Unschooling Reading Resources

Unschooling Reading Resources

Unschooling Reading Resources

Reading is such a huge part of my life so I’m always on the lookout for good unschooling reading resources. That’s a fancy way of saying I love resources that are fun but also actually work to teach kids to read. I now have 4 kids who are completely obsessed with books (granted one of them is still to little to actually read by himself).

The big question to consider when strewing any resources is how do your kids learn? I’ll be upfront and say that I do very little actual teaching to read and my biggest role was to offer the boys opportunities to learn and then sit back to let them choose what works best for them. But I do have some favorite resources that have been popular with all my boys so far that I wanted to share with you.

My three older sons all learned their letters and letter sounds around two. (The newborn obviously isn’t reading yet.) My eldest started reading just before his 7th birthday and now, 2 years later, is reading far above grade level. My second son, age 6, is reading some words and, if he decides to sit and practice more regularly, will be well on his way to above grade levels within the next year. My 3 year old is practicing writing letters and pretending to read by sounding out words.

Favorite Resources to Teach Kids to Read

(disclaimer: some of these are affiliate links which means I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. Keep in mind I only share products that I know and love! Full Disclosure)

” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>Letter Factory DVD

Tad the frog goes to the Letter Factory and Professor Quigley lets him sit in on the lessons as the talking letters learn their sounds. My boys have all loved the characters and Leap Frog has done a fantastic job in making each letter and sound memorable. For example, a “monster” walks into the “A Room” and all the little A’s scream “Aaahh!!!”. Don’t worry, it isn’t a scary monster, just the professor in a fuzzy purple costume. The “P Room” is always a favorite as the P says “P” and pops like popcorn. I recommend this to every mama (or grandma) that I know who wants to introduce their child to letters in a fun way.

” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>Letter Factory Flashcards

We bought the DVD and Flashcards as a bundle and these cards have been played with a ton over the last 8 years. They’ve seen better days but, by some miracle, we have managed to keep all 26 together. The kids love to ask their littlest brother what each letter says and the older two build words and ask each other to guess which word it is. The only downside with word-building is that we only have one of each letter, which limits the amount of words. But they are still a great tool to introduce letters and beginner reading.

” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>Talking Words Factory

(Can you tell that we love Leap Frog? They didn’t even need to pay me for this.) This show came with our initial purchased bundle and shows the Leap, Lily, and Tad going to the Talking Words Factory. I think some of the talking letters must graduate to this factory because it is all the loved letters from the previous show, except this time they go through the “word whammer” and get stuck together, along with the icky, sticky letters (vowels). This is the movie that has gotten both of my older boys interested in building words and all I have to do is hit “play” while I’m making dinner.

The big question to consider when strewing any resources is how do your kids learn?

Originator Apps

These Apps are available for Android and iPhone. We have installed Endless Alphabet (vocabulary words), Endless Reader (sight words), Endless Wordplay (spelling/word building), and Endless Numbers (counting and early arithmetic). The Android version (not sure about the Apple store version) has a few words or levels as a free sample and then you can buy the rest as packages. As of this post, I have not purchased any of the expansion packs for three reasons: I can’t figure out which app I should buy an expansion on (which one the kids would get the most out of), I don’t know if the expansion packs will work with my Google account or if I will have to purchase the pack separately for each tablet. They aren’t cheap, if you move beyond the free versions, but the letters and words make fun sounds and are simple enough for even my toddler to drag and drop. Plus it is really cute to watch my 3 year old kinesthetic learner imitate the goofy motions of the letters!

Reading Eggs

We started out with the free 2 week trial that they offer new users. The boys ended up liking it so much that I bought a subscription. The gist is that the child does a lesson full of games and catchy songs and fun characters to guide them, and then they get to hatch an egg with an animal in it (or they hatch an acorn if they are doing a Mathseed, as I purchased the companion Math version as well). They boys love figuring out which animal they will get at the end of the lesson and get excited every 10 lessons when they get a new map.

My eldest had issues with the timed lessons so I often sat beside him to turn off the ticking sound and would cover up the timer and tell him we would just practice a few times. He now realizes that the timer is irrelevant and he has learned to turn off the sound and ignore the visual. A great lesson for him to learn how relax enough to think under pressure.
I like that it lets you redo the game as many times as they like, though some of those silly songs from lessons the boys did a couple years ago are still stuck in my head! (1,2,3,4,5, once I caught a fish alive. 6,7,8,9,10, then I let it go again.) You can also get your child to do a placement test if they seem to be struggling or if they’re cruising through the lessons.

