Homeschooling in South Africa

Must I register to Homeschool in South Africa?

2012-01-26T11:27:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago I wrote a post about the legal aspects of homeschooling in South Africa. Recently, a visitor to my blog, queried if the information was still relevant, as the article was written in 2008. Good question! The homeschooling movement in South Africa is growing, and with many newbies, it is probably time to blog about it again.

And yes, I do not think anything has changed in this area, because the law has not altered. So as I write this (26-01-2012), legislation surrounding homeschooling in South Africa remains a very grey area. The Legal documents relating to this, especially the Section 51 of the Schools Act, has ambigious language, which can be interpreted to mean different things. Law should be, well, law, well written, easily understood, with no loop holes. This is what the Pestalozzi Trust, the Legal Defense group for homeschoolers in South Africa have been lobbying for over the years- fair and good laws, that provide for homeschooling as a form of education in South Africa.

Unfortunately, as the law stands, it is interpreted by each Department of Education differently. This results in homeschoolers in certain provinces being enforced to register and comply with may illegal requirements. Some provinces have inspections by offiicials form the department, whilst some officials just make phone calls. Other provinces have not interpreted legislation to read that parents must register. The DOE in the East Cape offers a download link to the form they require for "Applying to Homeschoool" whilst as this wording, to the best of my knowledge, appears no where in the South African law. At least one curriculum provider insists on registration before they will enroll and provide you with their curriculum.

But the question on everyone's lips is: must I register? Actually, no one can or should tell you what to do. It is your choice. Ask other homeschool families what they have done. Ask why. Listen to their reasons. Pray, pray, pray! You, the parent, are responsible for reading the laws carefully, before filling in any forms, and making any decisions. You must be at peace with the decision you have made.

I checked with the Pestalozzi Trust earlier this month, and the trust re-iterated that no suitable legislation has yet been passed for homeschoolers. Also, though the Trust will not tell you to register or not to register, they are open to registered or non-registered members. It is my feeling that membership with the Pestalozzi Trust is the wisest action, if you can afford it.

When one looks at the history of homeschooling in the US, and the profound work and actions of the HSLDA one can see the benefits homeschoolers here in SOuth Africa, if we more of us would unite under the Trust. With one voice, I am sure we can accomplish much. We continue to hope and pray for the work of the Trust on South Africa and are grateful for what has been done. The Pestalozzi Trust continues to work for the rights of homeschoolers to enable them to freely educate at home, without fear or intimidation.

If this article has got you thinking about High school and Matric and preperation for matric or an equivalent- that is an entirely different topic- one that you'll notice I have not covered ever at this blog. That is because I am ill qualified and the playing field is constantly changing in this area in South Africa. But again, I think contacting the Trust for advice for your options, in your area/province would be best.

Simple Schooling Unit studies from the Simple Homeschool

2011-12-14T06:19:00.000-08:00

I recently signed up for the free newsletter at Simple Schooling, to learn more about their unit studies, to see if they would be suitable as printables to add to my Unit study curriculum, called the Weaver. Well, during this time, they had their 12 Days of Freebies, and so I got to have a look at their online unit studies, not only printables and could see if they were suitable for South african homeschools.

The online Unit studies work via a subscription, and there are various subscriptions available. They have some really good specials on at the moment. There is also a freebie area where you can get an idea of what they offer, or sign up for their newsletter as I did.

Now, about those online Unit studies...I have really been impressed with the unit studies which can be used for science and nature study, such as the Migration one, and the Bears of North America. I cannot comment on the other freebies as I never looked at those, since it is not Winter here.

I love Unit studies and my son loves the computer, and I had never imagined combining these two methods, but Simple Schooling has done it. At first I was a little doubtful that I'd be happy with what was covered. But wow, such a lot more than I expected was covered. Even my son, who reads a lot of nature books, would learn a lot of new facts here.

We recently had to look up about caribou for our one curriculum, and were unable to find any facts about their migrations- we learned more abut Caribou from this unit study than we did in the encyclopedia. And not just the common migrating species were covered, butterflies and even African animals were covered.

Screen Shot of Solar System Unit Study

Now, about the layout: The graphics were clear, and useful diagrams for learning were included. Pictures were of good quality. The tabs for navigation on the left are simple to use and the player downloaded quickly, with no hassles. I think that the study has enough interest for the young learner, but would be a good learning experience, not like a useless computer game. The audio portion would assist the student that struggles with reading, but the text on each page was not overloaded.

If I could add anything, it would be a pop-up vocabulary box when you hover over the vocabulary words in the text. Add the printables available and you have a well rounded unit study. For those who like some form of evaluation, there were quizzes included in the units that I viewed.

I love the idea of hands on unit studies, and would prefer not to use the pc, but of course there are times one cannot do unit studies, such as in times of illness/crisis, and I can see these being very useful then. Some families will prefer the "clean and crisp" way of doing unit studies. Also, used for a resource instead of purchasing books or endless trips to the library, these units would cover it all. Lastly, this will make learning fun not only for the child that loves computer based learning and it beats textbooks!

The e-book unit studies are available at Currclick and various topics under Social studies, nature study, physics, science and English are covered. Simple Schooling does offer a lot- take a look! I can see how these unit studies can be very useful for South african homeschoolers. Firstly, no shipping cost, you get them in e-book or in the online version. And secondly, the price is affordable and you can pick and choose the topics you'd like to study, thereby omitting American topics that the South African homeschool may not want to cover. The more well known unit study curriculum do contain a large amount of US history, nature and such, and so the South African homeschooler pays for something they don't make full use of. This is a great alternative.

Well done Simple Schooling!

As mentioned above, I did receive free unit studies, by signing up for the newsletter, and I have received no compensation from Simple Schooling for this review.

Cyberschools

2011-12-11T07:23:00.001-08:00

An online friend introduced me to a new cyberschool in South Africa, Cyberschool SA. I'd never heard of that cyberschool. Abeka, , Monarch and BJU's HomeSat, but a South African one?

I am aware of cyberschooling, and do believe it does play a role in the homeschool movement, even if we all have different reasons for homeschooling. Cyberschooling can be an answer to certain challenges faced by some families in South Africa. It wouldn't suit us all of us ;-) but I decided to take a look....

Cyberschooling SA launches in 2012 and offers online, live schooling, for Grades 5-12. Using an Internet connection, and webcam, the student accesses live teaching sessions, where they can ask questions and interact. There are also quizzes and assessments and files to print out. Certain grades require additional textbooks. The fees are R 13 080.00 for a year, excluding text books.

These are the points I could make out about Cyberschool SA as I looked at their site:

Mostly importantly, their curriculum is not shown, nor any details given, nor are there any real examples/samples, which I am not happy with. To say the curriculum adheres to the NCS is not enough, I have to "see" things. The varied applications of the NCS can be about as wide as the Indian Ocean, even with the new CAPS . I also am unable to find a framework or scope and sequence for any grade.

