Just attending school doesn’t, by itself, help kids overcome abnormal anxiety because they are “sticking it out.” Just homeschooling doesn’t prevent, treat, or cure abnormal anxiety. These tips can help you move past just homeschooling to helping your anxious child cope with their anxiety. Ways to get help: Combine homeschooling with professional treatment for abnormal anxiety. Consider cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for your child, which helps many people manage abnormal anxiety. Seek a counselor or therapist who is knowledgeable and unbiased about homeschooling. Know that homeschooling brings with it the “Power of Now” – you can do what’s right for your child now, even if that means you prioritize mental health over academics. Continue reading »
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What Curriculum Should I Use For My 4 Year Old?
Recently on TheHomeSchoolMom’s Facebook page someone asked for recommendations for her soon to be 4 year old. It took me back to when I had a 4 year old and a 1 year old and had recently decided to homeschool. I. Was. So. Excited. What curriculum should I use? How should we schedule our days? (I bought Managers of Their Homes and carefully scheduled every moment of our days and then proceeded to never once use the schedule.) I made lesson plans and felt organized and believed that my kids were going to get the best education ever. And honestly, we had great fun with some of the activities. So after all these years (my kids are now 19 and 16), what curriculum would I suggest for a 4 year old? Continue reading »
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Are You a Type B Homeschooler?
I don’t particularly love labels—they can be too general or cause assumptions and are likely not 100% accurate. That said, labels can be helpful when you’re searching for information on various topics. Google is better when you’re using key words, which is how I heard of Type B homeschooling a few years ago. A good old Google search brought me to a few articles, which I read and breathed a sigh of relief. I felt like I discovered a secret society of homeschoolers. I was not alone. Fast forward to this past summer, when a good friend and I were chatting, and we both realized we were talking about the same thing. Type B Homeschooling. Continue reading »
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Create an Engaging Homeschool Geography Club
Geography. It was not my favorite subject growing up in traditional schools, and I wanted to teach homeschool geography differently from the way I learned it in school. Sure, I knew my states, could identify other countries, large bodies of water, various cities, etc. But, the process was lots of memorizing, spitting out facts, and then promptly forgetting everything. I didn’t want that for my kids. When we began homeschooling, I knew I wanted my kids to have a natural curiosity about out our world. I wanted our homeschool geography study to be something that we naturally discussed in fun and hands-on ways, using a variety of resources. Continue reading »
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Right-Brained Reading
Kids with right-brain characteristics have hit the jackpot when it comes to homeschooling! Although students with a right-brain orientation often struggle in traditional school environments, homeschooling provides the perfect flexibility and individualization to help these children shine! Previous articles explore specific techniques and strategies to help these learners be successful in math. But what about reading? Continue reading »
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Right-Brained Reading Strategies, Part 2
Children with right-brain characteristics can learn to read effectively! These holistic thinkers often just need a different approach – one with plenty of visual and kinesthetic stimuli, and a whole-to-part perspective. A previous article provided an overview of the characteristics of the right-brained reader, and Right-brained Reading Strategies detailed a variety of approaches and resources to help these kids read effectively. Don’t stress out, homeschool moms – use some of these additional strategies to help your right-brained reader maximize his or her potential. Continue reading »
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Right-Brained Reading Strategies
Children with right brain characteristics often need a different approach to reading. These children, who tend to be visually-spatially oriented, holistic, and “big picture” rather than detail-oriented, and tend to create meaning from words by developing three-dimensional pictures in their minds. It is not unusual for traditional decoding phonics programs or decoding strategies to be ineffective for right-brain oriented kids. Previous articles provided strategies for helping right-brain learners with math, and gave a general overview of how the right-brained student processes information for reading. If you have a right-brained reader, consider the following curricula and strategies Continue reading »
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Right-Brained Math Curriculum
Arithmetic operations are foundational to future math learning, so it is critical that kids master math facts. Yet often homeschoolers find that at least one child has difficulty with math, and that they have hit a wall. For a large majority of children who find arithmetic difficult, it is simply a matter of how the child processes information. Learning specialist Dianne Craft has found that 80% of struggling learners are right brain dominant, due to the fact that most curriculum and learning settings are oriented toward the left-brain oriented individual. Continue reading »
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Right-Brained Learners
Does your child skip around when doing math problems? Have trouble reviewing work or checking over details? Find spelling challenging? Require a tremendous amount of interaction during homeschooling? If the answer to many of these questions is “yes”, you may have a right-brain oriented child! Continue reading »
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More Right-Brain Math Ideas
While arithmetic may seem simple to children with left-brain characteristics, right-brain oriented learners often struggle with basic math in traditional classroom settings, which are more geared toward left-brained learners. Fortunately, math does not have to be difficult for these learners! Homeschoolers can use curricula, techniques, and strategies that can help the right-brained child learn math effectively. Continue reading »
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Thanksgiving Family Traditions
Turkey and stuffing might be the staples of Thanksgiving, but for many families the holiday means much more. Homeschoolers often seek to go beyond simply a festive meal to create a culture within the home that encapsulates a sense of belonging, security, and love. One important way families do this is through creating Thanksgiving traditions. Continue reading »
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Is Your Child Right-Brain Oriented?
While research has demonstrated that we use all of our brain in processing information, children tend to display characteristics associated with the different hemispheres of the brain, depending on whether they are more right-brain oriented, or left-brain oriented. Understanding these different characteristics can have a strong impact on how children learn. Fortunately, homeschoolers have endless opportunities for being creative, individualized, and effective at meeting the needs of children with right-brain characteristics. Continue reading »
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