My eldest has finished all the maps in Mathseeds and Reading Eggs and isn’t interested in Reading Eggspress (he would rather read paperback books at this point). My 6 year old loves to cruise through 4-5 lessons in one sitting and then doesn’t touch it for a couple weeks. I don’t force him to sit down but I did put a box on his sticker chart. He does his “morning high-5” and then gets to hatch an egg or seed. Again, I’m not super strict about it and give him the option to do it or not. He often decides that he wants to and I have learned to be okay when he doesn’t.

The program is good for toddlers all the way up to tweens and it is is the only program that I consistently pay money for and I’ll continue getting subscriptions for my upcoming readers as well. Getting me to part with my dollar is not an easy task so that’s saying something!

learn to read online

Books, books, and more books

The final resource that has helped my kids with learning and loving to read is to surround ourselves with books. I’m partial to non-fiction books with lots of vivid pictured but I do keep a good stock of quality fiction stories around too. My husband reads a chapter of a read-a-loud every night and I read a lot, both for myself and with them, so reading is just a normal part of their lives. My 9 year old has even started reading a bedtime story to his brothers every evening. I know that the library is ideal for getting fresh books but I love to get books from the thrift store to fill our own shelves. They are super cheap and then the kids can read them over and over again. I also often have a book on hand regarding whatever topic they’re interested in. They don’t have to wait until we make a trip to the library and can delve into that book for however long they want. (Though I have noticed I have a gap in my home library when it comes to geology. Guess I need to make a trip to the thrift store soon, yay!) Sometimes they pull a book of the shelves and get interested in a new topic that way. While I agree that libraries are handy, they do not replace a home library.

You may also enjoy reading:

Book List for Boys (I’m sure they’re great for girls too but I don’t have any girl readers at this point.)

How to Encourage Boys to Love Reading (Again, the advice is sound for girls too but my reading experience is just with boys so far.)

As you can see, we love both technology as well as old fashioned paperbacks when it comes to reading. We don’t do phonics lessons, or forced reading assignments and probably never will (unless a child asks for it). My goal is for my kids to grow up thinking reading is a normal part of every day life. We love Leap Frog and also purchased a LeapReader Pen and LeapPad a couple months ago at a garage sale. So far they are well loved and I believe they will both contribute to the boys’ growing love of books and reading.

What are your favorite ways to foster a love of reading in your children? In yourself?
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Unschooling Reading Resources

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homeschool curriculum choices grade 6 grade 4 grade 1 (7)

Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Grade 6, Grade 4, and Grade 1

I have always had an unschool mentality. I believe (and my kids have shown me) that people learn what they need to...

Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Grade 6, Grade 4, and Grade 1

Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Grade 6, Grade 4, and Grade 1

Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Grade 6, Grade 4, and Grade 1

I have always had an unschool mentality. I believe (and my kids have shown me) that people learn what they need to know when they need to know it and life is meant to be experienced and explored rather than dictated and directed. So why am I now talking about homeschool curriculum choices and learning cards?

Would you believe my kids asked for it?

They have made more and more friends who’s families have different homeschool methods and kids talk. My kids love learning and saw their friends learning certain things and getting new binders for the school year (love that my kids got excited about office supplies!) filled with activities and projects.

So I sat down with my older three and asked what kinds of things they are interested in. Between their requests (largely science, history, and Reading Eggs), and them agreeing to some additions of my own (like typing and All About Spelling) I made up a simple schedule and checklist for them and added them to our household rhythm.

I made these cards to be largely independent with the high hopes of doing 4 days a week. After about 6 months of using these “learning cards,” I can confidently say I over estimated the level of cooperation I would receive. But the kids still mostly enjoy them so we keep trudging along in an attempt to make them part of our daily rhythm.


How It Works

Each boy has Day A and Day B. We alternate them as we mostly complete them which means some weeks start with A and others start with B. Each boy also doesn’t complete theirs on the same day as his brothers so he may miss out on a subject, which I try not to stress about because they are still learning, regardless of completed cards.

We don’t technically stick to grade levels as my boys’ interests lead to their skill levels being all over the map. I also don’t tell them exactly what page or lesson they need to do as it is pretty simple to just do the next one.

How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver! (Prov 16:16)

Let’s Dive In.
(I have included some affiliate links here and, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Feel free to read my full disclosure.)

Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Family Learning Time

Morning Time

We are not very fancy here and just flip through a binder with a few Bible memory verses, a song that we are working on memorizing, the Lord’s prayer, a piece of memory work (currently working on “In Flanders Fields”), listening to a song or two on YouTube, and I finish off with reading a page from The Answers Books for Kids or another apologetics book. (We just finished Cold Case Christianity for Kids and it was a huge hit!) It takes us between 15-45 minutes, depending on how cooperative the littlest ones are.

For many families, morning time is a time of communal learning but I decided to make it more a time of Scripture and character study, apologetics, and a family devotion time. Character before academics is a belief that I have always held to and I was glad to see Kathie from the Character Corner, a mom with far more homeschooling and parenting experience than me, affirm that as her number one homeschooling tip in her post listing 10 things that helped her through 31 years of homeschooling.


History


We are currently going through Story of the World: The Ancient World. I’ll say upfront that this is not my ideal history book but I had been given a copy a while back and a friend had the activity book she wasn’t using so I thought I’d give it a try. We haven’t been doing the big activities and projects. I read a chapter and we do some of the review questions (mostly with the the 8 and 5yo as my 11yo has read the book several times on his own so he knows all the answers) and the older two do the map activity and coloring pages while the 5yo just gets the coloring page. I may need to start copying an extra coloring page as the 2yo often wants to copy his big brothers and I’m not sure how long a blank scrap piece of paper is going to be good enough for him.

Science

Apologia Young Explorers Botany text. I adore these books! The hard covers, bright pictures and diagrams, easy to read text, and tying it all back to God as the Creator. Maybe I’ll even invest in their actual notebooking journals one day!

But, for now, I printed off the free notebooking pages from their website and we read a chunk out of the book then the older 2 do the notebooking page or, if it’s really simple, the activity.

Sometimes, once I’m done reading, I print off an applicable picture for the 6yo to color and put in his science duotang. My boys love the nature walk activities and are always amazed at the variety of plants we have growing on our own lawn.

(The original plan was to start with the Astronomy book but it was spring so botany seemed more fitting. We might put that on pause now that days are getting shorter so stars are easier to study and plants are going to be covered in snow soon.)

  

Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Individual Learning

11 year old

Bible: He had been following a Bible reading plan but always read ahead so now he just reads at least one chapter of whichever book he is going through. Soon I’ll expand his Bible time to include a journal of some sort but we’re just starting with reading.

Math: He is a big-time reader so Life of Fred has been a great fit. He is “behind” for his age group but is cruising through the lessons. Understanding mathematical concepts is not something that come easily to him so both he and I love having the option to choose something that falls more in line with his learning style.

Copywork: He is working through some free stuff I found online but is nearly finished. I think what I’ll do next is give him some lined paper and ask him to write a Bible passage from his daily reading. He does this in cursive, which comes a lot easier to him than printing.

All About Spelling: While he is an avid reader, his spelling hasn’t caught up. Just not the way his mind works I guess. I found the books for All About Spelling level 1 and 2 at a local curriculum exchange last winter and it has been a great fit for him. He appreciates all the rules and explanations as to why words are spelled the way they are. I have to be honest and say that I’ve enjoyed it too! I’ve always been a pretty intuitive speller but knowing why words are spelled a certain way has been enlightening.

Typing: He does about half a lesson at Typing.com I like this site because you just need a login name and don’t need to sign up with an email address or anything. It’s pretty simple and straighforward and gets the job done. Plus it’s FREE. Always a nice perk.

Spanish: We use the Duolingo app for this. He decided he wanted to learn Spanish a couple years ago and was just picking away at it sporadically. So I put it on his learning card and he’s making decent progress.

Read to Asher: This is my sneaky way of getting him to practice reading out loud as well as taking the toddler off my hands for a while so I can focus on something else (usually helping the 8yo do his AAS lesson without little fingers swiping magnets).

Sidenote: You can see I’m not a perfectionist with these cards. He really wasn’t enjoying piano (and is kind of rhythm challenged) so I removed it. He also felt copywork each day was too much so he negotiated that off too by saying he makes cards with writing and does his All About Spelling writing regularly so that should count as writing practice.

