Field Day at our co-op is always such a fun day! In their class rotations, the kids go around to seven different activities.
Tug-of-war
Long Jump
Softball Throw
50 Yard Dash
Three-legged Race
Sack Race
Obstacle Course
The moms sign up to either work a station or escort classes from station to station. Those who escort also keep records of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place so ribbons can be given out at the end of the day. Everyone gets a participation ribbon so they don’t feel left out if they don’t place in any of the events. The escort also gets to decide who receives special awards at the end of the day for things like Most Enthusiastic, Most Encouraging, Most Christ-like Attitude and a few others.
We have a little awards ceremony and snack celebration to finish the day. It’s a long co-op day, but very much worth it!
This past weekend was time once again for our co-op’s talent expo. It’s such a fun time of sharing talents and competing for ribbons in the areas of art, music, drama, spelling, Bible memorization, cooking, woodworking, science fair and/or sewing.
This year’s projects for Caleb included two art projects, a *huge* birdhouse and a derby pie. The pictures of the art projects didn’t turn out, but you can see the other two below.
Two of Mahayla’s art project pictures also didn’t turn out, but her photography entry did. You can also see her knitting entry and hummingbird cake.
We’ll find out in a couple of weeks how/if they placed at a little awards ceremony. This is always one of our favorite co-op events!
Kids and Money – Teaching Biblical Stewardship and Allowances
This topic can go so many different ways based on the preferences of parents. I’m offering just a brief overview of how we handle kids and money in our house. I’d love to hear some of your ideas and thoughts about raising money-wise, generous children.
God tells us to give – to Him and to others. Biblical stewardship can come in the form of money, things and time. That’s something we try to teach our children early, so when they were little we bought My Giving Bank. They would put their little bits of money in the tithe, save and spend sections and it gave them a good picture of one Biblically sound way to organize their money. We would transfer the same idea over to time, for instance, too. “Make sure your time is being spent on God, others and yourself – not necessarily in the same percentages as the money bank, though.”
As time has gone on, chores and allowance have been added to the mix. We, personally, use allowance as “pay” for chores. The amount is set. Chores aren’t an option, so they get paid the full amount each week. The older you are, the more you make. (You also do a few more chores.) Our children are expected to tithe and save part of their allowance. They are responsible for purchasing all their “wants”. Of course “wants” can be placed on a birthday or Christmas list, but the rest of the year, the “wants” are their responsibility. No money may be removed from tithing or savings to purchase a “want”.
We do not give loans. Brother or sister may choose to make a loan to the other, but nothing else can be purchased by the borrower until the original loan has been paid off. A fair interest on the loan is acceptable if the loaner wants to charge the borrower.
If a big-ticket item is on the “want” list, our children may offer to do extra big-time chores and negotiate a fair wage for the chores. They are also free to offer house cleaning, baking, pet-sitting, etc. to grandparents and neighbors if they’d like to try to earn even more money.
That’s our plan.
Here are some helpful resources. Some of which we have used, while others have been recommended by friends.
This was a question asked recently at co-op. My friend’s question related more specifically to whether or not a child is ready to “move on” to the next grade level. Here’s the not-so-short answer I gave. I’m sure my friend would enjoy reading your comments, too.
1.) What grade you call a child is fairly meaningless as an overall rule.
-Most children I know are working either somewhat above or below that particular grade in at least one subject.
-If a child has struggled greatly in math, for instance, then go slower with math – starting now. Who cares if the workbook says 2nd grade when they are actually in 3rd grade? Who cares if they won’t finish every workbook page by the end of the year if you go slower?
-What’s more important – that they understand a process or get through the book? Also, is it more important to get multiplication eventually – at their own pace – or to become so frustrated with ”not getting it” before they’re ready that they feel like a failure and never choose to like math from that point on?
2.) All schools – whether public, private or homeschools - have different expectations for each grade level. In other words, what one school expects to be accomplished in 2nd grade might be an expectation for 4th graders in another school.
-If your child is greatly struggling with an entire 3rd grade curriculum, you might research a different curriculum rather than blaming your child for not being smart enough to keep up.
-Make sure the curriculum you’re using is meeting their learning styles and even their interests. I don’t mean to say that every assignment has to be pure joy, but if your child is motivated by bright colors vs. black and white pages, find a curriculum with bright colors. If they enjoy crafting over workbooks, look into hands-on curriculums.
3.) I would never harm a child’s self-esteem by telling them that they aren’t ready to advance to the next grade level, or that they will redo all the same curriculum again next year because they “didn’t get it” this year.
-Whatever changes you need to make – redoing a particular book, buying a grade level lower, implementing reteaching strategies, taking things slower – should be adult decisions. A child will be much more motivated to continuing trying and learning if they don’t feel like a failure.
4.) If you are drastically concerned:
-Talk to seasoned homeschoolers about the issues and get their advice.
-Look through books like What Your ___ Grader Needs To Know. Remember that this is one person’s opinion, though.
-Test the child to see what level they are actually working on. Remember that not every child tests well and the results may be a bit skewed.
-Research the particular concerns on the internet to see what steps you might take.
-Get a tutor.
Homeschooling is such an awesome opportunity for raising children who are bright, confident and allowed to blossom at their own pace. God created every one of us to be different, unique and special. Just because one of your children may struggle with a particular subject, or even all subjects, doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have great big plans for them anyway. Help them to the best of your ability, while giving them an abundance of encouragement and love, and God will take care of the rest!
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