Homeschooling Field Trips - Don't Leave Home Without...

How many times have you gone on homeschooling field trips, only to discover you left something important back home on the kitchen table? Wouldn't you like to make sure that it never happens again?

Well, you can!

It all starts with making a list. Make a list and always have it available each time you take your field trips. But first you have to know what it is you need to take. Here are 5 things you should be sure to have on your list:

Directions

Even if someone else is driving, take along a map. That way you know you'll get there, no matter what! It will also be a good idea to check for road construction delays and detours. You can't travel Wisconsin in the summer without encountering an orange barrel or two!

Should you be caravaning, supply all the drivers with a map to your destination in case you're separated. Include the cell phone numbers of everyone attending so as not to lose anyone!

Food

Our favorite topic! We homeschoolers are known for packing lunches. Let's face it, it saves money! Grab a cooler and take along sandwiches, munchies, water, and anything else you family wants to eat.

I recommend packing individual serving sized things (not a liter of soda - it WILL get spilled). Take plastic instead of anything glass. Don't forget the healthy snacks and fruit drinks! My husband, on the other hand, prefers to eat his away-from-home lunches at a restaurant. So, we only pack things to snack on. The choice is yours.

Cell Phones

Bring cell phones. Make sure you have everyone's cell phone number. And make sure everyone turns theirs on! This not only helps on the trip down if you've formed a caravan, but it will help to locate each other at a large event. The last thing you want to do is lose someone and have no way to contact them!

Tickets

I've found it helps to put tickets directly into my wallet when I initially get them. That way I for sure don't forget to take them! Another idea would be to start a file and put everything in there that you'll need. All you have to do then is grab it on your way out the door.

If you are mass ordering tickets, don't hand them out until you're there. Someone will inevitably lose it otherwise.

Camera

You know the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." The same is true for homeschooling field trips. You will want to capture all those great times you had as a family. Keep it handy, you'll want to be prepared for anything.

You obviously can't take a homeschooling field trip with only these five items. This is just the beginning of your list. What else do you need? A complete list for making a memorable homeschooling field trip is just a click away!

About the Author

Diane Whyms, homeschooling mother of four shares her field trip knowledge in her latest ebook. Discover how to make your complete list before going on your next successful homeschooling field trip. http://www.homeschool-rewards.com/FieldTripEbook

About an Economic Geology Career

Roughly speaking, geology is the science studying the structure of the earth crust and materials the earth crust consist of: soils, rocks, sedimentation, minerals and geological formations. Nothing can make homeschool's science curriculum more interesting and dynamic than geology studies. Adding geology to the curriculum will better the quality of homeschooling as geology is sure to show the power of knowledge to your homeschool students and inspire them to greater efforts.

Many products including masonry stones and gasoline, gypsum wallboard (sometimes known by the brand name Sheetrock) and jewelry, natural gas, and table salt are the result of efforts in the broad field known as economic geology. It is the study of metals, fuels and other materials from the earth that are of interest to industry or the economy in general. And nobody can deny plays an important role in daily life.

This field of science deals with the distribution of resources, the costs and benefits of their recovery, and the value and availability of existing materials. These materials include precious and base metals, nonmetallic minerals, construction-grade stone, petroleum minerals, coal, and water. The term of economic geology quite commonly refers to metallic mineral deposits and mineral resources.

Economic geology consists of several subdisciplines of the geologic sciences: geophysics, structural geology, and stratigraphy. Economic geology is studied and practiced by geologists; however it is of prime interest to investment bankers, stock analysts and other professions such as engineers, environmental scientists and conservationists because of the far-reaching impact which extractive industries have upon society, the economy and the environment.

Read more about economic geology and online geology courses.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_Brew

Choosing the Right School For Your Student

There are many important decisions parents make on a daily basis. What movies and television are appropriate? When should curfew be? What schools will give them the best opportunities? Lucky for parents, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati helps you answer the last one with ease.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati Catholic Schools provide the highest quality education. These Catholic Elementary Schools and Catholic High Schools give students all the necessary tools to succeed. Students in Catholic Schools continually rank higher on standardized tests. These high scores contribute to other significant numbers. Catholic schools have a 98% graduation rate; and 98% of students pursue higher education.

