Elementary Archives - Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

7 Excellent Ways to Help Your Kid LOVE Math

February 27, 2020 By Kris Bales

Are you one of those people who are “bad at math”? Try these tips to avoid passing your negative feelings along to your kids and help them love math. And, learn how CTCMath can help!

Math is one of those subjects that seems to intimidate adults and children alike. We nurse our negative feelings about long-division or solving for x into adulthood. Then, whether consciously or unconsciously, we pass those negative feelings on to our kids.

$7 Excellent Ways to Help Your Kid LOVE Math$

Math shouldn’t seem so intimidating, though. We use it every day – often much more than we realize. Try these tips to overcome your negative feelings and help your kids learn to love math. [Read more…]

5 Ways to Make Learning About Money Fun

February 14, 2020 By Sara

Learning about money is an essential life skill, but it can be confusing and boring. Try Sara’s tips to make learning about money FUN!

Written by Sara Jordan Panning of Heart and Soul Homeschooling

Learning about money is an essential life skill to teach your children. But our monetary system can be a little boring – and confusing. Help your kids grasp the concept of money during your homeschool lessons by making the process engaging.

As you plan out your homeschool curriculum, consider these five ways to make learning about money fun.

Play Store

One fun way to teach your kids about money is to make the lesson a practical one. Set up a toy store with your kid’s favorite toys or create a play grocery store using food from your pantry. Place price tags on each item, give your kids a handful of change, and send them shopping. Help them add up their selections and ask them to pay the total using the money you gave them.

You can pick up some play money at your local dollar store or purchase realistic play money if you don’t want to use real money. [Read more…]

5 Practical Ways to Help Your Homeschooler Write Better

January 6, 2020 By Bethany Ishee

Are you a homeschool mom struggling to help your child become a better writer? It’s not as hard as you think. Try Bethany’s tips to help your homeschooler write better.

Written by Bethany Ishee of BethanyIshee.com.

Want to know a secret? Writing is a subject that many homeschool parents dread as much as their children do. While kids are groaning, “Why do I have to write?” their parents are lamenting, “How do I teach writing?”

So many questions and arguments arise as we struggle to help our homeschooler write better.

What’s a homeschool parent to do?

5 Practical Ways to Help Your Homeschooler Write Better

It’s not as mysterious as it seems. Just a few recommendations will help you lead your student to improved writing without tears and a red pen. As a bonus, these ideas work with any curriculum. So don’t think you need to buy something new. You can implement these tips today with what you have. [Read more…]

3 Inexpensive Screen-Free Games That Make Math Fun

December 5, 2019 By Kris Bales

If you’re looking for inexpensive, screen-free games that make math fun, check out the games from Absolute Zero. From practicing sums of ten to adding positive and negative integers, kids can practice vital math skills, all while having a blast!

I have a confession. When I’m playing games with friends and family, I make every effort not to be the scorekeeper. It stresses me to have people watching and waiting for me to tally their score.

What if I make an addition error? What if I draw a complete blank trying to add two numbers? Yes, I’m a grown adult, and I do possess basic math skills, but that math phobia from my school days is deeply embedded in my brain.

I know others share those math-phobic feelings. That’s why I love products like the games from Absolute Zero! They help kids overcome math anxiety by developing number sense in a fun, stress-free way.

Three Games that Make Math Fun from Absolute Zero

When I was actively homeschooling young learners, I relied heavily on games as a teaching tool. If we could make it a game, we did. And, I strongly preferred board and card games over online or computer-based games because once we turned that screen on, it was always hard to turn it off and get back on track.

That’s why I was so excited to discover the games from Absolute Zero. Created by a mom and math teacher, these games meet four of my main criteria:

They are educational card games that are fun to play
There are games for both older and younger students
There are tips for adapting each game for a broader range of skill level
Each game focuses on skills that kids need to improve number sense

[Read more…]

A Simple Way To Make Introducing Plant Classification Fun

October 11, 2019 By Heather Pleier

Make introducing plant classification fun and interest-led with a simple smartphone app. Learn how the Seek app makes it fun and easy to explore plant life.

Written by Heather Pleier of Wonderschooling.

In education, we tend to do things backward. We want to start with the book – with the head knowledge – and then, once they’re ready, give our kids a chance to try it out, to experience whatever they’ve learned.

We save the fun for last.

That’s a terrible idea. To learn something, we need two things: context and interest.

A Simple Way To Make Introducing Plant Classification Fun

While it’s great to provide background knowledge (and structure and rules as needed for safety), most people learn most effectively through experience. Then we can apply that learning to the larger picture of the textbook or unit study.

This summer, my kids and I worked on plant classification in a rather unorthodox way. We used an app on my smartphone. [Read more…]