As you begin the school year, here’s another tip which I consider foundational to helping insure your success this year as a home school parent. Have a plan! There’s truth in the saying, “fail to plan, plan to fail.” Plans should be written down so that you know what the target is and if you…
Want to increase the likelihood that your homeschooling efforts will be successful this year? Be accountable. Being accountable means making your plans and goals known to someone you trust and who is supportive of you as a homeschooler. Think about it. When you want to reach financial goals, you see a financial planner who will…
Below is some helpful advice from one of my favorite authors, Chad Bird. I think it’s timely as we begin a new year of home schooling. He writes, One of the best gifts we can give our children is to stop trying to be perfect parents. Don’t set out to be a hero to your…
. . .exclusively. Just because the word Christian appears in the title of a textbook, you have no guarantee that the content is educationally sound or developmentally appropriate. It’s not a guarantee that the textbook follows a proven teaching method, or that the lessons are sequenced correctly. I’ve evaluated text books from “Christian” publishers in…
This happens to all of us. You find what seems like a great curriculum. But halfway through the textbook, you come across something with which you disagree. Maybe you think it’s wrong, or maybe you just don’t like the point of view represented. Whatever the reason, don’t throw that textbook out just yet. I’ll give…
Math texts are largely made up of computation and problem solving tasks that increase in difficulty as the student proceeds through the book. Change in the difficulty level of problems is usually gradual. Continuity between one lesson to the next, from one chapter to the next, from one book to the next, can be seen…
Are you conflicted over choosing the correct level in a reading series for your younger child? Uncomfortable with simply choosing a grade based on his or her age and hoping it will work out? Don’t want to simply “guess and go,” (the popular trial and error approach)? You’re not alone. While all reading series are…
In last week’s Tip of the Week, I suggested that improvement in writing is often “caught” by continuous exposure to good writers. However, at a basic level you may be asking, can a student’s grammar be improved through direct teaching? I would answer yes, but not as a result of the common methods you find in…
When I was completing undergraduate studies in California, I took an advanced writing class. I was consistently pulling B+’s to A-‘s. Because I wanted to earn an A for the class, I gathered up the courage to ask the professor what I was doing wrong and how I could improve. She was quiet for a moment. While she couldn’t put…
My wife and I are native Californians. As young adults and new Christians, we grew up in Orange County, a densely-populated part of the state filled with mega churches and a continuous stream of end-time teachings and rapture frenzy. We wanted to re-locate. We wanted to find a simpler and slower pace of life. We…