025. How Do You Successfully Teach Math?

025.

How Do You Successfully Teach Math?

How do you deal with math mistakes?
What if my child is anxious when teaching math?
Do homeschoolers need to give math tests?

Tune in this week while we discuss these topics and more!

Episode 025:

TWO WAYS TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:
1. Click PLAY Button Above ^^ to listen here.
2. OR Listen on your favorite podcast platform:

Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:

All Published Episodes

Scroll down for your FREEBIE

Are you just starting your homeschooling journey? We’re here to help! Begin with our Get Started in Homeschooling page and Homeschooling FAQ to make the transition smoother. If you’re guiding a young child, explore our How to Homeschool Kindergarten. to make those first steps special. For middle schoolers, don’t miss our Middle School page packed with tips and advice. And if you’re heading into the high school years, our Essential Steps to Homeschool High School will guide you every step of the way!

Show Notes

We talked in a previous episode that teaching your child to read would be the hardest part of homeschooling, but math can sometimes also be a challenge. For many parents, this was a challenging subject for them and it’s easy to be a bit nervous about teaching it, especially upper levels.

The good news is, that like with many homeschooling subjects there are tons of options from video format to scripted programs out there and you do not need to be an expert to teach math to your children. If you find it hard and frustrating to teach math, you’re not alone. Many parents find the very thought of teaching math daunting because nothing ruins your homeschooling day more than fighting about math. The whole day will be miserable if every time you pull out math there is arguing, whining, and crying.

Why does my child have math tears? (4:27)

There are some kids that hate math. So no matter what we share with you here today and all the tips and tricks to help make teaching math easier, some kids are still going to hate math. But hopefully we can help guide you and give you some tips so there are less math tears in your home.

There are different reasons why kids are discouraged by math. Some find it too hard; others find it overwhelming, and still others are so bored by it that they can hardly bring themselves to complete their assignments. I’d also caution you to make sure you aren’t projecting your own feelings about math onto your children.

Base 10 Blocks, Place Value Blocks, and Activities Set. Fun way to learn and understand place value with manipulatives. 5+

It’s also important to rule out an actual, real obstacle to math, like a learning disability. We talked about dyscalculia in our learning disabilities episode if you haven’t listened to that we will link it in the show notes. For the most part though, math obstacles are often caused by other issues.

In the middle of a lesson, your child may struggle to make connections between math concepts, or they may forget the procedures needed for a simple calculation. And this leads to a lot of tears for them and in turn, sometimes for you too. No, it’s not just the kids that are crying here! The more frustrating math time is, the less you want to teach it…which causes even more forgetting and tears. It can become a vicious cycle.

I’

And as hard as it may be for you to teach it, it’s probably even harder for your child trying to get the concepts. When your student is making a recurring mistake, it is an opportunity to pause, and then ask together, “Okay, what parts of this are we not understanding? Is there a way we might approach this differently?” Remember that when things sometimes get too hard, it is ok to walk away and come back to it later. Sometimes that magically leads to understanding. But eventually, we are going to have to get back to the topic at hand.

Mathemagical World – Addition & Subtraction Math Board Game. Includes Two (2) Levels of Difficulty and Speed Ages 5+

Eight (8) Unique Magic Worlds: Desert Island, Dinosaur Island, Pirate Island, Zombie Island, Unicorn Island, Ice Island, Dragon Island, and Ninja Island!

Instead of beating themselves up every time they get something wrong or make a mistake, you want to teach them to see math mistakes as opportunities to evaluate, improve, and learn. This will equip them with a skill that is useful for all of life. Recognizing mistakes is something that is extremely important in math because this is one place where you can’t have a partially incorrect answer. It’s either going to be right or wrong. Sometimes you really need to slow down and look at where mistakes are happening and why.

It’s also important to model working through mistakes. When you do this, you are empowering students to become an advocate for themselves, and this is especially the case as they progress into the upper levels of math where the level can be especially challenging. And honestly, some children really breeze through some of the early math, but they may not really completely understand the concept so then when they get to things like algebra, you really need to have a complete understanding of the concepts because you aren’t going to be able to fake your way through. This is sometimes where real math anxiety hits because it’s finally gotten challenging. It’s so important when teaching the skills that you’re not just teaching memorization, and your child is really understanding the math concept.

Finding ways to model this process of turning math mistakes into opportunities for your child is so important. You spend a lot of time with your child, and they see you day in and day out, and we all make mistakes, and they see that. Use those opportunities to model that what would be otherwise considered a mistake is an important part of the learning process. Children need to know that they are in a safe place to make mistakes. Mistakes are part of the process—a place that actually celebrates those mistakes. Really, they are learning opportunities and with this mindset, your children will see they are learning opportunities.

Fraction War Math Game – Fun way to Learn, Compare and Simplify Fractions. Fast-paced card game that helps players get comfortable with fractions, comparing fractions and converting fractions. Ages 7+

When doing math, you can say things like, “something doesn’t seem right here,” and “oh, I see, I see where we are having trouble.” If your child does not understand something or is having trouble with a new concept, you can help them to see that it’s not a reflection of their intelligence, potential, or skill. Learning to see mistakes as opportunities is a good skill for everyone to have. You can help them understand that the struggle to acquire knowledge is an intrinsic part of the learning process.

Finding the right level of challenge is key to helping kids enjoy math, too. There’s no satisfaction in whizzing through easy busywork problems, but it’s very frustrating to plug away at problems that are too hard. We don’t always stick to the curriculum as scripted. While there is certainly a place for rote fact memorization, it’s also fine to move on from concepts your student has mastered.

Another thing you need to think about is if you are using a program that works for both you and your child? You may want to think about evaluating what you’re using and if it’s a good fit for them. And there are a lot of programs out there. And what works for you might not be working for your child’s learning style.

How do I deal with math anxiety? (12:57)

Math anxiety can be a very normal part of the process. Again, when we talk about modeling behavior for our kids, we do want to make sure we are careful that we are not projecting our math anxieties on them. Watch the things that you may say, I hate math, I’m not good at algebra, I’ve never liked geometry. These statements can have an impact on our kids even though we don’t mean them to.

Some children who have had bad experiences with math can experience math anxiety and even panic when faced with the prospect of making mistakes or revealing they do not yet understand something. It is not uncommon for some kids to have immediate panic when they see drill sheets or workbooks filled with word problems, lengthy tests, etc.

Pizza Fraction Fun Game, 13 Fraction Pizzas, 67 Piece Game 6+

If your child experiences math anxiety, I would encourage parents to consider these possible solutions:

Take extra time to master more difficult concepts and if your kid melts down at the site of a drill sheet, begin with a few problems and work up to more. Also, I would avoid timing drills altogether especially if math is already an issue in your home.
Limit the time you spend on a concept that your student has not yet mastered. For example, the attention span for an 8-year-old when trying to understand something is typically around 10 minutes. A good rule of thumb is to use their age number +2 as a guide to determine what is average for your student’s age. If you want the math session to be longer, you can either switch out to reviewing math the student has already mastered or work with games or activities using known skills. This really helps build confidence. And not just in math – you can use the technique and other subjects. Ask them questions that you know that they already know. Kids love to be a ‘know it all’, so give them a shining moment! Another option might be two short sessions with a two-hour break in between.
When introducing a new concept, coach your student toward a more positive mindset by saying something like, “Okay, this is our first day on this, let’s see if we can catch a piece of it today.” Again, limit time spent per session on the new concept to their age +2.
Collaborate with your child to set the pace for each day. If your math plan for the day involves a worksheet, ask, “How many problems do you think you would be comfortable solving today?” or “Let’s start out with finishing the odd-numbered problems first.” This way, you can evaluate any areas which might need additional assistance. Bring them into this process and help them regain a sense of their own learning.
I would encourage you to give your child permission to skip the questions that they don’t know how to solve. You can then say something like, “Oh good, you skipped that one. We know we don’t know that one.” This gives you an indication of what concepts to spend more time on with them while sparing them the anxiety of being penalized for knowledge that they have not mastered yet.
Looking over the work together helps your child feel ownership of his learning and a greater sense of responsibility. Plus, you show your child that learning from mistakes is part of the learning process.
Consider if the reason you are struggling is because of a missed concept along the way. It’s ok to work backwards to find that. Sometimes the success of later math is completely hinged on something that you learned earlier and that things built on.
Another thing you can do to help reduce stress is to build routine into your day. We talk about this in our schedules, routines, and rhythms episode. This applies to teaching and learning as well as the rest of your daily activities. When children can depend on a schedule and consistent people involved in that schedule, they are more able to settle their minds and take risks in other areas of their lives. Create a routine, inform them about that routine, then review it with some regularity.
It’s extremely important to model a positive attitude towards math. If you don’t like math yourself, I know it can be hard to fake a positive attitude. But we moms set the tone for our homes. When we’re dragging, everyone’s dragging. When we’re energized and positive, the kids are much more likely to be, too. A little bit of positivity. When you pull out, the math books can go a long way.
Also, something that causes a ton of math anxiety in my house can be remedied with just slowing down. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve gotten hung up on a math problem, turned to anger, and then done something really dumb like angrily write a number from the first part of a multi part problem incorrectly, just because we are in a hurry to get it over with. Don’t do that. Slow down.
Bust out the teacher’s guide gathering dust on the shelf. They are a wealth of useful information! Most will help you understand the main objective of the lesson and show you some ways to demonstrate the concept. Some will even provide games and activities to reinforce what your child is learning and add some fun to your math time. Learning concepts with games and making it a fun time rather than drill and kill can completely turn your home around.

We’ve always been big gamers, and have used games in our homeschool from the very beginning. A lot of homeschoolers use the term “gameschooling” when incorporating games into their homeschool. Games are a fantastic way to solidify a concept – especially in math! So we’ve taken all of our favorite games and organized them per concept for you.

Enjoy one of our TOP MATH GAMES when you need to take a break from the worksheets and solidify concepts:

We’ve categorized our TOP MATH GAMES list per concept

Shape, Color, Pattern
Counting
Place Value
Telling Time
Money Management and Investing
Addition and Subtraction
Multiplication and Division
Equations
Fractions
Mental Math
Logic and Strategy

Games are a great option for teaching math, reinforcing math concepts, or just taking a break from boring worksheets!

Peggy Kaye’s Games for Math book:

We also really like this set of books:

Sue Greenwald’s 2 plus 2 is not 5:

Sue Greenwald’s 5 times 5 is not 10:

Singapore Mental Math (many levels to choose):

The goal is to lessen stress, embrace mistakes, and provide your anxious student with many small victories. Through these kinds of processes, you and your student will begin to realize how to find learning success with limited anxiety. Not everything about learning will be fun, some things you do have to power through, but knowing how to advocate for their own learning process is a skill that will assist them in becoming lifelong learners and enable them to reach their full individual potential.

Math wraps ups:

Should I give my child a math test? (26:18)

This is going to depend on a lot of things. And opinions are going to vary on this topic. Where are you on your homeschool journey? If you are brand new to homeschooling out of a school environment, you may want to consider testing just to get an idea of where your student is and if perhaps there are some learning gaps that you need to work on before advancing. Many homeschool curriculums do have their own placement tests that you can use for this.

Testing in general can be a tricky concept because often, if you aren’t actually teaching to a test, testing isn’t always going to be an accurate representation of what your student actually knows. I, personally, do not recommend taking a test until your child has demonstrated mastery. If they need extra time to achieve mastery, then give them extra time. Another great benefit of homeschooling. You can move at your child’s pace.

Prime Climb– Easy to learn, and endlessly replayable, thanks to dynamic mix of strategy and luck. Learn and master multiplication, division, factorization and prime number concepts. This is a fun and favorite game in our house! 10+

We love a mastery approach. The “wait for mastery” approach to testing teaches them to develop an understanding of what they need to be prepared for on an exam. This sets your child up for success in testing so when they see the word “test” at the top of the page, they feel confident in their ability to tackle it.

