The SQ3R Study Method

Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review This easy to remember study method can be used by older students for studying text books as well as reading assignments.

 The steps aren't always in order. For example, questioning may begin before surveying or after reading something a first time. And not all of these are done consciously, but one who is aware of these steps benefits.

 SURVEY or prepare

Speaking Skills

Speaking well and with confidence as well as before an audience, especially for the purpose of preaching Krishna consciousness, is one of the most important things anyone can learn in life. The ability to organize thoughts and communicate them clearly is important in many ways. Some notes are posted here:

 Students (and their teacher) should practice speaking with good posture, eye contact,

More More Study Skills

more study skills and good study habits:

GETTING ORGANIZED FOR STUDY
Set goals each school year (with teacher's help or input).
Make a schedule with a fixed time for study.
Find a quiet place with no distractions.
Use an assignment book and set deadlines.
Break bigger assignments into chunks. Day 1, Day 2...
Write paper headings with your name and date on top.

LISTENING SKILLS
1. Stop what

Suggested Memory Work for All Subjects

THE GOLDEN AGE OF MEMORY IS CHILDHOOD
It's unfortunate there are some people, who call themselves "Unschoolers" and so on, who are fanatical about leaving education solely up to their children. If they actually do the things they write about on their web boards, it seems doubtful their children have the chance to do important memory work at the most crucial time of childhood. When adolescence

Reading Aloud Tips

(adapted, source unknown)
Start reading to a child early on, even while in the womb. Especially read about Krishna.
Try not to let a day go by without reading something. Even just ten minutes is better than nothing.
Establish regular read aloud times. Read aloud morning, noon, and night. Kids can take turns reading, too.

Read to them snippets of books on various subjects. This shows children

A Little History of Education

The ideas here are appealing for multi level teaching (info from the Internet, see links below):

ONE ROOM SCHOOLS: A DAY AT SCHOOL
As the children were seated the teacher took attendance and then often began the day by reading to the students. In the nineteenth century the text read was almost always of a religious character, usually from the Bible. However, over time the morning reading

Observation Skills

Reading and hearing are not the only ways we gain knowledge. One can learn a great many things by being observant. It is a valuable study skill at any age:

WAYS TO INCREASE STUDENT AWARENESS
Play “Look Again”. Look at a picture or scene. Then look again for more and more details.

Tell the story "Something Interesting". A mother and her two children waited for a bus. To pass the time, Mother

Ways to Evaluate a Lesson

Here are some of the forms that assessment and student feedback may take. The simplest method which is usually overlooked, due to time restraints in regular classrooms, is to wait for children to make comments or ask questions on their own while reading, listening, etc. Other methods to evaluate a lesson include the ability of the student or students to:

REPEAT IT
Recite memory work
Write from

Teaching Methods

SHOWSketch on the board while lecturing.Watch educational TV or videoObserve nature, people, places, things... Field trips- Turn any family outing into one. The Internet also offers a variety of "virtual field trips”. Look at pictures, photos, art work, maps, charts, diagrams, graphsFor ready made visuals: tear out from old education magazines or books any interesting or useful picture, sort

Helpful Materials

This list is still under construction, trying to recall various materials used, hopefully with more links, too.

KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS
Bhakta Handbook
Prabhupada's books online
A Vedic Encyclopedia
Hitopadesha by Sri Narayana Pandita, Translated and commented on by Satya Naryana Dasa from Jiva Institute. Email- Snd@jiva.ernet.in
 Hitopadesha weaves valuable moral instruction into fascinating

Literature Analysis

Some of the things taught in literature textbooks for analyzing basic genres of select poetry and prose, along with typical exercises:

ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY
CHARACTER:
Studying character may include knowledge of the following:

dynamic or static character,
flat or round character
hero, heroine or protagonist;
villain, antagonist or foil
indirect and direct characterization


EXAMINING A

Study Skills Checklist

Here's my attempt to collect together those elusive study skills our children should know about and have practiced before graduating. It helps to have a checklist for evaluating what needs working on in order to tailor lessons to fit a child. Otherwise, choose according to ages and stages to create lessons and assignments. Reading and study skills may be taught and reinforced throughout a

Homographs

Here's a printable hand out for students:HOMOGRAPHSHomographs share the same spelling but different pronunciation and meaning. Here are some examples:1) The bandage was wound around the wound.2) The farm was used to produce produce.3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.4) We must polish the Polish furniture.5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.6) The soldier decided

More Literary Terms, Forms and Techniques

Here's a checklist of the many terms and techniques taught in textbooks for literature analysis and writing practice.

acronym
acrostic
adage
adventure
advertisement
allegory
alliteration
allusion
analogy
anecdote
annotation
antithesis
apostrophe
archaic language
assonance
autobiography and biography

ballad
blank verse
business letter

cliche
comedy
connotation and denotation
conflict
couplet

Why Teach Literary Analysis?

