One of the most common questions homeschool families have is, how do you stay organized? Homeschooling involves so much, and you can’t store all of it in a bin at the end of the day. Finding a method of staying organized can be key in reducing stresses you don’t need. But figuring out how to get yourself organized can be a lot like choosing a curriculum and homeschooling style. What works for one family may not work for you. We’d like to offer both experienced and new homeschool families a collection of tips, tricks, and techniques to help you be successful and stay organized in your homeschool.
21st Century Skills and 21st Century Homeschooling (Part 3)
The Actual 21st Century Homeschooling Part
Homeschool families have known for years that the traditional model for teaching children used in most public schools—reading, lecture, homework, repeat—simply doesn’t work for all children. This model produces students who are good at following directions and taking tests, but not at thinking for themselves. That’s why educators push teaching 21st century skills—the learning skills, the literacy skills, and the life skills. These skills, practically applied to the teaching process, produce a very different model for learning. It’s more than a departure from reading, lecture, and homework. It’s a restructuring of the entire system to make teaching these skills possible. And in your homeschool, you have every advantage in producing a learning environment that supports teaching any skill you want. In fact, you’re likely already well on your way to 21st century homeschooling.
Schools are often locked into one structure or system by the expectations they have to meet. You can forget those expectations and focus on teaching your children how to be better servants. You’re not chasing after grades or test results. You’re preparing your children for the rest of their lives in the 21st century. So how do you do that?
By giving them opportunities to practice the skills.
Lessons from 9/11
Next year, September 11, 2021, will mark the 20-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the 2,977 people who lost their lives on that day and on the days following. As time passes, the pain and fear of those days have dulled, and many young adults have no knowledge of the attacks outside of their history textbooks and the stories their parents have shared. Today we face new fears and tragedies that the whole world shares in. How can we possibly approach teaching tragedies and equipping our children to handle them? How can we even truly express the tragedy and horror of what happened on September 11, 2001?
21st Century Skills and 21st Century Homeschooling (Part 2)
What do your children need to be able to do in order for them to be prepared for their future jobs? In a previous post, we explored some of the 21st century skills that educators have identified as key for students’ success and that we believe will help students be effective servants of Christ, their families, their communities, and their employers.
21st Century Skills for 21st Century Homeschooling (Part 1)
Do you know what one of the most wonderful things about homeschooling is? You have the freedom to be flexible and mobile and do whatever you need to do to ensure that your children will be equipped for their future lives. If you aren’t part of an online academy or a school with strict regulations, then you are free to buy curriculum directly from the curriculum creators. Which means, once those resources are in your home, you get to use them however you like. You can focus on the lessons and skills that you believe will be the most beneficial for your children’s future. You can choose resources that will help them become more effective servants of Christ, their family, their community, and their employer. [Read more…] about 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Homeschooling (Part 1)