Tip THREE ... Buy some Ice Cream

Welcome back to this weeks Tips for Homeschool Parents. So far in the series we have talked about  Becoming Equipped: Know What You Think and Why and Finding Your Rhythm. Today I would like to encourage you to stock up on ice-cream (or your family favourite treat)!

As much as homeschooling is living the dream sooner or later the honeymoon period will end. You will experience the odd frustrating and difficult day.  We are all human.  Every day is different.  Just when you think you've got it nailed something will happen to make you question your choices and that's when you need to remember tip number one - Know WHY you are doing what you are doing which in turn will empower you with the strength to keep going.

When you hit a day when no matter how hard you try you will not be able to explain an easy concept to a student who is struggling to comprehend what is in front of them and soon tensions will escalate and things can become, well let's just say not so nice.  There will be tears of frustration or angry words and then I recommend you close the books.

Put AWAY all the books and declare ICE CREAM day.  

Believe me your children will be grateful and so will you be.  It's a great way to diffuse the situation, it creates a happy memory, provides space for you all to reconnect and relaxes everyone involved.

Whatever you do, do not go back to the subject that sparked the tensions.  Tackle the next thing on the list or get out the house and go for a walk.  Come back to that subject tomorrow after you and the child have had a good nights rest and you've had some time to think about a new approach to solve their quandary.

If you find that you and the children keep coming to the point of sparking each other it could be because you are all tired. You may need to look at finding a new rhythm for your homeschool.

We follow a five week rotation.  Our rhythm is to home educate for four weeks and then have a one week break.  Nine of these rotations equal a total of 36 weeks of school and only take up 40 weeks of the year.  Leaving us twelve weeks of holidays.    You can read more about this topic in these two posts: Homeschool Daily Schedules and Our Rhythm - Year Round Schooling.  When working out your families rhythm remember to check what your country/state requirements are for homeschooling for the year.

I love what  Sally Clarkson says in her book The Mission of Motherhood: "There are many varieties of personalities and possibilities of home organization, Each of us simply has to find the combination of routines that suits our lifestyle and desires." This is why it's important for you to do what's best for your family even if it's different to your homeschool neighbour.

I'm looking forward to sharing more tips with you later this week.  This post is part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents Blog Hop.  Blog posts from these bloggers will be going live between 8 am EST and Midday.

I invite you to grab a cup of tea and head on over to these bloggers to see their word of encouragement to you today.

• Dawn @ Double O Farms
• Dawn @ Guiding Light Homeschool
• Debbie @ Debbie's Homeschool Corner
• Desiree @ Our Homeschool Notebook
• Diana @ Busy Homeschool Days
• Diana @ Homeschool Review
• Elyse @ Oiralinde: Eternal Song
• Emilee @ Pea of Sweetness
• Erin @ For Him and My Family
• Jen @ Chestnut Grove Academy

Blessings
Chareen

If you're on Pinterest I encourage you to follow the board 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents for some wonderful NEW content for your Homeschool Boards.
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Tip TWO ... Find YOUR Rhythm

Welcome to day two of Tips for Homeschool Parents which is being hosted by the Schoolhouse Review Crew.  Yesterday's topic was Become Equipped Know What You Think and Why. Today I would like to encourage you to find your own personal rhythm and stick to it.

One of the challenges that face us as homeschool parents is to leave school at school. Most home educating families today were not home educated themselves and the only model of education they have in their minds is that of the school they personally attended. Part of the problem with this is that school is six to seven hours a day five days of week plus homework time and this model does not work at home.

When you home educate keep in mind you are not schooling you are tutoring and one of the majour differences is the amount of time required to accomplish the same amount of educating. 

At school you have a 1:30 ratio which means the teacher needs more time to teach and help the students in her care.  At home you have a one to one ratio which means you will know when your student grasps a concept.  The same principle applies to the quantity of written work you require for each subject.  The majority of written work issued at school is 'busy work'. The aim of this written work is to keep students busy and allow the teacher time to help the students who need assistance.

Finding the balance as to the amount of time you need each day to complete your daily requirements is the first step to successfully home educating. Time is a limited resource and one that needs to be managed.  Part of this management is finding your rhythm and sticking to it.