Catholic high schools rely on their values-added education for their high graduation rates and high numbers of students who pursue higher education. Unique to Catholic schools is the opportunity to nurture spiritual and moral values within the students. This is constantly reinforced not only in classes of religious instruction but throughout the curriculum and extracurricular activities. The Gospel's message is taught in our classrooms every day.

The importance of extracurricular activities is central to the excellence exhibited by these schools as well. Extracurricular activities include countless sports programs, social skill building and the arts. Eighty percent of students in Greater Cincinnati Catholic Schools and Greater Dayton Catholic Schools participate in extracurricular activities. All students are also required to participate in community service projects. This is just one of the many ways these Catholic schools give back to their communities.

Each school is a true reflection of its community. Approximately 16% of students are from other faiths and 16% are minorities. In Cincinnati, 66% of inner city students are from other faiths while 64% are minorities. In Dayton, 55% of inner city students are from other faiths while 60% are minorities. Research shows that students from disadvantaged backgrounds have a far greater chance to succeed in Catholic schools than anywhere else.

At each school, the personnel play another pivotal role in the students' success. All 100% of the teachers in the Catholic schools are certified. In the 92 area Catholic elementary schools, 23% of teachers and administrators have a Master's degree or higher. In the 22 area Catholic high schools, 68% of the teachers and administrators have a Master's degree or higher. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati employs the highest skilled staff to instill excellence in their students.

Each school encourages parental involvement. It is vital that parents are involved in the schools their children attend. This opens the lines of communication between all parties: students, teachers, and parents. When all three work in unison students are in the best possible environment for success, and that is at the heart of what the Archdiocese wants and expects of their students.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati wants your child to succeed. Each school is dedicated to the individual student as well as the communities where they are located. They will instill values for a lifetime in your child that will go far beyond their elementary and high school years.

We encourage you to visit our schools online, and then visit them in person. All schools welcome parent tours and visits at any time; simply contact the school(s) of your choice to arrange a tour. For more information go to http://www.valuesforalifetime.com.

Laurie Cornett Cross is the Marketing Liaison for Archdiocese of Cincinnati Schools.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Laurie_Cornett_Cross

Keeping Your Homeschool Records Organized

It's a big juggling act to figure out how to handle everything in your homeschool. How are you supposed to keep accurate records on top of just getting in all the teaching, field trips, and extracurricular activities you've planned? It's an important thing to figure out - in many states the law requires some sort of record keeping.

Keeping good records also lets you see the amazing progress your child is making. You can keep track of accomplishments and goals your child has met. Keeping samples of your child's work in your records also creates treasured memories for both of you to look back on one day.

If you have lesson plans those can form the core of your records. Keep a printed or photocopied set of your lesson plans filed neatly in a folder to show your intentions for each year. You can keep an attendance sheet with this file if your state requires you to keep attendance.

A simple record keeping system comes in the form of a daily journal. Just jot down what you've done throughout the day's lessons. You can keep this if you have young children. An older child can keep up with this for himself or herself. It's a good supplement to their actual lessons. This will be another nice thing to look back on.

A journal is a more informal method of keeping records, but it's considered enough by many states. Always remember to check your state regulations.

Your lesson plans can be used to record daily progress. Simply check off each item as you're done with it. You may want to keep a small journal in the back of your lesson planner, or in addition to it, to add extra notes. These may include field trips, research trips, or shadowing/interning with a professional for the older student. Volunteer work can also be entered. Make a small note at the appropriate place in your lesson planner, then detail it out in the journal.

Summarize what was covered every quarter. Many states that require records will accept this more detailed record-keeping. It's also helpful to keep you on track, so you know where you are and what work you may need to make up if you take time for illness or travel.

