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Deciding to homeschool is a huge decision. You have no doubt weighed the pros and the cons of the decision, and ultimately decided that teaching your children out of your home is the right one for you. It is important to remember, that not all homeschooling situations are exactly the same. In fact, there are dozens of variations when it comes to homeschooling.

Your best bet would be to spend some time trying out some of the different methodologies already in place. Give your family time to try out the different learning methods, and once they have given each one a fair shot, then decide which route you want to take.

In the beginning, your lessons and learning may start off very slow. You will no doubt spend the majority of your free time researching the requirements for homeschooling, and looking for quality homeschool lesson plans to teach to your kids.

In many states, you can start homeschooling as soon as you tell the school district of your intentions, while others the process is more complex and involves quite a bit of paperwork and red tape. You should look for a homeschooling support group in your area to help answer some of the legal questions that apply to your city and state.

Once you have these things down, you will begin to pick up speed and momentum when it comes time to teach your kids. After a few months, you and your family will be pros at homeschooling.

There are many books and programs available to homeschoolers, which will make the task of getting started easier and more productive. Many of them include calendar to lay out lesson plans, as well as tips and tricks to running your household smoother. It is important to remember that bringing the school into your home will create a shift when it comes to chores and household responsibilities. While you are in class, dishes and laundry still have to be done. So learning how others deal with issues is critical to your success as a homeschooling parent.

Within a few months, the learning curve will be forgotten and you will likely love your new arrangement. Homeschooling gives you the chance to teach your children the way that you want them to be taught. They will be tested occasionally by the state to make sure that they are up to par academically, but most homeschooling children exceed these standards and go on to do very well in high school and college settings.

Sarah Jones loves teaching. When she isn’t homeschooling her own children, she is busy sharing her love of education with others.
Find a wide assortment of lesson plans, crafts for kids, and homeschooling tips at http://www.KnowMore.com.

You may want your children to grow without the fear of water. With swimming lessons they become pretty much capable of handling themselves early on. The benefits are many and giving up the opportunity for your babies to learn these would be to their disadvantage later on in life.

Baby swimming lessons will first and foremost ensure that your child will be equipped with safety skills in the water. It would be a life saving skill for the child that can be used throughout his lifetime.

It has also been known that baby swimming lessons help these toddlers improve their stamina and breathing. The exercises may seem gentle, but these can do wonders for your children’s health. Many studies have shown why such activities are recommended.

Coordination and strength are also developed with these baby swimming lessons. With these effects, the child is sure to grow with good mechanical abilities. The body would be healthier and in good general condition. Chances are, the child would most probably grow active and energetic as with possible love for water sports, or any other sports for that matter.

Swimming lessons also have the potential to increase a child’s concentration and mental abilities. These lessons will help make the child alert on the surroundings he is in and his perceptual abilities are most likely to improve.

So you may want to enroll your child in a baby swimming center. Make sure however that it is qualified to conduct such baby lessons. It is of course necessary that you be there with your child to monitor how it is going. Private lessons are also offered by some as a good way to go if you have a pool of your own.

When you are confident enough to do, take on where the baby swimming centers have left off, you will have the opportunity in bonding with your child in a unique way. It is important when in the pool together that you maintain eye contact with him. Make him feel you are there with him – and let him feel secure with your presence there inside the water.

Make sure that these baby swimming lessons are fun for your kids – blow bubbles in the water, sing or gently splash water on their bodies. Having this sense of play will continue to attract your kids interests on swimming.

Baby swimming lessons are of no doubt beneficial to your kids. Regular swimming is also often seen to improve sleeping patterns on babies as and their eating habits as well. So what’s the wait? Enroll your child for a swimming lesson!

If you want to get more information about babys and kids please visit my blog at http://babyonthefly.com

Running around the neighborhood I bet you have heard this once or twice, “I know she knows how to say it. I heard her singing her colors in Spanish just this morning. Lisa, tell my friend what red is in Spanish right now!” Or perhaps this scenario rings a bell, “Jorge, I am warning you! No more English. If you want something, you have to ask me in Spanish starting ahora!”

Parents across the world see a very global future for their children and want to prepare them for it. We have read or heard about the reports from experts about bilingual children scoring higher on standardized tests and reading sooner than monolingual children. Yet there seems to be a struggle to achieve that blissful state of learning.

Many times children rebel at using their native language of Spanish; thus eliciting threats from the parent of no communication in any other language but Spanish. Then there is the Anglo parent who, with all good intentions, eagerly enrolls their child in a fairly expensive once a week language class; only to wonder why that same child will not ‘perform’ for family and friends her new words in Spanish.