You have to e-mail the company who will notify and inform you of a convenient time to observe a teaching demo, so I was unable to see the teaching session system in action. There is no screen shot of the virtual classroom so I cannot pass comment on that, and there is no Youtube video showing a classroom/teacher shot. Either of these would have helped and are relatively standard features on Cyberschool websites..

The sample of the "interface" with which the student will be working with to download files and such, appears to be well organised and set out, though as I mentioned I cannot see content, the curriculum. It is a very plain, ordinary screen, not interactive, certainly not revolutionary, as the words at the top of the screen proclaim. Well, maybe it was, ten years ago.

If your child has spent anytime on educational sites such as Time4Learning and Starfall, you are going to struggle to get them to enjoy this interface, even if it is just for the printing- the interface is very boring, more like the type of programs we worked with years ago. Children have got used to colour and " interactive child friendly" sites. This is a very text based site and so it'll involve a lot of reading. I expected a whole lot more.

Learning does not always have to be fun and bells and whistles, I know, but should be a enjoyable and rich family experience, to my mind. Reading the Cyberschool SA site, they don't make any promises about theirs being a fun learning experience. That's probably completely true. The main component, is, after all, the mysterious teaching session. But perhaps it's a really fun teacher like Mr Steve Demme of Math-u-See fame! A teacher can really make or break it, lets face it.

In connection with how much time your child will be online, Cyberschool SA says:

"Students will spend about 4 hours per day online. Wherever possible, they will be given extra work offline or have tasks that they can complete using their text books."

I am a little confused about the "wherever possible." Sounds scary.
Four hours in front of the pc, is really not good in my opinion. (even for a teen) I know all pc related learning means you're in front of the screen, but I do believe some programs are completed in much less time than four hours. Dr Raymond Moore (author of Better Late than Early) does not recommend straining the eyes of the child for longer than 15 minutes of clos-up work. The fact that it mentions other extra eye work on top of all that pc work- it sort of destroys the idea of homeschooling, doesn't it?

The other thing that I found confusing, was two statements, found within the same paragraph. Cyberschool SA states that their service is "designed to supplement what a home schooling parent is already teaching his or her child." and then they say "We offer a fully complete and comprehensive program that covers a full school day" Well, something doesn't line up.

I think a cyberschool can really be a benefit to homeschools, such as where a parent is working, for a high school student, or a child who simply loves this mode of learning. It is sometimes the only way a family can homeschool, such a single Mom. Also, where you really need a tutor for certain subjects but your location doesn't allow it, or you travel. But you've got to be so careful where you put your money.

I believe the more you can see of something before you commit, the less risky it is. (the exception being marriage, of course) I think reading reviews about cyberschools and asking other homeschool families is probably the best thing to do if cyberschooling is your only choice. A good recommendation from another South African homeschooler is worth looking into.

I guess this is the one of many companies who are going to be providing services for homeschoolers in SA. Whilst this is a good thing for us, we need to remember that we are getting to be a real market now, a place to make money. I guess time will tell what the Cyberschool SA service is like. Reality is, we need more of this type of support in South Africa, but it will probably take years to tweak it to the standard of live SOS and Abeka.

I believe we need companies to listen to what we South african homeschool families really need and actually get an inside understanding of homeschooling, the way Marc and Ivana from Love2Learn and Greg and Sonja Wood from Oikos do. People who will provide things for a unique South African homeschool market. But then we need businessmen to be informed about the legalities of homeschooling, and not to make inaccurate statements such as this one that I found on the Cyberschool site: " Legally, all home schoolers up to grade 9 are obliged to register with the Department of Education"

To conclude, I think the concept of cyberschooling is upfront and the homeschooling movement in South Africa is ready and waiting, and well done to Cyberschool for breaking ground in SA. However Cyberschool SA would do well to look at upgrading their interface to current standards to appeal to the modern child.

I welcome comments, especially from those who have used, or plan to use this or other cyberschools ;-)

Keeping Christmas Crafting Calm and Simple

2011-12-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

Art and crafts are really not my speciality. But, I have to admit, I have got braver and more daring at doing crafts, mostly thanks to the internet ;-) I am not an artist, but if I am exposing my children to different medium with which to create, and we're having fun in the process, I am happy. When there were toddlers and babies underfoot, any extra mess really put me off doing crafts. Now that the children are a bit older, we can try more complicated crafts and clean up time is that much easier.

At Christmas time, we do crafts that will beautify our homes, or become gifts. As we have a tight budget, we try to buy very few items, and use what we have at home. For example, two years ago, we made lavender sachets for the grandparents. We used some gingham material from my fabric box, and I sewed the little sachets on the machine. Then the children did cross-stitch patterns on them. Even the then three year old managed to push the needle in and out where I showed her, I was so impressed. My then 5 and 7 year old did well, with my 5 yo dd completing a pyramid pattern that she made up on her own beautifully. We stuffed the sachets with dried lavender saved from the last time we trimmed the bushes. Then we finished the gifts off with a bright coloured salvaged ribbon, tied in a bow. Cross-stitch is a really easy craft to try, and it's not just for girls. And with new "waste fabric" you can do cross-stitch onto any type of fabric: towels, cloths, tray cloths and then remove your waste fabric, your cross-stitch remains. Free Christmas cross-stitch patterns are helpful for the designs. You can make lovely home made gifts, bookmarks, aprons, or ornaments.

A cross-stitch heart on gingham

Every year since I was a child, not a Christmas has gone by without me folding paper streamers. My Granny taught me how to do it- with bold colours of red, green and yellow or gold crepe paper (crinkle paper). I've spend many happy hours folding streamers.
Folded Paper Streamers:
To make you'll need crepe paper, in bright bold colours, a pair of scissors and a stapler or pins.

Cut about a 3cm strip off the roll of crepe paper without unfolding it.
Cut another 3 cm strip- if you want an alternating band, choose a contrasting colour, or if you want a uniform colour streamer, choose a matching colour, and cut off same size strip.
Unravel a small piece from each bundle, place at right angles on top of each other and join, with a pin or stapler.
Then begin to "plait" your streamer, right over left etc.
When you run out of one colour, snip the other colour off, and join again.
If your streamer is too short for the area, simply connect two or more together.
Note: these do droop in wet weather and you'll need to readjust them, so hang them up tighter/shorter if you live at the coast.

Brightly coloured crinkle paper adds colour to Christmas

Before you put the crepe paper away, we also make our own Christmas crackers. We use a toilet roll for the inner, and a little gift like a lip ice, or bouncy ball. Then the crepe paper and a sticker or a home made design on the outside, and lastly, ribbons on the ends. We found the "inner bang thingies" once, so I bought them, and now we have lots. But the bang is not really needed anyway. Probably not as glam as a shop bought cracker, but a whole lot of fun, especially when you personalise each cracker, and add a real gift, not plastic rubbish. This year we want to add a little paper blessing Bible verse. I love the thought each child puts into these.

We like to use Christian symbols to decorate our home at Christmas time. As a child, I was greatly impressed by our church Christmas tree. One year the ladies of our church made Christian symbols to decorate our huge tree- they were in white and gold and we were each given a little booklet explaining the meaning of the symbols, I believe it was called a Chrismon tree.