When there are errors on the test, try to keep them in the same perspective you would with daily work. When working through mistakes you can ask: Were multiple problems missed that use the same concept? If so, this might be an indication that they need to revisit a concept for some additional practice. Did they rush through it? Were there distractions? It might indicate that they were tired or not feeling well that day, which might have made it hard to focus. By asking these questions and having a conversation about the errors, you can again reinforce that mistakes are an opportunity for growth. Together you’ll learn and make decisions regarding next steps for continued success in both daily work and test prep.

Adsumudi Math Game – The Monstrously Fun, Smart Game for Kids to Practice Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction – Great for Kids Ages 8-12

Celebrate Accomplishments

When your child accomplishes something especially hard, like mastering a new concept, do something fun to celebrate! The more that you and your child embrace the perspective that mistakes are opportunities to grow, the more positive the learning process will become for both of you. I’m confident that your student will grow to feel like math is something they can do, and possibly even enjoy!

2 Freebies This Week:

FREE Multiplication Wheels

FREE Basic Math Charts

021. How Do You Homeschool a Child with a Learning Difference?

How Do You Homeschool a Child with a Learning Difference?

You might be a parent who has considered or chosen to homeschool because your child has a learning difference or requires specific accommodations to support their learning journey. Traditional school systems often struggle to provide a curriculum that effectively meets these unique needs, leaving you to fight for the necessary adjustments. You may have wondered, “Can I homeschool my child?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” With the right resources, strategies, and support, homeschooling can offer a tailored educational experience that nurtures your child’s strengths and addresses their challenges, ensuring they thrive academically, emotionally, and socially. Tune in this week as we discuss these topics and more!

TWO WAYS TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:
1. Click PLAY Button Above ^^ to listen here.
2. OR Listen on your favorite podcast platform:

Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:

All Published Episodes

Scroll Down for your FREEBIES this week

Show Notes

Learning challenges can make it difficult for children to keep up with peers academically and may lead to frustration and behavioral issues. Children with learning differences often struggle with social interactions and have low self-esteem. It is important for children with learning disabilities to receive appropriate support and in order to succeed academically and emotionally.

Sometimes people may have the idea that kids with learning disabilities are not motivated or intelligent, or it’s the parents’ fault. That is absolutely false. We really need to widen the lens of how we look at these kids. Also, keep in mind that all students are unique and special and every single one has areas of strengths and areas of weaknesses. It’s important to remember that there are functioning, responsible adults everywhere that grew up navigating the system with a learning disability.

What is a learning disability? (5:18)

Learning *disorder* is a diagnostic term. A licensed professional — usually, a psychologist — diagnoses a person with a learning disorder based on a list of symptoms. Learning *disability* is a legal term. A public school identifies a student with a learning disability. People will often use these terms interchangeably, but those are their definitions.

Sometimes we use terms like developmental delay or gaps in knowledge to describe learning disabilities. Learning disabilities are actually a neurological disorder. The most common of course being reading disabilities with dyslexia as the most common. The reality is that 5–10% of students in the US have some sort of learning disability.

There are many ways that professionals will go about diagnosing a learning disability including tests that psychologists do. That may include an aptitude test and an achievement test and often they compare those two. They may run more tests and once they have those results it helps them determine if there is a neurological disorder, a gap in knowledge, or they just need more exposure and more time to catch up. Typically, these sorts of assessments are done around 6 or 7yrs old.

Sometimes there are even children with really high IQs that may be labeled GT, gifted and talented in a school system that may actually have a processing disorder. Knowing that and getting appropriate diagnosis is going to really help make your approach to how you teach them in your homeschool.

Unfortunately, some kids may feel shame because it may take them so much longer than their friends to do something. It makes them feel that there is something wrong with them. It’s important that these children see themselves and also that we see them not from a deficit viewpoint but from an asset viewpoint. So often we label and put people in boxes because it’s easy to identify them like that, but we know that people are multidimensional— every single human being — not just academically, but emotionally but also in their talents.

When you are able to personalize your child’s education in your homeschool, you will be able to break that cycle of failure they may feel. When they can feel small measures of success, you can help them to change their internal dialogue and their mindset about themselves. It will help build their confidence and will help with every aspect of their life. These are often the kids that grow up with the most resilience, persistence, and grit. It’s not just about academic success!

It’s critical that you and your child learn about their diagnosis together. You need to become their advocate, but ultimately, you want them to be their own advocate in life -in the classroom and beyond- so they need to understand how they best learn and process information too.

There is no better ratio for educational success than 1:1. Being able to customize an education to your child’s specific needs is what homeschooling is all about. Positive outcomes begin with having the right blend of teaching style, curriculum, and a keen understanding of how your child/teen learns best.

How do I know if my child has a learning disability? (12:10)

Learning disabilities usually fall within four broad categories:

Spoken language-listening and speaking.
Written language-reading, writing, and spelling.
Arithmetic-calculation and concepts.
Reasoning-organization and integration of ideas and thoughts.

Today we’re going to address 6 common learning disabilities and how you can tailor your homeschool to accommodate your children and their individual needs. Each of these conditions can present with a range of symptoms and can be diagnosed through a combination of medical and educational assessments.

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is the number one learning disability that affects people of all ages. It affects a person’s reading and language processing skills. If you are the parent of a child with dyslexia, you have probably searched long and hard for ways to help your child learn. Because children with dyslexia are often highly intelligent, creative, gifted, and productive, you can often capitalize on your student’s strengths to make the most of homeschooling. You have complete control over the materials you teach with and can even choose a targeted homeschool curriculum for dyslexia.

Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects a person’s ability to write. It can manifest as difficulty with spelling, poor handwriting, or trouble putting thoughts on paper.

ADHD

Although ADHD is technically not considered a learning disability, research indicates that 30-50 percent of children with ADHD also have a specific learning disability, and that the two conditions can interact to make learning extremely challenging. ADHD, if not treated, can interfere with a person’s ability to succeed academically and socially, and may lead to challenges in relationships and employment later on.

ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to pay attention, control impulsivity, and regulate their level of hyperactivity. It’s the second most common learning disability and can affect people of all ages. I know many people that have struggled all their life and then to be diagnosed as adults.

ADHD makes it difficult to concentrate, which can lead to one child distracting others around them in a classroom setting. Many children with ADHD are disciplined for misbehaving, but they can’t control their actions.

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is a learning disability that affects math skills. It can make it difficult for a person to understand math concepts, perform arithmetic calculations, and solve math problems.

Lots of people dislike math, but they’re eventually able to understand it with enough practice. Dyscalculia is more severe because it’s diagnosing a learning disability that makes it challenging to understand even the most basic math concepts. Since math builds upon itself, children with dyscalculia can fall behind and struggle to catch up for years.

Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia is a neurological disorder that affects a person’s ability to plan and coordinate movement. It can affect fine motor skills, such as writing or tying shoelaces, as well as gross motor skills, such as balance and coordination. Dyspraxia can also affect a person’s ability to process information and perform tasks in the correct order. It is often referred to as developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and is thought to be caused by problems with the brain’s ability to process information about movement and coordination.

Although dyspraxia is a condition that affects someone’s motor skills, it still has the potential to hinder specific learning.It mostly interferes with hand-eye coordination skills. Dyspraxia presents itself differently in each affected person, but some symptoms include poor balance and struggling with fine-motor skills.

Auditory and visual processing disorders

Visual Tracking Disorder

There are some families where parents feel it’s necessary to read and write everything because their child has behavioral issues when they try to make them do their own writing for math or reading. Sometimes there is something else going on and can translate as a visual tracking problem that makes reading very difficult for them. At this point, it would be advisable to look into professional help.

Auditory

Although CAPD is not considered a learning disability itself, it can make some aspects of education particularly challenging. Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) is a condition in which the ears and the brain do not work well together. A child that struggles with central auditory processing disorder is unable to properly process information. Their ears can hear, but the brain does not organize and store the information in a way that lets the child remember it easily.

How do I homeschool a child with a learning disability? (18:37)

We likely see a disproportionate number of students with learning disabilities in homeschooling circles. This is typically because either the school has failed to meet their needs and the parents feel they do better with one-on-one instruction. Or, the diagnosis comes earlier as the parents have noticed something in their day-to-day interactions that may have slipped by in a busy classroom. For whatever the reason, in order to homeschool a child with a learning disability there are some steps you want to take.

Diagnosis of disabilities

If you or someone who knows your child suspects a learning disability, you may want to have a complete evaluation done by a psychologist or specialist to get a clear picture of their strengths and weaknesses. You may also seek testing through an educational diagnostician. These are available through school districts, or an independent evaluator or private provider, or medical institutions like pediatric psychology groups. Check with your state homeschool laws or school district to find out about evaluation services that may be available to you. Sometimes these resources even provide support.

Learn about your child’s diagnosis

You know your child best and no one loves them more or is a bigger cheerleader for them than you can be. You know that they are more than a label and you are the one who can help them reach their full potential. You want to do all you can to learn as much as possible about their diagnosis so that you are able to understand how to support them. You are going to need all the understanding and tricks in your toolbox to aid them and to recognize their different abilities.

Educate yourself on treatment options

Learn about what your options are for treatments. There may be medications, or therapies or other interventions available to aid you in your new journey. Seek advice and information from your student’s diagnosing professional and their pediatrician. Other treatments may be available by working with an integrative physician. There are more and more types of therapies available for various disabilities and special needs: art and music therapy, pet therapy, behavioral and cognitive therapy.

Traditional or standard speech/language, vision, physical, and occupational therapies are common treatments. Unfortunately, nearly all health insurance plans exclude coverage for Educational Evaluations.insurance companies do not cover for testing that is educational in nature. Sometimes it is FSA eligible. So, in some cases testing and therapies may be financially out of reach if you are seeking private care but are free through the public school system. Again, research the resources available to you (some states give homeschoolers with learning disabilities access to special services).

Seek Support

Seek support of all kinds from professional to other families. Finding supportive people or groups is a great way to get personalized answers and practical resources. Many of our friends that have been through this struggle say, over and over again, that other homeschool moms who have been through it were invaluable to them.

For parent support you may want to try groups such as International Dyslexia Association, and Decoding Dyslexia. National charitable organizations such as Scottish Rite, Easter Seals, and The Arc offer resources, support, directories, grants, scholarships, and other helpful tools.

SPED Homeschool is another national nonprofit organization that offers encouragement and an online community to support families impacted by special needs. They have all kinds of resources from teaching tools, planning guides, and empowering media.

Scotish Rite

The Arc

SPED Homeschool

Get real with your child

We mentioned this earlier, but it’s critical that you and your child learn about their diagnosis together. Ultimately, you want them to be their own advocate in life -in the classroom and beyond- so they need to understand how they best learn and process information.

You really want them to understand that they are not defined by a diagnosis. One in five people have a learning disability and there are so many bright and successful people out there who also share the same learning disabilities. Understanding their difficulties and how their disability affects them while also realizing what their strengths are and ultimately learning how to work around or with all of this will help.

The book 8 Great Smarts by Dr. Kathy Koch is a great resource

There is also a homeschool specific 8 Great Smarts for Homeschoolers by Tina Hollenbeck and Dr. Koch

There probably is not a greater life skill than self-advocacy. Some other resources like the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity and Understood.org can help you find resources to educate your child and teach them how to advocate for themselves.

The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity

Another popular highly rated book is The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan by Ben Foss

Allow for accommodations

Accommodations help students take in information or demonstrate what they know but at their level and at their abilities. Decide what kind of accommodations your child may need and make sure to discuss these with other people who may be in supervisory roles in your child’s life, like outside teachers/tutors or coaches and other instructors. Some common accommodations that may be of use are audiobooks, dictation or oral work in lieu of writing. Other accommodations may be frequent breaks or extra time to do a task. This is something you may want to document in your homeschool records.

