When my oldest was 8 years old, I read Tom Sawyer to her. I had recently moved into the train of thought commensurate with the ideas expressed by Michael Clay Thompson. He believes that if children can learn words like Tyrannosaurus Rex, they can learn complex vocabulary. I started to focus…
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…
English is full of beautiful and interesting nuances. When I sat down with my 7-year-old at the end of first grade to see what she was interested in learning for 2nd grade, she asked to learn more about alphabets, letters, and English. I looked around at different resources…
When my oldest child was in second grade, we changed our reading focus. I had previously focused more on reading aloud historical fiction, but after listening to some talks by Michael Clay Thompson, I decided that going the classic books route would be better. Classic books increase a child’s vocabulary,…
I wanted to approach vocabulary building with my boys through studying Latin and Greek roots. I found the Rummy Roots card game and decided to give it a try. It didn’t look so inviting at first glance, but my boys caught on to the game quickly and played it easily.…