Christian symbols on a Chrismon Tree

In our home, we put up a tree, but there is no emphasis on Santa Claus, elves or such. One year we made Christian symbol ornaments from a variety of materials. We made a star from little sticks and decorated it with glitter, we beaded little fish, a felted heart, a paper butterfly, we added an anchor, some friends with older children gave us some more complicated items to add to our collection. Perhaps this sounds very simple and ordinary, crafting does not have to be expensive and fancy, it's also about using your imagination and what you have at hand.

If you have a printer and the usual stationary at home, you can do printable crafts with even the littlest people at home. That certainly makes things easier! Just to show you, we used this little angel template at church for the preschool. The children coloured it in and then we helped assemble the angel and they were thrilled with the angel that could stand up. Add glitter and you're done!

This year we wanted to make a wreath, to hang on our door, but when we saw the price of the frame, we swallowed that idea, and decided to make some little ones from tissue paper, on a cardboard backing instead. We got the idea from this beautiful wreath. They are actually very pretty and can be made larger, but of course, would not be weather proof like a natural one. The internet is filled with ideas for Christmas, but this year, we have found Activity Village to have some nice things, just explore the site.


Christmas Cookie Cutters, go on, fetch them from the play dough!

Another activity we enjoy doing at Christmas is baking. Every family has their favourite traditional Christmas recipes, and our family are big on biscuits, or as the Americans would say, cookies ;-) The children enjoy making roll-out butter biscuits, and cutting them in shapes with cookie cutters. A word of warning, don't attempt to do this on a really hot sticky day- it'll be a mess. We always use the last scraps of dough to shape a name or initial, educational moments are everywhere. The icing on the biscuits is optional. We've used a runny glace icing recipe, coloured very brightly in Christmas colours. A white border iced thinly around the coloured sections finishes it nicely. Here is our butter biscuit recipe:

Butter Biscuits - makes about 30
250 gram butter, softened
140 gram castor sugar
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoon vanilla essense
300 gram cake flour
a quarter teaspoon salt

Beat the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla in a bowl.
Sieve the flour and add salt.
Mix to make a dough.
Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll out dough about 5mm thick and cut out with cookie cutters.
You'll need flour on the surface, just do not add too much or the biscuit will become harder and less buttery.
Place shapes on a non-stick baking tray and bake at 180 degrees C for just over 10 min
Chocolate biscuit Variation: add 2 Tablespoon Cocoa

Lastly, this year we are trying to go through this lovely free Christmas Unit study from Easy Fun School, which explains the various symbols used at Christmas time and leads you through the Advent season. It is filled with many lovely ideas, and plenty of activities and links to other sites. I don't think we'll get through it all this Christmas!

Wherever your Christmas preparations find you this year, let us be mindful of what we are teaching our children as we plan our season. What is important to our family this Christmas? The traditions we make today are the ones our off-spring will carry out tomorrow. May they be blessed traditions, filled with the story and message of Jesus and His love. Not worldy gifts and possessions and glamour, but lowly kindness, love and giving of self. Have a blessed Christmas.

This is the 13th SACHS Blog carnival under the theme Christmas Ideas/Crafts/Decorations which is part of the South African Carnival of Homeschool Blogs. To join the carnival or visit past carnivals visit the SACHS Blogs page. We hope you enjoy browsing!

A Bible centered unit study, The Weaver Curriculum

2011-11-10T12:18:00.000-08:00

Over the years we've tweaked our Maths and English curriculum several times, but the homeschooling method I have stuck with, is always Unit studies. I love the unit study approach to homeschooling, as I believe life is so inter-related and that naturally subjects are not seperated, exept at schools. Also, I favour hands on curriculum, as I think children remember so much more of what they do.

When my children were younger I made my own unit studies, but I got tired of preparing them myself as I had more children. I wanted to purchase a unit study curriculum that was all set out for me and I hoped that I could find one that started with the Bible and then tied in the learning themes and activities. That was very important to me.

The Weaver Curriculum

I compared many unit study curriculum, and found the Weaver curriculum. The Weaver curriculum was written by a homeschool mother of 4 children. Rebecca Avery, the author, used the curriculum to teach her own, and it has been used by plenty of homeschool families around the world since then. Mrs Avery, who ran the little business and helped customers and homeschoolers' eventually sold the curriculum to Alpha-Omega Publications, who continue to publish it.

Weaver consists of 5 Volumes, and Bible study progresses through the Bible from Genesis to the New testament. The Weaver preschool programme, called Interlock starts with Creation, and ends at Noah, Gen 10. Then Volume 1 begins and the volumes continue until the time of Jesus' life on earth. .

Weaver is not quite like any other Unit study. With Weaver the Bible lessons provide the theme for every chapter. Learning occurs through the various activity ideas provided: crafts, experiments, research, writing, observing, collecting, field trips, cooking, dissecting, discussing, drama, observation projects, drawings and more.

A Season poster done in Preschool Year

The great thing about Weaver is that I can teach each of my children at their various Grade levels, the same topic, all at once. The Volume has different coloured pages for each grade level within each chapter. That means the subjects such as Social studies, sciences, arts and Bible are covered in multi-level teaching. We love the experience of learning together. Weaver also includes ideas for creative writing, health, field trips, physical education and more.

When one of my children hit high school I can still use my Weaver, I just use a Weaver High School Supplement with the Volume we are using, and they can all still study the same subject, but at more advanced grade levels.

To enable me to plan better, I use the Weaver Day by Day Planner. There is one for each Volume. It is like a teacher manual that tells me exactly what to cover every day. Sometimes I may deviate from it a bit, and may spend 15 days on a topic instead of 10 or I might omit some activity and subsitute it with another idea my own. But it is there to help me, and I know in advance when I need to get supplies, art stuff or a book from the library.

Typically, we start our day with our Weaver Bible lesson. We also say our memory verse at this time. Weaver helps me remember to teach things like the Books of the Bible and such, by listing it in the chapters. Weaver suggests that we use our Bible verse as copywork. We alternate our Social study and Science days, so we do that subject next. Typically the youngest child will stop listening after I have presented the main facts about a topic. That's okay- I'm always amazed how much they still absorb! Then whatever we've learned or read about will be re-inforced through an activity. We also all do something for creative writing every day, however small, even Mom. Though I don't think it's neccesary, should I wish to test my children, Weaver has provided a set of Review questions to use at the end of a unit, for testing purposes.

Preparing a mini-garden

So, how exactly does it work? Let me describe the unit we're just completing: Language, Listening and Speech. Our Bible readings included many references to pure speech habits and also poor speech. We chose James 3:8 as our memory verse. I have only listed just a few of the things we've done here. We did some experiments relating to sound, using funnels, elastics, bowls of water, tins and fishing line. We played listening games, learned about the orchestra, and found out more about Louis Braille and Helen Keller. We "wrote" our names in Braille, and tried to decode braille on mediation packs. We looked at a diagram of the ear and discussed how the ear works and made a model. We read about guide dogs and the life of a blind child and wrote about how we would feel if we were blind. I added a poem about Words and the The Wise Old Owl.

