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Feed your mind

Science is an incredibly inspiring subject. However, when you're first putting together a homeschool Science program, it can be an overwhelming experience. 

Science is incredible! It's hands on! It's fun! It's exciting! Which is why it's so easy to get too excited, and buy anything and everything so that you can teach your child everything in a fun and exciting way! 

Unfortunately when you do that, more often than not those resources will then likely sit in a cupboard collecting dust, because you will have so many amazing ideas and resources - you won't know where to start. Either that, or your child's schedule will be so full that it won't leave room to follow where their natural curiosity would lead them. 

Which is why, when first starting out, I suggest starting simple.

Have you ever looked through a Where’s Wally book? Would it be as fun if there was a giant, bright yellow arrow pointing to Wally on every page? No. The challenge is what makes it fun!

It’s the same with all puzzles.

Puzzles are a great way to remind your brain that when you’re faced with a challenge, you don’t need to freeze. You don’t need to feel overwhelmed. You don’t need to give up.

Just think of it as a puzzle!

Maths is an entire subject devoted to solving puzzles. So why do so many students dread maths lessons? 

Well, it may not actually be the maths that they're not enjoying - it may just be the way it's being taught.

Here at Brain Spice, we believe that the brain loves learning. You just need to make it fun! And what better way to make maths fun than to practice maths skills through play!

The most helpful thing you can do to prepare for a moderator meeting is to take photos throughout the year and write yourself notes of all the activities your child has done, all the places you’ve visited, and any programs you’ve used.

You’ll be surprised how much you’ve done that you forget about! 

Then before the annual moderator meeting, I like to write a simple report, listing everything my kids have done for each subject, and making sure I’ve got proof of my child’s work from throughout the year. 

Then I go through it all with the moderator at my meeting. 

I've created some example reports below, which you can view if you'd like to see an example of the sorts of things that can be included in a home education report. 

When you have a large family, trying to homeschool all the kids at once is a daily struggle. This can be especially difficult when there are younger siblings involved. 

A technique for younger siblings which I used for many years is this: Have certain activities put aside for the younger siblings, which can only be used while you are homeschooling the older kids. This helps the younger siblings look forward to the lesson time rather than getting upset by it. 

If you teach subjects separately, you can make the activities for the younger kids relevant to what the older kids are learning so they feel that they are included in the homeschooling activity. This also gets them interested in each subject, in an age appropriate way. 

My educational pick of the week (coinciding with Homeschool Wednesday!) is a little book which we’ve used in our homeschooling program for years.

My Special Word Collection is great for kids who aren’t confident with spelling. Having their own, personalised list of frequently used words which they can access and look up any time they’re writing, can help build confidence as they don’t have to worry about drawing attention to their spelling abilities. Not having to ask for help, and not having to worry that they’re spelling a word incorrectly can give kids more confidence when putting their ideas down on paper.

This tends to help reluctant writers overcome a big hurdle, making writing much less intimidating.

This week, my recommendation is a reading/writing/comprehension workbook series which I’ve discovered here at Brain Spice recently.

It’s not often I get excited about workbooks. They’re great, and they have their place, but “exciting” isn’t normally how I’d describe them. HOWEVER… this is a series that I was pleasantly surprised by - and I would definitely recommend! 

The name of the series is Reading For Me. It’s a fantastic and affordable open-and-go workbook for homeschoolers, or for parents wanting to help their kids with their reading/writing/comprehension skills.

It’s Wednesday! Which means if you’ve been wanting to learn more about homeschooling, today’s a great day to come visit Brain Spice! I thought I’d quickly also mention this cool new game which we’ve started stocking at Brain Spice. It’s such a clever way to help kids practice their reading. It’s great for homeschoolers, parents of school kids, teachers, and tutors!

Hi everyone! Janelle here again (the lucky homeschool Mum who gets to spend 11am-2pm each Wednesday at Brain Spice, chatting about all things education and homeschooling). Something I love about Brain Spice is that the store really encourages “Play is the brain's favourite way of learning”. So in that spirit, I thought I’d share an awesome little game we currently have in stock…