Elizabeth Hamblet’ website offers advice and makes presentations based on her professional experiences drawn from her 20+ years as a college -level learning disabilities specialist. Explore her site to learn all about the college disability accommodations system, and how disabilities are handled in the admissions process.

Have confidence and faith in yourself

You are your child’s best teacher, and you are totally able to give them a completely personalized education plan. One of our friends did emphasize that you need to be willing to constantly adapt and change what you are doing.

Some of our friends have been able to teach their dyslexic children to read. Others had to seek outside assistance. One used Scottish Rite and said her student responded very well to the structure of the program. Another friend was able to teach one of her kids with dyslexia to read but not the second. The second child received intensive remediation through a reading specialist, who was trained in research-validated multisensory programs that work when other approaches fail. These programs address underlying weaknesses that make reading, spelling, writing and comprehension difficult.

Instructors are trained in the following programs and instructional approaches:

Seeing Stars® Symbol Imagery for Phonemic Awareness, Sight Words, and Spelling.
Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking®
Talkies®: Visualizing and Verbalizing for Oral Language Comprehension and Expression
Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing® Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech
On Cloud Nine® Math Program
Orton Gillingham approaches including Take Flight: A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia

You’re going to find that there is no single best curriculum for your child. I would encourage you to really tune in to their specific strengths and weaknesses, and personal preferences, and customize the best homeschool curriculum options for them. That might mean choosing a blend of homeschool curricula.

Parents should read to their kids, help them sound out words, and guide their reading activity, but they can’t learn for their child. That’s where using a reading program that accommodates their disability can aid independent mastery. Online courses, read-alouds, interactive videos, field trips, box curriculum, physical movement, and manipulatives, group/co-op learning can all provide exciting and engaging ways in which your child will succeed in homeschooling.

Ideally, you will want to choose learning tools that:

Utilizes techniques that best fit their learning style
Self-paced so they can move ahead when they have mastered a concept
Be multisensory and include plenty of visual or audio instruction and support (depending on their needs)
Include instruction in all the rules of reading and strategies both for decoding and spelling new words (especially for dyslexia)
Builds on existing reading, writing and math skills
Encourages kids to become active learners through exploration and discovery
Introduces new learning opportunities in a safe, supportive environment
Balances learning with fun!

A couple recommendations we heard from friends were the program All About Reading. Another one recommended Reading Eggs and Hooked on phonics. While these programs aren’t specifically designed for learning disabilities like dyslexia, they can help.

All About Reading uses the Orton-Gillingham approach. Children with learning differences find it’s a lot easier wy to decipher the code.
Learn More>>

Sounds Abound: Listening, Rhyming, and Reading by Hugh Catts Tina Williamson is recommended. This program builds skills students need to become proficient readers with an evidence-based, systematic progression of lessons. The 125 one- and two-page lessons help students connect letters with sounds and improve early reading achievement. The lessons are organized into five skill areas in order of development. Each skill area begins with picture-supported lessons and progresses to listening tasks without pictures. Determine student progress with a pre- and posttest for every unit.

Sound Foundation’s Dancing Bears were easy-to-use books developed to teach reading and spelling to young children and students struggling with literacy. First published in 2001, ‘Dancing Bears’ pioneered synthetic phonics. All the exercises were chosen for their proven success in teaching dyslexic children to read and spell. Our books are designed to empower amateur teachers (AKA parents)

Replacing writing with typing can be a helpful tool. Dyslexie font is a typeface – specially designed for people with dyslexia – which enhances the ease of reading and comprehension. To design the dyslexia-friendly typeface, all typography rules and standards were ignored. Instead, all the challenges of dyslexia are taken as a starting point. There’s an array of products you can add this to- like Microsoft Word, Google Chrome, etc.

Another introduced us to Grammarly, which is a writing support program that

supports streamlined and effective writing. Their suggestions help identify and replace complicated sentences with more efficient ones, refresh repetitive language, and uphold accurate spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Catch typos, missing punctuation, or commonly confused words before they become distracting to your reader.

GRAMMARLY: The World’s Best Automated Proofreader

A couple of our friends also chose to become trained in The Orton-Gillingham Approach to better help their students, which is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling does not come easily to individuals, like those with dyslexia. It is most properly understood and practiced as an approach, not a method, program, or system. In the hands of a well-trained and experienced instructor, it is a powerful tool of exceptional breadth, depth, and flexibility.

Will having a learning disability hold my child back? (32:50)

It doesn’t have to. And remember that as homeschoolers, there is no behind. The biggest benefit of homeschooling is flexibility. Some other advantages of homeschooling your child with a learning disability are:

A quieter learning environment in a familiar setting. This can reduce anxiety and pressure.
Daily Progress In a school environment you may get feedback from teachers at the end of the day or weekly. But as a homeschooler you can track progress daily and see them blossom. And you are also there if the day goes bust.
Set the pace. Spend as much time as you need on concepts or skills that are hard for your child. Move on when you have mastered something.
Choice of curriculum and resources Children have different learning styles and sometimes music or movement are better than sitting still and listening. There are So many different approaches you can use as we discussed in the last section.
Quality social opportunities. You can join local groups that encourage kids to relate to one another on their own terms. You can pick your activities and extra curriculars.

You may have concerns about things like not having as much structure as a school environment.

You may worry about having fewer resources than a school may. You may be worried about having less social interaction and getting burned out. Focus on things you can fix. There are things that you have much more control over, but you still can’t control everything that might go wrong in a homeschool environment. Instead of thinking about the resources that aren’t available to your homeschooled child, think about how you can fill in the gaps and gain valuable skills.

Each public school child eligible for special education has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). As a homeschooling parent, you may not have to have one at home, but it’s a good idea to set goals at the beginning of the year and monitor progress over time. An IEP can also help you communicate with specialists. There are free sources online that can help you generate your own.

A common fear for parents as their child with disabilities grows up is that they will sit at home all day after graduation and do nothing. This is a normal fear but doesn’t have to be reality.

One of our friends is using a vocational rehabilitation service for youth. They updated testing for her adult child and helped prepare for post-secondary education and employment opportunities. Services are eligibility and need based. Some even pay tuition and books at the community college.

Ultimately you know yourself and your child. Your child with disabilities could thrive under your tutelage if you have the patience and courage to lead the way. You know your child best.

This Week’s Freebies:

Get your **FREE Power of the Orton-Gillingham Approach e-book**!

Free Poster (pdf):

Supporting a Child with a Learning Disability

Dyslexia Checklist — Get your **FREE free Symptoms of Dyslexia checklist**. It is designed to help you determine if your child has the signs of dyslexia

019. High School Core Subjects and Electives

High School Core Subjects and Electives

How do you determine which core subjects are essential for high school? What are the best electives for your high schooler to take, and how do you choose them? What exactly qualifies as a high school credit? These are important questions for any homeschooling parent, and in this week’s episode, talking about these topics and providing valuable insights to help you make informed decisions. Tune in!

TWO WAYS TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:
1. Click PLAY Button Above ^^ to listen here.
2. OR Listen on your favorite podcast platform:

Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:

All Published Episodes

Scroll Down for this week’s FREEBIE:
Course Planning Sheets (pdf)

Show Notes

We know that the idea of homeschooling high schoolers can seem daunting, but we are here to assure you that with a good plan in place, homeschooling high schoolers can be a cinch! In our first high school series episode, we covered how to make a four-year plan and everything you need to know before starting your plan – graduation requirements, state law requirements, and more. It’s a great jumping off point for those of you that are just starting out. I always say that I really thought it was easier to home school high school than homeschooling was in younger grades. You really become more of an administrator than a teacher, especially if you are outsourcing some or even all of your subjects.

If you’re new to homeschooling high school, be sure to check out the Essential Steps to Homeschool High School. This episode is part of our High School series, offering expert advice, comprehensive documentation, and resources like Free Transcript Templates to help you stay organized.

**12 Steps to Homeschooling High School**

So what subjects does my high schooler NEED to take? (6:44)

There are several ways you can look at setting up your high school class plan. Most importantly, look at your state homeschooling requirements to see if you are bound to certain requirements and restrictions. We are here in Texas, where we are considered our own private school, and we get to set our own graduation requirements.

There are two things that you may want to consider. One, what are your state’s *public* high school graduation requirements? The average is between 21 and 26 credits. That is often a great guideline of the minimum classes/credits you may want to strive for and may want to be your goal for a student who may not be college bound.

Learn more about creating your high schoolers documentation and download your FREE Transcript Templates (doc and xls)

Remember, you do NOT have to meet these requirements! They are separate from your state’s *homeschool* requirements and you don’t always need to adhere to those. However, being aware of them may be helpful, especially when applying to State universities. Many homeschoolers exceed well beyond the state requirements.

If you’re not in Texas, you can view your: State Homeschool Laws and Requirements

Also, if college bound, work backwards and look to see what some of the potential colleges your student may be interested in requiring for incoming applicants. You can find this information on college admissions websites pretty easily. We suggested making a list of both of these class recommendations to start and then planning from there.

College Requirements:

When researching admissions requirements for colleges, like required high school courses, your best resource is going to be the college’s admissions website (or the college admissions advisors). We mentioned it in our High School Trailer Episode.

Other sources for college admissions information includes:

Cappex

PrepScholar

A good basic list of core classes may include:

This is just a suggestion. Again, one of the huge benefits to homeschooling is that you are able to completely cater the education experience to your child. There are endless opportunities to how you may want to set this up for your student.

● Language Arts (English I, II, III, IV – regular, honors, or Advanced Placement®*): 4 credits

● Speech: .5 or 1 credit

● Math (Algebra 1 and above): 4 credits

● Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Science elective): 4 credits, 3 lab

● Social Studies (U.S. History, World History, American Government .5/Economics .5, Social Studies elective, ie. Geography) : 4 credits

● World Language (2-3 years in the same language): 2-3 credits

● Electives (Any other electives offered for credit): 5 credits

Choosing core curriculum

Years ago, there were few options for homeschool curriculum-especially high school. That’s not the case anymore. Now we have SO many options, and that can be overwhelming to select the best fit for your student and family.

Some things you may want to ask are:

Are they college or career bound? What are their personalities like? What are their interests and abilities? 7 S

When you are ready to research core curriculum, you need to keep a few things in mind.

Keeping the big picture in mind
Parent time investment
Student time investment
Financial investment
Student learning style

Remember, there’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school, so there’s not ONE right kind of curriculum. And beware of the folks who say: You MUST use this curriculum because it’s the right way! (Sometimes, they are selling expensive curriculum!)

We want to circle back to the basics of worldview and homeschool philosophies, and what kind of materials you are looking for (online, book based, etc.) before choosing curricula. This narrows down your search immensely and things may have changed since you first started on your journey, or maybe you are brand new to homeschooling altogether. If so, you may find our episode 004 on Homeschool Styles and Philosophies handy:

What electives should I choose? (16:28)

When it comes to electives, your imagination is really all that limits you. Typically, there will be one to three elective courses in each year of high school. Too many electives can overshadow the core academic courses. Your student’s electives should reflect who your student is and what they are all about. When we think of electives, some things come to mind:

• This is one of those places where you can incorporate your student’s talents, interests, and achieve that stand out status.

• Electives can allow your student to explore career options.

• Elective call for authentic experiences- your student can oversee their own education and incorporate many different ways of learning.

• Electives leave room for unconventional experiences like internships and more.

• They don’t have to require lots of book work.

Elective courses require less work from your student than core academic courses. While some electives fit within the core academic subjects of Math, Language Arts, History, Science, Foreign Language, others are not core subjects at all – for example, PE, Auto Maintenance, Theater, Cooking. You will be able to find existing curricula for many of the elective courses your student might want to take. However, you can also easily design these courses yourself.

