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Reader
Submissions
Call
for
Submissions!
We
want
to
hear
from
you.
We
are
seeking
your
stories
and
experiences
for
the
topics
listed
below.
If we
post
your
submission,
you'll
receive
a
free
gift!
You
can choose
from
a
downloadable
copy
of
75
Craft
Recipes
for
Kids
(pdf.)
or a
free
"classy"
bumper
sticker
from
Homeschool’s
Best
online
store.
Please
share
your
story
with
our
readers!
Enter
your
advice,
experiences,
or
other
input
on
our
submission
form,
or
email
your
submission
to:
submissions@allthingshomeschool.com.
Be
sure
to
indicate
your
chosen
topic,
and
try
to
limit
your
submission
to
approximately
300
words.
Current
Topics:
1.
Success!
Have
you
ever
taught
a
lesson
that
really
worked?
Were
the
children
engaged,
excited,
and
enthusiastic
about
learning
the
subject?
Did
the
lesson
or
project
spur
them
on to
read
or
learn
more
on
their
own?
Did
they
come
away
with
valuable
knowledge
or
heightened
interest
in
the
given
topic?
We
want
to
hear
from
you!
Tell
us
what
you
did
and
how
you
did
it.
Did
the
lesson
take
a lot
of
planning,
or
was
it
spontaneous?
What
advice
can
you
give
to
help
other
parents
use
this
lesson?
Share
your
success
story
with
other
homeschoolers.
Find
out
how
homeschooling
and
an
online
educational
program
made
all
the
difference
for
this
family,
here.
2.
Lessons
Learned…
We've
all
taught
lessons
with
less
than
perfect
results.
What
worked
and
what
didn’t?
If
you
were
to
try a
particular
lesson
again,
what
would
you
change?
Would
you
(or
did
you)
try
it
again?
What
did
you
learn?
What
did
your
children
learn?
3.
Kid-Designed
Learning
We
all
want
to
encourage
creative
thinking,
intrinsic
curiosity,
and
self-motivated
learning.
(A
little
help
in
the
lesson-planning
department
is
always
good
too.)
Sometimes
our
children
surprise
us
with
unique
learning
activities
and
project
ideas
of
their
own.
Our
children
all
have
areas
of
interest
and
subjects
they
want
to
learn
about.
Tell
us
about
your
child's
self-designed
learning
activity
or
project.
Was
it of
value?
Would
you
recommend
it to
others?
What
do
you
do to
encourage
"kid-designed"
learning
activities?
4.
How
Much
Structure?
Everyone’s
idea
of
“homeschool”
is
different.
One
of
the
most
obvious
variations
involves
structure.
Home
education
programs
vary
from
literal
in-home
classrooms
with
structured
schedules
and
pre-designed
textbook-based
curriculums,
to
very
loosely
structured,
interest-led
learning
(or
un-schooling).
What
is
your
style
of
homeschooling?
What
works
best
for
you?
Did
you
start
our
using
this
much
(or
little)
structure;
and
has
it
change
with
experience
and
time?
Why?
Share
your
story.
Read
about
one
mother's
experience
with
her
two
children
and
their
very
different
structural
needs,
here.
Q&A:
The
Hands-On
Homeschooling
Helper
"It's
been
one
of
those
days…"
Q.
More
often
than
I
want
to
admit,
homeschool
just
seems
impossible.
Sometimes
I
feel
like
I
can’t
get
it
together.
The
kids
don’t
want
to
work,
the
house
is a
mess,
and I
haven’t
had
time
to
plan
a
lesson.
I
worry
about
my
children’s
education.
Maybe
I’m
not
cut
out
for
this.
What
can I
do?
---Worried
Homeschool
Mom
A.
Congratulations!
You
and
your
children
are
experiencing
the
stuff
of
life,
and
that’s
a
good
thing.
When
the
laundry
is
piling
up
and
washing
machine
breaks
down,
the
baby
is
inconsolable,
there’s
no
more
breakfast
cereal,
and
you’ve
got
errands
to
run,
what
can
everyone
do to
help?
Everyday
problem-solving
skills
come
into
play,
and
valuable
lessons
are
learned
in
the
process.
(How
many
“schooled”
kids
know
how
to do
a
load
of
laundry,
start
to
finish?
How
many
regularly
change
diapers,
feed,
and
entertain
a
baby?)
Be
assured
that
the
day
is
not a
total
loss,
but a
lesson
in
responsibilities
and
real
life.
What
about
those
“less-than-perfect”
days
when
the
kids
are
cranky
and
uncooperative,
no
one
feels
like
working,
and
that
lesson
you
spent
so
much
time
on
bombs?
Here
are
some
possible
solutions:
§
>
Skip
school
for
today
(and
remind
yourself
that
the
kids
won’t
be
denied
college
entrance
because
of
it).
§ >
Send
everyone
to
their
study
spaces
to
read
(of
course
they're
all
reading
something).
§ >
Have
them
open
their
back-up
assignment
folders,
which
you
have
put
together
for
days
just
like
this,
and
complete
at
least
one
worksheet
in
each
core
subject.
§ >
Take
them
with
you
to
run
errands,
giving
them
things
to do
along
the
way
(such
as
retrieving
items
for
the
cart
at
the
grocery
store
or
dropping
coins
in
the
meter);
with
a
stop
at
the
park
on
the
way
home.
§
>
Let
them
pick
out
an
educational
game,
set
it
up,
and
play
it.
Then,
ask
each
player
to
write
down
or
tell
you
something
new
they
learned
while
playing
the
game.
§ >
Skip
the
academics,
and
make
it a
“clean-up
day.”
Enlist
everyone
for
household
chores,
knowing
that
on
some
days
physical
exertion
is
more
welcome
than
the
mental
kind.
Learning
to do
the
laundry,
clean
the
kitchen,
weed
the
garden,
and
vacuum
the
carpets
is
just
as
important
as
learning
academic
subjects
and
provides
a
more
well-rounded,
real-life
education.
§ >
Ask
each
child
to
create
his
own
lesson
plan
and
carry
it
out.
He
may
choose
any
subject(s)
he
wishes,
provided
he
can
show
you
what
he
did
(worksheets,
research,
reading,
artwork,
etc.)
and
provide
proof
of
having
learned
something
after
completion
of
his
self-assigned
learning
activities.
§ >
Give
everyone
a
break.
Send
them
outside
to
play,
and
meanwhile
work
out
an
alternate
lesson
plan
or
assignment
for
them
to do
later
in
the
day,
after
lunch.
I
have
used
each
of
these
solutions
at
some
time
or
another.
The
point
is
that
every
day
is
different
and
that’s
to be
expected.
Remember,
even
in a
classroom
setting
some
days
are
better
than
others,
and
sometimes
nothing
gets
done
at
all.
(The
percentage
of
time
spent
on
actual
learning
activities
in a
regular
classroom
is
normally
very
small.)
Fortunately,
homeschoolers
aren’t
held
captive
at a
desk
for
six
hours
on
the
really
bad
days.
Your
family's
options,
such
as
those
listed
above,
are
limited
only
by
your
combined
creativity
and
imagination.
Submit
Your
Question!
Do
you
have
a
question
or a
problem
related
to
homeschooling?
Submit
it to
The
Hands-On
Homeschooling
Helper.
We’ll
do
our
best
to
provide
you
with
advice
you
can
really
use,
and
we’ll
provide
a
forum
for
other
homeschoolers
to
submit
their
solutions
and
ideas
as
well.
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