Search Results for: blog tips for teaching penmanship pt 1

2006 in Review: Homeschooling Blog at a Glance

As a new homeschooling blogger at Families.com, I wanted to know everything that has been discussed to date. In response to my own curiosity, and in an effort to make perusing our articles easier for you, our readers, I have compiled all of the blogs for the year 2006. Deciding to Homeschool Why homeschool Am I qualified for this? Reasons that Homeschooling Works! My Most Important Advice for Homeschoolers. The Cost of Homeschooling Instead of standing up for their own kids, why not stand up for all kids? Disclaimer: I am hardly an expert in education. Did You Know? ‘Empirical … Continue reading →

Third Grade Language Arts Curriculum

Below is a list of skills a third grader should learn or have by the end of the year. This list is adapted from World Book Encyclopedia but I have added curriculum recommendations. Silent reading: Your third grader should be able to read silently. Here is a third grade reading list you can use. Reading prose and poetry aloud: Poetry Grades 3-4 is a great workbook to use another option is Instant Activities for Poetry for grade 3-6. Oral presentations: Your third grader should be able to tell a story, describe a book, or report an experience accurately. Give him … Continue reading →

Can Your Child Use a Word Processor?

If your child is in third grade or older, knows letters and words, and has reasonable functioning of the hands and fingers, he or she can benefit from learning to use a word processor. Children with all kinds of learning disabilities and especially those with ADHD or dysgraphia should have a word processor available for them to use at home, if at all possible. I remember when my oldest son was in his first years of elementary school. Every time I went to parent-teacher conferences I was told, “He does good work and scores very high on tests, but his … Continue reading →

Workbooks and homeschooling

I love to use workbooks to homeschool my kids. One of my favorite workbook series is Scholastic success that is available by grade, or subject. I also like the Summer Bridge series which can be used over the summer to review everything your child learned (or should have learned each year) and gives them a taste of what is in store for the next year. Many homeschoolers complain that the public schools use workbooks for busy work. The teachers use them to keep the kids occupied while they do one-on-one work with kids who need it, or just so that … Continue reading →

No Handwriting on the Walls?

Whatever happened to penmanship? Gone are the days of children learning penmanship in the classroom. Gone are the days of writing pages upon pages from the class history book to (a) learn history, and (b) improve penmanship. Frankly, it just takes too much time away from test prep. As long as the teacher can make out what the child has written it is OK. But how will the teacher be able to read it if penmanship is not practiced? With the dawn of computers in the classroom, and soon, one assigned to every student, the need for proper penmanship becomes … Continue reading →

A Homeschooler’s Advent Calendar: ‘Tis the Season for Writing

I awoke this morning (way too early) to the joyful sounds of five children climbing into my bed. They were enthusiastic, they were gleeful and they were ready to begin their day. I suspected that they were ready to conquer the world but I was wrong. What they were actually ready to do is give me (for at least the tenth time) their Christmas wish lists. Even the 18 month old twins got in on the act. Somehow they managed to circle a remote control robot car (I suspect with the significant help of let’s say. . .and older brother!). … Continue reading →