What to Include in your Middle and High School Language Arts Study

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August 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 5: What to Include in Your Middle and High School Language Arts Study

Join Katie with Literary Cafe Podcast to learn about what to include in your Language Arts study in your homeschool. #homeschool #homeschooling #languagearts #english #middleschool #highschool

What do you need to include during the middle school years in Language Arts to make sure your learner is ready to tackle high school work? What kind of Language Arts and English program would colleges be looking for and what can count as credit for the high school transcript?

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage  or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she discusses what skills and concepts you should include in your Language Arts study during the middle and high school years. Katie shares an outline with some specific areas to make sure you include them in your Language Arts study during these critical years. She will suggest and discuss curriculum resources she found useful in her homeschool when her sons were in middle and high school that work efficiently and effectively to meet English requirements and make sure your learner is prepared for the next step – moving from middle into high school or high school into college.

The Areas of Language Arts you should include in the Middle and High School Years

What-to-Include-in-your-Middle and High School Homeschool-Language-Arts-Study pdf (Printable for you to download)

Show Notes

The Areas of Language Arts you should include in the Middle and High School Years
Reading/Literature

For literature during these years, I recommend a mix of short stories, poetry, essays (non-fiction), drama, and novels. These can be found either separately or in the form of a literary anthology and additional novels to read alongside the anthology.

Along with the novels, you will want to use some kind of novel study guides (that will also assist you with suggested vocabulary words and various questions).

Suggested Homeschool Literary Resources to Assist you in your Literature Study –

Total Language Plus (novel study guide)
Progeny Press (novel study guide)
Mosdos Press Literature Anthologies

Skills and Concepts for Literature Study

There are a number of skills and concepts you will want to include in your literary study.

These skills include –

• Vocabulary – I recommend using words from your reading for your vocabulary words because it saves you time and money from using a separate vocabulary program or curriculum. Most of all, in my experience it is more effective. The words are in context of what your learner is reading and will be understood and remembered more effectively because it is part of a story they will remember. It also gives your learner the practice in figuring out what words mean using their context within a sentence.

• Comprehension and Higher Order Thinking Skill Practice

Recalling details
Comprehending and understanding what they read (being able to identify the “main idea” or “theme” of the story)
Application skills – using what they have learned from the reading to problem solve
Analysis – drawing conclusions, comparing this written work to another from the same author or another author, or comparing what they have read to a personal experience.
Evaluation – critiquing the writing, selecting an issue from the writing and debating it.
Synthesis – taking a point, idea, theme, character from your reading and creating something new from that piece.
Elements of a story – plot, conflict, setting, characters, point of view, mood, tone
Literary devices and writing techniques such as similes, metaphors, imagery, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, alliteration.

• Study different Genres – forms of writing and rhetoric – speeches, drama, essays, short stories, poetry, non-fiction, and novels.

• Study different literary time periods and areas around the world.

American Literature – Native American, Pre-colonial/Puritanism, Colonial, Revolutionary (age of Enlightenment/Reason), Romanticism (includes American Gothic, Transcendentalism), Realism/Naturalism/Regionalism, Modernism, Contemporary

British – (some crossover from American) Old English/Anglo-Saxon, Middle English/Medieval, Renaissance, Puritanism, Enlightenment, Romantic (Regency), Victorian, Modern

World Literature – (Western, Eastern, Other) Can focus primarily on Ancient works from Greek Philosophers or Christian authors, or a broad cross-section of countries, authors, and time periods from around the world.

Semester Specialty Classes – Poetry, Shakespeare, Drama, Journalism, Creative Writing, Research and Composition, specific types of literature or specific authors or parts of the world.

• Worldview – Christian Worldview expressed by author and content or Secular/Humanist view.

• Author Biography and Time Period in which he/she lived or wrote about.
Literature can be a reflection of cultural, religious, societal, and historical views, beliefs, and events written from the author’s point of view or the content itself.

Literature can also be an influencer of cultural, religious, and societal beliefs from the time period and society in which it is written or the author’s point of view and intent. It can influence thinking and historical events.

Writing and Composition

I recommend using your literature study as the jumping off point for essay writing and composition. However, before you can begin with that practice, your middle schooler and early high school student has to have some basic foundation in writing skills.

Middle schoolers should master the proper format of a paragraph –

A Hook to capture the reader’s interest and a Topic Sentence
At least 3 detailed supporting sentences that gives more information directly related to the topic sentence.
A concluding sentence that brings that paragraph to a close.

By the time learners start their first year in high school, they should be working on mastering the proper 5 Paragraph Essay (in this case an informative essay).

