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Happy Home Schooling Christmas Style! This eLetter (Terry’s Terrific Learning Connections or Terry’s Tender Loving Care) is meant to encourage and inspire families homeschooling their children.
Christmas is getting closer each day. Perhaps you are looking forward to it – perhaps you aren’t. Perhaps you are wondering how you will get everything done or perhaps you already know you won’t get everything done (like me!). Perhaps you are hurting over the loss of what could have been and are aching over what is. Wherever you and your family are, I’d like to remind you God is with you and nothing in the past year has been a surprise to Him. Sleep in peace.
In the next month or so, we have an opportunity to slow down, focus on the meaning of the season AND to continue bonding with the hearts of our children. I’d suggest making every effort to do so – because while the days are long, the years are, oh, so short. We really don’t have much time with each of our children. What you do today – each day – counts!
AND how lovely it is, that you have made the decision to home school your children. No, it isn’t easy, but it is worthwhile. It sometimes takes all our energy, time and money, but what else would we rather spend our energy, time and money on? (Smile)
Happy Home Schooling to all of you – especially to the families new to WISDOM. This eLetter (Terry’s Terrific Learning Connections or Terry’s Tender Loving Care) is meant to encourage and inspire families homeschooling their children.
We are living in uncertain times. Some of us have homeschooled for years, while others leaped into homeschooling this September. No matter what lies ahead of us, homeschooling our children is a great choice! There were times when I got distracted by academics or parenting issues and those were what I focused on.
Today I encourage you to focus on your relationship with your child / children. Why not add relationship building activities to your daily / weekly plant?
Make a list of what each child loves and try to include that in your homeschool week / life as much as possible. Talk often. Eat good food together slowly. Play games. Go for walks. Read great books aloud. Read the Bible and pray together to relieve stress and anxiety. Hug often.
Do whatever builds your relationship with your child as much as possible. Our days together might seem long, but the years are so short.
Homeschool Freedom (AND Fun) in the Summer
I must admit I love the freedom of home schooling at any time of the year, but home school freedom in the summer time is especially sweet.
After a long home school year of planning, home schooling and meeting our goals, I (and the girls) appreciated a break from academics during the summer months.
Many years, I had a Summer Binder and I would make a plan for each week. I made a list of activities I thought the kids would enjoy and spaced them out through the summer months.
Having activities listed on a calendar in my Summer Binder always made it easier for me to get things done. Sometimes we would do one activity a day – other times, there would be an activity for the morning and another one for the afternoon. I had family readalouds, nature walks, fun baking ideas, crafts, games, and more listed down. We never got all of them accomplished, but if I needed an idea, it was there. (And I reused it from year to year!)
A few years, we even had a Summer Fun Afternoon where we invited extra kids to join us for fun water games, a pinata, snacks and prizes one day. The kids LOVED that. (AND I almost always did childcare through the Summer!)
We also went swimming every summer weekday afternoon for two or three years AND hosted Japanese Exchange Students for four or five summers, too. (I loved hosting Japanese Students. We got a closer look into their culture and life, while they got a close look into Canadian culture and life. Some girls were easier to host than others, but it was always a great family extra to do in the summer times. *ALTHOUGH perhaps don’t go to Heritage Days before you know how to pronounce your Exchange Student’s last name…. We did find her! She got tired and sat down by the Playground.)
Life was very full for me, and I loved it, but perhaps that isn’t the kind of summer you (or your family) want or need. The great thing about Home School Freedom (AND freedom itself) is that each of us gets to choose what kind of summer we will have. Here are some ideas that you are free to use or not, as you wish!
Terry’s Terrific Learning Connections (OR Terry’s Tender Loving Care)
As this home school year draws to a close, I hope you have had a great year home educating your children and that you have some fun (and / or) relaxing plans for your family this summer.
Welcome to the first edition of Terry’s “Terrific Learning Connections” (and Tender Loving Care, too) for WISDOM Families.
I’ll share great links, contests and connection opportunities for WISDOM Families and Students monthly. I usually share a lot of these ideas on Facebook but want to open it up to the entire Family of WISDOM Home Schoolers.
Grad Panel - Where I am and how I got here (click here to download - 86mb)
Preparing for and getting the most out of Trade Schools (click here to download - 45mb)
Preparing for and getting the most out of Classical colleges (click here to download - 64mb)
Preparing for and getting the most out of Traditional Colleges and Universities (click here to download - 83mb)
Ken Noster Classical High School Education (click here to download - 37mb)
John Miller Be Patient and Build on Your Strengths (click here to download - 13mb)
Paul van den Bosch Conduct: Real-life Skills (click here to download - 14mb)
Randy Kopp Redefining High School Completion (click here to download - 26mb)
Joe Pollock Science and Math (click here to download - 22mb)
Mike & Michele Barter Panic Button Syndrome (click here to download - 28mb)
Bill Gurney Post Secondary Education Without an Alberta Diploma (click here to download - 27mb)
Louis Sehn Trades-Tips, Tricks, and Tools (click here to download - 19mb)
Mark Meakes Choosing to Work (click here to download - 12mb)
Session 1 (click here to download - 91mb)
Session 2 (click here to download - 52mb)
Session 3 (click here to download - 52mb)
Ken Noster Classical Education (click here to download - 53mb)
Ken Noster High School - A Basis for Advanced Education (click here to download - 65mb)
Ken Noster High School and Beyond - Chart your Course (click here to download - 37mb)
Find out more about how WISDOM can be part of your home school journey.