BJU Press Blog

Megan

3 Reasons Why You Should Teach Your Child Writing Skills

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homeschool writing skills
Last week I met a homeschool mom who asked me what I thought about the importance of writing skills. Her son is getting to the end of his homeschool years, and he’s not sure if he’s going to go to college. She and her husband think that he may be well-suited for a career in engineering or technology. Does he need a course in writing skills?

You may have wondered the same thing. In this age of texting, podcasts, video chats, and instant messaging, is it still important to teach composition skills? I believe that it is. Here are three important ways our children will benefit from learning how to write well.

Writing Skills Allow Us to Reflect the Image of God

Because we were created in the image of God, we can exhibit (although imperfectly) some of the characteristics of God. God is the perfect communicator, and He chose to communicate to mankind through written communication. He gave us the Bible. When we write well—when we can organize and express ideas in a way that communicates a message to our audience—we are reflecting God’s image.

Writing Skills Develop Needed Thinking Skills

Good writing is not something that just happens. It is not a special talent that some people have and others don’t. It is a skill that is developed over time by using a process.

I’m glad that BJU Press curriculum doesn’t wait until the upper grades to develop the skill of writing; it introduces the writing process in first grade and continues to develop it through all twelve grades. Recently my first-grade daughter completed her very first composition project. She had to choose an animal, research where it lives and what it eats, and create a poster communicating that information. My third-grade daughter has completed several writing projects already—a paper describing a process and a personal letter in English, essays for heritage studies and science, and a few short projects for spelling. Both girls are gaining skills in brainstorming, organizing, and communicating ideas.

As my daughters’ writing skills develop, they will learn how to express complex, abstract ideas in writing. They will learn how to use logic to skillfully craft arguments. They will learn how to think, and most importantly, they will learn how to answer the questions of those who are seeking after salvation (1 Peter 3:15).

Writing Skills Develop Needed Social Skills

Sometimes when we think of writing, we think about the stereotypical author, holed up in a secluded place for weeks or months, feverishly cranking out the manuscript for his or her next big project. We often forget that the goal of writing is interpersonal communication. It is a social skill.

Good writing meets the needs of the reader. My third-grader’s first big writing assignment this year was a process paper. She had to write out the instructions for how to play a game. She chose to write about kickball. To be successful, she had to think about her potential audience. She had to imagine that her reader had no idea how to play kickball. She had to think about what her reader needed to play the game, and she had to organize her ideas in a way that her reader could understand.

Your child may never become a novelist, a journalist, a blogger, or a copywriter. But no matter what career your child chooses, he or she will benefit from composition skills. Find out how BJU Press curriculum can help you develop those skills through its English Writing & Grammar programs.

Meditations for When I Don’t Measure Up

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Have you ever felt like you don’t quite measure up? As a homeschooler, I find that I often feel that way. I know some amazing homeschoolers. Some practically write their own curriculum. Some run businesses from their homes while homeschooling three, four, or five children. Some happily chauffeur their children to choir, strings lessons, youth orchestra, Chinese lessons, and painting classes.

But me? I struggle to keep up with the constant piles of laundry. I often feed my family leftovers. My three-year-old doesn’t recognize her letters yet, and my family struggles to stay on key when we sing hymns during our nightly family worship time.

Am I a homeschooling failure? Sometimes I feel that I am. Some days I feel so overwhelmed and discouraged that I can barely scrape my spirit off the floor. Other days my thoughts constantly accuse me—thoughts like I should be more creative in my lessons plans. I should be giving my daughters more extracurricular activities. I should be able to do it all. Why can’t I do it all?

On days like that, I desperately need to recalibrate my thoughts by meditating on God’s Word. Here are a couple of meditations that I constantly find myself going back to.

God’s approval is the only approval I need.

Robin Wood, in her book The Battle Within, challenges women to meditate on 1 Corinthians 4:2–4:

You and I are to be found faithful in pursuing God and reflecting His light to others. We don’t have to waste time trying to determine if somebody else is a successful woman, and it doesn’t matter if other moms judge or criticize us. We know that without God, we are nothing and can attain nothing good. Successfully meeting a list of obligations or merely fulfilling a role is not going to justify us before our Father in heaven. No. We have to know God to know what He wants us to be. When we finally realize that His primary goal for us is to reflect the love of Christ to others, then everything in our lives becomes a tool to that end. (p. 78)

Whenever I consider taking on something new, I always have to check my spirit. Do I want to do it for the right reason, or do I want to do it to gain approval from my peers? Let’s face it. Sometimes others (particularly other homeschool moms) can put a lot of pressure on us to run our homeschools or even our households in a certain way. We should listen to and prayerfully consider counsel from those who are older and more experienced, but before we launch into any new endeavor, we need to make sure that we’re doing so for the right reasons.

