New Chick-fil-A coming to Golf Mill

Received in an email:

My name is Jon Morris, and I am the Owner/Operator of a new Chick-fil-A coming to the Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles.

I am building my team for a Grand Opening in the early fall and would love to provide job opportunities for any home-school students or moms that you know of looking for a great place to work.

*Minimum age is 16, but open to hiring 14-15 year olds with proper work permits

My restaurant is in Niles, at the Golf Mill Shopping Center, but it closely borders the communities of Des Plaines, Glenview, Morton Grove, Golf, Skokie, and Park Ridge.

Candidates can apply at www.apply.cfagolfmill.com or by texting WORKATCFA to (312) 561-4919.

Spanish for You!

Debbie Annett, the creator of a Spanish curriculum geared specifically to homeschoolers, has put together a 30 minute video for a Facebook group of homeschoolers titled: How Your Child Can Become Bilingual.

Since the broadcast, she also put the video up on her YouTube page so others could use it as a resource.

If you are interested, you can find it here:  https://youtu.be/qCdyB8DCzOo  

There is also a blog post that reiterates what is in the video. That post is here: https://spanish-for-you.com/how-your-children-can-become-fluent-in-spanish/  

Muchos saludos,–
Debbie1-844-SPANYOU
Spanish for You!https://spanish-for-you.com

Opportunity for virtual field trip about oral health

Since field trip options are a bit limited at the moment, here is a virtual option (and, check out their website for loads of other at home resources (click through as a teacher and parent for more variety):


Organization Name: Colgate Bright Smiles Bright Futures

What: Free virtual education presentation (~20 mins) on oral health, achieving a healthy mouth and bright smile!  Many other free, fun online resources also available to share with families

Location: Virtual – Zoom or GoogleMeet

Organization Email Address: chicagobsbfteam@gmail.com

Organization Website:
https://www.colgate.com/en-us/bright-smiles-bright-futures

Fiveable – AP help

Fiveable has plenty of free resources in a variety of subjects.

Check out their website at: https://fiveable.me/

There you will find a plethora of study guides, trivia, videos, and more.

Homeschooling families may also be interested in their new fully online courses to help students prepare for their AP tests.

Check out their courses: https://courses.fiveable.me/

Creating your homeschool routine

I almost said schedule. But, it is rarely a true schedule. Maybe if you have one child. Maybe if you are very structure driven people. Maybe if you are using virtual resources that dictate a schedule.

But, for us, homeschooling is a routine, a framework for our day rather than a true schedule. As with most areas of homeschooling, there are a million ways to do this and you might come up with the 1,000,001 way. Not a right or wrong.

First, questions to ask yourself:

  • What does our daily routine already involve (number of people in household, waking time, work schedules, vacation plans, health concerns, appointments, etc.)?
  • What are my priorities in homeschooling (get these in before lunch, or during your family’s prime time)?
  • How independent our my kids about their school work?
  • What habits do I want to help my kids develop?
  • Are we morning people or evening people?
  • What outside sources am I going to use in our homeschool?

Once you have taken some time to think through, and maybe talk through as a family, those different issues you are ready to put your schedule together.

Yearly Schedule

In general terms, the school year spans roughly 36 weeks, or about 180 days. That leaves 16 weeks a year with no school.

As the teacher, school administrator, principal, superintendent, guidance counselor, and department head, you can decide how to fit in those 180 days. You can start in January or September or November. You can finish in June or May or December.

There are many, many ways to do this and we have tried most of them over the years.

Traditional – Many people for a variety of reasons simply grab the local public school’s schedule and duplicate their days in person and off school for their homeschool schedule. This is easy, gets the job done, and means your kids won’t complain about seeing kids playing outside while they press on inside.

Year round – This is the complete opposite of the traditional plan of taking 12-14 weeks off every summer and helps your family settle into a regular routine of school, while still allow lots of days off here and there. Maybe you school 4 days every week all year and take a week off four times throughout the year. Or, maybe you take a month of three different times throughout the year, or two weeks 8 different times, or whatever. “Year round” generally just means you don’t take three months off in the summer.

Cycle schooling – This is kind of an off shoot of year round schooling as it chips away at the amount of time taken off in the summer. Some people have found that they can really get high quality work done in six week chunks. So, they school six weeks and then take a week off, or a week and a half. School six weeks, take a week off. Repeat 6 times and you have a school year that took 41 weeks to complete and still leaves you with an 11 week summer. Any combination of on again, off again schooling can work in this way.

