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Resolving Conflict at Cottage School
Conflict is part of life, and although our families get along well, our time together at cottage school is not immune from the arguments and fights that spring up between kids. We are thankful that we are able to work with our kids through the conflict since conflict is an opportunity to grow. Here are a few things we have learned along the way. 1. Tools we use for resolving conflict: We have taken time during our morning opening time to use some of the lessons found in “The Young Peacemaker” by Corrlette Sande to give us a foundation and framework for speaking with the kids about the details of…
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New to Homeschooling: How to Choose Curriculum
Several years ago as I was thinking about homeschooling my son, I sat down with my mom and mother-in-law a few different times to pick their brains about all things homeschool. My mom homeschooled my brother and me, and my mother-in-law homeschooled five, yes, five boys! One of my top questions–because it’s one thing to be homeschooled, it’s another story to homeschool–was “how did you decide what curriculum to use?” Their answer was somewhat disheartening to me–they both said basically there weren’t a lot of options to choose from if you were homeschooling in the 80s. In one sense, I kind of envied the simplicity of picking one curriculum from…
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Cottage School Life Fall 2020 Schedule
One of the advantages to having a small cottage school is the ability to change and adapt our schedule each year. We began our cottage school three years ago with less children and obviously different needs since they were younger. As our group and our children have grown, the classes at cottage school have shifted. This year one of the changes for us will be adding some of the “younger” kids to our IEW class (last year just our “older” kids were in IEW). Another change we are adding is a preschool class for our little kids who haven’t previously had a formal class at cottage school. Here’s a quick…
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Integrating Technology in Your Homeschool
The question of whether to incorporate technology into homeschool is one I have thought long and hard about over the years. While our family has always tried to have a healthy balance concerning technology, I noticed it creeping into our lives in more ways than I would have liked. Now that we know two of our children have specific learning disabilities (dyslexia and dysgraphia), I have learned to cautiously welcome educational technology or programs that allow my children to access the material they need for learning. Here are some thoughts to consider on utilizing technology in your home learning environment: Do you have the proper internet safety measures in place…
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Major Grammar Errors: Verb Tense & Form Errors
The final portion of our major grammar errors series will focus on verb tense and form errors. These are some of the most common errors I see in my students’ writings, but a short review of these errors and how to correct them will help you catch them in your writing as well as teach them to your children. Verb Tense: The best way to avoid verb tense errors is to remain consistent. If you’re writing in present tense, don’t switch to past tense unless it makes sense and vice versa. Incorrect: Sam washes the clothes, wrings them out, and hung them on the clothesline. Correct: Sam washes the clothes,…
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Road Trip Tips
