How to Homeschool a Kid Who Hates to Write ~
Written by Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy

For whatever reason, some kids hate to write.

I don’t mean they dislike it, or they’d rather not today, thank you. No, I’m talking about those kids for whom writing “The cat sat on the mat,” requires the physical effort and mental stamina of climbing Pike’s Peak (but probably with a lot more fussing, whining, crying and arguing).

These kids aren’t faking: writing is genuinely difficult for them. (Especially when they’re young, and especially for boys.)

Your challenge as a teacher, a parent, and an academic coach is to keep their disdain for handwriting from turning into a hatred of school, which happens all too often because the thing they hate most (handwriting) permeates every subject.

Thankfully, most writing haters get over it–without intervention–by 4th or 5th grade.

But until then, these tips will help you — and your child — cope.

9 Tips: How to Homeschool a Kid who Hates to Write

1. As far as you can, eliminate the writing in every subject but writing. 

The goal is simply to master the material.

2. Do the work out loud.

Instead of written worksheets, try oral drills for math facts, phonics, translations, fill-in-the-blanks, paragraph summaries, etc. Or, do the worksheet but do it out loud.

3. Use stickers.

If your child is completing a worksheet, try writing the answers on small stickers in advance. Your student can then place the correct sticker in the appropriate spot for his answer. (This has the advantage of feeling like a game.)

4. Make it a matching game.

With a little advance work on your part, your child can match up Spanish nouns with their meanings, coins with their names, states with their capitals, dates with historical facts, and anything else you can think of.

5. Play “secretary” for your student.

They dictate, you record. This lets your creative child get their stories, summaries, or science observations out of their head and onto paper.

6. Get creative with spelling word practice.

To practice “writing” spelling words, let your child “spell” the words with his finger in a shallow container of rice, sand, beans, or water. No paper or pencil required.

7. Consider starting typing early.

We started our pencil-hating kids on a typing program at age seven (at their request!), but kids as young as five can begin typing lessons.

8. When your kid must write, equip them with coping strategies to help them handle it better, or let them find their own.

My writing-haters self-soothed by swinging, spinning and sprinting down the driveway, preferably before and after handwriting time.

9. Make the writing easier:

• Switch to markers or smoothly gliding pens.
• Ditch the paper for a dry erase board.

These tips and tricks require a little extra work on your part to implement.

But if your writing hater still loves school (well, except for handwriting class) I hope you’ll agree with me: it’s worth it.

Do you have (or have you had) a student who hates to write? We need your tips, tricks and coping strategies!

My personal experience using All About Reading with an older child ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool

Sometimes homeschooling requires us to face our greatest fears.

When we first started out, my husband and I used an interest-led learning approach. I knew this meant that my children might not read at ages five or six, but could even take until eight or nine to reach that milestone.

I read example after example of homeschooling parents whose children went from not knowing how to read one day, to reading full chapter books the next. I saw something similarly miraculous occur with my oldest two, who began reading at ages six and eight, with minimal formal lessons.

But with my youngest I waited and waited. We dipped our toes in program after program as the years went by, each one helping, but nothing unlocking fluency.

Having an older child who could not read was one of my greatest fears, one that I’ve been called to face. My son is now fourteen.

His inability to read is not his fault, nor is it mine (another fear). It goes back to his battle in infancy with malaria, a battle that nearly took his life in West Africa before he joined our family. He’s a survivor, yet his brain still shows the scars. Having to work much harder than others to master basic academics is one of them.

I’ve cried and prayed and stared at the ceiling in the middle of the night, asking God for help. About a year ago those prayers led us to All About Reading. (affiliate link)

Using All About Reading with an Older Child

One day I watched a video in which Marie Rippel, founder of All About Reading and All About Spelling, describes her own son’s learning struggles that led her to create her programs. I showed the video to my son, and he wanted to give it a try.

We’ve been using it for over a year now.

I wanted to share our experience in case it might be the right fit for you and yours, whether you have a child who struggles as well or are just looking for a solid program to use with younger children.

A few details I’ve appreciated:

The Scripted Lessons

I was shocked by how much I LOVE the scripted lessons, telling me exactly what to do and say and what materials I need for each part of the process. It takes away that guesswork of “Am I covering everything in the best order?” – especially important with a struggling learner.

I will say that if I was using this program with elementary-aged children, I would likely add in some reward/incentive (#intentionalbribery) to make sure the lessons don’t become a battle.

Check out my day in the life post from a few years ago where I mention our “skills learning treats.” This is something I wish I would have started earlier, but I worried that bribery would take away my kids’ love of learning. (Note: Providing it’s not overused, it doesn’t!)

Format of Lessons

Each lesson begins with a review of phonograms and words previously learned, moves on to new teaching (a lot of which is done on a magnetic whiteboard), and includes activities that allow students to practice new skills.

Alternate lessons have students reading stories, which are some of the best I’ve come across in early readers–and I love the illustrations, now in color!

I also adore the “warm up sheets” for each story, which guide children in practicing specific words and phrases that will appear in their story–helping them read with more fluency. Brilliant!

Since I’m doing these lessons with an older child, we often skip the kinesthetic, game-like activities geared toward younger kids, but it’s perfect to have them if you need them. The program also builds in many multi-sensory learning options so you can adapt it to what works best for your student’s learning style.

