See "10 Goals and Purposes of Orientation Week" and "How To Use Our Orientation Week Suggestions" in the sidebar at the left.

 •  Choose a theme and Bible verse for back-to-homeschool Orientation Week and/or for your school year (e.g., "Study To Show Yourself Approved unto God," II Timothy 2:15).

 •  If you are going to do a unit study, you could use its topic for your theme.

 •  Or use your school motto or Family Mission Statement and Bible verse (e.g., "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," Joshua 24:15 or a variation of it, such as "Preparing To Serve").

 •  Have a planning meeting beforehand, gather ideas your children want to include, and assign each child a part.

 •  Gather your students for a prayer of dedication and a song chosen for your school or for this school year that reflects your theme or school motto.

 •  Have Dad make an official Welcome Speech after dinner as everyone sits in the living room.

 •  Dad can tell his family how happy he is that each one is part of his family and home school. Then he can present and explain his vision for the family and for this homeschool year. See Newsletter #80 on how to write your family's mission statement.

 •  Write out your family's rules and consistently require immediate, cheerful obedience.

 •  A few principles can cover most rules (e.g., Honor the Lord, Respect and Obey Parents, Be Kind to Siblings, Do your work cheerfully).

 •  Explain the principles from God's Word that are behind your rules so that your children understand that they are obeying God, as well as you.

 •  Add and explain appropriate consequences for each broken rule and consistently apply them.

 •  See information about child training and discipline in Newsletter #45.

 •  See the biblically-based charts, such as the "If-Then Chart," at Doorposts.

 •  Some of these (brush teeth, practice the piano, help with dinner) can be added to your chore chart.

 •  Younger children are usually motivated by stickers or stars to help them establish good habits.

 •  Read about how to establish good habits in Newsletters #89 and #90.

 •  Walk through your home with your children, showing them the locations of study areas, reference and school books, supplies, and free-play areas.

 •  Make sure there are properly labeled places for all books and supplies.

 •  Help each child set up a notebook or section of a notebook for each subject or unit.  In it he will keep his class syllabus (see #14 below), assignments, notes, etc.

 •  Pass out supplies to your children with any instructions for their use (e.g., messy art supplies) and their storage locations.

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 •  Type up, tape to computer, and discuss rules for safe use of the Internet, including the length of time your child can sit at the computer.

 •  Filtered Internet service is a good start, but is only the first step in providing protection for your children.

 •  See 10 guidelines for safe computer use.  The safest option is to keep Internet use in an open area, often frequented by family members, or be with your child when he is on the Internet.

 •  Discuss principles of how to study: concentration, preview, reading, note taking, review, drill of certain facts, etc.

 •  Show where to look up information in reference books in your home library or on the Internet.

 •  Explain to your children the benefits of working together, each doing his part on time and going the second mile.  Find and memorize related Scriptures.

 •  Familiarize your children with your updated chore chart (with or without allowance attached) or take time to make one with your children.  See Doorposts' "Service Opportunities Chart."

 •  Review expectations of exactly how and when each chore should be done.

 •  See "7 Ways To Teach Responsibility through Chores" in Newsletter #45.

 •  Assign one of your children to be Teacher's Assistant for each of your classes.  Your assistant can be in charge of books, supplies, special activities, supplementary videos, etc.  This will (hopefully) help you and get your child more involved as well.

 •  Dad and Mom could prepare one or more devotional times to share their goals for the spiritual growth of the family.

 •  For example, both Pensacola Christian College and Bob Jones University conduct Evangelistic or Revival Meetings as part of their Orientation Week.

 •  BJU's handbook explains that their rules are intended to help students by "promoting holy living by removing as much as possible the influences of worldliness and evil from a student's life while he learns to walk in the Spirit," so that the student may "develop in his likeness and usefulness to Jesus Christ."  These are great goals for Christian home-school families to adopt.

 •  Discuss goals and objectives, individually and privately, with each child and explain how each goal fits into the big picture of his personal future.

 •  Ask each child what he thinks should be different in his life at this time next year.

 •  See information on setting goals and objectives in Newsletter #81.

 •  Present an overview of what your children should expect from each class.

 •  Preview the classes, discussing the purpose of the class (how the information learned will be used), the goals (what the student will learn), and the content (outline of topics).

 •  See "Why Do We Have To Learn This Stuff?" in the sidebar at left.  It lists practical uses and applications of knowledge in various subject areas.

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