One thing all kids need is confident public speaking. The ability to persuade, inform and entertain is a priceless ability, and homeschooled kids have many terrific opportunities to hone their skills–and tools to help them do it better.

photo courtesy rick

TED talks are very popular, and with good reason. If you aren’t aware of TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) then visit their archives for public speakers and topics that run the gamut. They are interesting to watch, especially when looking with a speaker’s eye. Older kids and high schoolers can glean a lot from a TED talk. Things to watch for: the choice and use of visuals, the length, the manner of speaking. YouTube is another place for tons of terrific videos of speakers on any subject you can think of.

To gain public experience, there are opportunities everywhere. Home, church, clubs, nursing homes, teams–there are lots of places to get in some speaking times. Maybe you could head over to the local retirement home or homeless shelter. Or create a video on a topic you enjoy and teach someone something. Create a need and fill it with a speech.

What do you want to talk about? Maybe a poetry reading, an original story or reciting memory work. Almost anything you can think of would make a good topic. Sermons and great speeches from the past are great practice for unsure speakers.

Even speaking at home can be helpful for shy speakers. An audience that is familiar, loving and supportive can go a long way to boosting the confidence of a kid who is apprehensive about public speaking. If it would help, practice with an audience of stuffed animals.

I hope you’ll give your kids many opportunities to speak publicly. It’s a necessary skill that will take them far in life.

This is a guest post by JoAnne Bennett, a dear friend and mentor. She was kind enough to provide the following post and I’m so glad she did.

We will use the time line for the facts which must be memorized for that unit.  As we do an overview to introduce the unit, I emphasize that these are the most important events.  We will add other significant events as they are discovered and discuss their relation to the major events.

We usually draw separate time lines for political events and for spiritual developments during that period of history.  For literature, we will do one for the author’s life time and another for the setting of the story or the main character’s life.

photo courtesy Jon aslund

The applications for time lines are numerous.  Perhaps the most indispensable is to show relationships between events.  One method is to use parallel time lines on the same page to  show cause and effect.  You can then draw  arrows from one line to the other to dramatize the relationship.  For example, make a line for a Washington’s life and one for the historical events of that time.  Note how the events around the man affected his attitudes and

accomplishments.  If he responded positively, the events could cause him to rise to greatness.  Point out that in every crisis God raises up a man to meet the needs of His people.

Another way to use parallel time lines is to color code specific periods or events.  When we studied the Middle Ages, we designated historic events on the basic time line.  Then we entered the periods of art and architecture as colored parallel lines: Byzantine was blue, Romanesque was red, and Gothic was yellow.  It was easy to see the political turmoil of the fifth and sixth centuries in Europe had a relationship to the simplicity of art and the elaborate adornment of the Gothic developed as prosperity came to the nobility through the feudal system.

Time lines give order and perspective to the events we study.  When we look at the “coon skin cap” and the “whale” stuck to our time line, it would be simple for even small children to reason that the time span is too wide for Jonah together.  Notice also how the important events get closer and closer together until, by the end, labels and pictures will overlap.  God is certainly moving faster as we near the end of  “the days of man.”

Another use of time lines is for periodic review.  No matter what time period we are studying, I will occasionally call for a “pop test” of  U.S. history.  This is based on a time line we did which includes crucial developments such as Columbus in 1492, Pilgrims in 1620, Revolution in 1776, Civil War in 1860′s, World War I & II, etc.  When we hear some news story which compares an event to the Great Depression, I want my children to be able to tie that to something concrete in their minds. Having them draw a time line to recall those facts has been the most efficient use of our time.  It is much faster than writing an essay question or having mother devise a fill-in-the-blanks test — and it is quicker to grade.

GO FORTH AND DRAW TIME LINES
Take the ideas I have presented and personalize them.  Improvise!  Improve!  See how many varieties you can use!  I believe you will agree it is one of the handiest tools in your “teacher’s bag.”

JoAnne Bennett is a seasoned Biblical Principle Approach mom. She has two grown children and three grandchildren, with one more due to arrive in June 2009. Since raising her own children, she teaches and mentors other home educators. Her internalization of Biblical Principles and application of a BPA philosophy makes her an important resource for home educating moms. You can find out more about her at her Web site, Academic Advantages.