"Every lesson must have its own time, and no other time in this world is there for it. The sense of the preciousness of time, of the irreparable loss when a ten minutes' lesson is thrown away must be brought home." - Charlotte Mason Companion page 93 

The most important part of finding your rhythm is that you do not play the comparison game.  Stop comparing what you are doing with the next home school family in your group of friends or blog are doing.  Your family is unique.  It has it's own set of needs.  IF you are constantly changing up how you do things or adding to what you are doing because of what other families are doing you are going to wear yourself and your children out. 

Here are a few blog posts which cover some of the areas of time in  homeschool, each of these posts address a different aspect of homeschooling which directly impacts your homeschool schedule/rhythm:

• Dear Mom Who is Feeling Overwhelmed
• IF you are a new home educator and have just brought your students home then I encourage you to read: From School to Homeschool
• House Cleaning and Home School ? Just how do you balance the two??  
• Homeschool Daily Schedules Sally Clarkson says: "There are many varieties of personalities and possibilities of home organization, Each of us simply has to find the combination of routines that suits our lifestyle and desires." -  The Mission of Motherhood.
• Our Rhythm - Year Round Schooling 
• How Important is Alone Time and Home Schooling ?  
• A little Word on Homeschool Record Keeping  
• Homeschool Burnout 

I'm looking forward to sharing more tips with you later this week.  This post is part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents Blog Hop.  Blog posts from these bloggers will be going live between 8 am EST and Midday.

I invite you to grab a cup of tea and head on over to these bloggers to see their word of encouragement to you today.

• Melissa @ Grace Christian School
• Michele @ Family, Faith and Fridays
• Missica @ Through the Open Window
• Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling
• Rebekah @ There Will Be A $5 Charge For Whining
• Renita @ Krazy Kuehner Days
• Sarah @ Renaissance Mama
• Sasha @ Such a Time as This
• Tawnee @ Adventures in Homeschooling
• Tiffany @ The Crafty Home
• Tina @ Desperate Homeschoolers

Blessings
Chareen

If you're on Pinterest I encourage you to follow the board 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents for some wonderful NEW content for your Homeschool Boards.

Follow Every Bed of Roses's board 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents. on Pinterest.

Tip ONE ... Become Equipped Know What You Think

If you are a new homeschooling parent, welcome to one of the most amazing journeys you will ever embark on.  If you're an experienced homeschooling parent be encouraged.  Homeschooling is one of the most incredible journey's you will undertake with your children.  It's a marathon of a journey and not a sprint so slow down, enjoy the journey it will be over far quicker than you can imagine.  Pace yourself or you will run out of energy.  This week I am joining fifty bloggers from the Schoolhouse Review Crew and together we are aiming to bring you 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents.

Tip ONE - Become Equipped Know What You Think & Why

One of the things to be aware of is the homeschooling is no longer a new movement. We are into the third and fourth generation of homeschoolers. There are many many different approaches and more types of curriculum than you will ever work through in a hundred years.   Each and every curriculum company has put their heart and soul into developing their product and the internet has become a vehicle of creating even more accessible things to do with your children.  It can be incredibly overwhelming when you first start looking.

As a new or veteran homeschooler I encourage you to read up on the different philosophies of homeschooling.  By this I mean know a little bit about the different methods and approaches which are used today. You will hear terms such as the Charlotte Mason Method, Delight Directed Education, and so forth.

It's important that you know which one you would like to use and more importantly why you are choosing this option for your family.  Remember this is NOT set in stone and will change as your family grows and changes and as your experience as a home educator expands.  It is however important to have a starting point and to move forward from there.

IF you don't know what you think OR why you think what you do then every homeschool consultant will try to sell you their product and soon you will have a home full of different curriculum and you will be overwhelmed!  OR you will have a budget blow out or you will be so confused and not buy anything and give up the journey before you begin.

Scripture exhorts us in  Ephesians 4:14 thus: Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

Knowledge is Power. That power is either in your hand or in someone elses. If you don't know what you think or what your goals are then there will be someone out there who is only too happy to lead you a merry dance and convince you to spend your money with them.

Knowing why you are doing something 

is the first step in being empowered 

to follow through with your choices.

