Does Your Seventh Grader Really Need Cursive?

If you remember back when you were in school, chances are good that you recall learning cursive. Once you had “mastered” printing (does anyone every really master handwriting?), it was time to move on to cursive. This seems to be a dying art these days though. More and more public schools are cutting cursive from their curriculum to focus on things like typing. Is it important that your kids learn it? These days, it’s probably not that vital. They should know how to read it, but there is little reason for cursive to be a huge part of your homeschool curriculum unless you just want it to be.

So…how many homeschoolers out there still want it to be? :)

Computer Time and Your 7th Grader

If you’re anything like we are, then technology has become a big part of your life. Computers seem almost inescapable today, especially if you homeschool and don’t use a traditional homeschool curriculum (traditional like a complete boxed program, or textbooks). Of course, letting your 7^th grader have access to a computer opens up other things – like gaming, for instance. Chances are good that your student (like ours) is going to want to spend some time with online games. Minecraft, anyone? ;)

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this as long as you make sure the games he or she wants to play fit with your family’s morals and views. The real problem becomes how much time is wise? This can be pretty hard to determine, but we found that we needed to limit it to no more than an hour or so per day really. We use extra game time as a reward for doing well in studies, but keep “regular” play time to a minimum. If we didn’t, they would eat, sleep and breathe games, lol!