Curriculum is defined as:
1. courses offered by an educational institution,
2. a list of all the courses of study offered by a school or college,
3. a program or plan of activities.
Your "homeschool curriculum" probably matches definition #3, above. New homeschoolers often become confused over "which curriculum to use" or "where to buy a curriculum."
But a homeschool curriculum is simply a "plan of activities" that you use in your homeschool. It need not be an expensive curriculum, nor does it need to incorporate textbooks or workbooks.
Your children will learn more readily and more fully when you and they homeschool in a manner that best complements their unique learning styles.
Observe your child's preferred style of learning -- such as hands-on learning through touch (tactile), or through moving and doing (kinesthetic), or seeing/visualizing (visual), or hearing/verbal (auditory), or a combination of these.
For help determining your child's learning style, check out some of these books:
* 8 Great Smarts for Homeschoolers, by Tina Hollenbeck
* Discover Your Child’s Learning Style, by Mariaemma Willis
* How Children Learn, by John Holt
* Learning All the Time, by John Holt
* The Way They Learn, by Cynthia Tobias
Remember: Homeschooling is not a "school at home." Don’t confuse yourself, or your children, thinking that it should be. You’ll only make it harder on yourself.
As John Holt warned: “To parents I say, above all else, don’t let your home become some terrible miniature copy of the school. Live together, as well as you can; enjoy life together, as much as you can. Ask questions to find out something about the world itself, not to find out whether or not someone knows it.”
Remind yourself each day that your duty is to guide your children, not force instruction upon them. Your role is to help them learn how to learn and to encourage them to seek answers to questions, find materials and information that will help them learn, explore the things that interest them, and allow them the freedom to learn in the style that works best for them.
This, then, will become the curriculum -- the "plan of activities" -- that best suits your children and your family!
For more help creating your own homeschool curriculum, using homeschooling or unschooling activities, or hundreds of educational ideas for weekly homeschool lessons, see our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
For a pastel painting demo, see "Summer Fields" at MistyGlowStudio.com or on my YouTube channel here: Misty Glow Studio.
Happy homeschooling!
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Monday, August 18, 2025
Sunday, January 5, 2025
Ease Back into Homeschool with Art, Creativity, Writing, Fun, and Learning
After the winter break, it's helpful to gently ease back into your homeschool routines.
We started by taking time for art and creating the painting shown here. Not only was the painting fun to do, but we created stories inspired by the painting.
Art incorporates many different skills: creative thinking, critical thinking, reasoning skills, compositional skills, experimentation, decision-making skills, self-expression, and more. These are important skills that can be applied to all areas of a person's life, regardless of age or ability.
Encourage your children to play with paint, create with crayons, make marks with markers, as a way to express themselves. Sketch the views from windows, inside restaurants, or outdoors. Try keeping a Nature Journal or an Urban Sketchbook. Daily or weekly sketching can expand the mind in many ways and improve self-esteem.
Create stories from the art, too. Imagine scenarios that might be taking place within the artwork, and write a story about it. Writing is another form of self-expression, plus uses language skills, communication skills, spelling and vocabulary skills, boosting writing abilities and creativity.
Fearful that you won't be covering math, science, and social studies while creating art or writing stories? Art and writing include reasoning skills that math often requires, experimentation that science can require, critical thinking skills that social studies often requires.
Art and writing help to strengthen these skills. Your children can even compose "math stories" or "science stories" inspired by artwork, paintings, or illustrations they've created.
Have fun and enjoy experimenting! As always: When you enjoy what you're doing, the learning naturally occurs.
If interested in seeing my Nature-Inspired Paintings, please visit:
My Website: MistyGlowStudio.com
My Etsy shop: Etsy.com/Shop/MistyGlowStudio
My YouTube channel: YouTube.com/MistyGlowStudio
Happy homeschooling!
Monday, October 9, 2023
Monday Homeschool + Weekly Learning Ideas
What do we do on Monday when our weeks become overly busy or we face unexpected difficulties?
Some weeks, everything flows smoothly. Other weeks, things are more challenging.
Life doesn’t always go smoothly. This, in itself, is a good homeschool lesson. Having the ability to cope, to be flexible, to change directions, to adjust, to laugh at life’s lemons and to smile at simple joys – these are skills that make life and homeschool easier.
Yet, we still have to Do Something on Monday when facing a busy week. What do we do when we haven’t had time to think of activities or lesson plans?