There are so many options for electives, really this can be an endless list. There are certain options that may be pretty standard- PE, health, drivers ed, music art, etc. But you can also look to electives as a way of fine tuning a student’s specific interests or maximizing on a talent or specialty. When it comes to electives, your imagination is all that limits you! Typically, there will be one to three elective courses in each year of high school. See our FULL List of Electives

**Check out Mr. D’s Courses for High School>>**

Some colleges may want 2 fine art credits specifically, some don’t specify at all, so again, looking at what potential schools require or recommend can help you fine tune your list. Electives are also a great spot to start when exploring dual credit programs. These can be easier classes to start with and knock out college credit at the same time.

What constitutes a credit? (22:59)

Credits are a way of measuring a student’s completion of the educational requirements you have set or that are required by your state homeschool laws. Most high school courses are going to be worth either 1.0 credit (for a one-year course) or 0.5 credit (for a semester course). The credit assigned to a course generally takes into account course content, instruction time, and the time the student spends completing course work.

A textbook designed to be completed in one school year is typically given 1.0 credit, while a textbook meant to be completed in one semester is often given 0.5 credit. Many publishers and curriculum providers are going to provide this information online or in the actual text. It’s important to note that even many school systems don’t finish the entire book or class. We usually recommend that your student completes at least 75–80% of the assignments in a textbook to earn the credit.

For courses that don’t follow a set curriculum, you can determine credit by keeping track of the reasonable time your student spends on the course work. For a core course (English, science, history, math, or foreign language), you will want your student to log at least 150 hours for 1.0 credit (roughly five hours a week for 30 weeks). Logging more than 150 hours does not earn a student more credit; it simply indicates that the threshold of 150 hours has been passed.

For honors courses and Advanced Placement (AP) courses, students may log far more than the 150 hours. Generally, honors courses require 8–10 hours per week for 30+ weeks, and AP courses require 10–15 hours per week for 30+ weeks. Even though honors and AP courses demand more hours than a standard high school course, they do not earn more credit when students spend more than 150 hours completing them. Instead, there may be GPA rewards to taking these more challenging courses. For instance, we award an extra .5 point for honors courses and an extra 1 point for AP/Dual credit courses on our transcript.

For a lab science course, you want to log a minimum of 180 hours; the additional 30+ hours are for required lab work. One college we applied to required an addendum for homeschool, private, and charter school students to determine that their high school lab science classes were legitimate.

For an elective course (such as physical education, art, music, or another course that is not a core academic course), log 120+ hours for 1.0 credit and 60+ hours for 0.5 credit.

If you have a student who is a musician for example, consider all their lessons, practice time, performances as credit. Open mic nights totally count! So does writing a theme song for your mom’s podcast! Kids that are competitive athletes may receive PE credit because they definitely put in the training/competition time.

If your teen completes a 3- to 5-credit college course in one college session (either an eight-week term, 11-week quarter, or 15-week semester), we recommend converting this course to a 1.0 credit high school course on your teen’s high school transcript. Even with abbreviated classes, the amount of coursework is often the same as if this was a semester or year long class.

Also, consider that not everything needs to be a class. I see that a lot on message boards- “my kid spends x amount of time a week doing this, how do I make it a class….” You *want* to have some great extracurriculars included in your records- it makes your student appear more well-rounded and interesting.

You also don’t want to just add classes for the sake of filling up your transcript. It can delegitimize the rest of your transcript. We already work hard to give our kids varied classes and learning opportunities with other teachers to avoid the appearance of just “mom grades”, so we don’t want to add a bunch of nonsense filler just for the sake of filling space and saving time. We are all about multi-tasking but be smart about it.

This Week’s Freebies:

Excel credit planner Free only week of release

017. How Do You Prepare a Middle Schooler for High School?

How Do You Prepare a Middle Schooler for High School?

What does your middle schooler need to know?
How do you deal with sibling growing pains?
How do you motivate your middle schooler?

Tune in this week while we discuss these topics and more!

TWO WAYS TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:
1. Click PLAY Button Above ^^ to listen here.
2. OR Listen on your favorite podcast platform:

Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:

All Published Episodes

Scroll down for this week’s FREEBIE:
Daily Planner Sheet (pdf)

Show Notes

Coming soon Middle School Guide:

In Development: We are creating a step-by-step guide that will prepare your middle schooler for high school. It will feature secular curriculum and book lists suggestions, core subjects, mastery skills, logic/critical thinking, technology skills and foreign language. It’s going to have specific supplemental resources and electives. We are putting a lot of effort and energy into this guide so stay tuned for this awesome resource!

We’d like to thank one of our listeners for inspiring this episode. We are always asking listeners to send in any questions or topic ideas and Melissa from Minnesota submitted a couple questions for a Q&A that we thought were so great, we would do an entire episode on it! So, thank you Melissa!

We talk a lot about high school since we both have high schoolers and because we are putting together this awesome high school series- be sure to check it out if you haven’t already. And we also talk a lot about homeschooling early elementary kids or getting started, but what about these middle schoolers? Middle school is a time when kids are figuring out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. It’s important to give them the opportunity to explore different interests and try new things. But it’s also crucial to make sure they’re staying on track academically. This means focusing on the academic, social, and emotional aspects of transitioning into this next phase

Learn more about the High School Series
Get your FREE Transcript Templates

There are several ways that high school differs from middle school, like increased responsibilities, more course options and extracurricular activities. The workload and expectations are going to be higher and the content more difficult so let’s explore some ways to prepare your middle schoolers for what’s to come.

What does your middle schooler need to know?

BUILD COMPUTER AND TECHNICAL SKILLS

Encourage your students to develop technological and writing skills. This is going to help make them better prepared for high school and beyond or competitive in the job market. Skills like typing, Google slides or PowerPoint, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and various versions of computer skills.

Free courses are often available through most library systems, and there are a lot of basic step-by-step guides on YouTube. It’s also important to teach online etiquette.

Typing Instructor:

NO-Peek at the keys skin to learn typing:

I’m also a huge fan of teaching basic programming. We loved learning with Scratch, which is a free software teaching, basic programming created by MIT:

Another thing we loved was Lego WEDO which teaches basic programming:

IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS

To help them gradually, throughout middle school, assign more writing assignments of different styles and lengths. Things like product reviews are a great way to make writing fun for kids. Maybe they could start a blog or newsletter. They could also have a GoodReads account and do book reviews. Writing prompt books and journaling are also great ways to get more writing in.

Fine-Tune those Writing Skills with this Scholastic Writing Book (includes promts):

TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS FOR TEENS

As your teenager progress through high school, the demands on their time will steadily increase. To help them navigate this transition and avoid feeling overwhelmed, it’s crucial to instill effective time management skills early on. These skills are not innate; they need to be learned, and as a parent, you play a pivotal role in guiding your children toward success.

Curriculum

ONLINE COURSES

Online learning differs from traditional educational methods, so there are benefits to exposing your teen to this type of learning while the stakes are much lower. It’s important for homeschoolers to take at least one virtual course while they’re in middle school.

**Outschool** is a great option with a wide variety of classes!

Khan Academy is another great option for online courses.

You can start by allowing them to set their own wake-up times in the morning. This small step encourages personal responsibility and time management from the outset. Additionally, establishing quiet hours for late-night or early-morning activities can ensure your teens get the essential sleep they often underestimate. A simple alarm clock like this one can help a lot:

Many parents choose to regulate online screen time to maintain a balance. It’s important to hold your children accountable for completing their tasks and meeting their goals. If they’re struggling, don’t hesitate to intervene and provide the structure they might still be learning to create for themselves. Remember, it’s about nurturing their independence while offering assistance when necessary.

Empower your kids by letting them select an organizational planner that suits their style. You can certainly model your preferred method, but ultimately, what works best for them is what matters most.

Feel Free to Print and Share our **SMART Goals Poster**

For instance, in my household, I didn’t allow my middle schoolers to have their phones at night, so I provided them with basic alarm clocks to take charge of their morning routines. These foundational time management skills will not only benefit their academic journey but also set them apart in college and future careers.

Consider these practical tips:

Encourage your children to take responsibility for their education by organizing their day and week efficiently.
Teach them how to budget their time, a skill akin to managing finances, as they prioritize their tasks and commitments.
Foster independent time management, allowing them to learn from their mistakes within the supportive environment of your home before they face the academic pressures of high school.

To further assist in this process, here are some scheduling and planning apps that we have found useful and recommend:

Trello: An effective productivity tool that works exceptionally well for middle school management.
Cozi: A family management app that aids in organizing household activities and schedules.
Time Finder (available on the Apple App Market): A block scheduling app to help structure and allocate time efficiently.

ENCOURAGE INTERESTS

By the middle school years, kids are starting to find different things that they are interested in or love participating in. Encourage these passions! These differing outside interests they have not only rounds them out as humans, but will help when it’s time to select electives in high school. Find a healthy balance of encouraging them to try new things but also keeping balance with academics.

TEACHING TEENS LIFE SKILLS

Now is the time to focus some of your time on teaching life skills, things they’ll need to know to be successful in life.

You can make cooking a school elective!

Good Eats – The Middle Years:

Life skills like:

cooking
cleaning
how to do their laundry
money management
communication
car care
pet care/training

Pet training buttons:

Bunny the dog on TikTok

Once high school starts, time gets filled quickly with increased school demands, jobs, friends, and extracurricular activities. It’s not that there won’t be time to teach these things, but your time will be limited, so it makes sense to work on the skills your child will need to be independent now while you have the opportunity.

You can even make Auto Upkeep an elective Credit Course:

Puberty

Health, fitness, and Sex Ed are crucial components of a well-rounded education. Be sure to include these important subjects as they begin to enter puberty.

051. Homeschool PE, Health, and Sex Ed

Learn how to teach Health and Sex Ed

PROMOTE GOOD STUDY HABITS

Learn about Planner Strategies that will set your child up for success.

Working with your middle schooler to develop good study habits and time management skills can proactively help them handle more difficult coursework and increased workload. This can keep them from feeling overwhelmed. Learn more about creating a routine that works for your family.

ENCOURAGE STUDY SKILLS AND NOTE-TAKING. Even if they are not college bound, students will benefit from note-taking skills. Note-taking really cannot be taught as much as learned by experience and everyone has their own methods for this. Think about what worked for you and start there.

Watch this video to help your Middle Schooler learn about priorities.

Organize with Homeschool Planet Planner on Homeschool Buyers Club. Extensive customization lets you organize your home and homeschool the way YOU want:

TEACH TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES.

Even if they are going straight into a career, there may be certifications or skill assessment tests to face. Taking a test is much easier if a student knows how to prepare for it and how to approach it. Give them exposure to multiple choice questions. Talk about how to eliminate the unlikely answers. For comprehension questions, have them skim over the questions before they read the material. There are all kinds of test preparation courses available to students in book form, online, etc. Khan Academy is one place that offers free test prep. You can also find free test prep at your library. YouTube is also a great place.

USE CURRICULA WITH LOTS OF HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES.

Not so different from when they were younger, studies show that middle school-aged students learn much better by exploring and asking questions. So try choosing methods of teaching that involve drawing maps, building models, and doing handicrafts.

Find a science curriculum that offers several experiments. Encourage play with circuits and legos and other small muscle movements. Explore coding programs, visit museums and interactive exhibits.

ENCOURAGE INDEPENDENT LEARNING.

As your child enters high school, you want to be sure they are prepared to continue learning as challenge levels increase. You also want to ensure they can apply that knowledge to their performance in the real world. You really want to encourage your child to become an independent learner.

One great way to foster this ability is to continue to encourage them to read independently, and to discover where their interests lie. Students that are encouraged to read for fun and follow their passions soon develop the self-motivation to keep that learning going, and naturally begin to push themselves to learn more. This sense of personal responsibility for their learning and education will help them as their workload increases and studies get more difficult.

EXPOSE THEM TO GOOD BOOKS.

