Tips and Tricks

The Heart of the Matter is hosting a "Tips and Tricks" Meme today! I have had a blast reading all of the other responses so far... we have some early birds out there!

I wasn't sure what I would write about since my girls are in the preschool years. What could I offer as a tip or trick that would inspire or help moms who homeschool much older children? What I came up with is a list of things that are fun, that I have started to learn and that I am hoping to make a habit in our homeschool:

(1) Start the day with a praise song! Singing in the morning seems to wake us all up and just sets the right tone for our day. I am not sure if this will continue to be the case when the girls get old enough to realize that I cannot carry a tune in a bucket, but hey, for now it works (as my mama always said, this is the voice God gave me, so it must be the key He wants to hear me sing in!)

(2) Don't try to reinvent the wheel if you don't have to! For our learning adventures, I use a mixture of the Prep Curriculum at Letter of the Week, Before Five in a Row and the awesome units at Homeschool Share. All of them are packed with fun ideas, projects, book lists, experiments, etc, YET I always feel the urge to say "what can I add to this?" Sometimes, it is great to make it your own, but I am learning that when I relax, have fun and just pick from the choices already provided, it allows me much more freedom to enjoy the process along with my children!

(3) Take the time to have a quiet time, even if it is in the middle of the day. In some ways, I think this might even be better, if you can do it. It shows your children that it is important to you and that you make time for your relationship with your Heavenly Father. I admit it is great to begin your day with intense one on one time in the Word, but there are seasons in our lives (like toddlerhood) when it is difficult to wake up early in the morning. Even later in life, when children aren't keeping you up at night, if you only take that time in the early morning, your children miss seeing it. I think by allowing your children to see you make it a priority in your life, and actually witness you doing it, sets a really good example that they should do the same. Easier to follow when you see the leader practicing what he preaches :-)

(4) Follow your instincts. As I mentioned before, I felt guilty for liking educational programming. Even though I saw how much my children responded and learned from it, I was afraid of what "they" would think of me watching PBS or even Playhouse Disney. But I realized that every family is different and that we have to do what we think is best for our own families, not for the family down the street. I do think moderation is important, but I also no longer think it is the end of the world if they watch a little Dora!

(5) HAVE FUN! Incorporate as many games as possible! I thought this was something I would have to wait longer to do, since my girls don't really have the attention span for a lot of board games, but over the past few weeks, we have been making up our own games and having a blast! It almost feels wrong, like we should be doing "work" but they are learning so much and having a blast while doing it. It could be as simple as tickling them every time they get a right answer or dancing around and making up songs for what we are learning (most recently our address), or that awesome ABC Stomp game that I got from Jammin'. Relax, Have Fun, Enjoy!!

Have a blessed weekend!