Something that was so intimidating to me when we first started homeschooling was teaching math. I thought you had to be an endorsed elementary math education expert to teach math well. That anything I might attempt with my kids would be inferior. Then, as we started dabbling in the homeschool world, I kept hearing people …
The longer we homeschool, the less I truly need to buy new each year. After 6 years of homeschooling, we have our curriculum staples on hand, our supply staples in bulk, and the basic organizational tools we use. A new-to-homeschooling friend saw my 51 best supplies list (which I 100% stand by) and asked, “Okay, but if I …
Are you a do-math-over-the-summer homeschooler!? I know some people find it easier to just keep plugging with math so they don’t have to do any review come fall and others don’t want to pick up a workbook until after Labor Day. Whatever floats your boat. We’ve been in both boats throughout the years. Some summers, …
Wondering what to read with your young readers? I’ve taught all four of our kids to read at home. I love finding good books and I much prefer to read cute engaging beginning reader books compared to books like “The fat cat sat on the mat.” Granted, there is some of that in the early …
One of the most fascinating topics to teach young children is outer space. The wonders of the solar system, the night sky, and space exploration can capture the imagination of children of all ages. We homeschool & I just love amazing picture books. Quality picture books make up much of our science text, actually. (They’re …
You can use Mary had a Little Lamb to teach a child of any age how to skip count by 4. Any child can learn to skip count the 4s with this simple song! This post includes an explanation of how to teach skip counting by 4, simple ideas for practicing counting by 4, and …
Shortly after the new year, I sent the Musical Memory email readers an email about how we’re trying to start the year off right. In it I mentioned our cleaning chores systems and that seemed to strike a chord with people. I got several responses to the effect of: So, I figured a response was …
Skip counting by 8 is one of the harder times tables to learn. First, there is the process of just memorizing the next number in the eights number sequence. Then, for older children, there is the ability to turn the skip counting number sequence into memorized multiplication facts. Finally, there are many higher level thinking …
Skip counting to familiar tunes is a great way to learn to skip count. Learning to skip count at a young age is the best precursor to mastering the multiplication facts. I started having my kids listen to our skip counting songs in kindergarten. We just cycle through our 33 math songs each school year, …
The short answer is: much less time than traditional school. If you’re asking specifically about how much time sitting at a table, working on book work, then here are my recommendations. We’ve been homeschooling for 6 years as of this writing and our 4th kid is in kindergarten now! Hard to believe!! All 4 of …