Q&A: Do my kids need to be in a co-op if I am homeschooling?

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Question: Do my kids need to be in a co-op if I am homeschooling?

Answer: Absolutely not. I homeschooled my kids for 37 years and never had any of them in a co-op. There wasn’t any such thing ’till recent years.

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Q&A: How do you get your children to have interests? Mine just want to play video games all the time.

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Question: How do you get your children to have interests? Mine just want to play video games all the time.

Answer: First of all, you really need to limit the time you allow your kids to use video games. It’s just too habit forming and it’s been proven to stunt creativity.  If they just aren’t allowed much time to do it, they will begin to develop other interests.

Get some interesting reading material to have on hand. Plant good books around the house where your kids will easily find them and see if they will pick one up on their own. (sometimes kids are more apt to try something if they feel it was their idea!). Take them to the library and encourage them to explore topics that interest them and meet your approval. If your child doesn’t love to read, give him access to great audiobooks that will take him to new worlds, meet new people, introduce new ideas and concepts. So many of the great thinkers and inventors in American history were avid readers. (such as Benjamin Franklin!) It’s no coincidence!

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Q&A: My kids fight all the time- What can I do?

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kids-fight

Question: I have 4 kids- ages 8, 7, 6, and 5. The 7 and 5 year old are constantly fighting, butting heads. I just don’t know what to do. Can you help?~ Charity

Answer: Charity, We have found Scripture to be the ONLY thing that addressed the negative behaviors we saw in our children. We had our kids learn Scripture verses according to whatever they happened to be struggling with at the time. For instance, maybe it was whining, or arguing, getting angry, speaking unkindly, etc.

The first step is for them to learn the Scripture in their minds so they can repeat it. Then we talk about it. We constantly (it seems) remind them of the Word, and eventually it makes it’s way down to their hearts where it begins to change the way they live their lives.

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Q: Did You Allow Your Children to Attend Sleepovers?

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sleepovers

*First of all- let me clarify that this is a question we were asked. We’re not at all saying if you make a different decision in this matter, you are wrong. This is simply the position we chose to follow when our children were young.

A: In raising our kids we chose to be on the cautious side. I’m not sorry that we did. Now as the world seems to be on a slippery slide into depraved immorality, I think parents need to exercise even more caution to protect their children. That’s one of the functions of a parent! If we don’t do it, who will?

One of our jobs is to train our children to learn discernment. Discernment is learning  how to distinguish right from wrong and using that sensitivity to make wise choices in life.

When our kids are young, we need to be the filter for them and make our decisions cautiously.  We need to be careful not to put them in situations where they are faced with moral dilemmas and not have us there to guide them through.

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Q&A: What do you do with your preschoolers while you are teaching your older kids?

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qanda preschoolers

 

A: As much as possible, I tried to keep my preschoolers in the same room or general area while we were doing school. During the summer, I would prepare special fun activities they could do to learn from while the others were doing their school. See Schooltime Activities for Preschoolers for a list of ideas we used

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Q&A: How Do You Get Your Housework Done and Homeschool at the Same Time?

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Basket with laundry and washing machine.

Early on when my kids were little, I taught them how to do chores. With my family growing at a rapid rate ( I had a new baby approximately every 18 months- 2 years), my house was busy and got messy quickly. I realized there was no way I could do it all.

Once my oldest child reached the age of 4 or 5 I began teaching him to do simple chores. (here’s a handy list of age-appropriate chores)

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Q&A: I Want To Teach My Children At Home…And I’m Scared to Death!

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Q: Hello! I have read several of your books and enjoyed them. God has been putting it on my heart to teach my children at home. They are currently 4 and 5 yr. old, and I’m scared to death! I don’t know how to start. What do I teach them? What if I forget to teach them something of great importance? (math facts, etc) . How do I start?
Susan

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MAY GIVEAWAY! WINNER ANNOUNCED! (giveaway closed)

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We have a winner! 

Comment # 229 Mrs. June Fuentes (comment was: “Shared on FB”)

winners were chosen randomly, using random.org

Thank you to everyone for participating!

(GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED)

As May’s Giveaway we are offering you a chance to win:

Character Concepts for Preschoolers Curriculum– Basic Pack. ($89.95 value!)

Perhaps you would like to tuck it away until next school year, or maybe you would like to work on Character training with your little guy over the summer. Or maybe, you would love to give this pack as a gift to your daughter, sister, or friend.

Well, here’s your chance!

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