Our Progress

The entire All About Reading program is comprised of four levels, covering phonics, decoding, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension.

Elijah and I are currently halfway through Level Two, and while he hasn’t reached fluency yet, we feel more hopeful about his reading than ever before.

We typically do a 15-20 minute lesson three to four times a week, and we go at his pace, which means that we might spend two days on one “lesson.”

Our progress is slow, but guess what? It’s progress! And after all these years, that feels really good.

Interested in giving All About Reading or All About Spelling a try?

I’ve also had wonderful success using All About Spelling with my son Jonathan, but this post was getting too long, so I shared those details in another one here.

One of the best things about AAR/AAS is their incredible year-long guarantee:

Check out all of the step-by-step lesson plans and reading and spelling tips for ONE FULL YEAR. Treat the program like your own, and learn everything the program has to offer. If you then decide it’s not for you, simply send the package back (in any condition), and we’ll refund your purchase price. No questions asked.

As I mentioned before I am an affiliate for All About Learning, which means I receive a commission on any purchases through these links. Please know I only ever share with you programs that have made a difference in our homeschool.

This is definitely one of them! Perhaps it will also be the answered prayer for you that it has been for us.

Any specific questions about using All About Reading with an older child? I’d be happy to answer them!

Disclosure: I received this curricula at no charge; all opinions are my own.

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

How to Use Literature Guides as a Complete Language Arts Curriculum ~
Written by Kari Patterson

As a mama with very different kids, including one on the spectrum, we have tried a little bit of everything, curriculum-wise. Over the last 11 years we’ve done Saxon, Singapore, Life of Fred, Bob Jones, and HSLDA math. (Whew!) Each was helpful for the particular child and stage he or she was in at the time.

We’ve also dabbled in various history and science curriculums, but there has been one fairly common thread through the whole course of our homeschool journey:

Teaching language arts through literature guides.

This isn’t a certain curriculum (I use several) so much as an approach. If this interests you, follow along: I’d love to share how this has worked for us.

How to Use Literature Guides as a Complete Language Arts Curriculum

Why Literature Guides?

Humans love stories. Doesn’t everyone love stories? Who doesn’t love getting swept up in a truly captivating tale, who isn’t moved or challenged or inspired by the heroism and humanity we meet, whether on the page or the screen?

My mom always espoused the Delight Directed philosophy of learning. She believed that if we can discover what delights our children, we’ll find the key to helping them learn. As far as I can tell, everyone delights in a well-told story.

Time together. While our kids do a lot of reading on their own, we’ve always done our literature guides together. In the youngest years, I read the books aloud, snuggled on the couch, and we did all the writing work together.

Now at 16 and 14 years old, they do all that work on their own, but we read the books at the same time and discuss as we go.

I have found that reading literature together has allowed my kids and I to enter into fascinating worlds together. While the rest of life is going on, we are also elsewhere. We are in Narnia or Avonlea, Pemberley or the Shire.

Just the other day I walked in to Dutch’s room and he was laughing to himself: “Marie St. Clare is the WORST!”  I knew exactly where he was.

I love sharing a literary world with my kids. 

How? 

Of course there are any number of ways to do this, but I’ll share what it’s looked like for us.

Getting Started: I’ve primarily used Total Language Plus and Progeny Press study guides.

(Side note: I now teach middle/high school literature at a homeschool co-op and the Progeny guides are nice because the pages are reproducible for use within one classroom. You can also buy them as e-guides and just print off what pages you need.)

Pace: As a general rule, you can usually cover 3-4 literature guides a year, depending upon the book. (We’ve done 4 each year.) My favorite way to plan is simply peruse grade-level book lists from sources I trust, and see which ones coincide with literature guides.

I start with ones I’ve read and love, and for those I’m not familiar with, I check them out from the library to read over the summer.

Pick and choose: I don’t use every activity in each guide. I’m not a fan of word-scrambles or crossword puzzles for vocabulary study, though some of you might love those! I prefer students write creative sentences or paragraphs using vocabulary words.

Discussion: In my opinion, the discussion is the most valuable part. We go through every chapter together, discussing what struck us, what confused us, what we loved or didn’t love. We discuss the analysis questions, we discuss implications and underlying assumptions.

This also helps students’ comprehension, if the book is particularly challenging. Many weeks I’ll have students confess they were very confused by the narrative or dialogue, but after a thorough discussion they understood more clearly.

Grammar/Writing: Just this year I began incorporating the IEW Structure & Style concepts into our literature studies. I wish I’d started years ago! We’ve always done the grammar and writing activities included in the literature guides, but this year I took Andrew Pudewa’s teaching practicum and purchased the teacher and student notebooks and incorporated the concepts and assignments each week.

This has been a fabulous combination!

Lastly, I can’t help but share some of our very favorite literature studies over the years:

The Whipping Boy, Charlotte’s Web, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, My Side of the Mountain, The Wheel on the School, The Hiding Place, Anne of Green Gables, The Giver, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Pride & Prejudice.

Whether you have or have not used literature guides for language arts, I hope this encourages you to try something new! 

Are you a GOOD or BAD homeschool mom? Take Jamie’s NEW QUIZ now to find out!