I recommend having your learner pick a topic they could talk to you about off the top of his/her head for 15 minutes without really having to think much about it. This topic lends itself to writing this kind of essay and the learner can concentrate on the format of the paper instead of what to write.

Proper 5 Paragraph (Informative) Essay
A Hook and topic (thesis) sentence with an introductory paragraph that include mentioned the three subtopics (or details about the main topic) that you will be discussing in the paper.
3 Body – detailed, supporting paragraphs in the order in which they were mentioned in the introductory paragraph. – Include transition words and sentence variation.
Concluding paragraph which includes a rewording of the topic sentence with a mention of the 3 subtopics and a Clincher sentence (could be a big statement, last thought, question, or a call to action).

Then you are ready to use your literary pieces as a basis of other essays –
Persuasive essay
Analytical essay
Research (and/or MLA, APA, Chicago format) essay
Persuasive essay with citations
Compare and Contrast essay itself to college application essays)
Literary Criticism

 

Here is a bundle of notebooking pages that we used for our written narration that I mentioned in the podcast to develop our writing skills before we wrote formal essays of different forms. There is a set for different subject areas that we used to either make our own books or put into a 3-ring binder to put together a notebook of our writing and what we learned in that subject that year.

Make Your Own ABC Book Notebooking Pages Bundle Set

Grammar

Use your learner’s writing to assess what skills they need to review and practice each week.

Other review and practice for grammar skills can be found with these resources –

Rod and Staff – (books go up to 8th grade, but the concepts and skills are up through high school work.) These books use diagramming and are very well explained. If you have a learner that loves following and making lists of steps and learns best this way, you might want to try diagramming. However, if it is frustrating or challenging for you or your learner to understand the “diagramming process”, it may not be worth using that method to learn the grammatical concepts.

If you have a hands-on learner, you may want to check out Winston Grammar. This program uses a hands-on approach and labels parts of speech and how the words are used in a sentence.

Another program I recommend is the Easy Grammar series. The Easy Grammar books have the text and instruction to learn and practice new skills and the Daily Grams are workbooks that have a daily review with 5 different kinds of grammar concepts with one sample of each per day for a total of 5 quick review samples to practice. Loved this! As your child moves into high school, you may want to use the Ultimate Series which has the text and instruction and the practice in each. There are placement tests on the website to assist you.

Spelling in Language Arts Study

Spelling for middle school can still be in a phonics-based spelling book as recommended in my Language Arts for Elementary Ages podcast such as Building Spelling Skills by Christian Liberty Press .

You can also look at your learner’s writing and include words they misspell in your weekly spelling list.

If you have a learner who is ready to tackle more complex words, I recommend Spelling Power, an inclusive book that you will be able to use for years through high school and multiple learners. It supplies word lists and ways to study and learn the words each week.

Be sure to comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share that your family has used in your Language Arts or any of these ideas from this podcast you found helpful! I would love to hear from you! Thanks for visiting! Come back and visit the Literary Cafe Podcast for August’s topic when we discuss how to study grammar in your homeschool!

Make sure you subscribe to the Literary Cafe Podcast at iTunes so you don’t miss an episode or by clicking on the Android or RSS feed buttons below the recording on this page!

Join Katie with Literary Cafe Podcast to learn about what to include in your Language Arts study in your homeschool. #homeschool #homeschooling #languagearts #english #middleschool #highschool

 

 

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Preparing Middle Schoolers for High School- Special Replay

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June 13, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Preparing Middle Schoolers for High School- Special Replay

Preparing Middle Schoolers for High School- Special Replay.

Preparing Middle Schoolers for High School

Are you preparing middle schoolers for high school? Are they ready for the rigors of high-school level studies? Feeling stressed about it?

Never fear! Homeschool Highschool Podcast is here to help. With years of homeschooling middle school AND high school we have discovered a few REALLY helpful tips! In this special replay, 7SistersHomeschool’s Sabrina and Marilyn share some encouraging tips to help you love your middle school years.

Some parents get SO stressed out about the high school years.

They fearfully ask themselves:

  • Can our tween do high-school level academics?
  • Should we make our tween jump ahead to high-school level textbooks?

As you have noticed (and we always say): There’s not ONE kind of homeschooler so there’s not ONE right way to homeschool, especially middle school.