8 Year Old:

All About Spelling: He and his brother started level 1 at the same time but he skipped several days and his brother doubled up on some of the early lessons so now they’re in different books. He is a much more intuitive speller (he can remember complicated words because he read them a couple times) so he doesn’t think he needs this. We often skip building the words with magnets and he goes straight to writing them down. He can do more of the building in his head so, when he actually does his lesson, he flies through it.

Math: He’s a weirdo and actually asked for a workbook in math. We just use a Canadian Curriculum book we got at Costco and alternate with workbook one day then a Mathseed lesson the next day. (I’m not an affiliate there but I’m thinking I should be and you really should check them out because everyone I have recommended it to loves it!)

Copywork: He or I choose a Bible verse for him to copy and he (sometimes) draws a picture. (Don’t tell him but I don’t really care about the picture but he thinks he’s rebelling by not drawing it. He likes to have that control and I’m willing to make sure he feels it.) He does not do cursive yet but, now that I think about it, he has asked if he could learn so maybe I’ll get a workbook for him for Christmas or something.

Reading Eggs: He does a Reading Eggs lesson on the off day from copywork. He is reading beyond the skill level of this but we’ve paid for the subscription and he really enjoys it. It’s kind of a reward for him after he has done some stuff he’s not as fond of.

Typing: He also uses Typing.com

Piano: I play piano so he asks me for advice but mostly he does this by reading the blurb in the Alfred’s Basic Piano Book and winging it. This will work for a while but I have a feeling I’ll need to assist more as he progresses. He really enjoys it and seems to understand music a bit more than his older brother.

Read to Asher: Same as before: reading aloud practice and a way to keep the toddler occupied for a while.

5 Year Old

 

He’s too young for anything formal (he will be 6 in a few weeks) but he loves it so who am I to deny the boy his workbooks? He does a workbook page every day and a Reading Egg or Mathseedevery day.

He did ask to tweak his learning card so he does a math workbook page the same day as his Mathseed and his letter workbook the same day as his Reading Egg.

He’s actually a kinesthetic learner (which I’m totally NOT and was a bit nervous about) so he comes to me while playing Lego and tells me “Mom, I know what 3 groups of 2 is!” or “I know what 7+7 is!” So apparently Lego can be used to teach math. He also just has an inherent understanding of “building” words and often uses magnets or letter tiles to build words that I’m pretty sure he hasn’t reached yet on Reading Eggs.

He occasionally takes 45min to write one page of Os and the next time will cruise through 10+ pages of his workbook in one morning. I’ve stopped trying to understand his methods and just go with the flow.

 

I hope you can see that our learning cards are not intense and we have a very relaxed homeschool. Our homeschool curriculum choices are simple and mostly independent. The stuff that is more parent intensive requires time but requires minimal prep work. I don’t make a big fuss if we only do 1 or two days per week. (Though I have a feeling it will be a bit easier when the snow flies and kids can’t escape to play outdoors.)

 

We are slowly working back into all of this after taking time off for my final stages of pregnancy and our newborn survival phase. My primary goal is to get the boys to do their High 5 and then we will begin to work on Morning Time. Do you have a bare minimum that you and/or your kids can do to make it feel like your day is a success?

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Relaxed Homeschool Schedule: A Day in the Life With a Newborn, 2yo, 5yo, 8yo, and 11yo

I always love reading “homeschool day in the life” posts by other people to see how they do things so I thought it was my turn to share. 

Since the birth of our littlest one a couple weeks ago our household rhythms have been thrown off balance. We also had a stomach bug come through the house (I walked over to my mom’s across the yard at 2 days post partum so the baby and I would escape it) and the boys took a while to get their energy back. But I feel like we are slowly easing back into our relaxed homeschool schedule. 

Keep in mind that this is an ideal that we strive for but we don’t always hit these targets. This also just applies to days when we are nearly fully at home. If we are out and about, we adapt and mostly just stick to our daily anchors of high 5, snack time, and tidy time.

 

6am WakeUp

My husband’s alarm goes off and he goes downstairs to do his devotion time for a bit before heading out to feed cows. Until the birth a couple weeks ago he would hand me my phone so I could do a quick YouVersion devotion and pray for strength and wisdom for the day and for God to guide my words. Then I would write for about an hour in Evernote on my phone while attempting to keep all the little ones asleep. I’ll build up to writing again but, for now, I have mostly been taking the extra hour of sleep or lay awake praying for the day and cuddling with and watching my littlest one nurse.

