Today I have a guest post for you on the topic of important considerations for your homeschooling decision.

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, as we have homeschooled at our house several different years, in a couple of different ways. There was so much that went into this decision.

Our expert today is here to share with us what we should think about when we are making this important decision.

Going to school is the norm for most children. However, it doesn’t always have to be. Homeschooling is the legal alternative to sending your kid to a traditional school.

In homeschooling, you can enable teachers to educate your children at home. While some parents opt for homeschooling due to their religious beliefs, it is also an excellent way to provide your child with a flexible learning environment.

However, homeschooling is not for everyone, so before you opt for this style of education for your child, you should consider a few factors. Just because it works for me doesn’t mean it might work for everyone.

Did you know that the homeschooled population in the U.S. has been growing at an estimated rate of 2 to 8% per year?

The benefits of homeschooling are why many parents, including myself, prefer it over the traditional method of education. I

If you also wish to enter the world of homeschooling, you should consider the following factors:

1.    Your Schedule:

The most important thing about homeschooling that you must understand is that it is a full-time job. You will have to commit to homeschooling if you decide to go for this method of education. You must also do regular research to plan your child’s curriculum.

As a homeschooling parent, I have had to create and maintain a structured schedule for my child. You will also have to plan lessons, teach, grade assignments, and handle administrative tasks. 

2.    Your Educational Background:

In homeschools, parents are the primary educators of their children. Although you don’t need a degree to homeschool your child, you must be knowledgeable. You can take online courses to supplement your knowledge if you need more aspects. I have also attended workshops to improve my knowledge and be the best educator for my child. There is also plenty of guiding material online for parents who are new to homeschooling. 

3.    Your Child’s Personality:

A child’s personality can help you determine their learning style. I figured out the best way to educate my children by observing them. As a homeschooling parent, you must focus on providing your child with an environment that promotes growth. To accomplish that, consider whether your child prefers a hands-on approach or lecturing. Another factor to consider is whether they thrive in social settings or prefer to learn alone. 

Taking care of your child’s mental health is also important for building their personality. You can also look into pediatric therapy services in Central KY if you’re from that area and if your child needs professional assistance. You can also find pediatric therapy centers in almost every city if you aren’t in that local area.

4.    Financial Considerations:

Homeschooling is much more affordable than traditional schooling. However, it requires an initial investment in supplies, books, and curriculum. If you wish to become a homeschooling parent, you might also have to quit your job. So, before you decide to homeschool your child, take a look at your finances. Only opt for homeschooling if you are financially ready for it. 

5.    Socialization Opportunities:

Children get plenty of socialization opportunities in a traditional school. However, we can’t say the same about homeschooled children. For a child to grow into a confident adult, they must socialize with their peers.

As a homeschooling parent, you will have to provide socialization opportunities to your child. There are plenty of clubs, homeschool groups, and community activities that your children can participate in. Homeschool groups can also provide support and guidance to us parents. 

6.    Homeschooling Laws & Regulations:

Each state in the U.S. has its own rules and regulations regarding homeschooling. You may have to register with the state, keep a record of attendance, and submit test scores. If you want to avoid problems later, learn about the regulations beforehand. Finding out about my state’s rules regarding homeschooling helped me a lot as a parent. By following the laws set in place by the state, I could focus on providing my child with quality education. 

Advantages of Homeschooling:

The following advantages of homeschooling are why more and more parents in the U.S. are opting for this method of education: 

·      Safe Environment:

One of the biggest plus of homeschooling for me was being able to protect my child from things like peer pressure and bullying. The negative aspects of a traditional school can be detrimental to a child’s mental health. As a result, 1.9 million American children are currently studying in a safe and controlled environment. 

·      Stronger Connection with Family:

Students of public schools in the U.S. spend 6 to 7 hours a day away from home. Even after coming home, they rarely get to spend quality time with their families due to schoolwork. The situation can be reversed with homeschooling.

Through homeschooling, you can build a strong bond with your children. By spending the majority of your time with your child every day, you can build a strong family connection. Your children will also find it easier to come to you with their problems if they have a strong bond with you. 