Challenges of following a non traditional schedule include:

  • Dirty looks from complete strangers because your kids aren’t in school when they are “supposed to be.”
  • Questions from your kids about why they have to do school when no one else is.
  • Fatigue midway through 8 weeks of solid schooling.
  • If you take a month off you can still experience some academic sliding and even after two weeks there is a little adjustment as you return to your daily school routine.

Find what works for you, and enjoy it. Or, try one way, and keep trying new ways until you find one you like. And, don’t feel locked into it. For a few years, schooling year round might be fantastic, then if you start outsourcing some subjects, you might find that your weeks off don’t line up with enrolled classes. No right way to do it, just get your subjects covered and keep trucking on toward graduation.

Daily Routine

I tackled the easy one first. Yearly schedules are way easier to determine than your daily schedule. My yearly schedule has settled into a traditional one for the past 6-8 years, but our daily schedule continues to change each year, and sometimes each semester.

Start the day with your highest priorities. We begin our day with a group Bible and history time. I read aloud, we usually have some memory work that we work on as a group, we discuss what we read, and we start our day. Together.

Figure out your prime time for productivity. Maybe it’s not morning. Maybe its evening. Maybe your house does better sleeping until 10 and starting after a late breakfast. Maybe you love the early morning and will start school at 7 (that is way easier when you don’t have to pack lunches and catch a bus). Find the rhythm of your home and embrace it with your homeschool.

Encourage independent work. My kids each get a weekly assignment sheet that they check off and keeps us all on track. I still walk through their English and math lessons with them, and usually their science as well. Then, they work on their own, bringing questions to me as needed. I’m rarely sitting around bored, but as my kids get older, our school days have gotten shorter as they don’t rely on me quite as much.

There is no universal best way to structure your school day. We generally do Bible/history from 9-10:15; individual subjects (math, English, etc.) until noonish; afternoons for other group discussions, reading, PE, art, science, and everything else I feel like throwing in or throwing out. Grade schoolers are generally shortly after lunch, and my high schoolers are usually done a couple hours later, but sometimes they like to take breaks or start early and you can find them doing school at 7:30 am or at 7:30 pm, although they can stop as they get tired and work whenever they are fresh. We definitely don’t punch a clock.

Leave time for passions. My kids find a lot of discretionary time in their days and fill it as they see fit once their assigned work (and chores) is done. My ten year old loves to read. So, some days he will get into a book (neglecting his other work . . .) and read for hours on end. The next day he will make up for it and do double lessons. Others are into art, digital projects, fitness, creating, or a passing phase. The flexibility of homeschooling lets them pick how to fill their time and grow their interests in doing so. Before their weekend truly begins, they must have completed their weekly assigned work, but they have some flex how and when they work Monday through Friday.

Chores. Maybe that doesn’t sound like school, but maybe if you found your family all at home more the past few months you understand. Homeschoolers tend to do more chores than other kids their age (I have only anecdotal evidence for this). We are home all day. We all eat there three meals a day, most days. We use the bathroom at home. We drag school books all over the house. Our house is lived in 24/7. Because of this, our chore list is well beyond my realm of personal responsibility. They clean the bathrooms and have chores related to meals. It’s nothing excessive, but it is a necessity of having many people using the space for so much of each day. Therefore, chores become part of our daily school routine as well.

Find your groove, tweak as often as necessary.

Homeschooling from scratch in a hurry

Sometimes we enter homeschooling as a journey, a gradual zero depth wading pool. Sampling, testing, experimenting, exploring, researching. Other times people enter their homeschool journey from the high dive. Many parents find themselves there now. Toes on the edge, wondering if they can do it, terrified by the risk, but with a growing line behind them and the clock ticking, it’s jump or ??? Well, the analogy falls flat there. There are other options. Your child will not fail or die or be ruined for life whether you choose to homeschool or not this coming year. Whatever successes or challenges they face this year can be redeemed or neutralized in subsequent years.

I know this, because we have had “those years” before. Like the year my grandfather died. I spent hours many days driving to visit him, bringing him lunch, knowing the trip might be the last of its kind and choosing to ignore the way I “failed” as a homeschool teacher that year. Another year I started a new job that should have been 15 hours a week and turned into 50-60 before settling into 20 after a few months. Homeschooling happened in bits and pieces with the stress pooling in the corners of my eyes and the strain in my verbal instructions many days.

