and meet the legal requirements for homeschooling him as per your state laws. Here are some special needs that a child may have – ADD, ADHD, autism, vision impairment, hearing impairment, and dyslexia. Each of these children will represent different needs and teaching techniques. It may not be possible for you to handle it all on your own. This is where you can get some assistance in the form of commercially available learning aid software products.
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Homeschooling is a considered a growing trend by many people including the government, which says that 1.5 million students were homeschooled in 2007. This is a 36% increase since the last study they conducted in 2003. Those who see it as something new will be surprised to know that before formal schooling was set up, all children were essentially taught at home by their parents aka home schooled. Here we look at some benefits and detractions of homeschooling.
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With regular school the child has two sets of different adults in his life – parents and teachers. The authority of the teachers is evident in the classroom and the parents are part of the more approachable family group. This clear demarcation does not exist with homeschool students. The parent has a double role to play, that of teacher in the homeschool classroom and that of parent in the rest of the home. Does discipline suffer due to this? Not if you deal with the problem proactively.
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We covered the basic things to record in the homeschool planner. These include pages devoted to a month at a glance, weekly plan, a daily to do list, and test grades, but a few more sections can be added in it to help you organize yourself better. Here are some suggestions that you may find useful.
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Teaching science in the homeschool classroom needs to go beyond picking up new vocabulary and formulas for the children. Unfortunately learning new scientific terms is not very interesting or appealing unless the child sees some value in it. STEM educators emphasize the use of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in real life to involve children in these faculties from an early age. This involves students learning about concepts in these faculties in a practical manner.
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The gifted label can bring additional responsibilities to a homeschooling parent. It can mean the child is very observant, curious about things around them, has excellent memory retention and meets development milestones before their peer group. They also may be super sensitive to criticism and might get over excited by the smallest of things. While there is no specific need to homeschool a gifted child, some parents believe that they can better meet the needs of a gifted child through homeschooling.
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Regular Gifted School Vs Homeschool
You are the parent of a gifted child. Congratulations. You are blessed with a talented individual who will make a big difference to your world. Now comes the tough part, raising this child to live up to full potential. Many parents prefer to send their children to regular schools that deal with gifted children on a regular basis.That way they know that the child is receiving the right kind of attention to develop his potential.
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Taking your children out on a field trip is a great homeschooling teaching tool. The trip could be something as simple as a visit to a ballgame, a museum, the local park, or as elaborate as a road trip across the country, or an overseas trip. The experience will provide a rich tapestry of events for your child to appreciate.
If you have organized a field trip before you will know that you need to think of a million little things before you leave the house to ensure a successful trip. Here is a basic check list that will ensure that you get things right.
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One thing that almost everyone agrees about homeschooling is that it needs an extremely organized and focused approach for it to succeed. If you can plan out your school year in your homeschool planner before you start the academic session with your children, you are far more likely to stay on track and achieve your goals. The question now arises what should you record in your homeschool planner?
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When the weather turns cold it becomes more of an effort to bundle up the children in warm clothes and take them on educational outings. For most homeschool parents the winter months can drag out, with children becoming frustrated at being trapped indoors and the parents becoming irritated at having to be teacher, recess monitor, lunch lady and janitor without a break. Here are a few things that a homeschooling family can do to ease the pressure and continue learning in a positive and supportive environment.
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The homeschool classroom is often like a bottomless pit that gets fed study material and supplies. If you know a homeschooling family it would be a good idea to ask them exactly what they need before buying gifts for them. That way you will give them something that they will use rather than something that will just sit unnoticed on a shelf gathering dust. If asking is not possible, you may like to consider these useful gift ideas when picking up a gift for them. These are gifts that will bring back the joy of getting and using something all through the academic and calendar year.
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A number of gifts will find their way to your home this season, so why not do your best to ensure that the gifts are a perfect fit for your homeschool classroom. Many homeschooling parents miss out on the opportunity of getting fresh supplies for the their homeschool students because they feel too embarrassed to ask for what their children actually need. Learn more about how to get the gifts that you can truly use with as little embarrassment as possible.
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No matter how good a teacher you are to your children in the homeschool class room it is natural to wonder if you are indeed doing justice to the education of your child. A homeschooling Mom wants her child to have a rich learning experience in a relaxed and conducive atmosphere. In the beginning there is usually a mixture of great enthusiasm fueled by equal parts of stress and anxiety to make this a reality for you child. Then you get into the groove and decide you are doing a great job. As you begin to hit the bumps in the road and have to make changes to your homeschooling plans it is going to make you think that maybe you are not doing as good a job as you can.
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Using different kinds of forces is a natural part of our daily life. This is why you can make many interesting experiments and activities a part of your homeschool science class. Here we talk about the different types of forces that a child is likely to be familiar with. These include gravity, friction, and fluid dynamics. Given here are activities that can help you introduce these concepts of force to a young child who may be unfamiliar with these more technical sounding terms. After the basic concept has been introduced you can add more complex experiments that may deal with measuring the force or using it in a productive manner to accomplish a set objective or goal.
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![By Gorkaazk (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://www.sciencelearningspace2.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/By-Gorkaazk-Own-work-Public-domain-via-Wikimedia-Commons-150x150.png)
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