BJU Press Blog

homeschooling

When Homeschooling Gets Hard

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homeschool encouragement on a bench
Sometimes homeschooling is not fun.

Like when you’ve been up most of the night with a sick baby. Or when you have serious cabin fever after being stuck inside for days. Or when your to-do list is overwhelming you—again.

In the craziness of trying to manage a busy household, sometimes it is tempting to look for an easier way. A different schooling option. A curriculum that requires less work from me.

I’ve had moments when I’ve wanted to completely abandon this homeschooling adventure, and if you’ve homeschooled for any length of time, you’ve probably have had those moments too.

But then there are moments that remind me why I started on this homeschooling journey in the first place. For example, before Christmas, my third grader and I were reading an article in Reading 3 about astronauts and what they thought about God. After reading Gherman Titov’s remarks about how he hadn’t seen anyone out there in space so he couldn’t believe in God, my daughter stopped reading and said, “Well, of course, he couldn’t see God! God is a Spirit.”

And that wasn’t the only clue that she was beginning to see the world through a biblical worldview. One day, when we were on our way to our weekly piano lesson, she told me,  “Even though I’m not very good at piano yet, maybe someday I’ll be able to play well enough to play hymns so other people can sing along to worship God.”

It’s sometimes tempting to think of homeschooling as a burden. But it’s not. Homeschooling is an investment. It’s an investment that costs me significant time and resources. But it’s worth it. My daughter is worth it. She’s getting more than just a quality education. She’s learning how to view the world around her through scriptural eyes. That’s the most important thing I could ever teach her.

Weary mom, take heart. You will never regret the investment that you make in your child. The days may be long now, but you, your children, and even your grandchildren will reap the benefits of your investment for years to come.

Dividing Fractions a Simpler Way

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dividing fractions printable
The twelve-year-old’s T-shirt reminded me of my own homeschool experience with fractions and made me chuckle with delight. The shirt said, “Did you know that 5 out of 4 people struggle with fractions?”dividing fractions materials

When I was in the upper elementary grades, my mom switched us from a homeschool math program that used a hands-on approach to a program that was trendy among homeschool families at the time. It was during that phase of my math education that fractions became increasingly difficult. I had to multiply and divide with fractions, and it was all so confusing. Why is it that when I multiply, I get a smaller number, but when I divide, I get a larger number?

I think the hands-on approach would have helped me understand the basic arithmetic of fractions. If your child is struggling with dividing fractions, try the following hands-on approach to see if it helps. (I found this activity in BJU Press’s Math 6 textbook, which has lots more hands-on activities for teaching fractions and other challenging math concepts.)

dividing fractions circlesInstructions

  • Print out these circles and have your child cut along the outer solid lines. (Note: You can also use two apples instead.)
  • We’re going to work through the problem 2 ÷ ¾, but that’s rather abstract, so let’s use a real-world problem.

“We want to make apple tarts. Each tart requires ¾ of an apple. We have two apples. How many tarts can we make?”

dividing fractions cutting

  • Start with the two complete circles. These represent the number of apples we have.
  • Ask: “How do we need to cut the apples to make the tarts?” Since we’re going to need to separate out ¾ of an apple, the answer is “into quarters” or “into fourths.”
  • Now cut the whole circles into fourths.
  • Ask your child: “How many fourths are needed for each tart?”
  • Now have your child separate the fourths into piles of three.
  • Ask: “How many piles of three do you have?” Answer: 2
  • Ask: “How many quarters are left?” Answer: 2

Expressing the Answer

This might be tricky, but we want to express the exact number of tarts we can make. We could answer, “Two tarts,” but we would have two fourths or ½ an apple left over.” If we want to make a tart with the remaining apple fourths, how much of a tart could we make?  We would say, “Two and two-thirds tarts.” This confused me as a child. Why would I use thirds when I started with fourths? Walk your child through these questions to help with understanding:
dividing fractions coloring

  • Ask: “How many fourths do we need to make a whole tart?” Answer: 3
  • Ask: “How many fourths do we have left?” Answer: 2
  • Ask: “If it takes three to make a whole tart, and we have two of the three to make a whole one, how would we write that as a fraction?” Help your child see that the bottom number of the fraction tells us how many parts make a whole, and the top number tells us how many parts of that whole we have. So the whole tart has three parts (apple fourths), and we have two of those three parts or ⅔.
  • So we can make 2⅔  apple tarts with 2 apples.
  • Have your child color each group of three fourths and the two remaining fourths a different color so they can see which group of fourths will go into each tart.
  • Help your child write out how this would look as a math problem and solution: 2 ÷ ¾ = 2⅔.

dividing fractions completeWhy Hands-On Works

Working through this activity helped me understand some math that always challenged me as a child and into adulthood. Using hands-on activities helps many of us understand math. That’s because math is an expression of physical realities. When we see, touch, and talk about those physical objects that math is representing, the math makes more sense.

