National Homeschool Month is a great time for families to celebrate the unique and wonderful adventure that is homeschool. My husband and I have educated our two sons for the past ten years. It has been challenging at times, but the rewards have been much greater than we expected. This new school year will be our last one, since our youngest son is now a senior. It is a bittersweet time, knowing that this particular adventure will soon come to an end; but it is so rewarding to look back on the great memories and accomplishments.

As I prepared to write this blog, I asked each of my sons what they loved best about homeschool. I was not surprised that their first answers were the same: “Not having to get up at the crack of dawn!” We are all night owls at our house, so it has been great to set our own schedule. In fact, my sons named several favorite activities that were made possible by the flexibility that homeschool has provided. When the boys were younger, we attended homeschool group swimming and skating at hours when other children were in school. We could go out for lunch, take a break to enjoy good weather, or attend special events. Our favorite treat has always been to attend the first showing of a new movie on opening day. As teenagers, my sons have been able to attend midnight releases of their favorite video games and movies, without fear of being sleep deprived for a test the next day. I remember many school day outings when my young sons encountered adults who asked why they were not in school. My sons always answered boldly and proudly, “We’re homeschooled!”

Flexibility was not limited to our schedule. It allowed both boys to study and learn at their own paces. They could stay on a subject until they reached mastery, then move on quickly without boring repetition. My oldest son said that he enjoyed the flexibility of studying topics of special interest to him. His fascination with computers dominated his homeschool activities. He used the Internet to learn about computer hardware, basic electronics, and some programming languages. As a junior, he built his own gaming computer from scratch. In college, he has studied computer networking and is now moving into robotics. My youngest son has had the flexibility to pursue several interests, including medieval armor and weaponry, and auto mechanics. He has an impressive collection of reproduction armor and swords. Currently, he and his dad are restoring a classic car.

As for my husband and I, we are most grateful for the time that homeschool has given us with our sons. We have grown very close as a family and still enjoy spending time together. The experiences we have had together are priceless. Of course, there have been doubts and concerns along the way. I am sure that many homeschool families have them. However, it is wonderful to come near the end of this adventure and feel confident that it has been a great success. I want to encourage all homeschool families, especially the young ones, to work past the difficult times and embrace the good ones. Educating your children at home does not last forever, so enjoy it will you can. It is definitely an adventure worth taking!

Posted by Carol Welch – Homeschool Mom, abcteach Team

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss, Mommy Perks

What mom doesn’t need to recharge, eh? Whether you have one child at home, or six, kids can push our energy buttons to the OFF mode in no time flat. I have four children ages 13, 5, 3 and 4 months. When I had just one kiddo, I devoted my time and attention to his education, play groups, schedule, diet, craft time, music time, outdoor time, social emotional development and more. With four kids, some things have gotten easier (because I’ve learned over the years to streamline various teachings) while other things have gotten harder (finding time to relax and de-stress).

I recently came across this article: How to prevent stress from shrinking your brain. I found it helpful to know that there are ways to combat stress; some of which I already do.

Here are ten ways I attempt to de-stress and recharge in between the diapers and teen tantrums:

Go for a Drive

Getting out of the house and away from the routine can help. I enjoy driving and find that it can help to relax me. It helps that we live in a small town where the drivers are polite! Even when I lived in the city I would go for drives along quiet country roads in order to de-stress.

Music

I find that music is a key de-stressor for me. I sing, dance around with the kids (or the baby in my arms) or I put music on in the background while I work. I’ve read studies that show just how effective music can be for boosting your mood and lifting depression (given that you listen to uplifting music, that is). Classical music can do wonders for your brain! Here’s a quick article highlighting the many benefits of listening to music.

Vitamins

Taking vitamins can help to boost my energy and keep me going. Just as the article mentioned above (from Psychology Today) – fatty acids can help to block stress! This is good news – it’s easy and inexpensive.

Reading

Reading relaxes me, especially if I read something proactive and useful that can be applied to my life or work.

Reflecting

Reflecting on our lives is a key factor in future success, in my opinion. If we reflect on what has worked, what hasn’t worked, what we could do better and what our lessons have taught us, we are being proactive about our choices. Making good choices leads to better and better choices… and in return, a better/happier life.