  • Some middle schoolers are academic wiz-kids.
    • They are ready to start earning high school credits in seventh and eighth grades. (Unfortunately, we have seen that sometimes these young folks burn themselves out by junior year- we will talk about that.)
  • Other middle schoolers do not care that high school is looming.
    • They are still enjoying their childhood and are definitely not matured enough (emotionally and/or academically) to face high school in a couple of years- we will talk about that, too.)
  • And on the other hand, some are a little ahead on some academics and grade-level on others.

You know what we tell those parents?

WHEN your tween is a teen and is IN high school, they will be developmentally ready for high school academics. While some middle schoolers are advanced academically, many are not. Why push an average-level tween to do super difficult academics? That’s a recipe for burnout!

Rather than push your middle schooler before they are ready for high-school academics, think about this:

Why not individualize some high-school preparation priorities for each of your middle schoolers?

Would one of these priorities or goals be good fits for your middle schoolers?

  • Work on starting to gradually pass the ownership of academic subjects over to your tween. For instance:

    • Depending on the curriculum you are doing, you can teach them to use a simple syllabus.
      • If your tween is just starting to learn about syllabi, you might need to make a simple bullet list of homework due dates and/or color code assignments and due dates.
      • Some tweens need for you to suggest the amount of time they might need in order to finish each assignment.
    • They can take a co-op or group class and learn to bring their homework to class (with their names on it).
      • Give them a backpack just for co-op and teach them to put their folders with homework assignments right in the backpack as soon as they finish it. Talk about paying attention in class so when the teacher calls for homework, they remember to actually hand it in.

  • Teach tweens how to triage their assignments.

      • If they have several assignments due at the same time, help them think about when and where each assignment should be done
        • Some courses need to be done early in the day when they feel energetic and what can they put off until the end of the day
        • Which assignment is the most important (as in: a bigger project is more pressing than a spelling assignment for many tweens)
        • Are there assignments they need help with (as in: trips to the library, extra time on the family computer, one-on-one time with mom)
          • Teach tweens how to ask parents for resource help:
            • Does your tween need a working printer (as in, it is not out of ink)?
            • Are there textbooks or other materials they need from their parents?
          • Along that line, teach tweens to politely advocate for themselves in co-op or live online classes.
    • Decide together where graded papers are kept (for portfolio reviews or for the rare class that has a cumulative final exam).
    • Do you have to occasionally allow a recalcitrant tween to fail (and then make sure there are enforced consequences)?

One of the surprising things we have learned is that high schoolers need life skills and study skills that are a bit more complex than they needed in middle school. If they begin working on those during middle school, they are less likely to need to play catch up while they are trying to keep up with their academics.

THAT’S important stuff middle schoolers can do to prepare for high school.

Join Sabrina and Marilyn for an important episode on life skills and study skills that middle schoolers need when preparing for high school!

You may also enjoy these posts:

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Homeschooling Middle School Your Way

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August 23, 2022 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Homeschooling Middle School Your Way.

Homeschooling Middle School Your Way

Homeschooling Middle School Your Way

We don’t often talk about middle school because we are so busy talking about high school. However, there are many, many homeschooling families that not only have high schoolers but middle schoolers as well. Not only that, but there are more and more families with middle schoolers who will be homeschooling all the way through graduation.

SO we get questions about the RIGHT way to homeschool middle school! (Can you guess what we are going to say? You are correct! There’s not ONE right way to homeschool middle school!)

However, parents of middle schoolers often feel a LOT of pressure to homeschool middle school correctly. They are told:

  • If your kids do not start working on high school material in middle school, they will not get into college when they graduate!
  • If you do not do serious academic work with your middle schoolers, they will not be ready for high school…and that means failure!
  • You must keep up with the educational Joneses!

Thus, middle school turns into a pressure-filled situation. Is that what your tweens need? Must middle school be filled with pressure?

SO, let’s talk about how seriously to take academics in homeschool middle school

Remember what we said: There’s not ONE right way to homeschool middle school.

With that in mind, let’s think about statistics: Most middle school students are average academians. That is because “average” is the statistic describing the middle of the population (usually the “bell” in the bell-shaped curve, if you like statistical graphs).

This means that some middle schoolers can start doing the higher-level maths (such as algebra or geometry) and enjoy them. This is especially true for the more academically bright tweens.

However, for many middle schoolers, these higher-level courses are not necessary. They will get to them in high school just fine and will not experience life failure as a result. They are not trying to compete for the most competitive colleges, such as Harvard. Rather, many homeschoolers will start out:

  • at local community colleges to save money
  • going to trade school
  • joining the military
  • or are aiming for less competitive colleges that have the best-fit for them

These middle schoolers are free to work on their academics at a more relaxed pace… in the right timing for them!

