The WISDOM Family Magazine is a compilation of articles from educating professionals, parenting experts, special needs consultants, home schooling parents, students, and more. We welcome your submissions.
To send us an article, letter to the Editor, project idea, or anything else, email it to magazine@wisdomhomeschooling.com . You can also mail your articles or photos to us at WISDOM Family Magazine, Box 78, Derwent, AB T0B 1C0.
Ideas for Submissions...
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.
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!
Preparing For Fall Facilitator Visit
The following are a few tips to allay anxiety, concern, and apprehension of your facilitator’s home visit with you. (Click on the links for more.)
- Conference with your spouse - and children if appropriate - concerning the goals, planning, and overall vision for each child’s year. Write it down in order to refer to it when your facilitator comes. Keep it simple and to the point.
- Review previous assessments (ie: Spring 2006) and education plans in order to reflect and evaluate ‘where we’ve been’, ‘how we’re doing’, and ‘where we’re going’. Some parents have even filled out the new assessment right on the previous form. If you are new with WISDOM or have misplaced the previous assessment, view education plan samples and the blank assessment form.
- E-mail or call your facilitator within a reasonable time frame prior to the visit for special requests, concerns, scheduling preferences, or anything that will assist the facilitator in making the most of the visit for all involved. If you do not know who your facilitator is, please contact the WISDOM Office to find out.
- Make samples of the children’s work available for your facilitator’s perusal.
- If possible, have a preliminary written draft of each child’s education plan.
- Pray for God’s guidance and for the effective use of the limited time available with your facilitator. We’re praying for you, too.
- Enjoy your facilitator visit, and the start of your new year of study!
When I think of the movie line "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My," it makes me think about the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz. For those of you who haven’t seen it or need a refresher, I will summarize some of my favourite characters.
There were 3 characters that all needed something. They figured if they met the Wizard of Oz, he could give them what they needed.
There was The Scarecrow who needed a brain. A Tin Man who needed a heart and The Lion who needed courage.
Thankfully we are born with a brain and a heart. And I think it’s fair to say that courage can come and go in our lives. But as parent’s, we are responsible for facilitating growth in all 3 of these areas. And I believe that the Lord has designed us all uniquely. We are all born with different gifts and talents. That’s what makes us special. When my sons were younger at times I felt overwhelmed towards the great responsibility it was to raise them. What if I make a mistake? What if I forget to teach them a life skill? What if I am too strict? What if I am too lenient? Yet as our children grow up, so do we as parents. We adapt to their needs and opportunities that facilitate character building.
Notes to Myself is a much loved column by Marlane Noster. Her warm and flowing style is like looking over a shoulder into a journal, and her wit and wisdom is appreciated by all. Write to her at marlane@wisdomhomeschooling.com.
Here’s to new beginnings and a new school year! Don’t you just love the fall! It’s my favorite season. Oh how I fall in love with all of the glorious fall shades, every year.
A kindergartner can also be passionate and enthusiastic towards many things. At this age it really is all about the senses. What can you see? What can you feel? What can you taste? What can you smell? What can you hear? The key to meeting your child to where they are at is to physically get down to their level and emotionally engage in what they are doing.
We are going into our 10th year of homeschooling. Due to my educational background, I often found myself documenting my children’s progress. But the longer I live the longer I realize that there is a difference between thriving and surviving. Don’t get me wrong, there were times that my sons and I thrived, however sometimes I was so focused on checking off the boxes that I forgot to live in the moment. I know it’s not always realistic to have the feeling that you are thriving or succeeding but one can try, right? Homeschooling really is a way of life. Yes, we do have a routine throughout the week but education in our family doesn’t stop when we put the books away. I encourage you to be open to teaching your children when they are searching more or when an opportunity presents itself. It doesn’t have to be formal to get the job done. It can be in the form of a discussion at home or with other adults. I enjoyed encouraging our children to teach other children their own age or younger something that they know or just learned about. One of the best things about homeschooling is that your children often encounter others that are younger or way older than them. It makes them more well-rounded as individuals.
All About Me Questions:
One way to document memories is to ask these questions at the beginning and at the end of the year. Then you can see your child’s personality as to whether their answers have changed or stayed the same.
