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Once you are homeschooling, you realize how easy it can be to adopt a fluid sense of time. In fact, you might sometimes lose track of what day of the week or hour of the day it is when you remove yourself from a traditional school schedule! However, with that flexible perspective on time comes a need for being more particular about the ins and outs of our day. Otherwise, we become so fluid that we end up wasting our precious hours.
Are you super careful to protect your time or are you extremely casual with the hours in your day?
In our homeschool, my children constantly encounter new vocabulary words during their individual reading time or during lessons. My naturally curious kids are great about asking, “What does this word mean, Mom?” Typically I ask them to look it up using an online dictionary.
But sometimes we use them our new words in one of these five fantastic vocabulary games.
Homeschooled children have huge advantages in many areas of their education, but a lot of children find themselves in shock when they are studying in a traditional setting (such as a co-op or higher education). For example, they may find tests, pop-quizzes,and research tasks intimidating because they have little experience with these academic requirements.
Luckily, with a few simple tips and opportunities to practice, any child can be taught to study effectively. These skills will benefit the child not only in a traditional school environment, but also throughout life.
As parents, we encourage our children to read high quality literature at home, but another great way to boost interest in reading is through peer experiences such as a homeschool co-op. Through my own experiences in numerous local co-ops, I've discovered some helpful steps for forming a group and making it run smoothly.
Who do you want to include in your homeschool literature co-op? Just boys? Teens? Girls Only? All ages? Think about what you want out of the group and what age ranges you are going to include.
Not all children are born loving to read. Some kids adore it while others merely tolerate it. Some truly hate it. However, reading is a vital skills every child needs to master.
After all, vocabulary is tightly linked to the number of books a child reads through his school career. Kids flounder in high school and college without strong reading skills.
The lazy days of summer combined with a more relaxed homeschool schedule is the ideal atmosphere to motivate your boys to read. However, just because a boy can read doesn’t mean he will read. In addition, my research has shown that boys read for pleasure less often than girls do.
Reading for pleasure is paramount to learning how to read. My boys are lifetime readers now because I used summertime to motivate them to read for the sheer delight of it.
In our family, we are straight up traditionalists about the calendar year. No Bing Crosby tunes until December 1, white only after Memorial Day, and god-forbid we crack a math book in June, July, or August! The thought sends shivers up my children’s spines.
In all seriousness though, I need the summer break as much as they do. After a long year of school, we’re ready for laid-back days, sleeping later, and sun — lots of sun.
There is a reason that the technique of storytelling has been used in all cultures and civilizations throughout time to impart standards of conduct among their people. From Aesop to Jesus, stories are an easily relatable vehicle to teach ethics and impart moral truths.
I realized the value of narrative for developing character a few years ago when my daughter finished reading the sixth book in the Harry Potter series. She entered the kitchen where I was prepping dinner and complained about Harry, Ron, and Hermione
I have always been inspired by the change of seasons. Each new season brings with it fresh challenges, changing weather, and projects to look forward to. This changing season of late spring over to summer is especially busy for homeschool mamas. Most of us are just wrapping up a busy year of school. Our paper portfolios are bulging and our school rooms are a wreck. There’s much to be done to transition from school into summer. It’s so busy in fact, that I created a checklist to keep us on track these last few weeks of school.
The research is clear that kids lose educational progress while on summer break. It is estimated that this summer slide accounts for as much as 85% of the reading achievement gap between lower income students and their upper/middle class peers.
This summer regression happens math, science, writing, and especially in reading. Reading offers a gateway into all the other subjects. Reading allows children to stretch their brains and heighten their imaginations.
Once you are homeschooling, you realize how easy it can be to adopt a fluid sense of time. In fact, you might sometimes lose track of what day of the week or hour of the day it is when you remove yourself from a traditional school schedule! However, with that flexible perspective on time comes a need for being more particular about the ins and outs of our day. Otherwise, we become so fluid that we end up wasting our precious hours. 