Homeschooling middle school your way

Really, really, really: You do not need to impress anybody…and neither does your middle schooler!

If your middle schooler thrives on doing seventh-grade math at seventh grade, followed by eighth-grade math at eighth grade, it is OKAY! If that is what is best for your family, put your shoulders back and chin up and do NOT be pressured to do otherwise!

Instead of heavy academics, why not fill middle school with rich experiences?

After all, middle school years are the last years where students can be free to truly experience learning adventures without being overly tied down to textbooks. High school can wait until high school for many middle schoolers.

Homeschooling high school (even for many unschoolers) will have a fair number of textbooks in order to earn the credits for graduation.

However, middle schoolers do not need to worry about earning credits. Instead, they can concentrate of building their love of learning. Just be sure to record all their cool experiences in their portfolios so you have a good record.

Here are some of the things we concentrated on during middle school

There are endless rich experiences that your tweens can build during middle school. They will extend many of these experiences into electives during high school but this is a good time to start. Think about:

Life skills

  • Cooking
  • Home maintenance
  • Home economics

Social skills and networking skills

If you can allow your tweens to explore and interest or gifting without pressure, they often will run with it. Some middle schoolers will ask about competitions in their interest areas. If so, go for it. However, if they just want to explore an interest for interest’s sake, why not?

On the other hand, there are middle schoolers who need the powerful academics

By the time these kids are in sixth or seventh grade, you know these kids. You understand that they are competitive academically (and often otherwise). You can see that they will be driven and WANT to go to a powerful college.

In that case, have them blast through their maths and other courses at their paces and interests. If they are:

  • Ready and want to do Algebra, Geometry and high school Sciences or Social Sciences
  • Or they are highly gifted in writing or other communication forms

let them run with it.

Give them resources: textbooks, mentors, courses…whatever is best fit for their learning styles. To hold them back to grade-level texts would stifle them with boredom. For these tweens, their interest and talent IS their academics.

Of course, with these tweens you often have to help them develop the life skills of work/life/social/self-care balances. Help them disrupt academics regularly with other activities.

It is good for young people to be the people they are! All kids are gifted in the way God made them to be gifted (check out this discussion on all kids being gifted).

My kid is being the best HIM that God made him to be.

For us moms: How to handle homeschooling middle school your way

Homeschooling middle school in the best way for our unique kids is wonderful at home. However, sometimes it can be a challenge for us moms. Especially when we are at co-op or with a group of other homeschool moms and someone is talking about their tweens’ WONDERFUL accomplishments!!

  • Sally won this amazing competition
  • Bob is just finishing Geometry with his tutor
  • George was just chosen for the Mensa program

And you are sitting there thinking, “My tween is plugging through seventh grade Math but he LOVES hiking and sketching what he sees. He doesn’t want to do a competition with the things he loves, he just wants to enjoy them.”

When your buddies ask you, “SO, what’s your kid doing?”

So you answer:

My kid is being the best HIM that God made him to be.

Because that is what he is called to do. AND we are called to help them be their best selves…not someone else’s best self.

That’s because there’s not ONE right way to homeschool middle school, so homeschool middle school your way.

Check out these wonderful Homeschool High School Podcast episodes:

Also, here’s a fun middle school acrostic.

Join Vicki and homeschool your way!

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  2. OR take this IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on View in “…your favorite podcast source”
  3. This will take you to Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast source and our own podcast page.
  4. Click SUBSCRIBE.
  5. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!)
  6. Thanks!

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Homeschooling Multiple Ages – HIRL Special Replay

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September 20, 2021 by Leave a Comment

How does a homeschooling parent possibly educate older kids while at the same time juggling preschoolers, toddlers, and babies?

How does a homeschooling parent possibly educate older kids while at the same time juggling preschoolers, toddlers, and babies? Is it even realistic to think we could do a good job while spinning so many homeschool plates?

On this episode of Homeschooling in Real Life, Fletch and Kendra talk about how they’ve managed to homeschool 8 kids, how to structure a day so that schooling actually gets done, and how mom can survive and thrive during the demanding years of homeschooling multiple ages.

 

 

SHOW NOTES:

Recommended Resources:
Three Essential Keys to Homeschooling Multiple Ages
Preschoolers and Peace Website

Betty the Surf Dog – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Website
Rasta The Chocolate Lab – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Website
Fletch Twitter
Kendra Twitter

Previous Episodes Mentioned:
All of them

Music clips used on this episode:
None

LISTEN HERE

Are you ready to listen to Fletch and Kendra get real about homeschooling? Press the PLAY button below.

