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 […]
The Twelve Days of Thanksgiving
Are you looking for a new way to celebrate Thanksgiving together as a family? Use this guide to enrich the Thanksgiving experience and build a culture of gratitude in your home, starting a little over a week or so before the holiday itself. If you like, you can download and print this Twelve Days of […]
Grammar Tools to Boost Your Child’s Writing Ability
The beginning of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is just a few days away. Have you thought about using the NaNoWriMo challenge in your homeschool? Have you made any preparations? If you have, you may be concerned about whether your child is grammatically ready to write a whole novel in a month’s time. But tools […]
Teaching Your Kids to Make Christmas Gift Budgets
Christmastime can be overwhelming not just for adults but for children too. “You want this! You need this!” scream the ads on TV, on the radio, at the mall, in the mail—and it’s all designed to incite greed and the desire for more. Sure, we love to see those happy smiles when our kids get […]
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 […]
Escaping the Busyness Trap
A trap is ensnaring many families today—the trap of busyness. Homeschool families seem to be among the busiest. Besides school, parents and children are also involved in co-ops, sports, music lessons, and other programs. From the time family members get up in the morning until bedtime at night, their days are packed doing something or […]
Math Automaticity: The Secret Key to Math Success
If you’ve read any educational articles about teaching math, you may have come across the term automaticity. It may seem like a scary word, but it’s not. It simply refers to the ability to do something without thinking about it, or automatically. In math, it most often refers to the ability to use basic math facts […]