What You’re Not Doing That May Be Keeping Your Child From Writing

What You’re Not Doing That May Be Keeping Your Child From Writing

Parents’ reading habits are a primary determinant of children’s reading habits. Our kids emulate us. That’s why it’s so important that we not only read to our kids but read for our own enjoyment. Did you know that reading a great book could increase your child’s chances of school and life success?

But before you leave to read a book guilt-free, can we talk about your kids’ writing habits? Writing skills are vitally important for your child’s future, too, as I mentioned in the first post in this series. If your child is a reluctant writer, it should concern you. Not every child is going to be an avid writer, but it’s important that we impart adequate writing skills to them.

What You're Not Doing That May Be Keeping Your Child From Writing

What You’re Not Doing That May Contribute to Your Child’s Writing Reluctance

Have you already guessed what I’m going to say? I thought so. If your reading habits have a major influence on your child’s, it stands to reason that your writing habits do too.

“Oh no worries here!” you’re saying. “I email and text all the time. My child sees me writing.”

If that is the extent of your writing, that will likely be the extent of your child’s writing. Your child needs to see you doing other forms of writing.

“But I’m not a good writer!” I can hear you saying.

If that excuse works, your child now has a free pass. He can argue that he isn’t a good writer, so he won’t write either. Now I’ve got you, haven’t I?

“I love to write. I write all the time. So that can’t be the problem,” you might be saying.

If you write for work or blog, you child either may not see you writing or may see a disconnect between the writing you do and the writing you want her to do.

The Solution to This Kind of Writing Reluctance

No matter what your reason for not being a writing example to your child, I have a solution. It’s easy and fun! I promise.

Do the writing assignments you give your child.

If you’re repulsed by the idea, you may want to change your writing curriculum. Writing, like reading, should be enjoyable. More challenging writing assignments are appropriate for older children who have the skills they need to persevere. Young writers should have assignments that inspire them. In other words, I’m not saying that you need to write a 15-page research paper when your child does.

I like funny writing prompts for the purpose of writing with your child. The assignments are generally short, except when a child is enjoying himself immensely and writes pages of funny material. This is the kind of assignment you as a parent can enjoy. This kind of writing should not be focused on mechanics.

I have had the privilege of teaching writing to one of my friend’s sons. He did not have punctuation, spelling, or grammar mastered. But he loved to write. I have helped him with his skills, but he possesses a passion for writing that has to come first. That’s what we want our children to have. We can impart that by modeling it for our kids.

Have fun writing with your kids. Read them what you wrote and see if you can make them laugh. Writing with your children can be one of your best homeschooling memories. It is mine.

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I have created a curriculum that teaches beginning writers the why behind writing and makes it fun. I’d love for you to preview a sample at GrammarGalaxyBooks.com.

Read the other posts in this 5-day series on teaching writing here.

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A Surprising Reason Your Child Hates to Write (and What to Do About It)

A Surprising Reason Your Child Hates to Write (and What to Do About It)

Groans. That is what I heard from my sons when it was time to write anything.

At first I thought I just wasn’t using the best approach to writing for them. Every year when I attended a homeschool convention, I would look for something I thought would get them excited about writing. But the results were the same: whining and procrastination.

Then I decided that my sons’ writing reluctance was a result of immaturity. Writing is an advanced skill. Maybe they just weren’t ready for it?

A Surprising Reason Your Child Hates to Write and What to Do About It

The Surprising Reason My Kids Hated to Write

I found that I was right on both counts. My kids love funny writing prompts, especially when we read our writing out loud for one another. I was also right that they just weren’t ready for it. Once my sons were in high school, their writing improved dramatically and the complaints stopped.

But as I continued homeschooling the rest of my children, I noticed something else. I am surprised I didn’t see it as the root of my children’s writing reluctance a long time ago.

When a child has slow handwriting speed, he will be a reluctant writer.

My children were able to finish their handwriting pages without much fuss. Both Handwriting Without Tears and Happy Handwriting didn’t require a lot of writing per lesson. The kids were able to form their letters correctly. But they couldn’t write quickly. Their slow handwriting speed made any writing, creative or practical, an agonizing process for them.

My daughter, not surprisingly, did not have the same issue. Her better fine motor skills lent themselves to faster handwriting and an early love of writing. I shared more about the real differences in homeschooling boys on The Homeschool Sanity Show podcast.

