Successful Learning

God made us each unique. I have four daughters, and I am continually amazed at how different they are. They have different personalities, different appearances, different interests, and different ways of processing information. Those different ways of processing information are often referred to as learning styles. Educational researchers and scientists have identified at least four basic types of learning styles: visual, auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic. Some expand this list to also include social, logical, and solitary learners. Later in this post, there will be ideas on how to adapt homeschool curriculum by learning style types.

It’s helpful to know your child’s learning style so that you can best help them learn. If you are not sure what your child’s learning style is, you can have him or her take this learning style quiz to find out. But be careful about the temptation to put your child in a box. Be aware that many children have several preferred learning styles and usually one or two that they don’t like.  Once you know your child’s preferred learning style(s), you can work on adapting your homeschool curriculum as well as your homeschool environment to best meet the needs of your child.

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Whether you’re starting your first or tenth year of homeschooling, you know you’re going to need lots of homeschool supplies. In fact, you may have already compiled a homeschool supply list of essentials such as paper, pencils, crayons, glue sticks, and notebooks. But there may be some items you’re not sure you really need for homeschooling. Or you may not know where to find all your homeschool supplies or how much you should spend on them. To reduce your school shopping stress, we’ve made a list of 25 supplies that are most helpful for any homeschool.

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Your child is about to enter fourth grade, and you may be a little intimidated about homeschooling next school year. After all, fourth grade becomes more involved and more challenging. Foundational concepts and skills in reading, spelling, writing, and math will be honed during fourth grade. History and science will also broaden the borders of your student’s knowledge.

As a homeschooling parent, you want to give your children the best elementary education so they are ready for the rest of their education. But how do you choose the best fourth grade homeschool curriculum for this important transitional grade? What should you emphasize in your curriculum? Is there a curriculum that will accommodate your fourth grader’s learning style and academic needs? This blog post will help answer your questions and direct you to the best fourth grade homeschool curriculum for your journey. 

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Homeschooling is awesome for a lot of reasons, but one of my favorite reasons is the complete control that I have over our schedule. If a friend wants to go running with us in the morning, no problem. Homeschooling can wait a couple hours. A beautiful day and we want to go to our local botanical gardens. No problem. We pack a lunch, a few notebooks, and a field guide and head out on a field trip.  There are many homeschool field trips that can be taken. Homeschoolers can learn anywhere! 

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The economist Milton Friedman once said, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” He was not just talking about lunch, but saying more generally that everything has a cost or a trade-off. The same is true when it comes to homeschooling. Many free homeschooling resources exist online that may provide a partial or surface-level “curriculum.” But there are often trade-offs in time, effort, and educational quality.    

Is homeschooling free?  

Homeschooling is not free. Even if you use free homeschool resources you find online, there is a significant added cost to your time. It takes time to put together a curriculum that will meet educational best practices and state requirements. While homeschooling is generally much cheaper than private school, it is not a tax-funded “free” service like public school. Whatever your reasons for choosing homeschooling over public and private school, you are making an investment in your children’s education. Investments, by nature, cost something.  

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