BJU Press Blog

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This post was written by a guest writer for BJU Press. If you have any questions regarding this post, please direct them to [email protected].

Keeping School-Year Smarts During the Summer

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As summer approaches, most kids have just one thing on their minds—vacation! Most homeschool parents feel that the summer break is good for their children, giving them the opportunity to “just be kids.” It only makes sense, right? Everyone needs a vacation once in a while, especially the energetic “junior set.” The time away from the disciplines of your homeschool schedule allows them more opportunity to explore their personal interests and to further develop socially by playing with other children.

The Downside

But before your kids play away their summer days, consider these research findings from Johns Hopkins University that reveal the possible pitfalls of an extended vacation. On average, children lose 2.6 months of learning over the summer. That’s more than ten weeks of material they will have to review before being caught up enough to begin the curriculum for the next grade.

We’ve all heard that the brain is like a muscle, and that means that it has to be challenged and exercised regularly to stay in shape. The hard work students put into their studies during the homeschool year is almost wasted if they don’t spend at least some time during the summer months keeping the material fresh in their minds.

Maintenance Mode

That doesn’t mean that children should be locked away to study grammar and work math problems all summer. Taking them on frequent visits to the library to find reading material they enjoy is a far more effective way to keep their brains engaged throughout the sunny vacation months. This is also a great time to help your children establish good reading habits—manageable, set amounts of reading time every day—and to help them discover and broaden their reading tastes without the pressure of academics.

Reading throughout the summer months is especially important for children who are still developing fundamental reading comprehension skills. If they spend an entire summer without any extended reading practice, they’re far more likely to lose the vocabulary and comprehension they gained from the previous year.

Educational Outings

Be on the lookout for creative ways to sharpen academic skills or incorporate them into fun summer outings. Visiting a farmer’s market? You can include reviews on everything from geography and history (Where did these different fruits and vegetables grow natively? How and when did they cross into new countries?) to agriculture (What processes actually go into growing food?) and botany (What part of plants are the various fruits and veggies?).

Small-Business Ventures

You also might want to consider having a yard sale or a bake sale. Working with cash transactions and making change for customers will help young people strengthen basic computational skills while also giving them a concept of the realities of money management. A few math exercises out of a workbook every week can help keep math principles fresh in their minds but give them a fun motivation: earning points toward a small reward at summer’s end.

Media Options

Most libraries have a good selection of educational videos for younger children that can occasionally serve as a positive substitute for cartoons. Let your young audience help you choose videos on topics that interest them. Also, you can find many parent-approved educational websites that kids can visit to learn about their favorite topics, participate in simulated experiments, and play educational games.

Summer Camps and Programs

Enrolling children in summer programs or camps is another beneficial option for making the most of your family’s summer learning time. The Johns Hopkins study noted that only 10 percent of children nationwide are involved in summer learning programs. However, the majority of students consulted in the study wanted to be in an educational program during the summer. Children who attend get to enjoy making lasting memories while also learning in a relaxed, fun atmosphere.

For another easy way to maintain your child’s academic skills over the summer, check out the Vacation Stations activity books. These short, fun-filled activities review math, language, and reading. With lots of hands-on activities, exciting outings, and a few pages of Vacation Stations review each week, your children can enjoy their summer while holding on to their hard-earned knowledge.

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Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

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My 5 Favorite Things to Give a Homeschool Mom

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hot-chocolate-in-Montsalvat-Melbourne-gifts

As thunder roars and lightning flashes, seven children huddle around Maria. In a strange new place, she must comfort these frightened kids, ranging in age from preschooler to teenager. She rises to the occasion with one of The Sound of Music‘s best-known songs, “My Favorite Things.” Maybe you or someone you know is having a “Maria moment”—a time when you need a bit of encouragement in the form of a favorite thing. Here are some of my favorite things to give my fellow moms!

#1: A Piece of Chocolate

Whether it comes in neat squares or gooey bars, chocolate is one of God’s greatest gifts to woman. Studies show that dark chocolate actually increases blood flow to the brain, enhancing your mood through endorphins and improving your reaction time and problem-solving abilities.

#2: A Part of Nature

Gather an armful of blooms from your backyard or fill vases with green boughs collected from a nearby forest. Just looking at God’s beautiful creation and breathing in its freshness may be enough to lift someone’s spirits.

#3: A Pocketful of Change

A little spending money is a lovely gift for a homeschool mom who spends all her resources on her children. Is a woman you know struggling to keep her head above the homeschool waters? Hand her a gift card to her favorite store or coffee shop, and watch her eyes light up.

