Elementary & Middle School Archives

Help for Your Struggling Reader: A Review of Nessy Learning Online

August 7, 2017 by Susan 2 Comments

Have you tried to find new ways to motivate your struggling reader? If so, the phrase, “wit’s end” has probably come to mind.

I tutor students each week who need a little extra help. Right now my clients include kids from kindergarten through 7th grade, and I am always looking for new tools to benefit them. I find that anytime I pull out my tablet or laptop, the kids are more engaged.

The problem is, although I’ve found some useful games to work on sight words, spelling, and math, none of them are targeted to my individual students. Nor have I found anything that seems to be designed specifically with struggling students in mind.

Until now.

This summer I’ve been using Nessy Learning with 5 of my students, and I am head over heels!

Finally, Online Math that Works: A Review of Mr. D. Math

April 10, 2017 by Susan 2 Comments

Do you have a favorite teacher? What about a least favorite? A good teacher can make a difficult subject make sense and a bad teacher can make you hate even your favorite subject. Am I right??

My College Algebra teacher was t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e. He used to talk about how math was like a banana hanging from the ceiling, and we were all gorillas trying to reach it. He said he was going to push a chair under the banana for us. What?! Yeah, that was my reaction too. That story is the only thing I remember from his class.

We’ve been using a new math curriculum that I love, and my math-gifted-but-non-math-loving son “likes better than anything else” we’ve used. (It is still math, after all). And his reason why?

The teacher.

We Returned Our Homeschool History Curriculum After One Week (And Replaced it With This)

January 11, 2017 by Susan 12 Comments

I love shopping curriculum. When we started homeschooling years ago, I had so much fun perusing and selecting. I was especially excited about history curriculum. My boys had both told me that they ‘hated social studies’. The reason why was that they had studied essentially the same material from kindergarten through 5th grade. Communities, maps, Native Americans, the colonies, and settlers. Every year.

Because of that, I chose to start our homeschool adventure with a chronological study of history, starting with the ancient world. I was so excited about the curriculum I had chosen. It had positive reviews, lots of activities, and audio discs to accompany each lesson that were said to engage and delight students.

And it ended up being a perfect example of what has become my favorite thing about homeschooling: If something doesn’t work you get to try something else. (We learned this with our math curriculum, too!)

Fact or Fraud: 4 Common Science Textbook Errors

September 19, 2016 by Susan 6 Comments

If your child’s textbook taught that bloodletting, heroin, and mercury were effective medical treatments, I imagine you’d take issue with that. After all, those practices were proven false long ago. Well, did you know that science textbooks from elementary school through college continue to print “facts” that were patently proven false (by mainstream science) decades ago.

Several years ago, my husband began studying evolution and the age of the earth with a critical eye. Since then he’s travelled to a number of states to present at camps, churches, and a Bible College. For Christians, he presents solid Biblical evidence. He also provides ample scientific evidence that is easy to understand that proves that evolution, besides being mathematically impossible, is wrought with lies and deception.

So let’s dig in to determine fact or fraud. I know some of these examples will look familiar to you…get ready for (as Paul Harvey used to say), “The rest of the story.”

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling Disney

August 9, 2016 by Susan 10 Comments

I had never been to any Disney park until I started dating Greg. (My parents would argue this, but I contend that going in utero does not count). Being that he is a huge Disney fan, he has helped to grow my love for the parks as well. And we are now most definitely a Disney family. Shortly after we began homeschooling, we planned a family trip to Disney World with the boys.

Incorporating our real life into our schooling has always been important to us, like when we took an impromptu trip to Texas to spend a few weeks, and the ways we’ve learned about our state with fun first day of school field trips. So deciding to homeschool Disney World was a no-brainer!

Studying about an amusement park, you ask? Spending valuable school time learning about a cartoon Mouse?

If that’s what you’re thinking, you are in for a treat!

First Day of School Traditions for Your Homeschool

August 3, 2016 by Susan 10 Comments

When I say the words “first day of school”, what do you think of?

Sharpened pencils, that first swipe of crayon on a page, cracking open the glue sticks?

As a homeschooling family, we have tried to remember to take advantage of the freedom afforded us. We’ve incorporated travelling into our schooling, for one thing. Another thing that I’ve tried to do is make the first day of school unique.

Since we’re still several weeks out from school starting for most folks, I thought I’d share some of our best first days with you to hopefully get your creative juices flowing!