Even if you are a seasoned homeschooler and you don't have your thoughts and focus set then every single time you see something new or meet a new homeschooler and hear what they are doing you will feel as though you are somehow failing your children or they are missing out which in turn will drive you to choose to add more to an already busy homeschool.  The danger of this is that soon you will be doing a great many things with mediocrity and become overwhelmed and exhausted.

STEP one form the cornerstone of your homeschool by Knowing What You Think & Why.

Equip Yourself Well for the journey ahead BEFORE you begin.I have shared some thoughts on a variety of topics which are foundational to the home education journey and would encourage you to look at the following posts:

• Book Recommendations for New Home Schoolers
• Kid Extra Activities…How Much? And When is it Too Much? 
• Co-Op…or Not? Why? or Why Not?
• Local Homeschool Group - Are you involved? Why? Why not?
• Dad…His role in Homeschooling 
• My Top 3 Suggestions for Someone who Pulled Child out of School Mid Year
• To Homeschool - Year Round…or Not Year Round?
• Overload - What to Do When Your Run out of Fuel 
• Time to Look after Yourself
• Can you homeschool in High School ?

I'm looking forward to sharing more tips with you later this week.  This post is part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents Blog Hop.  Blog posts from these bloggers will be going live between 8 am EST and Midday.

I invite you to grab a cup of tea and head on over to these bloggers to see their word of encouragement to you today.

• Annette @ A Net In Time
• Brandy @ Kingdom Academy Homeschool
• Brenda @ Counting Pinecones
• Carol @ Home Sweet Life
• Cassandra @ A Glimpse of Normal
• Cristi @ Through the Calm and Through the Storm
• Crystal @ Crystal Starr
• DaLynn @ Biblical Womanhood
• Danielle @ Sensible Whimsy
• Dawn @ Double O Farms

Blessings
Chareen
If you're on Pinterest I encourage you to follow the board 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents Content for some wonderful content for your Homeschool Boards.

Follow Every Bed of Roses's board 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents. on Pinterest.

Seeking Beauty Through the Arts (Week 4 - Virtual Curriculum Fair)

Welcome to the fourth and final week of the 2016 Virtual Curriculum Fair. This week we are looking at The Arts and Everything that brings beauty to your world and adds something good to your homeschool. This year I am co-hosting with  Kristen over at Sunrise to Sunset and Laura over at Day by Day in our World. Over the last couple of years I have embarked on a journey to learn more about the Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling. 

"We all have need to be trained to see, and to have our eyes opened before we can take in the joy that is meant for us in this beautiful life." ~ Charlotte Mason

This statement by Charlotte really impacted me earlier this year as I was reading Volume One of the Homeschooling series.  The ability to see and take note of beauty in the every day is not something that is natural and inherent it is something we need to be trained to do. The world around us is structured  to focus on the negative and it takes some work and a little bit of practice to look for and see the good. 

One of the catch phrases in the Charlotte Mason circles concerns Twaddle.  I love that term. It so aptly describes that we need to be seeking quality literature.  One of my passions is directly linked to this.  I feel that often we are hung up on content that we forget to check for beauty when assessing a book.  What's the point of an ugly twaddle free book ?  Children are visually impacted. The images they are given set the tone for how they will look at the world around them. Children are children for such a short period of time before they are confronted with the sin in this world that it is a shame to not surround them with beautiful twaddle free books!

Beauty and the arts are intertwined.  They cover anything that impact us through our senses.  You don't need any fancy curriculum but you do need to be intentional to learn to use your senses in order to appreciate the beauty that surrounds you. 

Books we love
(Libraries are an excellent resource to teach for FREE)

• The Usborne ART Treasury
• Finger Print Drawing Book
• Global Art
• The Usborne Book of Famous Paintings 
• Katie and the Waterlily Pond  
• Katie and the Mona Lisa
• The Children's Book of ART 
• Handel: At the Court of Kings  

Read more of my thoughts on the arts here:

• Joseph Haydn {Composer Study Unit}
• How do you teach poetry ?
• Claude Monet {Unit Study}  
• Nature Journals Resource Page (Over 60 links to FREE resources} 
• Each week you can find links to tutorials covering things to make in your homeschool in the Virtual Fridge.
• Click on any of the graphics below for more information.