SEEKING THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH
We can use our knowledge gained from sastra to evaluate and uncover universal, timeless truths in the literature used for study.

Literature study puts us in various situations, settings and conflicts, and thus gives one a chance to apply Krsna consciousness teachings. It shows that Krishna consciousness is what's missing. It is what gives completeness, solutions to

Planning a Reading Lesson

These ideas were taken from Dr. Ruth Beechick's "McGuffey’s Teacher’s edition" and other sources such as "Creative Teaching Handbook" by David L. Martin. The format is similar to the SQ3R study method but used from a teaching perspective. It looks like a lot of stuff, but gets easier with practice, knowing what to use at any given time.

1.PREPARING TO READ
NEW VOCABULARY
If there is no

More on Teaching Reading

More notes about teaching reading:

STAGES OF READING:
PHONICS AND DECODING
This involves all matters of learning phonics and decoding words.
FLUENCY
The aim should be to get the child to read quickly, well and habitually.
READING FOR INFORMATION
Silent reading increases at this time, usually around the beginning of fourth grade.
HIGHER THINKING SKILLS AND LITERARY ANALYSIS
Thinking about

Oral Reading Skills

One or more of these may be focused upon during while students practice reading aloud:

1. Smoothness (fluency)- Read by phrases rather than word by word.

2. Alertness to punctuation - Tell students that punctuation is like road signs- stop at a period, pause at a comma, start again at a capital letter or new paragraph. The voice should drop at a period and rise at a question mark. Get excited

Teaching Reading

Today there is just tons of information, printables and even easy to read books on the web, so I'll just post my favorites ideas and what worked for me to teach more than a few children to read.

LEARNING THE ALPHABET
There are several ways to do this such as children's alphabet magnets, alphabet puzzles, alphabet books, flash cards, and games. Teach the child the ABC song while pointing to each

The Two Brahmacaris

TWO brahmacaris who were traveling together came to the bank of a river where a bridge had collapsed. There they found a young woman standing, unable to cross. "Please can you help me get across this river?", she pleaded. "I need to get home before the sun sets!"

Since there was no one else to help, one of the brahmacari's, sympathetic from her plight, had an idea. He assured her, "Climb up on

Goodness for Krishna's Sake

(from "Sri Panca Tattva, the Five features of God" by Satyaraja dasa)The compound of Srivasa Pandita, also called Khol Bhanga Danga, is situated about 600feet north of Mahaprabhu's birthplace. Here, in Srivasa Angan ("courtyard"), as the area came to be called, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, along with all His confidential Navadvipa associates, first inaugurated His Sankirtana movement. Srivasa and his

The Jinn and the Ladder

(by Radheshyam das, author of instructive booklet for youth entitled: "Practical Tips to Mind Control")

Once upon a time there was a man who pleased a sage. As a benediction, the sage offered him a big jinn and told him, "Take this jinn with you. He can fulfill all your desires; he can do any work you give him." But the sadhu warned him, "If you keep him unengaged, then he will devour you. So

Krishna's Test

One day Lord Krsna met with Maharaja Yudhistira, a pure devotee of the Lord. Krsna asked, "My dear Yudhistira Maharaja, please go out amongst your kingdom and find Me someone who is less qualified than your good self." Without questioning Krsna about the reason, saintly Yudhistira set out at once to complete the assigned task, but although he sincerely searched an entire day, he had to return

Who Made It?

