Feeling off track in your homeschool? Make a quick, mid-year homeschool assessment to put your mind at ease. I talk to a lot of homeschool moms. We come from all walks of life but we all have this one thing in common; we all feel like we're not 'doing enough'....
There are so many great curricula out there for us to choose for homeschooling our children, but what about kids who struggle with dyslexia – are we stuck using only materials they can read? Do we need to throw away all the curriculum they can’t read? This article is...
I talk to lots of parents who are pulling their kids with dyslexia out of school and choosing to homeschool. They've done the research and have their ducks in a row but the actual day to day teaching is still a mystery. Because I've been homeschooling for so long, its...
I received an email last week from a reader asking how to teach kids with dyslexia to use Assistive Technology. Assistive technology is a game-changer for many of our kids with dyslexia and other learning struggles. But how do we teach students with dyslexia to use...
I remember the days when my oldest child was still not reading fluently or independently at 11-years old. I had a houseful of little guys - 9, 5, 4 soon followed by 4 more beautiful children. It was super stressful because I didn't understand what this homeschooling...
Cultivating a growth mindset in my kids has had an amazing impact on our day-to-day interactions. Where I used to hear a lot of negative self-talk, I now hear my kids actually coaching themselves to use another strategy or telling me to wait while they 'find the...
There's not a mom out there that doesn't desire a more productive homeschool day. Juggling the many needs of running a home, caring for family needs, and nurturing a marriage can often leave us out of time or out of energy when it comes to teaching our kids at home. I...
One thing I've always loved to read is homeschool day-in-the-life posts. There's just something fascinating about seeing how other families teach their kids at home. I've been writing my own day-in-the-life posts since 2012. I just went back and read some of them and...
Several years ago, one of our kids was majorly struggling with learning to read, despite 3 years of intense professional Orton-Gillingham (OG) reading instruction. In fact, at 11-years-old, he was still struggling to do much more than sound out three letter words! It...
Does your child think that a square and a circle look the same? Does he bump into things, spill things, or seem unaware of where objects are in relation to his body? Does he skip words or entire lines when reading, or read the same sentence over? All...
Do you have a child that has trouble following directions, keeping up with conversations or understanding jokes, or has trouble with reading, spelling, speaking, or rhyming? These could be a sign of auditory processing weakness or auditory processing disorder which...
What is Executive Function? Executive Function refers to the set of mental skills that help people plan, organize, remember things, prioritize, pay attention and get started on tasks. They also help people use information and experiences from the past to solve current...
Do you have a child who fails to follow directions despite repeated instruction, has difficulty staying on task, has a poor attention to detail, or often looses track of their belongings? Weak working memory may be at the root of their struggles. What is Working...
One of my goals for this year is to read more. Not with my kids - but for my own learning! Coincidentally, I have stacks of books around our house that have been recommended to me as a dyslexia tutor/advocate. I'm plowing through some of these now by reading a little...
Parents can struggle teaching writing to kids with dyslexia because although our kids usually have lots of creative ideas and could talk all day about them, the ability to write and spell those amazing words is often limited. Personally, I have often struggled...
You've done the research. You've chosen your homeschool reading curriculum. How can you best prepare to use the information and tools you've acquired to have a great year of reading? Teaching reading to kids with dyslexia isn't exactly easy, but spending an hour now...
Teaching reading to kids with dyslexia, especially a houseful of kids with dyslexia, can seem to take all day. Here are my top tips for getting more done and making time for some extras. We've all been there. We've done the research, purchased the curriculum, and...
If you prefer to listen to this post, click the player below: Of all reading programs, Orton-Gillingham has the most research to support its effectiveness with dyslexic learners. Over the course of our 20-year journey teaching kids with dyslexia to read, learning...
As a homeschool mom, I'm pretty sure I look forward to summer break as much as my kids. The problem with this is that I know from experience that if I stop teaching my kids with dyslexia for too long, they're going to forget as much as 30% of what they've learned this...
For kids who struggle with math - the ones who have trouble with math no matter what they try - it is not uncommon to feel anxiety when even simply thinking about math. As the mom of a handful of kids who struggle with math, sometimes called dyscalculia, I have...
If you are experiencing resistance to learning with a child with dyslexia, taking time to deschool your child can help your child. What does it mean to deschool? Deschooling is stepping away from academics for a period of time in order to decompress from the pressure...
Grading rubrics are a powerful tool for creating customized learning goals for students, especially those who are not up to grade level due to dyslexia. Learn how to create a homeschool grading rubric with this free template. I received an email recently from a reader...
Having trouble with productivity in your homeschool? Become more consistent thanks to the best homeschool hacks from a veteran homeschool mom of eight! It is not uncommon for homeschooling parents to get overwhelmed from time to time. I jokingly refer to February (and...
There are an abundance of theories about how to teach writing. Â There is also a ton of research about effective methods of teaching writing. But somehow, when the rubber hits the road, teaching a child with dyslexia and dysgraphia to write can get a bit, pardon the...