We get tons of it every week. Finally, something to do with all that stuff!

photo courtesy Wooties!

Younger kids:

• play post office and use it for the mail.
• cut out words, pictures, numbers for learning and review as flash cards
• use the grocery ads to create a pretend shopping list. Cut out the pictures of the items and glue to index cards. Tape a piece of bent index card to the back like a picture frame so it will stand upright. Set up a little store and practice shopping.
• Use the same cards to sort items by color, shape, food group, etc.
• Cut up junk mail for collage.
• Cut out words for creating new sentences or poetry.
• Play “I spy.”
• Use the mail to learn your address.
• Create a mailbox for them and fill it with junk mail they can open.
• When you get mail with stickers or stamps, let them play with them.
• Catalogs are great for clipping pictures for picture books and flash cards.
• Cut pictures from catalogs and give them as pretend gifts to each other.

For older kids

• Open up those credit card offers and analyze them. Calculate fees and interest and compare them against one another. Practice filling out the forms. Use it as a teaching tool.
• Compare grocery store ads and find the better bargain.
• Create a menu from the ingredients in grocery ads.
• Use sales letters as a template and write one of your own. Dissect it–grammar, word choice, use of punctuation and even the layout.
• Practice sticking to a budget with grocery ads and catalogs.
• Research unfamiliar foods and where they come from.
• Count how many different countries the grocery items come from.
• Use catalog pictures as writing prompts.
• Catalog item descriptions are great examples of concise, descriptive writing. Try to write your own.

As parents, as I think even more as homeschooling families, we accumulate a plethora of art projects. And after a while you start to wonder what to do with it all. You don’t feel right tossing it but you certainly don’t want piles of artsy goodness all over the house.

photo courtesy the_toe_stubber

My friend Renae had a post the other day about saving art work and of course a quandary like that just gets my mind going. I have to write a post when I started a mental list of some potential ideas for you to consider. Keep in mind these are the keepers, the best stuff. You don’t have to keep it all, just keep the stuff worth saving and happily toss the rest when the kids aren’t looking.

• Laminate them. Punch holes in the corners and connect them with jump rings to make a curtain of art for a wall or a room divider or to cover a window.
• Laminate them to use as placemats.
• scan for use as a screensaver.
• Use them as wallpaper. Arrange them corner to corner like bricks and attach to the wall with sticky tack. When you want to change it up, just pull them down.
• Mount a piece on heavy cardboard with glue and cut into puzzle pieces. before you cut, make sure to scan it to make putting the puzzle back together a lot easier. Mail it to a relative or friend.
• Make a scrapbook. Google that if you need to know.
• Affix a weighted string to the ceiling and hang art on the string with clips or two magnets stuck together.
• Mail them to your relatives.
• Cut them up for collage or other projects.
• Recycle them. Use a different medium to add to it, trade pictures with siblings and add to the picture.
• Enter them in a contest.
• Use them as story book illustrations.
• Scan them and make T-shirts.
• Use them as story prompts.
• Trade art with another family. Take turns guessing the subject of the piece.
• Hold an art show. Display your art all over the house and invite friends and family. Serve simple snacks and have a short discussion on art appreciation or how to study a painting.
• Scan and print on fabric for use as pillows, quilt squares, tote bags or clothing.
• For 3-D things, take pictures of them. And for smaller things a high shelf or curio cabinet can be a nice place to showcase the best of the best.

Vocabulary words (and dictionary skills) can sometimes be the thing to fall through the cracks of a busy homeschool day. We all want our kid to have a wide and varied word list to draw from, if for no other reason than to banish “um” and “like” from the verbal atmosphere. Here are some games to make that task a little more fun. They don’t have to be competitive but I don’t know a kid who doesn’t like a friendly competition, especially if there is a small prize on the line.

photo courtesy liza31337

Fake It. Each person has a turn being the Word Master. Read the word, but not the definition, aloud. All other players make up a definition for that word and everyone writes theirs down. The Word Master reads all the definitions aloud, including the real definition. Everyone votes on which they think is real. Each vote for your definition earns a point.