·      Flexible Schedule: 

In traditional schools, all students are required to follow the same schedule. However, in reality, every child has a different learning speed. If children are forced to change their learning speed, they end up hating to study. With homeschooling, you can design a flexible schedule for your child according to their needs. Flexible schedules also help improve a child’s learning ability. 

Disadvantages of Homeschooling: 

Homeschooling also has a few disadvantages that you must be aware of: 

·      Isolating: 

Homeschooling can be an isolating experience for both parents and children. You will be unable to meet and connect with other parents if you homeschool your child. Your child will also miss out on connecting with their peers. 

·      Limited Socialization: 

Although you can find socialization opportunities for your homeschooled child, they are only sometimes enough. Limited socialization opportunities can impact the personality development of an extrovert child. 

·      Hectic Routine for Parents: 

Homeschooling can be harder than a full-time job with a heavy workload. You will have to research the curriculum and create lesson plans. Make sure you are ready to take on the heavy workload before choosing homeschooling. 

Final Thoughts:

Homeschooling can be a great way to bond with your child and protect them from the dangers of a traditional school. There are also plenty of resources to help parents who are thinking of homeschooling their children. However, make sure to weigh the pros and cons of homeschooling before you make the final call about your child’s future.

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As a fairly recent college graduate — and as someone who just paid off hefty student loans — I know firsthand how expensive getting a college education can be. The cost of a degree is rising. What you may have spent on your own tuition and fees may not even cover a semester of your child’s tuition by the time he or she is ready to head off to a college university. The thought of paying for college in this era can be daunting. However, it is doable — as long as you come up with a strategy for making it happen.

Of course, it may not be possible to fully fund your child or children’s college education. Yet with some advance planning and some careful saving, you can put away a decent amount of money to help your kids get their degrees with minimal debt. Read on to pick up some ideas on how you can accomplish this goal.

Get a Head Start

The best way to save for your kids’ college education is by starting early. The idea of paying $40,000 a year or more for tuition and fees is scary. If you start socking away a little bit of money each month when your child is born, you can take advantage of compounding interest to get a great return on your investment.

You can automate your savings through electronic funds transfer (EFT), direct deposit, or other forms of automatic savings to have your child’s college education account grow without you even thinking about it.

So exactly how much will you need to set aside in order to pay for your child’s college education?

That number will depend on a variety of factors, such as the return on your investment, the cost of tuition, and how much of the tuition you intend to cover.

If you plan to pay 50% of a private college education that costs $45,370 per year now, or $390,298 total (assuming a 4% increase in college costs per year), then you will need to put away $458 per month into a plan with a 6% return starting when your child is born in order to cover that cost.

If you want to cover 50% of a less expensive in-state public university education at an average of $20,090 now, or $172,825 total assuming the same 4% annual increase in college costs, then you would need to put $203 each month into the same plan.

These relatively low amounts can help you save a significant amount of money over time. This will make a rather large dent in the total cost of attending college for your kids.

Use a 529 Plan

In the example above, the money was invested into a plan known as a 529 college savings plan. This type of plan is a tax-deferred savings plan that allows families to put aside money for qualified higher education expenses. Thirty-four states sponsor this type of plan, and several states permit parents to deduct contributions to this plan from their income taxes.

The money that you put into 529 plans will grow. Meanwhile, all distributions from the account that are used for qualified higher education expenses (such as tuition, fees, room and board) are free from federal income taxes.

A 529 plan is a great option, as they are fairly low-cost and have great tax benefits. Family members and friends can even contribute to the account.

Grants & Scholarships

One of the best resources for paying for college is one that many people often overlook — grants and scholarships. Looking for alternative funding sources such as grants and scholarships can help reduce the total amount of money that you either need to pay or borrow for college. Scholarships can be found through school guidance counselors, or through websites such as Scholarship.com.

Spending a few hours applying for scholarships can result in receiving hundreds or thousands of dollars in funding for school. They can reduce your child’s debt burden significantly. Grants, which are a monetary award that are usually offered to help students study in a particular field, can also be helpful. They are offered through a number of sources, such as the federal and state government, your child’s college, or local organizations. Your child’s college financial aid office and various online sites should have information available on applying for grants.