8 Easy Ways to Enjoy Poetry in Your Homeschool ~
Written by Amber  O’ Neal Johnston of Heritage Mom

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candlelight.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

This stanza from “Bed in Summer” by Robert Louis Stevenson was the initial verse of poetry I read to my children on our first official day of formal lessons over eight years ago. Because I’d never developed a love of poetry, I shared this simple but enjoyable poem with apprehension.

I wanted to give my children opportunities to build relationships with poets and their words, enjoying poetry in our homeschool, but I wasn’t sure what to do beyond just reading random poems.

As it turns out, this lack of experience and direction worked in my favor. I purchased an anthology of children’s poetry that I saw recommended online, and we started reading 1-2 poems a day with no agenda other than pure enjoyment. We didn’t dissect the verses, search for deep symbolism, or focus on scansion.

I didn’t even know what scansion was! Each morning over breakfast, we would read a little bit of poetry aloud, smile, and move on with our day. It was easy and felt perfect.

That’s not to say that a poem should never be studied; there is undoubtedly room for engaging deeply with verse. The poet Monk Gibbon explained that the first step is to see children enjoy poetry, after which they’ll often move on to the next stage on their own.

Namely, they’ll seek “to study those poets whose work needs some preliminary elucidation if it is to be appreciated.”

The difference, it seems, is one of desire. Rather than force children to pick apart poetry, we can help them to enjoy it so they will want to study to appreciate better what they encounter.

If you’d like to incorporate and enjoy poetry in your homeschool routine, here are a few easy ways to help make it enjoyable:

1. Memorize a poem

I encourage my children to learn by heart the verses they love. My grandparents used to recite poetry from their childhood on a whim, and I was always impressed. It’s a sweet way of bringing a smile to someone’s face at any moment.

2. Make things fancy

We often pair poetry with tea and yummy baked goods – sometimes homemade, sometimes store-bought. I’ll light a candle, set out our tea service, and serve the treats on a pretty platter. The poetry is the same, but the ambiance makes it feel more special.

3. Take it outside

We love reading poetry outdoors and especially with friends. Sometimes we’ll invite other families to join us at the park or by the creek to recite poetry for one another.

Usually, it’s a no-frills type of thing, but every April (National Poetry Month), we go all in as we host an annual program for our homeschool group.

4. Lean into your background

Poetry is a beautiful way to connect more deeply with your own culture.

My family has engaged with many Black poets who especially speak to us, including Effie Lee Newsome, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Gwendolyn Brooks. We even named our little boy Brooks after the latter.

5. Engage with different cultures

Discovering a love for the imagery and ideas of others is one of the best gifts of poetry.

My family has gained a deeper understanding of the joys and disappointments of many people groups by reading work from an array of international poets and American poets of Chinese, Korean, Cuban, Palestinian, Guatemalan, Filipino, and Native ancestry.

6. Attend a reading

Poetry comes alive when read aloud, and hearing expressive and vibrant readings is an incredible way to enjoy it. In our area, public readings can be easily found on college campuses, coffee houses, and bookstores.

7. Use poetry for gifts.

Poetry can be very personal. People tend to be attracted to certain types or qualities, so receiving or giving a particular poem that someone shares just for you is a lovely and unique experience.

When you encounter a poem you can’t stop thinking about, be sure to share it with a loved one.

8. Write your own.

Poetry has a way of infecting us with urges to hear more and even write our own. Encourage your children to try their hands at penning a verse and take it a step further by joining them in the endeavor. It’s fun to share your silly or serious thoughts with others.

Poetry can be intimidating if you believe that there’s only one right way to pursue it.  

Once you embrace the freedom to read, smile, and move on, you’ll find that there are abundant opportunities to grow your love of verse in every direction. You will find the joy of having poetry in your homeschool day.

What’s Your Child’s Learning Style? Take Jamie’s new quiz and set yourself up for homeschooling success by understanding the way they learn best!

At our house this year, we’ll be homeschooling two high schoolers, one middle schooler, and an elementary schooler. Our oldest kiddo graduated from college last spring, and our next oldest has just moved back to school for his second year of college.

Which means I’ve been homeschooling one or more of our six kids for every one of the last seventeen years. Oh my.

Alongside our homeschooling adventures, I’m also an author – Have you read my book, Permission Granted? (afflinks). My husband was an English Literature major once upon a time, too. We’re all about words and language around here.

Not every one of our kids is going to grow up to be a writer, of course, but they all get to practice using their words in the meantime! Here’s how we’ve helped our kids on their homeschool writing journeys.

8 Tips for Teaching Writing in Your Homeschool

1. Read Lots of Everything

Reading is the best way that I know to teach writing.

Kids are learning about story structure and characterization and plot from reading, sure, but they’re also learning grammar, and spelling, and vocabulary, and sentence structure, and how to listen for the musicality of language. They’re absorbing so much, whether you’re reading aloud or they’re reading to themselves.

Our kids read all kinds of things: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, news (when they’re teenagers), even product packaging and advertisements (a form of persuasive writing!). They learn to write by seeing it done well first.

For kids who are still learning or who struggle with reading to themselves, audiobooks count as reading. Following along in a physical book as they listen can be helpful, too.

2. Take Dictation

Kids don’t need to know how to write their letters to be able to write stories or letters or ideas.

If your kids are still learning handwriting, or if the act of writing letters is still difficult, let them dictate their stories while you write them down.