Journaling

When I feel as though I can’t control what’s going on around me, I write it down. I write down my anger and fears and frustrations. No one else needs to see it but it sure can help me GET IT OUT!

Television

I’m not a big TV watcher but now and again I allow myself to zone out. I find a movie or show that’s witty or funny or silly and I let my brain shut off in order to think about… nothing at all.

Walks

Exercise is a well documented and scientifically proven de-stressor. Humans need fresh air and exercise and it does our brains/bodies good. I enjoy going outside for walks around the forest or in our little town.

Vent to a Friend

I have a few select friends that I trust with my private thoughts, ideas and frustrations. My husband is #1 on my list and I have about four friends in addition that I trust to listen, empathize and give me active ideas for coping strategies.

Prayer

As a person of faith, prayer is always a part of my life. When busy and rushed I have to remind myself to slow down, stop and pray. Not just when things are rough but also when things are going well. Giving thanks and having a grateful heart are simple ways to live a contented life and those who are content are, of course, happier!

Shara Lawrence-Weiss is the owner of Mommy Perks, Personal Child Stories, Kids Perks, Early Childhood News and Resources and Pine Media. She is the mother of four and the wife of one. Shara has a background in education, early childhood, freelance, marketing, special needs, nanny work, and business ownership. She’s secretary of her town charity group and a Board member of her local library. Shara and her husband run children’s events for their small-town fundraisers and in their spare time, mentor various teenagers in the community.

Establishing a Routine
A new school year is just around the corner, which means it’s a great time to begin and maintain new daily living skills. This applies to children and young adults of all ages. Establishing schedules or routines for everyday skills is a great way to be sure they are learned and consistently done appropriately.

Schedules and routines can be very individualized or created to meet the needs of small groups. They can incorporate a variety of items (such as a plastic spoon to symbolize meal time, or a sock to symbolize time to dress), photographs (a picture of a child brushing her teeth or getting ready to go to school), clip art pictures (a person answering the phone or setting the table), or words (describing the steps required to successfully complete the skill). A full or partial day schedule can be put together pretty quickly after the initial organizing process is completed. Many daily routines are done on a consistent basis. We all get up, follow a grooming routine, dress, eat meals, and go to school or work as part of our regular daily routine. These can easily be placed on the schedule, with less consistent activities, like trips to the store, leisure and recreation activities, or visiting family and friends, being added as needed.

A horizontal or vertical strip of cardboard-like material with Velcro tabs can serve as a daily schedule. Items, photos, clip art, or words can be interchanged on the Velcro tabs to help the child navigate each day with less confusion and fewer problems. Train young children with an item schedule first. As the child learns to follow the item schedule, you can begin to pair the items with photos of the skill. The items can then slowly be faded off the schedule, so only the photos remain. The same process can be done when progressing from photos to clip art pictures. Clip art schedules can be produced easily on the computer. It is often helpful to print the schedule on cover or card stock paper. Once schedules are on an 8” x 11” sheet, a clip board, folder, or binder may serve as a more appropriate display for the schedule. If your child or young adult gains word recognition or reading skills, a word schedule may be introduced and used.

Learning when and how to independently perform daily living skills will help make the day run smoothly. Check out the new collection of picture and word schedules on our member site this month. They can be used as teaching tools to help children and young adults establish independent skills for such tasks as dressing and undressing, washing hands and face, showering, and appropriate nose care. The schedules can be used with pictures and words (this helps with word recognition skills), or can be folded to show only the pictures or only the words, for children or young adults who may be confused or overstimulated by too much information.

The schedules can also be placed near where the skill is to be performed. For example, the schedule for brushing teeth can be placed on the bathroom mirror. The child or young adult can be taught to brush his teeth following the displayed steps. He or she can look at the pictures, or read the short description of the steps required to successfully complete the task. As the child or young adult becomes proficient at the skill, the schedule can serve as a reminder of the necessary steps for successful completion of the activity. Once the skill is mastered, the schedule can serve as a maintenance tool. Reintroduce it periodically to ensure all appropriate steps continue to be completed.