 

7am Coffee & Journal

I try to sneak away from my bed-sharing 2yo to go downstairs for my coffee and praise & prayer journal. I only succeed about 25% of the time. I’m often joined by my other early riser as well, the 5yo. Of course the baby always comes with me. Occasionally the 11yo also wakes up earlier than normal and comes downstairs to read on the couch. The 8yo is my sleeper-inner and is almost never up before 9. When the kids wake up they get their own breakfast on the go. It is a relaxed time of self direction and the kids have learned that, while my lap and arms are always open to cuddle, I am not very chatty until later.

8am Social Media or Emails

Adam comes in for a bit after he is done morning feeding time until he has his morning operational meeting in the barn at 9am. This is a new part of our routine (he used to go out to feed at 7:30 and we wouldn’t see him until noon) but even he has learned that I’m not very chatty and, if he wants to chat and play, the 5yo and 2yo are where to direct his energy. I often do a bit of social media posting and interacting at this point too.

 

9am High 5s

Adam goes back to the farm and the rest of us start with High 5s. This is a routine I’ve been working on since my eldest was 5, so over 6 years. (Short description: make bed, get dressed, gather dirty laundry, eat breakfast, tidy kitchen.) It still doesn’t happen without a phone alarm (which currently sings “Baby Shark,” at the childrens’ request, and always results in lots of giggles) and plenty of reminders. But this is always my starting place as it covers off the maintenance of the biggest two household tasks: laundry and dishes. Sometime this one task takes us all morning. That’s just how life goes sometimes.

 

9:30am Morning Time

At least that is the goal. We hit it 2-3 times per week when I really make the effort. This part of the rhythm was added in about 3 years ago when I got really ambitious and excited about all the lovely things I was reading about circle time and morning baskets. I have kept it pretty simple and I’ll write a little more about what exactly we do next week (otherwise this post would be even longer than it is).
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    There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. (Eccl 3:1 NIV)

    10am Learning Cards

    We split off into our Learning Cards. (More detail in my post on Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Grade 6, Grade 4, and Grade 1) These are done at the boys’ own pace, though I do remind them that the more they do right away, the more they can play in the afternoon. This is the time when I’m on call to direct or assist with learning card while I try to get some blog work in. The toddler plays. Sometimes with a table toy (like dice or pompoms) and sometimes with his brothers’ Lego creations.

     

    Noon Lunch

    Adam comes in from chores and likes to make lunch for us. I used to have lunch ready when he came in but he was always craving something else so he took over a few years ago. This means we either visit while I catch up on my kitchen tasks or folding laundry in the kitchen (which is where all my clean laundry is stored, small house quirks), or at this point I usually just sit and rest for a bit 9with a nursing baby of course) and wait until he feeds me.

     

    1pm Quiet time

    The 2yo goes down for a nap so he cuddles with his Daddy for half an hour in our bed upstairs before Adam sneaks away to goes back to work at 1:30. (Note: He is the first of my kids to nap on a very consistent schedule.) During this time, I nap on the couch with the baby as the older 3 go outside or play quietly with Lego, play a boardgame, or read and attempt to keep themselves quiet so I don’t growl at them.

     

    2pm Catch Up

    The 2yo wakes up and one of the older 2 boys goes to get him. He comes to snuggle with me on the couch or is read to by an older brother while I help the other rather quietly with some earning stuff that was not done earlier as we try not to wake the baby, who is still napping in my arms. I used to try to fit a bit of homecare in at some point after naps but, at this point, it often looks like me just directing the older kids to do their homecare tasks from their sticker charts while I cuddle the baby.

     

    3pm Snack time

    This has been an anchor in our day for years. We have a small snack and gather for a simple lesson in History or Botany or a mom-chosen show.
    Snack time was added to our daily rhythm when we first moved to this farm. I just had two kids at the time, 5yo and 2yo, and I worked in the barns 8-10 hours a day. They came with me as I had no childcare so they “worked hard” too all day. They played with calves and raced Tonka trucks up and down feed alleys and helped pitch straw into calf pens. I remember the hard work of this time period but they remember the fun of helping mom.
    By this point in the day I needed to feed them something to tide them over until a late supper. We would make this a fun “tea time” and the three of us would sit around a little table and have very grown up conversations and sometimes I read poetry or Little House books… In spite of the backbreaking work of starting up this farm, I have some sweet memories of that time too.

     

    When this is done the kids go play while I rest or read or check social media.

