I have seen these whiteboards at work in a handful of classrooms and they are simply amazing. If you are looking for a major techy upgrade for your homeschool room it might be a consideration, or more likely a great purchase for a co-op. The applications for this type of tool are endless! I know I have a couple strong visual learners that would love this kind of addition.

As a homeschooler, you’re probably looking for new and exciting ways to keep learning alive in your family. Keeping students connected to your lessons is key to a good learning experience. If you are looking for a great piece of technology to add to your classroom, you may want to consider an interactive whiteboard.

An interactive whiteboard is typically a wall mounted flat screen that projects your computer’s display. The whiteboard becomes interactive when you use your finger or a stylus to manipulate the contents of the flat screen via remote tablet. You can mark answers, move items or perform whatever functions are needed.

A Dell interactive whiteboard could be the right choice for your classroom needs. You can use the whiteboard to teach any subject. There are interactive whiteboards that provide basic features and come as a wall mounted unit. As with most computer based equipment, there are many upgrades available, including an interactive whiteboard that is portable, with a large viewing screen, a built-in projector device and even a two-sided dry erase board attached along the side of the interactive board for additional notes to be displayed. This top of the line unit can revolutionize a regular classroom into a super learning environment.

With a Dell interactive whiteboard, you can provide a dynamic learning experience to keep the attention of even the most distracted student. Students expect to be engaged during educational exercises. You can provide the interactive component with Dell’s whiteboard and the associated software. You can even provide sound to keep your student’s attention on the board.

Interactive whiteboards are taking education to a new level with technology we only dreamt of a number of years ago. The days of overhead projectors are gone, and even Power Point presentations are becoming less important because of this amazing technology. If you are struggling to keep your students glued to the subject at hand, you should definitely consider an interactive whiteboard system. Students need visual and interactive stimulation to keep them engaged while learning, and this type of system has become an incredible way to do just that. Being successful at keeping students engaged is not only rewarding for the student but also for the educator.

~ Guest contributor

Your local science fair will be here before you know it! Check out this site for great tips on getting started now.

A New Twist on Science Fair Projects Impress the judges this year with a clever and unique winning science fair display that will turn heads. Visit Science Fair Central for new project ideas, an interactive display board and tips to get started and guide you and your students through the science fair process. At Science Fair Central parents, students and science fair coordinators will find all the resources needed to ensure an exciting and fun-filled science fair season this year. Project samples Customizable timelines Detailed checklists Judging criteria Shopping lists Rebates and special offers Encourage students to get involved in science fairs and give them the opportunity to practice science investigation and invention . Science fairs can be the first step in developing future young scientists and engineers. Visit Science Fair Central to get started!

God this message from a reader about an opportunity especially for area homeschoolers to connect online:

This discussion group is open to any and all home educators in the greater Naperville, IL area.

Non-locals also welcome and you will enjoy our extensive links section. Feel free to post questions concerning home education, list field trips, let others know of activities you’ve found in the area,  promote your home education support group, tell us about great resources and events etc.

This cyber forum is not affiliated with any particular support group, nor any specific religious group, nor any one homeschooling philosophy. Polite home educating parents of all stripes are welcome. Disrespectful hotheads and spammers will be immediately and unceremoniously tossed out by the moderator.

Find out more about this group . . .

Naperville Home Educators

Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NapervilleHomeEducators/

Homeschool moms often lament that once they find their groove homeschooling, they realize that they lost everything else they had in place in the process. Homeschooling isn’t so hard if the rest of life didn’t get in the way.

I have also heard it said in various ways that we have three areas that need our attention: great meals, quality teaching, and a clean house. However, people should not expect more than two of those to take place on any given day. I might add, a good night’s sleep to that list also.

Since schooling obviously can’t be compromised, we need to somehow figure out how to fit the other areas into our schedule at least at a satisfactory level on a routine basis. I would not necessarily consider myself an expert in this area, but more often than not I can go to bed with a clear conscience that my kids won’t get botchulism, we all have at least one clean outfit to put on in the morning, they are a day further down their educational track, and with a little creativity, we can probably find three meals’ worth of food around the house the following day, plus the half dozen snacks that they often require.

Here are some tips that I have learned along the way to maintaining order and my own sanity in the midst of homeschooling:

- Set boundaries. This is a great place to start. Does your school day have set hours? You might want to avoid answering the phone or checking email during those times. Any distraction from outside the house can most likely wait a few hours until the learning goals for the day are accomplished.

