Pajama School Blog

Pajama School, Stories from the Life of a Homeschool Graduate

7 Points for Communicating in a Memorable Way

by natalie

The following teaching tip is a portion of last week’s Passing the Baton e-newsletter from Jeff Myers. Passing the Baton is an incredible organization that trains and equips leaders to make a lasting impact on the next generation. I have gleaned much wisdom from Dr. Myers over the years through his books and video courses. He is one of the rare communicators who expertly balances philosophical teaching with lots of practical ideas to actually make the information relevant to real life situations. This brief list of points for getting your message across in a memorable way is a helpful guide to keep in mind when planning lessons or preparing for speaking engagements.

The best way to make sure you’re getting your point across in a memorable way is to make each point as concrete as possible. This is done by:

  • Defining it
  • Explaining it
  • Giving an example
  • Offering a personal experience
  • Developing an analogy
  • Quoting an expert’s opinion
  • Citing a statistic

A Successful Failure

by natalie

Basil Plant This is a picture of my basil plant. What?! You can’t tell? Well, it had a little sprout a week ago, but it has since died. And so ends the sad tale of my third failed attempt at growing herbs. Now I’m off to the garden store for another packet of seeds and hopefully some knowledgeable instruction on how to coax my little plants to a more fruitful life. The third time proved not to be the charm, but perhaps success is just another attempt away.

How striking the parallel between my herb-growing misadventures and life. Sometimes it seems like the only thing I’m successful at is failing. I fail to communicate clearly the message that was in my heart to share; I fail to retain the interest of a particular student; I fail to correctly discern God’s will in a given matter; I fail to get a new business off the ground after months of planning and preparing; I fail to pray enough, memorize enough, show love enough, or share the Gospel enough. And on the list goes. Truly, my life is wrought with failure. And yet, in the midst of it I am compelled to cling to the promise of success.

The promise of success rests not in achieving the end for which I aim, but in the eternal constancy of the laws of God. Weariness gives way to another season of planting because He promises that “in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”1 The temptation to stop serving is replaced with another day of diligent labor because He promises that “your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”2 The pull to veer onto the easier path of the ungodly is kept in check by the promise that delighting and meditating in the law of the Lord ends with “whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”3

Thus, myriad failures are overcome because the faithfulness of God is great, and His mercies are “new every morning.”4 I am convinced that failure is a very necessary part of our continued growth and dependence upon the Lord. The more I cling to His promises of success, the more I find my understanding of true success redefined. Indeed, perhaps it is in repeated failure that we can claim our greatest success.

1. Galatians 6:9
2. I Corinthians 15:58
3. Psalm 1:3
4. Lamentations 3:22-23

Counting Down to the Convention

by natalie

TPAAIC

After months of planning and preparing, we have entered the final week leading up to our annual TPA homeschool convention. Chris Klicka and James and Stacy McDonald are our keynote speakers for the weekend. We also have an excellent slate of workshops lined up. I can’t wait to get the recordings from the sessions and listen to all of them. I won’t have a chance to hear them live because I’ll be in Adventures in Character where we are taking a trip deep into the jungle!

This will be the first convention ever where I’ve been a vendor, and my Mom has graciously agreed to run the Pajama School booth for me. I will be doing a book signing at 6:30 on Friday evening, so if you’re in the area and are attending the convention, please stop by and say hi! I’m excited to get a little taste of exhibiting at a convention in preparation for my trip next month to exhibit at the Colorado State Conference!

Attend a Homeschool Workshop in the Comfort of Your Home

by natalie

HSLDA has just announced their @home e-vents initiative and it sounds like a great idea! Andrew Pudewa is scheduled to be the speaker for the first two sessions on May 4 and May 5. I have listened to Andrew Pudewa in person and via recording and he is one of the most excellent speakers I’ve heard. He is intelligent, humorous, and practical – with lots of great insights into how to teach and learn more effectively. I’m sure his two workshops, The Four Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing and Spelling and the Brain will be excellent!

Get a Free ESV Study Bible

by natalie

By far the favorite magazine in our house is WORLD Magazine. It is published bi-weekly, and is an excellent source of news from an unashamedly Christian worldview. Unlike most of the secular news magazines that nonsensically claim to be religiously neutral in their reporting, WORLD Magazine makes no pretense about their underlying philosophies and beliefs. Each issue is filled with a variety of relevant and thought-provoking content – an excellent way to stay current on news from around the world.

