writing

Why Do You Homeschool? Making Time for Journaling

April 12, 2016 by Justin

We’re now on the fourth post in our series titled “Why Do You Homeschool?” We’ve been talking with Deborah, a mom who homeschooled four children, about some of the advantages of homeschooling.

Deborah mentioned what a blessing it was that homeschooling allowed her family time to journal regularly, so I asked her to tell us more about that. Here’s what she said:

“Journaling is such a wonderful tool if used properly. It teaches a number of skills that are needed in any child’s education—from handwriting, spelling, and punctuation to thoughtful creative skills.

“Because we were fairly structured in our homeschooling, journaling was simply part of our ‘school day’ once a week.

“This all got started because of the journal entry section in the BJU Press spelling curriculum. The purpose was to have the child use some of the spelling words in the suggested topic. These entries were never graded, but I would always answer their journals briefly, using any words that they might have misspelled. It was never meant to critique their writing or thought processes.

“The journal entry does not have to be more than a couple of sentences sometimes. I required at least five sentences from my kids while in school. If the suggested topic (in the spelling text) did not seem to fit, I chose the question/topic. On occasion the kids would suggest something to write about. Some topics were simply fun ones; others were more serious in nature. Because it was accepted simply as part of the lesson and was not a long assignment, there was never an argument from any of them when it came time to write.

“The kids loved reading journals from years past. Often it generated laughter and discussion of family trips, events, and situations. It gave great opportunity to talk about God’s active presence in our lives individually and as a family. Many truths were fleshed out over time as the family bonded.

“Of course, the most vivid memory for them is sharing favorite times with their dad—our hikes and camping trips, his jokes and all the fun times he brought to our home. Often we talked about the topic, and the older kids would share something their youngest sibling did not remember about her dad. It brought healing to our broken hearts and cemented precious memories.

“Today my kids are better than I am when it comes to journaling because they were taught from the get-go how important it is to put your thoughts into writing and to do so clearly. They learned that discipline early on. I can’t emphasize enough how life-changing this practice can be if nurtured. The memories chronicled, the joys and heartaches revealed, and the lessons from the Lord written down to revisit years later are all invaluable.”

Has homeschooling made a blessing like this possible for your family? Let us know in the comments below!

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How to Teach Paragraph Writing

April 7, 2016 by Meredith

We could argue that paragraph writing is a lost art these days. Technology has brought about huge changes in written communication. From status updates to texting, messages seem to be reduced down to abbreviations. But does that approach work for your child’s writing project? Maybe, maybe not.

The answer mainly depends on how well the entire written message communicates. And that’s where the need for paragraph writing comes in.

Paragraph Definition

A paragraph sets up a logical flow of complete thoughts (sentences) about a particular topic. The first sentence gives the main idea of the paragraph. All of the other sentences tell more about that idea.

In its simplest form, the paragraph includes these three elements: a topic, a topic sentence, and supporting sentences. Once your child has developed some writing and grammar skills, the sentences should also add interest and explain details.

Writing Activity

You can introduce the paragraph to your child by using this word web about spring. The first sentence of the paragraph should introduce the season and the main idea of the paragraph. Each sentence that follows adds more detail about the main idea.

Mastering paragraph writing looks different for each child, but this foundational skill is typically developed in second or third grade. By communicating his thought process through the use of multiple paragraphs, your child can launch into more advanced types of writing such as personal narratives, book reports, letters, and creative stories.

Extra Practice

If your child needs some extra practice in paragraph writing, assign a paragraph topic and then discuss these questions with him when he’s finished writing.

What’s the main idea?
Does the first sentence give that idea?
Are the sentences written in an order that makes sense?
What else would you like to know?

Having him read the paragraph aloud will allow him to see if the flow of thoughts is logical. Repeating these steps strengthens your child’s understanding and application of the paragraph so that he can then be guided through the five-step writing process.

Writing projects should be simple at first and then build on your child’s skills as he matures in his writing and grammar. Teaching writing this way helps prepare him for the next writing project without overwhelming him. It also places emphasis on communicating a clear written message, which is something Christians need to be good at doing.

Find writing exercises and projects like the ones suggested above in BJU Press elementary English.

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How to Teach Early Writers Through Storytelling

December 22, 2015 by Meredith

One day when I was a young child, my mom asked me to tell her the story of Little Red Riding Hood. She wrote down my version of this classic children’s story, and I still have the paper today. As I read it, I laugh at my simple expressions to describe the characters and candid explanations of what happened. Here’s one of my favorite lines from my version of “Little Red Riding Hood:” “Her and the boy got some rocks and then they put them all in the wolf and then they took him outside and they swinged him and falled him to the ground.”

