Tips and Tricks Meme

Heart of the Matter hosts a Friday meme each week and last week was a BLAST! There are so many wonderful tips and I'm sure there are many I could suggest, but for me personally I find that being sure my children are self-disciplined in their daily life is our highest priority. When I know my children are happy, well adjusted, respectful young people, they learn much better and absorb so much more information than they would through anger and frustration. (Not that my kids are awful terrors, but they are still dealing with 'some' frustrations from when they were in school. **Note: When bringing kids home from years of school, be patient.)

I find that I spend more time helping them through counseling than any other topic/subject. Once they can get through their struggle, they learn in vast amounts and in large leaps and bounds. They long for moments whem mom can sit and talk to them about any topic at all. They love learning History and Social Studies through sit down talks with mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and grandparents that in any other manner.


We recently had my In-Laws for a visit and they had previously visited Yellowstone National Park and prepared their lesson for them.




My children are such social little creatures that any kind of relationship learning they can do goes a long way. They had a video presentation of their travels as well as maps and brochures.
Their lesson began at the dining room table on their laptop, then moved to the table top for maps, and then to the television for their very own footage. ;O)



They loved the maps and all the stories Non and Poppop told them about their travels.


Non made sure to keep their attention.

She held a captive audience.

I'm not sure my kids ever paid this much attention when they were enrolled in school.

This was a fun, hands on lesson.

Especially because they brought souveniers.

That very night, believe it or not, the Travel Channel had a segment on, none other than, Yellowstone National Park. :O) We sat down and watched it as a family and we all agreed that Non and Poppop's lesson far surpassed the Travel Channel!


Even dad got in on the action. (bottom left)

A very special thank you to Non and Poppop, for our Geography lesson.