College might be important for your child. Maybe not. There are many options.
 
I went to college and glad I did. After doing some theater during high school, I thought...that I would definitely NOT go into theater...no money in it...I was paying for college myself...so, no, not doing theater. I wanted something practical...until I overhead someone say that his major was Children’s Theater. Never heard of it but I knew I was supposed to be doing it. That was on a Saturday; on Monday I changed my major for the third and last time. I learned a lot and have been using my major pretty much ever since. Having a degree has also allowed me to substitute teach as needed to boost income.
 
Let me tell you about my good friend who graduated from high school the same year I did. She went straight into a job. Six months later, she wrote to tell me she was buying a new car. New, not just new-to-her. One year after we graduated, she told me she was looking for a house to buy. The thought ran through my mind multiple times that she got a new car and was getting a house and I was spending money going to college. Maybe I was in the wrong business.
 
If your child wants to grow up to be something that needs a college degree - doctor, lawyer, professor, rocket scientist, or a college education is important to you and your child - there are ways for homeschoolers to get there.

• Community college is a possibility. Some community colleges might require a high school diploma or a GED. The community college near me doesn’t require either when a student is underage. A 16-17-year-old has to fill out the “underage” application. There’s another underage application for 15 and younger. My husband taught now and then at the community college and he had 14, 15 and 16-year-olds in his class who were homeschoolers. All four of my children went to community college at 16. There are some 2-year degrees that end in a career such as hospitality and tourism, anesthesia technology, computer information systems. Some community colleges are feeder schools into the larger universities and class credits easily transfer.
• For 4-year colleges and universities, and for community colleges as well, here is THE answer: look up their admissions online or call admissions and ask. Start checking three or four years in advance. Be sure to see if they have admissions information specifically for homeschoolers, most colleges do. One of my kids had to have a good score on the ACT. One homeschool mom I knew said that she just called the college and asked about admissions but “if I didn’t get the right answer, I just called back at a different time until I got the right person with the answer I needed.” Don’t listen to anyone who tells you, you must do thus-and-such for your child to enter a college. CALL THE COLLEGES that your child is interested in attending.
• RECORD KEEPING. For my kids, I did not have to keep detailed records. In fact, for one of my kids, I called a university that I was interested in for her and it was so small I had a lovely conversation with the registrar who asked me what grades my child was getting. I said, “I teach my child. Do I need to create a transcript?” He then said, “No, but what grades would you give her?” “As” “Okay.” The office manager gave me the phone number of the theater professor to ask any questions I might have. A few weeks later, they had sent her a scholarship; she wasn’t even enrolled and wasn’t interested in attending there. Darn. As far as records, CALL THE COLLEGES and ask what documents they want.
• GEDs. Your child might need one. We looked into the Art Institute of Portland and they just needed a GED. If your child is good at test-taking, don’t worry. If your child is not good at taking a test, community colleges usually have classes to help prepare for the GED. But just to be sure, CALL THE COLLEGES.

 
But college is not the end all. There are other options such as trade school, find a job, or start a business. Please don’t push your child into college if they hate academics.* (But do make sure they know how to work.)

• One homeschooler we knew wanted to go into large engine mechanics. He knew which trade school was the best in the nation for that, and he went there. He also told us how much one generally gets paid for large engine work; I remember wishing I had gone into the field.
• Another homeschooler went immediately into business for himself. He learned his entrepreneurial skills from his dad.
• One young woman works with the youth of her church.
• One young man started his career at West Point.
• One young woman became a beautician.
• At a chamber of commerce luncheon meeting that I was invited to, we had a conversation on what the businesses in the area thought about different topics. A man and his grown son had a thriving lawn and garden business. The man said, “Students need to stop being told that they have to go to college. Not everyone needs to go.” Please keep in mind that many of those who say college is necessary are in education where academic training is ongoing.
• The Small Business Development Center often has business classes, workshops and special speakers that help the entrepreneur do better business.
• When my husband was working to help high school students graduate, he asked a senior what she wanted to be when she “grew up.” She had it planned. She was doing a work-study program at a real estate agency. She planned on getting her license and start selling real estate. She was going to buy and sell property until she was able to buy a commercial building and open her own bar. My husband said, “That’s an amazing plan. Go for it.” She was taken aback. “You’re the only adult who has every said that it’s okay not to go to college.”

 
And that’s basically it as far as college is or is not concerned. I very much wish you the best in your homeschooling journey.
 
*Sometimes a student just needs a little time, needs to be a little older before starting college. Also, one of my kids did great doing online college classes. And one of my kids did so poorly at online and really needed the college classes to be in person.

​It’s kind of exciting to continue learning. You get to discover something new, “Eureka” moments.
 
During the years that I homeschooled, there was always a new book I read during the summer about homeschooling or about education or about learning styles. Attending homeschooling conferences was also enriching for me. Most of the homeschool conferences I attended had classes for the older kids as well.
 
