-by Mimi Rothschild
Sometimes we homeschoolers are so quick to defend our choice that we dismiss some real concerns. One of those is loneliness.
Schoolchildren can face some terrible problems with bullying, inappropriate relationships, or peer pressure, but the child who studies at home alone may truly face loneliness. Even if there are other
children in the neighborhood, they may be closer to one another from spending time together in school, and it can be hard for the homeschooled neighbor to join in and feel like a full part of the group.
Those of us with large families may find it hard to imagine that our children could be lonely. Still, the older sibling who helps care for younger children may not feel that the little ones are friends as
much as chores, however beloved. The young child with plenty of older siblings may not have a playmate who likes the “baby games” that are age-appropriate.
Both of these challenges can be met with homeschool groups and associations, church friendships, and community groups. Yet some parents, determined to make sure that their children don’t lack for peer group interaction, set aside their own needs so much that they end up lonely themselves. A parent who stays at home to teach the children can feel isolated. Mothers of infants often feel
starved of adult companionship, but once their children are older, they return to work or community
service and find themselves making new friends. Homeschool moms, lacking the PTA or the professional organization, can find that this isolation stretches out for many more years.
Some things to think about on this subject:
• Don’t expect loneliness. Sometimes we rush to fill our children’s time with structured
activities, when they actually would enjoy time on their own, or benefit from the opportunity to learn
to entertain themselves. Many of us have found that we have gained spiritual insights and growth from time on our own, and it can encourage creativity as well. If your children feel lonely, address it, but don’t go overboard on preventive measures.
• Don’t be afraid of loneliness. Our life experience as adults tells us that there are times in our lives when we have many friends, and times when we have few. Studying the lives of the people in the Bible shows us that God blesses people in groups and on their own. We even know that we can be in the midst of a group of people and still feel loneliness. Loneliness can be what God has planned for us at
some times in our lives.
• Don’t ignore loneliness. If loneliness is a problem for your child, or for you, talk about ways
to arrange more opportunities to be in fellowship with other people. Joining groups can be a solution.
So can inviting friends to visit, developing online friendships, or spending time in service to others.
Homeschool parents especially need to be sure not to neglect their spouses. Caring for children can
become so completely the focus of your household that your marriage takes a back seat to homeschooling, and that can easily lead to feelings of loneliness. Whether this is a time in your life – or your child’s life – when God has a plan for you that involves something you can learn from loneliness, or those feelings of loneliness are telling you to step out of your home and serve others or enjoy fellowship with others, pray for God’s guidance and follow His direction. Deuteronomy 31:8 reminds us, “And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”
-by Mimi Rothschild
Incorporating what is happening in politics today into your homeschool lessons is a critical part of developing well-rounded, balanced students who are armed to face the world as they grow older. There is no better time to do so than now, with another presidential race in progress right before our eyes.
But what is the best way to draw your children in, and make it interesting? How do we instill in them the importance and gravity of selecting a leader for our country? It can be difficult, particularly with the media bias. It is quite evident that most national news networks favor liberal parties in their reporting. So the responsibility to provide your children with a true idea of what is happening in our country lies with you. Talk to them about the presidential race, and the candidates who are running. Explain to them, on their level, the difference in the views of each party, and what they both stand for. Encourage your children to ask questions, and take part in discussions about politics. Depending on their age, ask them to define what they believe to be the most important topics that our future president (and other political leaders) should stand behind.
Discussing current politics is also a great way to tie back into the subject of U.S. History, and remind your students of how this country was founded on freedom and democracy, and most importantly, Christian principles.
Relay to them the importance of voting, when they come of age, and how critical it is that we all have a say in who leads this country. Every vote really does count, so make that clear to them at a young age. And don’t forget to make it fun. If you have two or more students, organize mock political debates so they have the opportunity to think critically and articulate. (Not to mention, this will also help with public speaking skills.)
Discussing the topic of government and politics is also a wonderful way to remind children of the importance of praying for our country, and its leaders, so be sure to include this in your devotional as well. If you make a point to work at incorporating current events into your daily lessons, your children are sure to benefit on many levels in the future. And so will our country. God bless America!
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Mimi Rothschild is the Founder of Learning By Grace, Inc. the nation’s leading provider of online PreK-12 online Christian educational programs for homeschoolers.
By Mimi Rothschild, Founder of Learning By Grace, Inc., the nation’s leading provider of online Christian programs for homeschoolers.
It is the first day of the new homeschool year. The homeschooling parent studies the faces before her. How shall she guides these children who look to her to open the way of life to them? Her eagerness to help them, her Christian purposes, her knowledge of the Bible necessary as they are are not enough for all that must be done. Children have basic needs. Children need to know that God invites them to enter into a deep personal relationship with him. They need to understand that through repentance and trust naming claim God’s forgiveness and help because he is promised these. Just when the child’s realization of his need for God will come the teacher cannot know. His confidence must rest upon his knowledge that God is the initiator, but his spirit is already seeking after each member of the homeschool group, continually active, continually present in human life.
God, in winning the children for Christ’s. So the homeschooling teacher counts herself a humble coworker with God in winning her children were cries. In order to be effective in soul winning, the homeschooling parent must know these children if she is to win their confidence in each one to become the best that he or she can be. As Emmett A. that’s says, we must learn our children before we can teach them. This is double the true leaders value individual personality and refuse to accept an assembly line ideal as their goal for children’s progress towards Christ likeness of the homeschooling teacher must learn to know her children by every means at her command. She must know what they are like, how they learn and what can be expected of them individually. She must discover their strong points, while not overlooking their weak ones. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways by which an adult leader may be calm, acquainted with her homeschooled children.
