Holiday Writing Activities
Around the holidays, it’s often hard to get students (and sometimes the teacher!) motivated to do schoolwork. Providing your children with creative holiday writing assignments is a way to keep them learning with an enjoyable activity. Here are some holiday writing ideas to get you started: Write a newspaper article describing the time Santa didn’t make it around the world on Christmas Eve. Why
Fun with English Idioms
There’s a website sponsoring an art contest this fall, and it’s all about English idioms! An idiom is a commonly-used phrase with a certain meaning that can’t be determined if you considered only the words themselves. For example, the idiom “It’s raining cats and dogs” means that it’s a downpour, not that cats and dogs are actually falling from the sky. Another example is
The Perfect Pet
There’s a new picture book out this fall – and I wrote and illustrated it! It’s published by Sylvan Dell Publishing, a company that combines math or science with a great story. In The Perfect Pet, a child uses animal classification to choose just the right pet. The story begins when Mom says “yes!” to a pet. To help him decide, the child starts
Describe It! Game
This year, I’m teaching a creative writing class at our co-op. The students are learning how to use just the right words to describe objects, pets, and people. So to practice, we played a “describing” game. This game worked well with a large group, but it could easily be played by just two or three. Supplies Brown Paper Lunch Bags Small recognizable objects that
Reading Poetry
I love reading and writing poetry. My poems, though, almost always rhyme, and I’m not very good at free verse yet. My children enjoy poetry too, and one of the best ways I’ve found to encourage them is by reading poetry together. And age-appropriate poems are so easy to find! There are lots of picture books that are actually poems coupled with illustrations to
Writing Game – The Rest of the Story
Need an activity to do with a group of kids? Here’s a writing game that will have everyone laughing! It can be played in co-op classes or at home with children of different ages. They just need to be able to read and write. How to Play To play, all you’ll need is a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Player 1
Rory’s Story Cubes
I love yard sales; when I go to a sale, I feel like I’m on a treasure hunt. A couple of weeks ago, I stopped by a friend’s yard sale where I found a game that I had never seen before. It’s called Rory’s Story Cubes, and it has been a great addition to our school days! The game consists of nine dice-sized cubes;
Family Newsletter | Homeschooling Resources
A family newsletter is a great way to practice reading and writing skills in your homeschool — and a great way to record memories!
Journaling in Homeschooling
Journaling is a great exercise to get your students thinking, creating, writing — no matter how old they are!
Cursive Writing Apps
Help kids learn cursive with apps.