Search Results for: blog what your kindergartner should know language arts

Homeschool Questions and Answers: Homeschooling a Kindergartener

Question: I just quit my job to be a stay at home to a 5 year old and a one year old. I have very seriously thought about homeschooling for next year’s k-5 but I really need help to start. Can you please pass on any information that could help me make my decision easier and where to start on learning? Answer: If you are planning to homeschool your child next year after preschool, then you have some time do a bit of research. My advice for a mom considering starting homeschooling is that you should read up on different … Continue reading →

Shel Silverstein Poetry Books

If you are looking for a good read aloud book, or a great book for gifts, consider There’s A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, or Where the Sidewalk Ends. All three are written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. I like to read a poem or two to the kids before their bedtime stories. I also use the poetry in my job as instructional coordinator for a literacy program. Learning how to recognize and make rhymes is an important part of learning to read. A lot of poetry doesn’t interest young children. The themes are too advanced for them. The … Continue reading →

Handwriting Without Tears

My school has recently adopted a handwriting program, Handwriting Without Tears. This program focuses strictly on penmanship. The goal of Handwriting Without Tears is to provide all students the ability to write clearly and correctly. The program uses a variety of sensory techniques. It is designed to meet the needs of all types of learners. Teachers and parents are given ideas and activities to improve a child’s posture, handgrip, self-confidence, body awareness, and more. The program has its own workbook, paper, pencil, and supplement materials. The instruction is easy to follow and requires little preparation. The program uses three levels … Continue reading →

Charlotte Mason: Reluctant Narrators

Charlotte Mason advocated the use of oral or written narrations as a way of having a child report on his reading. There are several reasons that narration can be so helpful. Narrating a just-read passage helps a child to internalize and remember it, and aids reading comprehension. It’s also a great help to the homeschooling parent, who can find out immediately what and how much the child has absorbed. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Have your child read a short passage (anywhere from a paragraph to a chapter, depending on your child’s age and ability.) Then, have him tell you … Continue reading →

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 →

What Your First Grader Should Know: Math

Unlike many other subjects, math in its earliest years is definitively concrete. The best way that I know of to get kids to learn math and like it is to make it easy and fun. It is okay to practice different concepts daily and continually return to them until they are mastered. Even after they are mastered you should consider returning to various concepts periodically simply to keep the ideas fresh. Since math is incremental, your children will always be building on what they’ve learned previously. * Counting and writing to 100 My absolute favorite way to teach this concept … Continue reading →

What Your First Grader Should Know: Language Arts

I must make a note about when you teach your child to read or when your child learns to read. Reading is as much developmental, as it is about teaching a child specific skills. There are children who read at age 4. There are also children who don’t read until age 9. Both are considered within the range of normal. If you happen to have one of those early readers you should not be too eager to pat yourself on the back as early reading is not necessarily a sign of superior intelligence. Likewise, if your child is a late … Continue reading →

What Your Kindergartner Should Know: Mathematics

Simple counting to 20 Teaching Tip: May I suggest simple counting in two languages? If you haven’t already, now is a great time to start. For some reason, Math seems to be one of those subjects where many people feel you need worksheets. You can practice counting wherever you take your child. How many traffic lights have we passed, how many numbers can you find in the signs, or how many apples are we going to buy today. One-to-one relationship Teaching Tip: It seems common sense but young children need to be taught the idea that if there are 5 … Continue reading →

The Week In Review: October 28, 2006

Here we are again at the end of another week. I am sitting here, reviewing our week glowing with pride. Not because I wrote great articles, or because my children did something great but because I remembered to set the clocks back! So to all of you who are equally absent minded–go set your clocks back an hour and then come back and see what we did this week! When your homeschooling statue law says that you are required to teach a comparable curriculum to “that of the public schools.” Do you know what that means? Well, you likely know … Continue reading →

What Your Kindergartner Should Know: Language Arts

Phonics Website: For free lesson plans, ideas and games on how to teach your child to read visit Starfall. They also have affordable reading instruction packages if you are so inclined to buy something. Listening to literature, music, poetry Teaching Tip: What do you listen to in the car when you’re driving here or there? Try some books on tape (always available at your local library). A few of our favorite books: When it comes to poetry for kids my absolute favorite is Shel Silverstein. It’s a great place to start for kids because the poems are so entertaining. Nursery … Continue reading →