Christian Communication Training
Things You Ought to Know has a funny YouTube channel where folks write in and ask how things work. They research the topic and put out a video like this one on the “Things We Say Wrong.” It’s funny and informative and presented in Art of Eloquence style.
For more fun with communication skills, visit Art of Eloquence online.
Each Monday, I’ve been sharing the most effective ways to answer some of the common questions homeschoolers are asked. I have already discussed five issues: why, legality, socialization, education and extra curricular activities. I only have two more issues I want to address and this week’s issue is good questions.
There are many good questions to ask yourself when you are thinking about home education so it is only logical that others who are unfamiliar with homeschooling would ask them too! We’ve already discussed socialization and what options are open to homeschoolers for activities. Here are a few more. Answering these questions is pretty straight forward. As Sargent Friday used to say, “Just the facts, Ma’am.”
1. How much does it cost?
Other than time, many ask how much homeschooling costs as a consideration before starting their homeschool journey. It was a concern for us as well, but for different reasons. My daughter was attending a private Christian school from K-4th grade. While many private schools can be in the thousands of dollars, hers was a mere $300 a month. It was a small private school so there was only one 5th grade class and the number of students decreased substantially as the grades progressed (She would have been one of only 8 students in her 5th grade class). So when we found out that it would only cost us about $150-$200 to purchase her school materials for the year, we jumped at the chance to save hundreds of dollars each year in tuition, uniforms and school fundraisers!
For a few years, we homeschooled two children for about $300 a year! I once discussed the cost of homeschooling with my sister who also had two children, but enrolled in public school. We compared notes and found that while I had the responsibility to pay for all their books, due to budget cuts and misspending my sister paid almost as much each year for her children’s free public school education! Not only were parents were required to purchase school supplies for each child, but classroom supplies such as chalk and tissues as well. To add insult to injury, she also was required to buy gifts for the teacher. The PTA forced each parent to give the teacher gifts for his/her birthday, Christmas and for each day of Teacher Appreciation Week!
2. How do you know what do teach?
A valid question easily answered. Some states have guidelines posted on a website for public schools. At first, I went to the department of education website to research each subject for each grade level. However, since many of the public schools are academically below most homeschoolers and may teach things objectionable to some homeschool parents, I find there are better sources.
I think the best way to find the right curricula that prepares your student properly is to talk to veteran homeschoolers you trust. Having access to a local homeschool group or online group is an invaluable resource for information and support. However, you can also find a trusted homeschool or private school curricula publisher like ABeka or Bob Jones to provide your texts or even just to compare as a benchmark to follow.
Another great way to teach with excellence is to find veteran homeschoolers with an expertise in a subject. Many homeschoolers have published fabulous curricula that is created just for homeschoolers. I also appreciate that there are many that are written from a Christian perspective.
This is why I produce my own speech communication studies. I found there was a need for speech communication studies that were presented from a Christian perspective with an approach that was fun and easy for parents to teach.
3. What about things like the prom and graduation?
While the prom and a graduation ceremony aren’t vital educational concerns that should steer us toward or away from a particular educational choice, it is a concern. Most of us remember our prom and high school graduation ceremony with some amount of fondness. It’s a right of passage, a milestone. And it is not exclusive to public or even private schooled students.
Many homeschoolers coordinate a group graduation ceremony where all the local members get together for a custom designed event for all the graduates. I once belonged to a large homeschool group where this was done each year. It was slightly different each year according to the wishes of the students and parents of those graduating. What a blessing to be able to create your own ceremony and celebration according to the wishes and needs of each graduating “class.” I remember being a bit disappointed with my prom and feeling like just a number in my huge graduating class. Homeschoolers can create a unique and special event that highlights each student and his or her achievements with as much or as little pom and circumstance preferred!
Another option some homeschoolers choose is to have a party for family and friends on their own. I’ve known homeschoolers who have two hundred guests at their home or several hundred at a local hotel! Some have chosen to take a trip with close friends where they can create memories that will last a lifetime.