Student Loans: Which type is best?

Student loans are a fact of life for many students, and may be something that your children have to take out in order to pay for school. Federal student loans tend to have more favorable terms, and often have better interest rates. Subsidized student loans are preferable, as the government covers the cost of interest while your child is in school and during the grace period. Private student loans should be taken out as a last resort, as they tend to have much higher interest rates and can significantly add to a student’s debt burden.

Last Word

Saving for college can seem like a daunting, and sometimes impossible, task. It’s not, though, I promise! The earlier you get started the better, given the power of compounding interest. Even if you haven’t gotten a head start, it’s never too late. Try to come up with a plan and start saving – your child will thank you eventually!

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Jacob runs his own personal finance blog over at Dollar Diligence. Through meticulously watching his money and extreme frugality, he was able to pay down over $25k in student loan debt in just 15 months. You can learn more about his story and follow him here.

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There are just a few blog posts that I’ve written that have front page authority on Google. If you want to know how to make a school supply cake, they will send you to me, page 1, top slot.

If you want a long list of pros and cons for school choices, you will find this old post in your Google search results. Some days it gets more hits than the new things that I post.

I am not anti-public, anti-private, or anti-home school. It was a list that I made while trying to reach my decision two years ago.

I kept cringing each time that I’d see this list that I made before I even tried home-schooling being read almost every day. So I dug it up and changed it. This new one is more candid and useful because I was able to speak with more experience. I hope you’ll give it a read-through. Thanks!

Home School Vs. Public Vs. Christian School: Pros and Cons

The post Newly Revised Pros and Cons List for Home Vs. Public Vs. Private School appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

It is 2:30. Nobody mess this up. JD is sleeping. Dan is voluntarily in his room building something with Lego blocks, Caleb is building a stunt course out of train tracks down stairs, and Joshua is in the Lego closet building something too. I have to make sure no one sees or hears me. If I am seen, this wonderful moment will be spoiled, and they will start asking me questions…

Caleb is majorly into building things. JD is obsessed with cars.

Uh-oh. They are all together again, but at least they are getting along.

What am I doing? Well, I have spent all afternoon making COPIES!!! Last year, I did not have a chance to make the year’s school work copies in advance. I’m sure more work will still arise in the school year, but it feels INCREDIBLE to already have the 1st nine weeks’ history and math lessons torn out, printed out, and separated out by weeks in my files, and ready to GO!

In order to match up Story of the World lessons with CC Cycle 1 memory work, I turned to this fabulous lady: halfahundredacrewood.com. She has already done a lot of that for me, so I’m now online scouring that site!

I found this extremely helpful in setting up my history lessons. It also provides resource lists for science:

Story of the World Chapter Match-ups for CC Cycle 1

If there’s one thing I dislike about lesson planning, it’s not having a make-it-simple guide. Give me a guide, for sure! I do not want to have to dream up engaging activities, and my children NEED engaging activities. They need to be involved in the learning in order for it to stick.

That’s why I forked over the money and bought the Story of the World Activity Book. We also bought the Story of the World book. It’s history in a story format. They make an audio version. My kids hate it. (I just wanted to let you know, lest you feel tempted to assume it’s theatrical. It’s not.) I either read it out loud, or I let the older boys read it to themselves. They like it just fine if I’m doing the reading. I have to confess, I didn’t actually have to spend money on this. Technically, I told my mother-in-law I wanted it for Christmas, and she forked over the money. She was even able to find some of them on eBay!

The Activity Book has a printable or 2 or 3 for every single chapter of the history stories. And just like that, I feel like my planning is done. No scouring the internet for freebie printables. Do you know what bothers me the most about freebies? Some of them download other stuff onto your computer, along with the history crossword, or whatever, like malware that slows my computer down.

I like it all easily laid out for me in a book. I’m old-fashioned like that.

Here’s a peak inside the lesson plans. If you prefer crafts and such to crossword puzzles, maps, and color sheets, there are plenty of suggestions in here for all of that.

Sample of lesson plans, from chapter 27, The Rise of Rome

a close up view: I printed out all of these review cards, mentioned at the top of this page, for the boys to color them, read them, and cut them out and glue them in their books in order. Very hands on.