We had or have games like The Whale Game, Star Hop, Space Hop, Around the World, Chronology, 10 Days in Europe, and many more. We no longer have the first four games I mentioned. I was learning as we played those games with the kids and I wish I still had them, especially Star Hop; it’s always cool knowing the name of a galaxy. I’m still learning with all of our geography games; I even have a world flags game because I like being able to identify them.
 
We might have taken the kids on field trips but those trips were for us as well. I loved the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I love the Oregon zoo. I absolutely love watching the moon jellies at the Newport Aquarium.
 
My youngest and I joined a quilt club together. Neither of us are much into quilting but we tried it out for 1-2 years. I have a large box of quilt blocks I want to finish. It’s on the bucket list. We’ll see. I also created a writer’s group for my youngest and a couple of more participants. It’s amazing what you learn and improve on when you teach.
 
For years now, I’ve been teaching a lot of enrichment classes for homeschoolers and I keep learning. The French I learned in high school is coming back to me. I’ve got a few ideas of places in the U.S. I’d like to visit, and few other places in other countries, too. Because of a literature class I taught, I’ve learned a few more details about Greek mythology and I’ve gained a lot about Egyptian and Norse myths (can you tell which books I was teaching from?).  I can’t tell if I’m about to overload or if I’m having too much fun. I think learning how to learn is the best thing that happened to me during the homeschool years. I hope my children learned that as well.
 
And for me, not for a class or one of my children (I’m an empty nester now but I keep trying out new things), I’m trying out watercolors and acrylics by watching YouTube videos and reading art books. I’m also trying out paper illustration (paper cutting to create pictures in different levels) and Kirigami. I prep desserts that are naturally sweetened, no refined sugar at all and no synthetic sugars. And for the first time in years, I grew tomatoes that I’m able to harvest and eat!
 
Learn a little as you go. Enjoy.

​“What about the social?” I can’t tell you how many times I got that. And I’m so surprised that after all these years, people are still asking that of homeschoolers. But it’s not a tough thing, except your title might become “Taxi Driver”...until one of your children gets their driver’s license. Bwa ha ha. When we only had two kids left at home and the 16-year-old got his license, someone asked if he was excited to have it. With a heavy sigh, he responded, “No. It’s only a way for my parents to further enslave me.” Double Bwa ha ha. Yes, if he was running around in the car, he usually had errands too, or he had to run his younger sister around. Before you get worried about how much “extra” work he had to do, he also took the car to go to the park, to his friends’ homes, to teen night (organized by a homeschool mom and my friend), etc., etc.
 
JOIN and JOIN-IN is the name of this game.
 
My kids were involved in girl scouts and boy scouts. My oldest went on to also be a part of an older troop of boy scouts called Explorers (or something), and he was in the civil air patrol. We participated in “Park days” when a homeschool friend put out there, “anyone want to get together at the park today?” My friend had a regular teen night at her place. The teens had to be in the living room and the moms got to be in the back room. We had snacks. I mean, the teens had snacks. The moms sat around and talked about homeschooling techniques. Yeah, right.
 
There were church activities, and 4-H activities. Our 4-H group had outdoor school for homeschoolers every year in the fall before the weather got too cold or wet. My youngest ended up being one of the youth leaders a few times. Because of that connection, she also was a youth leader once for Master Gardeners Jr. You can find the 4-H group in your area at the link above. They have a wonderful selection of groups that you might be able to join. I say “might” because sometimes the groups are full. In my area, and might be so for all 4-Hs country-wide, the first year is free to be a part of it. You’d have to check. The groups range from large animal groups to photography and many more.
 
The homeschool co-ops we were involved in offered activities now and then, such as p.e., art classes, conferences and curriculum sales, and just calendaring get-togethers for kids and parents. It doesn’t have to be all up to an official co-op. My friend asked me one day, “Do you want to teach theater on such-and-such a day once a week for this many weeks? I’ll have two other instructors doing this-and-that and we’ll rotate the kids involved.” In a different group, my youngest ended up being with a group that was learning about Shakespeare. I ended up directing the play that was scheduled for the spring. So many good friendships created from that contact.
 
I did some play productions and theater classes in my community and of course my kids were involved. One of my kids would plan not only her birthday parties but also random “play dates” when she was a little older. I’ve heard of small groups of friends getting together to do crafts or Legos, just because that’s what those friends all liked. I know there are homeschool groups whose focus is hiking. There are also sports teams if your child is interested.
 
Oregon is fairly reasonable about homeschooling and so my children were able to take a few classes of interest in middle school and high school, such as art, theater, history, choir, writing.
 
If there’s something that you want for your family, then plan it if it’s not already available. If it is, join in and support that group. If a friend says to you, “we should get together,” your answer is not, “yeah, we should.” Your answer is “Let’s. When?” And you set a date and time.
 
