Helping Your Kids with Homework

Now that Summer is ending and school is starting it's time for homework for the kiddos and not so young kiddos. ;)

So, with the "homework" season coming. I would like to give you some advice on helping your children with homework. How to be organized and make it fun for them.

Most kids will say that they may not have any homework, but if you set up a daily routine with them then they are more likely to be honest with you and want to do their homework.

-Don't have your child do homework right away when they get home. They have had 7+ hours of school already and might be worn out, more likely to lie about homework or slack off on homework if done right away.
-A good time to do homework is after supper and after bath time. By this time school is not in their head any more and are more likely to want to learn again.
-This would be a good time to ask them (or check their bag) for homework.

A couple of ideas for homework time...
-Find a quiet, calm, cool (as in cold), comfortable room for the child to work in. The child is more likely to work harder and concentrate better if he/she are comfortable when they are working.
-Make sure you know what they are working on. Keep checking on them to make sure they stay focused and on track.
-Make sure they ask you for help on problems they may have. This helps them not get frustrated and stay on track.
-Work on one assignment at a time. The child may be overwhelmed if he/she knows how much they have to do.
-It is okay to tell them what they are doing wrong. It makes the child work harder and except criticism. Also, make sure you give positive feedback as well!

Hope these points help. It is also important to find a routine and stick to it.

Keeping Kids Entertained in Summer

Now that school is out and Summer is here, the kids still need to get their "education." I have come up with a plan for the kids to keep them entertained and still learning.

The kids still do the calendar every morning.
This teaches them numbers, days of the week, weather, colors, and words.

The kids have to read for 20 minutes every day.
Keira finds a quiet place (usually her room) and reads
a couple of books by herself (I try and pick out a book that she
has never read before because she has to tell me what happened
in the book, so I know she actually read it. )

Aden and Taygen will sit on the couch between me while I read to them.
We are planning on going to the library every week to get new books.

The kids have to do their work books for at least 30 minutes each day.
Keira has a kindergarten and 1st grade book that she does,
(she will usually get bored with the kindergarten one within
10 minutes and go right to the 1st grade book).
Aden has a preschool and kindergarten book that he does.

Taygen and I color. While the other kids do their workbooks,
Taygen and I will color. In doing this, she learns her colors,
control, patience, what to color certain objects; example,
grass is green, clouds are white, sky is blue, trees are green, etc.,
communication; please pass the green color.
When she wants a color, I will lay 3 or 4 colors out and
she has to pick it out; for example, if she needs green..
I lay out green, white, blue and black and she has to pick out the green one.

In between these activities we will go outside and play on the swings and slides.
Just so they don't get bored, lose focus or lose interest. I also love taking the kids swimming.
It gives them an opportunity to get plenty of exercise and play with other kids their ages.

Just for something fun for the kids, we will have a scavenger
hunt around the house. Example; Find 4 red objects, find 5 circles, etc.
It's pretty fun and it's pretty interesting what the kids come up with,
some things that you may not think of. Aden had to find 3 circles one
time and he showed me the door handles. Pretty clever!
I would have never thought of that. It's just something that you see every day,
so you really don't think of them as circles, even though they are.
You never know what you will learn from your kids each day! 

These activities are fun for the kids and myself.
It definitely keeps them active, but also ready for school.
These activities do not 'weigh' down the Summer time fun and still keeps
school fresh in their minds. A lot of kids lose focus in the Summer time,
but isn't that what Summer is for, to get school off your mind....mmm not really.
Kids still need to learn whether it is in a school setting or a home setting.

Always try to find ways to keep your kids educated, whether it is going to a park;
pointing out trees, animals, the swing goes up and down, you go down a slide,
pointing out that the grass is green, etc... You can make learning fun!