#4: Playthings for the Kids

Sometimes, all a homeschool mom wants is a few minutes of quiet time. Put together a bag of inexpensive items like puzzles, glow sticks, books, and playdough and deliver it to a homeschooling family you know. While the children dive into the delights of the bag, the mom enjoys the gift of ten to fifteen minutes all to herself.

#5: A Pampering Kit

Few homeschool moms have the time to hit the spa. One of my favorite gifts to receive or to pass along is a personal spa kit. You can put all kinds of delights into a basket—nail polish, a nail file, softening cream for calluses, a homemade foot scrub, bath soak, essential oils, or soft slippers.
With a few dollars and a little thoughtfulness, you can help another mom weather one of life’s storms.

What would you add to this list of favorite things? Tell me in a comment.

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Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

4 Teaching Tips from the Master Teacher

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Wouldn’t it be nice if teaching were like a science experiment or a math equation? You could do A and B, and then C would always result. It would be nice if teaching a specific way would result in perfect knowledge and understanding in your kids—every time! Yet even wonderful teachers with great skills still have students who struggle.

Sometimes, as a homeschool mom, you may feel like asking the same question that Jesus asked His disciples—”Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:21, ESV). You can’t always control the results of your teaching, but you can continue to improve your teaching strategies so that you can communicate concepts to your kids more effectively. In fact, the Bible is full of helpful strategies used by the Master Teacher, Jesus Christ, as He taught the most important lessons of all.

An Example to Follow

Think about the way Jesus presented the same truths in different ways to different groups of people. Sometimes He simply presented the facts; sometimes He told stories; other times He used actions or demonstrations to reveal truth and help it sink in for His followers. As you teach your children, you’ll learn more about the way each one of them learns best, and you’ll discover new techniques and strategies that yield better results.

A Familiar Foundation

Jesus often began his teachings by referring to the law and the Old Testament, something His Jewish listeners were very familiar with. From that starting point, He would reveal new knowledge or delve deeper into a concept.

Everyone learns better when the learning starts in a familiar place. If you can begin with something that your children already know or enjoy, you can then build new knowledge on that foundation. If they’re having trouble mastering a new concept, return to those basic familiar ideas to help them build the confidence and skills they need to move ahead.

A Clear Goal

Kids often ask, “What’s the point of learning this? How I am ever going to use it?” Good teaching communicates goals clearly. When Jesus taught, He constantly presented His followers with the goal—the kingdom of God and His work of redemption. Many of His talks and parables related to the kingdom of God and how true citizens of that kingdom should live.

Every time you teach your children a new lesson, let them know what you plan to cover within that lesson. Tell them why it’s important and what they will eventually be able to do with that knowledge. Having a goal and a purpose keeps them engaged and excited.

An Awareness of Learning Styles

Keep in mind that each one of your children learns differently. Some learn better by listening, others by reading, and others by acting or doing. Lessons that incorporate two or more of these learning methods are typically more effective. As He taught the crowds of people around Him, Jesus told stories and used everyday objects to illustrate the lesson. As much as possible, you can connect the abstract concepts of each subject back to your child’s daily life and activities. Those tangible, real-world connections help them process and retain the information better.

So what works most effectively for your children? Do they learn best by sight, sound, or activity? Are they working on each lesson with a clear goal in mind? Your insight into your children’s personalities and abilities enables you to teach according to their needs, which is the key to helping your children realize their full potential.

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Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Unlocking the World with Phonics

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Before I learned how to read, I pretended to read books aloud. With some of my favorite picture books, I could quote the text by heart as I turned the pages. The actual process of reading was a lot harder than rote memorization—it involved forming connections, remembering patterns, applying principles, and a lot of phonics. I still remember the thrill as the pieces clicked into place, and suddenly I was reading for real.

Your child already knows how to speak English and understand it. Now, as a homeschool parent, it’s your job to teach him to read and write it well. As you prepare your child for success in reading, you have to start with what he knows—the sounds of language, or phonics.

Sights and Sounds

You may have begun teaching phonemic awareness earlier than K5. But if not, don’t worry. The BJU Press K5 Beginnings program will help your child learn to listen for specific sounds and connect those sounds with letters and letter combinations. Before long, your little one will begin to realize that the letters of the alphabet don’t just have names; they represent sounds. Combined together, those sounds can form words.