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A Special Thank You to Our Network Sponsor:  Courageous Movie

 

From the Kendrick Brothers, creators of the No. 1 box-office movie WAR ROOM and OVERCOMER, comes the remastered re-release of COURAGEOUS Legacy, in theaters September 24. Celebrating 10 years of impact on families and fathers, this updated version of the film includes new scenes and an enhanced look and sound.

Filled with action-packed drama, COURAGEOUS Legacy will once again have viewers laughing, crying, and cheering as they are challenged and inspired by everyday heroes who long to be the kinds of dads that make a lifelong impact on their children. Protecting the streets is second nature to these men. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That’s courageous.

Check out the trailer here!

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Technology and the Middle School Years

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August 18, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Technology and the Middle School Years

145: Technology and the Middle School Years

In this episode we look at technology and the middle school years from two different perspectives:

1. How much technology is too much?

The first topic I discuss is video gaming. The article I reference is here.
The Instagram account to look at is @juliebravewriter. Click on “Video Games” under highlights in Stories.

The second topic is Social Media. The website I reference is Social Media Test Drive. I also mention a previous podcast episode: Homeschooling Digital Natives


2. How much technology is too little?
Make sure they know the basics they will need for high school. FundaFunda Academy teaches a Computer Applications class that will prepare them well.

Let them take at least one online class in middle school. If you want an inexpensive self-paced option, look at FundaFunda’s web-based unit studies.

How to find balance in tech usage with middle schoolers?

I give ideas on different approaches. You are invited to join the Homeschooling Middle School Facebook Group to talk about this and other issues with homeschool parents of middle schoolers.

Special offer for August 2021:

Share about this podcast on any of your social media accounts, or in online forums, Google groups etc OR leave a rating and review on the podcast player you use, then take a photo or screenshot and email it to meryl@fundafunda.com. Everyone who does that can select ANY $20 web-based unit study from sponsor FundaFunda Academy.

————————————————————————————————–
Take a look at show sponsor, FundaFunda Aademy to see what they offer for online classes and web-based unit studies.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode.

Technology and the Middle School Years

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7 Reasons I Teach Newspaper Reporting In Middle School

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February 3, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Finish Well Radio Show, Podcast #106, 7 Reasons I Teach Newspaper Reporting In Middle School with Meredith Curtis on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network

7 Reasons I Teach Newspaper Reporting In Middle School

In “7 Reasons I Teach Newspaper Reporting in Middle School,” episode #106, Meredith Curtis shares how she hones in our children’s writing before they start high school by teaching them to write like reporters. Not only do they learn to write clearly and concisely, they have fun putting together a newspaper and write with a purpose—for others to read their writing. Not only that, newspapers played a huge part in the history of the United States, so studying newspaper writing, though the newspaper industry is fading away, helps children understand our past with clarity by putting on their reporter and editor hats. Getting children ready for essays, research papers, and literary analysis doesn’t have to be boring. Writing like a reporter is super-fun and so is creating your own newspaper. Be inspired to enjoy middle school English while investing in your children’s long term growth as writers.

 

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Show Notes

Common questions: “How do you teach English in middle school?” and “How do you get kids ready for high school.

One thing I do in middle school is teach my children to think like reporters.

Some time in middle school we do a newspaper writing course.

We learn to write headlines, bylines, news stories, and put together a newspaper to share with others.

How a newspaper works with editor, reporters, columnists, and business side

History of newspapers

This is really fun to do with another family or two or in a co-op setting if you don’t have a big family.

Here are the Skills I Teach: 

Reporters

Asking questions

Find way around newspaper

Lead

Who, what, where, and when in the first sentence. Why and/or how in second.

What is really happening?

What is important and what isn’t?

Headlines & Bylines

Bylines: who wrote it and where

Headlines: brief, eye-catching, make reader want to know more

Font

Editing

Editing matters because people will be reading your work

Grammar & spelling in a practical way

Editor marks

Supplemental grammar/spelling

Creating a Newspaper

So much involved from writing to editing to business side

Everyone gets a job

Everyone writes an article

Mom is publisher and possibly editor-in-chief too

Making and selling ads

Teamwork

History

Brief look at history of newspapers

American history—federalist and anti-federalist papers

Different Slant and honest about compared to today

Yellow Journalism

Fun!

Joy of creating something other people enjoy!

Joy of working together on a big project

Joy of growing as a writer

Joy of people reading your writing—writing has a purpose

English Courses

If you would like to use my English courses in your own homeschool, they are all available for sale in print at Amazon and as E-books from PowerineProd.com, PayHip, and TeachersPayTeachers.

