Value Bookshop's Reading Notes

The summer digital issue of The Old Schoolhouse (homeschool magazine) has just been released and guess what? You can read the whole thing for FREE. Yup, they’re giving you a sneak peak and you get to see for yourself what kind of homeschooling gold nuggets they put in there.

In this issue, they give you some insight into the Charlotte Mason style of teaching. There’s also some advice for those considering homeschooling. There is some info on dyslexia and autism.

Instead of me telling you all the different kinds of homeschooling help you can get from the magazine, why don’t you just head over there and read it for yourself. Just click the banner below:

You want to save money on homeschool curriculum? This is the time to do it.

CurrClick is holding the Dollar Days! What does that mean? It means you get to purchase many of their best selling products for as low as $0.50 – $1.99.  You have hundreds of curriculum to choose from so you’ll be spoilt for choice.

The sale is beginning 1st July, around noon. Click my affiliate link below to gain access to this money saving offer.

I WANT TO SAVE MONEY WITH CURRCLICK’S DOLLAR DAYS!

This is a game in one of my son’s books. It helps to teach the concept of “up” and “down”.

It needs 2 players, so here is an opportunity to “play” with your child.

• You’ll need 2 counters. You can cut 2 circles from a used cereal box (or something that is just as thick) and draw a koala bear on each circle.
• You’ll also need a die with numbers 1-6.
• Make a die with 3 red sides and 3 blue sides. Actually, instead of a die, I made another counter that is red on one side and blue on the other.
• Roll the die to see how many spaces to move. Then roll the color die (or flip the blue/red counter) to see if your koala moves up or down. If the counter lands on red move up. If it’s blue, move down.
• The first one to reach the top of the tree wins.

p.s. In the end, I just flipped a coin to see if koala moves up or down. This is probably a more hassle-free way.

I hope when you teach your children about the solar system, you know that Pluto is not the 9th planet anymore. If your children ask why (or if you are wondering why yourself), watch this video. It explains it very well.

Happy Learning.
Please leave a comment if you’ve found an educational video that you liked.

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Do you know motivates your children to learn? Do you want ideas on how to teach your children?

ARE YOU A TEACHER?

My philosophy is every parent is a teacher, whether you are qualified to teach or not.  So if you are a mom or dad, the answer is YES! You are a teacher. From the moment your children are born, you are the one responsible to teach and guide them. Whether they go to school or not, you (especially moms) are your children’s #1 teacher.

HOW YOU CAN BE A HOMESCHOOLER

Many people define homeschooling as teaching their children at home, as oppose to sending their children to school. Me? I define homeschooling as teaching your children at home, even though they may be attending school. So if you ask me if I homeschool, I will say “yes”.

Currently, my two older children attend school but when they were kindergarten age, I taught them at home. Even now, I still teach them at home because I know what they learn at school is not enough. When I find something interesting online, in the newspaper or in a magazine, I will introduce it to them. I want them to know that education is not about scoring A’s on their tests. It’s about gathering knowledge, being curious, developing skills and building character.

Also, the work they do in school can be boring. So I try to “inject” some fun learning when they are back from school. My kids like to do stuff like word puzzles and mazes. Once in a while I’ll also find online fun worksheets to do. You know, stuff they don’t normally do in schools. It’s a good break for the kids to do something different.

Another thing I do is to give my children freedom and opportunities to pursue their interest. That’s when they are most motivated to learn. My girl likes to learn about other countries, so I encouraged her to start a scrapbook on that subject. I help her look for articles, brochures and pictures of different countries.  My 2nd son likes to draw so I give him lots of time to doodle. My 3rd son likes music. Every month, we memorize a church primary song. I also encourage them to read a lot of books.  Having a library card is wonderful.

There are so many ways you can homeschool your children.

HEAR WHAT CHILDREN HAVE TO SAY ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING

If you are interested about teaching your children at home, you definitely have to check out these collection of short stories written by children about homeschooling: HOMESCHOOLING ADVICE FOR MOMS FROM THE REAL EXPERTS, KIDS!

There are 2 volumes; One volume is written by kids from 6-11 year old and the other by kids 12 -18 year old.

These 2 volumes of essays is brought to you  by CurrClick. They put forth a challenge for homeschool kids to write in essays in the format of an advice column sharing what their mom did to make their homeschooling experience unique, inspiring or wonderful. The essays also include advice for mothers on how to be a good teacher and to overcome homeschooling challenges.

Here are the links:

• Homeschooling Advice For Moms From the Real Experts, Kids! Advice from Ages 6-11
• Homeschooling Advice For Moms From the Real Experts, Kids! Advice Ages 12-18

At the moment, the 2 volumes are available for FREE. I don’t know if it will be free forever. So if I were you, I’d get it now. I’ve already downloaded my copy and it is truly inspiring to read what all these kids have to say. It is also an eye-opener. What better way to know what matters to them then to read their opinions and thoughts.

After you get your copy, come back here and share with me your thoughts (or experience) on homeschooling.

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How many fingers do you use when you type?

I learned how to type with all my fingers (like a professional typist) when I just finished secondary school (high school). During that time, I didn’t have a computer. I used a typewriter. Yeah, very old fashioned.

For some reason, I loved to type. I used to help my mom type out the exam papers for her class (she was a teacher). It was one finger typing then, and there was no delete button on the typewriter. It was a very slow process but I loved it anyway.

Well, I can tell you that learning how to type the right way, and the fast way, is one of the best skills I’ve learned. It helped me tremendously when I was in university. Oh boy, the many many papers I had to write. Can’t imagine typing all those pages with just 2 fingers. It is very useful now too as I write articles and blog posts for my work at home business. It really is a time saving skill.

Why am I telling you this?

To encourage you to add “typing” into your list of things your children should learn. Here’s a website that you can use to develop typing skills: TypingWeb

Don’t worry, it’s free. I’m not trying to sell you anything, nor am I affiliated to them. I found them through google coz’ I want my girl to learn how to type. She loved it as she tried the first lesson (which was just typing fff, jjj, jjf, ffj etc…). She can’t wait to get on the computer again to practice some more.

Another good thing about this program is that it is a good way to lure your kids away from noisy, crazy, violent computer games. They can learn a skill and have fun at the same time. Make it competitive if you want; see who can type faster and more accurate… them or you? Kids love it when they can beat their parents at something

This is one skill that is not on any school syllabus. However, learning should not be confined to the school syllabus. Therefore, give your children time to learn skills that can give them an advantage. Typing fast can be advantageous.

Leave me a comment to tell me what other skills you think we should teach our children?