Blogs about homeschooling

How to Make an Epsom Salt Crystal Ornament

How to Make an Epsom Salt Crystal Ornament

12_Homeschool_Geography_ExplorationsAstound your children by turning a pipe cleaner into a delicate crystalline decoration! This craft is easy to accomplish with minimal mess. Enjoy it as a simple handicraft project or take it a step further and learn some of the science behind the activity. This particular tutorial uses a star shape, but of course, you can form the ornament into whatever shape you’d like for any holiday or just everyday crafting!

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How to Handle Math Mistakes

How to Handle Math Mistakes

How to Handle Math Mistakes

Nicole the Math Lady has a unique approach to math mistakes: When errors happen, instead of feeling like a failure, accept mistakes as part of the learning process. Teach your kids not to be perfect math problem solvers but perfect math fixers. Nicole explains how she uses her own bloopers to encourage kids to embrace imperfection and keep trying.

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Math Is More Than Formulas and Numbers

Math Is More Than Formulas and Numbers

Math Is More Than Formulas and Numbers

Past math trauma or thinking you're not good at math will impact how you approach math in your homeschool. If math is a weak spot for you, tune into this episode with special guest Nicole Thomas of Nicole the Math Lady.

Nicole encourages us to stop thinking about math solely in terms of numbers, formulas, and processes but to turn it into challenges that actually relate to something you're interested in—like how many more Pringles you could fit into a can.

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What Is Mastery-based Learning?

What Is Mastery-based Learning?

What Is Mastery-based Learning?

Guest Gretchen Roe from Demme Learning says that math is like death and taxes: you don't get away from either one. She urges parents not to shortchange kids in their math instruction by claim they're just not a math-family. Learn how a mastery-based curriculum is student-centric, allowing a child to work at the pace they need to fully comprehend the skills (instead of the curriculum determining the length of lessons and how quickly you work through them).

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Helping Kids with Executive Function, Bilateral Skills, and More

Helping Kids with Executive Function, Bilateral Skills, and More

Helping Kids with Executive Function, Bilateral Skills, and More

In this second chat with Occupational Therapist Assistant Trish Cauthon, she and Janna delve into the many facets of executive functioning and how to support your child with those skills. Find out what trouble signs to look for in areas such as visual processing, bilateral skills, and fine motor skills. Trish shares simple strategies that can help as you guide your child without frustration through developmental milestones.

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Helping Your Child Learn How to Learn

helping your child learn how to learn

helping your child learn how to learn

We invited occupational therapist Trish Cauthon to the show to help you equip your young children for their two primary occupations—playing and learning. The field of occupational therapy encompasses multiple key areas such as: motor skills, sensory processing, emotional social skills, self-regulation, and executive functioning. Learn how long you can expect a child to pay attention to a cognitively challenging task. Get multiple suggestions for making learning more memorable so that it sticks. And find out if your expectations for your child are reasonable or not.

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How to Use Phonics to Teach Reading

How to Use Phonics to Teach Reading

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Aimee Eucce is our guest expert, talking about teaching reading with a phonic-focused approach called Play 'n Talk. It's a skills-based program so it works for any age child who needs these skills. Aimee has learning challenges that made reading hard, but this program worked for her as a child, and now she uses it with her own children.

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