What Do I Do Monday? is a book by John Holt, who has provided momentous ideas on education and learning. Mr. Holt was a homeschool pioneer, whose thoughts, beliefs, and writings on homeschooling and unschooling were ahead of his times.
Prior to writing numerous books on how children learn (and how they fail), John was a school teacher. But as a teacher, his focus was primarily on observing learning processes in children, rather than forcing a curriculum on them. As a result, his views often conflicted with those of school administrators.
So John turned his attention to helping parents and teachers. He shared first-hand experiences, insight, and details on children actively engaged in learning. He spent years with students and with families, closely observing how children learned best, then documenting and sharing his findings.
Some of John’s books include How Children Fail, How Children Learn, the previously mentioned What Do I Do Monday?, Freedom and Beyond, and others. His books can be found in libraries or online, and are especially inspirational to homeschooling and unschooling families.
Here are some learning ideas and quotes, courtesy of John Holt:
* “I believe that we learn best when we, not others, are deciding what we are going to try to learn, and when, and how, and for what reasons or purposes.” – John Holt
* Ask your children: “What would YOU like to do Monday?” If they can’t think of anything, try a 10-minute brainstorming session on what could be interesting, new, different, fun, etc. Then allow them to decide what they'd like to learn, and when and how, and give them the freedom to pursue those ideas this week.
* Make lists of favorite things during the day, the weeks, and in the months to come. Keep a running list in a notebook or journal. Encourage everyone in the family to keep his or her own list. Then review your lists for learning ideas each week.
* Examples: Here are some examples of "favorite things" from John Holt.
1. Places you like. These can be big places, or they can be little places, and you can like them for different reasons. Put them on your list, as many as you can think of, then learn more about those places.
2. People you’d like to know. Jot down the names of people who interest you, then learn more about them. They can be people from the past, people in the news today, people in your community, or even ancestors in your family.
3. Books you’d like to read. One favorite book can lead to another. Keep a list of books you’d like to read online or check out from the library. Write down favorite authors, too, and read other books they’ve written.
4. Paintings, sculptures, or other artwork. Keep a running list of art projects or techniques you want to try. Learn about different art movements or styles, such as Cubism, Pointillism, Futurism, Pop Art, etc., and try your hand at them.
5. Things you like to do. These can be trivial (simple) or not so trivial (more complex). Ideas could include cutting-and-pasting paper shapes, making castles from boxes, building structures with construction kits, writing skits or plays to perform, learning to play an instrument, making doll clothes, building a bookshelf, creating a computer program, etc.
In just these 5 ideas listed above, there could be weeks of learning ideas, hands-on activities, and new knowledge and skills gained through them.
Tip: An “Idea Jar” is an alternative, or a complement, to list-making. Have kids jot ideas on paper, then cut them apart, fold them up, and drop them into the Idea Jar. Each Monday, have them draw a few ideas from the jar, and there’s your learning ideas for the week!
Continue adding to the jar or to your lists as often as possible. Then you'll always have learning ideas at your fingertips each Monday!
Happy homeschooling!
Some weeks, everything flows smoothly. Other weeks, things are more challenging.
Life doesn’t always go smoothly. This, in itself, is a good homeschool lesson. Having the ability to cope, to be flexible, to change directions, to adjust, to laugh at life’s lemons and to smile at simple joys – these are skills that make life and homeschool easier.
Yet, we still have to Do Something on Monday when facing a busy week. What do we do when we haven’t had time to think of activities or lesson plans?
What Do I Do Monday? is a book by John Holt, who has provided momentous ideas on education and learning. Mr. Holt was a homeschool pioneer, whose thoughts, beliefs, and writings on homeschooling and unschooling were ahead of his times.
Prior to writing numerous books on how children learn (and how they fail), John was a school teacher. But as a teacher, his focus was primarily on observing learning processes in children, rather than forcing a curriculum on them. As a result, his views often conflicted with those of school administrators.
So John turned his attention to helping parents and teachers. He shared first-hand experiences, insight, and details on children actively engaged in learning. He spent years with students and with families, closely observing how children learned best, then documenting and sharing his findings.
Some of John’s books include How Children Fail, How Children Learn, the previously mentioned What Do I Do Monday?, Freedom and Beyond, and others. His books can be found in libraries or online, and are especially inspirational to homeschooling and unschooling families.
Here are some learning ideas and quotes, courtesy of John Holt:
* “I believe that we learn best when we, not others, are deciding what we are going to try to learn, and when, and how, and for what reasons or purposes.” – John Holt
* Ask your children: “What would YOU like to do Monday?” If they can’t think of anything, try a 10-minute brainstorming session on what could be interesting, new, different, fun, etc. Then allow them to decide what they'd like to learn, and when and how, and give them the freedom to pursue those ideas this week.
