There are a variety of ways to achieve fluency. One such way is called SAFMEDs ("Say All Facts a Minute Each Day"). This method relies on making up flashcards with the material that a child is supposed to memorize. It is a quick and easy method to ensure that a child masters the information he is supposed to memorize.

The first step is to decide what you'd like a child to master. Then flashcards of the material are made up with one possibility being that both the concept and answer are put on one side and just the concept on the other side. When a child is ready, he times himself for a minute while flipping through the cards. The total number of cards should be limited to 50 because that is the most that a person can easily handle in a minute. If a child is having problems flipping the cards, he can set out all the cards on the floor or a table. Then instead of having to handle the cards, he can just point to the card he's on while saying the answer.

A funny incident involving SAFMEDS occurred during a professor's (Lindsley) final evaluation of his student's knowledge. Professor Lindsley set as a requirement that each of his students had to achieve a fluency of vocabulary definitions at 20-30 per minute. Each student was required to meet individually with Lindsley and go through vocabulary flashcards in one minute. If a student didn't achieve fluency, he would have to go home and keep practicing until he was in the fluent range. One day another professor approached professor Lindsley's door and heard a student speaking really quickly and loudly. He thought better of going in thinking that Lindsley was being berated by this upset student.

The reason for doing SAFMEDs is that it is an easy method for obtaining quick results in memorization. A child will most likely see it as a fun and challenging activity that takes very little time and helps him to memorize the necessary material.

When starting any project it's always good to have a plan. The same goes for homeschooling. If you don't have a plan of how you want to homeschool and what you need, you have a greater chance of getting frustrated. Here are a few simple questions you can ask yourself that will help you create a great homeschool plan for your family:

1. What do I have to do to notify my local school system that I want to homeschool? Each state has different requirements and options. Some states are more homeschool friendly than others. Your local school superintendent's office should be able to direct you in what you need to do. Some states just require you to take attendance and others want to know exactly what you will be teaching and how you will be teaching. There's no need to be intimidated by this process. The schools just want to make sure that the children are in capable hands. Since you have raised your children so far and are willing to spend hours each day with them, it shouldn't be too hard for you to provide the information that the school district wants to hear.

2. How does your child learn best? You might want to look into having your child take a learning style assessment online at the site below. If you already know how your child learns best, then you can choose your resources accordingly.

3. What is your teaching style? Are you flexible and able to go with the flow most of the time, or do you need a structured lesson plan that tells you exactly what to say? There are homeschool curriculum and resources to fit every teaching style. Just make sure you know yours before you purchase anything.

4. Do you or your spouse have any special skills or interests that you can teach to your children? This doesn't have to be your sole curriculum, but can certainly enrich your homeschool environment. If your husband enjoys fixing things, he can easily show your children what he does and allow them to help him. If you enjoy cooking or doing a craft, your children will probably want to know how to do what you are doing. Your personal interests will enrich the learning environment in your home.

5. Do your children have any interests or hobbies? These can be used in your homeschool plan as well. If your child enjoys making scrapbooks, they can develop their language and art skills and enjoy learning. If they enjoy nature, you can incorporate that into your homeschool plan too.

6. What are your educational goals for your children for this year? What aspect of History or Science do you want them to study? What language skills do you want them to develop? What Math concepts do you want them to master?

7. What is your homeschool budget? How much money are you able to spend? Are you aware of the free resources available for homeschooling and are you ready to use them?

Your homeschool plan doesn't have to be a detailed or involved thesis explaining everything that you plan on doing this year. I prefer a skeleton plan that is an outline of what I want to accomplish for the year. You should definitely write something down because it is a proven fact that people who write down their goals are 80% more likely to reach them. A simple written outline of your goals for the year should give you everything you need to have a successful homeschool year.

Although there certainly are a lot of different ways that you can teach your child at home, the Montessori home schooling method is one that is preferred by many parents and children alike. The reason why it is so popular is because it allows the child to develop at their own speed for a number of different reasons. Here is just a little bit about Montessori home schooling and what it can do for your child's development into a healthy adult.

