Tina Robertson

When your homeschool reading program isn’t working, it is easy to get into a rut. Soon you are convinced that you need to switch reading programs. Instead of making that drastic switch, sometimes you just need to make a few changes. Look at these five things to try when your homeschool reading program is bombing.

It can happen to any of us. We think we have to do everything suggested in our reading program because more means better. Step back, look over your program, and decide which part you truly don’t need to cover now.

After he put off taking a vacation for several months, my husband decided that we would finally set off on that seven-day vacation—the next morning.

Flying by the seat of your pants is one approach to homeschool scheduling. However, if you have created a homeschool schedule and it has become more stressful than sanity-saving, look at these five ways to fix an upside down homeschool schedule.

If you are already struggling with getting school done for the week, does it make sense to cut back the number of days you’re homeschooling? Absolutely.

Don’t give up the ease of laid out lesson plans which a boxed homeschool curriculum provides because you have active boys. Here are four ways that a boxed curriculum turns out to be a very boy-friendly option.

There is no one size fits all solution for boys. However, one thing most young boys have in common is the need to wiggle. Because a boxed curriculum eased my teacher prep time, I had leisure to look plan and add activities for wiggly learners.

Before I met my husband, I spent many summers driving from Texas to Mississippi to visit my granny. On the long drive to her home, my mind would race with questions to ask her about her early life on a farm, how she became a great Southern cook, and what she remembered when her great uncles went off to fight the American Civil War. Having her at my wedding is one of my happiest memories.

Visual aids work. It’s the reason companies spend thousands of dollars on an icon to represent their brand. The same principle works for us homeschool moms. When we can connect homeschool lessons to an interactive, visual learning aid, children will understand and remember more readily. If your children are crafty and enjoy cutting, coloring, writing, and assembling papercrafts, lap books are a fabulous way to add a visual and hands-on component to whatever curriculum you use.

No one can question the position of the zoo in the canon of homeschool field trip destinations. Who can resist the enchantment of watching monkeys swinging from ropes, observing penguins eating fresh fish, and walking through a butterfly pavilion? The zoo is a go-to choice for getting out of the house on a day with pleasant weather when public school is in session.

Having one preschooler rolling around on the floor, a toddler beside me trying to take the book from me, and a newborn son in my arms, my day started out more like a juggling act than read aloud time. 

I no longer have to guess whether or not what seemed like half-hearted attempts at planting tender reading seeds would flourish and bloom because today all of my sons are voracious readers.

Throw out the four-year high school plan! Abandoning that popular notion is the first step to pondering the possibilities of homeschooling high school.

For example, some teens are ready by eighth grade or earlier to tackle high school level courses.

Calling me in a near panic from his class, my recent homeschool graduate was preparing for his last test in a college business course. Regardless of previous grades, the test was an immediate pass or fail for the entire course. The instructor told the students they would be required to close their laptops, take brief notes, and listen the old-fashioned way.