The Weaver has also published other curriculum, all using the hands on method of learning, and advocating a low stress approach to learning. Of these products, our favourites have been Interlock, an excellent, gentle preschool programme, with everything but Maths and Phonics and Wisdom Words.

Our Solar system display

Weaver Wisdom Words, is a grammar programme for K-6th grade. It makes a nice change to our workbook curriculum. It uses hands on manipulatives to teach Grammar. Sometimes we use it to explain a difficult concept. It really makes sense learning English this way, and of course the Bible is used as a model. When we learned about pronouns we learned a little rhyme about pronoun pie and a little boy "putting in his thumb and pulling out a pronoun plum". We made a pie, like a pocket, from the template provided and filled it with the pronoun plums. Then my son proceeded to pull the plums out and name the pronouns. What a wonderful way to remember things!

The other nice thing about Weaver is the tone it is written in. Mrs Avery knew what it was like to be a busy homeschool Mom, and she has made Weaver extremely flexible. You are not bound to choose all the activities, and are able to pick and choose as you wish. I also thoroughly appreciate her book Teaching Tips and Techniques, which can be used alongside any curriculum, especially for new homeschoolers. It's written in a style similar to Ruth Beechick, who I love. Teaching tips has seperate chapters about subjects like Maths and spelling. It's filled with short cuts and sensible advice about various aspects of homeschooling. The chapter on how learning occurs is really valuable. There are also many reproducible forms in the book.

This is the 11th SACHS Blog carnival under the theme "Philosophies of Homeschooling" which is part of the South African Carnival of Homeschool Blogs. To join the carnival or visit past carnivals visit the SACHS Blogs page. We hope you enjoy browsing!

Choosing and using curriculum

2011-10-03T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've always been very envious of US homeschoolers. They have such a huge variety of resources for homeschooling available to them. Do you know how many homeschool curriculum are produced in the US? Okay, I cannot actually give you a statistic here, but when I started listing them off to my hubby I far surpassed 100 and still had more to add to the list. The wonderful thing, or so I thought, is that in the US, you can also order samples, or view the curriculum at Homeschool displays or Fairs, which apparently are enormous. Oh, how I wished I could go to one.

I used to think it was really not fair on us poor South African homeschoolers. So little choice. Only a handful of South African homeschool curriculum. And all the research that we have to put in to choose curriculum. Well, I am starting to re-think my envious feelings ;-) Lately I have been counting the cost of all the hours of research wasted on searching for resources. After a lot of research, and several different curriculum experiments, we are back to my two original favourite choices, with me kicking myself all the way. Not to mention money wasted.

Now, whilst I am a firm believer in finding the correct curriculum for your family, your budget, your childs' learning style and your teaching style, I also think perhaps we've gone a bit over board. When we read the adverts for homeschool curriculum, we're inclined to think there must be something better. Let's face it, those adverts use words that will make their products sell. And they often make us feel bad or second guess our choices. Slogans like "guaranteed to make your child love learning" and "stress free teaching", not to mention "fail proof methods, tested by many families" makes us feel there must be something we're missed. That key ingredient, that will just make our homeschool perfect! We can easily get into the pattern of thinking that what we had researched so carefully, is perhaps not the best choice.

I do think we should remain educated about new choices in curriculum, but, as a wise friend and homeschool veteran said to me recently, "Now that you have decided, I advise you not to even look at any other curriculum" I wish someone had told me that years ago, it is indeed very sensible advice.

I'm beginning to wonder if all this choice is really a good thing. Does it not perhaps distract us from our original calling and purpose? Sure, curriculum can aid us in attaining our goals, but is it our vision,or are we adopting someone elses' vision, that wasn't meant for us? Are those who have unlimited choices fortunate, or is the mother like Susannah Wesley, who has her Bible alone, more fortunate? I wonder who will extend more influence to her children, the one with a wonderful curriclum that the children love, or Susannah, who had vision, 19 children, a praying heart, but limited resources? Who will have a successful homeschool? I think if we know history we all know what a great influence Susannah Wesley had on her children, the the profound effect on the world. And all it took was her effort and a Bible. No curriculum package! It's actually astounding.

So, if you're on the verge of trying something new, before you go buying a new curriculum, or trying a new homeschool method, here are a few thoughts:

There is no such thing as a perfect homeschool curriculum
What suits one family, may not suit yours
See advertising for what it is, a way to attract sales, learn to spot the sales talk
Don't dwell on the fact that other methods/curriculum seem more fun than yours, you probably made the right choice for your situation. Anyway, just about any curriculum can be made more fun, easily, but it is a little harder to make a purely fun curriculum more thorough or academic.
Don't compare your family to other homeschoolers. You are not called to match or meet any standards other than those the Lord has set forth for us.
If you happen to look at your state or local school standards, do not be alarmed and feel anxiety. Remember a lot of those things look great on paper, but are far from the reality. You are homeschooling, and you can set your own pace.
Of the writing of books there is no end
Look for the postive things about the items you are using. Chances are, you'll remember why you liked them.
Let the Lord lead you to resources, pray about curriculum and ask Him to, and then allow Him to lead. Often, where you feel peace, and not all uptight and stressed, is the right place to be.

Do not feel guilty about choosing something that works for you. Susie may be great at hands-on unit studies, creating life size models of the human body with leftover scraps of material and hand sewing. Great! The Lord has blessed you with talents too. Use them. And, if you like, get Susie to do all the hands on stuff, in exchange for the lessons you enjoy ;-)

Don't let curriculum choices get you down!

Tips for buying and Selling second hand curriculum in South Africa

2011-09-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

Selling your used, but good condition curriculum is a great way to de-clutter and a cost effective way to get the essential funds for "new" curriculum. Much of the homeschool community thrives on the cast off curriculum of others, but is is safe? I have successfully bought plenty of curriculum from SA homeschoolers, but also had one or two bad buys. There certainly is a bit of risk involved buying second hand. Here are some pointers to consider:

The Yahoo groups for South African homeschoolers are usually a safe portal to display advertisments for curriculum and to find curriculum for sale.

Remember the seller is entitled to sell a curriculum at any price they desire. If you wish to make a lower offer to the seller, send an e-mail ask her to consider your offer. However, I think we should let sellers price their items as they see fit. Many times financial circumstances change for already hard pressed HS families and the 50 -65 % they get from their "used" curriculum they have on hand, that they can sell, is used to finance new
curriculum. Often these are purchases that never worked out, curriculum that is great, but simply a bad fit for that child/family, and may be barely used.

Always check about the age, publication date, and condition of an item if you buy second hand. Be sure you're getting the item you want, not the past edition, if that is important to you. Ask if it has all the required pieces, books, dvd's etc. Of course, this is purely an agreement based on honesty and one can get caught out, as I have been. One takes a chance, or acts in faith, if you are not there in person to view the books. I have had some lovely buys where I think the seller was gracious indeed and added items not described. If you say you are taking an item, attempt to pay for it timeously and communicate to the seller if there are any hitches.