God will enable me to do everything He calls me to do.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, in her book Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free, draws her readers’ attention to John 17:4:

All I have to do is the work God assigns to me. What a freedom it has been for me to accept that there is time for me to do everything that is on God’s “to do” list for my day, for my week, and for my life! (p. 119)

Whenever I find myself discouraged about my ability to “do it all,” I have to remember that I’m not supposed to “do it all.” I only have to do the things that God has called me to do. Usually, during these times of discouragement, I need to evaluate how I am spending my time. Are my priorities getting out of whack? Knowing what my priorities should be is something that requires a lot of wisdom, and therefore a lot of prayer. But it is so soul-strengthening to know that God will enable me to complete the work He has for me.

Homeschool Mom, take heart. You’re not alone in your struggle. Whenever you’re tempted to despair, remember that God is with you, and He has not left you defenseless. Meditate on God’s truths, bathe your days in prayer, and see God strengthen your soul.

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Tips for Homeschooling with Little Ones

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homeschooling little ones
Have you ever suspected that your children are in cahoots with each other to wreak havoc to your homeschool plans? How else can the house go from peace to chaos so quickly? Just yesterday, my house was blissfully quiet, but as soon as I sat down to teach a reading lesson to my third grader, the baby woke up from her nap. I rescued her from her crib, found her some toys to play with, and sat down again. Then my preschooler burst into the room with a soaked outfit. “Mommy! I spilled the water!” So I got up yet again and mopped up a river in the kitchen. Our reading lesson did eventually happen, but it was while I balanced both a preschooler and an infant on my lap and tried to keep them from losing my place in my teacher edition. Not exactly the ideal educational situation. What do you do when homeschooling with little ones?

Thankfully, not every day is as chaotic as that one was. But I’ve found that trying to homeschool little ones at home is anything but easy. And I’ve found that I’m not alone in my frustrations.

One of my homeschool heroes, who successfully homeschooled seven children, recently told me that her most difficult years of homeschooling were when she was homeschooling with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in tow. I was grateful that she offered me a few suggestions that I’ve found helpful. I hope they will be useful to you as well.

One-on-One Time

Homeschooling takes a lot of our attention, and if we’re not careful, our little ones will feel neglected. I’ve found that giving them some special one-on-one attention goes a long way toward helping them be content during homeschooling time. BJU Press Distance Learning has helped me a lot because it has freed me up to spend time with my little ones. While my third grader watches her English, Bible, or science lessons, I try to use that time to read to my infant and preschooler or to play with them. Some days, if I’m really busy, I’ll ask my preschooler to help me with a kitchen project or a cleaning chore. She loves to help!

Special Toys

Several of my experienced homeschool friends suggested that I set aside some special toys just for homeschool time. This too has helped because it gives my little ones something to look forward to while I teach my third grader. The key is that these special toys or activities need to be something that little ones can do. I have found that simple puzzles and play dough work well.

Also, I have created some “busy bag” activities for our homeschool time. Here are some of my preschooler’s favorite busy bags that I’ve found on other blogs.

Learning Involvement

My preschooler also enjoys being involved in our homeschool lessons when possible. Sometimes when my third grader and I are reading a drama during our reading lesson, we’ll recruit my preschooler to “read” one of the parts (one of us will whisper her lines in her ear). During math, I sometimes give my preschooler manipulatives to play with. While I’m administering a spelling test, I will sometimes let my preschooler “take” it too. All of these activities have been valuable to get her excited about learning.

Homeschooling with little ones will probably always be challenging, but these suggestions have helped our family. I would love to hear about any ideas that have helped your family too. Please share them in the comments!

Make Reading Lessons Interesting with Questions

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I often tell other homeschoolers that reading is my favorite subject to teach. I love the deep, enjoyable conversations that my daughter and I can have over a fairly short and simple reading selection. I love the fact that she’s not just learning phonics and vocabulary but also how to think critically about the things she reads. That’s a skill that will enable her to be a lifelong reader and a lifelong learner.

So how does our reading curriculum foster these conversations? Through a four-level questioning approach.

On the first day of every school year, my daughter and I get out the brand-new reading books from BJU Press, look at the tables of contents, and excitedly preview the selections we’re going to read over the next few months.