The Roman Empire is just one of our topics this year. Sounds like a fun year, doesn’t it?

These are a few other books we plan to read:

If you can’t tell, we love those “You Wouldn’t Want” books here!

I also figure we’ll watch The Night at the Smithsonian movies, especially the first one. The boys and I will be learning about Attila the Hun this year! Do you remember him in the first Museum movie?

Here’s a little outline of what we will be learning, to include a few Brain Pop Jr. match-ups!

I and II. The Ten Commandments  I love that this is included.

III. Greek and Roman Gods

IV. 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

V. Split of Roman Empire   (Brain Pop Jr. FREE Video on Ancient Rome)

VI. Fall of Rome

VII.Hinduism

VIII. Age of Imperialism

IV. Confucius      (Brain Pop Jr. Video on Ancient China)

X. Heian Empire

XI. Byzantine Empire

XII. Muslim Empire

XIII. Kush

XIV. Songhai

XV. Henry the Navigator

XVI. Mesoamerican Civilizations   (B. Pop Jr. Maya Civilization)

XVII. Aztecs

XVIII. Mound Builders

XIX. Anasazi     (Brain Pop Jr.)

XX. Mexican Revolution    (B. Pop Jr. Mexico)

XXI. Exploration of Canada

XXII. British North American Act

XXIII. Liberation of South America

XXIV. Napoleon

These topics are meaty history lessons! I may need to up my Brain Pop subscription to include Brain Pop, not just Junior. Anyone want to go in with me, as a home school group? Just send me a message if you’re interested: storiesofourboys@gmail.com.

I’ve hesitated to post about home schooling in the past because most of my readers aren’t actually home schoolers. If any of you are interested in more education posts, please let me know.

I’d love to hear what you’re excited about doing in history this year. I’d especially like field trip ideas. That is our favorite kind of learning. Does anyone know any history-related field trips, here in central-ish California? Please share!!

Happy learning! My house is unusually quiet. I’m off to check on the munchkins. (Don’t worry. The two smallest are napping.)

The post School Planning Time! Story of the World History plans are in the works. appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

(Please note that I do collect advertising fees when you purchase through links on my page to Money Saving Mom or Amazon. However, I am not affiliated with Brain Pop. How I wish I were!)

I’ve mentioned before that Brain Pop Jr. is a hit at our house.

As part of my planning for next year, Cycle 1 of Classical Conversations, I combed through each week and lined up the material with the corresponding videos. I am not a Brain Pop Jr. salesman or affiliate. We just like the videos and find them helpful!

Each link will take you to a Brain Pop Jr. video, with lesson materials that correspond to that week’s CC lesson.

Note that Brain Pop Jr. does require a membership fee. They DO offer free videos as well. You can find just the freebies here. You can also download an app with freebies.

All of the book links are quick and easy Amazon links.

CYCLE 1

WEEK 1

SCIENCE: Classifying Animals Video, Animal Card printable, and games (This one is FREE.)

I also think this book looks fun for this topic:

 Is a Camel a Mammal?

WEEK 3 or 4

Cells: This video is actually on regular Brain Pop, not Junior.

CELLS

WEEK 5

HISTORY: Ancient Rome video, game, and mosaic printable activity

I also recommend this book! My boys, especially Joshua, LOVE this series of “You Wouldn’t Want to Be” books. They are packed with information but at the same time are funny.

WEEK 6

SCIENCE: For week 6 we memorize that fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds are all vertebrates. The possibilities are endless for enrichment.

Fish Video, Activity, and Quiz

Frogs Video and Activities

WEEK 7

MUSIC: Reading Music Tutorial, printable activity, quiz, etc.

Great book with CD:

WEEK 8: Ancient China video and activities This one has a really cute dragon craft.

WEEK 9: Parts of a Plant, complete with science experiment and lab sheet

MUSIC: Pitch, Tone, and Beat

WEEK 13:  MATH: Cups, Pints, Quarts, and Gallons

SCIENCE: The Earth  This one’s really good! It goes with our memory work perfectly.

