Once your child has learned the first 26 basic phonograms, he or she is likely ready to start reading or spelling. You can totally use a done-for-you curriculum, but I’ve found it’s actually easier to start with teaching phonograms and a couple simple activities at home. Once your child has the basics, you can dive …
You can teach your child to read at home. You don’t need fancy curriculum or expensive toys. You don’t need a professional education either! Once you understand 3 simple keys to reading readiness, you can teach your child to read at home. The 3 keys are: print awareness, learning phonogram sounds, and learning auditory blending. They’re all …
This skip counting by 2 song is so short & easy to learn! The familiar tune is a portion of She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain When She Comes. Skip Counting by 2s (mp3) We practice basic math songs every school year for review, regardless of the child’s grade level. One day, my 3.5 year …
There are so many great math curriculum options out there for homeschoolers. It can be very overwhelming to choose. In this post, I’ll explain why we landed on Singapore Math and also review a great alternative. First, I want to encourage you that there is no ‘best’ math curriculum. I’ve looked through many of them, …
This post is full of ideas for what to do during your summer months as a homeschool family. Whether you take the whole summer off of formal schooling or continue your regular curriculum year-round, chances are things look different for your family in the summer than the other seasons. There is no right or wrong …
Musical Memory is very flexible, and you should feel free to tailor it to suit your family’s homeschool needs. A veteran homeschool momma once wisely told me, “You don’t serve the curriculum. The curriculum serves you!” To that end, we sell the same songs organized a couple different ways. The simplest option is to choose …
It can take a while to figure out how to best incorporate memorization into your homeschool day. The key to long-term mastery is exposure & repetition in the day-to-day practice. Don’t stress out if your 5 year old can’t pronounce “conjugation” correctly on the 2nd try. Keep playing the songs, keep playing echo games, keep …
If you want to master calculus, you have to understand basic math first. If you want to be a brain surgeon, you have to take Biology 101. If you want to be a concert pianist, you have to be able to find middle C & play your scales. Learning the fundamentals is the first step …
This page is a round up of several articles & resources to help you understand why memorization is essential to a rich elementary school education. Memorization is one key component of the first stage (called the “grammar stage”) in a classical education. I have been reading about and living in the grammar stage of classical …
Today, I’m going to explain how to think about and create a homeschool schedule that will work for your family. The freedom and flexibility in homeschooling is a wonderful thing, but the flip side of that same coin is it can feel like a daunting task to plan out exactly what your homeschool might look …