Megan Zechman

When I started homeschooling many years ago, one of my main goals was to raise readers. As an avid reader myself, I’ve always understood the value of reading. It expands our vocabulary, teaches us, ignites our imagination, challenges us, transports us to amazing worlds, and so much more.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to teach my girls everything, but if they could read well and enjoyed the process, they would be able to learn anything they wanted to. So I did whatever I could to make reading exciting and accessible. Here are ways to nudge your child toward becoming a lifelong reader.

In all honesty, I never thought I would homeschool my kids. I started because my oldest missed the cut off date for kindergarten and would have to wait a full year before starting school. She was beyond ready, so I knew I needed to do something. After a lot of research and many discussions, our family plunged head first into homeschooling.

We began our journey as unschoolers. The kids were young, and it worked well to have learning revolve around their interests. Then we moved.

Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a movement in the homeschooling community that has gained a lot of momentum — the school for free method of homeschooling. This approach to curriculum means families school their children at home as inexpensively or as close to free as they can.

Now I’m not against free stuff. We can all use help stretching our hard earned dollars, especially homeschoolers who often rely on one income.

The days are short and the air is cold, which means winter is upon us. For some families, the arrival of winter brings great joy and happiness. However, for many of us who spend the majority of our time at home, schooling our children, this season has the potential for driving us a bit crazy.

So what’s a homeschooling mom to do? I believe that with a little planning, you can eliminate the winter blues that threaten to take over during the long, freezing days. What’s the number one way to make it through the winter without losing your sanity?

A number of years ago, Walt Disney World marathon was celebrating its 15th anniversary with a special finisher’s medal that I wanted. I had never run a race before. In fact, I had never run a single mile. But I firmly believed I could run a 26.2 mile race. Crazy, huh?

Most homeschooling parents can agree that spending time reading aloud as a family is a worthwhile endeavor. Who doesn't love snuggling with little ones while reading stories that open up imaginations and fill minds with wonderful tales? For many, it's a peaceful, almost magical time, one that ends too quickly as kids get older, outgrowing family reading time.

Are you finding that the school days keep getting away from you and you're not getting everything done that you planned? Do you struggle to finish all of the lessons you prepared for the day?

If you're the mom of kids in 6th grade or above, let me ask you an important question. Have you included your students in the planning and execution of the school agenda? If not, that may be part of the problem.

One of the most classic tools for learning information through repetition is flashcards. They can be useful in subjects like math, science, history, as well as basics for young students, but sitting down flipping through a bunch of cards can make anyone’s eyes glaze over.

How can you harness the powerful potential of flashcards but make them more interactive? Grab a stack of index cards as I explain how to make flashcards exciting.

"History is boring!" has been the cry of kids for generations. Actually, the subject of history is far from boring. Instead, it’s the way history is taught that makes it seem boring.

Too often, history lessons are textbook based where the best parts of history — the interpersonal relationships, the quriky facts, and the complex causes — are simplified into bland summaries of key facts. Students who find history dull and lifeless usually don’t have living books or hands-on activities as a part of their history lessons.

I’ve always loved summer vacation. For me, it represented freedom. Freedom to sleep in. Freedom from instruction, tests, and schedules. Freedom to spend the day however I wanted.

I fully intended on giving my kids summers of freedom, but I realized it wasn’t going to work with our type of homeschooling. Luckily, we have the ability to choose how we satisfy our required number of school days, and I've found that year-round schooling works best for us.