Do you read the newspaper aloud to your children? If not, your family is missing out on a rich source of learning. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 77 percent of children ages 8 to 18 read no newspapers on a given day. But there is good news. You can enrich your homeschool by reading the newspaper aloud. In this newsletter, we give you three reasons why reading the newspaper aloud should be part of your homeschool week. Much of this information comes from Jim Trelease’s The Read Aloud Handbook, an excellent resource on the benefits of reading aloud to your family. 1. Newspapers Contain More Rare Words Than Most Other Sources According to Trelease, newspapers contain 68.3 rare words per thousand. That’s a big number, surpassed only by scientific papers. Reading the newspaper beats adult to child conversations (9.0 rare words) and even adult books (52.7 rare words). When you read the newspaper aloud, you delve into those rare words that help them most when it’s time for school and learning. 2. Newspapers Enhance the Home’s Print Climate Having an actual, physical newspaper in the home helps condition children to print. If a newspaper is visible on the kitchen table or beside an easy chair, children are seeing all those rich and informative articles and headlines. Daily, their eyes are drawn toward complex vocabulary and new and interesting problems. Newspapers used to be the way Americans entered the world of reading. Today, the print newspaper industry is in decline. This is a shame because it means the print climate of homes is also in decline. And research shows that kids who grow up in a home rich in print (abounding with books, magazines, and newspapers) are more successful in school and life. 3. Newspapers Pass Visible Torches By reading the newspaper aloud to your kids, you are modeling good habits. You are showing your children the habits of a good reader, as well as a good citizen. Reading the news to yourself on your phone or table it not the same. Your readings habits are out of your child’s line of sight. Also, reading the news digitally—on Facebook, blogs, and RSS feeds—does not go very deep. It lends itself to skimming rather than pondering and digesting. And as Trelease pointedly asks, “How do you pass invisible torches?”
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Need some tools to help you read the newspaper aloud? This week begins our Hot Chocolate and Current Events initiative, which is Silverdale Press’s effort to help your homeschool families and co-ops become more conversant in current affairs. In our weekly newsletter, we provide a family-friendly article and discussion questions. Our articles span the types of news: business, technology, politics, life and arts, and world affairs. During the school year, you’ll find the week’s article at the end of each Friday newsletter. This week’s article is about international business and the world's biggest coffee chain. Do you know which European country just got its first Starbucks? 1. Read this article aloud with your family. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/06/grande-opening-milan-gets-italys-first-starbucks 2. Look up these vocabulary words: mezzanine, colossus, dubious. 3. Point out these locations on a map: Seattle, Washington and Milan, Italy. 4. Discuss the following questions:
Labor Day—it’s the holiday we associate with back to school sales, cookouts, and a day off of work. But why do we even celebrate Labor Day? There’s such a rich history behind the holiday that most Americans don’t even know. Want to shake up your regular curriculum and inject some fun and learning into your homeschool this Labor Day? Here are three activities that will enrich your entire family. 1. Read a Presidential Address from the Past Presidents give speeches on Labor Day. Their speeches help us understand what was going on with American workers at various moments in history. Plus, they are fun to read aloud together as a family. We at Silverdale Press love to help your homeschool family use primary sources. Presidential addresses are some of the best primary sources around. Our newsletter subscribers received a free document analysis guide on Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 Labor Day speech. Want primary sources like this one emailed right to you? Sign up for our newsletter. 2. Learn Facts about American Workers Today Labor Day honors the American worker. But who are workers? How many teens work? Are unions still important? How many workers are self-employed? What issues face American workers today? Spend some time looking at the charts and graphs about American workers on the Pew Research Center’s Website. (This is great practice for critical and logical thinking). You are guaranteed to learn some fascinating facts! 3. Write to Your Member of Congress At the first official Labor Day parade in Chicago, Representative Lawrence McGann declared, “Let us, each Labor Day, hold a congress and formulate propositions for the amelioration of the people. Send them to your representatives with your earnest, intelligent, endorsement, and the laws will be changed.” Now that you’ve explored facts about American workers, write to your representative and tell him or her what labor laws need to be changed. From retirement savings to the minimum wage, teen labor to workplace safety, there are many important issues facing American workers. So, are you ready to take a break from your regular curriculum or open your kids' eyes to a slice of history they do not know? Try our White House Holidays: Labor Day Unit Study. You will learn so much about the history of American labor, through the unique lens of the presidency! Not every moment in human history is sunshine and progress. While there is much to celebrate about our story, human history is, well, human. Human nature is flawed. The result of imperfect people moving through time is this: there are dark spots in the historical record. Slavery, oppression, and