Homeschooling Potporri

A few things to get you going in homeschool this week.

We officially jumped back into school this week, after a nice holiday break, a round of influenza, cold, sleety weather, and family visits. The boys were so glad to return to classes, and I have to admit that I enjoyed returning to our routine, as well.

This week, we really enjoyed our lesson based on the Cornelia Funke book, The Thief Lord. I thought I would share it with you here on Suite101. You can find the article here.

My husband, a wonderful fine artist and graphic artist, is preparing to teach a class on drawing to our homeschool coop. He is learning many exciting things about teaching our children drawing - I hope to be able to pass it on to you in the near future.

Need a few ideas for refresing yourselves this week? Try one of these:

• during school, when you or your child becomes sluggish, drowsy, or unfocused, try standing up and taking a quick stretch break. This helps the blood to circulate more freely around our bodies and helps to re-awaken our attention spans.
• Play this game for fun, or around the family dinner table - Go around the table, person by person, with each person having to recite a store or commercial jingle. You will be amazed by what your children pick up, and this can lead to a lot of laughs.
• Set a time limit (your choice) - During that amount of time, you may only speak in questions. You may not state anything at all. This is a fun way to practice punctuation and memory!
• A,B,C Charades - You must act out one thing/animal/emotion/whatever for every letter of the alphabet - no noises or words allowed (ex. "A" - angry, "B" - bear, "C" - cactus). You will be amazed at what your children come up with (My favorite was my son's rendition of "U" - umbrella).

Have fun!