And, somehow they thrived. They knew we loved them. They knew some days were better than others. They learned greater independence and the value of elders and serving others and a million other life skills that I didn’t realize I was teaching as assignments were graded weeks late instead of daily.

They also thrived academically. In the bits and pieces, the “car” schooling (Thank the Lord for audio books) that sometimes become more the norm than the exception, the Saturday studies done of necessity, the shortened Christmas or spring break, they learned more than I ever could have imagined.

Yes, sleep was in short supply, and I wanted to quit (homeschooling, life, my job, parenting, everything!) Hard days and seasons came and went and we all stood stronger because of them.

So, what now? You’ve decided to take the leap, or prepare in case you get shoved off the high dive. First order of business (and the one I honestly get asked the most when people find out I homeschool) — what curriculum do you use?

If we were wading in, this is one of the later questions, but assuming you are hoping to start school in a month, it is kind of pressing. No time to research educational philosophies, or sample a few methods to see what you enjoy, or interview academic experts in your sphere of influence. We need to jump right in. The water’s cold, but you’ll adjust quickly.

This is where the self-interview begins:

  • How much time do I want my child to spend on the computer?
  • Do I have a religious affiliation that I want reflected in the books I choose?
  • How much time do I have to find this curriculum?
  • How much time on a daily basis do I have to help my child with their studies? (this is not asking how capable you feel, that is a whole different issue)
  • How much can I afford?
  • Am I planning on returning my child to a traditional school in the near future or am I trying homeschooling as a potential long-term option?
  • Does my child do well with more desk work, or do they need to move regularly?
  • How much room do I have to store extra materials?
  • Do I have access to a well-equipped library that I know how to use (or am willing to learn)?
  • What technology is available in our home or am I willing to invest in?
  • Are there other like-minded families around me that I can rely on for mutual support?

Once you come up with an idea of the boundaries of what you are looking for, you are more prepared to actually look at curriculum. Set your budget, determine some expectations, and tomorrow we will look at some resources and how to make up your mind.

In future posts, either here or on the Facebook page we will explore more curriculum questions, age specific considerations, working with special needs, setting goals, record keeping, and setting a schedule.

Guest Post: How To Help A Child With A Learning Disability Get Involved In The Arts

 

Photo via Pixabay by EvgeniT

Many parents struggle with getting their kids interested in different subjects; for some, it’s math or science, while others have a hard time relating to the arts. All types of learning are important for kids, but for children who are living with a disability, being able to express feelings and ideas through creative endeavors is essential. That’s why it’s so important to help your child get interested in the arts, whether it’s dance, music, drawing or painting, or theater.

 

Many children who are diagnosed with a learning disability simply need to find different ways to take in information or to get their ideas across. Creative pursuits of all kinds can help your child find new forms of expression, reduce stress and anxiety, and learn how to perform better in school. There are several ways you can introduce the arts to your child at home, and many of them are fun for the entire family.

Keep reading for some tips on how to help your child with a learning disability get involved in the arts.

 

Create a hobby room

Creating a space dedicated to arts, crafts, and other hobbies will help your child feel safe and comfortable, and will reduce distractions. Set up a table and get organized by using bins with deep drawers to hold glitter, crayons, paint, markers, scissors, glue, yarn, and pieces of fabric. If you’re able to utilize an entire room for hobbying, paint the walls with easy-to-clean glossy paint, or use chalkboard paint on one wall to encourage spontaneous creativity. Designate a special area just for displaying your child’s artwork so he’ll stay motivated to keep making things.

 

Get out the needle and thread

Sewing is a great pastime for kids; it’s a calm, quiet activity that requires focus and concentration, and it can help build up strength in both those areas. It also requires patience. Sewing and textile crafts will allow your child to get creative while learning how to practice mindfulness, which reduces stress and anxiety. As long as your child is old enough to work with needles and scissors, look for some projects he can do with fabric and thread. It doesn’t have to be a traditional sewing craft; for instance, you can have him draw a simple picture on a canvas and use a needle and thread to fill it in. For more great tips and resources on sewing projects, click here.

 

Give him a variety

Most kids like to have some variety when it comes to their hobbies, especially if they get bored easily. Look for several different kinds of creative activities and allow your child to try a few to see which ones he likes best. Some kids are great at making art but just aren’t that into it; others love music but aren’t sure if they would rather sing, play an instrument, or dance. Giving your child some creative freedom will allow him to find the thing that makes him feel most alive.