Charades. Choose a word from the dictionary at random. Act it out.

Random Poetry. Give the kids a set of two numbers. The first one is a page number and the second is a word number on that page. Give a list of 10 or so sets of numbers and have them write all the words down. Then have them assemble the words in a poem. They key is they must use all the words.

Guess the Word. Read the definition and offer multiple choice answers. Three points for first right guess, two for two tries and one for three. First one to 20 points wins.

Scavenger Hunt. Have them look for words in the dictionary like “a word with three syllables” “The word that comes after homogenous” or “A word from a latin root” first one to finish wins.

Dictionary Drill. You need more than one of the same dictionary for this one. Each kid has a dictionary closed in their hands. When you give the word, they look it up. First one to find and correctly read the definition wins that  round.

Definition Scramble. Put the words on index cards and the definitions on separate cards. Spread them out on the floor and have the kids jump on the cards from the definition to the answer.

Dictionary Twist-up. Write your chosen words on a plastic tablecloth from the dollar store (write each word in three different places). Write the definitions on index cards. Use a die to decide which body part to use. (1 is left leg, two is right leg, three is left arm, four is right arm, five is your choice, six is roll again). Roll the dice and then read the definition aloud. The players must put the arm or leg on the word that was defined.

photo courtesy m@rg

I’m convinced of it. The over-achievers are distracted with perfection and, well, over achieving. Their parents make sure they always get a trophy and always get an A and that they always feel good.

The slackers aren’t a threat because they are mostly lazy–mentally, if not physically. Their parents might not make them do chores if they don’t feel like it. They may just lack ambition and their parents don’t require more. But they are not doing much. And they aren’t going to do much. At least not unless their feelings say so.

It’s the average kids who are gonna get ‘er done. They’re the ones with a healthy self-image and a solid work ethic. Their parents aren’t so concerned with their kids’ feelings. They’re more concerned with their character–which they know is lacking at times. These kids know they aren’t always the best but they’re okay with that. The average kids know their limitations. They know they have to work hard to do things because not everything comes easily to them. But they appreciate the reward of hard work and know that if they try they can probably do it. And if they work really hard maybe they can do it really well.

There are average kids in the news every day, doing little works with love. Helping a neighbor. Writing a pen pal. Maybe even winning an award. But they are still just going to scouts, practicing their music, playing outside, doing their chores. They may not excel at much of anything but they are really good at being average, being themselves.

They know mistakes are for learning, not covering up or running from. Failure can be an excellent teacher and they learn well. Their parents probably didn’t spend a lot of time telling them how they are the most special kid ever and how they are practically perfect in every way. But their parents didn’t insult them or require nothing of them either. Their parents are probably telling them that sometimes life is messy, but they’re good kids and that if they work hard they will have a good life. So they do, and they do. And I pray that more average kids get the idea that average isn’t so average anymore. And that they will band together and take over the world–in an average way.

They know that average is a really good place to be.

courtesy the_toe_stubber

If you are an artist, musician writer, entrepeneur or general creative type and you homeschool, I want to talk to you. If would like to participate in a new ebook, please contact me at anna at annahawthorne dot com. Don’t miss this opportunity!

Kids of all ages love to collect things. You never know what will spark a collection but when the inspiration strikes, it can quickly turn into an obsession. Before you are tempted to stop yet another collection, you may want to consider some things.

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If you have a giant stack of catalogs and magazines that you don’t want to store but feel guilty about tossing, try these ideas to get more mileage from your paper before you recycle it.

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Books are great tools for homeschoolers. It seems there is no end to the creative possibilities. But sometimes the choices can seem a bit overwhelming, or the process is complicated and you stress about creating content that will be worthy of the container. How about trying a book that is made from one page, a little book that can be cut and pasted and scribbled to your heart’s content. Fill it with poetry or facts or drawings of plants. Use one of the directions below. Make them for friends, create a zine and sell some copies. They are fast and fun and oh so easy. I bet you can’t make just one. Continue reading »