How to Increase Your Child’s Handwriting Speed

Get your child’s buy-in. If your child thinks their only goal is to learn to form letters correctly, they will likely experience dislike for writing. Explain that if they learn to write faster, they will be able to finish all of their work faster, including math. If you or your child thinks that handwriting speed is unimportant in this digital age, consider how often you have to complete forms on paper. We have not yet made the transition to keyboarding for every task. Some college professors do not allow their students to take notes on a laptop, for example. Adequate handwriting speed will allow your child to feel confident in any learning setting.

Make sure your child knows how to form the letters. It’s no use trying to increase your child’s handwriting speed if he doesn’t remember how to make the letter K. Don’t allow your child to mindlessly complete handwriting pages. Instead, help your child memorize the way to make each letter. A great way to do this is to use a dry erase board with your child. Use verbal cues for making the letter you’re working on. Have your child repeat them after you as she forms the letter with you. This PDF gives you verbal cues to use if your curriculum doesn’t use them. Keep practicing until your child can form each letter from memory.

Work to increase speed. Handwriting workbooks are focused on the quality of letter formation. To increase speed, your child needs to be encouraged to write quickly and legibly. As long as you can determine the letters he’s written, your child is doing the right thing by increasing speed. First, you’ll need to get a baseline of your child’s handwriting speed. Having your child write as many letters as possible in a minute is a great way to check speed. That baseline will help your child determine his improvement in speed.

Handwriting speed is a lesson in Grammar Galaxy, a language arts curriculum for beginning readers that I created especially for reluctant readers and writers. To get a free copy of the handwriting speed forms, click the button below.

I’d like the free forms!

To learn more of the surprising and easy ways to teach kids to write, check out the landing page for this series.

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The Best Way to Teach Your Child to Write

The Best Way to Teach Your Child to Write

As homeschooling parents, teaching our children to write should be one of our top goals. Why? I love this quote from Marquette University:

Writing is the primary basis upon which your work, your learning, and your intellect will be judged—in college, in the workplace, and in the community.

 

The Best Way to Teach Your Child to Write

Most homeschooling parents want their child to write well. The problem is, according to responses from the Homeschool Sanity Facebook community, many parents don’t know how to teach their child to write. The problem may be:

  • The parent didn’t learn to write well. Parents’ own education was inadequate or they needed special tutoring that they didn’t get.
  • The parent is a natural writer. It’s difficult to teach the fundamentals of a skill that seems second-nature. Some of us need help breaking it down for our kids.
  • The child is resistant. A physical or learning disability gets in the way. There’s a psychological resistance of unknown origin. Or the curriculum or approach used has been rejected.

Whatever the reason for finding writing instruction a challenge, this is the simplest and best solution:

Encourage Your Child to Read

Research studies have found a relationship between reading skills and time spent reading and writing skills. While studies do not indicate that explicit writing instruction isn’t needed, there is clear evidence that the best way to teach your child to write is to teach them to read.  Then encourage them to read often.

Reading teaches your child use of language, grammar, and punctuation. As this Huffington Post article suggests, it’s foolish to expect our children to be good writers if they aren’t good readers. It’s like expecting your child to be a great musician when they do not listen to music.

I wrote a series of posts on how to help your child become a better reader. If your child is not already an avid or skilled reader, I encourage you to read it.

Is That It?

My son became very proficient in Spanish in part by watching movies in Spanish and listening to Spanish music. When I asked him if I could speak fluently by just doing that, he laughed. It takes more than that. Learning to write is the same. Children need instruction in writing that will amplify the benefits of reading.

As I continue this 5-day series on Easy and Surprising Ways to Teach Writing, you’ll learn more about how to teach your child to write. I hope you’ll subscribe so you won’t miss a post.

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Grammar Galaxy, my beginning language arts curriculum, encourages children to read daily and motivates them to write, too. Learn more at GrammarGalaxyBooks.com.

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The Most Overlooked Way of Teaching Reading

The Most Overlooked Way of Teaching Reading

I love this guest post by Amy Michaels. Amy offers a whole course on teaching reading as well as choosing curriculum, teaching gifted kids, and much more as part of her THRIVE Homeschooling Academy. If you are a new homeschooler or need help creating a homeschool that works for your family, I highly recommend it.

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When teaching your child to read, do you know that one of the most important components of reading is often overlooked?

Yes, phonics are important.

Decoding unknown words is absolutely a valuable set of skills.

Reading fluently can boost someone’s confidence.

However, there is something that is even more important when teaching your child to read.

Know what it is?

The Most Overlooked Way of Teaching Reading

It is simply this: discussing what you think and learn from a book can make all the difference between a mediocre reader and a reading enthusiast.

Why Conversational Reading is So Important

When we take the time to talk about what we read with our children, powerful thinking and learning happens.