Yet others, like my daughter, see no need for a large celebration. Kelsey didn’t want a big party; she wanted to get on to the next phase of her life as a college student. She said high school graduation wasn’t as important in the scheme of things and she preferred to look forward to college graduation when it would really mean something to her.
How ever you and your children feel about it, homeschoolers can experience a prom or graduation ceremony in any way they like with a little planning.
Please feel free to post a comment with your prom and graduation ideas or experiences! I’m sure my readers would love to read about them!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer. Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula, including Say What You Mean Defending the Faith. You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com and hosting her weekly podcast, Communication Comedy Network. For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication skills for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com
Stay tuned next Monday for my final article in the series, “A Question of Homeschooling” when I will share the dumb questions homeschoolers are asked.
For almost 8 years I’ve been talking about the incredible power of speech communication. Words are powerful things. After all, God spoke the world into existence! “God said let there be light and there was. For years I’ve been telling you about the power of words and now I can show you just how powerful words can be…
This sign demonstrates the unbelievable power of words…to forbid dying…at least right there! LOL
For more fun with communication, visit Art of Eloquence.com!
So far in my article series, “A Question of Homeschooling,” I’ve shared four of the most common questions homeschoolers are asked: Why do you homeschool?, Is homeschooling legal?, What about socialization? and Do you KNOW anything?. This week I want to share something that happened to me recently.
My son has been taking a gymnastics class once a week this year. Since they had no classes during the middle of the day, they were willing to allow homeschoolers a significant discount. My son loves it. His favorite thing is the trampoline.
They had two full classes during the school year. Unfortunately, most of the kids were taking the summer off so they reluctantly combined the two classes which ended up including just three students: my son and two brothers.
So on the way out two weeks ago, the coach was aggressively trying to recruit the moms to contact any homeschoolers they knew who might be interested. However, since most of the moms came from one homeschool group where everyone already knew about the class, he wasn’t having much luck.
After telling the coach that I didn’t know of anyone who would be interested either he asked, “How about you? Would you want your son to add a second class? I would guess homeschoolers don’t have very many activities going on. Why not have him come twice a week?” After running ragged through all his activities this year, I was actually looking forward to not having to be out so often during the summer when my dd is home from college. I chuckled a bit and told him that I was most definitely NOT looking for more activities. So then he looked me innocently in the eyes and said, “Oh, really? I guess I just don’t know what homeschoolers do. How many activities did he have? What do you do all day?”
Here it is. The stereotype of what some think homeschoolers do all day. We teach. We sew our own clothes. We teach. We read. We teach. We engage in wholesome creative play with two tin cans and a string. We teach. We bake. We clean. We teach.
I have run into more people in my 10 years of homeschooling who think homeschoolers have no outside interests whatsoever. He asked; so I told him what we do all day. We school in the morning and typically have 4-5 outside activities each week. He was shocked. He said he didn’t think there were that many things for homeschoolers to do and he was curious as to what kinds of activities we did other than church activities. He asked, so I told him what activities my son had done just this year: golf, fencing, theater, Young Marines, track, choir, chess, PE day, and, of course, gymnastics.
He stood there dumbfounded and then suddenly he had a thought. He was sure we were an exception the the rule and asked about other homeschoolers. He was amazed (and somewhat disappointed) to find that most homeschoolers have 4-5 outside activities while most public schooled children have only about 2-3. I shared with him that most homeschoolers were swamped with community and family events in the summer that they were simply too busy for some of their regular classes, which is precisely the reason many of them took the summer off from gymnastics!
Why do some have the mistaken believe that homeschoolers don’t do anything all day long and have no fun? Well, it comes from two places:
1. The idea that homeschoolers are ONLY interested in academics and church and believe anything that isn’t educational or church related is a waste of time.
2. The belief that homeschooled kids are in desperate need of socialization because they are home all day with nothing to do and aren’t allowed to ‘mingle’ with non homeschoolers in extra curricular activities like karate or dance.