A portfolio of your child's work is a great idea. This gives a concrete record of just what your child has been doing. It serves as excellent proof of your child's hard work (and your hard work) and it pleases many school districts to see a portfolio along with lesson plans.

It's a good thing to keep, especially if you're doing unit studies with your child. You can take different activities from the unit study and file them in the portfolio according to the academic areas they relate to. Many states and school districts want to see specifically what your child is doing for each subject area.

As with the daily journal, your child will like to look back over what they've done in the past year. They'll also enjoy showing it off to doting grandparents, aunts, and uncles!

A final solution is a software program designed especially for homeschool record keeping. It will probably combine many of the above methods and will be very easy to use once you get past the initial learning curve. It can print professional forms that your state and school district may like.

Kristen enjoys writing on a variety of subjects and has been writing articles for several years. Come and visit one of her new websites at http://www.babyheartmonitorsale.com. It covers information on choosing the best baby heart monitor to check up on your unborn baby and give yourself peace of mind.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kristen_Burgess

Geo Caching - A Fantastic Lesson in the Woods

As homeschool parents we are always looking for creative ways to do things and interesting ways to integrate learning ideas together while making it all interesting. I enjoy commingling all of this with technology to give my children a cutting edge experience that will serve them well in the future.

Geo caching is a new game that has homeschool, technology and fun written all over it, if you have never heard or geo caching it is simply a world wide scavenger hunt. It utilizes GPS, the internet and good ole hide and seek.

The basic premise is that you find a geo cache in your area, which is basically just a hidden stash, the coordinates can be found on the internet, and a handheld GPS unit must be used to try to pinpoint the coordinates and find the cache. It may sound easy, but caches are usually hidden in remote areas like parks or forest. It can be quite a journey and there could be many obstacles like rivers or gorges in your way.

Talk about unschooling! This will give you the opportunity to teach about all things wilderness, including respect for the environment, camping, survival, map reading, geology, forestry, etc. The list is up to you. When you find the cache the tradition is to log it in the log book in the cache, practicing writing, and take an item and leave an item of equal value, usually some type of little trinket. When you are finished hide the cache in the same location you found it and log it on the internet.

I am not even going to go into how many lessons you could work into something like this or you could just use this a reason to get out into the great outdoors with your kids and do something fun. There are geo caches all over the world, some are hard to find and others are child's play, but no matter where you are I am sure there is one fairly close.

This activity gives kids the opportunity to get up close and personal with location aware technology. I am sure they have seen similar technology in the car or on your phone but this is a much more exiting application and one that they are sure to remember.

Technology and different types of home school software give parents the ability to take their child's learning to the next level and have fun in or out of the class room.

More on Home School Technology Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nathan_Bills

New to Homeschooling

If you are new to homeschooling you need to read this article. Here are a few key things you should know about homeschooling. Keep reading for information on first steps for those new to homeschooling such as, homeschool schedule, books, supplies, and more.

If you’re not only new to homeschooling but to the idea of homeschooling, you may be wondering where to focus your attention first and what the most important elements are. This article will help you know where to look.

First Things First

Because our public school systems are local, one might assume that parents who want to school would take up their desire to homeschool with the same local organizations. But, as it turns out, it is your home state that sets the requirements for homeschooling within its borders. So among the first things you need to do is learn the homeschooling requirements of your state. Contact your state’s department of education, either through the state website or by phone or mail in order to learn what guidance they might have for homeschoolers as well as any mandates that might shape your curriculum. The section of the state department of education which deals with these mattes may be called something like “home school,” “home education,” or “home study.”

Locations

Although homeschooling does not need to take place entirely in the home, it is a good idea to consider early on where the primary location for daily work will be. This could be an area that you’ve converted especially for the purpose of homeschooling, such as a portion of a room, garage, basement, spare bedroom, or attic. On the other hand, it could be an area shared with other uses, such as the kitchen table or a portion of a home office. Alternatively, it could be a newly created area, created particularly for homeschooling purposes.