- Establish a routine. I know routines are not for everyone, but for me they give me such freedom, because once they are in place, life just flows. We have recently gone through a move, after having my in-laws move in, after having a baby, and life has been anything but routine. But, when my kids got up in the morning they knew they needed their beds made and clothes on. They knew what to expect from breakfast (and I knew what I was making). Even though routines need tweaking now and then, they can release our mind to worry about everything else on our plate and know the basics are covered.

- Keep the morning simple. I love to have a clean house to start the day. But, if I spend the time scrubbing and nagging the kids about getting everything spotless, we won’t start school until after lunch. So, the morning is basic. Get yourself ready, eat, and clean up breakfast. The rest of the house can be clean in time for a relaxing evening together, but I needed to ignore it in the morning so school could get done.

- Get everyone involved. They help make the mess, they help clean it. With the possible exception of the 9 month old, everyone has chores, and I’ll admit, even the 5 year old has kind of a lot. I need to make homeschooling a priority, which means my kids do end up doing more chores  at home than their public school counterparts. We don’t have a hired janitor in our school, so when we do a messy project, we clean up the mess. We live in our house all day long, so it needs more cleaning than the families that are gone 8-4. I need to expect some extra messes, but that doesn’t mean that I should expect to clean them all up myself. It amazes me what a beautiful job my kids can do when they take the time and get rewarded for their work (even if it is just a dose of abundant praise).

- Start ‘em young. By two or three years of age my kids begin to have a chore routine. It starts very basic, mostly learning self care. Making beds, picking up their room, clearing their place at the table. They have a responsibility just like anyone else. They know this and take great pride in being like the big kids.

- Use your weekends. I don’t mean to ruin your weekend with cleaning, but we do take some time on the weekend to tackle bigger cleaning projects and hopefully make sure that our week starts with a fairly clean house.

- Teach good habits. This takes lots of time and consistency, but when my kids habitually clean up after themselves, turn lights off, leave a place better than they found it, feel responsible for the appearance of the house, and learn to see tasks that need doing, our house is a different place. This is an ongoing process. We have definitely not arrived in this area, and I continue to grow my kids’ good habits. Reminders, group effort, lots of praise, and over time they, too, can mature into an adult that could care for a place of their own. I need to remember that I’m not raising kids, I’m raising future adults. It all has a purpose down the road.

Coming up I will share some of the specific ways I tackle laundry, meals, kids’ chores, and other areas of housekeeping. Any particular questions that you struggle with? Feel free to add them to the comments here or on facebook to hopefully get some inspiration from other homeschoolers as well.

On Wednesday, August 18, Walgreen’s is offering a free photo cling, one per photo account. This is part of their seven days of deals going on this week. Note: If you are checking this on Tuesday evening, you will see their deal for Tuesday, but after midnight the photo cling should be their featured daily special.

Now, with a new school year just around the corner, I immediately thought about far more than just that cute picture of my kids languishing on my camera’s memory card.

These photo clings can be up to 11×17 in size. So, how much educational content can you cram into that space?

Here are some ideas I came up with:

- Time line figures

- Maps

- Diagrams

- First day of school photo

- School information (your schedule, expectations, inspirational quotes, etc.)

- A serene picture to serve as a mental pick-me-up on “those” days

- A flag

- Flags from around the world

- Presidents

You could even make a game out of it. Match countries with their flags, put presidents in order, put together a diagram of a flower or a model of the solar system.

I can seen your wheels turning, so go order your cling for free (you will have to pay shipping which is $5.99. Most deals you can opt to pick up in store and forgo the shipping charge, but that doesn’t appear to be the case with this product), and please share your ideas here or on our facebook page as well. And, if you decide to use it for that memorable picture from your summer vacation, it will also be well used.

Free and inspires creativity, that works for me!

A little fun for this “not back-to-school” time of year. I know many of you are looking for some inspiration, some fire to start off the year properly, some kind of plan to get you enthused for the year.

Emotions right now often run the gamut. Excitement, intimidation, trepidation, fear, doubt, joy. Maybe you feel excited, or maybe you wish you had more enthusiasm for the year to come.

To help us all get in the mood to not head back to school (you know, since we homeschool and aren’t going to school . . .) you can get a peak into the homes and daily organizers of some other homeschool moms over the next four weeks.

