Donuts are life. Okay, maybe not life-sustaining. But definitely life-enriching. Nothing gets my kids up and out of the bed faster than me shouting “Alright, let’s go to Krispy Kreme!” So when I wanted to share a fun ELA activity set to keep them practicing creative writing, parts of speech, and more, I knew thisKeep Reading…
Learning about short vowel sounds is part of a great foundation in early literacy. After all, when we teach early readers to decode CVC words, the short vowel sound in the center is what separates the two consonants. But early learners tend to remember concepts best when they get to incorporate movement in each lesson. Keep Reading…
It’s already back to school season. Can you believe it? Personally, I’ve had a wonderful summer break and I am not in any way ready to get back to class. I have a pretty strong hunch my kids feel the same way. But, like it or not, summer is coming to an end. So, IKeep Reading…
I’ve never actually sat down and written a list of my favorite things. If I did, though, I think donuts would be near the top. Down here in the South, Krispy Kreme reigns supreme as the best place to get doughnuts. While I’m a stickler for the unadulterated goodness of glazed, my kids love frostedKeep Reading…
Since we’ve been working through BookShark Level 1 with our youngest, we’ve gotten to read plenty of wonderful stories. When I looked at the bookshelf and noticed we had yet to read Green Eggs and Ham, though, I wanted to jump for joy. As a child, I read The Cat In the Hat first. ButKeep Reading…
I am a huge grammar nerd. I’ve always loved learning about language and how we use it. My oldest is a fellow ELA junkie, but my middle kids are…less enthusiastic about learning the rules of lexicon. Plus, I just wanted to make a basic ELA lesson more fun, especially for our rising second grader. SoKeep Reading…
It’s time for another entry in our second-grade activity series! This week, we’re talking about how to help second graders count and identify syllables in common words. With Pooh, we use the typical “clap it out” method to count syllables. So we’ll have him say a word and then for each sound he hears, heKeep Reading…
Early elementary grades are some of the most critical times for developing language arts skills. Kids are learning how to read fluently, how to identify parts of speech, and how to create clear sentences on their own. As part of second grade language arts standards, children often learn how to form and use both singularKeep Reading…
We have two very active boys in our family. They are not big fans of language arts. But they ARE big fans of anything related to construction. So I thought I’d make a language arts contractions lesson that lets them learn how to “build” basic English contractions: Construction Contractions! It’s a complete construction themed language artsKeep Reading…
We’ve got more free printable flashcards for you today! This time, we’re sharing free contraction flashcards with a fun construction theme! My boys are deep into a construction phase right now. Roo, in particular, is obsessed with earth movers, bulldozers, cranes, dump trucks, and just about anything related to building. He told me last weekKeep Reading…
We’re back with another set of free printable flashcards! This time, we’re talking about short vowel sounds. Personally, I didn’t learn to read with phonics and neither did our oldest daughter. Our oldest boy, though, really needed help with phonic sounds, so we focused on long and short vowel sounds pretty early. I thought I’dKeep Reading…
My middle schooler is a total grammar nerd. I can’t imagine where she might have gotten that from…*cough* it was me *cough*. I remember loving Language Arts in school. I was totally into learning parts of speech, creative writing, poetry, and all the things that make English great. But by the time I got toKeep Reading…
Remember going to nursery school? (That’s preschool for those of you born after 1990.) You basically spent the day playing, singing songs, eating snacks, and listening to stories. It was the highlight of my four-year-old existence. My nursery school was named “Shady Oaks”, which still makes me think of sitting under a giant oak treeKeep Reading…
Punctuation is one of those concepts that’s kind of boring, but you just have to learn it. We start talking about the use of periods, question marks, and exclamation marks in the early grades, but when kids get into their upper elementary years, it’s time to introduce other marks (colon, semi-colon, quotation marks, etc.). So IKeep Reading…
Creative writing is one of the most difficult subjects I’ve ever had to teach in our homeschool. I was an English major in college and I love the writing process, but letting go of what English “should” sound and look like has been a real issue for me personally, so it’s hard for me toKeep Reading…
This is a conversation on behalf of WriteShop. Opinions are 100% my own. Do you have any reluctant writers in your family? We do. Tigger is an avid reader, but a hesitant writer. I understand. I’m exactly the same way. 🙂 So I was thrilled when we got a chance to try the homeschool writingKeep Reading…
I’m nearing the end of my third semester in college and I’m an English major, so it goes without saying that I write A LOT of academic papers. A LOT. Fortunately, I actually enjoy writing papers, although I realize that I’m in the distinct minority on this. 🙂 When you’re in college, you don’t reallyKeep Reading…
We’ve been enjoying co-hosting Family Fun Friday! This week we’re featuring our favorite posts from last week’s linky and they’re all about language arts for homeschoolers! We’ve mentioned a few homeschool language arts curriculum options before, but this week’s posts include fun activities, stories, and writing ideas to get kids excited about learning! Be sure toKeep Reading…
Language arts is one of the most important aspects of a good homeschooling education. Since we’re eclectic homeschoolers, we tend to mix and match resources for most subjects, including language arts. Today, I’m sharing five homeschool language arts curriculum resources to help you put together your own language arts program! Trust me, it’s easier thanKeep Reading…
Note: I received a free copy of this product in exchange for this review. See our Disclosure Policy for details. Our kids, like just about all kids, love LEGO blocks. Love them. But I never had the idea to combine LEGO building with writing. Renee Brown from Great Peace Academy did, though, and she’s putKeep Reading…
This post contains affiliate links. See our Disclosure Policy for details. Hi all! We’re co-hosting the Poetry Celebration and Contest over at Preschool Powol Packets today! All month long, the co-hosts have been sharing great tips for introducing poetry to kids and we’re wrapping up the series today with a look at the work ofKeep Reading…
