Learning to count is an important milestone in the life of a child. As a parent, it is essential that you take the time with your child to assist them in learning their numbers and developing their counting skills. Many parents find that their child is not receptive to their techniques and may not be comprehending the lessons as planned. It could be that the child needs to see the activities more as something fun. Throughout this guide, I will be detailing some fun activities for teaching kids to count. It is important that you know and understand that children work best when they are having fun and playing. It is important to use this to your advantage when educating them.

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by Angie Shiflett

As a homeschool parent, I firmly stand behind the opinion that reading to your child has numerous benefits. This opinion is backed by years of research and studies done by professionals in the area. Conclusive evidence indicates that the benefits of reading to your homeschooled child extend far beyond the reaches of simply increasing the effectiveness of pre-reading development. Here, I will share with you many of the benefits that have been established when a parent opens up the lines of communication with their children through the written word.

One of the first, and most obvious, benefits associated with reading to your homeschooled child is that it helps to enhance their cognitive and communication skills. These skills are absolutely essential life skills that each and every person must obtain and develop throughout their life in order to succeed. If the right amount of time is spent reading quality material to your child, you will soon see that they develop in other areas of their education. Reading sparks creativity, artistic inclination, and many more important areas of development.

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Our eyes are attracted to colorful things. Color gives life to paintings, drawings, photographs and television. If everything were in black and white there wouldn’t be much to characterize what we see. Here are five great suggestions for teaching your children about colors:
 

1. Teach colors through flash cards. Flash cards contain pictures of items in various colors. For example, if it was a picture of a bear it would be brown. The colors are shown as they would be in the real world. You wouldn’t want a card that shows a yellow sky or a red tree. The colors on a flash card are very bright so this is a good place to start. Say each color and let the child repeat after you.

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Many families are starting to elect the educational choice of homeschooling for their children. There are a number of reasons why this educational choice is becoming a trend. The most popular reasons include religious beliefs, dissatisfaction with the school system, and personal family values. Regardless of the reason a family chooses to homeschool, it is important for these individuals to have a host of educational resources available to them. The internet is loaded with excellent educational material. Here is our first annual, More4kids, list of Top 10 Educational websites. While numbered from 1 to 10, they are in no particular order and each one is worthy of being a number 1 in our opinion. Enjoy, and feel free to leave comments at the bottom of this page with your favorites.

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For the parent who is considering the option of homeschooling their child, the initial decision of selecting a homeschooling method may prove to be a challenging one. There are many selections to choose from when it comes to homeschooling styles. If you are one of these parents, the choice of methods for educating your child at home will depend on many different factors. These factors depend on your values, beliefs, goals, the learning style of your child, and numerous other factors. Here, we will review the many homeschooling methods that you can elect to use. 

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It can be very hard sometimes to tell if your child is having problems at school, at least until reports cards come Unfortunately, most schools only offer very minimal information about coursework and expectations and of course talking about school may not be something that our kids want to do with you every day. This makes it difficult for parents to judge how well their children is mastering the material.

Here are some quick tips which can help you check up on your child's schoolwork without having to wait for report-card time:

1. Talk to your child about her classwork. Does she feel confident? Does she say whether she is keeping up or feels behind the rest of the kids?
2. Take notice of any comments that the teacher is giving on the papers. 
3. Check the work that your child brings home each day. You may have to dig through crumpled papers at the bottom of her backpack. Ask what assignments her teacher is giving the class.
4. Do not be afraid to talk to your child's teacher. Schedule a meeting if need be.
5. Most of the time the teacher will send home progress reports in between report cards. Are you getting them? If not then be sure to keep up with your child's reports from now on.