The person behind the development of the Montessori method had the basic ideal that children need to develop at their own speed. This is one of the inherent flaws with the public school system, the fact that the entire group moves through the curriculum together. No consideration is taken for the fact that some children are going to develop in certain areas faster than others. This can really hinder a child as far as their current education is considered and can harm their development for the long term as well.

This is the reason that the Montessori home schooling system can really be considered an aide to life rather than a mainstream educational system. By allowing the child to move ahead at their own speed and to make choices that will affect them throughout their entire life, you generally end up with someone who is balanced and healthy, even as an adult. Giving them this kind of education in a home schooling setting is the perfect way for you to make sure that your child is well taken care of.

Many people wonder what homeschoolers do all day. Do they get enough subjects in or do they just sit around and watch TV? It is said that public school children actually get 1 hour and 34 minutes of instruction time in a day. The rest of the time is spent on administrative tasks like switching classes, handing out papers, dealing with discipline issues, giving instructions, etc. I believe that homeschool students learn more subjects and have more productive learning time for these reasons:

1. Parents have a vested interest in seeing their child learn and succeed. If the student doesn't succeed or learn enough, usually the parent is to blame. Granted, there are homeschool parents that do no take this initiative, but for the most part, homeschool parents take more initiative and are more driven to pursue ideas and books that can enrich their child's learning environment. Parents have a natural and biological drive to help their children succeed, which in homeschooling drives them to pursue positive educational ideas and books.

2. Parents know their children better than anyone else. They can use the time that they have with their children to interject comments and instruction that they know will be interesting to their child. This can be done on evenings and weekends, even, when most people think that learning can't take place. Parents are teaching something all the time whether they know it or not. As the old saying goes, "More is caught than taught."

3. Homeschooling time is more like tutoring than dealing with a classroom of 25 students. Many children in public school receive one-on-one tutoring which increases their learning. Homeschooling is basically a tutoring time that is very focused and geared toward the individual needing help. Therefore, more subjects can be taught in a shorter period of time.

Not only do homeschoolers teach the "Three R's", reading, writing and arithmetic, they can teach a whole lot more than that based on the reasons given above. Here are just some of those extra subjects that can happen in the normal course of a homeschooling day: character development, time management skills, geology, fire safety, money management, nutrition, public speaking, traffic safety, music, patriotism, religion, cooking, current events and many more.

What should homeschoolers teach? Exactly what each child needs. Just as no 2 classrooms look alike, no 2 homeschools will look exactly alike. You need the basics subjects and then you can build from there.

Florida approved traffic school is sometimes required by a judge as sentence for a moving violation. It may also be possible to have a traffic ticket dismissed or points removed from your license by taking such a class. Luckily for Floridians, Florida is one state that has granted approval for courses such as these to be offered over the Internet. That means that you can take Florida online driving courses rather than going into a traditional classroom.

Florida online traffic school is far more convenient than the old-fashioned method of looking for a course and finding a location and date that will work for you, then showing up at the right time and day and sitting through a live instruction that may or may not be worth your time and money. With a course that is designed for online delivery, you've got the benefit of dozens of revisions and constant updates, so you know you're seeing the latest laws and regulations, and the latest conventional driving safety wisdom.

The other great thing about taking a Florida approved traffic school over the Internet is of course the convenience of scheduling. You don't need to be there at a specific time, or on a specific day. If something comes up, there's no need to reschedule. If you find yourself with a little extra time, you can log on and work on the course right there on the spot, no need to talk to anyone first or clear it with anyone. Just find a computer with web access and you're ready to jump back in. Some courses will even save your place within the material so that when you return you can go straight back to the page or section where you left off, and continue quickly and seamlessly.

Not all Florida online driving courses are created equal, however, nor are the providers who offer them. One important thing to look for is superior customer service. Customer service is one of those features that nobody thinks is particularly important until they suddenly find themselves needing it. With a web course, you might be online at any time, day or night, when you have a question that needs answering. There are providers who offer 24-hour live customer service, through a toll-free phone number or even a chat window, and those are the providers who understand the nature of web service and the fact that a class delivered over the Internet is always in session, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If they understand that aspect of customer service, you can be confident that they understand the other things unique to online education, such as keeping the student involved through interactive quizzes, animations, and videos rather than creating a book on a screen that doesn't encourage active participation in the material.