Continue to choose great books that build grammar and vocabulary. Doing read-alouds as a family as well as individual reading enables students to hear and see great grammar and language. If you find that your child still struggles with grammar and vocabulary skills, middle school is the perfect time to strengthen them.

View the Complete List of
Favorite Books for Middle Schoolers

GIVE THEM TIME.

Don’t over schedule your middle schoolers. Try to limit online time. Let them have lots of time to explore, ask questions, experiment, fail, switch things around, and try again.

How do you deal with sibling growing pains?

Something you may start noticing with middle schoolers is that at this age they may be feeling like they are outgrowing some of the things that their younger siblings are into. They may view some of those things as “babyish” and may become resistant to participating in activities or other things that they used to enjoy.

This is all normal and how tween/teens establish themselves as separate people with distinct likes and dislikes. Conflict with siblings is normal and all part of their developmental journey towards independence and autonomy. How siblings work through their conflicts is going to shape the way they feel about and relate to each other. Learn more about balancing multi-age children.

Focusing some energy on finding age-appropriate activities that you can take your older child to that doesn’t include the younger siblings, or allowing your older child to skip out on activities- staying home alone or being dropped off at a nearby coffee shop is a great way to encourage independence and respect the need for different activities within the family.

Teenagers choose their friends based on similar likes and interests – but they can’t choose their siblings. They might feel they don’t have much in common with them (apart from the same genes). This is where you can focus on the things they DO have in common. Family game night, fun activities or places/things they like to see or do together.

We want to prepare our kids to be world citizens and think beyond themselves. Teen/tweens can be naturally selfish beings. We want to encourage them to be kind and have empathy towards others, family and strangers. Volunteering is a great way to do this, but also just talking about current events, reading about different people and places, and exposing them to a wide range of ideas.

How do you motivate your middle schooler?

Motivation can be tricky. First and foremost, your child must understand the importance of doing well themselves, for themselves. Motivation can’t be forced and if you try to force your child to be motivated it almost always will backfire.

Effort and Quality

Remind them that it’s not grades that matter but effort and quality of work. Encourage them to keep learning and growing and progressing. Giving your students tangible “adult tasks” to handle on their own can help motivate them.

Growth Mindset

Fostering a growth mindset will enhance their motivation and also develop skills that will help with self-regulation.

Goal Setting

Let them be a big part of goal setting. Helping your middle schooler establish manageable goals, along with strategies for steps necessary to achieve them can deliver fantastic results.

Stay Positive and Communicate Openly

Make sure that you stay positive with your language and communicate with your middle schooler. Keep a relationship with your child that is open, respectful and positive. Middle schoolers are going through a lot of changes with their bodies and their outlook. It is essential that we create a welcoming environment for them to be themselves. When they feel like they are in a safe space to make mistakes and grow it will enable them to learn and be motivated.

Foster Healthy Relationships

We want to focus on healthy relationships, not just us, but others as well. We often focus on the new friendships and relationships our children will find and develop as they leave middle school ages and enter high school. These relationships will bolster their sense of self and social compass as they grow and develop. Talk to your kids about the importance of quality over quantity, friend versus acquaintances. Students should also be encouraged to develop relationships with their coaches or outside instructors and mentors, as well.

Communication Skills

Developing good communication skills will also allow them to stay aware of their progress and get a good idea of how they can improve in their studies or other activities.

Celebrate Accomplishments

Another thing that helps to motivate is to encourage them to keep their own records or memories or schoolwork samples and teach them how to build a portfolio or scrapbook or journal. Celebration their accomplishments. These are things that can show progress and help with long term goals.

8 Ways to Get Middle School Students to Care About Their Grades

This Week’s Freebie:

FREE Reading Book Planner

$0.00

Add to cart
Daily Student Planner

$0.00

Add to cart

013. Homeschooling on a Budget

013. Homeschooling on a Budget

Can I afford to homeschool?
What do I need to buy to homeschool?
How much does curricula cost?

Tune in this week while we discuss these topics and more!

Episode 013:

TWO WAYS TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:
1. Click PLAY Button Above ^^ to listen here.
2. OR Listen on your favorite podcast platform:

Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:

All Published Episodes

Scroll Down for this Week’s Freebie

Show Notes

The holidays are over and we once again overspent even though we said we wouldn’t, and now it’s the new year. We are all fresh off our downward holiday spiral and riding that new year motivational high. So let’s start the year financially savvy. If you haven’t already, creating a household budget in general with line items for things like homeschool supplies, memberships, educational classes, and activities/travel can help you stay on track.

Can I afford to homeschool? (3:06)

Real life is messy, no matter how your family looks. Home education is as diverse as the families involved! The beauty of homeschooling is the flexibility—it can fit any individual, lifestyle, or family type.

Whether you are dual income,single income, or single parenting, most of us probably need to be mindful of whether we can actually afford to homeschool. Sometimes it is simply not going to be realistic for this season of your life, and that’s ok. We’ve discussed some other options to having your child at home that aren’t necessarily homeschooling in our “Getting Started” episode. But if you can, let’s talk about some ways to make homeschooling work in your home! Just keep in mind that a low-cost education does not mean a substandard one!

Even if you’re not a single parent, Oftentimes, this is going to involve a shift to a single income. So how can you continue to provide for your family and school your children at home? Working from home would be the ideal situation. If possible, pursue bringing your job home. Perhaps your boss is open to you working remotely, at least maybe part-time. Since the pandemic, this has become more and more common.

You may need to do some juggling while you try to balance schooling with different work schedules. One fantastic aspect of homeschooling is that you can do it anytime, from anywhere. Evaluate your family— age, temperament, etc. Can they go to the office/worksite with you? Maybe there’s another family member who can stay with the kids while you work? Could you do school in the evenings and on the weekends? We discussed in our episode about homeschool styles and philosophies that possibly your child may perform better doing school at a different time than a traditional schedule. You may find that it works for you to hire a nanny or do independent or online schooling? You may have to think outside the box, but that’s what home education is all about!

The good news is homeschooling does not have to be expensive and there are lots of ways to save money, supplement a single income, and school on a budget.

Envelope Budgeting System

Making a very strict budget is one way to be successful. And one of the ways we found to stick to a budget was through an envelope system. Although it’s not a secular financial program, we used an envelope system program suggested by Dave Ramsey. It’s a really practical way to budget and when you’re using a cash system, you cannot overspend, and it’s really important for your children to see the money move.

Ways to save money while homeschooling:

Making all your meals at home/packing lunches/ menu planning
Shopping dollar stores/dollar bins at Target
Garage sales
Thrift stores
Shopping discounts
Hand me downs
Gift lists for family- memberships, educational toys, games

Ways to supplement a single income or make money from home:

Work from home- build a business
Pet sitting
Babysitting
Blogging
Picking up kids from school and dropping them off at home or after school program
Online tutor
Music lessons
Refurbish furniture
Work from home- selling
Sell online-eBay, Amazon, Facebook marketplace
Sell other people’s stuff
Sell at farmers markets -vegetables or crafts
Start Etsy shop
Dropshipping
Work from home-online jobs
Teach international students English
Virtual assistant
Freelance writer
Virtual Customer service, reservations
Gig work-Door dash, GrubHub, Instacart, Shipt
Usborne books
Surveys or Studies
Secret shopper/studies with UT southwestern, Curion, kid studies

What do I need to buy to homeschool? (13:39)

There are definitely things you want when homeschooling and then the things that you actually need. You do not need a fabulous Pinterest homeschooling classroom with tons of bookshelves and fancy desks, computers, and beautiful framed inspirational education posters. Even if you do have that, often your kids are going to want to slump on the sofa or their bed with a pile of library books. Don’t overcomplicate things.

Homeschooling necessities- what do you really need

Consumable items- paper, pens, markers, crayons, pencils
Extra-curriculars- not really necessary, but for a low cost option, you may want to consider rec center, pooling resources with another parent, or a non academic co-op – check all our suggestions below!)
Equipment- microscopes, books, project supplies

A great way to get supplies is by attending Curriculum swaps, retiring homeschooler sale, Ebay, Facebook marketplace, and Facebook homeschool sale groups. You may also check if your town has a homeschool store- we have one in north Texas and they even offer used curricula at a discount. We would also say that once you’re done with curriculum and you’re not going to use it for consecutive children, sell it as soon as possible. It will hold its value better before newer updates are created. A homeschool group we were in for years, had a lending library with curriculum and supplies, including a microscope. Totally free!

If you have multiple kids, you may want to choose reproducible resources. Or you can make your own reproducible resources (laminating pages and dry erase markers.) You may want to consider a really good printer or use Office Depot specials to print. For example, with SOTW, someone turned us on to having Office Depot cut the binding and then having the activity pages spiral bound, while we had the consumable worksheets 3 hole punched. This allowed the same set to be used for multiple children, and then pass it on to another family afterward.

Be sure to check with your curriculum to make sure this is actually allowed. Many will have information on that publishing page and you do want to be mindful of copyright rules. It’s also important to remember that many homeschool curriculum providers are homeschooling parents, as well, and this is their side business that has allowed them to afford homeschooling. Please be sure to be ethical in your sharing of resources.

How much does curricula cost? (17:31)

There are a ton of free and cheap resources out there, but curricula can also be really expensive. Again, one of the first things to do when selecting something, is to make sure you know your homeschool style and worldview. It may not be worth it to use a completely free curriculum if it doesn’t align with your family’s belief system or is otherwise problematic.

And If you’re not completely sure, that’s ok! Just check out episode 4 where we walk you through identifying your homeschool philosophy and worldview. In the show notes on our website, we provided some great information and resources to help you uncover the worldview hidden in curriculum.

037. 7 Steps to Choosing Curriculum

Another tip is to refrain from buying more than a year in advance. It may be tempting when you see some mom selling 5 years of Saxon math on Facebook marketplace to just snap it all up, but that’s not a great idea unless you know for sure that that program is still going to work for your child down the line. We recommend purchasing for the next year, sell when done, and roll that into the next year.

One thing to look into with older students is Clep testing or Dual Credit. Many times these are offered free or at a discount and can be used for college credit. This can save an enormous amount of time and money long term. We’ve mentioned our local community college offers free or discounted dual credit classes and this was a fabulous resource for us both.

Look into group buys with sites like Homeschoolers Buyers Club -they also have a lot of free resources, and you can also get free homeschool ids here-we download them every year for the first day of school! They often pool resources to get programs that are otherwise financially out of reach or only available to schools or groups with huge numbers of students.

You can make your own curriculum. From writing it yourself, or using resources like Pinterest, blogs, homeschool Instagram, YouTube, sites like Enchanted Learning, 123Homeschool4me, homeschool share, or Teachers Pay Teachers. These may require a membership fee but then allow you access to tons of resources.

Enchanted learning

Teachers pay teachers

123Homeschool4me

Homeschool Share

You can look at publisher’s websites for resources or supplemental material, too. Sites for book or book series like Magic Tree House had a downloadable passport, quizzes, and all kinds of lesson plans and printables that went with each book. It was such an easy way to make an entire class work on the fly. And there are several books in this series, readily available at the library or second hand, too.

Audiobooks — **Tons of FREE Audio Books**

There are so many great apps or online educational streaming resources. Sometimes you can access passwords from local school districts (or just by googling)- we used Brain Pop this way for many years. Discovery streaming is also popular. We LOVED Reading eggs and Starfall. Before buying, Look for free trials to check things out to see if they will work for your family.

The encyclopedia is also awesome and available free online. Using Libby/Overdrive through your local library or in conjunction with Broward County or NYC library systems allows you unlimited audio/digital book options. Your library can also be a resource for free passes, language classes.