For more information on the Arts you can read the posts from past fairs here:

• 2014 Virtual Fair: Language Arts Art and Music Appreciation Resource Lists
• 2015 Virtual Fair: Language Arts @ Every Bed of Roses

 We should always have something worthwhile to think about, that we may not let our minds dwell upon unworthy matters.
Charlotte Mason
(p. 21) from Ourselves

What others have to say on Exploring Our World

• Yvie @ Gypsy Road - Art Museum Staycation & Elements of Art Unit
• Sarah@ Delivering Grace - First Things First
• Laura @ Day by Day in Our World - Add An Element of Beauty with Fine Arts in the Homeschool
• Lisa@ Golden Grasses - What Are We Fighting For?
• Annette @ A Net In Time - Art, art, and more art
• Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset - The Sounds of Music
• Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break - Music and Other Beautiful Things

If you missed the last three posts from the 2016 Virtual Curriculum Fair they can be found here:

Week ONE - Language Arts
Week TWO - Thoughts on Math and Science
Week THREE - Exploring our World through Social Studies

Blessings
Chareen

 It's YOUR Turn
What are your thoughts on Seeking Beauty Through the Arts?  If you have a blog post on any of the subjects at hand add them below and if not then please leave me a comment and lets chat.

An InLinkz Link-up

March 19 {HSMJ}

 In my life this week…

It's been a much needed week of rest.  Today I will share you a few photo's of our week and over the next few weeks I will share in depth about our explorations.

Enjoying the Murry River

Every day the sky was painted

Nathaniel enjoyed swimming each day.

Capri Waters Country Club.

Paul fishing in the Murry River

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• We're all invited to start Poetry Teatime.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• Mulwala and Yarrawonga

My favourite thing this week was…

• Exploring new areas.
• 7 Things Moms Should Do for Their Kids Every Day 

 On the WWW I’m reading…

• Blind Mom Takes Care Of 3 Kids In Total Darkness
• I'm totally shocked to read that this is even happening in Australia No jail for mum and midwife found guilty of female genital mutilation of young girls

 I’m cooking…

• I think I will give this a go Banana Cream Pie Shake { Low Fat | Sugar Free | THM E }

Blessings
Chareen

Connect with me

 

Linking to

Photo collages made with: Photoscape a FREE photo editor


A Week In Review Link UP

Join Lisa and I each week and share your week in review.  We look forward to reading about your

Week in Review
Field Trips
School Work&nbsp
Homeschool projects
And anything homeschool related.

Here is a button for your post.

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An InLinkz Link-up

Step TWO of Repeated Sweets ART Projects {Virtual Fridge}

This Week
If you're wondering what sorts of things you could add to our Virtual Fridge and why it's so much fun?  Take a look at this neat post over at Homeschool Coffee Break.

This week at art class we did step two of our art projects DVD's called Repeated Sweets. It's the first time I've worked with water colours in this way and I confess I did enjoy the process. 


This weeks Feature

This weeks feature is a tutorial from over at My Full Heart.  Megan has done an easy to follow Easy Peasy Penny Spinners with your children.  I love the way they sparkle when spinning.

Your Turn

I invite you to take some photo's of your children's artistic pursuits put them in a post and link up with me I would love to come over and see the wonderful art your children have enjoyed doing.

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Blessings
Chareen

Connect with me

 

Your hosts are

Add YOUR LINKS from your BLOG or INSTAGRAM

Please NOTE by adding your links to the Virtual Fridge link up YOU are giving the hosts of the Virtual Fridge link up permission to use a photograph from your blog to feature 

your ART along with a link to your art/tutorial.

Add YOUR LINKS from your BLOG or INSTAGRAM

An InLinkz Link-up

Week 3 Social Studies a Science of Relations {2016 Virtual Curriculum Fair}

Welcome to week three of the 2016 Virtual Curriculum Fair.  This year I am co-hosting with  Kristen over at Sunrise to Sunset and Laura over at Day by Day in our World. I'm on a mission this year to read the original works of Charlotte Mason and to implement her philosophies in our homeschool.  One of the things she often talks about is that education is a science of relations.  This idea really resonates with me because nothing in life truly stands in isolation.  EVERYTHING is interwoven and affected by everything else. Over the years I've grown to understand and see the benefit of immersion in education and the deep impact it has on the student.

