Archive for the ‘Homeschooling Helpers’ Category

There are a variety of things you can do with pressed leaves. In this article, we give you a couple of ways to press and preserve leaves, as well as a few craft and project ideas to do with them!

Some decorating ideas to do with pressed leaves:

·         Place pressed leaves or flowers into pictures frames and display on the mantle or wall.

·         Make beautiful two-sided/see-through placemats with pressed leaves and clear contact paper.  Note: This sounds like it should be simple, but contact paper can be tricky to work with.  The easiest way to make this work is to cut a piece of contact paper about 2 feet long.  Peel back half the paper, have your kids place the leaves on the paper, staying away from the edges by about an inch.  Then, remove the rest of the protective paper and “fold” half of the contact paper over the other half.  It might be difficult to get the sides to match evenly, but don’t worry…get it as straight as you can and then just cut the contact paper down to the size placemat you want.

·         Glue pressed leaves (the wax-paper leaves work best for this) onto construction paper and make homemade cards to send to friends and family. Or, glue onto smaller pieces of paper and make place-settings for your Thanksgiving dinner table.

·         Make pictures from leaves.  The book Look What I Did with a Leaf by Morteza Sohi has some fantastic ideas and creative inspirations.

·         Make a mobile using clear fishing line or white thread and waxed leaves.

How to Press Leaves:

·         Gather fall leaves while fresh and vibrant.  If you pick them off the ground, make sure there is no mold or dirt on them. Also, brittle leaves do not press well; choose freshly fallen leaves or ones still on the trees.

·         Press between the pages of an old book or between sheets of newspaper with a heavy book on top; press for several hours and preferably overnight.  The purpose of pressing leaves is to dry them completely; the various projects work better with dry leaves (note: you want them dry but not brittle).

Wax Paper Ironing Option

·         Set the iron on medium-high with NO STEAM.

·         Sandwich the leaf between two pieces of waxed paper.**

·         Place an old rag or thin towel on your ironing board so that you don’t get wax on it.

·         Place the “sandwich” on top of the rag.  Then cover it with another thin towel (such as a dish towel).

·         Gently run the iron over the leaf. Don’t press hard at first; give the wax a chance to seal.  Once it has, press firmly on the iron, moving it over the area being pressed for 4-5 seconds.

·         Allow the pressed leaf to cool, then cut around it, leaving a small margin so that the wax stays sealed.

**For extra sparkle (and for those kids who just LOVE to use glitter) sprinkle a little glitter around the leaf at this point. You can also put crayon shavings around the leaf; they melt beautifully when you iron.

Dipping Option:

This method allows a little more flexibility when you decorate, because you’ll be working with the actual leaf (as opposed to a leaf sandwiched inside contact paper).

·         Melt 1 lb beeswax or paraffin in a double boiler. Don’t let the wax get too hot, however.

·         Take the leaf by the stem and dip quickly into the wax. If your kids are going to do the dipping, you might want to have them hold the stem with a pair of pliers (or something similar) so that their hands don’t get so close to the wax.

·         Hang leaf by a clothespin to dry.

1) Foundations Bible Study

2) Homeschool Tracker

3) Speed Reading 4 Kids

By John Flem

Editor’s Note: The following article was written by John Flem during his first year of college. Your high school students might be preparing for college or perhaps are even taking college prep or “Running Start” classes at a community college.

If they’ve always homeschooled, they might need a few tips on successful study habits. We felt that this article, having been written by someone “in the midst of the battle” offers practical tips and ideas for your student.

Learning can be a difficult subject to understand, because for many people it does not always mean sitting at a desk for hours at a time. Humans all have vastly different learning styles but regardless of your style there are ideas that can help you. Which brings up an interesting question, “How do you get the most out of college?”

There are two groups of students. There is the group of students who attends college just to enjoy themselves, have fun, and they never really apply themselves. The other group of students attends college to learn; they want more satisfying and higher paying jobs.

What does college studying have to do with your future career?

Without an impressive GPA, bigger companies may not even consider your application. However, your bad grades may not be solely due to a lack of studying. They could possibly be due to not knowing how to study to your maximum potential.

Improving study skills can personally benefit every student both young and old, in work and school. I want to better my own education and get the best grades possible so that I look smarter than I actually am.

Many students don’t understand that just showing up to class and listening with half an ear is not going to get you good grades. There is more to studying than simply sitting at a desk. In order to excel you must be aggressive in forcing yourself to study. If you want the highest grades you can possibly achieve you must apply yourself in ways that benefit you the most. Here’s how.

Perhaps the most difficult part of studying is making time. Most of us like to stay out late. We need to limit our social activities to get the most out of our college education. Try weekends only or a few hours a week. The trick is simply to find a pattern that works for you or a groove to slip in to. Be careful not to mistake a groove for a rut. In other words, don’t be afraid to change or wait too long if something isn’t working.

Another answer would be to do all . . .

For the 11 additional slightly unusual and highly effective ideas get the rest here.

This is a little extra I just had to include.
Here a nifty site for those wanting to produce a resume that stands apart from the rest and yet looks professional and rather traditional at the same time.

A tall order, I know, but that is what I was looking for and I found it!

Here you are guided step-by-step through the process and the end result is something that is just a little different yet still a “normal” résumé. Just print it and it’s free or pay a small fee and get your resume in 20 different layouts, choose the one you want and then print.

