Buy Your Lunch

Give your child a page with math facts on it (like a timed test page). Set a time limit and assign a monetary value to each problem. At the end of the stated time, the child is paid for each correctly completed problem. This money is then used to buy lunch. 

Set up a "cafeteria" with various lunch items: sandwiches, snacks, and special treats. Put a price tag on each item, for instance "$0.05 for a pickle" or "$1.98 for a bag of M&Ms."  Adjust your prices according to how much money was given for each problem (you don't want them to go hungry or stuff themselves), what area of math you want to practice (counting by fives, making change, etc.), and what you would prefer they ate (healthy low, unhealthy high). 

This is also a great way to teach opportunity costs (economics): If you buy the chips, you won't have enough to buy the raisins. Or you can't afford both the cookie and the candy bar so you will have to pick just one. 

My children LOVED doing this. It was the only way they do math without complaining. (We only did it occasionally as I normally didn't let them have snacky-type food.) 

(You could probably "pay" your kids for doing other types of work too, but we always used math worksheets.) 

Summer, Educational or Fun?

When you live in an environment where learning takes place among the happenings of everyday life, the lines between “education” and “enjoyment” start to get a little fuzzy.  As a result, if you were to visit my home on a summer afternoon, you might see one of my sons studying a science text. Or you might see one of my little girls at the table working on her phonics. You might even get a glimpse of my older daughter curled up on the couch with a math book. (Hey, it’s Life of Fred!)

I don’t consider myself to be a year-round schooler. So, for all practical purposes, we are on vacation. But you can’t stop learning from taking place. And when my children saw all the books for next year beginning to fill up our school shelves, they just couldn’t resist. Before I knew it, those books were making their way down off the shelves and the line between education and enjoyment had been completely obliterated.

I’m thrilled, of course. I want my children to understand that learning happens all the time. And while I’m not opposed to forcing them to complete assignments (a few of the kids are still finishing some of their work from last year), I’d rather they took responsibility for their own educations.

But don’t think that bookwork is the only way that we’ve been learning this summer. While “education” can be enjoyable, fun can also be a learning experience.  And we’ve been having some great fun this summer.

Here are a few things (involving books or not involving books) that we’ve done:

• We’ve made regular trips to the library. The children signed up for and completed the summer reading program, and are still bringing home stacks of books to devour
• We’ve been listening to the Chronicles of Narnia on CD
• We’ve planted two gardens and are weeding them, harvesting, eating and preserving vegetables
• The two oldest boys are studying biology and are getting together every week with a friend to do experiments
• Our oldest daughter is working on general science and algebra
• Our oldest daughter and one of her older brothers have started reading the books I picked out for an American literature study
• We attended an Egypt themed VBS and learned more about God and the Bible
• the baby started walking
• The boys attended a basketball camp held at the local high school
• We attended a Mayberry theme party and met delegate Charles Poindexter
• We had a bat in our house, which led to a study of rabies
• Our oldest daughter and my husband went deep sea fishing with some friends
• My youngest daughter (who decided that she REALLY wants to read) is doing phonics and trying to read books waaaaay above her level

Teaching Literature in High School with High School Classes You Can Use {review}

The responsibility of teaching high school literature can be a bit overwhelming. There are so many questions to be answered: what books ought to be read, should poetry be included, should literature and writing be taught separately, what are the elements of literature, how should literature be analyzed. The author of this book does a wonderful job answering all these questions and more.

If you plan to homeschool through the high school years, you will find a wealth of information and encouragement in this book. The author explains in great detail her own goals in teaching literature and gives several practical ways to accomplish these goals. There are ideas for teaching literature in a book club, through blogging, and also through traditional classes. In addition to detailed lesson plans for several different literature classes (which are alone a good enough reason to buy this book!) there are also ideas to help you plan your own classes. Two pages are devoted to analyzing literature, both verbally and in writing, with questions to ask about plot, setting, characterization, and point of view. Literary research papers are also discussed, with step-by-step instructions on how one should be completed. There is even a list of Christian works which can be used as references for these papers. Finally, there are several blank book report forms for your child to use in recording what they have read.