(author unknown)Isaac Newton had a friend who, like himself, was a great scientist, but he was an infidel, while Newton was a devout believer, and they often locked horns over this question, though their mutual interest in science drew them much together. Newton had a skillful mechanic make him a replica of our solar system in miniature. In the center was a large gilded ball representing the sun,

Keeping Safe

Here are suggested topics to cover in lessons (at various ages and stages) on safety:

DANGER AT EVERY STEP
Padam padam yad vipadam: “In this material world there is danger at every step”
The greatest dangers include: birth, death, old age, disease, bad association, uncontrolled senses, accidents, poisons
MAIN FORMS OF PROTECTION
keeping good association only
cultivating self realization and

Suggestions for Health Class

Regular meetings to discuss healthcare, safety and good manners are a good idea. Some thoughts are posted here:

MAKE A LIST
First, make a list of topics you wish to cover. The suggested three main topics and their subtopics are:

I. THREE PILLARS FOR GOOD HEALTH
Simple Diet
   Why We're Vegetarian
Cleanliness
Recreation
   Keeping Fit 

II. SAFETY
Keeping Safe

III. MANNERS
Good Manners

Krsna-ized and Mode of Goodness Art Projects

In my early days of home schooling, I discovered that a prepackaged art curriculum was easier for me to use. I also found ways to enhance these, so that the students could think of Krishna or things related to devotional service while they learned various techniques. These samples below were derived from the Art pac series grades 1-3 by Share-A-Care and are sold by Rod and Staff Publishers. Their

Subject Matter

(drawing by Radhika Ramana dd)

It's art class again. How to find interesting subjects? In real life they're all around.  Robert Louis Stevenson said,  "The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings." Google Image search engine was a favorite source until I found Pinterest. There are boards loaded with art ideas according to media, techniques etc. Here's

Holy Day Crafts

LORD NRSINGHADEVA’S APPEARANCE
Make Nrsinghadeva masks with paper plates. Paste on yarn for mane.
OR trace over a picture of Nrsimhadeva onto tracing paper and color and decorate.
This looks especially nice taped to a lighted window.

LORD RAMA’S APPEARANCE DAY
Print or trace a picture of Hanuman (for example: setting Lanka on fire with his tail). Cut pieces of fuzz from brown yarn. Have the

What to Do In Art Class

A list of ideas. Details for how to do stuff are easily available on the net, YouTube, library or artistic friends.

DRAWING
Drawing trains the eye to look carefully and to get a feel for the shape of various objects as well as being an extremely valuable communication skill. Ideally, it should be a daily activity. The more one draws the better.

THE NATURAL METHOD-
Draw or trace from a

Good Manners Checklist

Part of health class can include discussions on good manners. Role playing can be a lot of fun with these. Some good and bad manners that come to mind are listed here:
SPEECH
Thinking before speaking
Making eye contact
Sweet words- thankyou, please, excuse me, I'm sorry...
Making introductions (Mother, this is my friend...)
Greeting and parting
Using people's names and or proper titles
Name

Practical Helps for Raising Children

Lots of notes collected from various sources and experiences:

SPOIL 'EM 'TIL THEY'RE FIVE
"'You should give all freedom to your child for five years, and then, next ten years, you should be very strict, very strict, so that the child may be very much afraid. And as soon as he attains sixteen years of age, then you should treat him like friend, not, I mean to say, so strictly.' These are the

The Seven C's of Childcare

(These notes are based upon and adapted from an article entitled, "The Six C's...", author and publication unknown.)




Seven ways for helping children involve consciousness, caring, communication, consequences, consistency, conservatism and contribution.






I. CONSCIOUSNESS
CONSCIOUS OF KRISHNA

The best way to help one's family is to keep the association of devotees and also be a devotee

Story Telling

Before the printing press, television, public libraries and piles of books, people relied on story telling to broaden their knowledge, increase their vocabulary and deepen their comprehension via experiences gained by hearing.

A suggested time for busy householders is sometime before bedtime, provided you don't get overly sleepy (I've had the experience of dozing off in the middle of a story a

Select Poetry VII

To teach poetry you need poems. After years of searching, these were the most acceptable I could find. Of course, some may not be entirely philosophically pure according to Vaisnava standards, but that's what makes them suitable for lessons in critical analysis.

BEST OF ALL
I love the sweet wildflowers that bloom
Within the woodland way;
I love the little birds that sing,
And carol in their

Select Poetry VI

IT IS COMMON
So are the stars and the arching skies,
So are the smiles in the children’s eyes;
Common the life-giving breath of spring;
So are the songs which the wild birds sing-
Blessed be God, they are common!

Common the grass in its glowing green;
So is the water’s glistening sheen;
Common the springs of love and mirth;
So are the holiest gifts of earth.

Common the fragrance of rosy June;

Select Poetry V

Includes lessons from nature:

THE UNDYING SOUL
Yet howsoever changed or tost,
Not even a wreath of mist is lost,
No atom can itself exhaust.