Purchasing discount home-school books is a great step toward inexpensive homeschooling. Begin by making a list of books you want to purchase for each child, subject and grade level. Be sure to make note of each book's retail price. Then check with the following retailers to find the lowest prices available:

* Booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Borders and Half Price Books allow home-schoolers to to take advantage of teacher's discount programs to purchase new books at a reduced price. You may be asked to present official documentation when applying for the educator's discount. If documentation is necessary, you can create a letter or home-school ID card on your home computer. Barnes & Nobles and Borders also host annual teacher appreciation events that offer savings over and above the educator's discount.
* Christian Book Distributors offers a free Educational/Home-school catalog that offers savings of up to 90% on home-school books and curricula. Its catalog also features product reviews by home-school book author, Karen Andreola.
* Rainbow Resource offers price savings on a variety of materials from popular home-school curriculum suppliers. The company provides free shipping on orders over above $150. Its free catalog is also a great source of product reviews.
* Scholastic offers a monthly book club flyer where home-schoolers can purchase materials for prices as low as 95 cents. The company also hosts semi-annual Customer Appreciation Warehouse Sales where it sells many of the fiction and nonfiction books from its monthly fliers at half the cover price. By registering for these sales through Scholastic's website, you can print a fast cart pass that also serves as a coupon at checkout.
* Usborne Books provides money saving opportunities through its home shows, e-fairs and consultant program. By introducing friends to Usborne books through a party hosted in your home or on a consultant's website, you can earn free homeschooling books for your children. Usborne also provides home educators with the chance to become independent consultants. During my first 3 months as an Usborne consultant, I earned over $600 in free books, received commission on materials I purchased for my family, and earned money for use in our home-school.


By purchasing materials at a home school curriculum fair, you can eliminate shipping costs and take advantage of show specials. Vendor fairs can save you money and time. By viewing the books before purchasing, you reduce the risk of having to return materials and select new ones.

You can also save money on homeschooling resources and supplies by taking advantage of teacher's discount programs at Office Depot, Office Max, and Staples.

The very first thing a homeschooling parent should do before seeking a telecommuting deal is understanding how you are going to work and home-school. This is true even if you are telecommuting full-time from home, even though the majority of telecommuting programs are part-time at home. Even if you are working from home most workdays, you have to have time to both telecommute and home-school.

Situations are not all the same. For example, if you are the major breadwinner and your partner (usually the wife) is at home full-time, then you can team-teach. If you like science and baseball, then you can carve out a few hours each week to teach and coach the kids.

But if you are primarily responsible for homeschooling the kids and you are telecommuting, then you will need to do more of a balancing act. It can certainly be done, I do it. But you do have to make some adjustments since these two activities are equally important, especially if you are the family's major breadwinner. You don't want to sacrifice your children's education, but on the other hand you won't be doing them any favors if you lose your job. See my post on "Flexible Homeschooling Time" for more ideas.

Your company may already have a telecommuting program in place, and this is getting far more common than it used to be. It may be formal or informal. Start with your HR department but if they say "no" then don't give up. You will be dealing directly with your boss anyway, and HR is paid to be conservative. The more flex-time and other employee satisfaction programs your employer has in place, the better chance you have to telecommute. You will also have a better chance if you are a proven performer, and many companies will require that before they let you telecommute. (There are exceptions - the small 10-person company I work for is entirely virtual, with only the owner and his assistants coming into the office.)

Do NOT under any circumstances tell them you want to telecommute so you can home-school. That is your personal business and not theirs. You will give your company your best effort and that is all they need to know; how you do it and the schedule you keep is your business.

Dr. Katherine Hansen has some excellent suggestions for crafting a telecommuting proposal that I summarize here:

* Create both a written and oral proposal. The idea is to plow the road by letting your boss absorb the written points and then calmly discussing any concerns or feedback with your boss. (Please don't do it the way I did - I burst into tears. It worked, but I don't suggest you do it too.) The written proposal will also give your boss ammunition should he or she need to get permission for you to telecommute.