The most effective way to answer the question that boils down to, “What do you do all day?” is to calmly, and as quickly as possible, rattle off all the activities your child has done this year! For extra effect, it’s always a nice touch to stare into their eyes and say something like, “And boy are my arms tired!”
By the way, my son is the Young Marine in the picture with Jan Brewer, Governor of Arizona. He’s the one kneeling down just to the right of her. His squad worked the Memorial Day event, where she spoke, handing out bottled water and programs to all those in attendance. Things like this…are what we do all day!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer. Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula, including Say What You Mean Defending the Faith. You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com and hosting her weekly podcast, Communication Comedy Network. For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication skills for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com
Stay tuned next Monday for more in my article series, “A Question of Homeschooling” when I will share another answer to a typical question homeschoolers are asked.
If you have a question you are frequently asked and would like me to include it in my blog series, please post a comment here or email me at jojo @ artofeloquence.com
Art Linkletter passed away last week and prayers went up for his family. My dd brought this video to my attention and I just had to post it for this week’s Friday Funnies. WARNING: Be sure you don’t have anything in your mouth while watching. We don’t want you to choke.
For more fun with communication, visit Art of Eloquence.com
People often mistakenly think that communication is just about the words we speak, but nothing could be further from the truth. Without words, we can still communicate and words alone can deceive. This video is a song called More than Words by Extreme. I don’t know anything about the band, but I like what this song says. It takes more than “I love you” to show someone you do. Anyone can say the words, but to truly convey love takes much “More than Words.”
For more insights into communication, visit Art of Eloquence.com
I found Songdrops while tooling around on YouTube one day. They have some adorable videos and this one has to do with language. Sometimes we say things which are grammatically or otherwise correct, but they are not the most clear way to communicate-thus causing miscommunication or, as in this case, hysterics.
On this Friday Funnies, I present to you, “I Got a Pea.”
For more Communication FUNdamentals, visit Art of Eloquence.com!
Continuing my series of articles, “A Question of Homeschooling.” Last week I answered the question, “Is homeschooling legal?” This week I will answer the most common question homeschoolers are asked, What about socialization?
There are really two reasons people ask this question. One is because they are truly seeking to understand how homeschoolers get along not seeing the same group of children each day. The other is because they are under the false impression that homeschoolers lock their children in a closet until they graduate and by then, they are so weird, lonely and devoid of social skills, they are incapable of getting along in the “real world.”
First, I want to share some of the truths of socialization and then I’ll get into how to answer. This is actually a very common question and concern for most people because the initial image of a homeschooler (I had this image too before I began homeschooling!) depicts a lonely child who is only with his mother and whatever siblings he happens to have all day long.
Actually, most homeschooled children are involved in more extra curricular activities than the average public schooled child simply because their time is more flexible. While public school children are with their same age peers all day, they may only interact with them at recess, during PE or school sports, or after school when all their homework is done. Some public school children are involved in a few after school activities such as gymnastics or piano. The average homeschooled student is involved in several outside activities such as 4H, church activities, community events as well as traditional sports events and music lessons. The fact that homeschooled children do not have a fixed schedule of 8am to 3pm classes, homeschooled parents often enjoy lower fees for these classes because places like gymnastics studios are hard pressed to find students that will be able to come to a class at 11am or 1pm on a school day. Rather than leaving their studio vacant, they open it up to homeschoolers at a significant discount!
This past semester, my son was involved in golf, fencing, chess club, Young Marines, Track, PE Day, Theater, gymnastics, and children’s choir. Not all these activities were at the same time, but he usually has about 4-5 outside activities going each week. I think I read where most public schooled children are only involved in about 2-3 outside activities.
Another reason socialization isn’t much of an issue for homeschooled students is because, while most public schooled children only learn to interact with same age peers, most homeschooled students are involved in family situations with many age groups including adults. They learn to relate to all age groups quite well and have their parents close at hand when and if they need discipline for dealing with someone inappropriately. Additionally, most homeschoolers are able to learn social skills from adults who are much more adept at them than are their same age peers who have no more experience than they.
