Tag: your child is the star of each story

Whether to Homeschool or Not?

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Homeschooling has become more mainstream in recent years, but it is still a rare thing in today’s world. As education becomes more widely available to people from all walks of life, homeschooling is still a thought on many parents’ minds. There are many reasons why parents and caregivers may choose to go the homeschooling route, but there are certain things that you need to keep in mind if you are thinking of doing the same for your children.

Define Your Priorities

For many parents, it is their ideology that drives them to consider homeschooling. If there is a particular set of ideas and values that you would like to impart to your child that they may not receive in another setting, then this is the first thing you have to do. Not only will it help you ultimately make a decision but it can also help shape the way you approach homeschooling if you go down that route.

Know Who You Are

In the same vein as above, it helps for parents and guardians to figure out who they are and what their approach to homeschool is. There are a lot of stereotypes out there, but ultimately you are your own person and your approach to homeschooling will be entirely your own. Knowing what your goals are and what your approach will be can help you make a decision, however, it will have a huge impact on how you go about educating your children as well.

Get Acquainted with Curriculum

Even though you will have more control over what your child learns and how they go about doing so, learning more about curriculum styles and requirements can provide you with guidelines when it comes time to creating your own curriculum for your child. Give yourself some homework and read up on the educational philosophies of homeschooling. Certain ideas and approaches may jump out at you and resonate with your thoughts on homeschooling and why you want to consider it in the first place.

Define Your Time

As a homeschooler, you will need to dedicate a lot of your own time to educating your child, but there are other types of time you may need to allocate as well. For many kids, school is more than just about education but it is also about activity and socialization. It is important that parents take these important types of developmental time into consideration before making a tentative schedule of your own. Will you be able to handle scheduling learning time with these other activities? Doing so can help your child become more well-rounded and aid them when it comes to developing key physical and social skills, so it is vital to keep these other types of learning in mind.

How Will You Support It?

This is perhaps a more pertinent question for parents choosing homeschooling over public schooling, but in any case, homeschooling is a full time job. It demands time, supplies, and resources, too. Parents who might otherwise send their child to private school can allocate those designated funds to support homeschooling, but since public school does not require tuition, the time and effort put into it will need to come from somewhere.

There are many things that parents need to consider before homeschooling. For some, it is a personal choice whereas for other parents, kids with special needs (whether they be related to medical requirements and limitations or learning and behavioral disabilities) or with special circumstances may get the most out of homeschooling because of their needs or because of accessibility. There are plenty of resources for parents to check out, and sometimes medical professionals can offer advice if the choice to homeschool is related to a child’s medical or behavioral needs. Reach out to others, gather differing opinions and ideas, and try to make an educated decision before taking the leap.

Creative Ways To Get Your Kids Reading During the Summer

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Summer vacation should be full of fun and excitement, and for some kids, these concepts don’t always align with the idea of reading. For kids who already love to read, getting them to read over the summer can be a no brainer, and for certain children it may take no work at all. But for reluctant readers, it is important that parents make sure that reading remains a mainstay in their child’s lives. Studies have shown that children who do not read over the summer, especially when in elementary school and in early grades, may get knocked down a reading level or two. By reading consistently, kids can stay at the reading level that is appropriate for their grade and age. Here are some tips on getting kids excited about reading.

Focus on Adventure

Summer is often when families go out on vacation or take long trips. Vacations can be exciting and are often filled with new experiences, so take the spirit of vacation and books into the mix. Encourage kids to research the place your family is planning on visiting this summer. Even if you are unable to go on vacation, kids can explore other places, whether it is distant parts of the world, or fictional realms, all through the power of books. With this criteria in mind, scour the shelves of your local library or bookstore to see what you can find.

Motivation is Key

Children don’t just need to be reading books over the summer they need to be reading the right ones. One of the most important factors when it comes to any activity is the willingness to actually do it. Try not to push books on kids or pick out certain titles only because you think they’re interesting. Sure, providing some suggestions can certainly help, but it is important that kids want to read what they like, and making that choice on their own is one foolproof way to ensure that.

When it comes to making your own suggestions, keep your child’s interests in mind. Provide them with books on activities or subjects you already know they like. A love of learning is likely to inspire them to pick up books on other topics, too, but pushing overly educational books or books kids are simply not interested in can have the opposite effect than the one you’re going for.

Look Local

Whether you make a point of regularly visiting the local library with your child or have them tag along to the bookstore at the mall, making books easily accessible and within reach can help to pique their interests. Many libraries offer programs for kids during the summer months or after school that focus on reading but may also include activities like crafts and games that go hand-in-hand with the reading material.

Get Creative

If your child has other interests, whether it’s drawing, performing, or even talking a lot, you can incorporate these interests into the act of reading. Does your child like to doodle? Have them create illustrations for a book without any pictures. Is your child a movie star in the making? Encourage them to put on a play version of the last book they read for the family. Do they like to hear the sound of their own voice? See if they’ll record themselves reading a book aloud as if they are a radio announcer or an audiobook narrator. There are plenty of ways in which reading can be dynamic, especially if other activities are thrown into the mix.

Great Brain Games for Children

Posted on | by KD Novelties

Brain-training games have grown in popularity, especially with the rise of smartphones where thousands of apps and other games are made available on the go. Many games, especially those featured on sites like Facebook, are aimed towards Baby Boomers, claiming to reverse aging and prevent things like Alzheimer’s. While these sorts of claims are more difficult to prove, brain-training games have worked wonders for kids who are still actively learning, growing and developing, especially kids with learning and language disorders. Brain games can help kids build essential skills that help them process things like problem solving or help boost their memory.

Language Games

Language games may involve building essential skills for English but there are also fun, free apps out there that can help children learn to speak other languages, too.

For parents looking for native language boosting games in English, PBS.org has plenty of vocabulary games that can help children master the alphabet, learn new words, and practice their spelling. PBS also has plenty of reading games that focus more on word association, reading comprehension and writing aspects of language.

Language games can help kids develop key communication skills, reading comprehension skills, and it can boost their vocabulary (reading and speaking) significantly, too.

Math Games

Sites like mathplayground.com and coolmath-games.com feature traditional puzzle-solving games like Sudoku, chess, and more but they also have plenty of games that focus on specific areas of math like addition and subtraction, geometry, ratios and percent’s, and much more. Mathplayground.com has a grade-level feature so kids can play games that are appropriate to their age, grade, and skill-level and divide games into categories to make finding specific types of activities much easier. This is a great way to help kids struggling with a particular topic at school and can make studying much more

Memory Games

Parents may be familiar with apps like Lumosity, but this app actually gets a significant amount of revenue from kids as well as adults. Memory boosting games can be both challenging and fun, encouraging kids to develop skills that are useful in everyday situations as well as a myriad of different school subjects, too.

Puzzle Games

Parents may be more familiar with games like Tetris and Bejeweled Blitz (as well as other games like it) but these are great games to introduce to kids, too. Spatial reasoning is an often-overlooked skill and it can be applied to many situations and circumstances. These games encourage problem solving within a timeframe, which can be anxiety-inducing for some kids, but can also help children make better, more informed decisions on the fly, making moves based on educated guesses without overthinking.

There are many sites with plenty of resources, links and information on games for kids. Brain boosting games can be an essential tool for kids with learning disorders or children who may not benefit as much from a traditional school setting. Trying a different format for learning can be incredibly life changing, and fun, too.