57 Questions

Burn Out, Classroom Help, Informative, Organization, Preschoolers

Written with Permission
By Kendra Fletcher
www.TOSMagazine.com

You may have heard this before, but I think we all need to be reminded: Putting a routine into place will be the single most helpful weapon in your arsenal to assure homeschooling success. At the very least, having a routine (or a schedule or a battle plan or a flow chart) will bring a measure of peace to your home simply because you won’t have to fly by the seat of your pants and think through decisions all day long.

Those decisions are exhausting, and often they are the deal breakers for me—questions like these: What’s for breakfast/lunch/dinner? Where do you want me to put this finished worksheet? When can we go to the craft store to buy more paint? How many pages do I have to read? Can I give the dog a bath in your bathroom? Times about 500 hundred. Seriously. (more…)

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Astronomy in “The Hobbit”

Classroom Help, Informative, Just For Fun

Written with Permission
By Jay Ryan
www.TOSMagazine.com

J.R.R Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle Earth is populated by many unusual races, for which the author created elaborate panoply of languages, poetry, cultures, and back-stories. Since Middle Earth is a medieval, pre-industrial society, Tolkien did not neglect to depict pre-industrial techniques for measuring the passage of time. In our modern society, we rely on artificial clocks and calendars to keep track of time for us, but our friends from Middle Earth had to rely on those natural timekeepers used throughout our own pre-industrial history . . . the Sun and Moon. (more…)

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Apps in Home Education

Classroom Help, Informative, Technology

Written with Permission
By Sharra Badgely
www.TOSMagazine.com

 

Mobile technology is growing like never before. In 2012, continued growth in technology is forecast as people worldwide continue to adopt emerging technologies. Do you currently own a mobile device such as a smartphone, tablet, or e-reader? Or do you plan to buy a mobile device in the coming year for use in your homeschool and household? If so, you are part of the growing community of digital natives who experts estimate will download a possible 50 billion apps in 2012.

Many beneficial apps are available for educational use. Students can learn, play, and communicate with digital media as never before. As most homeschooling families can testify, learning is truly fun, and educational apps provide a high-interest mechanism to stimulate learning. Thousands of educational apps are available in the Apple App Store and Android Market, and each month we will highlight a few of our top picks.

Here is a listing of a few apps: (more…)

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