The idea of homeschooling, for some, can be terrifying. So many questions come up. Will they get what they need? Will they have enough socialization? What if we miss something? What if they struggle? What if I can't do it? There are a lot of fears and concerns around any unknown territory especially when it's outside of your wheelhouse. Here are a few of them, with some perspective: 1. Most of us are not licensed teachers. The assumption that we were never academically and professionally prepared to educate out children can lead many people to believe that they are not qualified. This is a myth. Because we are their parents, we are in many ways the most qualified. We understand our children better than anyone. And the rest, well, we learn as we go, too! 2. Some think it is a calling....and they're not hearing it. This is also an assumption. Homeschooling does not have to be a "calling" or a passion that you've spent your whole life pining to do. Anyone can homeschool their kids if they make the choice and commitment to do it. Use your best judgement. If you think your children would benefit from the experience and that it would be a fun journey, go for it! 3. It will make life difficult and dull. Some parents may fear that homeschooling is really hard and that they would be giving up much of their own life to do it. This is not true at all. Homeschooling is what you make it. If you want it to be fun, make it fun! There are so many benefits to homeschooling and one of them is the freedom to explore the world around you. Another benefit is that you work it into your schedule the way it works for your family. And, you can homeschool for about two hours a day and get more than enough education. 4. The kids will not be well socialized. This may have been true several decades ago but it's far from true today. There are mountains of extracurricular resources these days that are social in nature, getting you and the kids out and about and meeting knew people all the time. Homeschoolers are also adept at forming communities. And with more and more people choosing this lifestyle every day, there is no shortage of homeschooling friends. 5. It's too much responsibility. Sure, you are solely responsible for your kids education and that can be scary. But it is not too much responsibility. With the right plan and resources in play, it can be well executed. And, homeschooled children time and time again prove to perform better on educational outcomes. If they're doing it, so can you. 6. The kids (and I) will spend too much time together. It is a legitimate concern that too much time together can be a bad thing. But, homeschooled children, especially younger ones, actually benefit from that extra time at home with you. It's a more nurturing environment that supports their developmental needs. As they grow, there are plenty of resources to reach out to that get them out of the house more, like drop-off programs. It's also good to know your kids' needs and to be perceptive of when space is needed and have some tools you use to create this balance, like quiet time where everyone goes to their own room or space for quiet reading. Or plenty of outside time! You also need to make your own self care part of the daily regimen. Carve out time and space for your needs. 7. Maintaining structure can be overwhelming. There are all types of homeschoolers: Heavily structured homeschoolers to homeschoolers with little or no structure. You pick what works for you. 8. The kids will miss out on certain experiences. While it's possible, it's less true today. Remember those community-oriented homeschoolers mentioned above? They're also really resourceful. If it doesn't exist and a homeschooling mom wants it for her kids, she'll create it. And so can you! There are homeschool dances, homeschool band, homeschool science fairs.... you name it. Just about anything you experienced in traditional school your kids can now get as homeschoolers. It may look a little different but it will be good. 9. The kids won't cooperate. Many many, parents believe that their kids will never tolerate them switching to their teacher hat and that every day will be a battle. This is in your control. If your kids are truly impossible to homeschool, then maybe THEY don't want to homeschool or maybe they need special resources. As their parent you can assess this. However, the structure of your homeschool lifestyle is up to you and it doesn't have to involve sitting your kids in a chair for hours, drilling them. Get them out and about! Meet them where they are in their learning styles and interests! Don't make homeschoolnig torture for you or for them. If it doesn't work, change what you're doing and try a different approach. 10, You're on your own. No, you're not. There are so many people homeschooling, so many social groups on social media, so many resources, so many meet-up groups.....There are about 1.8 million homeschoolers in the United States today and that number grows rapidly. If you need help, just ask. Reach out on social media, look up blogs and website online, look for activities where you might meet other homeschoolers. You can do it and if you look, you will find a very a very interesting, warm, down-to-earth community waiting for you.
