6 Wednesday, May 13, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Getting creative with homeschool projects By Edie Jones Correspondent Heading into another week of the stay-at-home order, how are you adapting? It9s certainly not easy! Not the least of these adaptions is the homeschooling that has been thrust upon parents. For families with younger children the need to be cre- ative is a challenge. Some fun examples: tape on a sidewalk in a stained-glass pattern to be colored in with chalk; an extra-large card- board box becoming a play- house; and surprising friends by hiding plastic eggs in the friends9 yard, leaving a note, ringing the doorbell and run- ning away. Puppets work well for teaching ideas and lessons. Small paper bags or socks can be easily transformed with gluing, stitching and creating. Use them to share stories or help a new reader sound out words. Your child can create stories from pic- tures to read to their stuffed animals. Old National Geographic magazines have great pictures for collages. Coupled with a world map they become wonderful geography lessons. For help with older kids I found valuable information at www.afineparent.com. On April 13 they featured seven veteran homeschool teachers. Highlights follow: " Break the work into short time periods, taking many active breaks. " Change the location of where work is done. " Use the outdoors as a teaching tool. " Read to or teach younger children while they do artwork. " Allow listening to music while studying. " Keep expectations real- istic. Write goals for each day, letting students pick the order in which they are accomplished. " Explore vocabulary, math, and history while engaging in hands-on sci- ence experiments. " Pick a three-hour block Formerly F Form orm merly y Big Bigfoot g f foot foo ot Wellness W ellnes Wel lnesss lnes WE ARE OPEN fully for CHIROPRACTIC and ACUPUNCTURE, MASSAGE by prescription — We are taking all precautions. — Be well, get outside, and we look forward to seeing you! Sarah, Kevin, Chandra, Jackie and Nylissa. www.blackbutte chiropractic.com 541-389-9183 392 E. Main Ave., Sisters of time. Define what is and isn9t allowed during that time (educational apps and websites okay, no screens for entertainment, texting or social media) Include reading, audiobooks, tradi- tional lessons, workbooks, and artistic pursuits. Be sure expectations are understood. Have a different objective for each hour (first hour covers language arts, math, etc., second anything involv- ing books, third for games, documentaries, podcasts, online learning, etc.) Stay flexible. " Help your kids become independent thinkers. Create a template that your child fills out every day with questions similar to the following: - What did I learn today that helped me today and/or in the future? - What was my biggest challenge and in what way did this challenge benefit me? - Where did I show a great attitude today? - What am I most grateful for today? These can be answered written, verbally or both. Sharing their answers allows you to encourage them in becoming independent thinkers. " Look for your child9s best learning style. How do they like to learn? Is it through listening, watch- ing, or touching an item? Is it while singing or moving? Do they want to talk about what they are learning or sit quietly and think about it? Know the learning outcome you are after. Let your child guide you to the best way to get there. " Focus on relationships. Read together and play out- side together. " Focus on all the needs of your kids: physical, includ- ing large muscle and small muscles of hands through art projects and crafts. Spiritual and emotional, as well as intellectual. " For teens, limit social Aspen Lakes provides for food bank Golfers are still hitting the links at Aspen Lakes Golf Course through the COVID- 19 pandemic shutdown. While dining facilities are closed, the greens remain open 4 and golfers have been helping the Sisters com- munity as they play. Sisters Kiwanis reported last week that Aspen Lakes Golf course ran a special food raiser for the Kiwanis Food Bank during the off sea- son. When a golfer brought in three cans of food or three non-perishable items, they could play 18 holes of golf for $25 (a 50 percent dis- count on regular green fees).