BJU Press Blog

4 Thoughts on Retaking Tests

by

how do you feel about retaking tests?
I looked at my daughter’s spelling test in disbelief. She had failed it. She had never failed anything before, so the fact that she had missed almost half her spelling words was a bit of a shock. And I was now faced with a question I had never faced before in my homeschool: was retaking tests the way to go?

Retaking tests is something that I, as a homeschool mom, have the liberty to allow. But is it a good practice? Here are some considerations.

  • I want my child to master the content being taught.

Tests really have one main purpose—to help me as a mom know if my child is learning what he or she is supposed to learn. A failed test is not something that I can ignore because it means that my daughter didn’t learn the content. She needs to learn that content, and I need a way to assess whether she learned it. Allowing her to retake tests is one of several ways for me to verify that she has truly mastered the material. But some other concerns come into play.

  • I want my child to learn academic diligence.

We as humans have a sinful bent toward laziness. I know I do. That’s why the book of Proverbs spends so much time encouraging us to be diligent. It tells us that the diligent will “have plenty of bread,” “will rule,” and “will be made fat [or rich].” In contrast, the lazy person “craves and gets nothing” and “will be put to forced labor.” I want my daughter to learn diligence in all areas of life—including her schoolwork—but if she knows that she can retake a test whenever she receives a poor grade, she will be less likely to be diligent in her test preparation.

  • I want my child to learn academic honesty.

Let’s say my daughter takes a science test and earns a 60%. She then goes and studies really hard (especially the questions she knows are on the test), retakes the test, and earns a 95%. Is it honest for me to put that 95% in my gradebook? She had an unfair advantage over most students, and that 95% is not an accurate representation of her level of mastery of the material.

As a mom, I want my daughter to look good. I want her to be smart and successful. But it is more important to me that she be a woman of integrity.

  • I want my child to learn how to deal with failure.

In life, we often don’t get second chances. If we botch a job interview, we won’t likely get called back for another one. If we forget to pay our mortgage bill, our credit score is going to be affected. I want my daughter to learn from her mistakes, and she must also learn that mistakes usually have consequences. It may sound harsh, but I believe that it’s OK to let my daughter fail and face the consequences for her failure. Learning to deal with failure is an important part of the maturing process.

So what did I do about that failed test? I had my daughter review that same spelling list the next week. But I didn’t change her grade. Since that test, she’s become more diligent in her weekly test preparation—and her grades testify to her diligence. I think she learned something even more valuable than a list of tricky spelling words.

Take Advantage of Homeschool Flexibility

by

are you taking advantage of homeschool flexibility?
When you’re just starting out as a homeschool family, there’s so much you’re excited about. You may be thinking about the time you’ll get to spend with your children, watching them grow and learn. You’re about to make some truly precious memories. Your path forward is full of new opportunities for fun and learning. And don’t get me wrong, stability will be important for your homeschool life. But truth be told, you wouldn’t be homeschooling if all you wanted was stability. Homeschool flexibility is what makes your journey vibrant and exciting. Each new day is full of possibilities.

It’s also the key for surviving your first few years. As you’re finding out what works best for your family, as your children grow and gain interests, as they develop passions and skills, flexibility will be a friend you call on to get your children where you need them to be. So I’ve highlighted five areas for you where you might find yourself needing to be flexible.

1. Curriculum

Have you been to a homeschool convention and visited the vendor hall? If you haven’t, imagine a giant room filled with booths. There will be a couple of booths selling regular books—and the obligatory essential oil vendor—but almost every other booth will be another textbook vendor. Those vendors represent only a small portion of the options available to you as a homeschool parent. Also, a great many free curriculum materials are available online. What on earth are you supposed to do with all the options? Some homeschoolers jump from curriculum to curriculum, looking for that perfect fit.

The solution is actually a lot simpler than you’d imagine. You don’t have to check out each and every curriculum to find out what’s best. Instead, consider the reasons you’re homeschooling. Do you want to give your children an education with a solid biblical worldview foundation? Then skip past all the materials written from a secular worldview. Do you want to customize their education? Then a curriculum that doesn’t give you options may not work for you.

2. Plan

What word do many homeschool moms love the most? Organization. You and your family are both growing. As you do, things tend to get complicated. Think about the day when your youngest wants to take music lessons, your middle child wants to play a sport, and your oldest starts driving lessons. And you’re going to need to have a plan to stay organized—to some extent. First of all, go ahead and plan on taking moments to breathe and pray every day. Second, your plans are often better to change than curriculum. As you watch how other homeschoolers are making their plans, you may find yourself adjusting your own plans according to what you like or don’t like.