So if your child is struggling with fractions, try this and some other hands-on activities.

 

Following the Wise Men to Raise Wise Children

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wise men manger scene
As a homeschool dad, I love seeing my girls put aside their rivalries to put on a Christmas pageant. Last Christmas, our first grader organized a Christmas Eve pageant that she and her sisters put on for us and their grandparents. Of course, one of the cutest parts was when three little “wise” girls presented gifts to their baby doll.

We often meditate on the symbolic nature the wise men’s gifts but may not realize that their presentation of gifts to the King plays a significant role in the unfolding story of creation, fall, and redemption. Their acts of worship before the Christ child are a pattern for what Christian parents are trying to accomplish in homeschooling. Let’s meditate together on the wise men, their role in “the old redemption story,” and how we can use it to inspire our homeschooling all year round.

The Past Worship of the Wise Men

Their Story

The wise men are mentioned in the Bible only in Matthew 2:1–12. Since they’re called wise men or magi (from the Greek magos), it is clear that they had wisdom in their work that was respected by their community. It was probably because of this wisdom that they had prospered enough to be able to afford gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

In some way, they also had a heart toward God. As scholars, they were familiar with the Scriptures and apparently knew the messianic prophecy of Numbers 24:17. Since they were watching the heavens for a sign of God’s Messiah, they saw the star when it appeared and immediately set out to find the child. When they arrived in Bethlehem, their hearts rejoiced—not that they had found a new source of earthly treasure but that they had found the child.

The wise men went in and humbly bowed down in worship. They opened their treasures and presented their gifts to the King.

Their Part in God’s Story

In the unfolding of God’s redemptive story, the wise men’s worship of Jesus was a sign that He was the King of the Jews. Jesus was the Christ, the Chosen One, who was coming to break the power of the fall and redeem people and the creation.

Part of that redemption involves how men and women use God’s blessing of dominion over creation (Genesis 1:26–28). Fallen people pursue wealth through dominion to be independent of God. Redeemed people use the prosperity produced by their wise dominion to accomplish God’s purposes and give Him glory.

This is exactly what the wise men did. They had grown in wisdom by observing God’s creation in the fear of the Lord. Their exercise of that wisdom in dominion over creation led to prosperity. And they took that prosperity and offered it to their God in worship.

The Future Worship of the Wise Men

The wise men of that first Christmas were prototypes of future wise men. At the end of story of Scripture, the Father and Son rule from the new Jerusalem. There “the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into [the new Jerusalem]” (Revelation 22:24). These kings of the saved nations are exercising dominion in the restored earth and bringing their treasures to the King in worship. Notice how the unique treasures of the kings are called “their glory.”

In the eternal state, redeemed men and women will still use math, science, social studies, and language arts. And the end of their labor will be God’s glory.

Homeschooling Wise Men (and Women!) Today

So what does this have to do with homeschooling? Everything! It demonstrates the redeemed purpose for learning history, math, science, and language arts. Here are three steps our children can take to follow the example of the wise men in the past and in the future.

Grow in Wisdom

The wise men didn’t become wise by being lazy in their study of God’s creation. Remember, when we study how God’s world works, we’re learning His wisdom.

Prosper in God’s Calling

Exercising God’s wisdom in His calling led to prosperity for the wise men. It can for your children as well. If they’re faithful in their mastery of science and math and God calls them to engineering, they should prosper as engineers.

Offer the Glory of the Calling

Prosperity is piece of glory that we receive for acting wisely in the fear of the Lord. We should take that glory and offer it to God. When we use our skills in service to our neighbor or in the household of God, we are worshiping. When we take a portion of our treasure and give it to God, we are worshiping Him in the exact same manner as the wise men of old. We are literally giving glory to God.

This Christmas, as my homeschooled girls perform their Christmas pageant, I want them to know that they can follow in the footsteps of the wise men. They can daily study to become wise women so they can offer their treasures to King Jesus.

How I’m Organizing My Homeschool Space (Video)

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I’m about ready to dive into my second year of homeschooling. Last summer I spent a lot of time reading homeschooling books, poring over homeschool magazines, and listening to homeschool workshops in hopes of discovering the secret of homeschooling success. All of that “research” resulted in one very important lesson—homeschooling is an intensely personal experience.

