Monday, January 28, 2008

15 Reasons to Homeschool Dring The Teen Years

15 Reasons To Home School During The Teen Years by Elizabeth Smith


1. You get to see the completion of your efforts. Something is lost when you turn over your discipling to others.
2. You can customize your children's education to provide motivation for their gifts and abilities. No one else will be able to provide the consistent and loving support that you can in weak areas.
3. You can direct them to early college entrance. Even public high schools realize many students are ready for college level courses and have cooperative programs with junior colleges.
4. You can continue the family building process. The teen years continue to be impressionable and formative. This is an invaluable time to cement family relationships.
5. You can be sure that your teens are learning, if they are at home. Studies have revealed that public high school students average 2 hours and 13 minutes of academic work a day.
6. You can continue to have influence over their peer relationships. Teen rebellion is not in God's plan for the family, but it is the humanist agenda for the public schools.
7. You can protect them from pressure to conform to what the other kids are doing. This pressure is so strong in the public high school. You won't need to spend time de-programming.
8. If you send your teens to high school, there will be a diversion away from the academic focus, as well as spiritual priorities. Be aware of the many distractions that won't parallel the home life you have maintained.
9. Your young people will be thrown into things like boy/girl preoccupation, focus on clothes, and pressure to conform in appearance and music.
10. Vast amounts of time separated from the family will affect their relationship with you. We have all put great amounts of our heart and time into our home-shcooling years, and we want those efforts preserved.
11. Home school is the best preparation for college studies. The home education "style" is closer to college-type instruction.
12. There is greater flexibility for work/study opportunities.
13. The institutional method of public education is designed around "crowd control" not learning. If and when they learn, it will be a by-product of other priorities to maintain class room order.
14. Home educators have the best available curriculum and greater selection. Public schools offer revisionist history and science that promotes their humanist perspective. The godly commitment of many great Americans has been deleted from public text books.
15. Age/grade isolation or segregation inhibits socialization. Public school children are behind their home school counterparts in maturity, socialization and vocabulary development, as demonstrated by available research.
--------------------- copyright (C)Elizabeth Smith, Home School Legal Defense Association http://www.hslda.com

Our Daily Schedule

Our Homeschool Schedule

6:00-8:00 Wake-up, Dressed, Eat breakfast, Morning Chores

9:00-9:30 Morning Meeting (Seat Work)

9:30-9:50 Bible Study/ Memorizations

9:50-10:30 Lang Arts (grammar and spelling ect…)

10:30-11:00 Break /Snack

11:00-11:45 Math

11:45-12:00 Silent Reading

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-1:30 Computer Lab (Mon.,Tues., Wed.) Thursday is foreign language

1:30-2:00 Science

2:00-2:30 Social Studies/Geography

2:30- Clean up and we are done!

4:00- Afternoon Chores

6:00-Dinner

7:00-9:00 Bath/Shower (Breanna to bed at 8:00)

9:30 Ty and Cassie to Bed. (may read or watch a movie in your room
until 10:00)

Fridays are Art and Gym at the YMCA w/ Fellow Homeschoolers, fieldtrips, library. Tuesday Music lessons 1-3 pm

My thoughts on Time4learning

I signed my kids up for time4learning 2 years ago. I hear that allot of homeschoolers use this as their core curriculum. I use it as a supplement. I absolutley LOVE the program as my children love it and their grades have improved because of it. I ecspecially like the LA and Math. I have also used this program when I have appointments, whenever I need to be away from home, or if I am sick. The kids know to log in and "do" their work.When I get home, I log into the parents section on time4learning and I can get a report complete with grades for the work that each child did for that day, week, month ect...

I recommend this site to anyone who would like to supplement their childrens core curriculum as a booster or to coinside with their current curriculum.

www.time4learning.com

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy New Year Eveyone!!! Last Year was a GREAT year and I am Believing for an even BETTER year this year! So many changes taking place!

My Goals for 2008

  1. Healthier Eating Habbits so I can be a better role model to my children. I am following the Biggest Loser Plan. www.biggestloser.com (coolKmom)
  2. Excercise More
  3. More organizaqtion
  4. Learn as much about Foster Care as I can before we become foster parents
  5. Learn about building a home the GREEN way
  6. Stick to a budget and not shop too much. (hardest one)

I am definetley in a different place than I was in past years. As a Homeschool Mom I am more confident in what we are doing, and by no way am I considered a vetran Homeschool Mom, I do feel not so insecure and doubtful.

I do not view my body as I used to, even though I am as heavy as I was during my pregnancies. I am more confident and self assured by God's Grace.

I am in a better place spiritiually, I have a more intimate relationship with God.