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Getting ready for school? Wondering how you'll give your children an excellent education-without spending a fortune?
Read the August issue of The Old Schoolhouse� Magazine for budget-saving ideas.
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Come Do Your Homework with TOS . . .
Click here to learn more!
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Thanks ever so much. I love the encouraging articles! I really loved the list of 25 all in one place. Nice to have this little bit of "free" encouragement in my mail. I don't have funds to subscribe or purchase frills and with also working more than half time I don't have time to search it out. May God bless you exceedingly.
--Teresa, rural Kansas
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The Old Schoolhouse� Magazine
August 1, 2012
Grammar Worries & How to Get Around Them
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Greetings!
 | | Deborah Wuehler and family |
Grammar. For some reason, and for many years, that word just didn't bring up good feelings in me or my children. (And how exactly do we know if the previous sentence is grammatically correct? In fact, my computer is highlighting it as incorrect grammar. Evidently, I still have lots to learn!)
I have found in my own homeschool that it's all in the way I teach grammar, and in the timing of teaching grammar that makes it most successful.
In the elementary years, we focus on elementary grammar like punctuation and nouns and verbs and adjectives and the like. We do this slowly, and within their own individual writing. In the junior high school years, we normally add a grammar workbook. And in the high school years, we teach structure and style and more grammar, and sometimes even sentence diagramming.
If you have a positive attitude about grammar, then it will come out in your instruction. You can search online and find fun games and ways to learn grammar in a delightful way. If you find yourself lost in the teaching of grammar, our August issue of The Old Schoolhouse� Magazine offers some practical helps:
Oh, and of course, the Bible is a great example of how grammar works in literature. There is a reason for every "jot and tittle" and it is good to find out what those reasons are. We have used Scripture verses in our school as memory and copywork. We can never underestimate the power of the Word of God in our children's hearts and minds. This kind of copywork not only teaches great grammar, but is the beginning of all other knowledge!
God bless you this week as you continue to keep God's children Home Where They Belong. You can do this -- even teach grammar!
~Deborah
TOS Senior Editor
SeniorEditor@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com
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Advertisement
It's that time of year again. Worry is setting in. Not that I'm a proponent of worry. As a matter of fact, I often find myself reminding my kids that worry is as useful as a handle on a snowball! Perhaps it's time I start listening to my own reminders. Yet as I look at the date on the calendar, worry and stress begin to seep into my thoughts. The school year is approaching quickly, and I find myself fretting through the planning process. Can you relate?
Several times a day it seems my mind travels to my mental schoolroom. I begin to worry about curriculum choices. Is math covered? How about science? History? What music lessons should we do? How about swim lessons? Do I want to sign up for field trip groups? What about co-ops? Which homeschool conventions should I attend? English! Did I plan for English? *sigh* See what I mean? I find myself trapped inside of my mental schoolroom, once again paralyzed by worry, fretting that I may forget something.
I remind myself to sit back, take a deep breath, and relax. Read Matthew 6:25-27. This is a constant, living reminder that everything is going to be OK. So the next time you find yourself caught up in worry, remember that worry gains you nothing--but freedom from worry gains you much. So let's see . . . math? Check! Science? Check! History? Check . . .
Did you know that www.SchoolhouseTeachers.com can be a stress reliever? It's my personal "worry-free" zone. I can use my planning time efficiently and find so many useful lessons at my fingertips. Now, what's covered on my checklist? How about some guidance with grammar? Check out the Daily Grammar activities at http://schoolhouseteachers.com/category/daily-grammar/.
Need some clever way to enhance your curriculum? Visit www.SchoolhouseTeachers.com to meet teachers who have planned some great lessons! You can even download our 2012-13 Schoolhouse Planners as part of your SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership. You can have a teacher's planner and student planners for the whole year. There are student planners for all ages and needs: elementary, middle school, high school, and special needs. You can download some sample pages of the Schoolhouse Planner from this page: http://schoolhouseteachers.com/sample-pages/. Now that's organization that helps make me worry-free!
Join now! It's as easy as Point. Click. Teach.
Lori Scheele
lscheele@thehomeschoolmagazine.com
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Announcement
Vote today!
Have you voted yet for your favorite homeschool resources for teaching the ages or grades that you are teaching? Today is the last day that you can vote for the companies or curricula that you believe are the best of the best in homeschool educational materials, curriculum providers, and supplemental products.
Click on this link to take a short survey and let us know which homeschool materials are your favorites. (And receive a free E-Book, Back-to-School Starter Kit, just for voting!)
Hurry, survey runs through today, August 1, 2012. Voice your opinions now!
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Announcement
Are you a parent or grandparent to boys? Could you use some advice as you raise them to be Godly men? Do you need encouragement when it comes to parenting?
Please join us for an encouraging night with Hal and Melanie Young live on August 23, 2012, at 7 p.m. EST for a FREE Online Schoolhouse Expo!
Hal and Melanie Young are the homeschooling parents of six boys and two girls and the authors of Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching, and Appreciating Boys, Practical Guide to Equipping Hearts and Minds of Boys without Losing or Breaking Your Own.
Then welcome our guest speaker David Stelzl of Raising Entrepreneurs as he leads the workshop: Starting a Business in High School. David is a speaker, strategist, coach, author, and homeschooling dad of seven children ranging from 4 to 20 years of age.