“What about the social?” Yeah, what about it? You are covered!

I love field trips!
 
Field trips with just the fam or with friends are great! I’m going to mention Oregon trips and you can translate it for your state. At the end of the blog, I’ll add a couple of tips and links to help you.
 
We joined the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) which also gave us entrance into several children’s museums around the states (we have family in several states). We also joined the Newport Aquarium and the Oregon Zoo. It was costly so to make it worth the outlay of cash, we went to one or more of these places monthly or several times a month. So what’s the big deal about frequenting museums and such? How about the learning that goes on? The first time we went to OMSI, the kids went skedaddling everywhere, every room. By the third time, my kids sat in one room (very large hands-on rooms) and read the information, worked at all the stations, figured things out. It was interesting to me when a child on a field trip told my son to move and when he didn’t because he was taking the electronic quiz on something, the boy and his friends rushed away to touch another button and move quickly to the buttons that had the most lights flash on. My other child went carefully through an exhibit which was a house built for access and had wheelchairs for the kids to try to make their way around...compared to the kids on the field trip who rushed through and then went to find the next button to push.
 
I’m glad the school children had an opportunity to go to OMSI. My children rushed all over their first time, too. But now they were taking their time in one place, getting a little more in-depth information. One more little advantage of being a member: we arrived in the OMSI parking lot for a visit only to see numerous school buses. We turned around and went to a nearby children’s museum where it wasn’t crowded. After that I figured it was best to arrive at OMSI right before 1 or 2 pm while all the school children were getting ready to leave. As a member I had that option. The other memberships we purchased also furthered the education.
 
With all that being said, I noticed that memberships are much more expensive now. Maybe you’d be able to pick up one that best suits your family’s needs.
 
Not everything costs. We toured nearby spots of Oregon. We hiked at Silver Falls State Park behind several waterfalls. We went to the coast: in Newport and visited the lighthouse; Lincoln City where we love to walk the beach at Roads End, two miles to the cliffs and back; and Pacific City at Cape Kiwanda with its 240 ft high sand dune. It doesn’t cost a thing to go to the observation deck of the State Capitol, you just have to be able to climb 121 steps and it’s primarily open mid-June to late September. Then there’s Baskett Slough, Minto Brown Island, McMinnville downtown, Marys Peak. Been to Mt. Hood? We haven’t (gasp; talk about the elephant in the room and we haven’t gone) but we did step into Washington to go see Mt. St. Helen’s, with smoke streaming gently above it. Anyway, you get the idea. There are no- and low-cost things to see and do. I like to check out Travel Oregon on a regular basis.
 
And if you’re not from Oregon, you can still find marvelous places to go in your area. Many activities and places to go can be found on tourism websites. Search on the internet with something like “Travel [State]. For instance there’s a Travel Texas website. The tourism website for Arizona is Visit Arizona. I love to search by cities, too. I might try “Things to do in [city, state]” or “Things to do with kids in [city, state].” You’ll get a lot of links for either search parameters and I try not to overwhelm myself so I’ll choose one or two that have something like “15 best things to do in [city, state].” If you want something a little more unique, add unique to your search, e.g. “Unique places to visit in [state]. Oh my goodness. Look what I just found by adding unique - The Atlas Obscura Guide to Oregon: 147 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Oregon. YES! I’ll be homeschooling me and my husband with this list. I’m linking the Atlas Obscura so you can find your own state.
 
There are probably hiking, biking and other traveling books that are available for your area. And check out your own city. My little ol’ city has murals and butterfly wings on numerous walls. One of the walls was a community painted mural, led by Wall Together Now (I just met the artists last week at a library function). Oh! I forgot to mention libraries. The ones in our areas have events that are great to attend and usually free. We’ve been to painting, storytelling, and performance events. The summer performances are incredible. One we attended last year, even though we’re not children, is a Taiko Drumming group. Be informed by getting on emailing lists or on Facebook groups such as for your library or several libraries in your area; art associations (we’ve attended three or four free workshops for adults and for children); and your city’s visitor’s association.
 
Is there something that you want to do but it’s only affordable as a group? Then plan it. Get someone to help you if needed. One year, I planned a Schools on Trains trip from Portland to Seattle where our homeschool group stayed for the day and then came on back in the evening. Someone else in the group found out how many was needed for a group price to go to the observation deck of the Space Needle -- $5! We grabbed that opportunity. I’m afraid the Schools on Trains trip has doubled in price since we went but, hey, there’s no harm looking into it for something like that around your area.
 
Tip: if money is involved and you’re the organizer, get the money 1-2 weeks in advance of your deadline. Sometimes you have to get a headcount before the money is actually due and someone will put their name on the list but not get the money in your hand. Those who honestly wanted to go, got their money to me right away or at least by the deadline. I hate being hardnosed but you need to in this case.
 
