20 Years of Homeschooling a Houseful

8 September 2006

Three Stars & A Wish

This is a little trick that I learned from a special education teacher that has blessed our own family immeasurably. I use it the most with my children's writing. Before I let you in on my little secret, I do want to expound for a minute about homeschoolers and writing.

If we are painfully honest with ourselves, writing is probably the area where homeschoolers as a group are the most lacking. We have soft mother hearts and when our children are struggling to form the letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs...we like to step in. Now, don't misunderstand me...oftentimes, we should step in. But, you need to be excruciatingly aware of the fine line between easing frustration and hindering crucial skill development.

Children in formal school settings are forced to communicate in writing simply because a teacher cannot possibly get oral answers from twenty children all day long. We can do most things orally, which is a wonderful blessing for a struggling learner. It allows a child with poor skill development to continue learning at or above the levels of his peers or grade expectations. I think that's great....with a giant "BUT" at the end!

Here's the rub...you must always be seeking to improve the lacking skills. Each day a little more should be required than the previous day. When they get frustrated, you say "ok, just one more". Look for non-threatening times away from "school" to practice (grocery lists, notes in Daddy's lunchbox, a "mailbox" with siblings, an email to Grandma, etc...).

So, finally, after all the waiting...here's the tip called "three stars and a wish". Whenever your children are writing (or doing anything, I guess), you find three things to praise and one thing to work on. For example, you are looking at an 8 year-old's paragraph about dolphins and you say...
1) I see that you ended all of your sentences with a period. Good job.
2) You have really learned a lot about dolphins. I love how you described the way they "talk" to each other.
3) You left just the right amount of spaces between your words.

I have one wish for your next paragraph. Do you remember how each sentence should begin? Yes, we need to put a capital letter to help send a signal to the person reading that a new sentence has started.

Now, this paragraph is riddled with spelling errors, and probably has very few descriptive words. Each sentence has the same format and starts exactly the same way. The handwriting is messy, and there is no identation of the paragraph. If you enlightened your 8 year-old to all of these truths, the eyes would glaze and you would have a very reluctant writer tomorrow! Children really achieve when they feel good about what they've accomplished and just need to make one little extension to improve things even more.

Choose a few goals for the year, and work toward mastering one item at a time. With sentences, beginning with a capital letter and punctuation at the end goes a long way toward a great paper. If my second grader only got that down, I'd be thrilled.

This is the way I use three stars and a wish most, but it is also excellent for chore training! I could go on and on, but I'll spare you and let you come up with more ideas for yourself (and for me!!!)

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7 September 2006

Sometimes It's the Little Things

Posted in Practical Education Tips

Have you ever noticed that often it isn't some earth-shattering realization that makes life noticeably easier, better, or more joyful? Lately, a bunch of little ideas or helps have all built upon one another and things have fallen in to place exactly that way! (If you're experiencing the opposite feeling...like it's all falling apart...be aware that this same principle can work in reverse. It may be the little things you can't quite put your finger on that are wreaking havoc in your home.)

So, here's one of the simple little ideas that is making life much easier. When I have children who are learning to write, I have often "dotted" out the letters that I want them to practice. Later, I found a cool website that would make writing sheets for me, but they weren't in the style of handwriting I use, and I was always forgetting to print them. Enter my wonderful friend, Martha, who benignly suggests that I simply use a highlighter and let Sorche go over it with her own pencil. I am pretty sure there was an audible "duh" heard 'round the world! Better yet, let's imagine the hallelujah chorus!

This one little trick has improved her handwriting exponentially, and lowered my stress level. I can print anything for her to write "on the fly". Even older children who have difficulty with writing can use this method to practice spelling words. I like the retractable highlighters with a finer point. Now, if I could just find one that comes on a lanyard! I'll just buy in bulk.

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About Me

When I was a young mother and homeschooler over 20 years ago, I searched for a mother of many as a mentor. I found a few women along the way that helped me with parenting, but I was blazing my own trail for the most part with homeschooling. I see now how God used that situation to draw me closer to Him. It also forced me to develop my own vision and legacy of homeschooling, rather than simply copying the plans of another. Other than simple teaching experience, I have been mostly heavily influenced by the philosophies of Charlotte Mason and Thomas Jefferson Education (Oliver DeMille). I have read extensively about all kinds of homeschooling, and have enjoyed or endured brief forays into other methods. Later, as more books were available, and especially when I went online in 1993, many doors for fellowship and sharing ideas were opened. Now that I have moved into a new stage of mothering (no babies or toddlers, children moving out and marrying), I wanted to capture some of those things I most wished I had known when I had a houseful of small children. I want to encourage other moms to "stay the course". I have never regretted these years spent homeschooling. It was the best decision I have ever made. I now know that choosing a philosophy and curriculum need not be the basis for educating my children. God gives the vision, and we just need to get out of the boat and start walking toward Him.