    4pm Chores

    We have a phone alarm that tells the 11yo to go to the barn for chores. He pushes feed up for the dairy cows, sometimes he scrapes manure out of stalls or helps find cows who have been lazy and haven’t gone to the milk robot for a while. Sometimes my husband texts me and asks for the 8yo to come assist with chores too. They love working with their Dad on the farm sporadically but having regular barn chores on the sticker chart is a privilege that they have to earn. This takes anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour.

    The other kids keep playing.

    You can read more about how we use chores to teach responsibility in work in my post about Raising Men, Not Boys: Chores.

    5pm Tidy Time

    Tidy time is another regular anchor in our day. We use it to bring peace back to our home, not that getting them to actually tidy is always peaceful process! My checklist and schedule loving 11yo is very consistent with this though. Not because he necessarily sees the value of a tidy home (though the more he trips on dump trucks or steps on Lego the more he understands) but because the reward is some screen time.

    I tell the boys what I need tidied, the messiest room or two plus the living room where Adam and I sit in the evening. I don’t keep a clean house all day but I do like a peaceful room after the kids are in bed. Plus the bathroom is down the stairs and on the far end of the house, through nearly all the downstairs rooms, so we need to make sure the path is straightened up so no one breaks a foot on the way there in the middle of the night… again.

    While they tidy, I get supper on the go. Sometimes the middle 3 tidy while I teach my eldest how to cook a meal. Sometimes my 8yo comes to help me because he is so eager to learn everything about being a grownup (including a strong desire to drink coffee).

    6pm Supper

    We eat when my husband comes in from the farm. Usually at 6 but sometimes he is later. If he is going to be after 7 then the kids and I will eat without him and he just reheats his food.

    7:30pm Bedtime

    We start bedtime routines, which is really just potty, brush teeth, fill water bottles then upstairs for story and prayer with Daddy. The 5yo has lights out at 8pm, 8 & 11yo have a reading lamps beside their bed and turn them off at 8:15 & 8:30.

    Our 2yo will sometimes join his brothers for stories, otherwise he hangs out downstairs with me, and folds his hands when he hears the boys praying upstairs through the monitor. (Sidenote: best idea ever to have a baby monitor for the boys’ shared room so they know we can hear them whisper and giggle if they don’t go to sleep but we can also hear if they are scared or sick or need something.) Toddler is usually asleep by 9ish and so far just falls asleep beside his sister as I rock them both or cuddled under a blanket on the couch beside his daddy.

    10pm My Bedtime

    This is HUGE! I can’t emphasize enough the value in setting a consistent bedtime. I also have no issues going to bed earlier if I haven’t napped or if the baby has been awake more at night.Adequate sleep is a gamechanger! Our 2yo, who still occasionally wakes in the night, currently sleeps in the side-carred crib so Adam tends to him through the night and I get to cuddle and nurse my newest bundle all night.

    That looks like a very intense relaxed homeschool schedule so I’d like to remind you that this is NOT something that I decided one day and implemented. This is just the natural flow that our days have developed over the years. I don’t hold anything to their set time except our main anchors (high 5s, lunch, snack time, and tidy time).

    I believe that God blesses a household with more peace in relationships when we order our days, or at least attempt to keep a measure of order within our days and in our families. If you’re looking for a rhythm for your own family, start by just looking at the flow that your day already has and write it out. You’ll find that your family already has a rhythm and, if you don’t like the rhythm, feel free to begin slowly tweaking so it works better for you. Maybe just start with a High 5 routine.

    If you think the High 5 chart that my family uses might fit your family, just enter your email in the form below or above and I’ll email you a printable version of it. It is simple enough for a toddler but thorough enough for my tween and me.
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      how to encourage boys to love reading pin

      How to Encourage Boys to Love Reading

      Today I want to talk to you about books. Particularly books for boys and how to encourage boys to love reading. I am a...
      homeschool curriculum choices grade 6 grade 4 grade 1 (7)

      Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Grade 6, Grade 4, and Grade 1

      I have always had an unschool mentality. I believe (and my kids have shown me) that people learn what they need to...
      Book Review: The Art of Strewing

      Book Review: The Art of Strewing

      TThe Art of Strewing - Instilling the love of learning by piquing your child's natural curiosity - Book review by Aimed at the HeartTitle: The Art of Strewing
      Author: Aadel Bussinger
      Publication Date: 2013
      Price: $2.99
      Place Acquired: Homeschooling Omnibus 2013

      About the author: Aadel is a homeschooling mom of 3 children and married to her high school sweetheart, a “career army man.” Her children have always been homeschooled and her unschooling journey began in 2008 when her family moved into an RV during a military move. You can find Aadel blogging at These Temporary Tents, on Facebook or on Twitter and a few more places.