A great deal and a great result!
Click here to see it.

Side note about the word résumé: teach your student to use the “insert symbol” function in your word processing program to change the “e”s in resume to résumé. According to dictionary.com, resume is a verb meaning to continue, etc. The noun form of the word “résumé”, which means a summary of qualifications, includes the accent marks on the two “e”s. Teach your student to pay attention to these grammatically correct details…it might be what makes their résumé stand out from others.

When middle school is approaching, many homeschool parents start sweating.  Then they start worrying.  Then they start dreading. 

Then they stop homeschooling.

This is tragic, because if anything, middle school is a critical time in your child’s development, and homeschooling is one of the best ways to keep your child’s heart.

Ken Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis, recently published a book titled “Already Gone” that reveals the results of surveys done on why children raised in evangelical, Christian homes are turning from their faith in the college years.  The results are eye-opening…the largest number of students polled  claim that it was in high school and even middle school that they made their decisions and/or began to question or become disillusioned.

The findings in this book should tell homeschoolers one thing: the middle and high school years are critical times to homeschool.  Not to “shelter” as some naysayers will accuse, but to dialogue with your student; to lead them to discover the truth, not what the public school system will tell them; in essence, to secure your child’s heart as well you can.

The middle school years are pivotal because this is when you want to see them begin to obey at their own desire rather that just obeying your rules.  Having children now in their early twenties down through the “single digit” ages, I’ve been able to see how my parenting of “tweens” has changed.  I’ve learned from mistakes and want to encourage you that you can make it through the tween years victoriously!  In fact,  TEACH receives so many letters about this age that earlier this year God lead us to release a brand new bundle called Teens: Mission Possible with God. 

(Ezine reader bonus  alert: Just for reading this ezine article, you can order this bundle this week for $5.00 off with the coupon code “WithGod.”  This is the only place you’ll find this coupon code!) Also, if you aren’t to the tween years yet, that is the perfect time to read this bundle…it will save you a lot of heartache.  The earlier you train, the better.  This bundle is a vital reading and encouragement for parents of middle schoolers, but it’s also an essential tool for those not yet to those ages!  Pass the word along to your friends with younger kids!

So for you, our ezine reader, we’d like to offer you five points of encouragement –three things you really need to focus on with your middle schooler academically and the two basic things you, as a parent of a middle school student, need to know about this age.

Ahem…before you go “Why isn’t BIBLE on the list???”…. this list presupposes that you are doing a daily Bible study and daily out-loud reading (two “givens” in my book).

1)      Daily Math:  If you used the elementary ages to work on their multiplication tables so that they know them with no hesitation, it will make reluctant mathematicians not dread math so much.  If the tables are “down pat,” begin there.  Then progress with your chosen math curriculum.

2)      Daily English: Select a grammar program that appeals to your child’s learning style, but make sure it covers the basics and does it well.  Grammar rules are to communication what “multiplication tables” are to math.  Make sure they understand the basics of grammar and make sure they know the rules well.  ALL FUTURE CAREERS depend on the ability to write and communicate clearly.  A mistake in “your/you’re” in a business letter severely lowers the perceived intelligence level your adult child will make on his/her future business associates. 

Note: Basic math/multiplication charts and good grammar are vital tools for the rest of your child’s life.  Concentrate on these basic subjects. 

3)      Science: Begin to move from general creation science into specifics so that your child will learn to defend his/her faith.  The world your child is growing up in believes in evolution as fact.  Too many Christian parents simply steer away from the topic because they feel ill-equipped to provide answers.  This is a mistake!  Use these years to discover and explore the truth of God’s word as it pertains to the scientific world.  This will be foundational for your child’s future faith.

4)      Expect and Embrace Argument: When children are 10 to 12 years old they will begin to demonstrate independent or abstract thought – this is easy to pinpoint – we commonly call it arguing or being opinionated. As they argue – I mean debate – with you, look at this as a teaching opportunity. While you want to teach your children obedience, you are not looking for blind, unthinking obedience. The preteen and early teen years are about the time you hope to begin seeing them obey because they WANT to.

As long as they are respectful, use these times to teach them logical thinking, debate, and how to draw correct conclusions and support them with fact. Your goal educationally is to equip the child with language and thinking skills capable of detecting fallacies in an argument. Your goal in teaching good character is to make sure all they say is biblically accurate and fundamentally reflective of God’s character.   We sell a great book at our website called “The Fallacy Detective” for approximately ages 13+ that is a fun way to sharpen logical thinking skills. It’s on sale – no coupon needed—right now!

5)      The Beginning of Questioning.  Sometime in the next few years, your child will begin to accept (or reject) ideas that you’ve taught them.  They will want to question “why” about many things: why their friends get to go to sleepover but they don’t…why an older sibling got to do something but they don’t…and even deeper, they will begin to have questions about their (your) faith.  Don’t be afraid of these questions…embrace them as a chance to take your child to the Bible to help them find the answers…this is one of the best ways to keep those questions from turning into doubts. Because really, questions aren’t doubts…only unanswered questions become doubts.  So allow those questions!

Just as we began this list by stating that we assume you are doing daily Bible study and reading, we concluded now by saying that we are making the assumption that you are already utilizing the power of PRAYER as your daily survival key and the place you go to be filled with God’s wisdom and direction for everything relating to your children.