There are also thousands of books available on the public domain and they are available as Ebooks and Audiobooks. Loyal Books.com is a fantastic website and easy to search titles

Scratch is a fantastic free program produced by MIT to teach young children how to code. There’s tons of free YouTube videos, and books you can check out step you through learning. Our kids started there and eventually programmed a raspberry pie before building their first computer. Also we love John and Hank Greene’s Crash course video series on YouTube. Really, just anything YouTube! What a great free resource!

Khan Academy is a fabulous free website that offers free programming. It’s great for entire classes or sometimes we may use it to look up videos for things, like math concepts, that we may need additional help with.

We’ve talked at length about co-ops and otherwise pooling resources with other parents. This can be a huge money and time saver, while also offering a wonderful social outlet for your kids. Along with this, you could also try bartering tutoring with a friend or acquaintance or volunteering your time with another group in exchange for classes or access to resources.

Another way to save money on curricula and supplies is to shop sales. Many curriculum companies have sales multiple times a year. Be on the lookout for those and plan ahead. You can also look at office supply rebates, or using teacher discounts, and piggybacking on back to school sales or tax free weekends.

Printing out your own teacher ID can net you some teachers discounts. These are available at Barnes and Noble, Half Price Books, Joanns, etc. You can print your a free ID at Homeschool Buyers Club

Scholastic book warehouses are located in several cities and offer huge sales a couple times a year. You can register as a homeschool teacher and show up and save money on classroom items.

We also don’t want to forget activities and extra curriculars! And just because you are on a strict budget does not mean you have to pass these things up. There are so many cheap and free educational resources out there.

For one, you can look at sites like Groupon, Citipass, or Pogo Pass for discounts to area attractions or activities. One year, several of us bought Pogo Passes and met up together at various places. They may have museum entry, or go-carting, or waterpark tickets included. Also, it’s important to know that you can always create your own extracurricular and invite friends! Do you know tennis? Teach a group tennis class! Do you know art? Teach an art group. People are always willing to participate when you’re the one organizing. Pick something that your child has a strong interest in and just do it.Lego club? Book club? Gardening? The possibilities are endless!

Museum family memberships can be a great value if they are a place you visit more than once or twice. Oftentimes a membership pays for itself in just a couple visits. These are also great gifts to ask for from extended family. Many also partner with reciprocal programs.

There is a science museum program (Association of Science and Technology Centers) and an arboretum program (American Horticultural Society). These are great locally and can be really handy when traveling out of town or planning a family vacation.

If you have access to any State or National Parks nearby, these are a fantastic resource for education. Many have Junior Ranger programs that are free to access, sometimes you can even do these online without physically visiting a park. Amtrak also partners with the NPS in the summer and offers programming onboard trains. The Every Kid Outdoors Program gives all 4th graders a free National Parks Pass. This pass allows access for all children under 16 in the group and up to three accompanying adults (or an entire car for drive-in parks) to most federally managed lands and waters.

You should also look at local historical sites and places. Many areas may have local villages, farmsteads or other sites that offer demonstrations, or self-guided/guided tours. These are often free or very low cost ($5) but may require advanced reservations.

Look at your local museums. Many offer programming sometimes just for homeschoolers. Some may also have homeschool days- our zoo and science museums do that as well and it’s a great way to spend a day exploring!

For the arts, you can often find free or low-cost community concerts, or student matinee shows. For several years we attended our local Opera House’s dress rehearsals for shows. These were totally free and typically the full show without interruption!

Check out your local community or rec center for classes, field trips, sports opportunities. This is a great way to try out an activity with a short commitment or join a specific art or dance class at a great price. Just having a membership to your local rec center can be a huge value for access to a gym, pool, courts and other rec activities.

Field trips are often a great way to get free or discounted entry. Our local Aquarium never has coupons available but you can get a significant discount if you book as a group. Often, if you are the organizer, you get your entrance for free! Some government sites are open to the public or offer free tours- the Federal Reserve and US MInt are two, you can also typically tour your state capital this way. Consider this when traveling (Washington DC has the BEST museums, and they are all free to enter.)

100 Awesome Homeschool Field Trip Ideas — Be sure to Download your **FREE Field Trip Bundle**

We’ve given you so many tips and ways to save and budget. But honestly, homeschooling does not have to be complicated! Sometimes less is more and it’s important to remember that this is not a race and it’s OK to minimize all of the things. You’re here for the experiences so stay in the moment and teach your children to appreciate and value what they do have.

This Week’s Freebie:

Free Homeschool Budget Sheets

$0.00

Add to cart

010. But What About High School?

But What About High School?

Feeling confused and lost as you start homeschooling high schoolers? Don’t worry – you can do this! Overcome the overwhelm and the fear of failure with us. Wondering if your homeschooler can get a diploma, if you need to teach calculus, or if they can go to college? Tune in this week as we dive into these questions and more! Join us for an enlightening and empowering discussion on navigating the high school homeschooling journey.

Episode 010:

Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:

All Published Episodes

TWO WAYS TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:
1. Click PLAY Button Above ^^ to listen here.
2. OR Listen on your favorite podcast platform:

Scroll Down for TWO Freebies this week:
High School Planning Sheet (pdf)
Extracurricular Planning Sheet (pdf)

Show Notes

The High School Series is a great resource to help you get through those high school years! It covers these topics plus many Free Resources to help you on your journey. You will be learning how to homeschool high school right along with your teens and the homeschooling parent we are now is not the homeschooling parent we will be at the end of this process. Be patient with yourself. The longer you homeschool high schoolers, the more you will notice your imperfections! But, remember: Perfection is NOT required! Remember, homeschooling is about teaching your child how to LEARN and to foster that love of learning.

We, as parents, are not going to be the best at everything. Rather, we want them to learn that as adults, they can look for resources to keep learning things they need to know.

Take time to enjoy your teens

While your teens are in high school, academics will be high priority. However, try not to get so focused on those academics that you do not have time to enjoy your child. Your teen does not need to work on academics intensely all day, every day. Use the flexibility of homeschooling to your best advantage.

SNL Skit – Back Home Ballers
(Funny skit when the kids come home for the holidays)

Prepare Teens for Life and Career

To truly be prepared for life and career, homeschool high schoolers need to believe in themselves. We need to help teens find their self-knowledge and self-confidence. We can do this by:

Many teens are figuring out who they are by experimenting with various ideas and behaviors.
Teens will have struggles with friends or personal situations that will affect them deeply and stress them out. Sometimes this causes them to butt heads with safe people while they are figuring things out. And that safe person is probably you. Try to give them some grace and not take it personally.
Do what works for your family.
It’s important to keep yourself in check and avoid feeling pressure of comparing yourself to others that may have a more high-achieving teen. Some homeschool high schoolers want to own everything about their education and assignments and others want daily engagement with you. And, sometimes what they want is not what they need. Maybe they think they want to do everything on their own, but then get bogged down. They’re still trying to figure it out. This is where you can step in to help and guide them. You may choose to handle this by finding common goals with honest, regular check-ins, maybe daily or weekly.
If you are struggling and butting heads-especially in a certain subject, it might be a good time to outsource a class. You want to try to avoid bringing on additional stress to your relationship.
There will also be bad days when no schooling gets done. Some days are rotten, and schoolwork needs to be set aside. Tomorrow is a new day. You can model resilience for your teens- it is a GREAT life skill.

Can my homeschooler get a diploma?

Many people think homeschoolers cannot get a high school diploma or have to go through the state or get a GED to graduate. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states. In many, like here in Texas, a homeschool diploma carries the same weight as a public or private school diploma. There are some states where this differs- NY and there are some places that don’t take a homeschool diploma- beauty school, overseas colleges. But at the end of the day, a diploma is also just a piece of paper. Very rarely are you ever asked to produce this document. You can make one yourself or order a professional quality one from sources. What is really important, especially if your student is college bound, is a transcript.

A transcript is a record of classes, grades, and GPA. A transcript should contain grades and class names for all levels of high school and any college coursework completed before high school. There are numerous transcript templates available online and you can choose to make a transcript by year or by subject. A subject transcript is a great option if you are including classes from 8th grade, or doing a Super Senior year, or perhaps, taking a lot of classes in a semester- like shortened semester classes (a lot of dual credit courses are offered this way, but it can look weird to have so many credit hours in one semester). You also may want to include a resume or second sheet that lists all your child’s accomplishments, awards, any volunteer work, clubs and other activities. This is typically called a resume, and is also detailed out in a college application or Common App.

We will include a high school planning template in our future high school series show notes.

Many homeschool groups host graduation ceremonies or you can host your own. It is also completely fine not to do one at all. You can order your own graduation gear and supplies without going through a pricey graduation company. We ordered our beautiful high school diplomas from here:

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA – You can also make your own!

Do I need to teach calculus?

You do not need to know upper level math and science to teach it. There are several options for teaching these subjects. You can outsource- we use an upper level math and science school that we are lucky to have locally. It’s a brick and mortar homeschool school, run and taught by a man with his PhD in Chemistry. The kids love the class, it allows for labs not to be done in your kitchen, and they get to hang out with friends, study together, etc. If you are in the Dallas area, here’s a plug for Thinking Reeds Math and Science in Plano. We love Dr. Reid! Thinking Reeds

You also can opt to do dual credit classes through colleges. Dual credit courses are nice because they satisfy high school credits while knocking out college credits at the same time. We both did this through a local community college but there are tons of options for dual credit online, as well, if you don’t have a local option. Arizona State has a Universal Learner program that is awesome- you can take a course for free and then only pay if you want to keep the grade.

There are also several online single class curricula for different courses or al carte classes available from sources like Outschool, or Well Trained Mind Academy, and several others. You can even choose courses at Arizona State Universal Learner: https://ea.asu.edu

Learn more about:
OUTSCHOOL CLASSES

Most homeschool curricula is scripted and/or you can learn right alongside your student.

A lot of homeschool curricula is organized so that parents present the information as written, students then do the work, and then parents’ grade or assess from there. You absolutely do not need to be an expert in any of these subjects.

Can my homeschooler go to college?

There are so many different pathways that homeschoolers can choose to take after completing high school. While many are college bound, several also choose military, trade, certification programs, or community college.

Determining what path your child will want to go can help you to craft your homeschool high school experience. I do see a lot of people struggle with trying to figure this out early and I want to stress that it is totally normal for a 14-year-old not to know what they want to do for the rest of their life. A lot of kids might think they want to do one thing and then change their mind later, again, that is ok. It is our job to give them the ultimate schooling experience that will prepare them for *any* of the pathways they may choose along the way. For many, that means a full high school academic plan with college in mind, along with a variety of extracurricular activities and community service. These can be volunteer work, scouting, clubs and other activities, theater, musical instruments, etc.

If you are looking to do a college prep type approach to your homeschool high school education, I’d recommend looking at a variety of colleges and looking to see what they require for admissions from students. Many have a section for homeschooled students specifically, but many review homeschool/private/public applications in the same way. Either way, this is a good source for seeing what colleges want in terms of classes (a lot are looking for traditional 4 years of Math, English, Social Sciences, 4 years of science with 3 lab, 2-3 years foreign language, etc). They will also talk about what they require as far as test scores go and so you may then want to incorporate test prep into your coursework as well and figure out the schedules for taking those.

A big concern for many homeschoolers is testing. For those of us in states that do not require any kind of testing or have kids that have never been in a school environment, testing can be an overwhelming idea because it is possible the ACT/SAT or TSI/Accuplacer may be the very first test your students take. It can also seem confusing taking in information regarding PSAT and all the other different testing option. CLT is another test some people opt for, as well (it is more of a classical style test, so often recommended for homeschoolers who have come up through a traditional classics trivium style of learning). Get test booklets, take practice tests online, see where any weaknesses are that may need improvement. Invest in a test prep course of some sort if you want.

Some schools are now labeled as “test optional”. Test optional sometimes does not apply to homeschoolers, however. Also, sometimes scholarships are tied to test scores, so it is usually recommended to at least attempt tests. You may surprise yourself, and testing, whether we like it or not, is going to be part of their college experience regardless.