Or try a dictation app or setting on your phone/computer. (Tip: read over the dictation app’s translation for accuracy—kid voices can be tricky for apps to understand, and those apps know a whole bunch of words that your kindergartener doesn’t. I’m just saying. ;))

3. Encourage Writing Just For Fun

Buy (or make) fun stationery or cards and encourage your kids to write letters to friends and relatives. Let them write stories on printer paper or in journals.

Or suggest that they create a story out of pictures, and then tell you what’s happening in each drawing.

4. Play Word Games

This could include word searches or Scrabble or Banangrams or Boggle, but also games like the license plate letter game: on the road, make up a phrase using the letters on a license plate as the first letters of your words. (Ignore the numbers.)

RDW in the middle of a plate becomes rhinos dancing wildly, or robots devouring wetlands, or raspberries dunking on wildebeests. You’re teaching your kids that words are tools they can use to create, even if they’re just creating quick, funny images.

5. Decide What They Need to Know

By the time my kids finish high school, we want them to have experience writing lots of different things, like short fiction, poetry, informational essays, persuasive essays, literary analysis, and MLA-style bibliographies.

But your goals might be different. Maybe you want to be sure your kid understands business communication. Maybe writing plays and skits is more important to your kid than writing short stories. Choose what’s important for your own family’s goals, and start there.

Please notice that I said by the time my kids finish high school! We don’t try to learn everything at once. And when they’re younger, reading and playing with words is our whole goal.

6. Use a Curriculum, or Don’t

We’ve tried a few different types of homeschool curricula for writing, and I’d love to hear about your favorites. But we haven’t found one that sticks for us.

We’re usually more comfortable deciding together what to learn next, then finding resources for learning that type of writing and giving it a try. Our resources might come from books, online videos, or just a parent explaining.

7. Expect Messy First Drafts

When we’re learning to do something new, we don’t do it perfectly the first time. Of course not!

So make sure your kids know they’re not meant to know how to do this yet, and that getting words (any words!) on the page is the first goal.

After that, they can decide how to revise to bring what they’ve written closer to their vision. But the first step is just to get anything out.

8. Edit Respectfully

Remember that writing is subjective, and that—unlike arithmetic—there’s no one right answer when it comes to a writing project.

Try to see what your writer is trying to create, rather than judging it against your ideas of what it should be. Praise the stuff your kids are doing well before pointing out what needs more work.

Not sure what to praise? Maybe point out their creative ideas, their voice, their interesting word choices, or even their careful spelling.

Our Favorite Writing Supplies

Want even more ideas? Here are our favorite writing supplies that may also come in handy as you’re teaching writing in your homeschool.

For Encouraging Play With Words

• Story cards: Create a story using images, like the ones on these fairy tale themed cards or on these animal village cards
• Story dice: Roll the dice and make up a story using the icons on the dice
• Letter dice: Make up sentences where each word starts with the letters you’ve rolled
• A library card, for checking out lots of different kinds of books

Wordy Board Games

• Boggle
• Sight Word bingo
• Bananagrams
• Scrabble

Poetry Supplies

• Silly poetry books, like Shel Silverstein’s or Jack Prelutsky’s or the mischievous I’m Just No Good at Rhyming.
• Or poetry collections, like The Random House Book of Children’s Poetry.
• Magnetic poetry for the fridge or on a magnetic board. Take photos of your favorite creations.

For Young Kids (or Parents) Who Want More Structure

• Building Writers, a series of writing instruction workbooks from the same company that produces Handwriting Without Tears
• Wordly Wise for vocabulary (Though for a kid who struggles with words, this could easily feel overwhelming. Use your best judgment.)

For Middle Schoolers Who Want a Plan

• Everything You Need To Ace English Language Arts

For Kids Who Want to Be Writers

• Gail Carson Levine’s Writing Magic
• Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook
• Avi’s A Beginning, A Muddle, and An End

For Teenagers

• Our friend Kara S. Anderson recommends this book for college prep: Wordsmith Craftsman
• To start learning to dissect what we read, try Reading Like a Writer, by Francine Prose, or the more accessible How to Read Literature Like a Professor: For Kids
• Khan Academy’s SAT Prep: Essay writing instruction and automatic essay scoring
• Spark Notes: Instruction and prep for writing literary analysis and for AP English tests
• Write the World is a free non-profit (writetheworld.org) for ages 13 – 19 to explore free writing prompts and join monthly writing competitions.

For High Schoolers Who Want an Online College Prep Class

• UC Scout offers accredited or self-study classes for English 9 – 12, AP English Language, and AP English Literature

Your Turn

How about you? How have you handled teaching writing in your homeschool? What are your favorite writing-related resources? Share with all of us in the comments!

This post contains affiliate links, which means Simple Homeschool receives a small commission from some of the links on this page.

What’s Your Child’s Learning Style? Take Jamie’s new quiz now and set yourself up for homeschooling success by understanding the way they learn best!

My Personal Experience Using All About Spelling with an Older Child ~

“Mommy, I think it’s time to start getting more serious about my spelling.”

My son uttered those words years ago on the way to look at Christmas lights, and they were music to my homeschool mom’s heart.

If you’ve been reading Simple Homeschool for any length of time, you know that our family has always marched to the beat of a different drum.