* Explain the benefits of telecommuting to the company, not to you. For example, stress your ability to get your work done without constant interruption from co-workers. The benefits to you should be implicit instead of explicit. Your boss doesn't need to hear about your needs but they will be in the back of her mind. If you are a valuable employee then most companies will want to keep you happy if you demonstrate what is in it for them. Common benefits to telecommuters in general include being more productive and have higher morale and less absenteeism, and less employee turnover. Clearly this will not help you if you are already unproductive, have low morale and are absent a lot but then you should be looking for another job anyway.

* Highlight your value to the company. You will want to get across two main points here: 1) your accomplishments and contributions and 2) why you would be so effective as a telecommuter. As in the previous point, be careful to couch your points in the light of how you benefit the company. In some cases the boss may know more about your personal life, including the fact that your kids are already being home-schooled. If that is an issue, mention the fact in a straightforward way and detail why this will not impact your work. When I began telecommuting my boss and co-workers knew I was already homeschooling. (I started off with them as a freelancer, also a good way to get into a telecommuting position.) I stated that I started work early in the morning and my son got up later. By the time he was ready to begin his schoolwork I had already done my high-value work. In addition, he is a preteen and a gifted kid so does the majority of his work on his own. This was a perfectly satisfactory explanation.

* Propose a trial. This is really a good idea not just for your boss but also for you. Not everyone works successfully from home. If your kids are still in school, consider trying telecommuting at this time. You can see if this is going to work for you at all minus the pressure of homeschooling. If telecommuting works out for you, then you can add homeschooling and be successful at both. But starting a telecommuting position along with a new homeschooling program can be a good trick. You can do it, but it's a big challenge.

* Communicate, communicate, communicate. You need to make sure your boss knows you are producing. Email and phone are your keys, burn up those lines especially at first. You might do the same with your coworkers so you don't end up being sabotaged at work. You might also suggest periodic meetings, which not only help your boss know you are doing your work but also maintain good deadlines and goals for you.

* Talk about equipment. Unless your company already has telecommuting in place, do not burden your boss with a list of expensive equipment you will need to telecommute. The equipment they already provide you at the office should be sufficient for your home office along with an Internet connection. Examples include a computer, fax, printer, and a separate phone line that a sweet-voiced little child knows not to answer.

* Be prepared. If your boss feels you are not qualified for telecommuting than ask what you can do to qualify in the future. The reasons will probably vary from a general discomfort with telecommuting, uncertainty that you will do your work, or a job description that does not seem to lend itself to telecommuting. Before you talk to your boss arm yourself by thinking of every objection possible and answering it to yourself. If the subject never comes up with your boss then wonderful. If it does, you are prepared.

* If they turn you down, go to Plan B. It took me two tries to telecommute in my previous position as a journalist. An initial one-day-a-week telecommuting trial did not work out, largely due to poor communication between me and my boss. This was largely my fault and I fixed it and tried again. This time I was allowed to telecommute full-time from home, but I had also been promoted and was a more valuable employee than before. If you really cannot convince them to let you telecommute, and you have tried over a period of time, then consider either finding a telecommute-friendly company to work for instead or start your own home-based business!

Some home-schooling models lend themselves better to flexible time than others. Traditional "school-at-home" is the worst, where the kids follow the same rigid structure and time periods that they do in traditional schools. Some children enjoy the predictability and structure I suppose, although I have yet to meet any of them. Please don't feel that you have to (or even should) follow that model. Even for kids in public schools doing independent learning programs, there should be nothing wrong with finishing up the day's assigned work in less than 5 hours. So much traditional schooling is busywork anyway and a hurry-up-and-wait mentality.

For every model except un-schooling, the below approach to a flexible home-school benefits both kids and working parent. Stop thinking in terms of 30 minutes for this, 45 minutes for that, 15 minutes for the other thing. If a child needs or wants to spend a longer time on a subject such as reading, then let them. Ask them oral questions if you want to test their comprehension, or have them tell you a story from the book. They should not have to write formal book reports on each book they read, talk about ruining the love of reading!

