Middle School 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 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…]

90’s Boy Bands: The Hot New Curriculum for Homeschoolers

September 26, 2019 By Guest Author

You don’t need to know how to play music to teach guitar in your home school. Moosiko makes learning guitar fun and easy for you and your children.

The following sponsored guest post was written by Dan Mascola, founder of Moosiko.

Okay, maybe they don’t want to learn 90’s boy bands, but I’ll bet your kids want to learn guitar! Moosiko is a new online guitar learning platform. It teaches beginners how to play their favorite songs and build skills on guitar. You can get in on the fun, too, and learn with your students.

Moosiko Online Guitar Lessons for Homeschool

Benefits of Music Instruction

Learning an instrument should be required for any middle or high school (homeschooled or not) curriculum. The benefits of playing music far outweigh the investment. [Read more…]

Explore the World (and Learn Coding!)

August 16, 2019 By Kris Bales

Kids can explore world cultures, hone their writing skills, and learn to code with The Adventurous Mailbox! Learn more with this Adventurous Mailbox review.

Thanks to the Internet and the fact that it’s available 24/7 on devices small enough to fit in our pockets, our big wide world has evolved into a pretty small space. That fact has its pros and cons. One of the cons is that thanks to an emerging world culture, we’re at risk of losing touch with the rich diversity of individual cultures.

The Adventurous Mailbox hopes to change that by exploring the beauty of a variety of countries’ cultures through exciting books and activities. Along the way, kids ages 8-12 will learn the basics of coding, hone their writing skills, and learn about the history, geography, and folklore of the countries they visit.

What Is The Adventurous Mailbox?

The Adventurous Mailbox is an exciting book series and accompanying website that explores world cultures through the eyes of Crameye. Crameye is a young kid from Taiwan who goes on some pretty crazy adventures with his best friend, Neva. Oh, and there’s also Crameye’s kid sister, Buster, and Neva’s little sister, Thor. [Read more…]