Undoubtedly, the people who know the children best, are his parents. Not only has the mother given birth to him, but she has lived with him in closest in Tennessee for all of his life. The parent knows the state of the child’s health, is present stage and rate of growth, what era tapes or embarrasses him, whether or not he reads easily, who are his friends, and if he is over six, but his academic achievements are thus far. The importance of this information is obvious to every homeschooling parent.
Other issues that a homeschooling parent should consider when teaching her children are things like how many and what sort of adults. Does he have to adjust. Is the child lost among many brothers and sisters? Is he a pampered only child or an overburdened oldest child? Is he the only boy among many sisters? Is she the only girl among many brothers? What is his relationship to his siblings like, whether his responses and reactions to others in the family? All these matters are important if the homeschooling parent is to help the individual child to grow
Every homeschooling teacher has a purpose. His or her purpose may be stated in many ways, but however they differ, the goals of Christian homeschooling are almost always centered around bringing our children to a closer relationship with the Lord and a better understanding of His creation. Teachers will be found to have one desire and one goal in common. Each desires to see the children in his or her care developed into a loyal, affected Christians, and each purpose is to guide their child through his throws in that direction. How that dieting will be done, what materials and methods will be used, depends on the wisdom, experience and knowledge of the child nature which the individual homeschooling teacher learns.
Homeschooling programs should have both long-term and short-term goals. The thoughtful homeschooling parent always keeps in mind that Christlike character is one of the primary purposes of the program. Most parents know that Christlike character does not come all at once, but that it is always a matter of slow growth. Homeschooling parents want children in their programs to be interested, engaged and happy while they are learning and growing.
All this means that the homeschooling teachers concerned not only with the kind of man that Terri will be calm, but with what is happening to Terri now. Bus, his purpose includes both a long-term goal of building a Christlike character, and the immediate objective, which may be to beat Kerry to share his new football with the boy next door. The teacher keeps in mind the ultimate goal, which is to help Terri become a Christian citizen will act and react in his homeschool, and in his church, in his community as one who is truly a believer. Parents also want their children to meet the tests of life now, on his present level of development. So sometimes the near and far goldens merge and become one. There are many experiences and opportunities which are homeschooling children need now. With the ultimate goal in mind, the homeschooling teacher plans for her children so that each experience, each opportunity is a step towards that goal. Children need to know that what Jesus said about worshiping God in spirit and in truth, and to discover what this means for a 10-year-old 15 and even a three year old. You must find ways of helping his brother, which will not humiliate him what make it difficult for him to help himself. He must learn the difference between giving and sharing. Through such experiences our homeschool students can grow in sympathy and in understanding.
In all of our planning for our children’s educational christian homeschool programs, we must use our utmost wisdom, and all the knowledge we can gain about the nature and needs of our children. We must strive to give the children many successful experiences in Christian living. Of course, we also realize that none of us grow steadily toward perfection. We all stumble at times and fall: Nice skin and then we need to repent and ask forgiveness which God grants us freely through Christ. It is at such times that we need the guidance of loving and understanding parents and friends, especially while we are still image were in our attempts to live as followers of Christ. The homeschooling parent may sometimes feel inadequate, but we can always remember that we are workers for God and that God’s grace will supply all of our human needs.
By: Mimi Rothschild
Homeschooling is an important, life changing step for you and your child or children. It is a calculated decision not made on impulse, rather a daily choice to instill Christian values and be a positive role model in his/her life.
Here are three easy tips to sustaining your decision and maximizing the overall experience:
•1.) Start on time
Sure, things happen and reasons turn into excuses quicker than flapjacks can turn into Frisbees. And it is as much on you as it is the student/s. Pick a time, agree to it with your child or children, and stick to it. If your child is ten or fifteen minutes late to class, keep him or her during recess or after school for that same amount of time. Think of it this way: were you or your spouse allowed to arrive and depart work whenever you pleased? School is a student’s job. Teaching is your calling. You can do it with diligence and integrity!
•2.) Bathroom pass
Yes, this does sound silly. We can agree on it, but try it. It works for some families. Have a lesson plan or morning activity to create a lovable and livable set of rules and a bathroom pass. My kids, during one of our art classes, cut theirs into the shape of a skeleton key and wrapped it with layers and layers of clear contact paper making it stiff as a board – they said it felt more real that way. Hanging it under their progress chart reminded them that every action has an equally powerful reaction. Miss class because you are playing with the dog instead of using the bathroom, no gold star for the morning, afternoon or perhaps even the day!
•3.) Divide and Conquer, with books
If you find your child losing his/her attention quickly and distracting your other students/children, consider building a bookcase or divider to keep the focus. Bookcases were particularly helpful in our home, because it enabled me to see the learning in my children’s eyes. No distractions. Plus, reference material was right at their fingertips. Our computer was located behind them, so I could see the monitor while one of them was completing their course work online.
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I know structure and discipline aren’t easy exercises to instill, but I also know that time and effort will equate to success. Utilize these three easy steps and you’ll find yourself and your students maximizing your time together. If you need it, you can create daily structure, discipline and an enriching experience for you and your children. I bet you’ll be pleased with the results!
Feel free to e-mail me at Mimi@LearningbyGrace.org with questions or techniques you find helpful. God Bless!