Deborah Wuehler, Senior Editor for The Old Schoolhouse � Magazine will also be presenting the devotional, Homeschooling: Preparing Your Heart and Home. Deb has been a Devotional Editor almost ten years and is a homeschooling mom of eight children aged 3 to 20: several ordinary children, a few gifted, a couple of struggling learners, and one special needs child.
Get sound Biblical advice for raising young men--FREE!
Visit SchoolhouseExpo.com for more information and to register.
Reserve your FREE seat today---only 1000 available
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The Familyman
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Todd Wilson
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Todd Wilson, Familyman Ministries
Before I address the grammar worries dilemma, let me first respond to all of you who have asked, "When are you going to offer a new Homeschool Cartoon Calendar?" Well, we have a new one and it's now available. In fact, this handy dandy, school-year calendar (Aug 2012-July 2013) has 12 brand new, never-before-seen-by-homeschooling-eyes cartoons!!! So what are you waiting for? Get one for yourself and one for a friend.
Now back to the business at hand . . . how to get around grammar worries. First of all, don't worry (God said not to). Second of all, stop doing grammar if it's stressing you or your kids out. If you've been around long enough, you know what I'm going to say. I'm just about convinced that the only purpose of grammar is to give textbook printers another book to print and schools another class to offer.
I make my living writing and speaking . . . yet I don't know didly about grammar. I can't diagram sentences and don't know the difference between a direct object and an indirect object. Now if your child is planning on become an English teacher or editor, it might come in handy, but to just trudge through the grammar treadmill because someone said "kids need to know grammar" is silly.
My secret is that if you know how to talk well . . . er . . . good, you'll learn to write well. Hey, and if you need some help on grammar, there are plenty of helps available.
You homeschool, and the beauty of homeschooling is that if you think grammar is important, then you can teach it, and if you don't, then you don't have to. So if you think I'm all wet, then go ahead and teach your children about dangling parti-thingamajigs. But if you keep asking yourself, "Why do my kids need to know this stuff . . . it seems useless to me?" then allow me to swing wide the cell door and point the way out.
Be real,
Todd
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Relational Homeschooling
www.DianaWaring.com
 | | Diana Waring |
Dear Friends,
I love what Jesus said in Matthew 6:27. Have you ever pondered its meaning in your own life? I have! I mean, really, which of us have actually grown taller through worrying about our height?
That's ridiculous, you say.
You're exactly right.
Now, let's take the absolute ridiculousness of worrying about our height (since it doesn't do a bit of good) and apply it to today's subject: Grammar Worries . . .
Does it help our kids learn grammar when we're worried about it? When we are marking their papers wrong; nagging them to do better?
No.
So, what does help them learn grammar?
Well, based on my own experience with my kids, I would have to say, "Find ways to play with and enjoy grammar." That is what will help them to absorb it, learn it, remember it, and be able to use it!
Can you imagine playing with grammar? I couldn't . . . until one September day when I pulled out the grammar book we had picked up at a homeschool convention.
(Forgive me if you've already heard this story, but it bears repeating.)
The very first page had a list of prepositions that students were supposed to memorize.
Oh, dear. I knew that my kids were not going to do well with that, especially my constantly-moving, always-fidgeting Michael. If we were going to make it through that grammar lesson, it was going to have to be physical and fun!
That's when the idea came to me of acting out each of the prepositions: in, around, under, behind, above . . .
Believe me, we were acting and looking like monkeys, as we tried to find ways to physically demonstrate those words! We were all laughing, enjoying so much the opportunity to be crazy.
And that's the sort of fun activity that I mean. The more your kids enjoy it, the better they will remember it. And, best of all, you'll be building fabulous memories that will stay with them throughout their lives.
Be encouraged! Take one step at a time, break down each piece into something that you can have fun with, and, before you know it, your kids will be running grammatical circles around you!!
Stay relational,
Diana
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Announcement
Creation Revolution
What creature helps keep the world from being overrun by insects and produces silk that is as strong as the threads used to make Kevlar? Did you guess the spider? You're correct! Read "Secrets of Spider Silk" to learn more about the webs spiders weave.
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Contest Corner
For the month of August, 2012
Go Science: Volume 6 (Water, Space, Solar System)
Library and Educational Services is a wholesale supplier of Christian, wholesome, educational books, CDs, DVDS, games, and more. They offer a 30-70 % discount to wholesale customers including resellers, educators, libraries, churches, and schools. Homeschoolers are considered educators and are able to create a free account and purchase through LES! We had an opportunity to review one of their many products: Go Science DVDs.
Go Science is a DVD Series featuring Ben Roy who teaches Science Methods at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is the former director of a science program on television. There are 6 DVDS in the series: Vol 1 Motion, Vol 2 Simple Machines, Sound, and Weather, Vol 3 Magnetism, Electricity, Engineering and Design, Vol 4 Chemistry, States of Matter, and Life Sciences, Vol 5 Air and Flight, and Vol 6 Water, Space, and Solar System. Throughout the DVDs, Ben captivates, inspires, and motivates children ages 6-14 to be excited about science while giving them instruction based on scientific phenomenon. More importantly, each of his demonstrations has a spiritual application and points to our Creator, God. (...)
To read the rest of this Crew review Click Here.
You can win this DVD!
TO ENTER:
Email Deb (SeniorEditor@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com) with your name, mailing address, and phone number for contact purposes, with the subject line, "Go Science" for a chance to win* the DVD!
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