Another route to college to avoid testing and/or to save money, is to go to community college first and then transfer. This can be done as dual credit or after high school graduation. Do keep in mind that most colleges do not consider classes earned while still in high school as transfer credits. Even when students graduate with associates degrees in high school, they are typically still encouraged to apply to all colleges as freshman students and remain freshman level until those credit eventually hit (sometime after first semester). Some schools may still require a 4-year program, but they may reap the benefit of priority registration and 1st choice in housing, due to upper-classman status. Most community colleges require some sort of placement test. These are more informational for the college than they are a test of what students know. Many people want to avoid these, but they really are not a stressful type of test at all.

Must Reads for Dual Credit

Jennifer Cook-DeRosa also has several facebook pages- one main and then several state-based. This is her main page:
https://www.facebook.com/HomeschoolingforCollegeCredit/

Not everyone is socially prepared for college, regardless of whether they were homeschooled, public schooled, or private schooled. College involves a lot of big changes for kids. Living on your own for the first time, experiencing all kinds of different freedoms and ideas, and learning to manage your own time is a big change. Not all students adjust. Many homeschooled students feel like they were better prepared than a lot of their counterparts- they had been exposed to a lot of different people and social settings in their lives, as well as taken a lot of different style classes, and were used to managing their time. So again, you may be surprised at how your student adjusts, but it really will not be because of the way they were schooled. It will be a lot more about personality and perseverance.

It’s also totally fine for kids to choose military, trade school, or a certification program, too, or other things like go into family business, or become an entrepreneur, which we will talk more about in another episode. The options are endless for these kids, and because they have been given freedom to learn in a more flexible and creative environment, don’t be surprised when they want to choose that for their future too.

You determine the credit hours required, but if you have a child planning to attend college be sure to check their admission guidelines so you meet the minimum requirement for admission.

Most states require 19 or more credit hours for graduation with 24 or more needed for college prep.

General High School Graduation Guidlines

English – 4 credits
Math – 4 credits
Science – 3-4 credits (at least 2 with labs for college prep)
History – 3-4 credits
PE – 1 credit
Health – .5 credit
Foreign language – 2 credits (of the same language)
Electives

Be sure to check out our High School Series for details guiding you through the high school years.

This Week’s Freebies:

High School Core Planning Sheet (Blank)

$0.00
Basic Extracurricular High School Planning Sheet

$0.00

009. Schedules, Routines & Rhythms

Schedules, Routines & Rhythms

Do you feel overwhelmed trying to figure out the best way to organize your homeschool day? Not sure whether you need a strict schedule, a simple routine, or just a gentle rhythm to guide you? This week, we’re talking about these questions and more, exploring different ways to plan your days so they flow smoothly and feel right for your family. Whether you’re craving structure or looking for a bit more flexibility, we’ll share ideas and tips to help you find what works best. Tune in and let’s make homeschooling easier and more enjoyable together!

Episode 009:

TWO WAYS TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:
1. Click PLAY Button Above ^^ to listen here.
2. OR Listen on your favorite podcast platform:

Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:

All Published Episodes

Scroll down for 5 FREEBIES this week!

Show Notes:

Like many adults, children thrive with a predictable routine, which helps them develop self-discipline. They like to know what happens next. But there’s no two homeschool days will be exactly the same, and your plans may not always go as expected. So, set yourself up for success by choosing the method that works best for you, while staying flexible and open to reevaluating over time. What works in one season of life might not work in another.

What’s the difference between schedules, routines, and rythms? (3:06)

BTDT Homeshool Lesson Planner & Ultimate Organizer is a great tool to keep you organized. Whether you have one child or a bustling household, this planner has everything you need from planning to keeping a budget.

View a Video Walk-through

Schedules

Schedules, for many, implies a rigid system of structured start and end times. When it comes to homeschooling, perhaps this also means adhering to a standard 180 day school year (two 18 week semesters, 36 week school year).

A lot of newer homeschool parents get really ambitious with these, often scheduling out every hour of the day. This can backfire or be hard to stick to.

Awesome magnetic calendar that my kids loved!

Routines

Routines have less structure to them but give a gentle pattern to your day. Perhaps you start each day with read aloud, then move on to math and other seat work, then work one on one with a younger child while an older one does some independent work, etc. Because a routine does not have the rigidity of a strict, time-based schedule, you do not need to feel the pressure of cramming, say a certain amount of problems into a set math time slot, you have the flexibility of reading aloud extra when you are in a good spot in a book, etc. Learn more about Planning Your Homeschool Year.

Rhythms

Rhythms are even more unstructured and may take into account *all* your daily activities- chores, meal prep, meals, hygiene, rest and bed times. Make a list of everything you do- this is an especially great type of plan to have with babies, toddlers, preschoolers.

How do I organize my day? (5:23)

What is a typical homeschool schedule?

Some states may have an outlined number of hours for daily homeschooling but your typical homeschool day may run for two or three hours. Homeschoolers also may not do 5 days a week- we often did 4 with a co-op or field trip day.

With your attention only directed to your child, you save more time than when attending to 20+ learners. To help you overcome the challenges of your weekly daily schedules, these points could help.

Be flexible

Learning should be fun and you might need to adjust whenever necessary to fit into the day’s need and challenges because each day brings its trouble. Flexibility could include things like changing your starting time, interchanging subjects, delaying some subjects, and so on.

Be routine minded

Following hard rock schedules will bring frustration at some point or the other. Instead of wearing yourself out with schedules, be routine mined, and follow routine patterns that can always be adjusted to fit into the current circumstance.

Have every child in mind

When planning your schedules, consider every child in your home, and bring them onboard smoothly and systematically. You may give time to your younger children first, followed by the older ones.

Have allowances

In your weekly homeschool schedule, be flexible and allow time for unforeseen situations.

The schoolwork part of your day

Time for school! Check out the **Jello Cell that we made and get your free Cell Pack**

Be Prepared

I learned early on that the more organized and prepared I was, the better our days would flow. If I slept in and tried to wing it, it was always a more stressful day.

If I was running around looking for paper, pencils, or that scrap of paper I jotted down an idea on for science that day, my kids would lose interest or just disappear from the table altogether.

Do yourself a favor and spend some time preparing in the evening before– Spend 10 minutes looking over what you’re doing the next day to gather your materials and make any copies necessary.

I like to also sit down on Sundays and work on my “Blueprint for a Beautiful Week”. I plan out what we are doing for lessons/classes/activities, as well as meal plan and insert our household chores and any big errands we need to squeeze in.

Time for Math! Learn more **Math Tips**
Check out our favorite **Math Games**

Make it Fun

Children respond well to fun and games. Create games out of tasks that seem too boring or unstimulating to them. Also make it a point to include fun activities in their routine e.g. playtime. Get your FREE Boardgame Templates to help teach any concept (reading, math, social studies, and more!)

Make it magical

Simple things like lighting a candle at the beginning of read aloud, or having fancy writing implements can take the drudgery out of the things you need to get done.

We loved these Peggy Kaye books and HIGHLY recommend them!
Check them out:

Games for Math: Playful Ways to Help Your Child Learn Math, From Kindergarten to Third Grade
Games for Reading: Playful Ways to Help Your Child Read
Games for Writing: Playful Ways to Help Your Child Learn to Write

Let Them Have Some Say

By letting your kids have a say in some things they do or in what order they do them, they will be more cooperative and invested in their learning.

Social Time & Outside Classes/Events

To figure out how your routine will go on inside your home each week, you will need to start with what happens outside your home!

When my kids were younger, we would usually structure our school around social activities happening. If there was a field trip at 10 AM, then we would do a school when we got home. If there’s an afternoon park day, we would be sure to school in the morning.

I’ve always done more outside classes as my kids got older, so a lot of what we did was arranged around those classes. When they were young, we did a park day every Tuesday and Friday morning, hike every Wednesday morning and Board game club every Friday afternoon. Those regular meet ups were not only fun memories for my kids, but they were also for my sanity as well!

Those regular meet ups were not only fun memories for my kids, they were my sanity

Hike every Wednesday morning
Board game club every Friday afternoon
Field Trips were a great additon to our learning

Choose the kind of schedule/routine/rhythm that works best for you

Life happens and we are constantly thrown off that schedule.

Don’t try to do every subject every day

Feel free to alternate days or choose an alternative scheduling method. Everything needs to be done regularly— not daily.

You are never going to squeeze 4 hours of schoolwork into a 4 hours. Something is going to happen — the washing machine will flood, the dog runs out the front door or someone decides this is the day for math tears. You will most likely not get it done, and you will end up frustrated. Plan to do 2 hours of school in a 4 hour tmeslot.

Want to be sure something gets done each day? Then add it on to one of the natural breaks of your day. A natural break is a meal (we all eat) or naptime or a nursing session, etc. Use these set times of things you know you will be doing certain things for important parts of your schedule — reading aloud, math, memory work, art. Move right from your natural break into your subject and soon it will become a habit. Check out our Favorite Books for New Readers.

Short Lessons to Help Stay on Task

The idea of short lessons stems from the Charlotte Mason philosophy. Your child can focus and learn more if you keep the lessons short and end them BEFORE he tires, even though he’s spending less time on his schoolwork.

When my kids struggle with math, I just have them do a few problems, and then we pop over to reading a chapter and then back to math. Or for my musician, have him go practice for 15 minutes and then come back.

Schedule the siblings

Ironically, the most important part of your schedule is probably where there is no school at all. When sitting to plan your routine, the infant to preschool set should probably be considered first, as this will help to create a routine that will run smoothly. Some ideas:

If baby wants to eat every morning at [8:00], then that is a great time to read aloud to the other kids. I kept a book basket next to my nursing spot. Since we know reading aloud is important up until your older children leave the home, gather everyone together and enjoy this time. Little ones can play on the floor and everyone can find something to do with their hands. If you can’t read and nurse at the same time due to a wiggly older baby then pop in an audiobook or allow an older sibling to read. In fact, nursing time is also a great time for mom to be read to, so schedule time for reading aloud for emerging readers during nursing time as well. Get Daily FREE Homeschool Resources INSTANTLY on our Facebook group. These resources are a collection from all over the world and we recently posted a FREE morning basket planner we found online.

You can also make toddler care and entertainment part of the bigger kids’ school time. While you work with one, the other’s required task can be to play with little brother or sister and see to their needs for an allotted amount of time.

music, headphones, listening-791631.jpg — **Get an AUDIOBOOK for everyone to enjoy!**

My kids liked to teach baby sister finger plays and rhymes and we really enjoyed this book:

Put preschoolers first: Often a little one-on-one attention from mom goes a long way towards the little one going off to play alone happily for a while. Schedule in story time and a fun activity for your twos, threes, and fours before you get started with the bigger kids. Fill their cup! Learn more about Homeschooling Preschool

Utilize the nap time. School does not have to start early in the morning. If you have two or three young kids and one or more of them still take a long afternoon nap, then don’t start school until the little ones go down. School can go from 1-3 and can be done peacefully and with less frustration. Schedule the messiest, hardest, or most mom-consuming subjects for nap time. Even for small children who no longer nap, scheduling a mandatory rest time can be a great way to make your day run smoother and keep everyone happy.

Follow your natural inclinations

If your family does not jump out of bed running in the morning, then resist scheduling an early start to your day. Enjoy the flexibility of homeschooling and work at your times of peak productivity. This also means taking into consideration your children’s natural schedule and the fact that they have variations (which may not match yours!) as well. Got one early riser? Schedule his or her independent work first. Let the others get up right before group time and then do their independent work after.

Do not try to change your life and adapt it around your schedule

That’s a prescription for disaster. First, it’s important to have an understanding of your family’s natural habits. You don’t want to choose a schedule that starts at 7 AM if your kids thrive when they sleep in. Try letting your child do school in the afternoon or evening if he seems to be more alert and functions better. He may be a different student. There is NO law saying school has to start at 8 am! In fact, there’s no law that says it has to be done Monday through Friday.

