I love seeing how other families homeschool. Day-in-the-life posts are a fun way to peek into someone else's day. Remember, there is no one way to homeschool successfully. You may think our routine is wonderful or horrible. Hopefully, you will be encouraged that...
Teaching Tips
How to Find Your Unique Homeschool Rhythm
Finding a simple, daily homeschool rhythm makes school days go smoothly. I stepped out of my bedroom on Monday morning with what seemed like a thousand things on my mind. Oh yeah, and don't forget to homeschool the kids! And then we got started with our routine and...
7 Mindsets for New Homeschool Families
If you're one of the thousands of new homeschool families, here are 7 powerful mindset shifts that will help your new life of teaching at home more peaceful and productive. There is a steep learning curve to go from the formality of doing school at home to a...
Using Games to Improve Memory and Learning
Kids who are smart but struggle to learn often have underlying weaknesses in their working memory. Here are some simple games that can be played at home to improve memory. Working memory is the ability to hold pieces of information in your mind (remembering) while...
How to Modify Homeschool Curriculum for the Students With Dyslexia
There are great homeschool curricula available for kids with dyslexia. But what if buying a new curriculum is not an option? Let's take a look at some ways you can modify homeschool curriculum for the student with dyslexia. I recently corresponded with a wonderful mom...
How to Learn From a Textbook: The SQ3R Method
The SQ3R Method is an excellent way to help kids learn from a textbook. This post will show you what the SQ3R Method is and how to teach it to your kids. As a long-time, homeschooling parent of 7 kids with dyslexia, I don't usually recommend a traditional textbook...
When Life Gives You a Pandemic, Learn!
There's nothing like a pandemic to teach you what's really important in life. We're wrapping up our second week of quarantine. I was thinking today about the many challenges our family has homeschooled through over the past 20+ years. I've homeschooled through...
How to Teach Reading at Home
You don't need to be a trained dyslexia tutor to teach reading at home. Do you remember learning to read? I don't. I don't remember learning phonics, I don't remember learning spelling rules, and I never even knew that there were intelligent people who struggled with...
How Interest-Led Learning Can Jump Start Your Homeschool
Learn how to tap into your kids' natural curiosity with interest-led learning and give your homeschool renewed energy and momentum. After homeschooling for more than 20 years, I can safely say that I've tried just about every homeschool method out there. If I haven't...
Informal Reading Assessments
Have you ever wondered at what grade level your child is reading? Have you wanted a way to measure your child's reading progress? Informal reading assessments can be a valuable way to see how your child is progressing. Assessments can also show you areas where you...
The Truth About Dyslexia and Spelling
For most people with dyslexia, reading improves steadily over time. Also for many dyslexics, spelling does not. Spelling continues to be a problem for many people with dyslexia throughout their lifetime. That will be the topic of this week's Mailbox Monday: "My...
Help for the Shut Down Learner
Do you have a child who shuts down when it comes to learning? This week's Mailbox Monday speaks to this situation. "My son IMMEDIATELY says “I don’t know” to ANY educational question. No thought or attempt to try. Any suggestions for that? Have any of your...
My Adults Kids Who Were Homeschooled: What worked and what didn’t
A unique look at four adults that were homeschooled. What worked and what didn't. Welcome to our first edition of Mailbox Monday. I started this series in an effort to answer more of your questions that come through email, Facebook, and Instagram every week. As a...
Overcoming Dysteachia
This post on Overcoming Dysteachia was first published as a series of weekly newsletters. Since it struck a nerve with so many of you, I am republishing it here. Subscribe to the newsletter here: Table of contentsOvercoming Dysteachia Means...
Strengths-Based Learning for Reluctant or Struggling Learners
Would you like to learn a teaching method that fosters resilience and confidence in your kids? What if this method caused kids to be excited for learning, earn higher GPAs, and have more hope for their futures? I thought so! Let me tell you a bit about strengths-based...
Are you Afraid to Teach Your Kids With Learning Differences?
In my last post, I asked the question of whether or not language-based learning difficulties like dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia are learning disabilities that need to be 'fixed' or learning differences that need teaching differences. We also talked about the...
Strategies for Teaching Math to Kids With Dyslexia
40-60% of students with dyslexia also struggle with math. Just as with teaching reading, there are effective strategies for teaching math to kids with dyslexia. Why Kids With Dyslexia Struggle With Math There are a several underlying weaknesses that cause kids with...
Homeschool Charter Schools and Dyslexia
This article will discuss the pros and cons of joining a homeschool charter school for children with dyslexia. Despite a growing awareness of dyslexia, the traditional school setting continues to fail to offer students with dyslexia the kind of individualized...
My Homeschool Success Formula
Are you looking for a formula for success as you homeschool your struggling learners? This is the closest thing you will find to a formula for a more peaceful, purposeful homeschool. To listen to this post, click on the player below. When our family first started...
How Important is Academic Success?
How important is academic success to overall success? The answer may surprise you! We're continuing our 5-days to a more confident homeschool series. Read the entire series starting here. I'm going to start this post with a story - my story actually. It's important...
Help! My Homeschooler is ‘Behind’
One sure way to lose confidence in your homeschool is to worry that your homeschooled child is behind grade level. Welcome back to the 5-Days to a More Confident Homeschool Series! This week we're looking at the things that trip us up and knock our confidence as...
Helping the Discouraged Learner
How our kids react to learning plays a huge part in how effective our teaching is. When our kids are discouraged learners, our teaching is ineffective and this is one of the biggest reasons we lack confidence as we homeschool our kids with dyslexia. Yesterday we...
5 Days to a More Confident Homeschool
Would you like to have a more confident homeschool? When we first started homeschooling 20+ years ago, I had big plans. Yup, my kids were going to be the super kids whose knowledge and educational excellence would set me apart from others. Education had been very...
How to Teach Sight Words to Kids With Dyslexia
Hello and welcome back to day 4 of our 5-day series on How to Teach Kids With Dyslexia to Read. Click here to read the series from the beginning. Today we're looking at an extremely effective way to teach sight words to kids with dyslexia. What Are...