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…]

Tips for Wrapping Up Your Homeschool Year Right and 2019 May Writing Prompts {FREE PRINTABLE}

May 1, 2019 By Adrienne Bolton

What does wrapping up your homeschool year look like at your house? We’ve got some tips to help you wrap up the year right, plus free writing prompts!

Written by Adrienne Bolton of The Mommy Mess.

I can’t believe it’s almost time to start wrapping up the year! Do you take a summer break? We have in the past, but at this point, we’ve become unschoolers by default and have no idea what our plan is for the upcoming week, let alone summer.

I’m sure we’ll be doing some things over the break, but technically, our school year calendar ends in May.

What does wrapping up the year look like in your homeschool?

Are you celebrating accomplishments or beating yourself up for not getting enough done? If I’m candid, I’m busy doing much more of the latter. It’s a been a rough year.

Homeschooling a child with OCD, anxiety, or mental illness can be discouraging at times, and this year has been one of those times for our family. If you’re the parent of a special needs student, you understand the roller coaster of emotions that come with the job of homeschooling a child who’s different.

Am I doing enough?

How will I get through to my kid who hates school?

What if we don’t finish?

Anybody?

No matter if you’re homeschooling a child with special needs or not, the homeschool mom worries tend to creep up at the end the year, don’t they? If you’re feeling down about your year, know you’re not alone!

It’s an excellent time to remind yourself of all the positives. Focus on what you’ve accomplished and celebrate milestones, no matter how small! [Read more…]

How to Survive Spring Fever in Homeschooling and April 2019 Writing Prompts {FREE PRINTABLE}

April 1, 2019 By Adrienne Bolton

It can be tough to survive spring fever in homeschooling, but these tips and free printable writing prompts can help!

Written by Adrienne Bolton of The Mommy Mess.

Spring. That time of year when every homeschool parent wants to throw in the towel. Or better yet, grab a towel and a good book and head to the beach!

No? Just me?

Getting past the slump of spring is tough, and that tricky homeschool freedom makes it SO easy to slack.

How to Survive Spring Fever In Homeschooling

1. Focus on what you’ve accomplished.

Don’t waste another second worrying about what you haven’t finished yet. Stop stressing over the lesson pages you’re afraid will be left blank when you sit down to meet with your year-end evaluator.

Your family has accomplished so much this year! It’s easy to start panicking at this time of year about all the lessons we haven’t completed yet, but what we should be doing is taking some time to recognize all that we have achieved!

What positives has your family had this homeschool school year?

Sit down and make a list of milestones, achievements, and memories.

Spring is the perfect time to begin compiling and organizing your annual portfolios if your state requires them (or just for a keepsake). Seeing everything you’ve been working on all year reminds you how much you’ve accomplished and helps to relieve that spring panic you’re not doing enough. [Read more…]

March 2019 Writing Prompt Calendar {FREE PRINTABLE}

March 1, 2019 By Adrienne Bolton

Try our free writing prompts calendar for daily writing inspiration. Plus, check out our tips to help your student overcome the dreaded blank page and just get started writing.

Written by Adrienne Bolton of The Mommy Mess.

“Just get started.” Three magic words from my college kid to you and yours about writing. I asked him this morning what tips he’d give someone who was struggling with writing.

He’s a man of many words. Ha!

He was an extremely reluctant writer when he was younger. You’d never know that now. He survived writing on my watch and then pushed through all those required essays in Comp I & II when he got to college. The length on some of those essays was enough to make me cringe. Just watching him get through them was painful, but he did it!

I got to thinking about his advice this morning. “Just get started.” [Read more…]

February 2019 Writing Prompt Calendar {FREE PRINTABLE}

January 31, 2019 By Adrienne Bolton

Use these free printable writing prompts to get your kids writing every day. Plus, pick up tips for building confident writers.

Written by Adrienne Bolton of The Mommy Mess.

I remember when my oldest was in fourth grade. He was still going to public school then (his last year there). At that time, fourth grade was typically the year the schools in our state pushed hard on writing skills to prepare the students for the writing portion of the state standardized test. Yuck. I know.

My son used to get so stressed when it came to writing.

He’d clam up, panic, and just sit there staring at the paper with his pencil in his sweaty little fourth-grade hand. His scores were always crazy amazing when it came to those stupid tests, but when it was time for the essay portion? He flopped. I remember him getting some ridiculous low score because his page was virtually blank when he finally turned it in — poor kid. The writing process was always so hard for him.

That was the year we pulled him out of public school, and I never shared his scores with him when they came in the mail that summer because, one, I didn’t care about them and, two, I knew he’d be so bummed. He cared so much about test scores and the like. We all did back then — silly us. [Read more…]

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