And if your family loves to travel here’s an article about must-see attractions in every state.
 
If you have some great links for your state or area, please leave them in the comments below.

Well, let’s see how much I put my foot in my mouth. I’m not an expert, child psychologist or research scientist. I can only share some of the things I did during our homeschooling era and hope that it helps you or gives you some ideas to make your homeschool time better.

Number 1is Keep Calm. For me that was easy...difficult, easy...difficult, easy...difficult, depending on the day. Perhaps the best thing to do is Keep Calm about your abilities to teach your children at home. It is possible to enrich your child’s life. It is not necessary to spend 8 hours a day on schooling. It’s not necessary to all sit down at the table. It’s not necessary for you to teach every single day. You might have to have some different expectations for self and family. You might want to keep in mind that your house will probably not be clean every day (or even every other day) because there are kids and projects-in-process at home. Keep in mind that you might have bad days and that your kids might have bad days. Keep in mind that your own projects might not get done as quickly as you thought they would. Forewarned is forearmed. If you know what might come and that others have gone through it or are going through it, maybe you won’t feel unsuccessful. I tend to whip myself into accomplishing so much that there is no humanly way to finish any of the tasks on my list. Many times I have to wad up my list and throw it away at the end of the day to remind myself I still have to eat and sleep. Sometimes, I tell myself that the project I’m working on is going to be “C” or “D” work if I insist on completing it that day; sometimes I have to take an “Incomplete.”

Maybe creating a schedule will help you and your children. I had a basic schedule for my kids and a basic list of subjects they had to work on. After they were done, they got to work on their own projects. The older they got, the less I had to work directly with them. I had the books What Your ___ Grader Needs to Know. I marked the different sections - grammar, literature, math, science, etc. - and I expected the kids to read at least one subsection in each section. The subsections were about a paragraph for the younger kids and several paragraphs for the older.

The TV was off unless they were watching an Eyewitness Video (now available on YouTube) or going through the history DVD we owned. We never had an xbox or anything like that, though now and then I wondered about getting one. But someone in the family would probably have become addicted to it so it was too dangerous to be in the house. (Long ago, I got the CD-Rom “Myst” and played it late into the night for a few weeks to solve it. I think I threw it out shortly after that.)

There were days for sanity’s sake, we had to take off - to the beach, to the forest, to the park. There were days that Mom was CLOSED, such as while I was trying to get the tax return complete. So they couldn’t ask me anything...which meant that if there was something they wanted to do but had to get permission, the answer was automatically “no” and they weren’t even allowed to ask.

We played too. We’d play board and card games. I’d even play Candyland and try to like it. There’s magic in that game that didn’t allow me as the adult to win; I tried, too. We’d call another family and go play baseball. There were spontaneous pillow fights...just couldn’t be helped. When our older daughter was around 12 or 13 (maybe she was 16), she acted too old for Easter egg hunting, even though we set up something just for her. She hunted anyway the second we told her some of the plastic eggs had money in them. We had movie marathons complete with snacks, popcorn, and a buffet in the living room. Fun. You gotta have fun with your kids. You have to be a kid sometimes. Put down the cell and play. Tell stupid jokes. Make up silly songs. Put on loud music and dance.

But here’s how I didn’t become the Entertainment Center: The moment a child used the “B” word (“bored”), they had a quick chore to do. When they tried to back out, they still had to do the chore because they’d already used the word. (I know somewhere in the earlier posts I mentioned this. It’s worth mentioning again because it actually worked.)

As much as you need to play with your children, you also have to be the adult and learn to say “no” and mean it. It’s not necessary to mean it with anger and hate. You just have to be there. There was a teacher that my oldest had in 3rd grade that I was so impressed with. She wouldn’t yell across the room to stop a child doing something that shouldn’t be done; she’d tiptoe-run to the child and almost whisper what the child needed to stop doing and start doing. Hard to ignore someone who is RIGHT THERE. Wow! I’ve always wanted to be like that. I never mastered it.

Please teach your children how to do chores. It will be another way to keep your sanity. Long ago, our son was in Cub Scouts and one badge’s requirement was “Find a chore that you can do around the house. Do it for one week.” ONE week? We automatically signed that one off because our kids started at two. As in, at 2-years-old, the kids liked being at the sink with a parent and rinsing the dishes. It was exciting to put laundry in the washer. We were there with them but they started learning a little. By eight, they were pros at many of the chores. My youngest insists that she did her laundry all by herself at age two or three. It gets younger every time she tells the story.