One final reason socialization is not much of an issue for homeschoolers is that there is much less of an opportunity for students to learn bad social behavior from other students due to the fact that their parent is usually at arms length at all times. In a public school setting there is one teacher per several students. During social times like recess, there may be one teacher overseeing many children on the playground. That one teacher cannot be expected to view what every child is doing enough to discipline social issues. In some cases, these issues have lead to arguments, hurt feelings, and even fights.
When you are talking with folks who truly desire to understand how homeschoolers make friends and get along socially, you may not have time to get into all these details and it may sound more like justification to do so. I usually just say that I had been concerned about that issue as well before I began homeschooling, but that I found that we have so many opportunities to get the kids involved socially that I am often running ragged and we sometimes are relieved and excited to have a day when we DON’T have to go anywhere. Then, if you are talking to someone who is interested in homeschooling, but has this question, you can go into more detail with them if they ask for it and have more time.
If I am asked by someone who is anti-homeschool, I usually give the same answer initially. If they follow up their question with a comment about how this is not good enough, I will usually tell them that my children have never been accused of being socially awkward and have actually received many complements about their manners and articulate way in which they relate to adults. If they continue to badger me about the issue, I will usually say that they certainly have the right to their opinion, but they might consider looking up the statistics for how well homeschoolers do after graduation both in their careers and in their personal life.
The truth is that socialization really isn’t an issue even for only children. My son has plenty to do and many friends. He easily converses and makes friends with people of all ages and has quite a full life as a homeschooler. Studies show that most homeschoolers do very well after graduation both academically in college and in their personal lives. Contrary to popular belief, most homeschoolers are not weird, nerdy, social misfits. Most are well-adjusted contributing members of society. In fact, studies show that homeschoolers students and graduates are more politically and socially active in the communities than are their public schooled counterparts.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer. Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula, including Say What You Mean Defending the Faith. You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com and hosting her weekly podcast, Communication Comedy Network. For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication skills for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com
Stay tuned next Monday for more in my article series, “A Question of Homeschooling” when I will share another answer to a typical question homeschoolers are asked.
If you have a question you are frequently asked and would like me to include it in my blog series, please post a comment here or email me at jojo @ artofeloquence.com
I am pre -empting my “A Question of Homeschooling” series of articles this week for a word from This Day in History because it has to do with communication… Tune in to Communication FUNdamentals on Wednesday when we will join our homeschool article series already in progress. ;D
There are many different forms of communication. Words are just what is most often considered. Many an invention has enhanced our communication experience and I’d like to tell you about one of them today. You see, on this day in history is the anniversary of a significant communication event!
The first public telegraph message, “What hath God wrought,” was sent on May 24, 1844 by Samuel Morse in Washington to Alfred Vail at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) “outer depot” (now the B&O Railroad Museum) in Baltimore. The message is a Bible verse from Numbers 23:23, chosen for Morse by Annie Ellsworth, daughter of the Governor of Connecticut. The original paper tape received by Vail in Baltimore is on display in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Here’s a YouTube video of a documentary I found which has the history (and the two men) behind the telegraph and Morse Code. I bet you didn’t know some of this. I didn’t!
\
\
\
\
\
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
For more communication fun, visit Art of Eloquence.com!
. – – – – – – . – – – – – –
(JoJo)
I introduced you to Mark Gungor a few weeks ago when I shared with you his video on “How to get a man to do what you want.” This week’s Friday Funny is his hilarious talk on “Men’s and Women’s Brains” which will allow you to better understand your spouse. I’ve talked before about how important it is to “Know Your Audience” and this will give you a bit of background to help you do just that. But may I warn you not to have any food in your mouth when you listen! ROFL
If you enjoyed this video, you’ll want to sign up for our newsletter so you’ll be the first to know when our study, Say What You Mean When You’re Married is out. In the meanwhile, you might want to take a look at Say What You Mean Every Day. I have a chapter in there called, “How to Talk to Your Spouse Cuz You Must!”