* Make lists of favorite things during the day, the weeks, and in the months to come. Keep a running list in a notebook or journal. Encourage everyone in the family to keep his or her own list. Then review your lists for learning ideas each week.
* Examples: Here are some examples of "favorite things" from John Holt.
1. Places you like. These can be big places, or they can be little places, and you can like them for different reasons. Put them on your list, as many as you can think of, then learn more about those places.
2. People you’d like to know. Jot down the names of people who interest you, then learn more about them. They can be people from the past, people in the news today, people in your community, or even ancestors in your family.
3. Books you’d like to read. One favorite book can lead to another. Keep a list of books you’d like to read online or check out from the library. Write down favorite authors, too, and read other books they’ve written.
4. Paintings, sculptures, or other artwork. Keep a running list of art projects or techniques you want to try. Learn about different art movements or styles, such as Cubism, Pointillism, Futurism, Pop Art, etc., and try your hand at them.
5. Things you like to do. These can be trivial (simple) or not so trivial (more complex). Ideas could include cutting-and-pasting paper shapes, making castles from boxes, building structures with construction kits, writing skits or plays to perform, learning to play an instrument, making doll clothes, building a bookshelf, creating a computer program, etc.
In just these 5 ideas listed above, there could be weeks of learning ideas, hands-on activities, and new knowledge and skills gained through them.
Tip: An “Idea Jar” is an alternative, or a complement, to list-making. Have kids jot ideas on paper, then cut them apart, fold them up, and drop them into the Idea Jar. Each Monday, have them draw a few ideas from the jar, and there’s your learning ideas for the week!
Continue adding to the jar or to your lists as often as possible. Then you'll always have learning ideas at your fingertips each Monday!
Happy homeschooling!
Monday, September 25, 2023
5 Secrets for a Fun, Educational Homeschool Week
Here's 5 Secrets a Homeschool Family shared with us:
5 Subjects – 5 Days. Or one subject per day.
This homeschool family shared "5 Secrets" about their interesting homeschool schedule. A typical homeschool day for them revolves around one subject per day (or five subjects per week).
And best of all, their schedule is flexible, depending on how they’re feeling each week.
Here’s an example from one of their recent weeks:
1. Monday - Language Arts / Literature: Selecting favorite books to read and using them to recognize nouns, verbs, and all parts of speech. Then creating and writing sentences, paragraphs, and their own stories, while focusing on using descriptive parts of speech, new vocabulary words, and proper spelling.
2. Tuesday – Science / Experiments: Using the Scientific Method to test ideas or hypotheses when contemplating a variety of experiments. The experiments they choose can last the entire day, from morning till night, and Mom said Science Day is their favorite day of the week. The kids eagerly record their ideas, experiments, predictions, test methods, and results in their Science Journals at the end of Science Day, too.
3. Wednesday – Social Studies / History: Currently they’re reading the “Who Was?” series of historical biographies, which include over 200 books, such as Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?, Who Was Sacagawea?, Who Was Albert Einstein?, Who Was Amelia Earhart?, Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, Martin Luther King, Maria Tallchief, John Kennedy, Louis Armstrong, The Beatles, etc. The kids are enjoying the format, and the topics cross over into Literature, Science, the Arts, as well as providing social issues to discuss and their impact on today’s culture.
4. Thursday – Math / Technology: Since Math Day lasts all day, they sometimes start with reviewing math facts, such as using Multiplication and Division Flash Cards and timing the kids on how quickly they can get the answers. Then they move on to Math Games, such as Swat, Splat, or Math Bingo. They might also use manipulatives or toys such as Math Fidget Toys, Tubo toy, or Montessori-type math items to practice Math skills. Soon they’re creating with Marble Run sets, Mazes, Lego blocks, Construction sets, Bridge-Building kits, etc. These use mathematical planning, reasoning skills, logic, creative thinking, and critical thinking skills. At some point during the day, they’ll do some math worksheets, which usually focus on solving word problems.
5. Friday – Cultural Arts / Music: This is another favorite day for the kids, according to Mom. The kids get to choose the types of art, craft, and music activities they want to do on Fridays. Mom also said she found it interesting that if the kids read a historical biography such as Who Were the Beatles?, they were interested in playing Beatles music that week. Or if they read Who Was Pablo Picasso?, the kids were engrossed in creating their own versions of Picasso art.