If we're the seller, as much description as possible about the item/s you're selling is great, and often is a selling point. Remember to state year of pub, condition, any obvious faults. Try and add a weblink with more description if you're able. It helps to say if you are smoke free/pet free home or if there is a coffee spill on the cover!

Do not attempt to sell curriculum that you have photocopied, this infringes on copyright and ultimately makes curriculum more expensive for all of us. It is usually okay to sell your curriuclum, unless you signed something contrary, but, we can keep homeschool authors in business by not photcopying there hard work. Let's also be honest as sellers. Confirm payments timeously, send tracking numbers and post (mail) items as soon as you can.

Lastly, a there some very needy homeschool families out there and some equally generous families, who would be only too happy to give curriculum away to those in need, or to sell it for a very low price. Post your requests on the Yahoo groups. Many of us know how it is to struggle and would be happy to help out. Sometimes, all that will be required is postage charges.

Happy buying and selling, with integrity ;-)

Phonics

2011-09-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

Coming soon!

Support Groups

2011-09-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

Whether you're a veteran homeschooler or new to homeschooling, support is an important aspect. Without good support homeschooling is possible, but infinitely more challenging ;-)

When I started out homeschooling more than seven years ago, I had so many questions about homeschooling in South Africa, and yet, there was very little information out there. There was no one to talk to. I couldn't find any national or local association. Nobody to suggest the way forward. I had not seen anyone do this successfully and really felt discouraged and confused at times. I want to enourage you, if you are feeling isolated, there may be a way to start your own support group, or if you're far from a town, there may be other options. In amidst my search I did find plenty of information related to homeschooling in the United States.

At last I found two little South African websites, and a few South African Homeschool Yahoo groups. Aha, so there were South Africans who homeschooled.

The Yahoo groups were my absolute life-line at that time. I learned so much from the ladies on the groups. For those living on farms these groups are about the only form of "group support" available. Remember you can also search for curriculum specific support, on Yahoo, for example, if you use Abeka. On the groups I asked my questions, shared my fears and got reviews from the ~~older~~ more experienced homeschool Moms. The answers were wise and calming and re-directed me to what was really important.

Then one day, chatting outside my son's music class, I discovered another homeschooler. It was like finding a treasure. Needless to say, we chatted non-stop about homeschooling and linked up with each other. Seeing a family with older children who had always homeschooled was so re-assuring to me. We had so much to share. I subsequently found another family and asked them to join us, and so was the start of our very small support group for homeschoolers in the area.

I took a leap in faith and put a little notice on all the local public notice boards, at the library and the toy shop, and within a short while I got two calls. Soon our group consisted of about 6 families. Whenever anyone heard that I was homeschooling they would tell me of anyone they knew in the area, and I would scout out the family and invite them to join, even if they lived in on a farm or in a country town. I even had families from over 200 km's away contacting me, simply because they too were isolated. What evolved was a small diverse system of support that really worked for me in those early days.

I want to enourage you, if you have not already found one, look for a support group. Ask in the Yahoo groups to find out who is close to you. Connect, even if it's with one other person. Or, you may even decide to start your own group. The type of support offered differs from group to group.Some groups do co-op activities. Some groups all do the same curriculum, like Konos support groups. And sometimes the group is a play time for children and a time for mothers to connect over a cuppa.

Here are some tips if you're wanting to start a new support group:

Anyone can start a support group, you do not have to be a veteran homeschooler. As co-ordinator, you only need to be able to co-ordinate the group.
Decide what the aim and scope of your group will be. You or others may be disappointed if expectations are not met.
Will the group have formal membership, or just be an informal meeting, where you never know who will attend?
Will it be a social, or educational group, or both? Sometimes the younger children really just need a play time, perhaps with a story or art activity or science experiment.
How often will you meet, and where?
Will it be for all ages, or just primary or preschool?
If you do an educational activity, who will be responsible for preperation?
Will there be a joining fee? If not, who will cover tea and eats if these are served? Who will pay for supplies?
Will there be any group guidelines or rules or a statement of beliefs? This sounds legalistic, but you will find that not everyone has the same values as you and not every homeschooler shares the same beliefs. A set Statement of beliefs, issued to each member before joining, can include your take on issues like evolutiton, fairy tales and such. That is not to say that families from different faiths cannot get together for a support group, but rather that certain topics may need to be avoided.
Will you advertise and how will these costs be covered?
If you decide to advertise, do not place your address or the address of your meeting place on the notice, it is probably safer not to. People can contact you to find the venue/times of meetings. Your e-mail address will be fine.
Use cell phone numbers for contact numbers on any pamplets/notices or business cards you put out.
If homeschool families contact you, as co-ordinator, never share there address or contact details without their express permission. Privacy is very important to homeschool families.
Do not try to run the support group alone. Enlist in help. One person can arrange outings, another can be in charge of communication etc
Re-assess at least once a year, and have a meeting to decide if everyone is benefitting from the group.
Be open to suggestions from group members, and always be willing to hear their ideas and complaints.
A relatively safe place for advertising support groups is on the South African homeschool Yahoo groups.
You may also consider telling your local homeschool association if you are starting a group.

Lastly, don't be discouraged if a support group is an impossibility for you right now. Probably even more important than support groups, is the support of those around you. You can read more about that in my Support Pillars post.

This post features on the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers where South African home schoolers share experiences, ideas, philosophies and much more. You can join the carnival too by heading to the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers sign up page. In the meantime, head to SACH Carnival #8 - Co-ops and Support Groups for this week's carnival. We hope you enjoy the carnival as much as we have!

Homeschool Seminar and Personal Consultations, Martie du Plessis, Middleburg, EC

2011-07-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

I was asked by the East Cape Homeschool Association to distribute this. If you are homeschooling, interested in homeschooling, or considering homeschooling as an option in the future, please note that Martie du Plesses, a Remedial Therapist, Educational Consultant and Home Educational Specialist will be visiting Middleburg, Eastern Cape from the 13th- 17th August. She will give a homeschool seminar and be available for personal family consultations. (In the consultation you will begin to understand how your child learns, and be advised about suitable curriculum for their individual learning style.) Martie has helped many homeschool families. She is a well researched veteran homeschool mom and mentor to many homeschool families. Martie has an extensive knowledge about home school curriculum, and their practical application. You can read more about Martie's services here: Dynamis Learning

Please contact Helene Viljoen on the following numbers for more information:

049 842 4483 (home)

084 951 9359 (cell)

Weekly freebie from Evan-Moor Publishers

2011-06-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

Every week Evan-Moor Publishers will send you an e-mail based on your preferences, filled with free printable activities to use in your homeschool. The Free Newsletter is filled with ideas and printables, some of these are, of course more useful than others. For example learning all about Summer right now is a little...brrr. But the nice thing is you can save them and use them later. This is also an ideal way to see if an Evan-moor book would work for your homeschool or not.
Some of the better known titles are the Basic Phonics and Math Skills series.