A Funny Candle School Time

Traditions

Designing a mini prototype of their annual cardboard boat regatta. Check out our **Elementary Hands-on Science Ideas**

Make sure to include lots of traditions into your schedule or routine. It gives everyone something to look forward to and makes for happy family memories.

Here’s some ideas of traditions that we both did:

Starting back after a holiday break FREEBIE!
First Day of School Year
Birthday on school day
Hike & Pie
Saint Patrick’s day hunt
MLK day
Shakespeare in the park
Dog birthday party
Homeschool days at different places in town for variety
Cardboard boat Regatta

What are some different planning methods?

Workboxes, Block and Loop Scheduling

Workboxing is a cool planning tool that was all the rage when our kids were little. It involved using a set of boxes/folders/shelves that a child would work through every day. Some would include independent work, some might have “work with mom” or “work with sibling” slots. I loved these- I had 10 drawers, 5 were everyday tasks and the other 5, I switched out, but I had a master weekly schedule, so it was super easy to load the boxes up at night. Learn all about Workboxes and download your Free Workbox Labels.

Loop scheduling doesn’t assign a particular subject to a certain day, but you may have a list of work you do during a certain time period, and when it’s time to work, you just move to the next thing on the list. A day off for an emergency car repair does not derail.

Block scheduling is for when you may want to devote more time to a certain subject. So you give it a dedicated time period, like several weeks or a semester- this allows you to stay focused and move through material faster. This is great for elective type classes, but also work with things like science/history. Math and language arts are typically subjects you want to include every day. Block scheduling might look more like a college or high school schedule. Download your Free Block Scheduling Template

This Week’s Freebies:

FREE Homeschool Year Planner Templates

$0.00
FREE Reading Log and Tracker

$0.00
Free Year End Reflection

$0.00
Daily Student Planner

$0.00
Simple Homeschool Weekly Planner

$0.00
Preschool Routine Charts

$0.00

What Should Your Preschooler Know?

006.

What Should Your Preschooler Know?

When should I start homeschooling?
What age should my child learn to read?
What curriculum do I need?

Tune in this week while we discuss these topics and more!

TWO WAYS TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE:
1. Click PLAY Button Above ^^ to listen here.
2. OR Listen on your favorite podcast platform:

Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:

All Published Episodes

Show Notes

Preschool is a popular topic on homeschool message boards and often a controversial one, too, because established homeschool parents can get quite territorial over “what is school age.” While preschoolers are often still in more of a parenting than schooling stage, there are things you can do with them to get started on your homeschool path.

When should I start homeschooling (2:05)

When we speak of educational outcomes, statistics also show that kids that receive an intense early education tend to peak by kindergarten and the educational benefits are not noticeable at all by 2nd grade. Everyone eventually evens out.

You can find a lot of preschool activity lists online, just by searching things like “What should my preschooler know?” if you really feel like you need a game plan for homeschooling a preschooler.

Some people also really want to know how to schedule learning with your preschooler. We’d recommend you adopt more of a routine rather than a schedule for your child. Children thrive on routines. Honestly, we’re all happier when we know what to expect.

This book covers all the essential knowledge and skills that children need to acquire before entering kindergarten, from language and literacy to math, science, and social studies: What Your Preschooler Needs to Know: Get Ready for Kindergarten:

MAGICAL CHILDHOOD:
https://magicalchildhood.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/what-should-a-4-year-old-know/

WHAT DOES MY PRESCHOOLER NEED TO KNOW:

Preschool time can include nature walks, seed planting, pretending to be animals, measuring ingredients and stirring cake batter, taking turns in simple board games, feeding animals, making letters with clay, timing naps, and reading stories and alphabet books together.

Minimizing formal schooling for little kids is highly recommended. You can write down developmental milestones in a journal.

Save samples of drawing and of beginning attempts at writing. Also consider recording your child’s progress on video, especially if your child has special needs. Improvement may be slow, but you’ll be able to see changes year by year. Your records will prove to be far more than educational recordkeeping. They will become treasured keepsakes.

Use your journal to keep track of your child’s skills. Develop and write down your own goals or use a skills checklist from a book. In a homeschool preschool, you can tailor your list to your child. Simply list the beginning skills that you’re looking for and check off when your child can do them.

Basic Preschool Skills:

Know what Love is – How to love and be loved
Respect for others and themselves
Communicate in sentences, ask and answer questions, say full their name
Talk about position and direction (left, right, under, over, in, out, etc.)
Explore, observe and talk about the world around us
Help with simple chores
Work cooperatively with others
Work independently and ask for help when needed
Learn how to play with friends of all ages
Practice manners and kindness
Listen, share, and take turns
Self care without help (eating, toilet, dressing, hand washing, etc.). Free routine charts
Safety (what not to touch, stay away from the street, stranger danger, etc.)
Enjoy music and sing simple songs
Develop a sense of humor
Enjoy books
Play with sounds, numbers, letters, colors, textures, clocks, and timers
Count objects
Explore rhymes, same and different, big and small, light and heavy
Tell stories, beginning, ending, what comes next, cause and effect
Remembering numbers, names, letters and sounds, I Spy, hidden pictures
Begin to read and trace words with three letters, names of family members
Fine motor skills (beading, building, stirring, squishing, cutting, pouring)
Draw a person with six parts, using basic shapes (i.e., cross, circle, lines)
Understand real and pretend, alive and not alive
Gross motor skills (jumping, swinging, catching, throwing, tricycle riding, games)

Download the FREE Complete Skills and Checklist Guide for PreK-12th Grade

Children will vary greatly in their strengths and weaknesses in all these areas. It’s true that kids need to be emotionally, physically and mentally ready to do new things. However, don’t get too caught up in learning skills in a certain order. Different books may list a “preschool” skill under kindergarten, or even first grade.

**What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know** is a great resource when your child is ready to move on.

Example Homeschool Preschool Routine:

For PRESCHOOL, we recommend you adopt more of a routine rather than a schedule for your child. Children thrive on routines. Don’t compare yourself with others. Many people post highlight reels on social media but don’t fall into that trap!

Here is an example of a preschool routine:

Morning cuddles and re-reading a favorite book to them
Help mom with Breakfast
Morning chores (clean up breakfast, make the bed)
Personal hygiene (brush teeth, comb hair, get dressed)
Building block or other game fun
Watch a favorite show or free play
Sidewalk chalk, water outdoor plants
Learning activity (make slime, build pyramids, snap circuits, make cookies)
Play with friends – park, host them, go to their house, field trip at the museum
Lunch
Errand with mom – bank, post office, grocery, new shoes?
Nap if needed
Drawing, Painting Art, sidewalk chalk, music and dance
Free Play
Help with Dinner
Clean up dishes
Go for a Walk or jump on a trampoline, ride scooter or tricycle
Personal hygiene (bath, brush teeth, wash face, pjs)
Pick up toys
Cuddle and reading

What age should my child learn to read (17:14)

Most children eventually learn to walk, talk, read and do algebra. Experts say that most children learn to read by age 6 or 7, meaning first or second grade, and that some learn much earlier.

015. How Do You Teach Your Child To Read?

Be sure to listen to Episode 015:
How Do You Teach Your Child to Read!
We will walk you through the entire process!

U.S. Department of Education reading programs often say children should learn to read by age 8, or third grade, because learning to read transitions into reading to learn other subjects soon thereafter. The single biggest predictor of high academic achievement and high ACT scores is reading to children.

Once your child begins to read and you are ready to bridge the gap between reading board books and lengthier chapter books, check out our TOP 50 BOOKS FOR NEW READERS:

What curriculum do I need (22:52)

You do not need anything. Read lots of picture books together, do messy art and science projects, cook in the kitchen, have lots of imaginative/building toys- blocks, legos, trains, etc. Spend a ton of time outside- go for nature walks. Get binoculars, magnifying lens, specimen jars and so local bird/wildflower/tree identification guides and take them with you. Sing, dance, play musical instruments. Get a tub of dress up items. Play board games for math. Preschool is so much fun! As you begin research and make a plan for Kindergarten, visit our Kindergarten Curriculum Guide.

One of the biggest advantages we can give our children is a simple, carefree childhood.

Educate Yourself

When your kids are Preschool age, it is a great time to educate yourself. What are your eduational goals for your children? What KIND of homeschooler do you want to be? Help you fine-tune your goals with TOP 10 Books Every Homeschooler Should Read

This Week’s FREEBIES

FREE Nature Scavenger Hunt

$0.00

Add to cart
Preschool Routine Charts

$0.00

Add to cart

homeschooling

025.

How Do You Successfully Teach Math?

How do you deal with math mistakes?What if my child is anxious when teaching math?Do homeschoolers need to give math tests?

Episode 025:

Why does my child have math tears? (4:27)

How do I deal with math anxiety? (12:57)

If your child experiences math anxiety, I would encourage parents to consider these possible solutions:

We’ve categorized our TOP MATH GAMES list per concept

Should I give my child a math test? (26:18)

Celebrate Accomplishments

2 Freebies This Week:

How Do You Homeschool a Child with a Learning Difference?

What is a learning disability? (5:18)

How do I know if my child has a learning disability? (12:10)

Dyslexia

Dysgraphia

ADHD

Dyscalculia

Dyspraxia

Auditory and visual processing disorders

Visual Tracking Disorder

Auditory

How do I homeschool a child with a learning disability? (18:37)

Diagnosis of disabilities

Learn about your child’s diagnosis

Educate yourself on treatment options

Seek Support

Get real with your child

Allow for accommodations

Have confidence and faith in yourself

Ideally, you will want to choose learning tools that:

Will having a learning disability hold my child back? (32:50)

This Week’s Freebies:

Free Poster (pdf):

High School Core Subjects and Electives

So what subjects does my high schooler NEED to take? (6:44)

College Requirements:

Other sources for college admissions information includes:

A good basic list of core classes may include:

● Language Arts (English I, II, III, IV – regular, honors, or Advanced Placement®*): 4 credits

● Speech: .5 or 1 credit

● Math (Algebra 1 and above): 4 credits

● Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Science elective): 4 credits, 3 lab

● Social Studies (U.S. History, World History, American Government .5/Economics .5, Social Studies elective, ie. Geography) : 4 credits

● World Language (2-3 years in the same language): 2-3 credits

● Electives (Any other electives offered for credit): 5 credits

Choosing core curriculum

When you are ready to research core curriculum, you need to keep a few things in mind.

What electives should I choose? (16:28)

What constitutes a credit? (22:59)

How Do You Prepare a Middle Schooler for High School?

What does your middle schooler need to know?How do you deal with sibling growing pains?How do you motivate your middle schooler?

What does your middle schooler need to know?

BUILD COMPUTER AND TECHNICAL SKILLS

IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS

TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS FOR TEENS

Curriculum

ONLINE COURSES

ENCOURAGE INTERESTS

TEACHING TEENS LIFE SKILLS

Puberty

PROMOTE GOOD STUDY HABITS

TEACH TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES.

USE CURRICULA WITH LOTS OF HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES.

ENCOURAGE INDEPENDENT LEARNING.

EXPOSE THEM TO GOOD BOOKS.

GIVE THEM TIME.

How do you deal with sibling growing pains?

How do you motivate your middle schooler?

Effort and Quality

Growth Mindset

Goal Setting

Stay Positive and Communicate Openly

Foster Healthy Relationships

Communication Skills

Celebrate Accomplishments

This Week’s Freebie:

013.

Homeschooling on a Budget

How do you deal with math mistakes?
What if my child is anxious when teaching math?
Do homeschoolers need to give math tests?

What does your middle schooler need to know?
How do you deal with sibling growing pains?
How do you motivate your middle schooler?

Can I afford to homeschool?
What do I need to buy to homeschool?
How much does curricula cost?