Christian Parenting-101

Homeschooling Socialization Concerns

1. Will my child be unsocialized if we homeschool?

   The answer is No! Children who are homeschooled can not only communicate effectively with kid's their own age, but also with people of any age. I have found in my experience that my children weren't afraid to ask questions, be quick to answer questions. They have gotten along very well with other kid's and had no problems with social skills.  They have been homeschooled their entire lives.
   

2. How can I make sure my child gets social time?

   As a homeschool family there are many options available to you to make sure your child recieves time to socialize with other children.  Some of the options include: sports, co-op's, church activities, dance, scouts, and just  time at home with siblings helps with this.  There are countless ways to get your child involved with activities in your area.
   

What about special needs children?

1. My child has been diagnoised with ADHD, what should I do concerning curriculum?

        Since ADHD children have a strong NEED to move, I would probably encourage more oral... work, reading aloud to him, allowing him to answer questions orally rather than spend long periods writing.

    

   Generally speaking, insisting on what he is incapable of doing (sit still and write), will be counter productive. Instead, offer shorter lessons and do the 'writing' necessary by writing in a sand table, in shaving creme on a cookie sheet, etc that requires large muscle groups instead of fine motor skills. I've heard several mothers say their ADHD child learned math tables while jumping on a trampoline and saying the problems orally. Another recommendation I've heard some have success with is to do short (10-15 minute) lessons, broken up with some physical activity such as running around the house or swimming laps in the pool.

    

   As the child gets older and learns strategies for managing their ADHD symptoms they can easily shift the large muscle exercises, such as writing in a sand table, to the small muscle movements required for writing and playing instruments, etc.

        Daily routines (not rigid schedules) and physical boundaries made all the difference in the world. Not to *confine* him, but to help him feel secure so he could focus and calm himself. The house I had at the time had 3 rooms that opened one into the next to make a large loop. I had to gate off one of the doorways to 'break the loop' to keep him from frantically running around and around all day, even knocking over other children who happened into his path accidentally. He wasn't being mean or aggressive, he just HAD to keep running! Once I blocked one doorway, he could relax and play nicely, walk from room to room as needed, and be kind to the other children if they were in his way.

    

   In an older child like your friend's, this might mean he could need the TV to be OFF, not just in another room, no music playing while he's working (or maybe just quiet soothing music rather than peppy get-your-day-going type of music). A lot will probably be trial and error to find what works best,  but the key is not to expect him to always respond like other children and for you to be his partner in discovering what strategies make focusing easier for him, and what things make it harder or impossible. Usually children with ADHD get a lot of criticism from other adults, so knowing that his own parents are on his side, we're all one team, can make all the difference in how he feels about himself and the challenges and gifts that come with the label.

        I think it really matters less which curriculum you choose (of course a strictly workbook curriculum is likely to be a constant frustration for both the parent and the child, but is more about how you approach the curriculum. Curriculum is a tool, not your master, and you are allowed to make adjustments to their recommendations as needed for your own situation. Just because a curriculum requires the student to write this down, or read that long passage for this lesson doesn't mean he has to do it all at one sitting, or even on one day, if breaking it up works better for their needs.

   
   

    

The Making of a Bookworm

1. How can I help my child learn to read?

   There are many ways to produce an excellent reader, the ways in which we taught our children to read and enjoy it at the same time was this. We read to them a lot when they were babies, they grew this way to love books and stories. When the...y were older around 5-6 we started with sight words and of course after they learned the alphabet we began sounding out the sounds that the letters made. After they had that down we moved on to "Bob Books" for beginning readers. We moved on to very small books with a few more words like the "Hello Readers" by Scholastic, Dr. Suess books or the Bernstein Bears collection. I have found that if you go in stages, and keep your little ones interested and having fun, they won't become frustrated and want to quit reading. "The Golden Book" series has some great Christian titles you could try also. I used the library to bring home my limit of books each week, and made sure that my children were reading, with our without me by them. I tried to keep them ENJOYING this time, as this is the goal. If you find they are having trouble with the words or struggling to comprehend the content, you may need to go back to an easier book style and try it again. I had to do that a couple of times myself. It really does take a lot of practice to becoming fluent readers. Have patience and find what works!

    

   There are Christian beginner books available for purchase from:

   Abeka

   Rod & Staff

   Bob Jones