You can learn about individual English courses:

Whatever path you choose for English in your own high school home school, I hope it will include lots of classic literature and writing. I think back to the basics is best!

Resources

American Literature & Research Newspaper Reporting by Meredith Curtis Communications 101:Essays and Speeches High School Class Foundations of Western Literature by Meredith Curtis
British Literature & Writing High School Class Who Dun It? Murder Mystery Literature and Writing High School Class HIS Story of the 20th Century by Meredith Curtis HIS Story of the 20th Century: High School Workbook by Meredith Curtis

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Preparing for High School with Cheryl Bastian

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May 2, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Preparing for High School Preparing for High School with Cheryl Bastian

Podcast #72

Does High School scare you? Are you concerned your children won’t be ready? Many people feel overwhelms at the prospect of homeschooling the high school years. Well, put those fears aside! You can do it! With a little planning, you will be ready to successfully teach prepare your student to graduate.

Cheryl Bastian joins us as we talk about preparing your teen for high school.

About Cheryl

Cheryl Bastian can’t remember a time when she wasn’t teaching. What started with making her brothers play school evolved to job shadowing and tutoring in high school. Through experiential learning, Cheryl’s passion for education grew. She completed post-secondary coursework and internships at Illinois State University, first as a special education major and then continuing in early childhood education. Concerned she would miss once-in-a-lifetime milestones in her children, Cheryl left the classroom and brought learning home.

Twenty-four years of homeschooling, eight children—ages twenty-eight to toddler— allow Cheryl and her husband Mike to journey alongside families at many stages of parenting and learning, from toddling to adulting. As a magazine columnist, blogger, and speaker, Cheryl shares her experiences, stories and challenges as she enthusiastically encourages parents to be intentional, real, and relational as they raise life-long learners. Her resources are available at Celebrate Simple www.cherylbastian.com.

High School Information

Register for Convention   Deadline to register – May 3rd

 

Talks Cheryl will be presenting at the 2019 Convention:

30. CELEBRATE MIDDLE SCHOOL: FOSTERING INGENUITY

66. SAILING THROUGH ANNUAL EVALUATIONS

78. MATH NEVER TASTED GOOD

118. CELEBRATE HIGH SCHOOL: FINISH WITH EXCELLENCE

146. PICTURE BOOKS, PAPER, AND PAINT BRUSHES

Register for Convention HERE

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Best of HIRL: Homeschooling Multiple Ages

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
April 3, 2019 by Leave a Comment

HIRL-Episode-108

This week on this replay episode of Homeschooling IRL:  How does a homeschooling parent possibly educate older kids while at the same time juggling preschoolers, toddlers, and babies? Is it even realistic to think we could do a good job while spinning so many homeschool plates?

On this episode of Homeschooling in Real Life, Fletch and Kendra talk about how they’ve managed to homeschool 8 kids, how to structure a day so that schooling actually gets done, and how mom can survive and thrive during the demanding years of homeschooling multiple ages.

 

EPISODE TIMELINE
:50 Fluff – LOST, Father’s Day, Publishing, Summer Vacation
7:25 Homeschooling Multiple Ages, Part 1
18:16 – Homeschooling Multiple Ages, Part 2
33:35 The show is over. Goodbye!

SHOW NOTES:

Recommended Resources:
Three Essential Keys to Homeschooling Multiple Ages
Preschoolers and Peace Website

Betty the Surf Dog – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Website
Rasta The Chocolate Lab – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Website
Fletch Twitter
Kendra Twitter

Previous Episodes Mentioned:
All of them

Music clips used on this episode:
None

SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE AN iTUNES REVIEW:

Allow the magic of the internet to deliver Homeschooling In Real Life to your tablet or smart phone. Let us show you how easy it is:

  1. Follow this link to our iTunes page.
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  3. The iTunes program will automatically launch and take you to our podcast page.
  4. FIRST – Click SUBSCRIBE. Voila! All or our podcasts will come directly to your computer and smart phone.
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  6. Thanks for being one of our listeners! HIRLers rock!

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO LISTEN TO HomeschoolingIRL?

  1. You can listen right on this page. There is an audio player below.
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LISTEN HERE

Are you ready to listen to Fletch and Kendra get real about homeschooling? Press the PLAY button below.

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Developing Language Skills in your Young Learner

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
March 21, 2019 by Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 13: Developing Language Skills in your Young Learner

 

Developing Language Skills in your Young Learner podcast #homeschool #homeschooling #languageskills #languagearts #reading #writing #preschool #elementary #literarycafepodcast #drseuss #rhyming #rhythm #repetitionThe time to start reading and developing language skills in your young learner is now.