Also consider community resources that you can use, both to vary the school day and to expand possibilities. Local libraries, parks, park and recreation departments, schools, and museums may all have areas in which homeschooling can take place on a regular basis.

Whichever type of location you choose to use, it should be well lit, have a place for storing school supplies, and allow a quiet atmosphere conducive to reading and study when that is required. At the same time, think about being able to do any other tasks you need to do while supervising your child. Your choices about location need to interact well with other demands on your time as well as with your child’s requirements.

Schedule

So, consider your schedule. Perhaps you have other children, work part-time from home, or will need to double up with doing other household chores while running your homeschool. Also consider your child’s attention span, and how you might break up the school day with variety and movement interspersed with study and sitting quietly.

Books, Supplies, and Other Materials

Although in some cases you may be able to borrow textbooks from a local school, in most cases home schoolers need to find, and in many cases purchase, their own supplies. This both requires that you budget for these expenditures and, often, that you locate and choose the items that will meet your needs. In most cases, you will have a wide range of choices, and may wish to review items, when possible, before making a purchase. Some free materials may be found for homeschooling, particularly on the Internet, but it is up to you to decide whether they meet the needs of your child and the requirements of your state. With published programs, you may have some more assurances that your requirements will be met. Online education is another area that you may wish to consider.

Locating What You Need

If you wish to have further assistance in any of these areas, please review the other articles in this series, which cover a wide range of homeschool topics from curriculum to setting up a homeschool to scheduling to locating and choosing suitable materials and texts.

Source: http://www.letshomeschool.com/articles22.html

Homeschoolers - What to Do in High School to Ease the College Application Process

Getting into college can seem like a daunting task for many students, but particularly for homeschool students. Colleges tend to have inconsistent standards for admittance, and often require additional proof of the students' educational background. Taking a few simple steps throughout the high school years can make this process much simpler for homeschool students and their families. Record keeping, scoring well on SAT and ACT tests, getting letters of recommendation from others outside of the family, and keeping a portfolio of work samples are included in these steps. A simple filing system or folder can be maintained in order to streamline this process and the time taken to set these systems in place early can be time well spent.

One of the first things that is highly recommended that homeschool high school students do is to maintain a log or journal of their volunteer hours, employment hours, extracurricular activities and any awards or honors that they earn. These can be kept on a year by year basis, freshman through senior years, divided by category, and added to throughout the year. A log of this type is easy to update on a weekly basis, and when it is kept current, there will not be a last minute panic to try to recreate a picture of the students' high school "career" for applications. This should be kept in a binder or notebook and used throughout high school.

Additionally, homeschool students should plan to take SAT and ACT Prep courses that teach how to take these types of tests, and how to navigate some of the patterns of questions that are asked. Most colleges will look first at a homeschool student's SAT or ACT scores before they look at anything else, so scoring well on these tests is critical. Ideally, in the freshman year, students would take both standardized tests without any preparation in order to get a base line of their abilities. Then, beginning in the sophomore year and thereafter, they can continue the testing process, both in the fall and spring semesters, but add in a test taking skills and preparation course. A good course will include instruction on how to manage time on these tests, how to "read into" the question, and how to let the test give them some of the answers. Courses like this do require that the student spend some time practicing the strategies, so time should be built into the student's schedule in order to do this.

Beginning in the junior year, students should seek letters of recommendation from those with whom they interact. A variety of letters such as volunteer coordinators, employers, church leaders, scout leaders, etc. should be asked to write a generalized letter on the student's behalf. These letters can be kept in plastic sheets in the same binder that the log is being kept, and then if the student is asked to submit a portfolio for their college application, these can be included. If possible, students would also ask the individuals if they would be willing to write a more specific letter at a later date, but having the general letter is a good starting point, and can come in very handy.

