Sewing & needlework
Teaching our daughters
I was raised by very permissive and modern parents. Life was easy! After marrying and becoming a Christian I realized that I was not prepared to take care of a family and it's been a challenge to teach myself what I hadn't learned as a girl.
We now start to teach the art of keeping a home from early childhood. By the age of 10 a daughter is able to make simple healthy meals, care for a young sibbling, wash / hang / fold laundry, kitchen clean up duty, chicken / fowl care, hoeing and harvesting a garden, helping with the canning, and sewing.
I am very thankful that sewing is a skill I learned early on. At the age of 13 I could already make my own garments. That skill has become very valuable since we were led to dressing modestly and our daughters are now learning to make their garments too.
Book learning is not all there is to teaching a daughter. Practical skills that will be used daily are most important to teach also. It can be a daunting task, I know, but thankfully there are some good resources out there for home educating parents. | | blessedmama |
Unit studies
Correlating Your Subjects
In order to help your younger children get a better grip on history, art, and science try joining them together. For instance, in teaching history, include a study of art that was done during that era and a discovery in science that also happened during that era. For art you could take your child to a Handel's Messiah concert, for example, if that is the era in history that you are studying. Then they get a complete picture of that time period.
Twenty-four years ago, my high school did this with us, using the English literature book ''Cold River'' . The event in the book took place in our area many years before. The Outdoor Education class planned a weekend trip to Cold River and studied survival methods in the wilderness, while the science and history department of the school talked about the history of the area and studied the effects of hypothermia. These are some ways to get you to think creatively and make learning more enjoyable. | | raeroh |
| | Marriage & parenting
Couch Time
This concept was introduced to my husband and I years ago as a means of briefing each other on the day's events as well as having the children see that Mom and Dad are O.K. with each other.
After Dad walks in the door and greets everyone and gets settled, he takes his wife and they sit down on the couch together. The children and phone calls are not allowed to interrupt this except in the case of dire emergency. Children that want to talk to their parents and are not obeying get spanked and instructed again ''Not now dear, you may not interrupt''. Mom and Dad take 15-20 minutes of uninterrupted time to talk and catch up.
The effect is security for the children. I have been told of cases where children who were out of control even after spankings have totally changed in behavior after this little exercise has been established. Even five minutes is better than nothing. The marital relationship comes first and a good one is the very thing that brings stability to the home. | | raeroh |
Lang arts: spelling/vocab
Spelling test tapes - by family and friends
I am blessed to have a family supportive of homeschooling, although they live far away. I purchased cassette tapes from a company that sold 6 minute tapes. That's just long enough for a spelling test! After getting the family's permission, I sent them the spelling list and a blank, but labeled tape. They recorded the tests, and sent it back to me. (There's room for a practice and a final test on each tape.)
This enables my children to go take a spelling test, even though I'm busy at the time. It also gives them some contact with distant family members. And although my dad passed away 4 years ago, he's still giving tests to my children! What a joy to hear his cheery voice again, encouraging my children to do their best! | | hwplady |
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