Embracing Your Inner Google

There is no doubt that Google has changed the face of the internet. It started with a search engine that could find anything. It expanded to include all sorts of new tools and gadgets from Google's web-based email to Google Docs to Blogger.

I am not a big fan of lumbering monopolistic companies who take over markets, stifle innovation, and set back technology for a buck. Google is not that though. Google consistently has provided converged, innovative products for free to the user. Principles aside, I am all for getting stuff for free.

In homeschooling I have found many of the Google tools very useful for managing and running a curriculum. Here's my list for embracing Google:

• Google search is great for finding resources. Other home school groups, online homeschooling guidelines for your state, online worksheets, videos all can be found with Google search.
• Google Calendar is awesome for putting together assignments. Each assignment can be put on a schedule with deadlines. Repeating activities can be scheduled. You can share the calendar between teachers and students.
• Gmail is a good communications device between teachers and students. It also integrates GoogleTalk chat capabilities.
  
• Blogger is a great place to have your student explore multimedia for reports and themes. They can write and integrate pictures and video in one place. You can read it from anywhere and comment. Permissions can be used to either hide or share content with the rest of the world.
  
• Google docs is a great place for writing reports and doing spreadsheets in a more traditional word processing environment. Documents can be shared.
• Google video and YouTube are great places to find content. I found old videos of speeches by Ronald Reagan and was able to share those with my daughters. They could see and hear President Reagan say to 'tear down this wall'.

Empathy

When it comes to behavior problems, I am a big believer in teaching empathy. Teaching someone to put themselves in the place of another person teaches them how that other person might want to be treated.

Teaching empathy starts first with talking. A talk about how other people feel can go along way. Augmenting this with writing and storytelling can formalize the thought process. Here are some ideas for teaching empathy:

• Write both sides of a 'bullying' story from the point of view of the bully and the one being bullied
• Write a story about the school day from the teacher's point of view.

Learning to Type

A basic skill that all people need is the knowledge of typing. After all, typing is a common skill for access to the digital world and all it has to offer. Here are some strategies for teaching typing:

Set a goal:

Set goals and let your student measure themself as they wish. Many websites (such as this one) offer typing tests to tell you how fast you are typing.

Make it a game:

Learning to type can be boring. Choose games to help your student learn. Here are some possible resources:

• Typing Games
• Text adventures and Interactive Fiction
• Text-based Role Playing Games (MUD)

(Not all games and items linked above have been checked for suitability to any given age group. As with all parts of your curriculum, it is up to you to review the content for appropriateness.)

Show them the relevance:

Typing is probably one of those skills to cover quickly and then let them use it. A couple of assignments in other subjects that require typing will teach them quickly how important it is to be able to type.

Embracing 'New Media'

Let's face it -- homeschooling is hard. We all have our reasons for taking on the challenge, but that doesn't mean we have all the time in the world to put into it. After all, with children there are a lot of things to do. Digital homeschooling can help to make it all more efficient.

Classroom-based learning has changed little in the last two-thousand years. It is an artificial construct that serves one simple purpose -- to maximize the ratio of students to instructors in order to minimize the cost of learning. With homeschooling, the ratio of students to instructors is pretty well fixed. Instead of focusing on that, we can focus on individualized learning.

Digital homeschooling is about embracing the 'new media' in your home curriculum. After all, what is 'new media' to us today is going to be the basis of society tomorrow. To use this new media, first you need to understand it. Here are some good primers on new media that I would recommend:

• What's a Blog?
• What is Twitter?
• What is a Wiki?

Also, there are some other resource sites, you should check out:

• YouTube -- a video sharing site
• Hulu -- an online TV/movie website
• Wikipedia -- an online Wiki-based Encyclopedia
• Blogger -- a blogging website
• Google -- the home of lots of useful tools
• Amazon -- An online marketplace for all sorts of things.
  

Get to know these sites and understand the new media and you'll go a long way in finding resources for homeschooling.

Gym

Gym is an easily overlooked subject in the homeschooling curriculum. I think it is extremely important that children learn to get in the habit of exercising. Exercise is an important part of gym, but don't overlook it as an opportunity to teach other subjects.

I have my daughter keep track of the length of her runs (time limited) for endurance one day a week. I have her keep track of her run times (fixed distance) another day a week. She also does sit-ups, push-ups. She has been learning Tai Chi from DVD video.

Periodically, I have her plot out the trends. She can see the relevance of her measurements and the relevance of her exercise by her improvement. She can also calculate her improvements as fractions or percents. (I am runing 12% faster.)

In the winter, we also provide a treadmill to allow her to continue her exercise regimen.

After having this program for a while, both her and her sisters have gotten into the habit of walking around the block for fun. Good habits can be spread.

Math Excitement for Basic Skills

Generating excitement about math can be challenging. At the middle school level, I find that math splits into two different segments that each have their own challenges: basic skills and problem solving. This post deals with generating excitement with basic skill problems.

As with with motivating any behavior, teaching has to choose between positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. I find that linear positive reinforcement is almost always the best route for learning new things. Rarely do I use negative reinforcement, but when I do, I apply it to fight backsliding and I apply it exponentially.

For example, the first stage of math I found was a series of 'get to know what you know' tests. These test allowed me to find out strengths and weaknesses without stressing out my daughter. This test was a few problems of each kind of math skill: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, percents, integer operations, etc. They went from easy to very hard.

At the end of the test I went over the specifics of where each mistake was made. In my daughter's case, it wasn't hard for me to figure out that her two main problems were basic math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts) and neatness. Doing math efficiently is all about having basic facts memorized and keeping you work neat and aligned. She knew all the recipes, just was having trouble with the ingredients.

So the next sessions we focused on basic math skills and neatness. I gave her short timed tests to reinforce her quick basic math fact skills. I gave her small sets of large math problems to practice her math skills.

Timed tests that you keep track of are a great motivator. They make a simple test fun and exciting. I even took the tests with my daughter. By plotting the scores over time, she got positive reinforcement, and in the background, learned about using plotting in a real application.

Over time she got past her problems with math facts and neatness and we could move on to problem solving and new skills.

Resources:

http://www.homeschoolmath.net/ -- A great resource, especially for worksheets.

Homeschooling Summary

I have home schooled my middle school daughter for going on two years now. Along the way, I have learned a few tricks and tips. I also apply these tips and tricks to ensure that my other daughters who are in public schools get a well-rounded education and stay excited about learning.

This blog will include everything I have learned. If you have questions, feel free to comment, and I'll do my best to help.

Have good ideas? Feel free to comment and add your thoughts.