Here are a few questions to ask & document:
What is your favorite color? What is your favorite number? What is your favorite animal? What is your favorite food?
What do you want to be when you grow up? Encourage them to draw a self-portrait
Have them write their name
(Even if it’s not legible, that's okay. At the end of the year, you will be able to see the progress as they practice writing their name throughout the year).
Leaf Art:
There are so many ideas to use leaves for crafts. You can make animal leaves or people leaves. It’s fun to analyze the different colors and types of leaves that grow. It’s neat to teach Science too! Leaves have veins just like we do. Simply put, the vein in the leaf transfers water throughout it and then sugars are transported out of it to the rest of the plant. At this age I just loved facilitating the desire to learn and increase my boy’s knowledge.
handsonaswegrow.com/kids-leaf-crafts
Bake Cookies:
I just love how baking encompasses Math, Science, Self-Help Skills and Reading. Your child gets to learn about measurements including liquid and solids. They get to watch how mixing in the baking soda or baking powder helps it to expand. They learn how to find things in the kitchen and be helpful. And learning about kitchen safety too! They also love to feel like they did something important.
allrecipes.com/recipe/9870/easy-sugar-cookies
superhealthykids.com/pumpkin-cookies
Painting Fun:
I know painting can be intimidating to some so I would like to offer a few suggestions.
Pick select days to paint so if you are like me and don’t like messes you can find great comfort in knowing that this is a “sometimes” activity.
- Always have all of the supplies you will need before you start. Extra paper is highly recommended as some children really get into the process. When I did my Early Childhood training, we learned that “it is the process, not the final product.”
- To prevent messes, never leave your child unsupervised. Sometimes it’s the future Van Goghs or Michelangelos that want to express their talents on the walls.
- Make sure you know have a designated spot to allow the art to dry (often clotheslines, clothes drying racks, a table that you don’t need).
- My kids loved expressing themselves through art for a good hour and then they got their fix and didn’t desire it until next time.
As I conclude, I would encourage you to have fun homeschooling. Remember to take time to smell the flowers (between all of the dishes and laundry, that is). Life goes by so very quickly. And these little ones don’t stay little forever. I now have a 14 year old teenager that’s taller than me and I am still in disbelief! May the Lord bless your year and may it be full of lifelong memories!
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
Benjamin Franklin
It should be noted that some solutions for signing a PDF are about putting your actual, visual signature (or something that is good enough to be one) on the file, while others are about adding a digital "signature" in a different sense to the file to show that it was you who signed it. Sometimes one or the other is what's needed and you'll want to make sure you've picked the right one.
On computers
While Adobe Reader might be treated as an industry standard, there are other options.
- Foxit has a free reader with signing capability.
- On macOS, the built-in Preview app, which is the default app for opening a PDF file, has an option add visual signatures and few handy ways to create them that are easier than clicking and dragging with your mouse.
- Open the file
- In the menu bar, go Tools > Annotate > Signature.
- From there you can pick an existing signture, or add a new one with a simple webcam scanning process to digitise one written on paper, or finger-draw one on the laptop trackpad or a connected phone. (This is also where you'd remove existing saved signatures.)
On mobile phones & tablets
Here are a few suggested apps for filling out and signing PDF documents while on the go!
iOS
- pdfFiller
- PDF Expert (a bit more advanced/complicated)
Android:
- DocuSign
- Adobe Scan (thanks Peter!)
Looking back with a bit of perspective and clarity, I thank the Lord for His grace and mercy. My home schooling journey began as something we needed to do, something I didn’t feel qualified to do and something I didn’t really want to do. (Ken was the impetus behind it - so I could say he made me do it.)
As we began in the middle of the academic year, we literally ‘brought school home’ including the texts that TobyLauren had been using. (I believe bringing the texts home was a comfort to the superintendent, principal, and teachers who thought we were rather extreme people.) I ‘taught’ Miss TobyLauren in a rather barren manner and her only consolation was that she could teach her 4-year-old brother in a much more noble fashion.......
Once upon a time in the not too distant past, there was a home schooling family.
Pa worked, and Ma stayed at home, teaching their five children. They had begun their home school adventure much like many other families, merely bringing school home...