As adults, we know this. We start conversations with, “I am reading the BEST book!” and we share what great insights have inspired us. We have book clubs to expand our knowledge and discussion our “ah-HA!” moments with our friends. We highlight our favorite passages, dog-ear pages, and swap books with friends who share our interests.

Why?

When we share our thinking about what we read, we engage the brain to exchange information with others.

As homeschoolers, the most important part of teaching your child to read is sharing the meaning of what is being read!

You instinctively knew this even when your child was a baby. You didn’t start by teaching your child to sound out each letter in a word when your child was 9 months old. Instead, you pointed to the pictures and named what you saw. If you saw a dog, you would say, “See the doggie? Dogs say, “Woof, woof.” You helped your child make connections from the books to what they could understand.

Conversations are the best and most simple way to do this!

How to Engage Kids in Conversation While Reading

My kids and I just started reading Grammar Galaxy, and it is a terrific example of how important it is to have conversations after reading. After we read a chapter, we make predictions about what we think is going to happen next. We talk about new vocabulary words that we learned, and we think about how we can use those words to something in our lives now. We make connections about how what the characters are doing reminds us of something we did (or wouldn’t do).

All of these discussions ensure that the kids are actively engaged in thinking about what they are reading. This makes reading a valued experience for a child. By investing our time and attention in our child’s thoughts about reading, we give them an opportunity to share part of their learning experience with us. What they share sometimes surprises me (like how my daughter was pronouncing “Penelope” as “pineapple,” which made us both giggle). Sometimes, what they share is profound (like the time my child decided that she wasn’t letting a friend’s criticism bother her b/c she was reminded of ourconversation after reading in a book that she has a choice about whether to believe others’ words).

Having conversations about books your child reads or that you read to them is the single BEST thing that you can do to help your child be a successful reading enthusiast.

This isn’t a list of specific skills to check off. You won’t find this in a curriculum. It is just about you taking just a few minutes to ask your child their thoughts about what they reading. Their responses are powerful and priceless, and it can make a world of difference in your child’s reading success.

Amy Michaels is a former classroom teacher and Gifted Educational Specialist turned homeschooler. She is the founder of ThriveHomeschooling.com and Thrive Homeschooling Academy. She works as an Educational Consultant to homeschooling parents by sharing systems to simplify and customize their homeschooling to see their kids THRIVE.
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The Ultimate Guide to Free Vocabulary Games

The Ultimate Guide to Free Vocabulary Games

Vocabulary is the number one predictor of your student’s academic and life success. That’s why I made it such a key part of Grammar Galaxy, a new, fun language arts curriculum for beginning readers. Reading is the best way to build vocabulary by far, but we can squeeze more vocabulary teaching in without our kids even realizing it through games.

Are you in a hurry? Pin this post so you can reference it later.

The Ultimate Guide to Free Vocabulary Games

I’m including over 50 games that can be tailored to a wide range of grade levels and number of players. If you scroll down, you’ll find a list of online vocabulary game sites that are also free. If you love this list, be sure to check out the Ultimate List of Free Grammar Games as well.

Free Vocabulary Games

Antonym and Synonym Get There First Game – The player who is it says a word. Players get to take a step toward “It” when giving a correct synonym/antonym.

Antonym Go Fish

A Sticky Situation – The player who is it is in the center with a sticky note on their back with a vocabulary word on it. Students turn around in the circle so players can see and give clues to the word. The player that gives the winning clue is then it.

Beach Ball Vocabulary – Write words in marker on a beach ball. Players gently throw the ball. Whichever word a player’s thumb (right or left) is touching must be defined and used in a sentence.

Chat About It – Partners compare the number of words correctly defined/used in a sentence on a list.

Choose the Better Definition – Can help students differentiate shades of meaning.

Circle Rotation – Players form inner and outer circles. The outer circle player asks the facing inner circle player a question about a word and signs her sheet if she is correct. The player with the most signatures wins.

Definitely…Not…Kind Of – Students try to get their teammates to guess their vocabulary word by putting their descriptor words into definitely, not, and kind-of categories.

Dictionary Roll a Word – Encourages students to check the dictionary for the part of speech of a word, pronunciation and more using a die.

Don’t Break the Ice – Students hammer out the ice piece that corresponds to the definition read.

Don’t Say It – This is like Taboo for vocabulary words with a list of words that cannot be given as clues for guessing the word.

Erase a Word – Team members get to erase a correctly identified vocabulary word and win when all their words are erased.

Fake Texts – Text your students using a new vocabulary word and challenge them to use the context to determine meaning.