With the following seven simple steps and suggestions you and your family can bloom into a second language journey – blissfully and with smiles:

1. Start the second language learning as early in your child’s life as possible. Experts agree – the earlier, the better. Think of how you learned your native language. It’s all about vocabulary at first so remember that repetition is the key for all your child’s learning.

*Experts say it is just as easy for a child to learn two words in two languages for one item as it is to learn just one word.

*Introduce the new language bilingually, using the native language and the new together, for any child birth through 8-10 years old. (Immersion should be used for children 8 -10 and older.)

2. Find a bilingual language learning program, product or class for your child that incorporates the following components necessary for success: visual, music, beginning reading and verbal exchange. Give your child the opportunity to enjoy the new language daily for 10 to 30 minutes (depending upon the age of your child, more time needs to be spent as your child continues to develop his language skills).

3. Show your child you value speaking a second language.

*If you speak mainly English in your home invite a Spanish speaking friend over, attend cultural events where both native & new languages are spotlighted through music, dance, food and more and turn on the Spanish channel on TV and the radio.

*If you speak mainly Spanish in your home invite new English speaking friends over and get them involved in learning Spanish as you cook for them, entertain them and welcome them into your home, visit the local library for bilingual books and fun children’s programs and make learning the new language fun for your child and yourself.

4. Do not allow anyone try to convince you that learning a second language needs to come after your child has mastered her native language. The myth that children will be language delayed or have a language disorder if a new language is introduced early in life is just that – a myth.

*The latest study out of Texas on this subject suggests that children up to the age of five can learn five languages simultaneously.

*I will caution that you not settle for immersion for your young child during her school day. It should not be ’sink or swim’ in the English only classroom for the Spanish speaking child nor should a Spanish only class be used with your English speaking first grader.

*Your child should be allowed contact with his/her native language throughout the day until at least the age of 8-10 years old.

5. For Spanish speaking families it is a lot of work to continue your native language within your home and community when English is the dominant and daily language your child hears. As in most of parenting, keep a smile first of all.

*Refuse to fall into the trap of making your child ‘perform’ in your native Spanish language. Encourage your child to appreciate their native language by appreciating it yourself and speaking it with love.

*Try not threaten to speak only in Spanish to your child in order to get them to respond back to you in Spanish. This will alienate them from you, their language and their heritage.

*Your child will understand everything you say to them, but your child might often times make the conscious effort to refuse to verbalize back in their native tongue due to your threats.

*One last note: You, as the parent, need to practice your new language of English. Try to make it a family effort to soften your accent when speaking English.

*Instead of being embarrassed by your Spanish accent, show your child you are proud to be Hispanic and will continue to work on your new language as you ask your child to work on their native language. Practice what you preach!

6. Have realistic expectations for your child. Becoming fluent in a new language takes time and takes living the language. Avoid getting a one-on-one tutor for your child during the early years (birth – 8 years old).

*This language journey should be fun – filled with music, games and creativity (not conjugating verbs and grammar).

*Try not to look for your child to be conversational after benchmarks you set up yourself. Every child learns and develops differently.

*Allow your child to enjoy this language learning by not pressuring your child to excel in or perform in either language. The sign of a true linguist is one who code switches. That is, one who can flow between both languages easily within one sentence, one thought, one conversation.

7. The ideal situation in any home where the parent wishes to raise a bilingual child is for one parent to speak Spanish full time with their young child while the other parent speaks English full time. They would flow back and forth between the two languages while explaining things in both languages when possible. We all realize this takes a tremendous amount of effort.

*We also realize that this is not the norm in most households across the world which is why we look for simple solutions that fit into our daily lives.

You can do this. You can give your child the gift of a second language. You are your child’s best teacher. You just need to find the tools to jump start their second language journey today.

You know what makes your child excited about learning. You know what you can fit into your daily routine and still make it fun for all. You just need to do it!

Beth Butler is the creator of the BOCA BETH Language Learning Series for young children. Find out how fun and easy it can be to introduce Spanish to your child. Sample the BOCA BETH bilingual music and movies for free at http://www.bocabeth.com
Call toll free 1.877.825.2622

Having a baby at home is a wonderful experience. Looking after the baby and caring for it is an even more fulfilling experience. When calculating how much to feed a baby, on average a baby needs two and a half ounces of formula for each pound of his weight. A baby does not distinguish night from day. If it’s your first, your baby is going to make a big difference in your life. Of course babies cannot understand what you are saying because they don’t have a grasp of the English language but they do understand sounds and tones, and if you talk quietly and make happy noises the baby know this.