This book has everything you need (except for the literature) to teach literature to your high school student. There are more than enough ideas to help you plan your own class. Or you can go the easy route and use one of the plans included in this book. This book has been a great blessing as I plan our American literature studies for next year. It has saved me many frustrating hours of trying to figure this all out for myself!

Teaching Literature in High School with High School Classes You Can Use

Creating Opportunities

Part of the process of training our children to be lifelong learners is showing them how to take advantage of educational opportunities that can be found all around them. But sometimes, homeschool mothers must go one step further and actually help to CREATE these opportunities. For instance, my oldest son has recently decided that he does in fact want to go to college (!). His reasons being:

1. to learn how to type
2. to learn all he can about fixing and operating computers
3. photography

Now, you can see from this list that college is not an absolute necessity in order for him to reach his goals. However, learning opportunities are certainly required. And I, as his teacher, have the responsibility to create those opportunities for him.

Of course, it might be easier for me to ignore his goals and stick to my OWN plan for his education. And I might succeed in giving him an education which is excellent by many standards. But, in reality, I will have crippled him and left him unprepared to follow the path God is directing him to follow.

This isn't to say that education should always be left to the whims of the child. I am not advocating unschooling or child-led education, but we do need to take into consideration the goals and interests of our children, especially as they grow older. And we ought to do all we can to help them to reach those goals. So, with that in mind, I'm off to create some opportunities!

What learning opportunities have you created lately?

Childhood Griefs and Comforts

Yesterday we found my four-year-old's cat dead in the road. After her initial grief has abated, she began to worry about the kittens. Who would feed them? Who would protect them?

I assured her that the kittens would be fine. They are old enough now to be on their own, which is why we have been trying to find new homes for them. But she was still worried, especially about Cherry Dumplin', the kitten we had told her she could keep as a substitute.

As we were putting things away and closing the house up for the night, I noticed my oldest son carrying a wooden box out to the back of the house. He had spent the afternoon building his sister a cat house out of scrap lumber. She was absolutely thrilled.

Someday she may appreciate the fact that she has brothers who protect and care for her. But for now, she is content knowing her kittens are safe.

Creating a Cloud Notebook And Growing Birds' Nests

I found a couple of neat ideas in a library book I was reading today and thought I would "file" them here, so I don't forget about them. 

The first idea was to create a cloud diary using cotton balls stretched out to show how the clouds look each day. I thought this would be a great idea to use in a notebook or lapbook on weather to show the different types of clouds.

The second idea was to place an abandoned bird's nest in a shallow pan with 1/4 inch of water. After a few days, any seeds that were left in the nest will grow, and you will be able to see what the mother bird fed to her babies. I'm guessing this would only work with certain types of birds' nests, but it sounds fun anyway.

The Study of Stories {freebie}

I love to study genealogy. I find it fascinating to look at lists of names and dates that tell me who my ancestors were, when they were born, and when and how they died. I enjoy reading those long lists of names in the Bible and figuring out who was alive when various events took place. I even love visiting cemeteries and reading the gravestones. It is interesting to see what names were popular at different times and what each family thought was important enough to record on the headstone. But what I really love is the stories that are hiding behind all those names and dates. That's also why I love geography- it is the study of stories that are still being lived.

There are many wonderful resources available on the internet to help you start learning these stories from many nations. Harvest Ministry is even offering a complete free downloadable homeschool curriculum with an emphasis on missions. Teaching With God's Heart for the World is a two-volume world missions curriculum by Ann Dunagan. The curriculum includes day-by-day teaching plans, missionary highlights, motivational mission stories, crafts, songs, prayer projects, and hundreds of ways to incorporate a passion for the lost into nearly every subject (including Bible Study, Family Devotions, Reading, Writing, Geography, History, Art, Science, and even highlights for Math).

Everyone, in every part of the world, has a story to tell and every story is different. But no matter how different, they all have one thing in common. Your story and my story and every other story from Adam until the end of time are all part of a bigger story- HIS story. No matter how different we all may be, God can still use our lives for His glory. And even though the world may seem like a very large place, there is no place so far away that God's love cannot reach it.