We’ve never followed any Scope and Sequence for long, but have always used healthy relationships as our measuring tool, our compass letting us know we’re heading in the right direction.

Prefer to listen instead?

That became our priority because two of our three children joined our family via international adoption, but it’s interesting to look back and see how our biological son, Jonathan (starting his senior year), has also reaped the benefits of this interest-led, relationships-first model.

Note: Remember that there are a million ways to design a successful homeschool, and zero ways to design a perfect one! Though I’d encourage you to make healthy relationships one of your top priorities, it doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) look exactly like ours.

Our Experience with Spelling

Here’s how our approach unfolded when it came to this subject:

1. In the younger years, I introduced a variety of resources at different times, including Touch Type to Read and Spell, copywork (though I wish we had done more), and focused on tons of independent reading.

2. Some children are natural spellers, who begin to “pick up” the spelling of words from activities like the ones above. You can usually tell by age 10-12 if your child is one of these.

3. If they are, they may not need formal lessons. This was the case with my daughter, who did so much creative writing on her own that her spelling slowly improved.

As the years passed with Jonathan, however, I could tell he would need more instruction. But I sensed the timing wasn’t right. I’ve noticed that allowing my young kids to focus mainly on strengths helped them develop a solid self-concept BEFORE we began to remediate weaknesses.

He was in his early teens, with a lot more self-confidence, when he said the words at the top of this post. I knew the right time had finally come. I let him know that I would look into some options, that we could choose one together. 

And my positive experience using All About Reading with my other son meant I naturally turned to All About Spelling. (afflinks)

Using All About Spelling with an Older Child

I showed Jonathan a sample – this is key in my opinion when starting a new program with a tween or teen. You need buy-in if there’s any chance of it being a successful learning experience!

Once he gave a thumbs up, we got to work. Here are some of the features I’ve appreciated:

Scripted Lessons

I love that it tells me what to say and when! I don’t have to worry about forgetting an important phonogram or spelling rule.

Even though my son was a teen when we began and had a foundational spelling knowledge, we still started with Level One, to make sure he not only knew the “what” but the “why.” We discarded or skipped any bits that felt too child-like or unnecessary for him.

Format of Spelling Lessons

Each lesson begins with a review of phonograms, key spelling rules, and a handful of words.

It moves on to teaching using a magnetic white board, has students practice with the new concept, then proceeds to dictated sentences that incorporate the new material with what’s already been learned.

I’ve also appreciated the Memory Sheets, where students read words aloud to secure the spelling in their visual memory bank.

How We Do Lessons and How Long They Take

We usually do spelling around twice a week, making it through two “steps” (AKA lessons). We will do a 20-30 minute session together, take a break, then come back later in the day to do another 10 minutes of writing sentences.

Keeping to that schedule, we JUST finished the final level yesterday – woot!

That means it’s taken us just two and a half years to complete all seven levels – that’s what can happen when you’re working with an older, motivated student!

If You Begin with a Younger Child

I’m not at all saying that it’s wrong to teach spelling to a younger child. This approach is what our family needed, but there are many reasons why someone might begin earlier.

If you are planning to teach a younger child, I recommend waiting until after they are making solid progress on their reading journey (no earlier than age seven or eight for spelling). Even then, I would do short lessons (5-10 minutes!) with tons of encouragement – and bribery if needed.

As you proceed, though, if you begin to sense that it’s putting a strain on your relationship, please know there are other ways to move forward.

A Different Way to Think of Spelling

Spelling is important, of course, but never more important than the overall health and well-being of your child!

Even with all the hard work we’ve put in, Jonathan is never going to call spelling his favorite subject, nor will it be his strongest one. The way I see it, that’s what spellcheck and dictation are for.

I’ve asked him if, looking back, he wishes that I had pushed him to start earlier. He said, “Sometimes I do, but I think even though it might have made my spelling stronger, it would have made my love of learning weaker. And I don’t think I would be as interested in writing as I am now.”

My biggest advice, no matter what subject you’re covering with your child, is to remember to laugh! Because Jonathan chose to get serious about spelling, he was (almost) always a willing participant, which means we have had some of our best times and biggest laughs during our lessons.

When relationships are solid, you can journey through tough things together.

Want to give All About Spelling a try?

I hope this article has helped you decide whether AAS might be a good fit for your homeschool!

If you do decide to give it a try, keep in mind their incredible year-long guarantee:

Check out all of the step-by-step lesson plans and reading and spelling tips for ONE FULL YEAR. Treat the program like your own, and learn everything the program has to offer. If you bought it from us and decide it’s not for you, simply send the package back (in any condition), and we’ll refund your purchase price. No questions asked.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate for All About Learning, which means I receive a commission on any purchases through these links. Please know I only ever share with you programs that have made a real difference in our homeschool! I received this curricula at no charge, but all opinions are my own.

Any specific questions about using All About Spelling with an older child (or any child)? I’d be happy to answer them!

What’s Your Child’s Learning Style? Take Jamie’s NEW quiz now and set yourself up for homeschooling success by understanding the way they learn best!

Originally published August 24, 2021

Written by Shawna Wingert of Different by Design Learning

It’s June.

The end of another school year. The beginning of summer.

For my family, it means transitioning to a “summer learning plan.”