But last year, both us had to stifle a bit of disappointment when we saw that Reading 2 included the full text of the classic children’s book The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy, which tells the story of Petey the puppy and his search for a boy to love. Our disappointment wasn’t because the book wasn’t good—it’s a wonderful book, one that we have enjoyed. But we had already read it many, many times—so many times, in fact, that both of us had part of the text memorized. I wondered how I, as the teacher, would be able to hold my daughter’s interest through the several lessons that the Lesson Plan Overview allotted for that particular selection. Wasn’t she going to get bored reading something so familiar?

I shouldn’t have worried. My daughter and I both ended up enjoying this selection.  She enjoyed reading it, and I enjoyed teaching it. The multilevel questioning approach in the BJU Press Reading curriculum ensures that my daughter and I can have interesting, meaningful discussions about The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy or any other of the selections because it guides us in looking at the text from several different angles.

Angle 1: Literal

When you look at the discussion questions in your Reading Teacher’s Edition, you may notice that some of them are labeled as literal. These questions are designed to assess the most basic level of comprehension—the answers are easily found in the text itself. For example, one of the first questions in The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy is “What is Petey?”

Even though it’s sometimes tempting to skip over these “duh” questions, we as homeschoolers need to ask them because we need to make sure that our children are reading carefully and are understanding what they read. However, if we ask only literal questions, our children are going to get bored really fast.

Angle 2: Interpretative

The selections in our reading book get a whole lot more interesting with the use of interpretive questions. With these, our children have to use the text to draw conclusions. For example, in The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy, I might ask why Petey’s mother is worried after she returns without a boy for Petey. The text doesn’t spell it out; my daughter has to infer the reason from the conversation Petey and his mother have.

Angle 3: Critical

Thinking questions take our discussions to an even deeper level. When I ask critical questions such as “Why do you think the boy Petey found is outside by himself?” or “Why do you think the lady allows Petey to come inside?” my daughter has to think beyond what’s stated in the story to make evaluations, predictions, and applications. Often, these types of questions lead to biblical-worldview building opportunities as we apply the Bible to what we’re reading.

Angle 4: Appreciative

Appreciative questions are useful for helping to draw my daughter into the selection. While we were reading The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy, I asked her about a time when she really wanted a particular gift for Christmas or a birthday. When I did so, she suddenly sympathized much more with our puppy-protagonist and his disappointing search for a boy.

If you’re interested, take a look at the reading curriculum I’m using this year. You can also check out some of my other posts about the BJU Press reading curriculum:

 

Tips for Organizing Your Homeschool Papers

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Papers
Before the year is out, my third-grade daughter will complete approximately 288 separate math pages (front and back) plus more than 180 pages for reading. That’s a lot of paper! And there’s more—spelling, handwriting, Bible, science, heritage studies, and English all have worktexts or activity manuals too.

My daughter’s days are filled with papers. Those papers are necessary for deep learning to take place. They give her opportunities to practice what she’s learning, and it gives me the ability to assess her understanding.

Still, the amount of paper can be a bit overwhelming. Here are some ways that help me keep all those worksheets organized.

Before the Year Starts

A few inexpensive products I invested in have helped me deal with all those worksheets. Last year, I purchased heavy-duty two-pocket folders in five different colors—one for each day—to keep my daughter’s daily work in. This year, I upgraded a bit to a cascading vertical filing system for the same purpose. Both products work well and should be flexible enough to use with multiple children. (For example, if you’re homeschooling two or more kids, you can buy several different colors of folders and assign each of your children a color). I also buy a fun patterned or character folder to temporarily store graded papers in.

I am required by state law to keep a portfolio of my child’s work, so I buy an accordion-style file system  at the beginning of every homeschool year. I organize it by subject, and it works great.

Before Your Day

When I do my weekly planning, I make note of all of the worksheets that my daughter will need for each day. Each evening, I pull the worksheets for the next day and place them in one of those colored folders. That way, everything she needs for the day is in one place.

After Your Day

Once school is over for the day, my husband/teacher’s aide or I grade all the papers our daughter completed. In our homeschool, not every paper gets a recorded percentage grade, but each worksheet does get feedback (even if it’s just a smiley face at the top of the page). The graded papers then get moved to the fun folder to await our weekly feedback time.

On the Weekend

At the end of the week, we have a weekly feedback time when I give my daughter an opportunity to look over all her graded papers and ask questions. Then sometime during the weekend, I move the papers that got a recorded percentage grade to their assigned spots in the accordion filing system. The other papers go to the recycling bin.

Routine organizational habits like this have saved my sanity on numerous occasions. Do you have a system that helps your homeschool run smoothly? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below. If you’re looking for other organizational ideas, check out my recent post and video about how we set up our homeschool space.