Poetry can be an excellent form of self-expression. While I haven’t really assigned poetry for my kids, it is one of the things that would cause us to “skip” formal work. If I see my kid sitting down with pencil and paper in hand to craft some poetry, I don’t…
I love it when I can find a good resource for informal learning. I found a SlimeKids website that offers several games to help your child practice grammar. These games tend to be best for kids who have studied some grammar already which would make them more appropriate for grades…
Movies as Literature is a different approach to literature reading and analysis. The curriculum is designed to be used as a one year high school English course or it can be used to supplement studies from middle school through high school. We chose the latter. We have been using parts…
Literature analysis doesn’t have to be restricted to high school and college classrooms. Analysis of literature is a natural part of the mental processes as you read a book. Even before children are reading, literature analysis can begin. As you read to your child you can: stop in the middle…
My 7 year old and I are learning more about the history of English in her Fun with English Unit Study. Hands-on learning is my daughter’s preference so we got a little messy and made our own printing press with things we had around the house. We used: Washable paint…
I designed this literature study for my 6th and 8th grade boys who love Doctor Who. Because my son wanted to do some kind of Doctor Who focused study, I looked around at what was available and considered our current needs. There is a study that focuses on the historical…
I’ve used Explode the Code with all of my children. Although reading tended to come easy to my kids, I wanted them to have a strong phonics foundation. The Explode the Code workbooks contain simple black and white drawings and require quite a bit of writing. These elements made me search out…
Once upon a time my oldest child was in Kindergarten. He did not like phonics. His reading skills had blossomed, but phonics was difficult for him. One day I found a little message written inside his Explode the Code Book 3 workbook: “I DOT LUK FONIX” Translated, it means “I…
As eclectic homeschoolers, it is common for me to take bits and pieces of one thing and combine it with something else to create something that better suits my child. So this year when we started running into issues with a curriculum, I took a step back and looked at…
As I was considering which chapter books would work best as readers for my daughter this school year, I decided to go a different direction. There are so many great picture books that are designed to be read aloud by an adult that would work just as well. I went…