A set of strategies for dealing with common behavior issues has also been included on abcteach. If a young adult is faced with a potential problem, such as getting mad, not following rules, or has difficulty solving a problem, strategies are suggested to help them handle the problem appropriately or find a possible solution.

I hope these schedules, routines, and strategies help you have a productive and enjoyable back-to-school season. Feel free to send us a question, comment, or share your experiences with your abcteach community!

Posted by Janie Quinn, abcteach Team

By Shara Lawrence-Weiss, Mommy Perks

I’m honored to have been invited back to the abcteach blog for another guest article. I was encouraged to write about computers and parenting. I’d like to share some balance-keeping tips that I’ve learned over the years.

1. Before running my own online business, I worked outside the home (in a Preschool). I was also attending college (Elementary Education courses). I had one son at the time and had been a single mother for 3.5 years. My son did not understand my need to spend so much time on the computer after I made the shift. I had always told him, “Limit your screen time!” So he called me out on this and wanted to know, “Why do YOU get to be on the computer so much?” I had to explain to him that there is a difference between working online to earn money to pay bills, and playing games online for fun. While some parents work outside the home during the day and play on the computer for fun, I’m the opposite. I work online, and when my day is done, I walk away from my computer. In fact, I run!

2. Eye contact is needed. One of the biggest issues I had at first was my sense of focus when at my computer. I wanted to focus on my work, my writing, my clients and so on. My son would come over to chat with me and I’d say, “Hold on! Not yet!” This really hurt his feelings and he started to feel angry at me and at my computer. I quickly learned to pay more attention to him and to look at him and say, “Yes, honey. I hear you. I need ten more minutes to finish this and then my attention is all yours, okay?” Or I would simply stop working, look up, make eye contact with him and say, “Okay. Ask your question and I’ll take a break from work to answer you. Then I’ll return to work when you are done.” This helped a lot!

3. Take breaks! As most of us know, if we work online or engage in social media, it can be a huge time suck. Hours can go by and we don’t even realize it. I’ve learned to balance this over the years. I work, take a break, work, take a break, etc. I have four kids now (13, 5, 3, and a newborn) and I often have to walk away in order to play with Legos, bake with the kids, nurse the baby, snuggle someone, patch a boo-boo, start dinner (unless my wonderful hubby is cooking that night), go for a walk, run errands, play outside on the trampoline with the kids, host a play date, do laundry or dishes, etc. I need breaks and my kids need to SEE me taking breaks. This keeps everyone happy and healthy.

4. Pay attention to possible unmet needs. When my kids really start to act up, or speak to me in angry tones, I ask myself, “How much time have I been working/online lately? Are they needing more attention from me?” If yes, I give it to them. My clients and work can wait. Very few things have to be done RIGHT THAT MOMENT, and almost no issues have to be addressed that very second in order for the world to keep spinning.

5. Community service. Our family is actively involved in community service. I currently serve as the secretary for our town charity group and the treasurer of our library board. My husband is involved with the small business group in town and is running for school board this year. We often volunteer at the school, around town, at children’s functions and more. We want our kids to see that although we both work on our computers, we also know how to walk away and engage with the people in our community. We mentor teens in our town and host dinners for them or game nights, etc. We run our town news website, also, and go into town to find stories to write about. We attempt to show our kids that you can actively earn a living online but there’s life to be lived away from our computers, too.

Shara Lawrence-Weiss is the owner of Mommy Perks, Personal Child Stories, Kids Perks, Early Childhood News and Resources and Pine Media. She is the mother of four and the wife of one. Shara has a background in education, early childhood, freelance, marketing, special needs, nanny work, and business ownership. She’s secretary of her town charity group and a Board member of her local library. Shara and her husband run children’s events for their small-town fundraisers and in their spare time, mentor various teenagers in the community.

The world is abuzz with excitement, the countdown nearly over… yes, sports lovers and world competition enthusiasts, the London Olympic Games are here!

