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Reaching Higher Homeschool Ezine, Issue #007 -- Hands On
June 25, 2007
Reaching Higher is a free, monthly homeschool ezine to encourage and equip homeschoolers, bringing you the best advice, articles, websites and encouragement we can to help you as you raise your young ones and build your family legacy!

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Issue #007 - June 2007


Holidays and Hands On

Let’s face it, there are some moms who love hands on activities for their children’s schooling and have no problem adding in kinesthetic learning experience for everything. Then there are others who find the setting up (and cleaning up) exhausting so steer clear of them entirely.

How does a mom who doesn’t like hands on activities start to incorporate it into her children’s days without feeling overwhelmed? Well, slowly! Here are some tips:

  • Never feel the need to do something if the heart motivation is to keep up with a friend.

  • Choose hands on activities that are relevant to the studies and not busy work.

  • Art and crafts are always fun, plan them once a week (if you can!).

  • Watch your children’s free time pursuits, often they naturally include hands on learning themselves if you have the right things available.

  • Keep your art cupboard stocked so that it is not an overwhelming task for you to have to go and buy something when they want to be creative.

  • Try doing art projects with another family – the company and extra person to supervise make it much more fun!
  • Stick to easy to clean projects (like cutting and pasting rather than painting) if your children are really small or there are disruptive toddlers around!



    • Encouragement

    "It is a great thing to be a parent : there is no promotion, no dignity, to compare with it."

    ...It is upon the mothers of the present that the future of the world depends, in even a greater degree than upon the fathers, because it is the mothers who have the sole direction of the child's early, most impressionable years.
    This is why we hear so frequently of great men who had good mothers - that is, mothers who brought up their children themselves, and did not make over their gravest duty to indifferent persons." Charlotte Mason, 1893, Home Education, pages 1 & 2.

    May you be encouraged, over this holiday time, to continue or even to focus specially on training children in good habits, keep up with chores, good manners and other character training that may not receive so much attention during the rigours of the school term.


    Advice

    Tip: We have a new "rule" in our home - no one is allowed to say, "Mom, I'm bored." The word 'bored' has been declared a swear word in our house! Since God gave each of us a brain, two hands and the gift of creativity, and since there are plenty of toys, games, puzzles,sports equipment and craft supplies no one has any reason to 'swear' at their mother!


    Free Printables

    This month we have some pages for your children relating to their family and pets. You can download the family history and pets notebooking pages on our Free Printables page on our Footprints website.

    Read more about Homeschool Notebooking here.

    STOP PRESS! - We will bring you free printable notebooking pages in every issue of this E-zine! These pages are specifically designed for families who use Footprints On Our Land programs but are available for use in all homes as your children delight in our land.


    Websites

    Being holidays, you can put aside all daily academic disciplines and enjoy some more fun activities with your children in between catching up on the things that you cannot get to during school term.

    A great idea is to create a “waterhole mural”.

    Also remember the crafty links we mentioned last month:

    Little Kids Crafts for all seasons

    365 Crafts for Kids

    Creative Playdough Ideas for Kids




    Footprints News

    Be sure to visit Footprints at the Cape Town Curriculum Expo on the 15th of September 2007. We will have the all new look Footprints into the 21st Century for 12 – 14 year olds.

    Nelson Mandela’s birthday is coming up on the 18th of July. We have reviewed some wonderful books about Mandela. Plan ahead and purchase one or two of these books and combine it with the notebooking pages from our site to add to your study of this famous man.




    Specially for you

    About a year ago we started our new Footprints site, www.south-african-homeschool-curriculum.com. We knew there was a growing need for South African parents to have a website that would not only showcase our literature based curriculum specifically designed to teach children about our awesome land, but also where parents could go for homeschool encouragement and "how-to" topics.

    Perhaps you have a burning issue, a hobby or an area of expertise that you would like to share with the world? Our webhosting company, Sitesell.com has an amazing offer where you can buy one site and get an additional one for only $100.

    So if you have been thinking about starting your own website and perhaps have a friend to share the cost you can each start your own on-line business for only half the normal cost! Be sure to read about how many moms are taking a slice of the web and creating a profitable on-line business from their interest, hobbies and knowlegde. The offer ends on 6 July 2007.



    Till next month, we wish you every blessing

    Wendy and Shirley

    www.south-african-homeschool-curriculum.com

    Footprints On Our Land - South African Homeschool Curriculum





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