The first edition comes out this week and gives people an opportunity to share their curriculum plans for the upcoming year. If you click the icon above it will take you to the list of other blogs and curriculum sharing which start on Monday August 2. If last year is any indication, hundreds of families will participate over the next month, and they will show you many different styles, ideas, family sizes, student ages, and approaches to homeschooling.

Check out this amazing deal from  the Old Schoolhouse Magazine:

Are you considering homeschooling, or are you curious and simply want to know more?

What if you were offered a commendable, complimentary class on homeschooling, taught by experienced educators and included hands-on tools for your personal use?

The course is called Homeschool 101 . . .
Would you like a front row seat?

The Old Schoolhouse^® is thrilled to share this FREE resource with you—a digital supplement to the Schoolhouse Expo.

At various times in my homeschooling career, I have discussed with my kids what most kids experience on a daily basis as they leave home for six or more hours to receive their education in the more “traditional” way.

It turns out they felt cheated in some pretty small ways, but I could see their point. For example, we didn’t take sick days or snow days, we schooled through the summer, we didn’t have classroom parties, and we didn’t have recess. You know, all the important stuff.

They did not miss the bus rides, paper bag lunches, lining up to go everywhere, having to do all their schoolwork at a desk, trying to avoid the school bully, sitting through a complete math lesson after they “got” it in the first five minutes, etc. They know they have it good, but they did have a few requests.

So, we talked about expectations and state requirements, and all that good stuff. And then, we came to the conclusion that we could easily allow for a snow day here and there.

Today, we incorporated another non-homeschool activity that we borrowed from the traditional school setting — celebrating our 100th day of school this school year. We had a fairly normal morning, and then in the afternoon we broke out some sweets (for some reason marshmallows caught their eyes) and a board game and spent some time celebrating getting 5/9 of the way through our official school year.

We still school through the summer, but on a lighter schedule, allowing for extra fun while the weather is beautiful. And, we still generally do not take sick days, but will again lighten or alter the schedule when someone needs a little rest. We do take some holidays off and sometimes get together with other families to have our own holiday party to celebrate. We even work in a recess here and there. Taking time to celebrate the small things has only enhanced our homeschool experience and has definitely worked for us.

How about you?

Do you take snow days?

Do you allow yourself Teacher Institute Days (read about another homeschool mom’s thoughts on that topic)?

Do you celebrate some of those smaller holidays (Columbus Day, Ground Hog Day, etc.)?

What fun traditions have you worked into your homeschooling plans?

We’d love to hear!

You may know the name Marilyn Boyer. A mother of 14, homeschooling veteran of 30 years (!), with a few more still ahead of her, a writer, and a speaker at homeschool conventions.

This past weekend I joined a couple hundred other women in Oak Brook to receive encouragement and vision from Marilyn. I took many notes and came away with lots of fresh ideas and enthusiasm for loving my children and taking full advantage of the relationship we build with them through homeschooling.

Even if you could not make it this weekend, she has a wonderful gift to share on her website.

Unfortunately, I cannot give you a simple link to get there, but I can give you some directions. Go to the Boyer website, The Learning Parent, and float over the “Categories” tab. From there click on “Boyer Products” or “Boyer Resources.” These should both take you to the same place. You will need to go to the second page of resources, looking for one entitled, “Educating for Eternity.”

You can purchase this resource on CD, or you can select the downloadable version for free. It does take a while to download, and as mine is currently downloading, I can’t yet tell you the wonderful information it contains. But, knowing Marilyn, this will be a great encouragement to listen to.

In this recording you will learn:

We all want our children to catch the vision for God and grow up to serve Him. But how do we begin? Rick and Marilyn Boyer, home education pioneers of thirty years, believe the Bible contains the best plan for the upbringing of wise and competent children. Seeking wisdom from God`s Word and applying it to their own lives, they have trained their fourteen sons and daughters, some of whom are now parents and passing on the vision to their own children.

In this session you will hear Rick and Marilyn- with five of their adult children- explain the scriptural method for passing on a vision of powerful Christian living from generation to generation through family discipleship!

She has such a wonderful heart and shares so sincerely about her journey as a homeschooling mom. I would encourage you to take the time to download this resource, and to check out some of the other resources they have available.

Some other resources that have caught my attention: For You The Signed (a new one that she mentioned this weekend, about the signers of the Declaration of Independence, you’ll find this on their home page), audio books by her husband “Uncle Rick,” and many other books and audio resources for the homeschooling family — Getting it all done, homeschooling with toddlers, etc.