Classroom Help – Page 7 – Education Alliance

Hello, Friends!

This week I must devote entirely to several speaking chores. So I thought you would enjoy viewing the introductions to my presentations. Here they are in their approximate final draft. Enjoy!

Raising children is like a boat race:

You never feel ready
You always feel watched
It’s hard to change your mind
Disasters can happen

Too often, a bad beginning can cause a disastrous ending.

What can we do to ensure we are even in the right boat?

Since we are SO FAR from the shore, what are some boat safety rules?

A. We can examine our attitudes. Many begin this race badly, with a bad attitude when they board the good ship homeschool.

Sometimes people begin home schooling because of a bad teacher experience. Often these parents are angry and the thrust of their actions is intended as a javelin thrust into some teacher or educational system.

They just want to rock the boat . . . .

We all need to get used to the fact that the State Institutions are failing everywhere. It is not personal. It just is a cosmic failure, such as comes every time we build a cosmic house of cards.

Those who begin for this reason, alone, often stop just as dramatically as they began, when they, for some reason, decide putting their child in a State Institution is not really such a bad idea, after all.

Some parents begin because the child is failing. Whether he is unable to learn, or simply untaught where he is, the parent decides to take the plunge because of embarrassment or natural protective instincts toward the child. This reason also fails the parent quickly, because soon as the child homeschools, he does better.

Amazing!

The parents allow this progress to lull them into a false sense of security. They opt for State Institutionalization for their beloved child, after all, thinking the problems were a false alarm.

They change boats in the middle of the race, and slow the progress of both methods.

The third reason is more stable. These people do not become quitters as easily.

They are the ones who begin because they see the rightness, the necessity of it. They see God’s commands to teach our own children. They see the State Institutions growing constantly more hostile to morality.

They see ketchup as a vegetable and “two mommies” as a norm, or even a goal.

These frightening observations rivet them and they realize homeschooling as a part of being a family, homeschooling as a part of the decision to have children,
homeschooling even as a part of the decision to marry.

It’s just the natural, normal result, for them, of being alive and desiring to succeed.

And they do.

Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist

Dec 19, 2013MelissaClassroom Help

Taken from http://heartofthematteronline.com/confessions-of-a-recovering-perfectionist/

As a writer, I’ve been encouraged to strive for that ever elusive idea of ‘perfection’ in my writing. I’ve been taught that every word should be viewed as valuable, every sentence re-worked until the least offensive combination of words was found. This, in and of itself is not a problem. As a teacher, I encourage my students to strive for creativity, and to re-work bits of their assignments that don’t fit, or could use some attention. I never mention perfection though. I’ve seen too many students get stuck on that idea and not let go. I’ve seen Perfection squash Creativity, both in my students and myself.

Through high school and college I thrived on the idea of perfection. The ‘A’ was the main goal for me. I wanted to please my teachers and my parents by showing them that I could obtain my desire of performing well as a student. I defined myself through the grade, through the praise that I received, or didn’t receive from others. I began to notice a problem with this thinking my senior year of high school, but I couldn’t name it. I just knew there was something wrong with my thinking. When asked to write creatively for a class, I would choke. What did the teacher want me to write about? What topic would impress? What formula would earn me that ‘A’ or that pat on the head that said yes, I had talent, and yes, I was ‘creative’ or a ‘good student.’

It was not until my senior year of college that I found out how destructive these thoughts could be. (more…)

Wide-Eyed Wonder

Dec 16, 2013MelissaClassroom Help, Informative, Projects

By Leigh Bortins

“We perish from want of wonder, not from want of wonders.”—G. K. Chesterton

Have you ever watched your children squeal in delight when they turn over a large rock and discover that a whole colony of insects has been living right beneath it? This is what scientific study is all about—wondering about God’s creation and recording what you learn. As we grow older, many of us forget to wonder. We forget to stare at the stars above us at night, to wonder what they are made of and what governs their motions. We forget to see the wildlife all around us, to ask for the names of all of the birds in the backyard. I am grateful that we live on a lake that is home to many different species of frogs. Every night, their musical croaking in varied voices is a symphony in tribute to the astonishing diversity of Creation.

How can we train our children to continue to explore the world with wide-eyed wonder at the works of His hands? First, we know that a little bit of knowledge is usually fodder for more curiosity. If small children memorize the types of volcanoes—active, intermittent, dormant, extinct—then they will be more likely to want to read books about volcanoes. In addition, their ears will perk up when they hear of stories of ancient volcanoes, such as Pompeii, or of volcanoes in current news stories.

So far, I have already mentioned two important activities for small children in the study of science. ( (more…)

Category: Classroom Help

ABC’s OF HOMESCHOOL

Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist

Wide-Eyed Wonder