Although each of the days above has a designated subject, this family finds that topics and subject areas often overlap.
So even if Monday is Literature Day, they could find themselves thinking about Math if they’re reading The Phantom Tollbooth, or Science and Time Travel if reading A Wrinkle in Time.
Or if Wednesday is History Day, they could be covering Geography or Science or Math or Art or Music, depending on the type of Historical Biographies they’re reading.
Also, there’s flexibility in this family’s schedule. If they don’t “feel like” Social Studies on Wednesday or Math on Thursday, they’ll switch things up.
Or if Mom realizes the kids are getting overwhelmed by too much Math one day, they’ll switch to doing something else, even if it’s unrelated to Math.
Maybe they’ll take a field trip to a local museum or library, or go on a picnic and a nature hike, or bake or cook favorite recipes, or bring out tubs of craft items and create something off the top of their heads. They often find that Math works its way into whatever they’re doing, anyway.
Overall, they’ve found this homeschool schedule fun, interesting, educational, flexible, and a great way to provide a well-rounded pool of knowledge and learning activities. It’s something your family might enjoy experimenting with, too.
Click any of the Labels below for more ideas for all subjects areas.
Happy homeschooling!
5 Subjects – 5 Days. Or one subject per day.
This homeschool family shared "5 Secrets" about their interesting homeschool schedule. A typical homeschool day for them revolves around one subject per day (or five subjects per week).
And best of all, their schedule is flexible, depending on how they’re feeling each week.
Here’s an example from one of their recent weeks:
1. Monday - Language Arts / Literature: Selecting favorite books to read and using them to recognize nouns, verbs, and all parts of speech. Then creating and writing sentences, paragraphs, and their own stories, while focusing on using descriptive parts of speech, new vocabulary words, and proper spelling.
2. Tuesday – Science / Experiments: Using the Scientific Method to test ideas or hypotheses when contemplating a variety of experiments. The experiments they choose can last the entire day, from morning till night, and Mom said Science Day is their favorite day of the week. The kids eagerly record their ideas, experiments, predictions, test methods, and results in their Science Journals at the end of Science Day, too.
3. Wednesday – Social Studies / History: Currently they’re reading the “Who Was?” series of historical biographies, which include over 200 books, such as Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?, Who Was Sacagawea?, Who Was Albert Einstein?, Who Was Amelia Earhart?, Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, Martin Luther King, Maria Tallchief, John Kennedy, Louis Armstrong, The Beatles, etc. The kids are enjoying the format, and the topics cross over into Literature, Science, the Arts, as well as providing social issues to discuss and their impact on today’s culture.
4. Thursday – Math / Technology: Since Math Day lasts all day, they sometimes start with reviewing math facts, such as using Multiplication and Division Flash Cards and timing the kids on how quickly they can get the answers. Then they move on to Math Games, such as Swat, Splat, or Math Bingo. They might also use manipulatives or toys such as Math Fidget Toys, Tubo toy, or Montessori-type math items to practice Math skills. Soon they’re creating with Marble Run sets, Mazes, Lego blocks, Construction sets, Bridge-Building kits, etc. These use mathematical planning, reasoning skills, logic, creative thinking, and critical thinking skills. At some point during the day, they’ll do some math worksheets, which usually focus on solving word problems.
5. Friday – Cultural Arts / Music: This is another favorite day for the kids, according to Mom. The kids get to choose the types of art, craft, and music activities they want to do on Fridays. Mom also said she found it interesting that if the kids read a historical biography such as Who Were the Beatles?, they were interested in playing Beatles music that week. Or if they read Who Was Pablo Picasso?, the kids were engrossed in creating their own versions of Picasso art.
Although each of the days above has a designated subject, this family finds that topics and subject areas often overlap.
So even if Monday is Literature Day, they could find themselves thinking about Math if they’re reading The Phantom Tollbooth, or Science and Time Travel if reading A Wrinkle in Time.
Or if Wednesday is History Day, they could be covering Geography or Science or Math or Art or Music, depending on the type of Historical Biographies they’re reading.
Also, there’s flexibility in this family’s schedule. If they don’t “feel like” Social Studies on Wednesday or Math on Thursday, they’ll switch things up.
Or if Mom realizes the kids are getting overwhelmed by too much Math one day, they’ll switch to doing something else, even if it’s unrelated to Math.
Maybe they’ll take a field trip to a local museum or library, or go on a picnic and a nature hike, or bake or cook favorite recipes, or bring out tubs of craft items and create something off the top of their heads. They often find that Math works its way into whatever they’re doing, anyway.