During that time I also got all kinds of organizational tips from my homeschooling friends. Some of the ideas worked well, but some of them didn’t work at all for us. I recently made a video showing off some of our best organizational ideas. I hope it will give you some ideas for organizing your own space.

Here are some highlights from the video along with a few additional thoughts.

What Worked Well Last Year

• Our Distance Learning Notebooks

In the video, I showed off our Distance Learning notebooks. The idea is based on BJU Press’s Distance Learning Unpacking video. This method worked really well for us last year. I loved having all of my materials in one place, and it was so easy to find the information that I needed when doing my weekly lesson planning.

• My Lesson Planner

I didn’t take the time on the video to demonstrate how my favorite lesson planner works. I looked at a lot of lesson planners last year but settled on a God’s Word in Time Scripture planner sold by Rainbow Resources. It’s a fairly simple planner that includes a monthly and weekly view as well as a section to record weekly grades. I loved it so much that I bought another one for this coming homeschool year.

• My Bookshelf

My cube organizer bookshelf was perhaps my best organizational purchase last year. You can see it all set up in the video.

What We’re Doing Differently Now

• Our Math Manipulatives

I mentioned in the video that my storage method (a large plastic container) for our math manipulatives took up too much space last year. It also took a bit of time to find what we needed. So I’m using an accordion file system this year, and so far I’m loving it.

• Our School Supplies

Last year I separated like school supplies and stored them in mason jars and small plastic containers. That didn’t work well with my young children because they were continually putting things in the wrong containers. This year I plan to use more pictorial labels to help my nonreaders. But if you have any great ideas about how you organize school supplies, I would love to hear them!

We’ll be starting our homeschool year in just a couple weeks, and we’re all really excited! If you’re interested in seeing our third-grade curriculum, be sure to watch our unboxing video.

The Pressure of Preschool

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Preschool Playing“My son can already write his name!” says a proud mother. “My daughter is not quite four, and she has just learned to read!” says another. One mom shrinks back into her seat, wondering if she’s doing something wrong. Should her son or daughter be reading at age three or four? Should her two-year-old be learning to form the shapes of letters?

For decades, parents have felt the pressure to hurry their preschoolers’ learning. They don’t want their children to be left behind. For homeschool parents, the pressure is even greater. They may feel that the world is looking at them more critically, ready to point out any perceived underachievement. If you’re feeling the pressure to teach your child more aggressively or to start kindergarten early, consider these important factors.

Rates of Development

Babies learn to crawl, walk, and talk at different rates; there is no ideal timetable. It’s the same for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Some will learn to read quickly; others will catch on to math concepts; and others may simply be interested in movement and play. Trying to force a child to mature more quickly can lead to behavioral issues and a dislike of learning.

Freedom to Grow

Kids need time to invent, explore, and create. They need space to run, jump, and climb, especially during the formative preschool and kindergarten years. Giving them the freedom to experiment, discover, and move through their world builds their confidence and their ability to solve problems—things that will prove valuable when they begin their homeschool years.

Perceptions of Potential

If you stress reading too early, you might become frustrated and discouraged; you may even think that your child doesn’t have the potential to be a great reader. That’s not necessarily the case; he may simply be operating on his own schedule.  Instead of frustrating yourself and your child, wait until the time is right to begin a more organized style of homeschooling.

Statistical Proof

A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research revealed that delaying kindergarten for a year had remarkable benefits for children. Kids who were seven when they started formal instruction were measurably more attentive and less hyperactive at age eleven than kids who began kindergarten at the “normal” age of five or six. The kids who started kindergarten a year later had more time to learn self-control and mental focus before beginning their school career.

Preparation for Kindergarten

You can introduce your child to text and numbers in many age-appropriate ways. There are numbers on calendars, clocks, mile markers, your house, and store receipts. Words are everywhere—on cereal boxes, toys, storefronts, street signs, letters, and clothes.

When you read storybooks together, ask your little ones to show you the pictures and point to text. You are developing your child’s “print awareness” which is a prerequisite to phonics instruction. Where are the characters? What are they doing in the picture? What will happen next? It’s a fun way to engage with your children and start teaching them about story components and progression without getting too academic.

Maybe your little ones would enjoy dictating stories or letters for you to write down and read aloud. These activities emphasize the relationship of thought to oral and written language. And if those little bodies start to get wiggly, maybe it’s time to switch to another kind of education—learning through play.

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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.