If both parents are working and you need to balance the care of your child between day care centers there are many things you can do to accomplish this, even if you are single parent many day care centers will work with you to help out. If both parents work a day job maybe you can arrange to have one of the parents working either at night or a staggered shift, say starting at noon and working to 8 or 9. And usually the best time to do this is in the summer when both parents might be off work.

As you look at the child care alternatives of day care center, day care at someone else’s home, or a dedicated child care worker in your home, there are two other factors you should take into consideration: it may be best to consider only state licensed day care providers; and your friend or co-worker’s considered choice might not be the best one for your family.

In a childcare center you will need at least one certified trained person that should oversee everything, this is very important if something should happen during operational hours. How can a parent be sure they have made the right decision? A parent wants the best possible care for their child. Today child care centers are very expensive, sometimes parents wonder if it is cost effective for both parents to work, because it is so expensive many think that the day care centers are money magnets.

The most important parts of providing daycare for your child and that’s your child’s nutritional needs. Certainly the daycare center is not going to let the child starve and the food the child is given to eat will certainly be good food. Trying to find good quality daycare is very hard.

When the child care deductions came about many parents were very happy about this because it put more money in their pockets. Many laws have changed since 2001, this was around when all the tax cuts were happening and in fact increased the tax deductions for the number for children. Children who are under the age 12 the parents are eligible to receive a tax break for them and this is a life saver for many. If you didn’t know about this tax advantage there are many accountants or professional tax planners that can help with this, and show you how you can claim this deduction on your taxes.

David Marc Fishman creates personalized party favors for children. Find out how to get party favors at http://www.mailordermommy.com.

There are two safety techniques that children can learn that are very effective yet not so well known. We call the first one a “Power Voice” and the second one a “Belly Brain.”

A Power Voice teaches a child to yell for asisstance when in trouble with a strong voice that comes from the abdomen, not the throat. Every child is capable of this type of voice although they may not have ever used it or know they even have it.

When kids yell, and most adults too, they yell from their throat. The Power Voice is a yell from their belly.

Put your hand on your abdomen and push out with your stomach muscles. Do it again and huff out a breath with it. Do it one more time and this time push out your breath and make a sound with it.

It sounds like a deep “Huh!” More importantly, it comes out with a measure of strength and power. This is the Power Voice.

Kids can practice this when you tell them to, “Bounce Your Voice off The Walls!” Again, it comes from the abdomen, not the throat and when done correctly the difference is astonishing. Kids will need to learn this voice if they ever need to use it. It will get people’s attention when it is used.

You can also teach your child they have two brains, the one in their head and one in their belly. Call the one in the belly the Belly Brain and the one in their head the Head Brain. Its pretty simple but they are names kids can remember and understand.

Kids know how to listen to their Head Brain. They do it everyday, all the time. We teach kids the differences between their two brains and how to listen to their Belly Brain. Teach your child that their Belly Brain is always right.

For adults, a Belly Brain is that visceral, gut feeling that is always right. Kids have this gut feeling too, but they need some help in learning how to listen to it and use it to keep themselves safe.

Simply show your kid how their Belly Brain works. Show them it is always right and always works positively for them. Teach them to pay attention to it and how to listen to it. More importantly, show them that listening to it is “OK,” as well.

In doing this you will have to show the kids how their Head Brain can sometimes trick them. Do this by using imagination and storytelling techniques that enable the child to build up a great, exciting tale about a shadow they saw dance across a wall.

It’s the same when kids think monsters that are in their bedroom closet or under the bed. Show them how their Head Brain makes these stories up.

Then, reinforce the Belly Brain as the alarm clock for potentially dangerous situations. Teach your child to recognize the uneasiness in their stomach without panic, alarm and worry. Teach them to see potential danger calmly and avoid it with any number of ways to leave the area they are feeling uncomfortable in, safely.

When kids tune into their Belly Brain they are more tuned in detecting uncomfortable situations, situations with questionable adults and inappropriate behavior. Kids naturally feel uncomfortable with inappropriate questions and behaviors they are around. You are simply showing them how to be alert to it with their Belly Brain.

The kids learn not only to listen to their Belly Brain but to also go tell you about how they feel and who they were with when they tune into it.

Joyce Jackson is a child safety expert in northern California. For her extensive website and information see http://www.KeepingKidsSafeToday.com and a free special report at http://www.StopPredatorsCold.com