Reading at least 15 minutes per day from the time your child is an infant and even through high school will not only promote a bond with your child and an enjoyment in reading, but help develop vocabulary, reading, and writing skills.

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage  or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she shares step by step how to easily develop language skills in your young learner with practical tips, resources, and book and activity ideas that help you get started right away.

Show Notes

Developing Language Skills in your Young Learner

If you suspect your child is experiencing language or processing issues, you may want to check out Dianne Craft’s articles and materials at diannecraft.org. I used quite a few of her materials, articles, and her Brain Integration Therapy guide.

Book Title Suggestions for Rhyme, Rhythm and Repetition

Start with simple Dr. Seuss Books – Hop on Pop, Dr. Seuss’s ABC’s, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Then longer Dr. Seuss Books – Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham

Sheep in a Jeep

Sheep Go to Sleep

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?

Assorted Poetry Books – The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury

Reading Activity Suggestions

Start with nursery rhymes and finger and hand motions while you recite them together.

As you read together, point to each word as you read it aloud.

Point to the pictures on the page and comment and ask questions about them. (Depending on the age of your child, you can ask them a question about what a picture is or a color in the picture.) As they get older or more familiar with the book, you can ask more complex questions. (Visit Using Higher Order Thinking Skills in your Reading to gain ideas in asking questions and developing thinking skills.)

Repeat reading the same books (as long as your child shows interest in it) for at least 15 minutes per day.

Use your child’s finger to point at the words as you say them and allow them to turn the page if they want.

Take turns reading sentences or pages so that your child doesn’t feel overwhelmed by reading too much at one time. (For practical and fun ways to engage reluctant readers, visit Ultimate List of Fun Ways to Engage your Reluctant Reader.)

Put magnetic letters on the refrigerator for play opportunities.

Have a letter of the day or week and let your child tell you whenever they see that letter during the day.

Depending on what kind of learner you have, you could try different kinds of activities to learn the alphabet –

Songs, chants and books read aloud (audio books) for auditory learners

Use pictures of the alphabet that have animals or pictures within the letters so that the learner can make connections or stories to help them remember the letters for visual learners.

For tactile or kinesthetic learner –
Cut letters out of sand paper and trace the letters with their fingers.
Trace letters of the alphabet in the sand or shaving cream or finger paint.
Trace letters in the air using whole arm movements and paint letters on the driveway with water and a paint brush.
Form letters with your whole body or out of play dough or pipe cleaners.

For rhyming books or poetry –

Read a line with a rhyming word at the end and stop reading once you get to the rhyming word and let your child say the rhyming word.
Copy down the poem and leave a space at the end of the line for the rhyming word and let your child fill in the blank.

For Sight Words –

Copy sight words down on index cards to make flash cards. (If your child has a difficult time reading a part of the word, write that part of the word in a different color.) (Go to www.sightwords.com for lists of words and activity suggestions.)
Copy word family words down on index cards to make flash cards and write the word family sound in a different color.
Make duplicate copies of these words for games – Go Fish, Old Maid, Memory or Concentration Matching Game.

For Writing Activity Suggestions

Have your child paint or draw a picture on the top half of a page of paper. Then have your child tell you in a sentence what the picture is about. Write down what your child says underneath the picture as he/she says it so they can connect what they are saying to what you are writing down.

As your child gets older begin the practice of having them retell parts of stories back to you or short stories back to you. Then have them practice writing down one sentence at a time (even if they are using inventive or “creative” spelling) until they can write down more than one sentence, building up to multiple sentences. They can then draw a picture about what they just wrote about.

For detailed steps and more ways to help your struggling or early writer, visit Teaching your Struggling Writer How to Write.)

Be sure to comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share about developing language skills that your family has found helpful! Or, if you found any ideas here helpful or have any questions! I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting!

Make sure you download our podcast at iTunes or subscribe to the Literary Cafe Podcast by clicking on the Android or RSS feed buttons below the recording on this page! And make sure you share this page with other homeschoolers with middle and high schoolers and are wondering how to get started writing in these grade levels!

 

Developing Language Skills in your Young Learner podcast #homeschool #homeschooling #languageskills #languagearts #reading #writing #preschool #elementary #literarycafepodcast #drseuss #rhyming #rhythm #repetition

 

 

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Using Higher Order Thinking Skills in Your Reading

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
February 28, 2019 by Leave a Comment

LCP Ep 12: Using Higher Order Thinking Skills in Your Reading

 

Using Higher Order Thinking Skills in Your Reading with Literary Cafe Podcast #homeschool #homeschooling #literarycafepodcast #reading #higherorderthinkingskills #criticalthinkingskills #languageartsAre you wondering what we mean by “higher order thinking skills” or “critical thinking skills”?

