Homeschool parents are constantly seeking ideas to stimulate the mind of their children. One way to stimulate young minds is through the use of clipart and visual aids. Here are three ideas that can help LDS homeschooling parents utilize clipart in their daily lessons:

1. Clipart and Holidays
Young children in the homeschool enjoy celebrating changing seasons and holidays. Seasonal emphases can teach children about religion and science as they study culture and the reasons for changes out doors. Using seasonal clipart may also help the parent to organize materials.

For example, a parent might include the image of a Baby Jesus on each of the items that will be covered in December or a Easter bunny on items to be covered in Spring. Parents may use blank labels and print our their own custom stickers for this purpose using any of the free LDS clipart resources online.

2. Clipart and Science
Science is perhaps the most difficult subject to teach in the home school. Parents may feel they lack the resources to provide an effective science curriculum at home. Many science, including biological and botanical sciences, can be effectively taught with clipart images of animals. Search libraries and clipart galleries for illustrations of plants, trees, and animals. You may look for both full-color and black and white images.

Once you’ve found a usable image, print yourself a copy of any images with labeled parts. Then use a paint program to white out the labels and print that copy for your child. Your child can label or color the image and have both art and science lesson at the same time.

2. Using LDS Clipart During Religious Studies
Religious clipart can also be used in the LDS homeschool in ways that may not be permitted in a public school. Parents might use ideas from Primary websites or printables from Young Women and youth websites to help reinforce the lessons taught on Sundays at Church. Invite small children to color images of the Savior or Prophets while you read a story from the Friend Magazine or scriptures. Older children will enjoy receiving a mirror sign with a special message they can see as they prepare for the day’s activities.

In Conclusion
Many parents find themselves busy with daily life and church activity. LDS Clipart can be a welcome timesaver for homeschooling parents seeking ideas for their lessons.

Jenny Smith is a contributor to the LDS Clipart resources gallery at Mormon Share and to the LDS Primary ideas for children’s lessons.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jenni_Z_Smith

Are you struggling to homeschool in high school? Just like with parenting, every new stage of homeschooling brings new challenges.

Even perfect strangers may express concerns over your ability to meet the needs of your child, but the needs of the parent are often ignored. Let’s address some of the concerns parents of high schoolers face.

Burn out

Is it possible for a loving, patient, attentive parent to become burnt out from the endless demands for their attention? I will allow for the possibility that there is one parent who is so extremely competent as to never face burn out. This is written for the rest of us.

What can you do to overcome burnout while homeschooling high school?

Remember you do not have to do it all. Have clear priorities. Stick to doing those tasks which are most important. Perhaps you will need to take a break from some outside obligations for a while. That is okay. Learn to say, “No.”

In addition, realize that as you homeschool high school, your student should be learning to work more independently. That doesn’t mean your role as a teacher is obsolete. You still need to offer guidance, answer questions, grade tests and record information, but you should also transition into the role of coach and counselor while helping your teen develop self-discipline and independent learning skills.

Expenses

As you homeschool high school, you may find that it can be a pricey endeavor. You are no longer making popsicle stick puppets. You’re dealing with some heavy-duty subjects with heavy-duty price tags. Your student will need to take Biology. Biology requires a microscope. And slides. And a frog that smells of formaldehyde. Just like clothing, school costs more when it comes in big kids’ sizes.

How can the average family cope with the expenses of homeschooling through high school?

We live in a glorious age where we have public libraries, online resources and Ebay at our disposal. Used curriculum can be purchased for a fraction of what it would cost new. If you have a homeschool support group, you may know people who would be willing to allow you to borrow or purchase their gently used curriculum.

Teaching Weak Subjects

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. It can be downright fun to teach a subject that is your cup o’ tea. Unfortunately, the school day isn’t a tea party and you must also cover the courses you dislike.

How can you make sure your child’s education is not suffering due to your weaknesses?

As you homeschool high school, make use of co-ops, private tutors, or video and computer courses. I suggest that you earmark a larger portion of your homeschooling budget to cover your weaker subjects. For the mom who can’t trill a Spanish “R” to save her life, Rosetta Stone’s Spanish program on computer can worth every penny.

Feeling of Impending Doom

What if all of those skeptics were right? What if you really aren’t capable of educating your child at home and having that child grow into a happy, worthwhile adult?

How can you cope with your own insecurities while accomplishing what needs to be done?

Find some support. If you have friends who have already graduated a homeschooled child, learn from their experiences. If you have friends who are currently homeschooling a high schooler, lean on each other.

Even if you don’t know a single person in real life who falls into one of those categories, you don’t have to walk this path alone. Find an online forum for homeschooling parents. You may have to try out a few forums before finding one that feels like home.

Organization

How can you keep up with the necessary paperwork for homeschool transcripts when you haven’t even completed your student’s baby book? For those of us who are not naturally organized, that is a daunting concern.

You can overcome your organizational challenges and prepare professional transcripts for your teen directly from your home computer.

Follow this link for more information about preparing homeschool transcripts that will get your child accepted to college.

Follow this link for more information about curriculum, graduation, diplomas, prom, class rings and other challenges you may face as you homeschool high school.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carletta_Sanders

Centuries ago, in many countries and cultures, homeschooling was the only option available. Children were educated in a specific skill which would have lead to an occupation later on. For girls it was mainly about cooking, handwork and house management while boys were trained in the skills of the military. This differed from country to country and culture to culture. It was mainly elite groups that had the assistance of outside trainers such as the governess in the Victorian times.

Alexander the Great was homeschooled by Aristotle 2500 year ago and some resources see that as the first example of homeschooling. It is, however, so that many children were homeschooled until the late 19th century when governments introduced legislation that forced parents to send children to public schools.

Homeschooling as we know it today is believed to have started around 1960. John Holt’s name appears as the person that initiated the road back to homeschooling. He was a teacher and Ivy League graduate, unhappy with the public school system. Reforming the public schools was an impossible and task he started looking at homeschooling. He believed learning should be initiated by a child’s natural curiosity and not by a structured system. He wrote and researched this extensively over a period of 20 years.

Raymond Moore was another believer in homeschooling. His arguments against public schooling came from his Christian point of view. He believes parents should be responsible for children’s education to ensure that the education is morally and spiritually accountable.

Around the early eighties state laws in America that prohibited homeschooling started to change and today homeschooling is an acceptable alternative for parents. Tax regulations changed for Christian schools in the 1980s which resulted in some of the smaller schools closing down. Most of the parents affected by this chose to rather homeschool their children than sending them to a public school.

The internet has become a major resource for homeschooling parents with many useful websites and online curriculum.  A large number of support groups as well as news letters and other resources make it easy for parents who choose homeschooling. Parents have various reasons for choosing homeschooling of which religion and the deterioration of discipline in public schools are some of the most offered. Research shows that by the end of 2009 up to 2 million learners in America will be in homeschooling.

Allan Tan is the co-founder of Foot-Care.org He provides more helpful information on Free Online Homeschooling, Negative Effects Of Homeschooling and Free Homeschooling Curriculum that you can read up in the comfort of your home on his website.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Allan_Tan