Overall, they’ve found this homeschool schedule fun, interesting, educational, flexible, and a great way to provide a well-rounded pool of knowledge and learning activities. It’s something your family might enjoy experimenting with, too.
Click any of the Labels below for more ideas for all subjects areas.
Happy homeschooling!
Friday, November 4, 2022
Fun Language Arts Activities
When learning is fun, children will naturally learn more. But
even better, they will remember and retain more of what
they learn. Here you’ll see how to thread fun through Language Arts. More subjects, topics, and activities will be added in the next few days.
Language Arts Activities
Language arts encompasses English, reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, composition, literature, drama, and poetry, listening and speaking, and related written or oral activities. Ideas and activities follow.
Reading Activities:
Reading need not be dull! Famous or popular movies are made from books and stories! If your children are not especially interested in reading, try reading movie scripts together, such as Disney movie scripts or family movie scripts featured on www.SimplyScripts.com. Use the scripts to act out the movie, and compare scripts to the book version of the story. Try writing your own scripts, too!
Turn your library visits into story scavenger hunts! Have children find books that will take them to another land, another planet, or an imaginary world. See if they can locate books by particular authors or stories that focus on a particular time period.
Make it fun! If your children are having no luck finding such books, see if you can help. Pull out a few selections from the shelves and point out the colorful pictures or delightful illustrations. Then wonder aloud what might be occurring in the story. Begin reading a few of the pages aloud, and soon their interest will be piqued.
Book suggestions and Reading Lists are available at www.KidsReadingCircle.com and https://www.rd.com/list/the-best-childrens-books-ever-written. The RD (Reader’s Digest) site lists “100 Best Children’s Books of All Time.”
Breathe life into the stories you read together. In addition to discussing the characters and events in the stories, create your own plays or dramatic performances based upon the stories. Or simply take turns reading the lines of the different characters in the voices that seem to reflect their personalities. This often results in fits of giggles and reading fun!
Read to them, share written stories with them, read newspapers aloud, and read information aloud, even if it’s the cereal boxes at breakfast or a sign in the dentist’s waiting room. The key to encouraging children to read is to read, read, read!
Parts of Speech:
Use illustrated books or even comic books to help children become more familiar with nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. After reading the stories, pick out the different parts of speech together. When done on a regular basis with stories children enjoy, you’ll be surprised how quickly they’ll learn the different parts of speech and how long they’ll retain this knowledge.
Here’s a fun activity many children enjoy. They can assign colors to the different parts of speech. Then, with colored construction paper at their fingertips, they can jot down the nouns they find in a story on red construction paper, for instance. They cut up those nouns on red paper and drop them into a jar or box. Then they jot down the verbs from the story on blue construction paper, cut up the verbs, and drop them into the jar or box. They can continue with yellow adjectives, green adverbs, etc., cutting up the words and dropping them into the container.
Later, they can shake up the container and select a red noun, blue verb, yellow adjective, green adverb, and create their own fun or silly sentences. Over time, as they continue to add colorful words to the container, they’ll have quite a collection of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, all color coded and clicking in their mind. And they’ll become much better at spotting the different parts of speech in sentences as they read.
Writing Activities:
Brainstorm new story prompts or creative writing ideas together each day. For instance: What if time ran backward? What if you could read everyone else’s thoughts? What if you had webbed feet and a beak? Describe what your day would be like, or write a story based on your "What if" ideas. Keep a daily writing journal full of your creative thoughts and stories.
As a family, think about a story you’d like to write. Decide on the characters, setting, plot, and storyline. Then have each family member write his or her own version of the story. Read your stories aloud and see how similar or different the stories are.
In today’s digital world of texting, instant messaging, and e-mail, letter- writing is still an important skill. Children can hone those skills by writing letters on a regular basis to friends and families. Remind them to write thank-you notes for gifts or favors, as well. They can also write letters and thank-you notes to famous folks. What might they write to Dr. Seuss? What would they thank him for? What would they write to Pocahontas, or to Lewis and Clark, or to Mark Twain? They can write letters to other favorite authors, actors or actresses, or local heroes.
Spelling and Vocabulary Fun:
Use Scrabble game tiles, magnetic letters, or other types of letter tiles for spelling practice. See who can spell the words the quickest. See who can create the silliest word. Spell out words on each other’s backs with your fingers, and see who is the most ticklish as kids practice their spelling skills!