 

Make learning fun

Many kids with learning disabilities struggle in school because they feel bored or unchallenged by the curriculum, or because they are frustrated by their inability to comprehend the material. You can help make learning fun by incorporating creativity and educational lessons; for instance, let your child help you in the kitchen. Talk about measuring, chemical reactions, and following a recipe while baking cupcakes, then let him decorate the finished product any way he wants.

 

Millions of kids in the U.S. live with a learning disability, and not all of them are diagnosed. It can be difficult for most children to identify these issues in themselves, leaving them frustrated and unfulfilled in school. Helping your child find new ways to express himself will help him now and for years to come.

LearningDisabilities.info was created to offer information and understanding to parents of children with learning disabilities, as well as adults who are in need of continued support to succeed.

Guest Post: Making the Most of Museums

3 Ways Museums Can Foster a Love of Learning Among Children

The word “museum” conjures quiet images of dusty manuscripts, poorly stuffed lions, and maybe even a dinosaur skeleton or two. While these things may be found in many museums, modern times have drawn museums from stuffy to colorful, advanced, and exciting. The displays are often kid-friendly, catering to field trips and instructors. However, by bringing your children to museums before their formal education begins, you may be giving them a leg-up. Here are a few of the ways museums can teach your kids to love learning:

1. There’s an App for That

Most museums in the modern age boast apps that act as virtual tour guides through the museum. These apps might have additional information on each exhibit, supplemental resources to learn more about the exhibits, or fun little games to play to include younger children. In fact, some apps will even allow you to take a virtual tour of a museum without leaving your home.

By using these supplemental apps, you make the process of learning about the exhibits an exciting, interactive adventure. Your kids will be thrilled to be allowed to hold your phone or table and wander through the museum, accessing information on their own.

2. Hands-On Learning for Exhibits and Classes

Most children and even adults find lecture-based learning dull. And while there are a many fun and creative ways to make learning engaging for kids, nothing quite beats hands-on learning experience offered by visiting a museum.

For example, many museums that incorporate dinosaurs will include a sandbox that allows children to dig for fossils. What could be better than spending an afternoon pretending to be an archaeologist, complete with rocks, dirt, and all the tools of the trade? A museum volunteer may even bring out a real fossil for children to view up close.

This sort of learning teaches children that education does not have to mean sitting quietly, listening to an adult talk about a topic for an hour or more. They will begin to associate their impending education with exciting, hands-on activities that will allow them to get up close and personal with a variety of topics that interest them. In fact, adults may learn a thing or two about educating kids through a trip to the museum.

3. Kids Get to See Parents Enjoying Education

Kids want to emulate the adults in their lives, and taking a family trip to a museum will allow your children to witness adults learning and having fun at the same time. Museums are fascinating for people of all ages, making them an ideal opportunity for learning by example. Furthermore, museums house all kinds of information. Whether you spend a day learning about art history or the evolution of humanity, your kids will find themselves exposed to new and exciting information that piques not only their interest but their parents’ as well.

It is never too early to teach your kids how fun learning can be. If you teach your children that museums are an exciting treat, they will learn that education is fun. Furthermore, museums of all kinds make for fun, wholesome family outings that engage all ages. Everybody loves learning new things, particularly when you get an up-close or hands-on experience. If you find it difficult to get everyone out of the house, you might consider downloading a museum app and allowing your kids to take a virtual tour of a famous museum. In the modern age, the possibilities are endless.

Image via Pixabay by Unsplash

Post from Jamie at scicamps.org

West Chicago Public Library Nature-Made program

Received via email (note, this is not a homeschool specific event, but they reached out knowing this is something many homeschoolers might enjoy):
Homeschooling families in the West Chicago area-
please save the date for the following programs at the West Chicago Library!
Save the date- Friday, September 9, 2016; 3:00-4:15 pm
Nature-Made at the West Chicago Public Library
Let’s connect to the great outdoors around us with some fun nature-inspired art! We will have various art stations set up for kids to make their own unique works of art. Our creations will be designed using small natural art materials like flowers, leaves, pinecones and more! During this program we will use a generous donation of 30 pansy flower plants from Ball Horticultural. No registration required, just drop-in. Kids ages 5-11 years old are welcome. Parents and other adult caregivers are encouraged to join their children and have fun making together!(Please note: children under 9 years old must be accompanied by an adult.)
http://westchicago.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails?EventId=4899&backTo=Calendar&startDate=2016/09/01