Category: Homeschooling
-
Hear me “on the radio”
My daughter was very impressed to hear that I was going to “be on the radio” today. She asked, “Which station?” In this modern world, she is straddling two eras of technology, perhaps three. Sometimes we listen to local radio stations over the real radio airwaves. Sometimes we listen to local radio stations which we…
-
Swinging and multiplying
In the typical learning pattern for math concepts, kids first get the fundamentals of numbers—counting, adding, subtracting, sequencing, etc.—then they learn multiplying and dividing. Usually around the third grade, they are ready to memorize the basic 1-12 multiplication table. My daughter was different. She was very interested in numbers from a young age and mastered…
-
The all-day learning window
Recently I wrote about “the 15-minute learning window,” a way that homeschoolers have learned to tap into “teachable moments” and condense learning into smaller packets. It works really well with subjects that you feel your child needs to work on but is not really driven to learn at the moment. Then the other day at…
-
Real chemistry for kids
Once upon a time, learning the details of the elements was “serious science” and left for older students who had the math skills for chemistry. But these days, parents and educators are seeing the value of teaching kids to enjoy science well before they are able to delve into the details. I was very impressed…
-
The 15-minute learning window
I was at the river the other day with hordes of other homeschoolers, splashing around and having fun while our public-school brethren are going full-swing into homework and test preparation. A mom who is starting her homeschooling life this year with her 8-year-old daughter asked a very good question: What with all these fun activities,…