Most homeschool families know that they may be asked to show a portfolio of work samples, but many do not know that this portfolio should include a listing of the pieces of literature that the student has read, as well as samples of any essay assignments that show critical thought and analysis. Literature that the student has been exposed to is an important reflection of what the student has acquired in terms of thinking and life skills. Writing skills and analytical thought are some of the elements that colleges say are most lacking in freshman applicants, but if a homeschool student can show these skills in advance, they are well ahead of the curve.

Good records and increasing standardized test scores will show the college admissions offices that the student has been diligent and conscientious throughout their high school years. This will speak well for them. Often, admissions advisors will request a personal interview with a homeschool student, and this should be considered an opportunity to shine. Having good records and showing diligence will be very impressive and these interviews are great opportunities for that. Students who can show extracurricular activity and adult leaders who endorse them will also be a striking reflection of a homeschool student when combined with high SAT and ACT scores. Remember, the high SAT and ACT scores will be the first point of contact, so a solid academic foundation is a must, along with repetition of test taking strategies, but once those skills are reviewed, personal letters of recommendation will be given credence and value.

The winning package is the homeschool student who has all of these things neatly accessible and ready to compile for college applications. The binder with the logged "snapshot" of the student's extracurricular activities, the samples of essays and literature read, copies of test scores, and letters of recommendation will become a family gold mine as applications are being filled out. There will be no difficulty remembering details, and the process will be very smooth. Start keeping these records now and your homeschool student will be glad you did.

If you need more information on our products, services, conferences, or coaching options, visit the National Homeschool Academy website, http://www.nationalhomeschoolacademy.com or, to find out more about Camille Rodriquez, visit her website, Joy Abides, http://www.joyabides.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Camille_Rodriquez

Comprehending Or Cluttering?

If you find yourself in a building that's on fire, a one-or-two-word answer is all you want to the question, "Where's the exit?" This is a step one kind of question and we're grateful for a quick answer. However, like I said before, there are other kinds of questions we need to be asking to expand and develop our student's thinking.

The second kind of questions we should be asking our students are those that measure comprehension, the second step of a series of steps if you remember our analogy. Being able to "know" and parrot back some piece of information may or may not be necessarily useful.

For example, what if I asked you to answer the following question, one that appeared on a popular home school science test (The test, by the way, is from a text I have personally used and highly recommend.):

"A strand of tRNA has the following nucleotide sequence: adenine, uracil, guanine. What codon in mRNA attracts this strand of tRNA?"

Well, I'll bet the answer was not on the "tip of your tongue," right? But, let's say you studied the right sections of the chapter and you confidently answer, "Uracil, adenine, cytosine!" Great! An A+ answer according to the answer key. But, not so fast. What if I followed up with a couple of questions like, "Why is this the right answer," or "Explain the significance of this information?" You might become especially annoyed if I jokingly pressed a little more with, "And why doesn't spell check recognize the word uracil?"

In other words, someone can have the right answer, actually three right answers if you count the words to the above question. Maybe even spell the words correctly with impeccable handwriting. But so what? If we're not careful, we can become like the ultimate anal- retentive religious leaders of Jesus' day, the Pharisees. They had memorized vast amounts of Scripture and could quote it flawlessly, but they missed its meaning and purpose. Their comprehension was lacking. They didn't get it. They also were not alone.

Too much focus on getting the facts right and giving right answers often results in simply cluttering your student's mind. We need to move beyond the first step to the second step by asking questions that help us see how well our students understand the content we are presenting.

Here are some questions you may want to use:

Explain what the writer meant by...

Describe what was meant by...

Discuss the following concept...

Distinguish the following terms...

Restate in your own words...

Compare the following...

Predict what will happen next...

Put this in your own words...

In my next ezine, I'll present a couple of ways to use questions like those above that will increase your effectiveness as a home school teacher.

Please feel free to forward this to home schoolers you think would benefit. Also, you have permission to copy this article to your blogs, forums, social network pages, or other websites. We only ask that you provide the live link at the bottom of the article that leads back to our website, http://www.basicskills.net.

Thanks for reading!