3. Goals

Brick-and-mortar schools will often have learning goals for a course. But you have the freedom to be much more creative and specific with your goals. What do you want your children to achieve? Do you have goals that they can work toward every day? Do you want them to learn to share? To master that one lesson in math? To learn to love reading? It’s wonderful for you to come together as a family and set goals for your children. Personalized goals will help them stay motivated and moving forward. But they’re still growing and learning every day. You will need to regularly set new goals, giving them something new to strive for. Their goals can be a source of accomplishment and encouragement. When they can see clearly how they’ve succeeded in the past, they’ll be more willing to keep trying in the future.

4. Standards for Success

One of the nice things about homeschooling is that grades become much less important—and I’m not talking about what year your children are in, though that is also true. Assignments are rarely pass or fail. You get to work at it until your child gets it. You’re also open to many different ways for determining success, for you and for your children. Here at the beginning of your homeschool journey, take some time to figure out what it means for your family to be successful. But realize that what looks like success to you may change over time. Today, success may look like getting everything done by 3:00 p.m., preparing a seven-course meal in two hours, and spending three wholesome hours as a family reading, playing games, and sharing God’s Word. Tomorrow, it may look like actually getting dressed at some point in the day.

5. Children’s Interests

Just as your children are constantly growing and changing physically, they’re also changing mentally. When they’re still young, everything is new to them, and they eagerly ask a million and one questions about everything their minds settle on. As they grow older, they may only show interest in certain things, or they may not seem to show any interest in anything at all. It’s a natural part of growing older, but it doesn’t make tailoring their education to their interests and abilities any easier. Just as you have many curriculum options, you also have many options for encouraging your children’s interests. For example, you could create a special course for their interests, as one homeschool mom did with her daughter’s interest in interior design. If you don’t want to go quite that far, you can use supplemental resources to cover a subject or topic in more detail.

Eager to learn more about your homeschooling journey? Please sign up to receive our free eBook, A Guide to Homeschooling, to learn more about the road ahead of you. Be sure to fill out the homeschool preparation checklist at the end, and feel free to ask questions in the comments section below!

Accepting Homeschool Help: Easier Than You Thought

by

accepting homeschool help
I never enjoy accepting help, particularly homeschool help. I’ve always had a very independent personality. In fact, whenever my grandma talks about me as a child, she always talks about one thing—how self-sufficient I was, even as a toddler. And I never really grew out of it. Even now, I hesitate to pick up the phone to ask a friend to watch the kids. And if someone asks me how homeschooling is going, the answer is often an enthusiastic “Great!” even if I cried five times the day before.

Homeschooling Is Hard

But the Lord is slowly working to cut away at that thick, hard shell of pride that has enveloped me. He’s used my circumstances to show me how weak I really am and how much I do need help. One of the circumstances that He has used is homeschooling.

When I first started homeschooling, I had no idea how hard it was going to be. I was a homeschool grad, and my parents made it look pretty easy. But I realize now that there were so many things that I didn’t see as a child. I never saw the late night grading marathons or planning sessions, the early morning prep-work, the constant challenge of balancing homeschooling with the rest of life. I started wishing that my whole kitchen had a self-clean feature. It didn’t take me long to realize that homeschooling is hard. Really hard.

Not Going It Alone

Thankfully, that first year, my husband had the foresight to know that I couldn’t do it all alone. I was going to need to accept some homeschool help whether or not I wanted to admit it. He encouraged me to include a few BJU Press Online courses alongside the textbook subject kits that we ordered. Initially, we used Bible 2, English 2, and Science 2—only three courses, but what a difference they made!

I decided that year that I loved BJU Press Online courses. Here’s why:

  • They held my daughter’s attention. In fact, I never felt that I had to sit with her to make sure she was paying attention. I was free to do other things—like clean the kitchen—while knowing that she was getting an incredible education.
  • They enhanced my daughter’s learning experience in a way that I never could. These courses include features such as video tours, interviews, and dramas. Replicating the same experience would have taken me hours—hours that, as a homeschool mom, I didn’t have.
  • They did all the hard work for me. I didn’t have to think about how to pace the course, how to grade her work, how to make each lesson interesting, or how to explain a difficult concept. Now, they didn’t eliminate all the work; I still had to grade papers and do some prep work, but overall these courses saved me tons of time.

