August is an exhilarating month for me. I always look forward to the start up of our homeschool. By the time August rolls around all the school books have been bought, lesson plans are prepared, and the schedule has been tweaked. Nothing has happened—yet—to ruin my idyllic dreams that this will be the most productive […]
Jello spello
September 25, 2011 by ·
My dyslexic son and my youngest son (who struggles with auditory perception) really need hands on, kinesthetic activities to help them cement spelling into their brains. If those activities can also be fun, then all the better! Enter “Jello spello”. Pour a package of jello powder into a bowl. Allow your child to trace his […]
Teacher’s Institute
February 5, 2011 by ·
During the school year, public and private school teacher’s take a few days of teacher’s institute for encouragement, skill development and planning. Why shouldn’t we do the same? We recently took a few days off. Part of this time, for me, was spent evaluating our year. What is working for us this year? What needs […]
The Job Jar
November 3, 2010 by ·
I got this great idea from my good friend and fellow blogger, Homeschool Dawn, who blogs at Olive Plants. You can read all the details about this “chore time strategy” at the above link, but here’s the idea in a nutshell: take index cards and write a job on each one. Assign each task an […]
My Body
August 11, 2010 by ·
To enhance our study of the human body last year we used an excellent, inexpensive resource from Teacher Created Materials. My Body is a book of reproducibles representing each of a child’s body parts. You can also see the full table of contents and a product sample at the above link. Before beginning the book, […]
God’s Design Science
August 7, 2010 by ·
Last year we decided to take a break from our traditional Apologia Young Explorers science curriculum. I have used that program for years and absolutely love it! But after completing all but one of the books in the series I was ready for a change. I’m sure we’ll go back to them in the future […]
Year-Round School
June 3, 2010 by ·
The middle boy in the blue coat is my husband; the boy in red on the left is his twin brother. One benefit to homeschooling is that we do not need to be bound by a traditional school schedule. Our family has been starting school in July for a few years now so that we […]
Spelling: The Value of the Whiteboard
March 11, 2010 by ·
My childrens’ attitudes toward spelling have dramatically improved since we began using whiteboards instead of writing all their spelling words on paper. When they were learning to write we used white boards all the time, but once they learned how to write I transitioned them completely to paper. Spelling became very tedious for them, however, […]
Pressing On
January 25, 2010 by ·
It’s January. At this time of year I find my energy seems to wane. But I don’t want our homeschool to suffer from the winter blahs! Here are some tips which help to keep me going during the winter months: I start every week with a “must do” list. I write out a sheet which […]
Write Guide writing course
January 6, 2010 by ·
We’re finally getting back in the swing of school after the holidays. Time to start posting again! I love writing, and I am the happy beneficiary of several excellent writing courses taken in high school and college. Unfortunately, this has not translated very well when it comes to teaching my own children to write well, […]