Anyway…I just found out that WORLD is offering a free ESV Study Bible to anyone who signs up for a new subscription. I’ve had my eye on the ESV Study Bible for a while now and would love to have a copy of this great resource! If only we didn’t already subscribe to WORLD… 🙂

Homeschooling Little Ones

by natalie

Many of my friends are now married, have little children, and are in the early years of their homeschooling endeavors. I am amazed at some of the creative ideas they come up with! I am equally amazed at how quickly their precocious little ones pick up information and respond to training. More and more, it becomes apparent to me how influential all parents are in their children’s education – whether consciously or not. Education is taking place in some form or another constantly throughout every day. Here’s one example from our family:

My parents are both conscientious about proper speech. It is important to them that sentences are complete and  structured correctly. They always insisted on proper grammar, even when we were young. If I said, “Me and my friend want to play a game” I was gently corrected and told to rephrase my statement as, “My friend and I want to play a game.” Lazy speech was not tolerated. And all of us were challenged to employ good communication skills even in our daily conversations around the house. This is when and how habits are formed – in the daily construct of life situations. Thus, the most effective education for little ones is that which continually reinforces those skills and qualities which are desirable in everyday life.

I really enjoyed the recent Homeschool Heartbeat series on this topic, titled Teaching Young Children. In it, Vicki Bentley, the new HSLDA Homeschooling Thru the Early Years coordinator, shares some down-to-earth suggestions for parents who want to begin homeschooling their young children. It seems like so much has to do with a parent’s perspective and approach. When all of life is viewed as the classroom, the opportunities for teaching are endless!

20 WAYS HOMESCHOOLERS BENEFIT FROM TRAVEL

by natalie

Rachel Kokensenski offers a wealth of creative and practical tips and ideas that homeschoolers can implement in their family travels in the following guest post:

Children who go to school at home can benefit greatly from traveling with their parents and siblings. Educational trips can add untold advantages to a basic homeschooling curriculum, enhance children’s learning in all areas, and build strong family ties all at the same time. Here are twenty ways that homeschoolers can benefit from educational travel.

PLANNING A TRIP
1. Children can learn to set goals.
2. Map reading skills are encouraged.
3. Library and online research about possible destinations becomes highly motivational.
4. Creating and following a vacation budget teaches financial accountability.
5. Organization and planning are developed through packing for a trip.

WHILE TRAVELING
6. Skills with charts and graphs are enhanced by reading airline and train schedules.
7. Teamwork is encouraged through getting the whole family on the road or aboard the plane.
8. Regular homework can be done during the trip.
9. Children can keep a journal of their travels, which develops writing skills.

WHEN VISITING ATTRACTIONS
10. Students can create a list of questions they want to have answered through their visit.
11. Science museums and displays will suggest topics for further research and experimentation at home.
12. Historical sites will give a personal feel to subjects covered in textbooks.
13. Viewing quality works of art or professional music, drama, and dance performances will build appreciation for fine arts.
14. Visiting new cultures will broaden a child’s understanding of citizenship and provide motivation for learning a second language.

AFTER RETURNING HOME
15. Regular homeschool assignments can build on information and experiences gleaned through traveling.
16. Students can outline and condense the knowledge they gained into a report or presentation to be shared with relatives or friends.
17. Practical math lessons can be devised centering on miles traveled, fuel used, money spent, etc.
18. Homeschoolers can find creative outlets by writing a song, play, poem, or other piece that tells about their trip.
19. Older students can become mentors to younger children by teaching them about their newfound knowledge.
20. Family members can share their memories with each other for years to come.

These are just a few of the many advantages that educational travel can provide for homeschoolers. If you try it with your family, you are sure to come up with many more benefits yourself.

rachel kokosenskiAuthor Rachel Kokosenski, Co-Founder of Travel 2 Educate: With a background deeply rooted in the love of learning inspired by her parents in her childhood, Ms. Kokosenski believes that educational travel is vital to the learning and development of children. Through combining common practices, hands-on knowledge, and cultural enrichment early in life as part of growth process, Ms. Kokosenski is devoted to helping parents plant the seed of the love of learning early in their children. Using the specially designed research and planning tools of Travel 2 Educate, Ms. Kokosenski strives to construct an easy-to-use and easy-to-access information platform for homeschool parents.