At least that’s what it means for us this year. The truth is, in past years, summer was a less than ideal season in our homeschool, especially for my struggling reader.

After hearing the same from more than one mom in my homeschool support sessions, I realize now that it was not just me.

Summer can be stressful when you are homeschooling a struggling reader. 

Would you rather listen to this post?

Looking back, I can see why summer was always such an anxiety producing time for me and my son.

I was worried about the “summer slide.” Would he forget the little progress we made this year? Should I use the summer to only focus on reading and help him finally master those sight words? Will he be able to move up a level in his reading program next year if I don’t take action all summer?

My son’s experience of summer was even worse. His mom now required him to do more of something that was a constant struggle.

Summer became synonymous with more reading practice and was not at all what either of us wanted.

I knew it was not working, but I worried and wondered what we should do instead. Even worse, we never really made much progress anyway, no matter how hard I pushed.

A resistant, anxious learner always learns a lot less. I knew this, but struggled with what to do next.

Summer and the Struggling Reader

In a moment of inspiration, or maybe desperation, I made the decision a few summers ago to completely change my approach. With every subsequent summer, I have found more and more success in helping my struggling reader.

Here’s how.

1. Add movement to reading.

For any struggling learner, movement can help with learning.

Whether a child needs sensory input, or his/her brain needs a little extra movement to get the synapses flowing, studies have shown over and over again that moving the body while learning makes a difference in overall comprehension and retention.

I have found this to be true for my son, especially with reading. The good news is, summer lends itself to far more outdoor activities that make learning fun.

We’ve created “water balloon flashcards” where I write sight words on water balloons in a bucket. He picks each one up, reads it and throws it at a target (or me if we decide to duel). I have also written practice sounds and words on a beach ball and we throw it back and forth to each other in the pool.

Adding movement to reading practice makes it far more fun and engaging. It’s a bonus that it is also so much more effective. 

2. Make it even more interest-led.

Although we practice an eclectic, interest-led approach all year long, we really lean in for the summer. One year, we did an entire “Summer at Hogwarts” with all Harry Potter based learning activities and reading practice. This summer, my boys have opted to do only science and history projects of their own choosing.

By turning up the level of interest, I find my son has even more opportunities to practice reading throughout the summer than he would with me pulling out the old flashcards. And, because he is so motivated, I find he is able to make more progress as well.

3. Focus on strengths.

When our children struggle with a certain subject, it’s easy to get super focused on what’s not working. (I am the queen of freaking out and deciding to do a whole new reading program because my child couldn’t read the word “the” in our book. Take my word for it.)

The problem is, when we are focused on the area of struggle, we lose sight of our kids’ natural talents and strengths. Not only is this a little sad, it also gets in the way of helping our children learn.

When I homeschool to my child’s strengths,  it not only builds his confidence as a learner, it teaches him how to learn in general. For the struggling reader, this is critical to overall success.

Incorporating what my child naturally excels at into our summer learning not only supports his reading ability, it gives him a sense of mastery and capability across all tasks and subjects.

4. Have fun!

As I look at this list, I realize this is pretty much what I have found makes a difference in our learning all year long. The only difference is that in summer, we do it at pool, sometimes with snacks, and it’s a lot more fun!

Yes, my child is a struggling reader, but he is a child first. I want him to have the same fond memories of summer that I do and support his reading skills at the same time.

The good news is, we are planning to do just that. I hope you will too.

What are your best ideas for summer reading practice?

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

Literature and Learning Differences ~
Written by Shawna Wingert of Not the Former Things

For years, I have felt like a read aloud failure.

I love books. I worked in the library all through college, and spend far too much money buying books on Amazon because they will deliver them to my door in just two days time. My boys, however, do not have the same relationship with books.

Over the years, I have adjusted my expectations. We use Audible (afflink) liberally.

I allow my boys to choose books that some families might consider frivolous.

We even stopped going to the library every Wednesday when it began to feel like a chore. (My heart hurts just typing this. I was the one who loved our Wednesday afternoons in the stacks the most.)

No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t meet the ideal I had in my own mind about how literature should work in our home and education.

My boys have significant learning differences that effect almost every aspect of how they learn and how I teach. Both are dysgraphic and my youngest is also profoundly dyslexic.

Necessarily, over time, I have learned that the best way to engage them in learning is through story, despite their resistance to traditional, more formal literature requirements. (Incidentally, I think this may be true for all of us – but it is essential for my kiddos.)

Moreover, the more I have let go of the list of books I thought were important for us to read and allowed their interests and personalities to guide our choices, I have learned one very important lesson –

Literature can make a significant impact on children with learning differences.

My children struggle to feel comfortable in a world that seems to focus on their differences rather than their strengths. They see what our culture celebrates, and what the definition of success looks like for children their age. They know they cannot compete.

It’s discouraging, at best. Demoralizing and depressing at its worst.

Finding books that center on and even the celebrate the different ones, the outcasts, and the kids with unusual talents and strengths, is one to the best ways I know to counteract this negative messaging.

It also exposes them to themes that include overcoming adversity and using your own strengths to succeed – something they both need to master in order to function well as adults in our world.