      Describe: After introducing herself and giving a brief explanation of what unschooling is, Aadel explains what strewing it. She explains that it isn’t just something useful for unschoolers but that it is a technique that any parent can learn to introduce new ideas to our children. It is such a simple idea and, yet, there are still some basic questions to answer about it. Questions like: Where do I strew? What can I strew? How do I strew on a budget? What should I avoid when strewing? Aadel answers all of these questions and a few more in her book. She also talks about developing proper expectations (or lack thereof) toward strewing and how to accept the journey your child can take you on if you allow him/her.

      Analyze: I loved the layout of this book. It was very simple to follow and Aadel wasted no time in jumping right into the nitty gritty. The book flowed so smoothly from topic to topic that I hardly noticed the chapter changes. It covered all the bases in how to strew in various life areas: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and relational. I loved the line, “We strew to get involved, to relate to them, and join them on this grand adventure!” Who can argue with that kind of logic? Using her own experiences and that of other homeschoolers, Aadel walks you through the practicalities of applying the concept of strewing to your family, no matter the circumstances you are currently in.

      Evaluate: Although she calls it an instruction manual, I felt like it was more a manual of encouragement to relax and follow the natural path of parenting. Aadel has an uncanny way of delivering all the facts, answering your questions, and telling you that you’re already on the right path, all in a book that can be read in one evening. I especially appreciated her viewpoints on strewing attitude and atmosphere. I know that I can always use the reminder that my children learn more by what I do, and how I live, than by what I say.

      Recommendation: Though this book is written with unschoolers in mind, I believe it is something that could be appreciated by anyone with children. As parents, we want to open all the possible doors for our children that we can and strewing is one way to do that. Strewing is something that encourages a parent to get to know their child and get involved in their child’s world. It is about showing your children the proverbial doors and letting them decide whether or not to walk through them. As an added bonus, the parents often rekindle a love of learning in themselves as well.

      Household Rules for Our Unschooling Family

      Household Rules for Our Unschooling Family

      Household Rules for Our Unschooling Family - Aimed at the Heart

      My interpretation of unschooling is that it is a form of learning from life without imposing a specific curriculum or forcing a specific method of teaching on my children.

      A lot of information about unschooling that I have read talks about how it is just letting life teach your children the things they need to know to live and thrive in this world and culture. This method of learning has always made perfect sense to me. If you need a skill to survive in your current role or career, you find a way to aquire it. Sometimes this is done through extensive reading and research, other times through hands-on trial & error, and other times it requires us to take a course specifically set up to give us the proper qualifications and information. At the end of the day, the outcome is the same: the new skill is learned because you chose to learn it. Why should it look any different for our children?

      Many radical unschoolers forgo the practice of schedules or parent-imposed learning or even restrictions on anything that many other children have limits on. While I understand how this can work really well for some families, I feel that unschooling gives my family and I the opportunity to set up our household in a way that works for us. My family runs better when we have a regular rhythm to our days. This also means that we require certain things from our children and have certain rules for them.

      Here is a bit of a framework for our family:

      * We require our children to participate in the family, including the family work (household as well as farm).
      * We expect them to show the love of God through their actions and attitudes. We do no allow them to disrespect us or each other.
      * We believe that our children must respect us as authority figures (which, in turn, means that we must prove ourselves to be an authority worth respecting).
      * We teach and expect them to treat their bodies as temples of God, which includes healthy eating habits, an active lifestyle, and healthy sleep habits.
      * The condition of their heart takes precedence over all else.

      Those are some of the boundaries and expectations that we have in place for when our children live in our home.

      The Alberta School Act even states it’s goal for students become a “self-reliant, responsible, caring and contributing member of society.” It seems that even the Alberta government believes that character is important. Many employers realize that while skills can always be taught, character cannot. In fact, out of the 46% of job failures that happen within the first 18 months, 89% was due to attitude issues, only 11% was due to lack of skill. So, in order to give my kids the best foot forward, our main focus will be to develop their character. We believe that these things are essential to our children becoming capable and well-adjusted adults. And isn’t that what unschooling, or any other educational method, is all about?

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