But Evan-Moor has a lot more to offer homeschoolers. There are theme books for the younger learners and History pockets filled with interesting activites for older students. I'd love to use these for a History project soon. South African homeschoolers could use them to add some variety or when Mom needs something ready made.

Evan-moor books are easily available in South Africa at Loot or Kalahari.

And they are also available in e-book format from the Evan-Moor site or the homeschool favourite e-book store Currclick

Take a look at Evan-Moor, you're biggest problem will be deciding what you don't need! And if you think that you like all the books so much, you might consider joining Teacher File Box. It cost $13 dollars a month and you'll have access to all the books and themes. You just search the concept you're wanting to teach and the earch engine brinigs up lots of examples for that topic. Many different subject areas are covered.

Court Confirms the National Curriculum in not binding on private schools!

2011-06-21T03:59:00.000-07:00

In March this year some exciting thing happened on the legal fields for South African homeschoolers'. Judge Cynthia Pretorius declared in the Pretoria High Court that the State curriculum was not binding on independent or home schools.

This is a major breakthrough for private schools and homeschooler's who wish to choose curriculum other than the NCS. Of course, many families have not used the NCS, but many others have feared the repercussions of being "taken to book" for using other curriculu. Now they may operate without the worry. And a whole field of wonderful curriculum is open to us. I am especially excited about the Christian curriculum we will be using in our family. I hope to blog more about various homeschool curriculum options for South Africa soon.

You can read the newpaper reports from the Citizen.

Those new to the homeschool scence may also find the support and ongoing work of the Pestalozzi trust of interest. It calls itself Legal Defense Fund for Homeschoolers. This organisation works to provide freedom for South Africans to homeschool. There are membership fees. It is a good idea even if you do not join to stay up to date with the legal issues of homeschooling in South Africa. There are articles on this site and links from the Homeschooling Law page I wrote some years back, with more information, though this new ruling will make some of this outdated. As usual, read and be informed.

Some of my favourite essentials

2011-06-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

Hey, we've all got something that really helps us to do the job of homeschooling. Some of these things may be physical, like your special planning notebook, or a tote system or jut your fav pen. Well, my favourites are a few websites that I use so often, I've pasted them up in my toolbar, so I can use them quickly, and info is at my fingertips. I'm sure some of your homeschool students will find them handy, especially in looking up conecpts that are foreign to us South African homeschoolers.

The American Dictionary of the English Language is based upon God's written word, for Noah Webster used the Bible as the foundation for his definitions. It's a free version.
Bible Gateway Look up any versein the Bible in various versions
Wikipedia - The "bestest" dictionary on the web.
Rainbow Nation Rand/US dollar conversion site
The Official US Time

So, which sites are your favourite "can't live without" sites that assist you in your school?

More sites to follow, for the homeschool student!

Homeschool Maths curriculum for South Africans

2011-06-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

If you're familiar with Math Mammoth, a wonderful maths curriculum especially written for homeschool, you'll be extra pleased to find out that a South African edition of this homeschool maths curriculum is being made available. Maria Miller, the author, is a maths teacher, and a mother who homeschools.

Suricate Publishing has obtained permission from the author Maria Miller to "South Africanize" the curriculum. They are calling their series "Step-by-Step Maths." I communicated with Suricate Publishing and they stated: "We have been customising her (Maria Miller's) current material to suite the South African market. The main changes would be alignment to the local curriculum at minimum and where possible exceed this to international standards. The customisation exercise would include currency changes and name changes of people and places amongst other things."

From samples that I looked at of the Maths books, they look like they will be a bonus to South African homeschools. Here is an sample from the first Grade One Book, in pdf format.

One really fantastic aspect is that the worksheets about money are actually our currency. I have found it hard to find good South African money worksheets, with pictures of our coins and notes. There are also some free test samples and worksheet examples on the site. Grade One is available to order and more Grades should be ready soon. For orders by e-mail: info@suricatepublishing.com Or use the contact form on the website.

I'm happy to see that some South African publishers have a heart for homeschools and are providing materials that suit the South African homeschool market. Local really is lekker!

Edumedia Online

2010-10-16T04:32:00.000-07:00

I recently ordered some homeschool items from Edumedia. I am not exactly how or if they are affiliated with the Western Cape Department of Education, but I found their link on the WCED site.

I went through the catalog and found quite a few items that I was missing for next year. There are some audio products. They have an SA Math curriculum, R75 per year, till Grade 3, which is a much better quality than the SA workbooks commonly found at places like CNA. There is also a XHosa second language curriculum, audio, and teacher guidelines for teaching Xhosa.

I found their service was fast and friendly, and the prices were very good. Here is a link to the website: http://edumedia.wcape.school.za/catalog/shop/ed_online.html
Download the catalog and browse!

Another bonus for South African Home schooler's

2010-06-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, you spend a lot of your time searching for suitable curriculum for your children. And probably, you've also found the shipping very expensive, that the address fields often reject foreign addresses and that some companies do not offer shipping to South Africa.

One way of avoiding this, is to purchase locally, as I've said in previous posts. But, thanks to the faithfulness of God's people you can get cheaper International Shipping from Rod and Staff books. A congregation in cthe US is subsidizing International Shipping, which will now cost 16% plus $4.95 per order, for South Africans. If you've done any research, you'll know this is a huge saving!

Rod and Staff books is also known as Milestone Ministries. They supply the well known Rod and Staff curriculum, as well as the whole range of stories. They are also suppliers of Pathway Curriculum and School Aid, as well as other other Godly, mostly Mennonite Publishers.

You'll find the ever popular: Rod and Staff preschool series
Pathway Readers
CLE Home Economics
Rod and Staff Building Christian English series which is highly esteemed by Cathy Duffy.
Story books suc as the lovely Miller family series, Christian Light Readers, Little Jewel Books
Numerous Bible story books including the beloved Egermeier's Bible Story Book.
These are all beautiful pure, lovely stories and you won't have to pre-screen this reading material!

The wonderful thing about this vendor is that you can view most of the items and page through sample pages. Also, usually one has to post, fax or phone through orders to these individual Mennonite publishers, except CLE, as they do not have websites. But here you'll find there is an online shopping cart and all the usual perks of an online store.

From what I have read, customers are very satisfied with the service they receive. We've tried them out, their service was fast and friendly.

In case you're wondering, I am not affiliated to the vendor, if you click through from my site to theirs I get a small fee paid, but mostly just I love helping other homeschooler's and I think this is a wonderful oppportunity to invest in good quality Christian literature for the home.

Assessments and Testing

2009-12-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

Often homeschool parents ask:"How do I know my child has passed a Grade?" or "how can I be sure my child is at the right level?"

Whilst there are a lot of opinions about the benefits of not testing and the fact that it is not neccessary, many parents feel happy with the "safe boundary" that testing provides. It offers security and peace of mind.

Having a record of assessment is good to keep on your child's learning profile and would be handy should you make the transition to public school at any stage.

I know not everyone feels testing is needed, but for me, I like to have assessments annually to ensure that we're on track, and I feel it offers proof of the success of our homeschool, should there be a legal enquiry.