And what do you do with them and how do you teach them to your children? And how are you supposed to do that with reading?

Visit Katie’s website for more fun ideas and tips to use in your homeschool at Katie’s Homeschool Cottage  or her Facebook Group.

Join Katie Glennon as she explains what higher order thinking skills are, why they are important, and how you can practice them with your children in fun and easy ways.

 

Show Notes

Using Higher Order Thinking Skills with Your Reading

Different Levels and Kinds of Higher Order Thinking Skills

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Thinking skills can be organized in a hierarchy of difficulty (and also according to stage of child and learning development). In other words, from least to most difficult and acquired as a child ages.

For a detailed description of these thinking skills, what they look like in your child, why they are important, and how to practice using them in easy and fun ways, you will want to listen to the podcast.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a method of labeling and describing the different levels of thinking skills and what they entail.

Knowledge or Remembering – This thinking skill is the ability to recall information and details or memorize facts or words.

Comprehension or Understanding – This skill requires the need to understand the meanings of the words and what they mean when used together in phrases or sentences to express an idea. Your child needs to have the vocabulary knowledge and the capacity to understand the concept being presented.

Application or Applying – Not only does this skill require understanding and comprehension of something, but also the ability to take that learned and understood information and apply it to a similar situation.

Analysis or Analyzing – This skill requires understanding something and making connections in what is being read or studied because the connections are not spelled out or clearly identified for the learner. The learner has to make the connections on his or her own.

Synthesis or Revising – This thinking skill allows your child to make a leap or build new thoughts based on the connections they’ve made using the other thinking skills we’ve been discussing – formulating what they are comprehending, learning, and connecting from the reading and making something new or forming new thoughts from all of this.

Evaluation – This is where your child learns to make a judgment about something, form an opinion or make a decision.

Question Starters to Practice Different Levels of Thinking Skills

Bloom’s Question Starters Handout

Higher Order Thinking Question Stems Handout

Suggested Activities to Practice Using Different Levels of Thinking Skills

Recalling and retelling information through retelling what your learner has heard during a read aloud of a short story or chapter.

Graphic Organizers or Mind Mapping – Use these to practice thinking skills and organize and use different concepts or ideas.

Graphic Organizers to Print

Mind Map Examples for Different Topics

Activities and Projects Related to a Book (Out of the Box Book Report Ideas and Literature Study) – using different kinds of thinking skills and learning styles

Podcast and Show Notes with Handout for Essential Guide to Out of the Box Book Report Ideas and Literature Study

Have your learner create his or her own assessment to either give to another learner or themselves – a quiz, test, paper, project – and have them write it to include different levels of thinking skills. They would also need an answer key or something to evaluate the outcome of the assessment, requiring them to use even more thinking skills.

Have your learner create a lesson plan around your book, maybe literary devices or techniques, story elements used in the book, or character analysis. Have him or her include a lesson to present with created visual aides, guided practice opportunity with the class like an activity, game, or class practice, and an assessment like a quiz, practice worksheet, or other assignment.

Consciously making the effort and taking time to incorporate different levels of questions or activities or projects not only can make reading more interesting but definitely expands your learner’s thinking abilities and prepares them for knowing how to think – and not just answer questions only requiring recall.

This helps to develop our problem solvers, innovators, creators, and leaders of tomorrow.

Be sure to comment in the Comments box any ideas you’d like to share about using and practicing thinking skills  that your family has found helpful! Or, if you found any ideas here helpful or have any questions! I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting! Come back and visit the Literary Cafe Podcast for March’s topic when we discuss developing language skills in your younger learners. I have all kinds of practical and fun ways to get your early learners reading and writing and loving it! We are also going to be tying it to Dr. Seuss’ birthday which is also celebrated in March!

Make sure you download our podcast at iTunes or subscribe to the Literary Cafe Podcast by clicking on the Android or RSS feed buttons below the recording on this page! And make sure you share this page with other homeschoolers with middle and high schoolers and are wondering how to get started writing in these grade levels!

 

Using Higher Order Thinking Skills in Your Reading with Literary Cafe Podcast #homeschool #homeschooling #literarycafepodcast #reading #higherorderthinkingskills #criticalthinkingskills #languagearts

 

 

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