Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Board Games

Games, games, and more games, that is what makes a dull, boring day come to life. Homeschooling families should have a wide assortment of board games at their disposal. Not only are board games great family-time activities, but they are also an excellent source for learning and reinforcing academics.

Keep the learning stuff as just your secret. If you tell your child you are going to help them work on developing small muscles skills, improve their memory, practice classifying, following directions, learning fair play, increasing their attention span, or improving their visual discrimination, they are likely to tell you they do not want to play. I won’t tell if y0u won’t.

A great place to pick up board games is at yard sales. Always check the game to make sure all the pieces are there before you purchase it. For fun, challenge your children to make up their own board game.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Music

Do you include music in your homeschool lessons? Music should be an integral part of every homeschooler's curriculum. Even if you are not musical, it is easy to expose your child to a variety of good music. Try including jazz, classical, Christian, folk, patriotic, popular (familiar) music. Do not forget to include your children's favorites.

Children love music. They enjoy skipping, twirling, dancing, singing, tiptoeing, and resting to it. They can listen to music in the car, in their room, as part of a lesson, with the family… Allow them to enjoy music often and to express themselves through a variety of music in a variety of ways. Very soon, they will begin selecting their favorites, so get ready to play them over and over. I will not tell if you put in earplugs!

Use some of your art time to make homemade musical instruments. You can make them from everyday items. A simple google search will turn up loads of ideas. For example, your child can make a tambourine from two aluminum pie pans or foam plates taped together with dried beans inside. A drum can simply be a former oatmeal box. Bang two sticks . Ring bells if you have them. Just be creative!