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games begin today, with what is certain to be an amazing display of talent, teamwork, heartache, and triumph. Over 10,000 of the world’s top athletes, from 204 National Olympic Committees, will compete in a diverse array of sports, including football, fencing, basketball, tennis, aquatics, and everything in between. There are 36 sport categories in all, with the majority of matches being played in three central zones in Greater London.

To join in the festivities, abcteach has been doing our own Olympic countdown (just check our FB page)! We also have a host of fun games and learning activities that the whole family can use.

• Summer Olympics
• Football/Soccer
• Swimming
• Basketball
• Tennis
• Volleyball

Check out the following pages for additional sights and sounds of the Games:

• London 2012
• Torch Relay
• Schedule of Events
• Listing of Sports
• Participating Athletes
• London 2012 Festival
• 2012 Paralympic Games
• Official Olympic Website

The Opening Ceremony show, ‘Isles of Wonder,’ kicks off at 9pm tonight and will highlight features of British culture, geography, music, and tradition. We hope you enjoy all the heroic and nail-biting moments of the London 2012 Olympic Games… now let the games begin!

Created by abcteach.com & VLinks Media, Math Magician is a fun and interactive app for your student to learn common core curriculum mathematics (1st-6th grade), and is great for all ages. You and the magician will learn counting, addition, subtraction, greater than/less than values, multiplication, and division in a magical way.

Now, the magician needs your help! By using the powers of numbers and his magic crystal ball, you must help him regain each of his treasures, one by one. Are you up to the challenge?

Custom Features:

• Introduction Movie – Engaging graphics, music and audio that will motivate your student to become great at math.

• Treasures – Earn twenty unique treasures from the magician by solving his magical math problems, which are located inside the Crystal Ball. Click on the treasure chest to view your earned treasures!

• Magic Crystal Ball – Where you will solve magical math problems.

• Magic Meter Bar – Keeping track of your progress, the magic meter bar will fill up as your student answers problems correctly. Once the magic meter bar is filled completely, a treasure will be unlocked.

Educational Content:

• 35,000 multiple-choice scenarios that help develop your child’s mental math skills.

• Solutions will be displayed in the magic meter bar after each problem is answered correctly.

• Students will choose from three progressively challenging levels (Easy, Medium, Hard), enabling them to work at their own pace.

Please contact apps@abcteach.com for any questions you may have regarding the Math Magician app. This app will be available in the App Store and iTunes this coming August.

It’s July, it’s summer break, and living in Chicago right now, it is definitely hot. School vacations, no matter where you are on the map, mean plenty of time on the hands of students. But fear not – there are numerous avenues to keep the learning alive and their young minds active.

One way to continue your student’s learning is to use the momentum of the month. Tap into local and seasonal resources to guide you along the way. Another is by turning everyday moments into learning opportunities. abcteach is here year-round with complementary materials, activity ideas, and interactive games to use in coordination with your plans or as standalone lessons. Take advantage of our great summer-themed resources below, and please let us know if there are other items that you need.

Have fun!

July Holidays and Observations

• 1st – Canada Day
• 4th – Independence Day
• 14th – Bastille Day (New Category!)
• 20th – Ramadan

Family Activity Planners

• My Neighborhood
• Picnic Theme (Member Document)
• Vacation Theme (Member Document)
• In the Yard (Member Document)
• Water Wonderful (Member Document)

Theme Units

• Ice Cream
• Coral Reefs/Oceans
• Beach
• Boats and Sailing

Summer Olympics

• Swimming
• Volleyball
• Soccer
• Gymnastics (Member Section)
• Track and Field (Member Section)

Crafts and Activities

• Learning Games
• Puzzles (Including sudokus, mazes, and tangrams)
• abcteach on Pinterest

Posted by the abcteach Team

The following post is from fellow educator, colleague, and Mommy Perks owner, Shara Lawrence-Weiss. She shares wonderful time management tips that parents, or anyone working with children, can use
this summer.

Time management is such a tough issue for most parents. Toss in summer break with the kiddos at home 24/7 and it’s enough to send most of us into the bathroom for a good cry.

It’s not easy when your children are too young to attend summer camps or sporting activities. At the moment I have a 5 year old, 3 year old, and newborn at home. While I nurse the baby the other two children are often arguing with one another. If not arguing, they are using their creative little minds to build a castle… around my antique sewing machine or on top of the dresser, etc, etc.

