1. Gingerbread Decorating Party
This is something kids of all ages can enjoy, from toddlers to teens and makes a great party idea for a homeschool group. All you need to do is have the pre-assembled gingerbread houses ready to go, and ask each family to bring a specific candy so everyone can have a nice selection. With the houses pre-assembled, all the kids have to do is decorate . . . you can use kits or make your own houses. Have plenty of icing on hand!

2. Field Trip
The holiday season is a great time to take a field trip with other homeschoolers. Don’t make this just any old field trip though, instill the essence of the season into it! Have kids gather to assemble shoeboxes or wrap gifts for underpriveleged kids, then arrange a tour (well, arrange it ahead of time) of the charity where you’re donating. Another option would be to make sandwiches and put them in a bag, along with a juice box or soda and a candy bar and then have the group head to the city streets and hand them out to the homeless. For those who live in very cold areas, hit the shelters to give out some warm wool socks and gloves.

3. Pageant
One of the things I always resented when growing up as a homeschool kid was the fact that school kids got to be in Christmas plays. Why not have your homeschool group put on a Christmas pageant? It can be just for their families, or you might want to see if a local hall or church will let you perform it there.

These are just three small ideas to get your kids hanging out with others this holiday season . . . what are you doing this year?

In public schools, next week is either completely off or running on half days for Mon-Wed, then there is the long weekend. But what about if you homeschool?

The truth is that whatever works for your family is fine. However, you need to apply some common sense here, as well. For example, if your kids are just too hyper to work on math during the week before Christmas, you probably won’t get much done anyway, so why not take that time to work on holiday crafts and prepare for Christmas, instead?

Some families (mine did!) work right up to Christmas Eve, and then also the week between Christmas and New Year’s in order to get a jump start on the new year. It can mean that you get to finish sooner than school kids, which is always fun, or you can use this time to catch up. Just be sure not to totally ruin the holidays by asking your kids to work right up to Thanksgiving dinner!

Obviously, not everyone celebrates all holidays, but chances are you have some in there, so start thinking now about how much time you want to take off and how it will affect your classes in the new year.

1. Give kids control over their lessons. Not all students will be able to do this, you’ll be the best judge as to how ready they are. Let them help you do some of the lesson planning. This could include figuring out how many pages to work on per day or which courses to take. They’ll have to live with the results and that teaches them to be more responsible.
2. Let them handle their own money. While this isn’t necessarily a part of homeschooling, you can use it as a valuable life lesson. Giving kids an allowance is optional . . . you could also have them do chores for payment, but the concept is the same. If they blow the money on something that breaks in ten minutes, you can bet they will think twice about spending next time!
3. Acknowledge their abilities. Make sure you give your kids tasks that match their responsibility level. Kids thrive on being given responsibility adn they willl be thrilled that you are noticing their efforts to grow up and behave more maturely.

Teaching kids to be responsible is part of what we need to do as parents and as teachers. Look for ways to do this in your every day life and you will be giving your children a leg up on moving out into the world.

I think we can all agree that just because a child doesn’t want to do something doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have to do it. However, when your little one is feeling lousy about studying and really, really doesn’t want to do school, do you think about letting them just have one day off?

When kids feel that things have gotten too stressful for them (and yes, this can occur even in homeschooling), they will often complain of being ill, having a headache or a stomachache. Sometimes the ailment is real, brought on by anxiety, other times it is made up just to get them a break.

While I am not yet at the point where this is an issue for me, I recall days as a child when I just didn’t want to get up and would pretend to be ill. My mother’s solution? She happily let me lie on the couch, feigning illness, but when my sisters were finished working and headed out to ride bikes in the sunshine or play in the fresh snow, and I wanted to get up and play, too, she had me do my schoolwork first . . . you have never seen a child work so fast!

What do you do when your child wants a mental health day?

There are so many opportunities for family learning that I can`t possibly do them justice here. However, since spring has sprung, a good place to start might be your own backyard. Why not start a garden? It`s a great project that lets the entire family get involved and even if you`ve gardened for years, I guarantee you`ll learn new things by looking through your children`s eyes.

Taking up a new hobby like stargazing or geocaching as a family is a lot of fun, too. You can all learn as a group and your kids will be thrilled to teach you sometimes, too. There`s really nothing better for a child than to realize he knows something his parents don`t . . . it`s exhilarating!

What IS Socialization?

The problem with socialization is that the standard ideal of being social is being with your peers. People assume that children need to be with other children, which is completely false. If you look back 200 years, most children stayed on the family farm and grew up with only their siblings and other adults for “socialization” and the majority turned out just fine.

What Kind of Socialization?

We do need to be around other people, we are social beings, after all. However, we don`t necessarily need to be around others of the same age, as any adult will agree  . . . most of us have friends of varying ages once we reach adulthood. This works the same way for children, there`s nothing wrong with having friends of the same age, but there is also nothing wrong with having older friends.

Also, take a look at schools today. Rampant with violence, racism, and hatred . . . is that the kind of socialization your kids should be getting? For anyone who thinks that homeschooling parents are being unrealistic and socially stunting their children for life, all you have to do is look at the statistics. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 10% of male students and 6 % of female students carried firearms to school in 2006. I don`t know about you, but I don`t really want my children associating with either kids who are thinking about the possibility of shooting someone or the people who are frightening them so badly they feel they need to carry a gun!

Homeschoolers, in general, tend to get along best with adults. And, let`s face it, they`re going to be adults most of their lives, so why not learn to get along with them now? Socialization is necessary, just not with the same age group.

When I was growing up, my mother was the primary teacher and the frustrations that we ran into during school hours continued after school. It made for a strained relationship between my mother and I for many years, which is why I believe it is very important to separate these two areas of life.

The Teacher

First, you need to determine what your role as a teacher is. Each person will have their own definition of this, but it`s important to make sure that you know what you are as a teacher. Here`s an example:

• Nurture a love of learning
• Ensure that your students are learning what they need to
• Teach your students HOW to find information, not just to repeat it back from memory
• Teach discipline and diligence

You may have drastically different ideas as to what a teacher needs to be and do, but just write it down so you can refer back.

During school, you are a teacher and you`ll find that things run far smoother if you leave aside the issues that you have outside of school and focus only on the actual learning during this period.

The Parent

A parent has much the same responsibilities as a teacher, but there is  more focus on nurturing the child (not the student) and the non-school time can be different. What does this mean? It means leaving school in the school time.

For example, let`s say Jane has acted out during school time and refuses to do her math. She has quite the tantrum and disrupts her brother`s school time, as well. The discipline should take place during the school hours. It was a problem with school and any repercussions can take place during that time. If, say, Jane`s mother decides that the punishment will be doing sums for the rest of the afternoon and evening, there`s no separation between family time and school time and the resentment will pass over, as well.

This doesn`t mean that you should have these two areas completely separated, but it really is important to make sure your children have time to enjoy life outside of the stricter guidelines of school. Having to write an extra report because he stayed out after curfew will only serve to confuse issues, not just for your children, but also for the parents!

Separating the parent from the teacher will help you relate better to your children as well. The teacher might be strict, but the parent can afford to be a little more lenient. And it`s important to switch out of teacher role at the end of the school day. Your children will appreciate having a mom or dad rather than a strict professor all the time, trust me.