We heard about a couple of techniques when siblings are squabbling. Both of them worked pretty well when I would remember to use them. One was to put the two children on either end of the couch or the room and leave them there to “work it out.” And you never say what the “it” is. They weren’t allowed to move until they had worked it out, at which point they had to come to the parent and tell you what their plan was to avoid this kind of thing in the future. “It” got worked out semi-fast. The other way - and I wished I had used it more - was to have a Court Claim. A sheet was taped to the wall with a column for the date, the plaintiff, the defendant, the charge, and, after coming before the judge, the verdict. The sheet was left on the wall until whatever day we chose for the court date. The children came before the judges and told their side of the story, if they remembered it. Sometimes the claim was thrown out, sometimes the defendant admitted the guilt and gave the plaintiff a coin or a service, and sometimes the plaintiff decided to forgive and forget.

So as a parent-teacher, you’ll need to listen to your child, be encouraging, figure out a way to discipline that helps your children, create a schedule that fits your family, be flexible enough to change when needed, discover your children’s strengths and weaknesses and how they learn, work when needed, have fun when you can. And keep learning/practicing all of the above.

If you have a trick that helps you and your family, by all means share it in the comments below!

Oh, boy! Are there resources or what? There are contacts, books, and organizations.
 
Contacts:

1. Start with friends or family who homeschool or have homeschooled. Glean ideas from them. Before I began homeschooling and while I was pregnant with our first child, my husband had a boss whose family homeschooled. The notion of  homeschooling was new and appealing. But we didn’t homeschool as the children reached school age. Our favorite babysitter was a homeschooler so we talked to her mom about the ins-and-outs and the whys. Then I had a friend who had to homeschool because her daughter was so sick during the school year that my friend was informed by the school that they wouldn’t be able to pass her on to the next grade. I was actually frightened about homeschooling because I didn’t want to ruin my children’s educational opportunities (please don’t fret about that; see Concept 14) but I finally realized that if my friend could do it, maybe I could too. That’s when I decided to try it for a year. I didn’t have to keep homeschooling if I didn’t want to.
2. Join groups of homeschoolers. You can meet other homeschoolers and ask them questions as you go or just be supportive and supported. When my oldest was about to start 9th grade, I was worried again because now “it counted.” So I called an acquaintance I had met through a homeschool group and whose child had just graduated from high school. After talking to her, I was relieved! I learned I did not have to set a fire under my son, nor whip him into shape, nor put the pressure on for accomplishing more More MORE.
3. Friends or acquaintances with skills (be willing to pay or trade). We had a friend who taught a couple of the kids piano. Another friend was a woodworker and was willing to teach one of my children. As mentioned in an earlier post, I have a friend who is a potterer and we taught each other’s kids. I taught theater and she taught clay. I know of others in my homeschooling groups who created a choir group for homeschoolers or the person who created a band for them. One group approached me for teaching theater. My son was able to teach theater for another group when he was an older teen.

 
Books: Here are some of the books that helped me to become comfortable with homeschooling and with figuring out good teaching practices. There are sources online as well but I won’t be listing them here. These aren’t the most recent books out there but they helped me enough that I bought the books.

1. Homeschooling for Excellence by David and Micki Colfax. Inspiring, especially considering their children went to Harvard.
2. 7 Kinds of Smart, by Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. Gives me both the information I needed without getting too verbose, along with ways to put the concepts into practice.
3. In Their Own Way, by Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D, Chapter 1 is titled “The Worksheet Wasteland: Neglecting Talents and Abilities in Our Nation’s Schools.”
4. Awakening Your Child’s Natural Genius, by Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. (I really liked his books). You mean children have natural genius?? And Dr. Armstrong shows the way to help it along.
5. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, by Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. Yes, it’s Armstrong again. I figure if it works in the classroom, I could make it work at home. When reading this book and the one mentioned above, I started underlining and making notes in the margins. I had to learn how to learn and help my kids to learn.
6. Strengths of Their Own, by Dr. Brian Ray. We met Dr. Ray at a homeschool conference and bought the book. It was the research about homeschooling that I wanted. If you homeschool, you’re going to hear a lot about how it doesn’t work. Dr. Ray’s studies gives the data that “counteracts myths about home schooling.”
7. Howard Gardner Books: I confess that I didn’t read these but my husband did. I liked the easier, more practical books by Dr. Armstrong that are based on the MI (Multiple Intelligences) theory. Nevertheless, these books may have more “meat” for you:
   1. Frames of Mind
   2. Multiple Intelligences
   3. The Disciplined Mind
8. Internet reading, just a sample: I found these on the internet several years back and liked them enough to print them out so here they are and please feel free to find more:
   1. How do Unschoolers Turn Out, by Luba Vangelova, 2014
   2. There’s a New Path to Harvard and It’s Not in a Classroom, by Chris Weller, 2015

 
Organizations: Find them. We found them through the local branch of the library. Now with everyone on Facebook or other social media sites, it’s not too difficult to track down a group near you or a national organization that will help you.