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It's been shown in research that music lessons have a profound effect on development. That's why as homeschoolers, it is a critical opportunity to make the most of homeschool education. Music does the following for our kiddos: 1. Increases blood flow to the brain 2. Develops multi-sensory skills, the brain can process multiple things at once 3. Strengthens memory and reading skills 4. Improves math skills 5. Improves critical thinking and problem solving skills 6. Improves social skills 7. Reduces stress and depression and improves mood and attitude 8. Reduces aging 9. Improves language skills 10. Improves spatial reasoning 11. Improves motor skills and coordination 12. Improves their "ear" for music And the list goes on and on. New discoveries are made all the time regarding how music impacts the brain and its development. Luckily, there are several affordable opportunities in our area for our homeschool kiddos to get music lessons. Here are a few: Music Alliance Music Alliance offers homeschool band classes. The reason this is significant is because, while learning an instrument is important, learning to play with a group is a whole other level. And when our kids are not in traditional school, band class is one of those pieces that could easily be missed from our homeschool plan. Thanks to Music Alliance, our kids can learn to play with an ensemble. Classes run weekly from September to May. Kids get an instrument lesson and then a band practice each week. The put on at least two concerts a year. Sessions are offered in two locations, east side and west side of Cleveland. West side is in Parma Heights and and East Side is in Kirtland. Classes are an affordable $60 per month and there are options to rent instruments. Classes are available to kids ages 9 to 18. To get in touch, contact them at office@musicallianceinc.org or call us toll-free at 855-333-1357 ext. 1. Baldwin Wallace Community Arts School Once called Olmsted Performing Arts in Berea, the program merged with Baldwin Wallace University to become the BW Community Arts School. A variety of dance, theater and music classes are offered in 8 sessions on the first Wednesday of each month. They also offer instrumental classes through the Dalcroze method. There is a youth orchestra, a band, private lessons and summer camps. For more information, go to https://bwcommunityarts.bw.edu/instrumental-music/. Joyful Noise Neighborhood Music School Not specifically homeschool, but worth mentioning is Joyful Noise Neighborhood Music School. Joyful Noise provides free music lessons and free use of instruments to kids from families that can't afford music lessons. In addition to lessons on 11 types of instruments, Joyful Noise also has classes in vocal music, dance, drama and creative writing. Joyful Noise sends some students to summer music camps, provides free tickets to concerts or plays, and provides special opportunities for its students to perform in public. Located in Ohio City at Westside Alliance Church, 3800 Bridge Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113. Lessons are available Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoons from 4 pm to 7 pm. For more info, call (216) 952-4398 or go to www.joyfulnoiseschool.org. If you know of an amazing music program for homeschoolers, get in touch and let us know about it! We'll share the info on the site. info@neo-learners.com. Emotional Intelligence: the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. Each year in October, the Emotional Intelligence Institute organizes a campaign to raise awareness to the importance of emotional intelligence as the key to personal and professional success. Research has determined that emotions are the main architects of the human mind. So to have better mental health, it is imperative to understand emotions and how to manage them. Research shows that homeschooled children have higher emotional intelligence (EI) than standard schooled children and lower levels of problem behaviors. For years, the opposite was assumed. Homeschooled children were assumed to be socially awkward or not socialized and would lack opportunities to build self confidence. However, it has been proven that the opposite is true. Homeschooled children show higher signs of empathy, kindness, introspection, self confidence and social skills. Overall, they are better prepared and more capable of handling a variety of social situations and can utilize problem solving skills very well. And, if a child is struggling with emotions and the behaviors associated with them, homeschooling is often a great opportunity to focus on that. Every homeschooling household is different and unique. But, if you're interested in fostering emotional intelligence awareness as a part of your homeschooling education, here are some things you can do, according to Caitlin Fitzpatrick Hurley, author of mylittlepoppies.com: 1. Practice identifying emotions: Teach your kiddos to know what their different emotions are and what might be triggering them. To be emotionally articulate, to communicate your emotions is a skill that has to be learned, but it is the first step in management. 2. Discuss emotions and experiences: Once kids can identify their emotions it is important to encourage talking about them. Use books, movies, games to inspire discussion of emotions. Otherwise encourage them to talk about their experiences and how they felt. 3. Teach coping skills: If your child struggles with worries or anxiety or any other emotional issue, it is okay to stop and focus on that. In fact, getting a handle on it before piling on more stress is critical. Kids have to be able to manage what's on their plate before they can take on more. 4. Read books together and discuss them: Reading together is a great way to discuss emotions through other people's experiences. 5. Practice gratitude: People who practice gratitude are happier. Gratitude calms the mind. 6. Model kindness and forgiveness: The best way to teach is to model. Kindness and forgiveness are critical tools in the emotional management toolbox. 7. Serve others: Family service projects are great opportunities to teach empathy. And service to others is healing. 8. Play together: Kids learn to navigate the world through play. Play is necessary for their emotional and social development. And playing with them is an opportunity to teach and model emotional management. 9. Get outside: Being outside keeps us connected to our world. It also reduces stress and improves health. 10. Keep life simple: When in doubt, keep it simple. Parent simply, live simply and most importantly, keep their lives simple. Too much is too much. And a complicated, busy life increases stress, which will increase emotional eruptions while impairing the ability to manage them. An emotionally intelligent person will exhibit the following behaviors and skills: 1. Self and social awareness. 2. Pausing before acting. 3. Controlling thoughts. 4. Seeing the benefit of criticism. 5. Authenticity. 6. Empathy. 7. Praising others. 8. Giving helpful feedback. 9. Apologizing. 10. Forgiveness. 11. Keeping commitments. 12. Helping others. 13. Protecting self from emotional sabotage. (not letting people take advantage of you.) One of the many methods of homeschooling is unit studies. The unit studies method is when you pick a general topic and focus all areas of study around that topic. For instance, if you choose to learn about flowers, then your lesson plan might look something like this: Reading & Language Arts: read books about flowers, poems about flowers, etc. Writing & Spelling: write a poem about flowers or a short story, etc. Social Studies: Learn about flowers in different regions of the country or around the world, learn how flowers impact cultures in those areas, learn the history of flowers and people in those regions, etc Math: do word problems related to planting flowers Science: Learn about the parts of flowers, the flower life cycle or how flowers impact an ecosystem. Art: Look at art inspired by flowers. Create your own art inspired by flowers. So how do museums come into play? Well, using museums allows the topic to come to life and makes for a more interactive learning experience. So for the topic of flowers, you could:
The many museums that Cleveland has to offer provide a rich learning landscape for our homeschooling kiddos and makes our jobs as their teachers more fun! Field trips for everyone! Go out and explore! |
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