Over the past year, we have listened to the following books on audio:

• The 39 Clues Series (afflinks)
• Harry Potter – All 7 of them
• The Percy Jackson Series (which led to an entire year’s study of Ancient Greece)
• A Series of Unfortunate Events
• The House With A Clock In Its Walls 
• Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children 

All of the above are written about children with differences, some specified like dyslexia and ADHD, others inherent in the story. My boys innately understand these main characters. They experience the story with a much greater connection than I do.

Most importantly, these books have become foundational in our approach to learning in every other subject, too. Here’s how.

Literature and Learning Differences: The Power of Story

Story provides illustrative examples.

We spend a lot of time practicing certain therapeutic approaches, including social skills and behavioral therapies. The most effective way I have found to make these exercises “stick” for my boys is to provide examples from the books they’ve read.

For example, when my son is feeling anxious or depressed, we talk about how Harry had to think about his best memory ever, in order to combat the Dementors. Or when it was tough for Zero to read in Holes, he practiced with his friend in ways that were more fun.

These illustrative examples make the concepts we are practicing much more concrete and accessible for my boys.

Story increases my sons’ ability to be adaptable in their own thinking.

Both of my children are blessed with strong personalities and opinions. Sometimes this works to their benefit. Sometimes it can lead to rigid thinking and inflexibility.

The stories they love and even commit to memory tend to counteract this rigidity. Because they love the characters, my sons are more willing to acknowledge that their choices in the story, while different from one my boys might have made, were nonetheless valid and helpful.

The more stories they commit to memory, the more I find they draw on the examples within them to explain behaviors that were previously confusing or frustrating in everyday life.

Story can emphasize success despite the odds.

Because all of the stories we have read (listened to) together thus far have had some measure of happy endings, we often talk about them when life feels difficult. These stories provide a reminder that when it’s tough, we persevere, even against the most difficult circumstances.

This approach helps my children to keep trying, despite their differences, and is much more effective than their mom encouraging them not to give up.

When I think back on how I used to feel about our approach to literature (or lack thereof) I realize so much has changed. Those expectations and ideals were less about the outcome for my boys, and more about me expecting my sons’ education to resemble my own.

Stepping back and allowing my kiddos to learn in the ways that work best for them has actually produced far greatest results than I could have possibly imagined all those years ago.

My kids love books. They apply them to their lives. We discuss them in interesting and engaging ways.

What more could this nerdy, book-loving mom ask for?

Shawna has a new FREE resource available for Simple Homeschool readers –  Helping A Struggling Reader: Practical Answers For Parents.

You can do this. Your child can do this. These real-life, practical recommendations not only help your child learn to read, but also help you enjoy life together along the way.

Have you seen the power of story help your children in some way? Please share!

This post contains affiliate links, which means a small commission is generated from some of the links on this page.

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

Our summer break is coming up and I am looking forward to it. It has been one of our best school years ever, but it took real effort and hard work from all of us.

We’re ready for some time off.

But first, before we mark the break between grades and school years, I want to squeeze in a summer session. I have plans for travel, a family literature study, and a mini math (not so intense) intensive.

I love our summer school sessions. We sleep in, move many of our lessons outdoors, and the pace is slower. I narrow the focus of our learning, keeping things simple, for them and for me.

Summer is a good time for review, for travel, and for exploring topics that we might not have had a chance to get to during the rest of the year.

Travel

We’re going to be packing our bags and heading off on some adventures when the calendar turns to May. I’m looking forward to time as a tourist and to learning about the places we visit.

I hope to put our local state museum’s Travel Passport program to good use.

It was a pleasant surprise to discover that our Indiana State Museum membership has benefits nationwide. If you’re located in the United States, I highly suggest checking to see if your local museum shares in this passport program which provides free admission to many museums (over 300 nationwide).

Roadschooling, anyone?

Family literature study

We have had a wonderful experience using a family learning guide for literature recently. As I write this we are finishing up a study of The Hobbit. 

We purchased the guide from Hearth Magic and it was a perfect fit for all of us, from my five-year-old to my high school student. As a mom who usually writes her own lessons, I appreciated having the planning done for me for a change.

I was thrilled to find out that Amber of Hearth Magic is also releasing a family learning guide for Charlotte’s Web. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy and am looking forward to sharing one of my favorite books with my kids as we work our way through the guide.

Math

I’m also planning on a week or two dedicated just to math.

We will have a kindergartner, a third grader, a fifth grader, and a tenth grader next fall and before each kid moves forward I feel like we would all benefit from some time spent dedicated to our math studies.

I am still sketching out plans, but so far this is my vision:

• Playing math games (online and around the kitchen table) – I’ll be cruising through My Little Poppies Gameschooling archives for inspiration
• Pulling ALL of the math books and manipulatives off our shelves and scattering them around the house, strewing – style.
• Looking through the Math videos at Pepper & Pine – I think my kiddos will especially enjoy some of the form drawing and the picture books. Hana is one of my favorite homeschooling YouTubers and I highly recommend her channel.
• Working on our Math Interactive Notebooks – we use these workbooks as a guide
• Cooking and baking – one of my favorite kinds of math

I’d love to hear any of your suggestions and ideas as I’m planning our math “not so intense” intensive for June.

A true break

We will be taking the entire month of July and part of August off for our summer break.  I’m sure the kids will still be learning, little sponges that they are.

However, this mama plans to spend that time with her feet up reading books that have nothing to do with lesson planning or education.