1. National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI)
2. Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). They have many links to National and State resources.
3. Kahn Academy, great source of free online classes.
4. Oregon Home Education Network (OHEN)
5. Etc: Do an internet search; search with something like, “Home School [city, state].” You will probably have to drill down. I tried for my state in Oregon and didn’t find the organization that I know is closest to me. So ask around. My results were a little better when I searched on Facebook with “Homeschool [city].” Just play with the wording.

 
And the “concerned” friend, parent, in-law, acquaintance - unless supportive - is not a resource. If you’re homeschooling, I’m going to assume that you probably get a few looks or statements that indicate that you’re wrong to homeschool, as I did. I don’t know why people do that. It’s not as if the public or private schools have 100% success rate going for them. And I often wonder what the magic “success” definition is. Who wrote it? Be tolerant and nice where and when you can. But I wish I had the perfectly phrased sentence for those who started peppering my children or my homeschool friends’ children with questions on math, history or English grammar. If I could only have stepped between them and the kids, then smiled and said, “They only answer questions if they get paid.”* Or something like that.
 
If you have some resources you love (or a perfect answer to someone “testing” your children), please post in the comments.
 
*I’m all for not making things worse. I like to cut people slack since I make mistakes, too. But I also think it’s okay to protect one’s children.

Need to find some ideas? Learn to use the internet, not just Facebook. You can do a broad search such as, “Science Experiments” but I like to be more specific. How about “Science Experiments for children”? That’s a great start. Let’s try again, “Science Experiments for Pre-Schoolers.” Just to see what I could come up with, I just tried, “Science Experiments for toddlers at home.” I had a number of sites to check out. I also tried “science experiments for 6th graders at home.” Again, an abundance of sites to pick from.
 
Just to try it, I also searched for books: “easy readers for kindergarten.” Of course you can enter whatever grade level you want. The first few sites on the results page were for booksellers, e.g. Amazon. But then I found a great website specifically all about books and book lists.
 
I recommend internet searching and not just posting on Twitter or Facebook because you have more choices and can drill down to just the right activities for your child. One day, I was looking for something for my enrichment classes I teach (for homeschoolers) and found a great site for what I needed. I discovered that one of the Facebook groups I’m on had mentioned it before but not with a description that made me realize what it could do for me.
 
I  find that internet searches are also better on a computer (desktop or laptop) rather than a device. Small devices don’t give a full picture of the possibilities on a search or on a site.
 Remember to click on “Images” and “Videos,” circled in this picture:




​



​

​Sometimes, I find what I’m looking for as I’m looking at images. I’ll click through and see if the website works for me and many times, it does.
 
But I confess that sometimes it can be overwhelming to do internet searches IF I let myself look at page after page. As thrilling as it is to see the richness of educational opportunities out there, we only have 24 hours in a day and not all of that can be spent on research. Here’s what I (try to) do when I’m looking for ideas:

• Get a clear idea of what you want before going online.
• Have a folder in your bookmarks bar for your theme or subject. You can also have a folder ready on Pinterest (or wherever) to save your valuable finds there.*
• Decide in advance how many pages of results you’re going to look at and how many sites you’re going to click to. I usually look at 3-4 pages of results, and about 10-15 sites.
• Make your search parameters as specific as possible, such as [activity or subject] for [grade level] at [location such as home or outside].
• Set a timer and GO!
• On the search result pages, right click on the sites you’re interested in. On the small window that opens up, click on “open link in new tab,” usually at the top.
• Once you’ve gone through your predetermined number of result pages, start looking at the windows you’ve opened. Just glance. If it’s almost okay, move on. You can keep it open just in case it’s better than the other sites but look at the other sites.
• Bookmark the ones you are going gaga for. Now, QUICK! - close extra tabs including your search results; otherwise, you’ll be tempted to look at “just one more page.”
• You can stop there and return later to look at the sites you bookmarked or open the one you liked the best and read it or watch it, if it’s a video. Now put it on your calendar or go for the activity right then and there. Because you bookmarked several sites, you can come back to them and add them to your calendar for another day.

 
Kewl!
 
*I have a Pinterest folder that I call “Teaching Units,” with sub-folders for some of the classes I teach. You’re welcome to view the eclectic subject matter there, but if you don’t need any of them, please don’t go because I don’t want you to get stuck in Pinterest land. My subfolders are: Flippity.net; USA; Space; Surviving the Oregon Trail; Riordan: LightningThief RedPyramid SwordofSummer; Wright, Earhart, paper planes; Volcanos, Travel, The Future That’s NOW; Preschool; Ocean; Medieval Times; Meaningful Math; French; French Songs; French Stories; Aztecs, Incas, Mayas; Ancient Greece; and then I have a smattering of links to projects and games that aren’t categorized...yet.

No need to duplicate schools. Not in time, structure, lesson plans.
 
As I mentioned earlier, I liked to think in terms of what my kids could do at home that they couldn’t do if they were in school. I don’t mean to sound anti-school, but that was a real question I asked myself.
 