So shall the soul’s superior force
Live on and run its endless course
In God’s unlimited universe.
--John Greenleaf Whittier

THE BOY AND THE BUTTERFLY.
Behold how eager this our little boy
Is for this Butterfly, as if all joy,
All profits, honours, yea,

Select Poetry IV

KIND AT HOME
I’d like for folks to say of me,
No matter where I roam,
“That child is nice and gentle - but
She’s sweeter far at home.

“Her temper never does she lose
She’s patient as can be;
She always strives to spread content,
Among the family.

“She always tidies up her room;
And like a gentle maid,
She strives in countless little ways,
To be of some real aid.

“She welcomes, with a friendly

Select Poetry III

KIND WORDS
Kind hearts are the gardens
Kind thoughts are the roots,
Kind words are the flowers,
Kind deeds are the fruits.

Take care of the gardens,
And keep them from weeds,
Fill, fill them with flowers,
Kind words and kind deeds.
--Longfellow

BUILDING CHARACTER
Oh, did you know the little thoughts
That flutter through your mind,
Are always either good and pure
Or selfish and unkind?

And did

Select Poetry II

THE RAINY DAY
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains,and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains,and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days

Select Poetry I

These may be used in various ways such as lessons about poetry, thinking skills, literary analysis, literary criticism and to stretch vocabulary.

Some of the themes here include social responsibility, kindness, and relationships.

LITTLE BROTHER
A careful boy I want to be;
A little brother follows me.
I do not dare to go astray
For fear he'll go the selfsame way.

I cannot once escape his eyes;

Homemade Poetry

Below are a couple samples of poetry children can come up with, by Krishna's grace:

KRISHNA'S COLORS
Green is the color of grass in spring,
Orange, the color of butterfly wings.
Black is like a big dark hole.
Yellow is bright like our spirit soul.
Gray is for a rain cloud,
That hovers above without a sound.
Red can be a juicy fruit.
Blue is the Lord who plays a flute.
Purple, the favorite of my

List of Stories in Srimad Bhagavatam

Here's a list of the main stories given in Srimad Bhagavatam for reading aloud, telling at bedtime (or any time), creating individual assignments, and so on. Just knowing this outline gives one a better grasp on what is in the entire Srimad Bhagavatam and in what order:

LATER NOTE: All the stories for Srimad Bhagavatam are now available in a single volume!  Click here.

FIRST CANTO
Narada, the

Our Brahma Madva Disciplic Succession

Print the following and sing daily with children before Gita class. Use a simple tune and stick with it. Makes memory work a lot easier.OUR BRAHMA-MADVA DISCIPLIC SUCCESSIONEvam paramparä-präptam imam räjarsayo viduh (Bhagavad-gitä 4.2). This Bhagavad-gitä As It Is is received through this disciplic succession:1. Krishna 2. Brahmä 3. Närada 4. Vyäsa 5. Madhva 6.

26 Good Qualities of a Devotee

Health class can include discussions on spiritual health, namely the 26 good qualities awakened by devotional service. These and some notes are posted here:

"Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja, the author of Caitanya-caritamrta, says that all good qualities become manifest in the body of a Vaisnava and that only by the presence of these good qualities can one distinguish a Vaisnava from a non-Vaisnava."

Topics for Gita Class

This is not extensive, but here are topics that may be covered during Bhagavad gita class. Also from early childhood to later years, these topics may be brought up or taught in various ways:

WHAT IS BHAGAVAD GITA?

Gitopanisad is one of the most important Upanisads in Vedic literature
Gita is the essence of Vedic knowledge.


THE SETTING AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION
(Besides students' earlier

Help for Raising Drug Free Children

Excerpt from the Internet. It doesn't include, however, what i consider the most important thing- parental example. Parents themselves must show their children practically how to take shelter of Krishna rather than drugs:
Encouraging your child to avoid drugs, alcohol and tobacco starts early on. The following general guidelines are from the U.S. Department of Education.

STEPS:
1. Start your

Teaching "ING"

Here's a favorite way to introduce to students the sound of the phoneme ing or suffix -ing, by reading the following poem:

THE Cataract of Lodore

"How does the Water
Come down at Lodore?"
My little boy ask'd me
Thus, once on a time;
And moreover he task'd me
To tell him in rhyme.
Anon at the word
There came first one daughter
And then came another,
To second and third
The request of their