Back-to-School Green

It’s that time of year – chances are your youngins’ have started back to school. I’ve done blogs in the past on how to be green with school kids, but let’s do a quick review. Here are some questions you may want to ask your school: Do they recycle? If so, there should be bins labeled for paper, cans, and cardboard. What are the teachers teaching? Going green is becoming a bigger part of education, so don’t hesitate to ask your child’s teacher what she is doing as far as a green education. Don’t be afraid to suggest green projects … Continue reading

Reading Makes for Great Vocabularies!

“You know what I realized,” my six-year-old said to me the other day. I didn’t catch just what it was that he realized—I was silently chuckling over his choice of words. He listens to his older brothers and sister talk, and to his parents talk, and he picks up on our phrases and the words we use. As I listen to all my children as they converse, I just have to give myself a pat on the back—we’re a family of readers, and it shows. The English language is amazing. We have words to indicate every nuance of what we’re … Continue reading

Become the Best Advocate for Your Child

You are your child’s best hope for a brighter future and happier today. Children with special needs rely on their parents for more than the average child does. Whether he needs help physically, socially, in the classroom, or in a hospital setting, your child with a special need needs you to be his voice and his advocate until he is able to be one for himself. Here are some ideas on how to do best by your child and give him everything he needs and deserves to succeed and thrive. 1 Learn every detail you can about your child’s needs. … Continue reading

one, two, three…

From the first moment I changed my son’s diaper I’ve been counting to him. I know… I know… I should be reading to him but I’ve been counting to him because throughout my life I’ve found numbers to be an important thing to know. From my work as a spreadsheet guru for banks, roleplaying games, data manipulation, data processing and analysis I’ve found that numbers are important. So… if you’re sitting in a math class thinking “why am I learning this?” you should really think about learning it anyway. This comes from a guy who has worked as a caddy, … Continue reading

How Much Should a Parent Help with Homework?

How much should a parent help with homework? That’s a question most parents face at some stage or another in their child’s education. Unfortunately some parents tend to take over and end up virtually doing the whole job themselves. They think they are helping. In reality they are not. Doing it for them teaches the child nothing. Often we learn best by doing it ourselves. It’s okay to show an interest or to explain if your child is not clear about what to do, but you should never take over the task and do it for them. The other danger … Continue reading

10 Ways Parents Can Help Their Child’s Education

What can you do as a parent to help your child with their education? Here are ten suggestions. 1. The first and one of the most important is to read to them from the time they are born. Don’t stop once they can read for themselves. There’s still something great about being read to. It’s also a great bonding time. Some of my best conversations with my kids have come during that special time after a story. 2. Play counting games and rhymes with them as they get a little older. 3. Teach them basic things like colors, shapes and … Continue reading

Convertible Carseat

Although my only child is an infant, I feel like I have a small window into the world of parents sending their kids off to their first day of school. They dab at their eyes with tissues, give tearful hugs, then burst into tears as they (or the school bus) drive(s) away. They exclaim, “It’s too soon!” What gave me this insight? Today, my daughter will be riding in a convertible car seat for the first time. I can’t believe she already outgrew her infant car seat. It seems like only yesterday that we were putting her in the car … Continue reading

Back-to-School Supplies: It’s All About the Bag

If you don’t know that back-to-school supplies are on sale right now, then you either don’t have kids or you haven’t been shopping in a while (or you haven’t been reading my blog). Personally, even if I didn’t have kids I would still hightail it to Wal-Mart (Kmart, Target, etc.) to scoop up 10-cent packs of pens, pencils, glue sticks, notepads, and scissors. Some deals are too good to pass up. What’s more, what home couldn’t use a fresh supply of office provisions? Still, despite the rows of hot-colored highlighters, the fancy detailed pencil boxes and the endless amount of … Continue reading

Homeschool Glossary (Books Parents Should Read) D – F

As I mentioned in the introduction, new homeschooling parents should learn as much about homeschooling as possible by reading many different sources. Here continues my Homeschool Glossary of books parents should read. Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum: A Guide to Catholic Home Education by Laura M. Berquist (Paperback – Nov 1998) This book on Classical Homeschooling is for parents who have already educated themselves on Classical Homeschooling and are ready to move forward. Like all homeschooling books, this one should be read for information and advice and not used as a step by step guide. It is written by an … Continue reading

Homework

Homework tends to have a bad reputation among students and parents alike. However, homework can be very rewarding for both you and your child. In moderation, homework can allow you to be a part of your child’s education and help you and your child grow together. Why do teachers give homework? Research shows that when homework is examined by teachers and discussed with students, grades and academic progress improves. Teachers give homework to help students review and understand lessons that were taught. Teachers also give homework as a method to assess the child’s understanding of the material. From completing homework, … Continue reading