Give Her Credit For Her Chores!

Take out the time to teach your high school age daughter the things she'll need to know to be a proper homemaker ~ then give her a credit in home economics toward her graduation! Take 30 minutes to an hour a couple of times a week and teach her to cook by picking out mouth-watering recipes and instructing her about proper measurements, techniques, etc. Buy a recipe file box so she can save each one she masters. Teach her to sew, crochet, scrub floors properly, and even how to fold fitted sheets. Just make sure you are there to instruct her every step of the way! Praise her for tasty meals and tidy rooms. She'll appreciate this knowledge when she becomes a mom, and she'll enjoy having this quality time with you! You may even benefit and enjoy a neater home and a break from cooking as her skills become refined!

Rev up the Brain With Excercise!

It's so easy when you home school to skip the physical education. Often recess is taken in their rooms or in the kitchen munching. A physical education class is sometimes spent on mild activity or skipped altogether. However, these times of activity may be more important than learning their geography. Two to four breaks a day including such things as jump roping, shooting hoops, and running laps may be just what your child needs to fire up their learning experience. It gives them time to refocus and gets the blood pumping to their brains. You may be surprised what a difference an hour a day of activity could make in their grades and their health! Also, get them out in the sun when you can, this will just add to the benefits!

Spark Creativity!

Arts and crafts are a must for elementary age children. This usually works well about 2 hours before school is over. This is when kids start getting disinterested and tired. Seasonal projects work really well. In the fall go outside and pick up pretty leaves and let them decorate cards or bulletin boards. In the winter let them cut snowflakes from paper, make colored paper chains, or string popcorn to decorate the Christmas tree. Pine cones may be collected and dusted with glitter, or painted with craft paints. These look nice on the tree as well or you they may use them to decorate their work areas. Spring brings new life, so let them plant a seed and put it in the window. This could double as a science project. The ideas are limitless. The main thing is to keep it educational and of course fun! Any ideas you want to share? Post a comment!

Display Your Homeschool Pride!

Do you ever have to run to the library with your kids on a "school day" or want to go out for lunch, and you're tired of people asking why your kids aren't in school? An easy and affordable way to take care of this problem would be to make an outing uniform. Take a plain,white T-shirt or sweat shirt, and make an iron-on transfer for it stating your homeschool pride. You can make these transfers right from your own computer! Just design what you want on your computer, and buy the blank transfers from your local craft store or eBay, and print them off! Iron-on and you have a nice-looking outing uniform! Now folks can see that although you're "out" your children are in school! Another way is to buy pre-made homeschooling tees at HStees.com!

Their Own Home Office!

It's a good idea, even though you're at home to have a set place to hold class. If you have enough room in your home it is a great idea to have a "school room." Decorate it with bulletin boards, charts, photos etc., just anything that will make it seem like school. Too much clutter on the walls can be distracting, however. If you are not able to have a "room" for school, try and do lessons in the same place everyday. This gives the children a sense of order and you don't have to figure out where they will be working. They can just go to their "place" and get started!