My kids say day 5 has to be about one of their favorite ways to learn. This involves simply helping mommy. Yeah I know it surprised me too, but it's true. Kids love to mimic their parents, they love to do what mommy and daddy do and nothing makes them happier than a pat on the back and a well done.
Some people think that parents just know this, that it comes simply with having children, but it doesn't. And of course you don't have to be a homeschooler to do this, but a lot of our extra school hours come from the kids simply helping. By helping they learn.
Here is a for instance. You can use home ec as a credit. Let's say cooking is our first credit. You also learn fractions by cooking. You can learn fractions by eating(yummy piece of pie).
Case in point. My kids learned a great science lesson today by playing outside with bricks, a wooden toy box, and a long piece of wood(2 x 4). What did they learn? They learned about balancing objections. They learned about fulcrums, weights, and how to move your fulcrum to balance unequal loads. They build this experiment on their own and each time I gave them a new problem they figured it out. They learned more in half an hour of play than they would in a month through a textbook. This will stick with them, this was fun. This was play with mommy and was so sweet for all of us.
The only thing I sometimes wonder is how something so fun can actually count for school! But they say it can and it does, so we're going to keep at it!
So I guess what I'm saying is incorporate school into your everyday life. Your kids are learning and growing and having fun while doing it. Make sure you praise your children. Don't sweat it if they are not the best at math or struggle at reading. Instead of showing your frustration make a big deal out of the word they did sound out right or the letter sound they remembered perfectly.
People often ask me how I have the patience to homeschool my crew. Really I don't. I have never had a lot of patience. I struggle daily to make sure I don't lose my patience with my kids. What helps me remember to keep going and keep striving for that patience is the way their faces light up when they do finally get the concept after we've both worked so hard to get there! That is all the reward I need and the encouragement to keep going and keep loving them through it all.
You can view my other days by the links below and make sure to check up on what the other blogs are doing by using the button below.
No comments:
Post a Comment