This will be our eleventh year of homeschooling. As much as I love homeschool, I am “seasoned” enough to know that a true break is good for both myself and for the kids.

We will relish our time of “no more school, no more books, no more harried homeschooling mama’s pleading looks.”

What about you? What do you plan for the summer months?

As a former teacher, I’m well aware that writing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

Can I let you in on a little secret? It’s not always my thing, either.

This is a strange confession coming from a children’s author, but an important one, I think.

If writing is sometimes “unfun” for a person who does it for a living, how much more challenging is it for the kid who doesn’t enjoy it in the first place?

Here are some things I’ve learned about the writing life — both as a teacher and as a student of the discipline — that I hope might encourage you and your young writers:

1. Everyone is creative.

While writing might not be every child’s strong suit, every person has a creative side. (For grown ups, it might take a bit of digging to find, but I promise, it’s there.)

When it comes to writing, it’s easy to focus on mechanics or fluency as ultimate measurements of ability or skill, leaving some kids at a disadvantage before they’ve even begun. We need to help children understand they already have what it takes to write because they were born creative.

2. Choice and freedom are key.

There will be times when young writers need to tackle particular assignments like research papers or responsive essays, but I believe it’s even more important that kids are given the freedom to choose their own topics as often as possible.

They should be given the freedom to write without some higher purpose (including concerns about grammar and spelling) and have opportunities to create for their own pleasure and benefit alone.

3. Listen to the world.

Creative people listen to and observe the world around them. In listening, we catch details we might otherwise miss, bits and pieces that enrich our thoughts and lives. If we invite children to look and listen, they will come to their writing with artistic pumps already primed.

One simple way to do this is to regularly model the things that make us stop and wonder. Another is to ask kids to keep notebooks where they paste, color, and collect ideas or questions that might lead to future writing projects of their own. Here’s a ready-made notebook your writers might enjoy!

4. Tinker, explore, create, play!

I’ve transformed my own approach to writing in the last year by dropping the “w-word” from my vocabulary. Instead of writing, I now practice, explore, or play. It’s impossible to have a “bad” writing day when I’m simply practicing, just as there’s no right or wrong way to play.

Any time I show up to my work with this mindset, there is something to be gained.

When young writers can be taught to approach their writing playfully, the heavy burden of getting it “right” falls away.

5. Frustration is part of the process.

There comes a point when I’m writing a book that I’m sure I’ve broken it. The story feels like it’s beyond repair. Sometimes this happens multiple times!

If kids know ahead of time frustration is a natural part of the writing process, the experience can be less intimidating. Those moments of struggle might be shorter lived.

Instead of fearing them, writing challenges can be seen for what they are: opportunities to go deeper and wider, obstacles that if faced will eventually lead to breakthroughs, growth, and change.

6. Revision’s where the real writing happens.

Revision means exactly what it sounds like — a chance to see a piece of writing again, this time in a new light. As a young teacher, I didn’t understand how crucial revision was.

I wish I’d known then to ask my students the questions I now ask myself after I finish a draft:

• What is it you’re trying to say?
• What was your original idea?
• How has it changed, for better or worse?
• What changes need to be made to bring this piece of writing in line with your vision for it?

This book is an excellent collection of revision strategies based on the work of published authors.

7. Writing as self-directed learning.

One of my favorite things about writing historical fiction is picking an era that intrigues me and digging in. I spend as much time as I need to learn all that I can. I’m both student and teacher in that I set the curriculum, scope of my studies, and pace.

The books that I write provide readers with a chance to learn, too. They’re not tools meant to point to historical facts but opportunities for readers to witness the world during another time, to see that though we might be different from people who lived long ago, our emotional experiences are largely the same.

My newest book, Jasper and the Riddle of Riley’s Mine, is a middle-grade novel about the Klondike gold rush. In it, eleven-year-old Jasper follows his brother Melvin to the Klondike in search of gold. Along the way the boys hear of One-Eyed Riley’s mine, a mysterious claim worth millions.

Jasper’s convinced he and Mel will be the first ones to find it. All they have to do is survive the rough Canadian terrain and some unsavory fellows also after Riley’s treasure.

If you’d like to use my newest novel to create a unit study on the Klondike gold rush, or if you’d just like to learn more, here are some helpful links:

• Off to the Klondike! The Search for Gold (3:38 video) :: WatchKnowLearn.org
• Klondike Gold Rush (9:08 video — heads up: brief mention of prostitution) :: WatchKnowLearn.org
• Front Page of the Seattle-Post Intelligencer for July 17, 1897 :: Wikimedia Commons
• Routes to the Klondike :: Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park
• Ton of Goods :: Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park
• The Mounties: The Force in the North :: Virtual Museum Canada
• A visual of the Chilkoot Trail :: National Park Service
• “The Spell of the Yukon” by Robert Service (poem)
• “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service (poem)
• “To Build a Fire” by Jack London (short story)
• Shopping in Seattle for Supplies (lesson plan) :: National Park Service
• Panning for Gold! (lesson plan) :: National Park Service

A note from Jamie: All of Caroline’s books are imaginative and full of heart, and her newest release about the gold rush COMPLETELY captivated my two boys–Jonathan read it twice, Elijah begged me to read it aloud, & the two of them spontaneously decided to act out much of it together while listening. Such fun!