|
|
 |
| March/April 2005 |
Volume 13, No. 2
|
|
|
|
Homeschooling
• The Opportunity Cost of Homeschooling by Barbara Frank
If someone offered you a million dollars in exchange for not homeschooling your children, would you take them up on it?
• Projects in a Jar by Shirley M.R. Minster
As the school year progresses, parents look for ways to change homelife and lessons from humdrum to interesting. To add mystery and excitement, try setting up Projects in a Jar. This activity has plenty of suggestions to quell your child’s moaning mantra, "There’s nothing to do."
• The Child Gets Knowledge By Means Of His Senses by Charlotte Mason
Nature's Teaching.––Watch a child standing at gaze at some sight new to him––a plough at work, for instance––and you will see he is as naturally occupied as is a babe at the breast; he is, in fact, taking in the intellectual food which the working faculty of his brain at this period requires. In his early years the child is all eyes; he observes, or, more truly, he perceives, calling sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing to his aid, that he may learn all that is discoverable by him about every new thing that comes under his notice.
• Homeschoolers Need Grandparents (and Grandparents Need Grandchildren) - Linda Schrock Taylor
There must be thousands of families that would remove their children from public schools in order to homeschool them, if the parents had a better support system within their extended family unit, and especially if that support came from the grandparents of the children.
|
Learning Together
• Putting New Punch Into Reading Instruction Suzanne H. Stevens
About 50% of our children will learn to read no matter what instructional techniques we use to teach them. For the other half, systematic instruction in the decoding process is essential before the student can develop proficiency in reading.
• Early Learning to Last a Lifetime by Dr. Sue Snyder
We adults have so many pressures on our daily decisions about young children, and our choices will impact our children’s entire lives. Should the arts be part of your daily plans? Why?
• Rote Learning: Bypassing Thinking by Dr. Renée Fuller
Tony was amazing. He could multiply numbers in the thousands with the speed of a calculating machine. As a small child he had come across a high-number multiplication table which he proceeded to memorize. Was he the brilliant, sophisticated intellect that these feats would indicate?
• How Smart is My Child? by Deborah Ruf, Ph.D.
Many parents wonder how their children compare to other children. They may have very good reasons to suspect their children are gifted (for example, their five-year-old is adding pupils and eyelashes to their drawings of people or their three-year-old can read an “Exit” sign), but they’re not sure how to prove or disprove it. Proof about giftedness can be critical, because it helps parents to provide more opportunities for their kids’ increased growth, enjoyment, and success in areas of interest.
• The Educational Value of the Lord of the Rings - Amelia Harper
Some Christians are confused as to the proper response to The Lord of the Rings. Many have loved the books from their childhood, or have at least heard positive statements concerning them.
• After High School: College or Career? Lynn Scully
Whether you choose a trade, apprenticeship on-the job-training or other work program directly from high school, consider the opportunities for career advancement.
|
Practical Family Living
• Feeling Deprived by Rhonda Barfield
I've learned, from past experience, that my feelings of being deprived usually occur when I am not content.
• Raising a Child With Life-Threatening Food Allergies by Linda Coss (Book Excerpt)
How can I get people to take my child’s food allergies seriously?
• Most people find it hard to believe that for some people, just one bite – or even less – of an allergen can lead to an extreme reaction or even death.
• Housework by Gender Jon Remmerde
Our daughters came home from college for the summer. Amanda walked up the driveway and across the highway to a dude ranch six days a week, four or five hours a day, and cleaned rooms and cabins. Juniper drove up the mountain about ten miles to a resort, where she cleaned rooms and cabins, took care of horses, and guided horseback trail rides.
|
| Viewpoints and Commentary
• How I Survived Government Schools by Steven Yates
I can recall only one incident in kindergarten. The teacher came by and showed us two papers to color, one of Dick and one of Jane. She asked: "Which one would you like to color?" My answer, even today, I regard as one of the foundational turning points in my academic career: "Neither."
• Learning, Where is the Value? by Dave Marks
In my many years in the classroom teaching in public institutions I recognized that there were very few students who wanted to learn for the joy of learning. Most of the students had reasonable goals: they wanted grades to graduate, to qualify for the National Honor Society, for acceptance at their college of choice, to please their parents, or to be placed into classes with their friends. Learning is such an important part of life and this surprised me so much, I began to study what was known about learning and desire. To my surprise, I learned that the schools created this attitude in their youngest students without knowing they were doing it.
|
| Where Are They Now? - Stories of Grown Homeschoolers
• At Work With Jamie Hopkins - Peter Kowalke
Jamie Hopkins drops the three large tote bags from her shoulder and quickly empties their contents onto a table in the back of a large, unadorned room made of thick concrete. The space, lined with folding chairs and tables, serves as temporary headquarters for the Howard County Fair in northern Maryland, near Baltimore. Middle-aged farmers with weather-worn faces, wide cowboy hats and ample bellies periodically enter, inquiring about fair business such as where to park horse trailers or when a certain livestock competition is scheduled. Jamie retreats to an enjoining room where noise is less a factor. There she unpacks her laptop with haste.
|
About the Publication
Home Educator's Family Times is the homeschool publication perfect for new or veteran homeschool families. Written by nationally recognized homeschool experts it includes :
- Research on Child Development, Family Issues, Education and Homeschool Issues
- Successful Family Learning, Research & Homeschool Strategies
- Practical Tips and instantantly useable How - To Articles
- Special Concerns - Gifted, Special Needs, High School, Learning Styles, & Developmental Issues
- Home Educator's Resource Network - Recommended Curriculum (Online Issue)
- Serving homeschooling families since 1986
|
|
|
|
|
|