We tend to think of testing as placing our children in an exam situation. There is this type of testing, but many other types of tests and assessments are available to the homeschool parent in South Africa.

You can simply refer to any list of general skills required for a Grade, such as this one from World book. Typically I would concentrate on Math, Language and Lifeskills, and ignore the Sceince/history as it is an American system and I'm not too strict as to what gets done when.

Please note that the American std is about one grade ahead of the RCNS.

Or if you want South African standards, you can look at the RCNS.

Remember that each child is unique and the beauty of homeschool is that you can take each year as slow or fast as you like. Your child may be strong in one area but perhaps a bit behind grade level in another. I would not panic about this, just make a note of areas to concentrate on.

There are "scope and sequences" are available free for every curriculum publisher too, so you can see what is covered in each grade.

For formal testing, it is not neccesary, but some parents like it: You may also consider an assessment from an educational psychologist could help, but do ask around for someone who is not anti homeschool!

Some curriculum providers in SA like Breinline and TCE will provide testing. These are usually done in your own home.

Then Marti du Plessis offers a unique assessment service, including learning styles at Dynamis Learning. She has an excellent reputation amongst homeschoolers, as she is pro-homeschooling and very helpful.

Lastly, there is a homeschool tests and assessments offered by the Private Examination Board. This is not as complicated as it sounds and offers an alternative method of assessment.

Enviromental Education Resources

2009-12-06T00:34:00.000-08:00

Do you know about Share-net? It is affiliated with the WESSA, right here in South Africa, and they publish reasonably priced resources to assist you in teaching environmental education. The great thing is that the resources are about SA plants, wildlife etc, and of course the price is good too.

Share-net produces a variety of materials. The Hands-On and Beginners’ Guides Series are A5 booklets, field guides, for fieldwork. There are teacher guides that cover a range of activities as well as activity packs focusing on certain themes. Topics covered through the resources include greening our country, threatened species, indigenous plants, community nurseries, birds, wetlands, and so much more.

Have a look at Share net has to offer, in their September 2009 order form.

WESSA is also home to the Enviro-kids magazine, which promotes environmental awareness and encourages children to ‘Help care for the Earth'. A fun 32-page colourful magazine for junior school children. There are lesson plans for educators and each issue has a different theme – great for projects!

Charlotte Mason Homeschooling

2009-12-05T23:48:00.000-08:00

It's a long time since I've posted. We've finished off homeschool for the year and I've been delving into my homeschool books that I ordered recently. I've been reading again about Charlotte Mason and her philosophy.

Initially, when I stumbled across CM years ago, I was loaned the Volumes. I found them rather hard to get into, and abandoned CM thinking it was too complicated. I knew there were the Karen Andreola books, but they were pricey.

Then I found "A Charlotte Mason Education" by Catherine Levison, a very easy read and a great introduction to CM. It is subtitled "a homeschooling how-to manual".

Since then however, I have discovered some slightly cheaper excellent guides to CM, and I got those. The one involved a worldwide search, as it's no longer in print, so we got it used from the US, a gift from my dear SIL.

I then discovered that these books "fitted" together in what used to be called Child Light curriculum, a CM curriculum. Child Light has been re-named, and I did not find their new site too helpful, however there is a US Childlight, which has some helpful free resources.

So, the books, are:

For the Children's Sake by Susan Scaeffer Macaulay
Books children love by Elizabeth Wilson
Teaching Children- a curriculum guide by Diane Lopez
When Children Love to Learn by Elaine Cooper

I also have dipped and dived into the following CM websites, and found them useful in the order I've listed them:
Simply Charlotte Mason, just like the name says.
Ambleside Online, heaps of links to free Living books, entire curriculum guide, booklists etc.
Living Books Curriculum, curriculum to purchase, but also lovely free resources, well set out.
Mater Ambilis, a free Catholic Charlotte Mason curriculum

If you are interested in the Karen Andreola books, here they are:
A Charlotte Mason Companion
A pocketful of pinecones

Two upcoming Homeschool Expo's in South Africa

2009-09-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

If you're wanting to learn more about homeschooling, view curriculum and homeschool resources and get loads of information, as well as meet new faces on the South African homeschool scene, then don't miss these events:

In Cape Town there will be a Homeschool Expo on Saturday, 26 September 2009, at the Bellville Civic Centre. Please visit the Cape Home Educators for lecture details and times.

And here are the details for the expo in the Eastern Cape:

The Eastern Cape Home Schooling Association

Invite you to an

Educational Resources & Curriculum Expo

To be held on

Saturday 17 October 2009

at
Fountain Vineyard Church

22 Newcombe Ave, Walmer Heights
in
Port Elizabeth

___________________________________________________________

This is PE’s FIRST exhibition of this kind and is not just for homeschooling families. If you are wanting to enrich your child's education then a visit to this expo is a must!

DON’T MISS this opportunity to see products on offer by the following curriculum providers:

Clonard

Hatfield Christian Online School

Love2Learn

Somerset Education

Letterland

A.C.E.

Tina Cowley Reading Centre

Almarie J v Rensberg (Occupational Therapist)

and find out more about

ABC Fun & 1-2-3

BeitHasefer

Bushytail

Christian Light Education

Footprints on Our Land

Singapore Maths

Learn Things

WebLessons

___________________________________________________________

If you are wanting to learn more about homeschooling then book a seat for the seminar @ R10.00 per adult.

This talk / FAQ session will take place once in the morning and repeated after lunch.

Tell your friends and families - this will also be an opportunity to get some Christmas shopping done!

Free entry! Free Goodie bags for the first 200 families!!!!

For more info contact: Sonja Smith (sonja@kingfisherfm.co.za or 076 216 0380)

Adèle Breedt (hsmom@telkomsa.net or 082 975 1721)

ECHSA - Eastern Cape Homeschooling Association
cell - 076 216 0380 or 082 975 1721
http://www.echsa.za.org

Free guide to Homeschool planning from TOS

2009-09-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

It's the start of the new school year in the USA. Well, even though we're winding down the third term of homeschooling here in South Africa, we homeschool parents can get discouraged, any time of the year.

If you are a Christian and would like some help with prioritizing and planning your homeschool year, The Old Schoolhouse (TOS) has a lovely little freebie at the moment, filled with advice from some homeschool veterans. The New School Year is an forty-nine page e-book, with chapters such as letting the Holy Spirit lead, planning schedules, homeschooling with multiple grades and much more.

Over the years The Old Schoolhouse magazine has provided many free useful e-books and articles. Their print copy is rather pricey to ship out here, but take a look at their Fall 2008 sample for a very user friendly digital version of the magazine. A digital subscription to the magazine is on special this month at $7.95, that works out to just under R60 at todays exchange rate.

This is a simply wonderful magazine, there are curriculum reviews, heaps of adverts about homeschool resources you may not have known of and lovely articles, featuring the different styles and aspects of homeschooling. South African homeschooling was even featured in one of their back issues!