When it comes to math, if you have a child who is utterly bored at the concept then let them take 15 minutes a day. Why not? They turn off after 15 minutes anyway. This is one subject by the way that you should take time from work to help with. Short sharp bursts do the trick. I know that I am a math underachiever. I just don't get it. But by "helping" my son with his math in short bursts and distinct lessons, we both learned something!

And why do you have to teach the same subject every day? Unless you are in a lockstep charter school program, you don't!

Another way to do this is to change subject concentrations. For example, spend the first semester on reading classic children's books. The second semester, concentrate on ancient history. This works very well for kids who prefer to go more deeply into a subject, and you are still teaching them what they need to learn. You don't have to do it on such a lengthened schedule of course, but can do language arts three days a week and history or art or science two days a week. Whatever works best for your child and you - whatever is the most flexible - is what you should choose.

Another way to be flexible is to remember that you don't necessarily have to standing over them all the time, especially if your kids are older. If you are homeschooling your 7 year old and 9 year old and you're working full-time from home, that can be a challenge. Consider letting the 9 year old "play teacher" - she might surprise you! And remember too that sending your kids into the backyard to look for certain plants or bugs (gulp!) isn't a cop out, it's a science lesson.

If your kids are older and/or capable of teaching themselves then this will also make your full-time working life much easier. For example, my middle-school-aged son and I sit side by side on the couch with our computer keyboards on our lap. Any time he needs help I just need to glance at his computer screen or at the book he is reading and help him. We do this in our living room because we frankly prefer the room's size and light to the upstairs office. Oh well. It works for us! It will work for you too.

The Abeka Homeschool Curriculum is the most popular homeschool curriculum available. Almost everyone who has even thought about homeschooling has heard of it. The company is based in Pensacola Florida. There are pros and cons to anything that you purchase. Here are some pros and cons to consider when looking at Abeka:

Pros -

1. Christian based - Abeka weaves a Christian message throughout all it's texts.

2. They tell you exactly what to say and do with your child. You know exactly what needs to be accomplished for a certain day. You can purchase teachers manuals, tests, lesson plans and textbooks.

3. The books are easy to resell when you are done with them because many people are looking for used Abeka books.

4. Advanced material - If you are looking for an advanced and accelerated method of homeschooling your children, then Abeka will give you that. Their second grade material is equal to first grade public school material.

Cons -

1. High burn out rate - Because of the accelerated material and strict lesson plans, many parents find it too difficult to complete all the material.

2. Expense - Abeka books are one of the more expensive curriculums you can purchase.

3. Many of the textbooks have the student work right in the book. If you want to preserve your textbooks for younger children or for resell, you will need to have your children do their work on a separate sheet of paper.

4. Many students find the textbooks are not very interesting and are much like public school textbooks where the material is dry and dull. Many students also burn out on Abeka because they have a huge amount of material to read and do and sometimes can't complete everything that is required of them.

As with any home school curriculum, it is good to look over the pros and cons and make sure you look at reviews of curriculum and pray about what you believe God would want you to use to teach your children.

Probably the most often asked question of homeschoolers is "What about socialization?" People who don't homeschool have an image that homeschooled children become hermits and don't interact or talk to anyone for the entire day. Parents who homeschool usually roll their eyes at any comments about socialization because they know that their children get plenty of social interaction.

Here are some common answers to the question of socialization and homeschooling:

1. Homeschool children have been and continue to socialize with many people all day long. The have been interacting with their parents and siblings since they have been born. They continue to interact with parents and siblings which can sometimes be the most challenging social interactions people can encounter. They say that if you can get along with your family, you can get along with anyone.

2. The socialization that takes place in schools is not necessarily positive. That is one reason that many parents homeschool in the first place. The school environment forces students to interact mainly with people of their own age. Homeschoolers are able to interact with people in many different age groups.

3. Most homeschool parents provide their children with many opportunities for social interaction outside the home. They can participate in homeschool support groups, scouting, special classes at museums, church activities, ballet classes, swim lessons, drama classes, etc.

4. Homeschool children tend to have fewer behavior problems and develop the skills they need to function in society at the same rate that public school children do.

School is not the only place you can meet people. Put your fears aside. Most homeschool children I have met are very easy to talk to and can carry on a conversation with people of all ages.