WEEK 14: MATH: Inches and feet

SCIENCE: Rocks and Minerals

WEEK 16: History: Maya Civilization

Math: Area

WEEK 19:  History: The Pueblo People

Science: Ocean Habitats Another really good one!

My boys love this book:

 It comes with a poster, which is already hanging above Caleb’s bed.

WEEK 22: Music: Mozart

Presidents: Presidents

I now have this in an easy-to-print PDF format:  Cycle1BrainPopJrPrint

I hope this list helps! If you are new to Classical Conversations, be sure to read my article for newbies. Brain Pop Jr. is a fun way to engage children in the learning process, but of course it’s not a replacement for memory work, and my favorite CC help of all is the app!

Happy Planning! 🙂

For more on how we use Brain Pop Jr. in our home school, check out this article.

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Home schooling may be one of the greatest challenges I have taken on as a parent.  

One of my biggest struggles is making learning fun. If the boys spend all day doing seat work, writing, and listening to me teach them, they start to become unmanageable. A house of unmanageable children will wreck your day in a hurry. I figure if it is hard for me to find ways to make it fun, it must be hard for other parents too.

Of course, I occasionally run into those parents who seem to have it all together. They LOVE home schooling, and their children seem to know everything. Then I think, “Oh, huh, look at that. Actually home schooling is quite easy for some.”

It’s amazing the difference that experience, preparedness, organization, and a toolbox of good ideas can make!

We’re growing in this. S-l-o-w-l-y but surely I’m figuring out how to manage home schooling.

I have one ace up my sleeve that is a big help. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law are fully experienced teachers. Nonna taught in the public schools, mostly middle school, for twenty years. Amy also taught middle school for over ten years. They have both sent me great supplies this year, and I have used as much of it as I could work in and saved the rest for later.

When Nonna was here this last time, she helped me set up a FANTASTIC filing system. I’ll talk more about that on a future post.

Then she introduced us to……..Brain Pop, Jr.

This can be used whether you are home schooling or not. I just joined as a parent. First, I want to tell you upfront that this is not a free site, nor are they paying me to talk about them. Man, I wish they were! This site offers:

-A huge selection of cute and funny teaching videos, divided by topics and subtopics in math, science, reading and writing, health, social studies, and arts and technology.

-Each sub topic offers a game, printable activity, hard quiz, easy quiz, and more!

-For science, the print-outs are often easy-to-do and fun science experiments!!  I am loving this!

I have tech-savvy kids who are hard to impress, and they actually enjoy these videos and activities.

It is the very first educational “computer center” that I’ve found this year that my second and third graders enjoy!

Brain Pop does have a few free videos and games, and you can download all of that on their app as well. This site is computer friendly as well as app friendly.  They have a new “free movie” every week.

I warn you. The theme song is so catchy. It WILL get stuck in your head.

If you’d like a free preview of what Brain Pop Jr. videos are like, see this free one on local and state governments on their YouTube channel.

There is currently a two week free trial you can start out with.

I chose the parent option. It was $119.00 for the year. If you want to also get Brain Pop (grades 3-8th), you can get both for a total of $159/year.

Oh! And you want to be careful which Brain Pop version you get.

We use Brain Pop Jr. because it’s for Kindergarten through 3rd grade. The only thing they were missing that I’ve needed so far was Evolution and Natural Selection information, to go with our current science unit in Classical Conversations.

Regular Brain Pop has the same hilarious robot videos, but on the more advanced material. Nonna said that her middle schoolers loved it.

(Side note on the evolution bit: Yes, I teach them about both evolution and creation. Obviously, I’m a firm believer that the Earth was created by God. The boys are too. )

Using Brain Pop Jr. with Classical Conversations

So far, we have barely scraped the surface of what all you can do with this technology. You can bet I will be sharing more details on this in the future. For now, I’ll share what we have done so far, and my Brain Pop Jr. CC Cycle 3 Science Lesson plans for weeks 21-24.

-Composers and Musical Instruments! Brain Pop Jr. made learning woodwinds vs. brass, etc. a lot more fun!

This will take you to the whole music section: Music

There are so many options there!

I also used Brain Pop Jr. to help my third grader with division.

I used it to help my first grader with Reading and Spelling Skills.

