Home Education - Language Arts
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Leaping into Literature
Next week our holidays draw to a close and we begin the final term of the year. As I contemplated what direction I wished our studies to take in the next 10 week block I knew I needed to be realistic, we have three indisputable factors that create a major impact. I am now in my final trimester with baby due two days before term ends (and babies have their own timetables), Advent begins in December bringing its own rhythm, and it is spring/summer which means extreme heat, distraction and pleas for more swimming time!! Yet I am determined that we conclude the year well, stretching abilities and learning deeply…
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Creating Synergy
Whilst co-ops are an important resource for many home educators in the States, they don’t play a major role in Australia, although they exist in the major cities I haven’t experienced any in rural Australia. Periodically local home education groups may gather and parents share and impart skills, but formal co-ops certainly haven’t been part of my experience within the home education movement of the past 30 years. Co-ops haven’t flourished in rural Australia for a number of factors, primarily our numbers are low, in our region, population 50,000 we have approximately 10 home educating families. Then many home educating families aren’t interested in mixing and there is a general unwillingness to sacrifice…
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Handwriting Boot Camp
In ‘A Day in the Life of a Homeschooled Teenager‘ I mentioned ‘handwriting boot camp’, and Charlotte asked for more detail. The handwriting of the majority of our boys has long been a point of despair, issues addressed over the years have been numerous. Incorrect pencil grip, starting letters at the incorrect ‘clock’ position, sloppy and careless formation, incorrect posture, lack of spatial awareness leading to incorrect spacing between words, non-uniformity of letter sizing and inconsistent use of capital and lower case letters are the main culprits. Several years ago when reading You can Teach Your Child Successfully: Grades 4-8 I was inspired by Ruth Beechick’s suggestion of tackling handwriting by holding a ‘boot camp’. ‘Boot camp’…
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Language Arts Foundation
This month’s Homeschool Highschool Carnival is hosted by Every Bed of Roses and some have chosen to chat about: Language Arts in High School.… What does your language arts program look like? What influences your choices/selection? (Not focusing on Literature nor Writing, both to be discussed in sepearate carnivals) At first thought, discussing our Language Arts program without focusing on Literature or Writing seems rather devoid, yet our LA program is multi-faceted, after reflection I realised there is much to discuss. The title Language Arts is a broad term, encompassing not only the foundational basics but also the development and fruition of possibilities. We have shared previously how my husband and I…
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A Love For Reading
One of the greatest joys as a homeschooling mama is sharing that moment when your child ‘clicks’ with reading. Jelly Bean (8.8) has finally reached that coveted place. As I walked through the loungeroom this week, catching JB reading to Jack Jack I rejoiced. Not only was she reading to him but in turn she was encouraging him to read after her. Too sweet:):) It has been a long road to reach this point, the bookworm challenge certainly helped, indeed it has helped both our new readers. JB and JJ(6.8) have read over 40+ books, and both their reading skills have improved drastically. Jelly Bean is now capable of tackling…
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Launching a Later Reader
A few weeks back I asked my readers for advice regards motivating a later reader. “Any great ideas on how to motivate an 8yr old girl to read? She is so close to reading independently but doesn’t want to put in the hard work, ’cause it is hard at this stage. I’m open to bribery suggestions;)” I received some great suggestions, they included, bribery with cake, bingo sheets, paying 1c/page, ‘motivation’ with a Maccas meal, further ideas via a link or hosting a reading competition with a book as a reward. The last suggestion was from our Anna Maria and reminded me of our ‘Bookworm Competitions’ that we began five years…
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The Pen is Mighty
This month’s Homeschool High School Carnival is hosted by Take Up and Read and we are chatting about: Writing and Composition in High School What place do you see writing have in your high schoolers education? Do you use a writing program? What approach do you use? Which ‘tools’ did you use in the younger years that helped prepare your high schooler to write and prepare them to join “the Great Conversation?” Learning to write well is a high priority in our home, a goal in which we work towards from the earliest years. As our overriding academic goal is to nurture “thinkers and effective communicators, both in the written and the spoken word” a large portion…
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Our Spelling Dilemma
Our older/middle children are all strong readers, for the most part they have learnt to read with relative ease. Our approach has been to immerse in literature and poetry, then introduce phonetic sounds via Spalding phonics, with the aid of games and our chart. We follow with lots of encouragement as they begin with basic readers. Although we use Spalding’s phonic cards we abandoned their spelling program very early on as the children hated their markings with a passion. Nor did I find the teacher book friendly despite the fact that I have actually undertaken week long courses in both Spalding and LEM Phonics. Spalding proponents would contend this was not a wise…
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Quality Literature
“For the children? They must grow up upon the best… There is never a time when they are unequal to worthy thoughts, well put; inspiring tales, well told. Let Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence’ represent their standard in poetry, DeFoe and Stevenson, in prose; and we shall train a race of readers who will demand literature– that is, the fit and beautiful expression of inspiring ideas and pictures of life.”(Vol 2 pg 263)When I first discovered Charlotte Mason and read her thoughts on living books, I knew I had found a kindred spirit! Some of her other teachings were harder to implement, some we have never succeeded in introducing consistently, but her insistence on quality literature was…
