Great learning opportunities ahead!

Attention homeschooling parent….you have a great learning opportunity approaching!
Ok, now that I have your attention, let me explain what I mean. Between Thanksgiving and Chinese New Year there are a lot of different holidays. Many of these holidays are major holidays for the different major religions of the world. You may not celebrate any of them. But it would be a great opportunity to share the beliefs of others with your child. Even if you have a specific belief, you could use this opportunity to explain to your child why you believe the way you do and compare it to the other beliefs.
Some people shy away from explaining or teaching about the other religions besides their own. The problem with that is that the world is getting to be a smaller and smaller place. Two hundred years ago, I might never meet a Jew or a Muslim. Now I might live next door to one. Years ago, I might not have ever heard of Hanukkah, or Ramadan, or Winter Solstice, or Kwanzaa. Today, we are much more likely to encounter someone who celebrates the holiday. You do not need to believe the way someone else does to be willing to learn something about what they believe.
In fact, in an age where you might live next to families from all over the world, you probably even have people who believe differently than you do in your homeschooling group, especially if it is inclusive, or interest based. Wouldn’t this be a great time to have the children share different religious beliefs? I’m not saying have your child believe in something different than you do, I’m just suggesting having them learn something about other beliefs.

Reading and more reading

Did you know that some people believe that reading is the most fundamental skill you can teach your child? I am very fortunate in that my child has always been an excellent reader. One of my homeschooling friends has a child with dyslexia and reading is a struggle every day for them. And it probably will be a struggle for the rest of the child’s life.
Someone once said, “If you can read, you can do anything.” I think what they meant by that is that if you can read, you can read the instructions to learn how to multiply, or tie a knot. Beyond the educational value of reading, there are other benefits as well.
If you can read, you can escape the world you live in, take flight, and explore worlds you will never have the opportunity to explore in real life. Reading can be a stress relief, and it can spur your imagination. You will learn cultural and societal references.
This is a great gift to give to your child. Read to your child, even if they think they are too old (they are not!). Read with your child. In our house, one of us often reads the same book as my daughter, at the same time, and then we discuss the book. Let your child listen to audio books. Amazingly many of the benefits of reading also apply to listening to audio books, especially if your child is an auditory learner. Finally, let your child see you settle in with a good book. It shows your child that you think reading is important enough to take time to do, and it models a behavior that you want them to have.
Enjoy reading!