My Cool HomeschoolHomeschooling Resources

While we were visiting with family over the Christmas holidays, a group of us went shopping together at a specialty shop. While there, my sister showed me a book she found entitled 101 Things You Should Do Before Your Kids Leave Home, written by David Bordon and Tom Winters. I thumbed through it and it looked really good, but I was just browsing that day, so I wrote a note to myself to look for it online later. But my sister purchased one, and to my happy surprise, she gave it to me!

The book is organized in a simple yet effective format. Each of the 101 things are listed and numbered in the table of contents for easy reference. (This also makes it convenient to read through the list and mark off the ones you’ve completed.) The text for each item fills up two facing pages; the left page features the number and the activity, while the right contains further details, such as how to do it, tips for making it memorable, and why you should do it. This book is a Christian book, so many of the “whys” include explanations on how you can use the activity to encourage your children to follow the Lord.

After looking through the list, I was glad to see that we have already completed nearly half of the items, especially since my oldest is 14 and will be going off to college in a few years. Some of the things we’ve done include: washing the car together, joining in a parade, inviting a pet (or in our case, a lot of pets) into our home, picking up trash in a public area, gathering for family reunions, camping, flying kites, and telling family stories. Some things are on-going, such as learning the value of hard work, manners and etiquette, and ways to manage conflict.

Of course, this book isn’t a mandatory list of things to do with your children, and if you don’t do them you’re not a good parent. But I think it is a great reference for ideas, and it’s a reminder of the things that we can do with our kids. Sometimes in the busyness of day-to-day living we forget to take the time to just enjoy being with them. And, as every parent knows, the time flies by so fast.

So what’s still on our to-do list? Thanking a soldier, standing together at the edge of the Grand Canyon, serving in a soup kitchen, pitching a tent indoors, and sharing family recipes.

What’s on your list?

Critics of homeschooling will often mention that, because the student is learning at home, he’s missing out on socialization with his peers. Such a critic has never met my teenage son John. A ninth grader, he has invitations to get-togethers and parties almost every week, sometimes two in the same day!

For many of these parties, invites are sent out with a note stating to bring along a favorite group game. And each time, I suggest he shows his friends how to play Telephone Pictionary. We first played it with family during the Thanksgiving holidays, and it was a hit with both kids and adults.

*Note: This game is not suited for young children, as players need to be able to read and write sentences.

To Prepare:

Cut or tear plain white paper into small rectangles, approx. 2 inches wide by 3 inches long. Provide each player with a stack of these rectangles. Each player should have as many “rectangles” as there are people playing the game. For example, if seven people are playing the game, give each player seven rectangles of paper.

Provide a pen for each player.

To Play:

1. Each player will write a sentence on the top sheet of his stack of papers. The sentence can be long or short; it can be a quote or a proverb; it can be simple or complex.

When each player is finished, all players pass that sheet of paper to the person on their left.

2. All players read the sentence, then place the paper on the bottom of their stack. On the next rectangular sheet of paper, players draw what the sentence says. They draw it in pen, so there’s no erasing. They can use stick figures, but they can’t use letters or words. The goal is to “show” the sentence the best you can.

When each player is finished, all players pass the stack to the person on the left, leaving the drawing on top.

3. Now it’s time to interpret the drawing! Players will look at the drawing passed to them, decide what it depicts, and write a new sentence on the next rectangular piece of paper. This new sentence will say what the player thinks the drawing shows.

Players then place the picture on the bottom of the stack, leave the new sentence on the top, and pass the whole stack to the person on the left.

4. Time to draw again! After reading the sentence, players will tuck it on the bottom of the stack, then draw what they read. When everyone is finished, the stacks (with the pictures on top) are passed again to the left.

Play continues in this manner until the stacks have gone all the way around the whole table. Depending on whether you have an odd or an even number of people playing, the turn may end when you receive your original stack or the stack the person on your left started with.

Now it’s time to reveal the papers! Players take turns reading the sentences and showing drawings in a stack in the order in which they were created. Most likely, the first sentence and the last are not quite the same!

We have had a lot fun with this game — the pictures and sentences become so strange and so funny as they go around the table. John still hasn’t shared this one with his friends at the parties, but I hope he does soon. It’s makes for a great time for everyone!

This is my third year of being part of the Write2Ignite! Conference, and I’m so excited! This year, the conference will again be held at North Greenville University in Greenville County, South Carolina, February 19-20. And one of the best features: the Teen Track for middle and high school students!

This year’s Teen Track Speaker is author and teacher Carol Baldwin. Her goal: to inspire students to write the story only they can write. By the end of three sessions, students will have created original characters and placed them in believable settings, brainstormed conflict and plot ideas, and learned how to mine from their own life experiences.

And that’s not all! Carol will also show them the benefits of the red pen, as they learn how to edit their own work. She’ll also describe for them the path to publication and how they can become published, too.

If you’re also interested in writing, you could make the conference an educational experience for both you and your child! Although this conference is primarily geared towards Christians who write for children, there’s a lot of great information for those who write for adults as well. Workshop topics include researching,  creating characters, writing devotionals for adults and kids, crafting queries and proposals, understanding contracts, building a web presence, and more.

Featured speakers of this conference include Marybeth Whalen of Proverbs 31 Ministries, agents Jenni Burke and Les Stobbe, editors Cindy Sproles and Terri Kelly, and authors  Michelle Buckman and Jill Roman Lord,  just to name a few.

So if you have a budding author in your family, consider having him or her attend a conference like Write2Ignite! I’ve attended the past two conferences with my children, and we all came from it inspired, encouraged, and ready to write!

After lots of traveling over Christmas and New Year’s, we had our first quiet week at home this week. Our co-op did meet on Monday, so that day was full, and Tuesday the girls had music lessons, but that was all we had on the calendar. And, for a few days our car was in the shop, so I couldn’t have gone anywhere anyway. I had anticipated getting a lot done, including unpacking from our trips, putting away the Christmas decorations, and cleaning the house.

But the house is still a mess and the Christmas tree is still up. Instead, this was the week of re-establishment.

First, we had to re-establish our school hours, and it took a couple of days before the routine was set again. Some of that time was also spent looking for workbooks that somehow disappeared. One math book is still on the loose.

Then we re-established the daily chore plans, including the “before breakfast” and “after school” lists. After several weeks of letting daily chores slip by, it’s nice to have some helping hands with the housework again.

Because adjusting to school and chores again can be tough, we had to re-established the “No Whining Rule.” That one was a little harder and involved a few more tears, but it’s coming along too.

We also re-established the “Video and Computer Games May Only be Played on Saturdays” rule. We set up this rule about a year ago when I felt the boys were spending too much time at the games, and it works well for our family. During holidays, however, it’s an easy one to bend, especially if they get a new one for Christmas.

Looking at the state of our house this week, one (especially my husband) might wonder what we did at home all day. But we did work at some hard things, and the year is off to a good start, even if the house isn’t.

Photo by Grafixar