Pre-homeschooling, I volunteered in my children’s classes. I substituted in primarily the elementary schools in two states. I saw a lot of busy work and a lot of time spent in settling students into their next subject or activity. In helping in my husband’s third grade class, I saw the coolest thing. I ran “Friday Activities” in the afternoon. My husband said he had several students who were identified as Talented and Gifted (TAG). When I went to do some creative things with the kids on Fridays, I was so impressed with all the students that I thought they were all TAG. (And they are, in their own ways).
 
So I learned the following:

• At home, I didn’t have to bother with taking roll or lunch count, nor did I have to hand out extra work for those children who finished early. I didn’t need groups for reading or math. I could help the one who needed extra attention without stopping everyone until I was done with the one.
• At home, my children weren’t distracted by noises and the constant buzz of talking, even soft talking. (Confession: we weren’t exactly silent at home though.) I didn’t have the TV going and we never had video game consoles. They had computer access but the computer was in the living room where I could see what they were doing.
• At home, my children could focus on one thing at a time. If they finished a section of their work in 10 minutes, they could move on to the next assignment until they were done with the things I required. (As mentioned earlier, I didn’t require a lot because then they could do their own projects.)

 
So, basically, I could teach in a few hours what it might take all day in the classroom. That freed up time for enrichment, e.g. piano lessons, swim teams, art classes, 4-H, theater productions (cool!), personal projects, all without creating an exhausting schedule (we didn’t do all the activities at one time).
 
Doesn’t the word Enrichment sound great? It sounds like something we want for all our lives. The definition of enrichment is “the action of improving or enhancing the quality or value of something.”
 
When my husband was teaching 1st grade, he team-taught with a co-worker. They would teach via integrated thematic instruction (ITI), which means teaching multiple subjects around a central theme. For example, they had an ocean theme in which math might have been adding seashells or graphing the depths of the ocean. The ocean itself was the science part. Reading included not only non-fiction books but poems about the ocean and sea creatures. They would also have little performances based on poems or short stories for which the kids created costumes. I guess it would have been easier for my husband and his co-worker to have the children sit and do worksheets.
 
For some, it would be easy to believe that the only “real” learning that can happen is if children are seated in chairs around desks or tables and they repeat things by rote; read primarily at specified times from specified books that they may or may not be interested in; answer test questions for every subject; and... are you catching what I’m saying here? Learning at school is not THE ONE AND ONLY WAY to learn. Let me give you another example.
 
What if a child reads a book on the couch or lying on the floor? Could that child learn to read? What if a child reads the sports section of the newspaper? Isn’t that still reading? What if a child picks up a book from the library with an interesting cover of a whale and then goes whale-watching with the family? This is the enrichment factor. Reading is no longer a chore. Science becomes fascinating. Children learn even if, especially if, there are fun, fascinating and enriching activities.
 
My first year homeschooling, I was pretty intense. But on April 8, I was panicked and called my friend. “How am I going to get my tax return done?!” Her reply was, “Take the week off.” What?? I could do that? So I did. No child was left behind just because I was “closed” and the kids took the week off. After that, I flexed our schedule according to what we were doing. Often, we took all of December off because we were busy with creative and entrepreneurial studies - we made gifts to give or sale. Sometimes we started school mid-September. We often stopped at the end of May. I grew up in Texas and school ended May 31; that worked for me. My children were still learning in spite of our shortened school schedule.
 
To sum up: First, you do not have to duplicate school’s schedule. Homeschooling does not need to be from 8 am - 3 pm, September through June. Second, you do not have to duplicate the structure. All your lessons can be enrichment learning rather than sit-down, be-quiet, fill-out-this-paper learning. Third, no need to duplicate the lesson plans of a school. Gear it for your children and their interests, and even your own interests. They will become educated without being hit over the head with learning. And I must come back to Concept #2: Read. If they become avid readers, loving to read, they can learn anything.