I had to sit myself down this week and have a little Come to Jesus meeting with my own mind. “Shara – you can do this. You were a nanny for 16+ years, you worked in Preschools and you have a background in early childhood. Don’t give up or check yourself into the looney bin just yet! THINK!”

Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with or tested so far:

Co-op: Find another parent that you can trade with. They take your kids for one day and you take their kids for one day. Win-win. Do this weekly if you can.

Teenagers: Lots of teens are seeking work right now. Stores are not hiring as many teens due to economic slow-downs. Find a few safe and trustworthy teens to play with your kids so you can work or run errands or clean the house. Ask around for the going rate so you are paying fair wages. Sometimes I pay a teen to go grocery shopping with me just so she can push one cart while I push another. It’s worth my sanity to pay a few bucks to have the extra set of hands.

Day camps: Are there any day camps or church camps running in your area? Look into those and sign your kids up ASAP. My kids attended one day camp this summer. The paperwork said that children 4+ could attend but we asked, “If our 3.5 year old is potty trained, can he come, also?” They said yes! This gave me about 2.5 hours (Monday-Friday) to get housework done, work a little bit, run errands, etc.

Quiet time: I’ve explained to my kids that mommy is much nicer when she gets a little break during the day. If they play or read quietly in their rooms for about an hour, I then allow them to choose a fun activity like play dough, painting, art time, etc.

The great outdoors: Make use of outdoor fun as much as possible. My kids love to run and play and swim and jump on the trampoline. If I tire them out, they go to bed earlier and sleep in longer. That gives me more time to catch up on work or chores. It also gives my husband and I more time to snuggle in the evening or watch some tellie together.

Eye contact: When I want my children to really listen to me, and to hear what I say, I tell them: “Please stop. Look at me. Look at my eyes. Now – I want you to show me that your listening ears are working. Let’s test them out! I’m going to give you a direction and then we can be sure those ears are working properly, okay?” They think this is very funny. My three-year-old will feel his ears and reply, “Yep. Mommy – my ears are okay! Not broken!” I say, “Okay, whew! Now let’s see if you can follow this direction.” I then instruct them to pick up the room or sit down for lunch or play in their room while I get things done around the house. If I make a point of using eye contact and direct instruction, it works much better than trying to toss out random requests that get ignored.

Ask them to help! My kids like to help, especially when they know it’s really making me happy. I might say, “I need you guys to help me pick up, please. It makes me very happy when you help out!” They like the verbal praise and they enjoy knowing that I’m pleased with them. I might also say, “I need a diaper for the baby. Can you please go to my room and bring me one diaper? It sure would help me out!” They like feeling as though they are needed and working as a team can help keep the house in order.

Activity time: I often visit abcteach for ideas to use with my kids. I love the selection of holiday and seasonal ideas. My kids always enjoy making a new craft, coloring something fun, or creating a project that we find on the site!

Some days run very smoothly around here while other days are madness. Such is the life of a parent, I know! We signed on for this and I wouldn’t trade it for the single life. I do, however, keep chocolate stocked at all times.

Shara Lawrence-Weiss is the owner of Mommy Perks, Personal Child Stories, Kids Perks, Early Childhood News and Resources and Pine Media. She is the mother of four and the wife of one. Shara has a background in education, early childhood, freelance, marketing, special needs, nanny work, and business ownership. She’s secretary of her town charity group and a Board member of her local library. Shara and her husband run children’s events for their small-town fundraisers and in their spare time, mentor various teenagers in the community.

Greetings!

Before you’re off on vacation ventures, we want to make sure that your abcteach account is summer-ready. The following is a repost of past blogs. We hope you find it useful, but please don’t hesitate to contact our abcteach Member Support Team if you have any questions.

Interested in joining abcteach? We have individual and discounted group memberships, along with our University Partnership Program, which is free to undergraduate education majors and their professors!

Summer is just around the corner. As you complete the last weeks of your school year, here are some helpful tips for a smooth transition into summer membership.