In week one we looked at language arts and in week two we covered math, science and logic.  This week we will take a look at things like history and geography.

My personal passion is teaching/learning history chronologically. My reasons for this are: dates help us to anchor our learning and every single subject happened somewhere in history.

The stories of history are my personal favourite and I have shared more thoughts on this  here: Teaching History Revisited

Over the years I have found that geography is one area that is mournfully neglected in the home school community.   There are a few ways of teaching this interesting subject after all everything that has ever happened in history happened somewhere in our amazing world!

On This Blog

• Science in High School
• Science in the Junior Years 
• Teaching History Revisited 
• Science - How do you do it? 
• My Passion: Chronological History  
• Time Lines - Make Your Own Tutorial

You can find full internet linked lists covering Pinterest, Curriculum Choices, on the www, and freebies for the following subjects (click on the graphic to see the post)



From the last Curriculum Fair

• 2014 - Social Studies & Science Resource Lists 
• 2015- History, Geography Science

What others have to say on Exploring Our World

Yvie @ Gypsy Road - Bringing It to Life! History, Geography, & Science 
 Jen Altman @ Chestnut Grove Academy - Virtual Curriculum Fair 2016: Exploring Our World, How We Do Social Studies and Life/Earth Science 
 Laura @ Day by Day in Our World - Learning About the World Around Us 
 Lisa @ GoldenGrasses - Exploring & Discovering Around the World 
 Annette @ A Net In Time - Science and Culture Around the World and at Home
 Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break -  Exploring History and Geography 
 Laura @ Four Little Penguins  - Going Around the World at Our Kitchen Table
 Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory - Our Tackling of the Social Studies and Science
 Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset - Encouraging Curiosity about the World

It's YOUR Turn
What are your thoughts on Exploring Our World.  If you have a blog post on any of the subjects at hand add them below and if not then please leave me a comment and lets chat.

Blessings
Chareen

An InLinkz Link-up

Week 2: What are your plans and goals for 2016?

This week I'm playing catch up with the Australian Mum's Encouraging Mums blog hop.  I had so many good intentions and not enough time in my week to follow through. Last week Monday I shared about how I stayed blogging and all the why's and in week two Belinda asked: What are your goals for different areas of your life, including homeschooling? Hmm I am not really an active goal setting kind of person so these questions have been a lot harder to answer than I initially thought they would be.

What worked for you last year – and what didn’t – and what you are going to change

• Changing our homeschool to more of a Charlotte Mason philosophy has really worked.
• Having too flexible a schedule really did not work.  I was trying to avoid a schedule because I thought it would help bring about a more peaceful day around here because of Aspergers Syndrome.  It did not.  Children on the spectrum really need routine to keep things peaceful and they need just enough change to learn flexibility.
• This year I want more of a rhythm to our day than a rigid schedule and that is what I'm aiming for.

Share your week’s schedule/plan – or share the stories from one day this week

• Last month I shared the day in the life of homeschooling an only.

Share how you plan your day/week/year – how do you find your priorities

• That's an interesting question.  This year I'm aiming for more of a daily rhythm in our homeschool.  As a result we are still working our way towards finding our perfect happy flow.  At present we follow breakfast with kitchen cleaning chores followed with school reading work with physical activity breaks. 
• We are aiming to attend a minimum of ONE field trip a month.  No amount of book work could ever substitute a field trip and what immersion in an experience brings to learning.
• Our homeschool group is also aiming to have one day a month where we get together for an afternoon of fellowship.
• I'd like to start piano lessons for Nathaniel and I this year too but I will leave that for term two. 

Share how you stay motivated to stay on track with your goals

• In one word:  FRIENDSHIP.  I love my homeschool friends they keep me accountable by asking me how it is going.  They inspire me to be a better home schooling Mom.  
• New homeschool Mom's  I love to attend any meeting of new home educating families.  Their enthusiasm and passion re-ignite my zeal and fill me with the courage to continue this journey and finish it well.
• INSTAGRAM.  I love to look through the photographs of other home educating families and be inspired to dig out long forgotten resources and use them. 

Blessings

Chareen