​Access: give your kids access to the things around your house. Have supplies they can use: paper, paint, crayons, gel pens, colored pencils, scissors, glue, yarn, hammer, nails, string, seeds, cloth, needles, etc. and so forth. Sounds like a mess doesn’t it? When I confessed to a friend that my house never seemed neat, she reminded me that she got her house clean when her kids were at school and I always had my kids at home. Oh, yeah. So be expecting some not-neatness.
When I was little, Grandma Edith lived next door. I would ask her if I could use her sewing machine and she let me. She taught me how to thread it and to keep my fingers away from the needle but mainly she left the room. She always had spare needles when I broke one. She always had spare cloth so I could make another drawstring bag. This is how I learned to sew. By the time I was in middle school, I was sewing dresses. Grandma Edith also let me bake cookies. That’s where I learned what happens when one forgets to add the flour to butter cookies.
I should have called this concept, “Walk Away” because that’s what Grandma would do and that’s how I learned.
I tried to remember this idea when my children wanted to use sewing machines, saws or the kitchen.
Stop. When you use this concept, be sure to teach safety rules. I dislike the saying, “let them sink or swim.” Well, that could lead to drowning, so teach first, walk away afterwards.
Stop. And teach your children to clean up afterwards or you will go crazy. If your children will not do as you ask, then you’ll need to form some strategies for that. I’ll touch on a few ideas in Concept #10. (Not that I’m an expert, which my children will attest to. But these will be just ideas, some of which worked.)
Now, forward ho!
If you can afford a few books for your child, do so. It’s nice for children to have their own books. Pick up one every now and then at a second-hand store or on thriftbooks.com, if you want. Give them as Christmas and birthday gifts. It’s neat when they like them so much, they re-read them. If you’re close to a library, frequent the library. Get them their own library cards as soon as you can. My eldest had his just before he was three.
Paper, pens, and coloring supplies: If you can possibly help it, don’t limit the use of these items. Save used paper as scrap paper. Shred personal documents but otherwise, if both sides haven’t been used, put it into a box for scrap paper. Thin cardboard, such as that of cereal boxes, can be put into the scrap paper box as well. Paper is great for planning, drawing on, origami, letters, throwing away dead mice, wrapping small gifts, and paper airplanes.
Yarn or crepe paper is great for being creative. I used to make these and these as a kid. Check out this cool activity. There’s a lot more that can be made or created.
Save your cardboard boxes. My husband and I often joked that for at least one of our kids we could have wrapped up boxes and sticks and he’d have loved the present. So let your kids use the boxes to make cars and boats, and maybe they can make this or this for your cats. Or make something for themselves.
Tools, wood and other building supplies: safety first, then let them give it a try. If you have electric tools, stay close by until you’re certain they’re using tools safely.
Kitchen and food stuffs: yes, teach them how to safely use the oven and to read recipes. My youngest daughter and I had a good laugh when she, as a teen, was at our house with a friend and said, “let’s make some cookies.” I wasn’t home and the friend was wondering if my daughter was allowed to use the kitchen by herself. YES! Please teach them. My oldest daughter got tired of waiting for me to teach her how to make cinnamon rolls so she got permission to make them, followed the recipe and after that we would beg her to make them again.
Sewing machines: I think my sons used my machine more often than my daughters. One made a shirt and hat. The shirt was surprisingly good for not knowing how to work a pattern. (I should have taught that but then where would his creativity be?) The other son made a bear for his sister, from a pattern he created. (Paper was available for him to create the pattern.)
It truly amazes me how creative children can be. Enjoy watching them and see if their creativity inspires your own.

What do you like to do? Do it with your children. It’s a marvelous way to teach and learn.
My husband and I are both thespians and I created opportunities for my kids to be involved in theater with me. I taught classes and directed plays in our community. I also performed mime for school assemblies. Once I started homeschooling, I taught my children how to mime and they would perform with me. And...
It got to a point that for all our sakes, I stopped making them come with me. They performed well but I got too intense with rehearsals because we would get paid and I thought the show had to be excellent. I didn’t think it was fun for any of us--too much pressure. I’m just sharing that as a note of caution for you. Later, my two youngest (third child was a teen; fourth child was around 10) actually performed 45-minute plays with us or with one another as we toured to different libraries.
We also liked movies but not just to sit around and watch them. We would discuss movies, not on purpose, that’s just what we did. We also still quote movies. Our children learned how to evaluate and critique shows.
When my two youngest were a preteen and teen, I happened to be in a writer’s critique group and my kids started writing novels. I still think their writing is better than mine. As mentioned previously, I wish they would write more and finish their books. But they have families of their own to take care of.
I once said to my potterer friend (mentioned in the previous post) that I feel bad because maybe my kids would have liked sports better if I had let them participate more. She said, “Oh, Marian, you would not have been able to stop them if they really wanted to be in sports.” (For the record: oldest was on the swim team for a season or two; second oldest played soccer for a season; third played t-ball as a cover for looking at dirt, grass and bugs--that’s the one that has a master’s in plant science and teaches at a university).
My artist friend, mentioned in Concept 1, often had her kids sitting next to her, drawing together. Her oldest can make miniature clay figures that are astounding. Her third child would win drawing/coloring contests when she was rather young every year at the library. It was amazing.
If you love cooking, share it with your children. If you love woodworking, share it with your children. If you love photography, mechanics, paints, gardens, writing, sewing, reading, dancing, piano, birds, mountains, technology, SHARE IT WITH YOUR CHILDREN. But as I mentioned in the third paragraph, I had to stop sharing one portion of what I love to do. And that’s okay. It’s the opportunity to try it out, see if they like it, and to get another bit of education.

And NOTE: Be sure to check your state’s laws for homeschooling. Get it directly from their website.