Fish Race – Teams or players move their fish one wave for correctly identifying vocabulary words (used for Spanish vocab, but appropriate for English as well).

Game Show – Students write their own vocabulary questions and answers on cards that are then used in a game show format.

Hangman

Grammar Galaxy Books

Heads Down, Vocab Up – Played like Heads Up 7-UP only with vocabulary cards.

Homonym Bean Bag Toss – Players throw bean bags onto squares drawn with sidewalk chalk.

I Have, Who Has? – Could use these cards for synonyms.

Match-up – Using paper plates or index cards to match vocabulary words and definitions.

Memory – With vocabulary words and definitions.

Password of the Day – Students have to use the new vocabulary word to do things in the classroom.

Picture It! – Pictionary for vocabulary words.

Rate Your Happiness – Have students rate their happiness on a 1-5 scale if they experienced a situation using a vocabulary word.

Relay Runners – Teams compete to find the just-defined word in a stack of index cards at the finish line and return to their team the fastest.

Roll the Die – Depending on the roll of the die, students will define, give a synonym or antonym, use a word in a sentence, draw a word, or act it out. Do the same with a spinner or with notecards.

Slap! – Call out a vocabulary word and the first student to slap it, adds it to his/her pile.

Stack the Words – Students who correctly define or use a vocabulary word written on a cup can keep it and use the cup to build a tower. Highest tower wins. Also with prefixes.

Sticky Note Match – Students write vocab words on sticky notes, outline them on the board and write the definition in the square. Their partner has to match them.

Synonym Blocks Matching Game

That’s Nonsense! – Print out sentences that include nonsense words and have players match vocabulary words to the correct sentences. Can do this with teams and by timing.

Toss and Answer – Students throw a ball or small object into a muffin tin that has a word in each compartment. Students could define the word or have to use it in a sentence.

True or Untrue – Kids can give the correct definition or try to fool players with a fake one.

Vocab-Categories – like Scattegories

Vocab Twister – Tape words to the colored circles of a Twister game and have students define or use words they have to touch.

Vocabulary Basket Toss – Correctly identified words earn one point or two if the crumpled up paper with the word lands in the trash basket.

Vocabulary Bingo

Vocabulary Cubes – Partners roll two dice to determine which vocabulary word to communicate and how to communicate it.

Vocabulary Dominoes

Vocabulary Kaboom – Words are drawn on sticks and must be used correctly. If a player draws a kaboom stick, all the sticks must be returned to the cup.

Vocabulary Oops! – Players get to keep vocabulary cards they correctly identify until they draw an Oops! card

Vocabulary Social – Students wear vocab words in lanyards and introduce themselves as their word.

Vocabulary Spelling Game – Students use letter tiles to spell out words based on the definition.

Vocabulary Swat – Teams use a flyswatter to swat the correct word on the board after hearing the definition read. You can also write words on bug cards.

Vocabulary Word Snowball Fight – Vocab words and definitions are written on separate pieces of paper that are crumpled up and thrown. Students pick up a word and have to find the student who has their definition. You could compete for time.

What’s My Word? – Students wear vocabulary words as headbands and have sheets with questions about their words to ask their fellow students to determine their word. You can also have students tape words to their foreheads.

Word Trains Vocabulary – Students have to identify word roots when given a prefix and suffix.

Wordo – Played like Tac-Tic-Toe with vocabulary words.

Word Shark – PowerPoint game played like Boggle.

Word Sneak – Pairs attempt to sneak vocabulary words into conversation.

Word Speed – Write as many words as they can think of in a time limit, getting points for correct words.

Word Up Baseball – The teacher is the pitcher who throws the “ball” to the student batter. The batter must throw the ball to the correct player / word in the outfield.

 

Free Online Vocabulary Games

Free Online Vocabulary Games

Analogy Game

Clueless Crossword

Crossword Puzzle

Games to Teach Prefixes, Suffixes, and Root Words

Great Day Games

Hangman

High School Games

Learning Games for Kids Vocabulary Games

Merriam-Webster Vocabulary Games

Play Kids Games Vocabulary Games

PBSKids Vocabulary Games

SATTyrannosaurusPrep

Sheppard Software Games

Sports Vocabulary Games

The Problem Site Games

Turtle Diary

Unscramble

Vocabulary.com

Vocabuzz

Vocabulary Quiz

WordlyWise3000

Check out other Ultimate Guide Posts from iHomeschool Network

iHN Ultimate Guides

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7 Reading Strategies Beyond “Sound it Out!”

