Standardized achievement testing is an important part of my homeschool. We test our children every year to see how they’re growing academically. And as I mentioned in my post “How My Family Benefited from Standardized Testing,” we’ve found that standardized testing provides a lot of other benefits too. Nevertheless, if you’ve never tested your child […]
Teaching Young Children About Elections
We’ve always taken our children with us when we go to vote. But when my daughter was three, I noticed that she was especially excited about going. I thought her excitement was a little odd, considering that voting meant standing in line and waiting—two of her least-favorite activities. But a little election-day excitement is certainly […]
3 Go-To Activities for Homeschooling Phonics
Last week my four-year-old and my nine-year-old were arguing over the ownership of a toy. Unlike many toys in our house, this one was clearly labeled with the owner’s name. But my four-year-old can’t read yet. She is, however, learning to recognize letters, so I decided that this was a good time to introduce her […]
How to Engage Your Kinesthetic Learner with Art
One of my daughters is a classic kinesthetic learner. She hops while practicing spelling words and taps her foot while doing math problems. She pretty much never stops moving. Homeschooling a kinesthetic learner has been a bit of a challenge. For concepts to stick, she has to be physically involved in the learning process. BJU […]
4 Tips for Developing Phonemic Awareness
Have you ever found yourself correcting your toddler or preschooler’s diction? “No, Abby. It’s not eye cream; it’s ice cream. Ice sounds like nice.” Then you start hissing like a snake to emphasize the /s/ sound in ice. It’s in those moments (ignoring the snickers of the adults around you) that you’re beginning to develop your […]
Reasons to Take a Spontaneous Field Trip
One day near the end of last summer, I sat looking at my Reading 3 Teacher Edition in preparation for the coming school year. One story near the beginning of the book caught my attention—”Alex the Drummer Boy.” It’s a historical fiction piece set in Cowpens, South Carolina, during the Revolutionary War. As I looked […]
3 Reasons to Homeschool Year-Round
Our homeschool is undergoing a lot of change. This is the first year we’ve homeschooled more than one child (we added two children). This is the first year that we started in July. And this is the first year we’re trying a year-round schedule. Until recently, I had never considered homeschooling year-round. But in the […]