Homeschooling and lifelong education . . . one day at a time
Now that my daughter (age 5) is becoming more and more aware of words and sounds and even starting to sound out consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, she was very excited to try a flower-themed word family picture sort. She loves flowers. The beautiful springtime is finally showing us tiny green buds and she cannot wait to
When we go on a road trip, I try to add in mini-lessons as we go. One thing I love to revisit is clouds. A cloudy sky with a peek of blue is such a gorgeous site as we drive on the highway! Learning about the water cycle is a perfect compliment to such a
Once my children were in upper elementary school, we let go of copywork assigned by Mom. That said, it is still important to practice handwriting.  Writing cards to family and friends is a sneaky way we get handwriting practice in their lives! I love to use picture books as inspiration. I loved reading the new book Sallie Bee
Whether it’s bitter cold outside or the snow is coming down just a bit too much, some days we find we’re stuck inside a bit too much. Homeschooling is hard, but when we’re stuck inside due to the weather, our moods go downhill. Are you facing the same difficulties? When regular school is not a great
Today I want to share about a book I have read and reread with my elementary kids: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I love this book, so I delight to revisit it with my children! While I realize some of it is a bit above my kids’ understanding at a young age, in general, I’ve been
It is so much fun to play games, and my daughter simply loves everything Christmas related! Here is a fun North Pole Mix-Up free printable Christmas game for kids to play together this season.
The students in my co-op writing class (who are in first to fourth grade) really struggle with starting a story. For the most part, every story starts with “Once there was….” and goes from there. “Once upon a time…” is a close second. It is a challenge to get them to think outside of the
An important part of parenting is teaching children positive character. At this time of year, we often focus on being grateful. But there is no need to wait! We should be teaching our children to be thankful every day of the year. You can help your children learn to be grateful. Consider the ways you can
With Thanksgiving coming, it’s time to reflect on what it means to us personally, as well as the context in which we traditional celebrate the holiday. For my older students in my homeschool writing co-op, I found writing about history is a nice way to approach it. Why Read and Write about Thanksgiving?When it’s time
To challenge my children (and those in our reader’s response co-op class) to step outside of their reading comfort zone, we’ve been working on the Badges for Books genre reading challenge. Badges for Books is a simple way to encourage a diverse diet of reading, and I’ve found it allows my children to each choose
My youngest loves to dig in the dirt! After some gentle teasing from her dad about how, when he was a kid, he dug to the center of the Earth, she thought she’d give it a try! This led in to some actual discussion about our Earth and how big it actually is. Our unit
My early reader does not want to sit down and do a worksheet, thankyouverymuch. And yet she spends her time begging me to play a game. So to encourage her process of reading, I turn it in to a game. This week we played an autumn-themed game to help us recognize the short vowel sounds.
