Teaching Tips

How to Find Your Unique Homeschool Rhythm

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

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...

How to Learn From a Textbook: The SQ3R Method

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!

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

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...

Informal Reading Assessments

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...

Help for the Shut Down Learner

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...

Overcoming Dysteachia

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...

Homeschool Charter Schools and Dyslexia

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

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?

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’

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

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

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

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...