As our children grew—we have three school-age children now—we have added more online courses. These video courses have not just become important timesavers for me—they have become sanity savers. I’m honestly not sure how our homeschool would function without them.

If you’re looking for help in your homeschool, I would highly recommend that you try an online course. Preview any of the courses on the BJU Press YouTube Channel, and check the special offers page for current discounts. You’ll be amazed at the difference online learning can make!

Scripture for Discouraging Times

by

Scripture for Discouraging Times
The holidays are over, school is back in session, and you’re only halfway through the school year. So you may be feeling a little down in the dumps the first week into the new year. Maybe your children are lagging behind in some of their subjects. Maybe you’re struggling with managing your school schedule. Perhaps you feel overwhelmed and stressed with everything going on in your family. Or you may be just plain worn out and tired! Whatever the case, we all face discouraging days. Platitudes such as “Hang in there,” “This too shall pass,” and “Everything will work out in the end” sound nice but fail to provide any real encouragement in the end. Only God’s Word can give us the consolation we need when we feel downcast.

Hope for Discouraging Times

I would like to share some of my favorite Scriptures—ones that I turn to whenever I face discouragement.

Psalm 61:2 “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Psalm 94:17–19 “Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”

Psalm 121:1–2 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.”

More Encouragement

If you’re feeling physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually drained, 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 is an excellent passage to meditate on:

“He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

What a beautiful paradox that the weaker we are, the more powerful Christ becomes in us!

Perhaps you’re tempted to believe you have failed as a parent. Even though you’ve disciplined, exhorted, encouraged, and prayed for your children, it seems as though nothing is getting through to them and you’re not seeing any visible changes in their lives. Galatians 6:9 is a verse I have turned to many times when I have felt this way:

“Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

We can confidently claim the promises of God’s Word because we know He is true and faithful and will always keep His promises. Our circumstances or children may not change right away, but our attitude will; and then God will be able to work in our hearts and change us. The next time discouragement attacks your soul, combat it with Scripture.

“My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26).

• • • • •

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.

Time to Refresh Your Homeschool?

by

use computer to refresh your homeschool
The holidays have just finished, and you’re probably about to get back into the same old same old. But how did it go those last few days of homeschooling before the holiday break? If you left off feeling worn out and tired, you may not be so eager to dive back in. If that’s the case, now may be the perfect time to refresh your homeschool. Here are a few ideas for adding excitement and energy into your routine.

Add in Field Trips

If you weren’t able to include many field trips last year, take a few moments to plan out some places you might like to visit this year. Or you can leave room for some spontaneous field trips. Field trips are great opportunities to solidify what your children have learned, but they also present new learning opportunities as well. If you visit a zoo, your children may be able to see live examples of different habitats and how animals live together, but they will also get to see many other aspects of life science that may not be covered in their textbooks.

For example, I recently had an opportunity to visit the South Carolina Aquarium, located in Charleston Harbor. In addition to its wide range of aquatic habitats, the South Carolina Aquarium is also home to the Sea Turtle Care Center, which gives visitors an up close and personal look into the veterinary care of sea turtles. They even had some of their instruments on display. History museums, science museums, art galleries, zoos, and aquariums are all full of opportunities to get your children excited about learning!

Focus on Hands-on Activities

Sometimes, it’s easy to let hands-on activities go by the wayside. You don’t always have all the supplies, and maybe your children already have a good grasp of the material. But hands-on activities have a way of bringing even the most ordinary lessons to life. Many of the activities suggested in BJU Press textbooks straddle the line between play and learning. Your children may be learning about the moon and how its surface was formed, but they’re also getting to make their own play dough and getting to shape the dough themselves. And hands-on activities aren’t just limited to science and art. There are many ways to incorporate hands-on experiences into history and math. Such activities are also great for getting kinesthetic and visual learners engaged in learning.

Reorganize

Nothing says “fresh start” like a newly cleaned space. Before the books start flying again, take a moment to assess your homeschool space, clean it, and maybe reorganize it. If you have a spare room, you could set up your own dedicated homeschool space. Or, if you’ve been using a dedicated homeschool space for a while and it’s starting to feel too much like a brick and mortar school, you can relocate your lessons to the kitchen table instead. Regardless of your set up, you can learn from some of the tips other homeschool moms have found useful. Feeling more adventurous? Here are some other ideas on how to add life to your homeschool space!

We hope your new year of homeschooling goes well! Do you have any ideas for refreshing your homeschool this year? Please share yours in the comments!