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Issue #014 - January 2008


Overload

The start of the 2008 school year is here! Aren’t you delighted to not have to send your little ones off to their first day on Grade 1 where they will be facing all sorts of new and possibly frightening experiences!

How exciting to see the new homeschoolers who have purchased Footprints or another curriculum! It is indeed a blessing to serve the parents of this country in this way!

Often as parents order their books from us they tell us their other plans for the year or ask us advice on what add-ons they should use. We do have suggested list of things to add to our programs but besides for Maths and a second language, they are entirely optional.

Why are we sharing this with you? Because we want to help you not fall into the trap of curriculum overload. Read on…

Advice

When we come to the end of the year we are very aware of what we did not cover academically. We may also be aware of “character” issues that we overlooked in our children’s lives. This has two effects on parents – one set may beat themselves up about it but do nothing to improve the situation, the other group may set out to “plug the holes”. Some parents do this plugging by buying curriculum to meet a need.

When parents start loading on the work they also begin to miss the bigger picture. We believe that the bigger picture is threefold:

  • Homeschooling is an adventure with your children. It is a way to develop a lifelong learner, a child passionate about God and His people, and preparing a future adult to make a difference in their community.

  • As a parent you will never teach your children all there is to know...this is an impossible task. The goal of a parent is to connect the child with thoughts, ideas and knowledge and give them the academic skills to spend their time learning.

  • We are not homeschooling so that our children can fit neatly into a grade. Hardly anyone is able to say that all children at a particular age read or do the same level maths as the next child. You are dealing with unique individuals and as such you should be tailoring your family’s curriculum around your unique needs.

    • When these three issues are understood, the mad rush for curriculum is slowed and a parent can carefully decide what will suit the purposes of their children and work together as a family on a learning adventure.

    Free Printables

    Due to a crazy ordering season we have not added any new page to the site this month but will do as soon as we get a break. Be sure to remember to check back often.

    Websites

    As always we plan a few educational outings for the footprints families who live in Cape Town. We have outing planned to Groot Constantia, Kleinplaasie, Art Museums amongst others. Educational outings are a valuable part of your children’s learning and help them to cement abstract thoughts and ideas.

    If you are looking for outings to educational places in your town be sure to check out www.southafrica.net

    Footprints News

    We are hosting our annual Footprints Workshop for new homeschoolers using one of our programs. Our workshop format is designed to help Footprints families get the maximum benefit from their programs as well as to spend time encouraging them in their homeschool walk. The workshop is on the 23rd February and if you are a Footprints user, please contact us for more information.

    If you haven’t already, please consider supporting the children at Mount Moriah buy purchasing our donation based lapbook using the children’s story book Fly Eagle Fly We hope to develop more of these units in 2008 for parents so that they can help those in need as well as enrich their children’s educational journey.

    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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    "The way you help heal the world is you start with your own family."
    ~ Mother Teresa

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