Great Resource for Educational Travel Experiences!

by natalie

One of our family’s favorite things to do is travel to new places and experience new things. We love pulling out our big road atlas, dreaming of the trips we’d like to take, discussing the things we’d like to do along the way, etc. For this reason, I was thrilled to discover the relatively new Travel 2 Educate website that has been co-founded by Rachel Kokosenski to help families incorporate educational activities into their travels! I’ve already been enjoying perusing the website, and today I am excited to welcome Rachel here to the Pajama School blog for an insightful interview. Enjoy!

Travel 2 EducatePajama School: What inspired you to start Travel2Educate.com?
Rachel: I grew up in a family that always did educational activities and trips with us. We frequented museums and cultural events from a very young age and this became a natural source of fun for us. I can remember being asked what amusement parks I’d been to when I was a child and saying that I’d been to Disney World once, then excitedly added, “But, I’ve been to the MOMA, the Guggenheim, the Field Museum of Natural History, etc.!”

Recently, when I researched “family travel ideas,” I was disappointed to see that the majority of them focus on going to the beach, camping, or amusement parks. It was possible to find information on educational ideas for family travel, but it took a great deal of research all over the Internet. It seemed logical to me to create a “one-stop shop” for like-minded parents to find information for creating educational travel opportunities for their children. We chose to focus on homeschool families in particular because they tend to naturally seek out non-traditional learning opportunities for their children as well as have the flexibility in their schedules to travel to more destinations.

Pajama School: What makes Travel 2 Educate different from other travel information websites?
Rachel: Our information is geared specifically to family-friendly, educational information about different destinations. You can research ideas and book your travel all in one place. We go beyond the typical tourist offerings and seek out learning activities for children of all ages. In addition, we provide information on how to plan your vacation, save money, and get the best value for your dollar. Our Google Group – Travel 2 Educate – offers the opportunity for visitors to our site to share their own travel experiences, photographs, and travel tips.

Pajama School: How can homeschool families best utilize the resources you offer through Travel 2 Educate?
Rachel: Visit the site often and sign up for our free e-newsletter to get additional information, win prizes, and stay on top of hot educational travel ideas. By joining our Google Group – Travel 2 Educate – you can contribute your own ideas, experiences, and photographs or ask questions about activities, destinations, or how to develop educational components to your travel experiences.

Travel 2 EducatePajama School: Can you tell us a little about your family and your own travel experiences?
Rachel: My husband, who is the co-owner of Travel 2 Educate, is a corporate pilot and travels a lot more exotically than I am able to at the moment! He often contributes photographs for our website articles and does research “on the road” for the website. He enjoys traveling more with us than for work, but admits he has been fortunate to get to travel to some pretty amazing destinations.

We are adopting our 4-year-old son at the moment and have done some traveling with him; we are currently restricted to domestic travel, but look forward to getting him his first passport! He has a definite sense of adventure and loves to learn, so it will be fun to begin showing him the world as soon as we can.

I enjoy traveling, immersing myself in different cultures, and learning new things. I love the freedom of getting out of the ordinary. I’ve planned trips to popular destinations, such as Ireland, but try to always seek out unusual experiences in those destinations. For example, while I was in Ireland, I swam with wild dolphins in a little town in southwest Ireland, called Dingle. For the record, it was an amazing experience and very inexpensive – much better than swimming with them in a pool in the U.S.

Pajama School: Do you have any favorite travel destinations?
Rachel: Ireland, Hawaii, New York City, and Montana are my top choices at the moment. But, I am hoping to plan a lot more travel in the coming years and will certainly add to my list of favorites, I’m sure!

Pajama School: Do you have any plans in the works for further developing Travel 2 Educate?
Rachel: Yes, I have a Masters of Education and I am working on developing a new section of our site that will focus on curriculum ideas that can be created based on travel experiences. These will be segmented by age/grade level and available as E-books for a nominal fee. I hope to have the beginning lessons available by the fall of 2009 and will continue to produce more in the future.

I’m sure we will be adding some additional information and sections to the website, but they have not been firmed up at this time. The best thing to do is to “stay tuned” by subscribing to our e-newsletter!

Pajama School: Any additional comments or information you’d like to share?
Rachel: I really appreciate the opportunity to be interviewed by you on Pajama School blog and I invite your readers to start planning their educational travel through Travel 2 Educate!