It’s silly, I know.

Can you think of an imaginative tale that your child recently told you? These simple (and often silly) stories preschoolers share can not only make us laugh but also impact their writing skills. Developing good writing skills begins with the thought process.

Thinking It Through

Having meaningful conversations with your child is an important first step. Does your child communicate verbally with unfinished phrases or with complete thoughts? Increase her critical thinking and speaking skills by asking questions that require her not only to give you a literal answer but also to interpret situations or actions, to draw a conclusion, or to express her enjoyment.

Getting these kinds of responses from your child can help her learn to compose complete sentences in her head. As your child starts expressing herself in a logical way, it’s time to explain the connection between speaking and writing.

Putting It on Paper

Writing is just talk written down. This insight is best illustrated for a young child when you write down her stories on paper. Just as when Mom recorded my version of “Little Red Riding Hood” word for word, you aren’t so much concerned about your child’s grammar (that will come later) as you are with making sure her thoughts are whole and logical. Reading the story back to her is important for two reasons.

First, it allows your child to hear exactly what she has told you and to make any corrections. We can’t always trust ourselves “when something doesn’t sound right,” but revising by reading aloud is a good practice to develop. Most importantly, however, reading back the written story allows you to introduce another element of language arts—reading—to your child as you show how written stories can be shared with other people.

Practicing the Skills

As your child grows in her ability to form letters and write words, create stories together by starting sentences for her to finish. It’s a great way for her to finish complete thoughts with her own hand. This practice allows your child to see you model writing a sentence or phrase. When her handwriting skills are more advanced, ask your child to write a complete thought herself. If there’s enough space have her include a picture too! Encouraging creativity but providing the support your child needs to write out her own story is the key to her enjoyment of writing.

After your child begins first grade, introduce her to the five-step writing process. The two of you can take a few days to focus on these steps and complete a project together. Your modeling the progression of steps will help clarify them and give your child an example to follow. Even a simple activity like journaling to each other can give your child regular practice in writing (as well as reading) and allows her to see good writing modeled. Through your involvement, she will learn proper verb tenses, punctuation, spelling, and so much more! By the end of the year, your child will probably complete a writing project all on her own.

What tools are you using to intentionally guide your young child’s writing (and thinking) skills? You can find similar learning ideas like these in BJU Press’s Focus on Fives program as well as Phonics & English 1. Preparing your child to be a strong writer begins right now.

Remember These Dates in November

October 29, 2015 by Meredith

November has a heritage of blessings! There are many things to celebrate. It must be the start of the holiday season! I hope you and your family take time to reflect on God’s blessings this year (James 1:17). To start us off, here are two month-long observances worth mentioning.

Native American Heritage Month

Remember this month’s observance by highlighting the notable Native Americans mentioned throughout this post. You can also find more teaching resources from the National Archives.

NaNoWriMo

What’s the most words you’ve ever written? Try cranking out fifty thousand words this month, just for fun. Yes, fun! This special challenge does my literary-loving heart some good, although I must confess writing that many words (and having them all intelligible) seems overwhelming. Start small and find ways to incorporate National Novel Writing Month into your kids’ learning with ideas from Write a Novel in a Month.

November 4

The discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb occurred on this date in 1922. It wasn’t until about a month later that the archeologists were able to open the tomb and discover what treasures the Egyptians had placed with his mummy. View these images of the earthly wealth that surrounded King Tut, and take an opportunity to discuss how as Christians, we can lay up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19–21).

November 7

Marie Curie was born on this date in 1867. She taught physics at the Sorbonne in France but is probably most famous for her work with radioactivity. It was through this research that Marie and her husband discovered two elements (polonium and radium). Marie also won a Nobel Prize in chemistry and another in physics for her work. This chart of the Periodic Table inspires me to remember all the elements! Can you find curium, named for Marie and Pierre Curie?

November 11

Veteran’s Day honors all the men and women who dedicate their lives to serving in the American armed forces. While this federal holiday started as a remembrance for those who served in World War I, it now serves as a day to show tribute for all service men and women from every American war.

In particular, there’s a small, but significant group who helped to defend our nation at a critical time in history. Known as the Navajo “Code Talkers,” this group of Native Americans worked with the US military during World War II. This communication system is the only unbroken code in military history. The code itself was so complex that even native Navajo speakers would not be able to make sense of the cryptic messages. Because of the classified nature of this code, these veterans were not recognized for their efforts until decades after the war ended. Watch these Navajo Code Talker interviews.