war are just a few common threads woven through history. Though we may want to hide difficult historical moments from our children, there is much to be gained from teaching about them. Difficult Moments in History... Are Eye-Opening “Wow, Mom, I had no idea…” Difficult moments in history are eye-opening. Why are they eye-opening? Let’s say you just learned about William Wilberforce and the movement to abolish the slave trade in Britain. As part of that, you learned about the horrid conditions of slave ships during the middle passage. “So much misery condensed in so little room, is more than the human imagination had ever before conceived,” Wilberforce told the House of Commons in 1789. Why is this valuable to your student’s learning? It opens their eyes to what humans are capable of. It opens their eyes the importance of leadership and wise decisions. It helps them understand where we have been and who we are today. Create Empathy Learning about difficult moments in history creates empathy. Why? Human suffering accompanies any difficult moment in history. Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s thoughts and feelings from their point of view, rather than from your own. Empathetic people can imagine themselves in the place of people in history and understand what they are thinking and feeling. How would your student feel living in the Jim Crow South? How would your student feel as a front-line soldier launching the D-Day attack on the beaches of Normandy? Exposing students to hardship and suffering creates empathy for our fellow human beings. Foster Gratitude Learning about difficult moments in history makes children grateful for the times in which they live. Our world today is by no means perfect. But there are freedoms and conditions that children of today enjoy that children of yesteryear did not. How would your teen girl think about her right to vote if she knew that suffragettes were jailed and force-fed so she could have that right? She probably would be grateful for the sacrifice others made on her behalf and would think twice about taking that right for granted. The History of Child Labor One such difficult moment in history is child labor. While child labor is still practiced today, especially in Africa and Asia, it was practiced in the U.S. in the not-so-distant past. In fact, it was not until 1938 that child labor was outlawed in the U.S. Before then, children worked long hours in homes and factories. Conditions were poor, they were paid very little, and they went to school only irregularly. In just a couple of weeks, Americans will come together to celebrate Labor Day. More than just a day off of work and school, this holiday gives people a chance to reflect on the past and future of the American worker, and the history of laborers in the U.S. and across the globe is a difficult one. But it's also a great opportunity to create empathy, foster gratitude, and open your child's eyes. Interested in learning more? Check out our homeschool Labor Day Unit Study from our White House holidays series!
As a homeschool mom, your life is busy. And as fall approaches, your life is about to get much busier. But now—while the tomatoes are ripe, the kids are at swimming lessons, and you’re making preserves from the summer berry harvest (or not)—is the time to think about how you can ease into the new school year. We’ve created a simple and practical list to help ensure you have a smooth start to the school year. If just one of these tips helps you even a little, we’ve done our job of making your homeschool journey easier and more enjoyable. 1 Make Self-Care a Priority When school starts, you’ll be taking responsibility for your children’s education. What a blessing! And what a huge responsibility! For moms, physical and mental preparedness is a must. In order to take care of others, you must take care of yourself. Here are some suggestions:
2 Get Sunshine and Outdoor Time Fresh air and sunshine can do wonders for your state of mind. Now is the time to soak in that vitamin D before the cooler temperatures set in.
3 Get Healthy Did you make any health and fitness goals at the beginning of the year? Health and wellness go right along with self-care and outdoor time. Summer is a great time to begin healthy new habits. So, when things get busy during the school year, these habits will already be set in place.
4 Declutter Now is a great time to get your house in shape for the new school year. If your house is uncluttered, your mind will be as well.
5 Work on Home Improvement Projects Do any areas of your home need attention? Summer is a great time to work on making your house a home and to play catch-up on what you’ve been putting off all academic year.
6 Reflect Summer is a great time to reflect on what you need to do differently next year. It is also a great time to consider tweaks in your homeschool schedule and household routine. Brainstorm. Write down your thoughts. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
7 Order Curriculum You’ve been spending the last several months going to conventions, researching online, talking to friends, and mulling over curriculum choices. Now is the time to order. Don’t wait until the week before your homeschool start date. Shipping can take a little while, and you’ll want to have some time to wrap your head around new materials and instructor guides. 8 Work Ahead a Little Is there anything you can take care of now to get something off your plate for fall? If you have a few free moments, maybe you can take care of some big tasks that would otherwise be overwhelming in the midst of homeschooling.
9 Plan Ahead a Little August is a great month to spend some quality time with your fall calendar. This will ease your mind and ensure that you do all the things you want to do.
Homeschooling isn’t easy, but it is good. We here at Silverdale Press are here to make your lives easier during the busy months ahead! |
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