Life Skills - TheHomeSchoolMom Blog
Big Topics Feed Kids’ Brains
Beach after oil spill
Just try talking about an issue of substance in front of your kids. If they’re like mine, they dig right in with questions and opinions. That’s what makes dinner table conversation so lively. No surprise, research says that family discussions about current issues boost kids’ reasoning and mathematical skills. Unlike more casual chats, conversations about social and political concerns help kids make sense of big concepts including numbers. That’s because parents tend to give examples, use real life mathematics, and ask children to think for themselves. Continue reading »
Mom doesn’t have to do it all. Homeschooling Moms, repeat this to yourselves three times. Because even though we may know it in our heads, often the reality in the home is that Mom ends up taking on more than her fair share of the household tasks. Continue reading »
Let’s face it – there’s just too much to do and not enough time. Homeschoolers have the challenge of educating children while also maintaining a household; a household that children are actively (albeit creatively) working throughout the day to dismantle! Homeschoolers’ houses are well used, and it can be overwhelming for Mom to try and manage the workload of cleaning, maintaining order, cooking, and keeping up with household tasks while also providing creative, interesting, effective lessons each day. Fortunately, Mom shouldn’t do it all by herself! Continue reading »
Although the last article examined the fact that borrowing money leads to overspending and poor financial health, it is natural to ask the question, “Just how, then, does one purchase items for which he/she does not have the money?” The answer to that question ties in closely with principles addressed in Part 4: 1) Children must learn to delay gratification and 2) Children must be taught to live within their means. When borrowing to purchase an item is not an option, parents can teach children another method to getting what they want, an approach often called “the envelope system“. Continue reading »
A fourth major principle for helping kids learn to manage money effectively is to avoid borrowing. In our culture it is nearly a given that people must borrow money in order to purchase things they want. This philosophy, however, has led to tremendous debt. Continue reading »