Summer Email Address
Many school districts do their cleaning, purging, updating, and computer maintenance over the summer. If your account is a school address and the system is closing for the summer months, please send your home email to support@abcteach.com. This will ensure that you continue to receive Member Newsletters, account reminder/ login reminder emails, and that we can reply to anything you send our way. When school is back in session, we can easily reestablish your school email as your account address.

If your school email is accessible over the summer, changes to your account aren’t necessary. Just check with your district Tech Department if you are unsure.

“You’ve Got Mail!” – Adjusting Your Filters
abcteach’s Member Support is here for your questions and to help with any problems you may be having. Simply email us at support@abcteach.com, we reply to each and every one.

To make sure that you receive our replies, please include abcteach in your list of safe email addresses. One of the issues we encounter with following up is that filters haven’t been adjusted and our emails land in Spam or Junk Mail folders. If you don’t get a response from us within 24 hours, please email us again. Your filter was likely the cause.

To adjust your settings, add support@abcteach.com to your acceptable mailer, allowable mail, Buddy, or white lists. This assures that our emails will arrive safely in your Inbox. Make sure to do this at both your home and school computer. Ask the school tech if you’re unsure how to add abcteach to allowable mail at school.

Occasionally, district servers automatically filter what they think is a junk email, leaving you with no control. If this happens, please let us know and remember to include your home email address in the message. We will send a cc reply to you there. In respect of your privacy, abcteach never initiates the contact to you; we only ‘reply’ to emails sent to us.

Have a safe and happy summer vacation.

~ abcteach Member Services Team

It’s that special time of year again when you find yourself making lists, checking them twice, and thinking over who’s been helpful and nice. No, not the holidays. We’re talking about the end of the school year!

With the school year coming to a close, your lists are undoubtedly full of final projects and summer break preparations. They’re also filled with year-end activities and gift ideas. As you send students on their way, here are a few quick and meaningful ways to remind them of your time together over the past year. These tips come from abcteach staff member, Nancy Elton, a retired elementary teacher of 36 years.

Class Activities
• “You’ve Made A Difference” Folder – Each student receives a folder to be filled with personal notes from their classmates. Before getting started, take individual pictures of the students and paste them on the folder along with the message: “You Make a Difference.” Give students small pieces of paper on which they can write a personal message (these can be created beforehand with their names pre-printed). Be sure to announce that these are for positive comments only, and together brainstorm a list of words that they can use for their cards.

• Alternative – Tape an 11”x14” sheet of paper on the back of each student with his or her name in bold. Have the kids walk around and write a positive comment/attribute on their classmates’ papers.

• Classroom Jeopardy – Divide the class into pairs. Based on the number of groups, assign them to particular subjects (i.e. math, science, reading, etc.). Have each group write five questions/answers on cards about things they’ve learned throughout the year (or the most recent quarter). Create a Jeopardy game with the columns being the subjects, and their cards supplying the content for each Jeopardy square. This game can be played for fun or for points and prizes.

• Vacation Planning – This project is great fun and incorporates a number of subjects. Have students plan a vacation in their state. Research the history, geography, and locations/coordinates on a map; include additional cultural notes and details, when applicable. Calculate mileage for the trip, and then approximate traveling times. Have students present to the class.

• Class Portfolios – Each year, your students may have created portfolios to highlight projects, papers, and other mementos. Have them decorate their portfolios with finishing touches from our portfolio section.

• Have your class write a letter to future students coming into that grade next year.

• Make an abcteach memory book.

abctools Activities

• Create a word search or word scramble with every student’s name in it (these tools are available on the member site)

• Classroom Awards – Did you have a gifted artist, talented musician, or a student with perfect attendance in your class? Create personalized awards/certificates for each student with the Shapebooks and Border Paper Tool [free / member]

Congratulations to you, educators, on another successful school year!

~The abcteach Team

abctools® custom worksheet generators allow educators to easily create materials that fit the unique needs of their learning environment. Over 65 tools are available, including Word Search, Shape Books & Borders, Handwriting, Math, and many more. Full versions of the tools are available to abcteach members, but there are free versions of these tools available to everyone.