Curt Bumcrot, MRE Director, Basic Skills Assessment & Educational Services

Curt Bumcrot is the founder and director of Basic Skills Assessment and Educational Services. He has earned degrees in Biblical Studies from Grace Institute in Long Beach, California, a B.A. in English from California State University at Dominguiz Hills, and a M.R.E. (Master in Religious Education) from Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary. He has been active both as a teacher and administrator in Christian Schools.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Curt_Bumcrot

Homeschool Schedule

One thing to consider when homeschooling is a homeschool schedule. This article has information on where to begin when organizing a homeschool schedule, including your curriculum and family schedule. Keep reading for more on homeschool scheduling.

Setting up a homeschool schedule, especially for the first time, requires some thought: there are a number of requirements to take into account, and more detailed and long-term planning about who will be where and when than you may be used to doing - at least in the context of your home. Making the adjustment to having your home on a schedule will be easier, though, if you take the time and thought to do this planning in advance, while also allowing yourself the flexibility to change your schedule if it doesn’t turn out to work as you’d anticipated.

Where to Begin?

The first place to begin is with any requirements that your state’s education department might have for determining attendance and completion of a grade of schooling. Check for requirements in days and hours. For example, New York State requires a homeschool to operate the equivalent of 180 days and 900 hours a year for students in grades 1-6, with 990 hours being required per years for students in grades 7-12. You can see that requirements such as these are important to know about as they are going to give a broad shape to your homeschooling.

Your Curriculum

How you want to work 180 days (or 900-1000 hours) of schooling into a 365-day year still leaves a good deal up to you. But part of the shaping of this time is likely to come from the required curriculum. Some subjects may benefit from being treated bit by bit, in frequent, short bursts. Others work best in long time blocks. And alternating between different modes of engagement - reading, paper-and-pencil work, hands-on activities, movement, and interactive computer work, to name a few - will help keep boredom away.

Frequency is another variable to consider. Not every subject needs to be taught every day, but it might be valuable on certain days to let a single subject take over the entire schedule (for a field trip, a major project, or some other activity that requires a lot of time. The point is that you don’t have to think in hour blocks of time, unless doing so seems to you to be the best choice.

Your Family Schedule

Now is a good time to look at your family’s schedule and identify any plans or habits that will work to further shape your choices. This is the time to consider other family member’s work, school, and activity schedules, as well as important appointments such as those for medical procedures and physical therapy and family rituals involving such matters as prayer, housecleaning, socializing, vacationing, and meals.

Nine hundred divided by 180 is 5, meaning you could schedule 180 5-hour days. But before you do that, consider other possibilities. How about 225 4-hour days? Alternating long and short days? More three-day weekends and fewer week-long vacations? Or a month away with ten days of it spent on schooling and the rest on vacationing?

Also consider schooling times. Do you have an early riser? Schooling from 7 a.m. to noon leaves a great deal of day free for other things. Alternatively, you could leave morning’s free and have school from noon to 5 p.m. Or consider 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Schedule adaptations such as these can accommodate a child who does best when sleeping in or who needs a longish break around lunchtime to be able to focus after lunch.

You can also schedule around your toddler’s naptime, and the time you need to make and/or receive business calls for your part-time work. Music lessons, educational broadcasts on radio or television that you intend to work into your curriculum, and parks and recreation programs that you will use in conjunction with other physical education all can become part of your overarching plan.

Another consideration to take into account is the schedules of your child’s friends. Planning can help you avoid having homeschooling come between them through a schedule that maximizes their time together outside of school. If you have multiple children, plan how you will be able to provide each of them with one-on-one time for instruction or assistance. For this purpose, you might wish to have your children on slightly different schedules. Or you can work it out spontaneously, as need arises.

Of course, an advantage of homeschool is that you can adapt and change if and when you find it would be helpful. But if you’re not really sure on how to get started, you might wish to search on the Internet for schedules that have worked for other homeschooling families.

Source: http://www.letshomeschool.com/articles23.html