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Tips for Road Trips

November 20, 2018 by Guest Writer

tips for road trips
You may be joining the thousands of others traveling for the holidays. Thankfully, my family lives literally across the street, and my husband’s side lives only an hour away, so we have it easy! But since we used to live about 675 miles away from family, I can completely relate to traveling with small children for long distances. Road trips can be challenging, to say the least; but we’ve found some useful ideas for entertaining the family that may help you keep your sanity if you’re traveling this holiday season.

For the Little Ones

If you have toddlers, try these ideas to keep them occupied in the car:

  • Arts and crafts. Bring plenty of coloring books and crayons, or drawing paper and colored pencils. Don’t forget a lapboard or other hard surface for them to write or draw on!
  • Books with lots of pictures. With these, you can ask them to find as many specific items as they can.
  • Books you can read to them. I used to sit in the back seat between our daughters and read them one story after another. They loved it!
  • Sing-along or story CDs. Our girls listened to these for hours. It really helped the time pass quickly.
  • Snacks. I’ve learned to pack lots of these for long road trips! If our girls were starting to get extra fidgety, I’d give them a sucker, and it would content them for quite a while. Of course, I tried not to load them up with sugar—that can majorly backfire!
  • Toys. We would let our daughters choose a few of their favorite toys to play with in their seats. I usually ended up playing silly games with them, not only to entertain them but also to hear their contagious giggles.

For the Older Ones

Traveling with children actually gets easier as they get older because you’re able to play different games with them, such as:

  • Twenty questions. It’s a classic time-filler! We like to play a Bible version of this that involves guessing a person, place, or thing mentioned in Scripture. With 66 books to choose from, you can come up with a plethora of possibilities.
  • License plate game. Keep track of how many other states each family member can spot on license plates and tally points. Award extra points for license plates from places outside the US, such as Canada.
  • Board games. Lots of travel-size board games are available, such as checkers, Trouble, chess, Connect Four, and so on.
  • Bible verse game. This one can be especially helpful if you get stuck in traffic. Have each family member quote a verse that starts with a  given letter of the alphabet in sequence. For example, for A someone could quote, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” The next person would quote a verse that begins with B, and so forth. References are optional.

If you’re all gamed out, you can listen to a sermon, read, or just spend time talking as a family. Road trips can be great opportunities to connect with and encourage each other in the Lord. Hopefully these ideas will help you on your next long journey!

• • • • •

Jennifer is a pastor’s wife and mom of two young girls and loves homeschooling them. During her own twelve years of being homeschooled, Jennifer developed a passion for reading and writing. She earned a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and relishes writing during her free time.

Filed Under: Successful Learning Tagged With: games, ideas, traveling

BJU Press Blog Anniversary!

April 8, 2015 by BJU Press Writer

It’s time to celebrate our blog’s first-year anniversary. If you’ve just discovered it, we hope you will take some time to explore the treasure trove of resources, ideas, and encouragement we have to offer.

image of a cake with one candle in it repersenting BJU Press blog's one year anniversary

The following have been some of our most popular blog posts:

  • Apples for My Teachers by Eileen
    “To all my teachers—you would probably be surprised how often I still think of you. Now that I’m a teacher too, I realize how much I learned from you.”
  • Count Your Blessings by Meredith
    “I hope you enjoy making these crafts. Making placemats was one of my favorite activities to do while growing up.”
  • Create—Communicate—Illustrate from BJU Press
    “An integral part of our products is the art our employees create to further communicate the meaning of the text that our authors write.”
  • Overwhelmed by Megan
    “It’s moments like these that help me realize how much I need help—not a cleaning service or a babysitter or a caterer but divine help.”

We’ve got more great content planned for this coming year.

For those of you who already follow our blog, you may have noticed some changes we’ve made to the blog such as the header image, trying different types of content, links in the writer section, and different font sizes. As we continue to develop our blog, we’d like to hear your opinions.

What do you like best about the blog?

Thank you for partnering with us in Christian education. We hope our blog will be an encouragement to you in the year ahead.

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: anniversary, celebrate, encouragement, highlights, ideas, popular posts, resources

10 Tips for Your Homeschool Year

September 30, 2014 by Guest Writer

How is your homeschool day going? Sometimes, you have a plan, are able to start the year following the plan, and everything goes according to that plan. (A miracle, right?) But other years the plan just doesn’t work for whatever reason—sickness, a new baby, family emergencies, new co-op classes, a new curriculum, and so on. In case you’re having one of those years when the original plan just isn’t working, here are a few suggestions for planning the entire school year and tips for when you need to readjust your plan.

 

Tip #1—Set goals for your school year.

While you’re scheduling your school year, encourage your children to set their own goals for their education. What are some things they’ve been particularly curious about or have wanted to know? Look for ways to incorporate those things into the overall academic goals, and your child will feel like an active participant in his or her education.

Tip #2—Get organized; stay organized.

All the books, papers, pens/pencils, and such can start to get out of control. Find a system that works for you and your kids to keep all their school materials organized. It may be a basket or drawer system that keeps all the work for one subject in one place. Or you may have a shelf designated for each child, and only his school stuff goes on that shelf. And those fun but easy-to-lose manipulatives? Try keeping them in manila folders or envelopes organized by month for easy access.

Tip #3—Make balance a priority.

Focus on developing a homeschool routine that is structured enough to accomplish your goals without losing sight of your students’ (and your!) need for occasional changes of scene and pace.

Tip #4—Maintain “administrator” unity in your homeschool decisions.

Dad and Mom need to be in each decision together so that the kids don’t get the idea that they can pit one parent against the other. The “teacher” supports the “principal,” vice versa, and the family as a whole contributes to the overall needs of the family.

Tip #5—Don’t measure the effectiveness of your schedule by other homeschoolers’ schedules.

Focus on tangible measurements of success—such as your children’s ability to apply textbook knowledge to real-life situations—and spend whatever time is necessary to encourage their growth. Do the best you can with the time you have.

Tip #6—Set and stick to regular homework deadlines.

Don’t let the convenience of a more fluid schedule distract you from an integral part of your child’s preparation for college and the workforce.

Tip #7—Organize a “school basket” for younger children to use during school hours.

Each younger child should have his or her own basket but only have access to it during the older children’s work hours. Fill the basket with fun activities, educational toys, interesting picture books, and puzzles that the child can do on his or her own.

Tip #8—Don’t let your curriculum completely determine how and what you teach.

Curriculum is a tool—a wonderful tool—but only you can decide how best to use it for your children. Capitalize on your students’ learning strengths while alternating with other learning styles to help them grow. For example, consider reading tests and homework assignments aloud to aural learners while having them follow along on the printed pages.

Tip #9—Keep detailed academic records.

You’ll need a selection broad enough to show your child’s curve of improvement throughout the school year. Remember, you can always throw out unneeded papers later, but you can’t get them back once they’re gone.

Tip #10—Enjoy homeschooling!

Life is short and you only have so much time with your children. The more prepared you are for the school year, the more time you will have to enjoy it and your children.

What other tips would you add to this list?

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: family, homeschool, ideas, organization, schedules, tips

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