Spelling lists are available for Kindergarten through Grade 9 at www.HomeSpellingWords.com. For online spelling and vocabulary, browse spelling and word games at www.FunBrain.com/Games/Spellaroo.
More subject areas, topics, and activities are coming in the next few days, so check back soon!
Remember to sign up for our Weekly Newsletter in the Subscribe box on the right!
Happy homeschooling!
Language Arts Activities
Language arts encompasses English, reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, composition, literature, drama, and poetry, listening and speaking, and related written or oral activities. Ideas and activities follow.
Reading Activities:
Reading need not be dull! Famous or popular movies are made from books and stories! If your children are not especially interested in reading, try reading movie scripts together, such as Disney movie scripts or family movie scripts featured on www.SimplyScripts.com. Use the scripts to act out the movie, and compare scripts to the book version of the story. Try writing your own scripts, too!
Turn your library visits into story scavenger hunts! Have children find books that will take them to another land, another planet, or an imaginary world. See if they can locate books by particular authors or stories that focus on a particular time period.
Make it fun! If your children are having no luck finding such books, see if you can help. Pull out a few selections from the shelves and point out the colorful pictures or delightful illustrations. Then wonder aloud what might be occurring in the story. Begin reading a few of the pages aloud, and soon their interest will be piqued.
Book suggestions and Reading Lists are available at www.KidsReadingCircle.com and https://www.rd.com/list/the-best-childrens-books-ever-written. The RD (Reader’s Digest) site lists “100 Best Children’s Books of All Time.”
Breathe life into the stories you read together. In addition to discussing the characters and events in the stories, create your own plays or dramatic performances based upon the stories. Or simply take turns reading the lines of the different characters in the voices that seem to reflect their personalities. This often results in fits of giggles and reading fun!
Read to them, share written stories with them, read newspapers aloud, and read information aloud, even if it’s the cereal boxes at breakfast or a sign in the dentist’s waiting room. The key to encouraging children to read is to read, read, read!
Parts of Speech:
Use illustrated books or even comic books to help children become more familiar with nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. After reading the stories, pick out the different parts of speech together. When done on a regular basis with stories children enjoy, you’ll be surprised how quickly they’ll learn the different parts of speech and how long they’ll retain this knowledge.
Here’s a fun activity many children enjoy. They can assign colors to the different parts of speech. Then, with colored construction paper at their fingertips, they can jot down the nouns they find in a story on red construction paper, for instance. They cut up those nouns on red paper and drop them into a jar or box. Then they jot down the verbs from the story on blue construction paper, cut up the verbs, and drop them into the jar or box. They can continue with yellow adjectives, green adverbs, etc., cutting up the words and dropping them into the container.
Later, they can shake up the container and select a red noun, blue verb, yellow adjective, green adverb, and create their own fun or silly sentences. Over time, as they continue to add colorful words to the container, they’ll have quite a collection of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, all color coded and clicking in their mind. And they’ll become much better at spotting the different parts of speech in sentences as they read.
Writing Activities:
Brainstorm new story prompts or creative writing ideas together each day. For instance: What if time ran backward? What if you could read everyone else’s thoughts? What if you had webbed feet and a beak? Describe what your day would be like, or write a story based on your "What if" ideas. Keep a daily writing journal full of your creative thoughts and stories.
As a family, think about a story you’d like to write. Decide on the characters, setting, plot, and storyline. Then have each family member write his or her own version of the story. Read your stories aloud and see how similar or different the stories are.
In today’s digital world of texting, instant messaging, and e-mail, letter- writing is still an important skill. Children can hone those skills by writing letters on a regular basis to friends and families. Remind them to write thank-you notes for gifts or favors, as well. They can also write letters and thank-you notes to famous folks. What might they write to Dr. Seuss? What would they thank him for? What would they write to Pocahontas, or to Lewis and Clark, or to Mark Twain? They can write letters to other favorite authors, actors or actresses, or local heroes.
Spelling and Vocabulary Fun:
Use Scrabble game tiles, magnetic letters, or other types of letter tiles for spelling practice. See who can spell the words the quickest. See who can create the silliest word. Spell out words on each other’s backs with your fingers, and see who is the most ticklish as kids practice their spelling skills!
Spelling lists are available for Kindergarten through Grade 9 at www.HomeSpellingWords.com. For online spelling and vocabulary, browse spelling and word games at www.FunBrain.com/Games/Spellaroo.
More subject areas, topics, and activities are coming in the next few days, so check back soon!
Remember to sign up for our Weekly Newsletter in the Subscribe box on the right!
Happy homeschooling!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)