November 17

On this day in 1805, Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific Ocean. Their journey took about two years—now we can travel across the continent in just hours! The purpose of their exploration was to chart the land west of the Mississippi River contained in the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis and Clark took notes on plant and animal life, geography, and Native American tribes. Their journey started in Missouri, and they went all the way up to Oregon (where they saw the Pacific Ocean) and back again.

The success of their expedition depended in part on a Native American woman named Sacagawea. She helped the corps with her insights into Native American culture. Sacagawea’s best- known contribution to the exploration came when her own tribe, the Shoshone, agreed to provide horses to carry the corps. Checkout this interactive lesson about the expedition!

November 20

On this day, the three-position traffic light was patented in 1923 by Garrett Morgan. Since previous traffic lights offered no warning between go and stop, this invention helped to decrease the number of auto accidents. Remember to drive safely especially if your kids are soon-to-be backseat drivers! I think a game of red light, green light would be great to include for today’s family activity. Don’t forget to add the yellow light (walking) too!

November 21

The Separatists completed the signing of the Mayflower Compact in 1620. This document listed the rules the colonists agreed to live by as their ship landed in “new” territory outside of the land granted to them by the English government. Read the text of the Mayflower Compact. Does your family have a similar “code of conduct” that your kids can relate to?

November 26

In the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November. We often think back to the first Thanksgiving shared by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags. Many details about this event may be mythical, but we do know that the Pilgrims took a day to celebrate God’s goodness.

One of the blessings God gave to the Pilgrims was a friend named Squanto (Tisquantum). His ability to speak English gave Squanto opportunities to help the Pilgrims as they established their colony in the New World. He taught them how to live off the land and served as a negotiator between them and the surrounding Wampanoag tribe. Squanto’s efforts allowed peace to exist between the two groups for almost fifty years. Find ways to celebrate this special holiday by being a blessing to others and spending time with family. You’ll also want to be on the lookout for a Thanksgiving-themed roundup post I’ll be sharing in a couple weeks.

Learning the Value of Grammar Lessons

October 6, 2015 by Megan

Many high schoolers question the usefulness of studying grammar. I know I did.

My parents started homeschooling when I was in seventh grade. I was a good student and had stayed on the honor roll throughout elementary school. I loved learning and generally spent my spare time either reading or typing out stories on my family’s computer. I enjoyed my distance-learning history and literature classes enough that I often watched the videos twice. But I loathed the English class in the distance-learning program that my parents chose.

During that class, I rarely paid attention, choosing instead to either doodle in the back of my notebook, write stories, or get a head start on the evening’s homework assignment.

I had several reasons for disliking English. Minor reasons included the fact that the teacher on the videos was annoying, the textbook was visually uninteresting, and I never felt like I learned anything new. But the main reason that I hated the class was that the content seemed useless. The distance-learning program that we used (not BJU Press) was effective at drilling the course content into my head, but it failed to answer my burning question of why the content should be learned in the first place.

It wasn’t until a few years later when I took a missions trip to Micronesia that I began to understand the usefulness of grammar. That summer, I traveled with some friends and spent almost a month on Majuro, the main island of the Marshall Islands with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, who were missionaries there. During our stay, my uncle gave us daily lessons in Marshallese. I had expected to learn a collection of useful Marshallese phrases such as “How are you?” “How much does it cost?” and “Where is the restroom?” Instead, we talked about things like pronouns and verb tenses and where to place adjectives in relation to nouns. All those grammar exercises in English class were finally coming in handy! I was so thankful that I knew the “lingo” of language. I knew what adjectives and pronouns were, and I knew the role they played in sentence structure. That knowledge helped me immensely, and I was able to learn quite a bit of Marshallese during that brief time.

Three years later, I was a sophomore in college taking an expository writing class and learning another use for all those grammar exercises. That semester, my professor used a lot of terms like gerunds, participles, and nominative absolutes as he tried to challenge us to experiment with sentence structure to create compelling prose. Again, I was thankful for those years of studying grammar. I knew the terms as well as the concepts, and that knowledge was helping me become a better writer.

Seeing grammar at work in the real world got me excited. I was beginning to see grammar not as a tool for torturing students but as an essential part of producing clear, God-honoring communication. I realized students needed to be taught grammar through this worldview lens. And I decided that I wanted to teach them. This former English-class-hater actually ended up pursuing a master’s degree in English education.

In the providence of God, I’m not currently teaching grammar in a classroom. I’m a stay-at-home mom with three daughters. But someday soon I will begin teaching them the fundamentals of English grammar. And from the very beginning, they will know its value.