Thank you to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

Buying Homeschool books from the US:

2009-09-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

If you've started looking for any homeschool curriculum, or "how-to" books, you won't find too many in your average South African store. Hence many South African homeschool families look to international online stores, such as those in the US. I wanted to tell you about my positive experiences with Christian Book.com, based in the US.

When I first wished to obtain some US curriculum, I was unable to purchase it here. So I started to investigate online homeschool stores in the US. I found many of them, and the products I wanted. But, the shipping was always a problem. When it came to check out some sites wanted up to 75% of my order for shipping.

When I stumbled upon CBD I was thrilled to discover their shipping to South Africa is only 35% on orders above $30. Now, this may sound like a lot, but if you do your homework, you will not find a better shipping rate.

Not only is the shipping rate good, the service at CBD is excellent. We have ordered from them several times over the last 4 years, and never had a problem. Packages take about 6 weeks to get here. The customer service is always available to answer questions and they acknowledge every e-mail sent to them. I once had a problem with my order, with a missing item, the problem was promptly resonded to and the item was shipped fast shipping at their expense, with no hassle.

What else puts CBD above other online shops for the South African homeschool? The selection CBD offers is far superior to any other store. You'll find anything you need related to homeschool, curriculum, teaching resources, workbooks, software, planners, visual aids, stationery and loads of clever homeschool helps that I have not yet seen in the SA. There are literally thousands of books, dvd's, videos, games, software, gifts and gadgets. Around this time of year I usually put in an order for our entire extended family for good wholesome Christian books and gifts that we don't get here in SA.

The online catalog is so easy to browse, with an excellent search facility. You can filter your results by best selling, or by lowest priced and such. Not only that, many products have customer reviews, and you can view sample pages and close-ups of many items. This has proved so valuable for me in my homeschool, and I've avoided uneccesary purchases by being able to see the item. It's next best to holding it in my hand!

An additional bonus are the Andreola reviews on several homeschool products. The Andreolas are a veteran homeschool family, who have also authored a few homeschool books. Their reviews are objective and down to earth.

The Homeschool Mall offers a huge selection. You'll find products from all major US curriculum providers, such as Bob Jones, Alpha Omega, Christian Liberty, Saxon, Common Sense press as well as many smaller homeschool vendors. Just look at this list of suppliers. And, about any homeschool how to book, you'll find at CBD.

Now, have I mentioned the prices? I cannot find a place that beats them AND has low shipping. Yes, a couple of stores do offer better prices on a few selected items, but then they make it up with the shipping- so that's no good. They also offer specials from time to time, such as in April all Alpha Omega curriculum goes on sale. Currently they're offering a special on Rosetta Stone.

The store also has a handy bar on the right, with details of: featured items, recommended items and items related to your search, so you can find the best fit for your needs.

Along with curriculum and books you'll find other school supplies: flash cards, educational games, notebooks, stationery, stickers, planners and math manipulatives. Just remember some items will be large for shipping.

The Homeschool Bargains section is well worth a look. We've got some real bargains there purchased a dictionary/thesauras set for much less than the individual item in South Africa.

Aside from all your South African homeschool needs, CBD also carries a huge range of Bibles, Christian books, Christian fiction, toys, items for church, Sunday school and home. You may even want to supplement your curriculum with some of the lovely living books they offer, or missionary stories or just plain wholesome reading.

Next time you need an item, go and look for it at CBD. I am sure you'll be impressed with their site.

By the way, it will assist you if you know what the Rand/dollar exchange rate is the day of your purchase, you'll find a currency converter here on my page.

I hope that CBD will continue to be a blessing to homeschoolers in South Africa who struggle to get curriculum and resources.

Design and Technology workshops- Western Cape

2009-09-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful idea, run by Rusell Brown. I wish hope this will spread to other areas of South Africa to benefit homeschoolers' across the nation .

Russell says South African homeschooled children go to various extra- curricular activities, but many of these children are not given the opportunity to develop technical and practical skills. He has started a design and tech programme, called Tekioo clubs, which create the opportunity for children to develop some of these skills.

South African Homeschool moms have asked if he could run the programme with their children. Russell is looking for an effective way of getting the message to parents who feel
that their children can benefit from the programme.

His objective is to form these Tekioo clubs in the various communities. He needs likeminded
parents to agree on a date and venue, and he'll come and run the programme
with their children.

For more information regarding the programme please contact Russell at rgbrown@telkomsa.net

Keeping on track with Homeschool Tracker

2009-09-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

The homeschool Mum who needs to keep records can have quite a job on her hands. There always seems to be tons of forms and papers to file. This is where Homeschool Tracker is so convenient.

It is a flexible, free downloadable software that enables you to record your homeschool data. There is place to store test marks, which can eventually be printed out as a report, there is a place for lesson planning, a daily journal, hours of school, an area to keep your resource list, place to record literature that's been read and so much more. The programme can be used for more than one child.

There is also an upgrade version, with many more bells and whistles, but we've been using this version for 3 years now and I am quite happy.

On the Homeschool Tracker site you'll find a link to download the user manual. Do peruse this document to get the full benefit of Homeschool Tracker. There is also an online user group for assistance.

If you're swamped under by administration, there is nothing to loose, download it and see if it would work for your family.

National Arbor week

2009-09-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

From the 1- 7 September, it is National Arbor Week here in South Africa. According to WESSA, this is a special week set aside for the planting and caring of trees. Arbor Day originated in Switzerland during the 15th century to raise awareness amongst people about the importance of trees. In South Africa, Arbor Day started in 1983 and in 1997 it was extended to a National Arbor Week, the first week of September.

People have depended on trees through the ages. They offer shelter and shade, are a source of food, fuel, medicine, timber and also have numerous other uses. They are essential for replenishing our oxygen supply and taking in the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide, a pollutant that causes global warming. They prevent soil erosion by binding the soil with their roots and add nutrients to the soil with their leaf litter. National Arbor Week is a special annual event, paying homage to the vital role that trees play in our lives.

For homeschool families this is a great time to educate your children about our local tree species, teach them about the threat of invading alien species or just take time to enjoy trees. We spent Spring day in our local Botanical Garden. We're really blessed to have this lovely park, filled with gracious old trees and many other species, right on our doorstep. We wrote some poetry as we relaxed at a pond, listening to the frogs croaking away and the birds singing.

If you have the space, remember to plant a tree. The trees of the year 2009 are:
The common tree: Acacia galpinii (Monkey-thorn, Apiesdoring)
Rare or umcommon trees: Halleria lucida (Tree fushcia, Notsung) and
Pterocarpus rotundifolius (Round-leafed Teak, Dopperkiaat)

If you cannot plant a tree there is still lots you can do with your home educated children. Go on a an alien vegetation plant hack. Read on the DWAF website what they're doing about aliens and this page, from WESSA has much information about which species are aliens, and why they're a problem to our country. And then you can teach your children. This is also a great week to introduce the concept of indigenous gardening, if you have not done so already. PlantzAfrica is a great site for info on our rich plant heritage.

Hug a tree!