Christmas Read-alouds: 10 Surprising Christmas Tales You Need to Read This Year

November 21, 2019 By Bethany Ishee

Enjoying Christmas read-alouds as a family is a wonderful holiday tradition. This year, consider these ten books that break away from the typical Christmas story recommendations.

Written by Bethany Ishee of BethanyIshee.com.

For most of us, it’s the time of year for choosing Christmas read-alouds, and the classic holiday stories are at the forefront of our minds. It doesn’t seem that Christmas would be complete without A Christmas Carol, The Gift of the Magi, or The Little Match Girl. Part of the comfort and magic of the season is knowing these stories will make their annual appearances.

But perhaps you’re looking for something new this year. Maybe you would like to engage your older children who aren’t as eager to hear the same story over and over as they once were.

Christmas Read-alouds: 10 Surprising Christmas Tales You Need to Read This Year

Whatever the reason, here are ten surprising Christmas read-alouds you need to consider this year. From forgotten older books to contemporary literature, there is sure to be a tale or two to pique your holiday spirits.

Christmas Read-Alouds You Might Not Have Considered

Christmas and reading aloud go together like hot cocoa and marshmallows, and reading as a family is a holiday tradition for many. However, maybe you’ve read all of the Christmas classics and are ready for a new holiday adventure. Here are 10 Christmas read alouds you might not have considered before, but should. [Read more…]

5 Simple Ways to Add Just for Fun Reading to Your Family’s Daily Routine

September 24, 2019 By Sara

Homeschooling families tend to read a lot, but do you include enough just for fun reading in your homeschool day? Try Sara’s simple tips to make sure you do!

Written by Sara Jordan Panning of Heart and Soul Homeschooling

You’ve seen them in the library – the family pulling the wagon loaded with books. Maybe you were looking in the mirror when you saw them. Whatever the case, it’s pretty safe to assume that anytime you see a book-toting, wagon-pulling family in the library, they’re probably homeschoolers

5 Simple Ways to Add Just for Fun Reading to Your Family’s Daily Routine

We homeschoolers tend to do a lot of reading. Especially when you’re taking a literature-rich, living books approach to learning as we do in our family. But how often do we encourage our children to read just for fun as an enjoyable activity?

Do you encourage reading for the pure joy of getting lost in a good story? Or exploring delight-directed learning of their own choice?

5 Simple Ways to Add Just for Fun Reading to Your Family’s Daily Routine

We all know how essential reading is to our children’s development. But sometimes it can be challenging to incorporate into your family’s already busy schedule. You probably already read often with your homeschool curriculum. But, making just for fun reading a fun part of your family’s routine is a great way to reinforce its importance in your everyday life.

Add reading to your family’s daily routine with these simple tips. [Read more…]

One Simple Trick for Evaluating a Book’s Level

August 5, 2019 By Heather Pleier

There are some great resources to decide if your child is ready for a novel, but there’s an even easier way. In the following article, Heather shares one simple trick for evaluating a book’s level.

Written by Heather Pleier of Wonderschooling.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had the same conversation. A parent wants to know if a book is appropriate for her child – if she should be allowed to read a particular novel.

Is he ready for Harry Potter? Charlie & the Chocolate Factory? Ender’s Game? Lord of the Rings? You name it.

One Simple Trick for Evaluating a Book's Level

There are some great resources, like Common Sense Media and even Scholastic, that rate books by interest level as well as difficulty. But there’s one simpler trick that works almost every time. This trick makes it a breeze to evaluate a book’s level and determine if it’s right for your child.

It’s just one simple question. [Read more…]

How to Make Your Kids Want to Write (or at Least Grumble a Little Less)

May 14, 2019 By Kris Bales

If motivating your children to write seems like an impossible dream, try these tips to tone down the writing-related grumbling in your homeschool.

“My kid hates to write!” How many times have you said those words or heard another homeschooling parent say them? Reluctant writers are the entire reason we started sharing monthly printable writing prompts.

But, even with writing prompts, how do you get a reluctant writer to like writing…or, at least, not grumble about it quite so much?

Try these tips to make writing more agreeable to the pencil-twirlers and corner-doodlers in your house. [Read more…]

How to Create Simple but Effective Homeschool Language Arts Lessons

May 7, 2019 By Kris Bales

An integrated approach is one of the best ways to teach homeschool language arts lessons. Learn how to create literature-based lessons easily.

Sometimes, we homeschooling parents like to make learning more complicated than it is. We forget about the natural curiosity of children and lose sight of the fact that so much of the information we want to impart is already part of our everyday lives.

For example, we feel that we have to pull together the perfect spelling, phonics, handwriting, vocabulary, and grammar programs. (Guilty.) However, most of us likely have all we need for a great homeschool language arts lesson sitting on {one of our many} our bookshelves.

And, no, I’m not talking about those stacks of dusty, unused-but-I-just-might-need-it-someday homeschool curriculum. (Yes, I have them, too.)

I’m talking about the books that you already own. The ones you snuggle up with for bedtime stories. The ones your voracious reader devours when she’s supposed to be sleeping. And, the ones the whole family gathers around to hear during family read-aloud time. [Read more…]