BJU Press curriculum emphasizes phonics as the basis for reading excellence, but the Beginnings program incorporates plenty of sight words as well. Learning these common, recognizable words helps kids move more quickly through a text and gives them a head start with building their vocabulary.

Exceptions and Rules

The English language is full of strange rules and odd exceptions that can be very confusing for kids who are just learning to read. If your child is struggling with remembering some of those rules and exceptions, it’s time to turn the lesson into a game.

Children love stories, so why not make phonics seem like a wonderful story filled with lovable characters? In the K5 Beginnings program, you’ll find Miss Silent E and Bossy R along with other characters who serve as guides for phonics comprehension. By lending personality and depth to these abstract concepts, the program helps children remember and apply them.

Memory Hacks

Songs are wonderful tools for remembering important facts and ideas, so the Beginnings program incorporates plenty of catchy tunes about phonics. You can use the phonics songs CD anytime to reinforce and enhance learning.

You can also hang up the provided charts displaying word-family rhymes, so your child has a clear reminder of those patterns. Word families are a major emphasis of the BJU Press phonics program, and with good reason! Knowing word families builds an excellent foundation for more accurate reading, whether the words are familiar or new.

Phonics Drills

In order for your kids to excel at phonics and reading, they must practice. The phrase “phonics drill” may not sound pleasant, but it can actually be an enjoyable experience for you and your kids. When you read sentences, your child can fill in the easy two- or three-letter words. Talk together about Mr. and Mrs. Short, who illustrate the rule that “a short vowel is always followed by a consonant or consonants.” You can look for Mr. and Mrs. Short, Miss Long, and the other phonics characters wherever you and your children are—at the grocery store, in the car, at the park, or on a walk through the neighborhood.

At first, the phonics drills will feel like a challenge; but before long, your kids will begin to realize how much of the world opens up to them when they remember their phonics word families and friends. And just like that, they’re reading.

Explore what you need to know about the K5 Beginnings program.

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Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

How to Encourage Self-Motivated Learning

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When I was growing up, I did my schoolwork in my parents’ bedroom, sitting at a cheap desk whose fake wood-grain pattern I can still remember today. Once I was past the early grades, I watched my video classes, did the reading, and completed assignments mostly on my own with some help from my mom if I needed it. When I reached college, it wasn’t a problem for me to prioritize time to read, study, and complete papers because I had already mastered the art of self-motivated learning. My mother inspired my siblings and me to enjoy learning on our own, and that eagerness for education has stayed with all of us to this day.

Natural Motivation

When kids are little, they are naturally eager to learn. Every part of their being is learning, whether they’re playing, running, jumping, reading, or helping around the house. As children get older, other things begin to compete for their attention. How can a parent keep this early motivation from slipping away? And once your child has lost that motivation for learning, is there a way to bring it back?

Whole-Family Activities

One way to develop motivated children is to present lots of opportunities for learning in various settings. I’m not talking about Mom serving as the chauffeur, dropping everyone off at different places for different pursuits, but about the kind of activity that involves the whole family, with everyone participating together at church, serving in the community, or just having fun.

A Listening Lifestyle

Motivation thrives in a home where the parents listen attentively to their children. Having regular family gatherings gives everyone time to present feelings or problems and share possible solutions. Talking together frequently as a family generates an atmosphere of trust and openness that gives kids the confidence they need for self-motivated learning.

Reasonable Expectations

Every parent wants his or her child to excel, but if a parent sets the expectations too high, the child may become discouraged and give up altogether. High expectations are good, but unattainable expectations are more harmful than helpful. When you let your children know that you believe in them and love them unconditionally, you may find that they’re more likely to take risks and push themselves harder to achieve their goals.

Work as Fun

Do you enjoy work? Maybe not, but there are ways that you can add in the fun factor, especially when you’re doing work with your kids. By your example, they will learn that work is essential but that it can also be exciting and rewarding. You want them to know the joy of completing a hard task because that sense of accomplishment is a key ingredient for future motivation.

Skillful Management

Time management and organizational skills are vital tools for motivating your children. You’re helping them succeed by setting expectations, creating deadlines and schedules, providing organized materials, and supplying opportunities for interactive learning. Learning can happen anywhere, but in the homeschool setting it should be well planned and enjoyable rather than chaotic and frustrating. Especially during the early years, kids need structure and direction to give them a foundation for self-control and independence later on.

How do you know that your children are motivated learners? When they ask you thoughtful questions, when they seek out answers on their own, or when they come to you with beaming faces to show off a completed project, you’ll know that the love of learning has taken root.

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Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.