But more than anything, we are using it for Science:

CC, Cycle 3, Week 21:

Uniformitarianism.

Brain Pop, Jr. didn’t define uniformitarianism, but it did have a whole video, game, quiz, and activity section on gradual land change and fast land change.

There is an erosion experiment to download, as well as fossil activities, and a Grand Canyon puzzle!

CC Cycle 3, Week 22

Catastrophism

Again, they didn’t use the word catastrophism, but they had all the bells and whistles for a fun lesson on “Fast Land Changes”, complete with science experiment and a sequence game.

CC Cycle 3, Week 23

Natural Selection– I couldn’t find it on Brain Pop Jr. either, but I guarantee you they would have it on the not-Junior version.

However, I did find a great video, somewhat related, on Extinct and Endangered Species.

CC Cycle 3, Week 24

Good Science

I found a great lesson on the Scientific Method.

For a complete list for Cycle 1, click here.

Thanks again to Nonna for introducing me to Brain Pop Jr.!

The post Ways to Use Brain Pop Jr. at Home School appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

A little while back, I got an email from Viktoria Altman, President of Brainy Kit. She asked if I’d be interested in receiving a complimentary kit of Montessori materials and lesson plans.

YES! Would I ever!!  I’ve only had two blogger offers that I was this excited about: Brainy Kit and Jamberry Nails. (Look for a Jamberry post soon.)

Now I know you’re wondering what in the world I’m talking about. Well, Montessori is a hands on method of preschool that I have always been intrigued by.

What the Brainy Kit does is bring those Montessori materials into the home. It makes this method more attainable for the average family, for those who may not be able to afford to send their child to a Montessori School.

I received Brainy Kit #1: the Polar Kit. We are LOVING it.

Each item in the kit has provided DAYS of fun, not just one lesson of fun.

Here’s what came in the kit:

1. A book of seven detailed lesson plans: Each lesson plan has tons of activity suggestions.

2. A Bag of miniature animal replicas, Eskimos, and an igloo

3. pretend snow

4. Amazing Arctic Animals book

5. a huge sheet of stickers

6. a glue stick

7. a pre-cut-out walrus craft

8. laminated animal cards

9. laminated Polar Animal learning chart

10. colorful Penguin puzzle

11. jigsaw puzzle

Daniel, JD, and Caleb have all enjoyed this penguin puzzle. I left it out on the coffee table after preschool time, and it saw lots of play time for days, and then JD hid all the pieces…..and well, I still haven’t found them all.

I would have never thought to stop and teach Daniel about the Poles. Poor third kid….but it was in the lesson plan, so I got out the globe and did some explaining. 🙂

Another idea behind the Brainy Kit is that it will help children transition from the home environment to the school environment.

Everything in the kit is so useful! This is a book we will keep in our library and reference for years. It’s a great read-aloud.

This was by far the most popular item in the kit: tiny animals and fake snow. JD joined Daniel for this one. He just couldn’t resist. The great thing about this activity is that it needs very little help from Mom. They played with this for an hour the first day, an hour the second day, and believe it or not, it took them 3 or 4 days before they finally destroyed all of the snow.

I was able to teach the big boys their grammar lessons while the littles played with this. As you can imagine, I was thrilled!!

It had a walrus, a killer whale,  a beluga whale, Eskimos, an igloo, a wolf, and a polar bear. JD carried that walrus around ALLLLLLL day.

Later on, I whipped out the old Polar Bear documentary, and all four boys watched it, while JD clutched his toy walrus.

The lesson suggested adding a little water or ice to the scene. The boys LOVED dragging ice cubes around in their snow. It made the fake snow a little fluffier too, just like the way real snow changes when it’s wet.

After a while, Daniel asked me, “Me have some juice, Mommy?”

I don’t remember what I said, but Daniel added, “Me thirsty from eating that snow.”

haaaaahahahaha  Well, of course, he ate it, really!

That was all just from last week. I haven’t even gotten to the walrus craft, the stickers, or the jigsaw puzzle yet!

I am giving this brainy kit a billion thumbs up. Huge hit here!

Anyone with a 2-6 year old child should definitely sign up for these kits!

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