Reading books to our children isn’t merely an ideal way to cement family relationships or enjoy a pleasant afternoon. It’s an excellent method to introduce new vocabulary words to our children and help them master those words.
Here are 7 easy tips for teaching and reviewing new vocabulary learned during read-alouds with your children. Pick and choose from these different options. You don't want to use every tip for every single new word.
Are you studying ancient civilizations for homeschool history, for example BookShark Level 1 or BookShark Level 6? If so, you will probably find that ancient Egypt is one of the most fascinating topics you’ll cover. In addition to your scheduled reading, your child will probably enjoy supplementing with interactive, hands-on activities.
Are these extra activities necessary? Not at all! But some families truly enjoy making crafts and engaging in creative projects, and when those activities can connect to homeschool history lessons, it's all the better. Here are five relatively simple hands-on activities for ancient Egypt that you can do in your kitchen with supplies you already have in your home.
Math can be the bane of a homeschooling parent’s life. Kids who hate math might put off their schoolwork, lose their focus during math lessons, or become frustrated when trying to learn a new concept.
A simple way to make math easier for children is to use math games. Rather than running to the store or placing an online order, try these low-prep math games you can make at home in just minutes! They’re super easy to put together and they’re a nice way to switch up math class for the kids while reducing math anxiety.
When our kids groan and complain about reading time, we know we’ve hit a rough patch that needs to be addressed. It’s important to keep kids excited about family read alouds. If your read-aloud times have hit a rut or become dull, here are a few ideas to keep read-aloud times upbeat.
Use anticipation to pique interest for reading time. Drop clues around the house pertaining to the story you plan to read. Then have a scavenger hunt to find the answer. When it’s time for the big reveal, the kids will be ready to settle down and listen.
If you do a quick search for early literacy, you’ll find study after study confirming the link between early literacy and future academic success.
Educational organizations and schools have taken this to heart, encouraging direct literacy education at home and providing it in schools. But as homeschool families, we know that play, not targeted instruction, matters most in a young child’s social, emotional, and academic development. The skills so integral to early literacy—observation, critical thinking, questioning, and evaluation—don’t need to be taught through flash cards or lessons.
When I was in graduate school, one of my literature professors assigned a text called The Elements (and Pleasures) of Difficulty (2004). It arrived from Amazon in a tiny box, a thin volume with an 80s-inspired cover. Irritated, I flipped through the pages and tossed it aside. I had weighty selections from the Victorian canon awaiting my time and attention. Why did I have to wade through fluff?
Probably that attitude, for starters. With the exception of the aforementioned book, the reading list for this course was challenging. I had begun to rue the day I decided to pursue this path and was contemplating withdrawing from the program.
One of the many great benefits of homeschooling is that our kids have the time and space to dive deeply into their interests. Interest-led learning is an awesome way to approach homeschooling, right? Yes—if mom and dad tread carefully. Here are four surefire ways to kill your child’s love of learning by misusing their interests. (Don't do these, okay?)
Your child might be interested in dinosaurs or go-carts or astronomy or jazz musicians. While it’s good to celebrate and explore these topics, there also comes a point where you can go overboard.
Spelling can be either a child’s favorite subject or a child’s least favorite subject. While some kids enjoy practicing spelling words and writing spelling lists, others may dread these exercises and feel that spelling is boring.
While learning to spell correctly is an important part of an elementary language arts curriculum, doing so doesn’t have to feel monotonous. There are plenty of fun and simple ways to practice spelling. Here are a few that may even get reluctant spellers interested!
As homeschooling parents, we want to ensure our kids know math, history, spelling, reading, and other traditional school subjects. But did you know there are many things we teach those kids—who are with us all day long—that have nothing to do with school or what might be found on a standardized test. When you’re doing life together all the time, there are many lessons your kids will learn just by being around you.
There are two kinds of new homeschoolers. First, there are those who are fired up to get going on this adventure and ready to stock their homes with all of the tools for success. And I mean all. If you have been googling the best in-home laminating system, you are this mom.
In contrast, there are those who have been backed into this gig by a failing public school system and just need to know where the online supply list has been uploaded, if they can buy used, and if there's a coupon.