7 Reading Strategies Beyond “Sound it Out!”

Last week I shared my new language arts curriculum, Grammar Galaxy. It is for beginning readers. This guest post by my friend, Ashley White, will help you get your child ready for it! Be sure to subscribe to Mommy’s Little Learners.

How many times, as a homeschooling parent, have you asked your young reader to “just sound it out!”?  We’ve all done it more times than we can count on our own two hands!  And that’s ok.  I’ll give you some grace on that only because reading research has come a LONG way in the last years.  

Times they are a changing, so let me fill you in on 7 Reading Strategies to go beyond “Sound it OUT!”

7 Reading Strategies Beyond Sound it Out

Keep in mind that these strategies build upon each other.  Start by teaching Strategy #1, then work your way slowly down the strategy list.  Introduce a new strategy only if your reader has become proficient in the others.

Strategy #1 – Look at the Picture

This is a simple strategy that can create a strong reader!  If your child gets stuck on a word, ask them to simply “Look at the picture.”  Doing this will help them predict words based on the clues gained from the pictures.

**Side note** Make sure that young readers have books with good picture support!  This is key when teaching young ones to read successfully.  Joy Cowley is one of our favorites.  Here’s a great link list of her publications. Joy Cowley books

Strategy #2 – Does it Make Sense?

Simply say it when your reader gets stuck…“You said this ____. Did that make sense?”  As adult readers, we do this naturally.  By using this phrase, you are setting your reader up for a way for them to self-monitor and check that what they said actually makes sense in context.  This is a key-question strategy that will play a huge role in your child’s reading ability once all these have been taught and mastered.

Strategy #3 – Get Your Mouth Ready

Sometimes picture clues and trying to make sense of the word simply doesn’t provide enough information for young readers.  So asking them to “get their mouth ready” based off the word’s beginning/initial sound helps them to predict what would make sense.  I hope that now you can see how each strategy builds upon each other.

If your reader is taught the first 2 Reading Strategies, then they can apply it when trying to incorporate the third one into their reading.  And before you know it, it will come together naturally and beautifully.

Strategy #4 – Does It Look Right?

This is another key-question strategy.  When readers look through the word from beginning to end, this allows them to check their prediction that they made while reading.  After they have studied that word, they will either confirm or reject their word choice based off of the letter-sound relationship.  If your reader can’t make sense of the letter-sound relationship, this is when the other strategies above can be used.  Offer your reader the chance to “look at the picture” to check if their word choice matches and “makes sense.”. 

Strategy #5 – Reread

When your reader comes to a word they don’t know, ask for a prediction (a “smart prediction”) based off the beginning sound.  Go back and try that suggestion in the sentence, asking your reader… “Does that word make sense?” and “Does that word look right in the sentence you just read?”  Keep in mind, when readers get stuck on a word, they often forget what they read.  To check their comprehension, it’s important for them go back and reread.  

Strategy #6 – Does it Sound Right?

This is your final key-question strategy!  If your reader reads something that just doesn’t sound right at all, then try reading it back to them.  “You read it like this…does that sound right?”  This is a helpful strategy for auditory learners.  There’s something magical when they hear their mistake read back to them.

Good Readers will continually use and reflect on the 3 key-question strategies: Does it Look Right? Does It Sound Right? Does It Make Sense?  Once they have mastered this, you’ll be amazed!

Strategy #7 – Look for Chunks

This is one of my favorite strategies to use with young readers.  However, keep in mind that all of the above should be introduced and practiced first.  If your reader gets stuck on a word, ask them to use some of the above strategies first before they try this one.  Have your reader look for “small words inside the big word.” 

For example, the word “flat” has the small word -at inside it.  I would cover up the beginning blend to show them the small word -at, then see if they can add the /fl/ blend.  Once your young readers has discovered the word is “flat”, then ask them to reread the sentence, just to make sure that it “sounds right” and “makes sense.”

 

Lots of information, right?  Keep in mind that when you implement each strategy slowly and allow your reader time to practice it daily, all this information will begin to feel comfortable, for both you and your reader. 

I have a big treat for you over at my blog.  It’s a FREE printable for you to download and print.

Reading Strategy Card

I know many moms that have printed multiple copies of this printable and placed them ANYWHERE their child might be reading…bathrooms, cars, bedside tables, just to name a few.

Enjoy and happy reading with your little ones!

Ashley N. White is a former teacher turned homeschooling mother of 3 boys. Before becoming a mother, she taught in the classroom and was later appointed the title of Reading Coach for the 8th largest school district in the country. When she isn’t teaching her own, Ashley is offering workshops to teach parents adaptable educational ideas that they can apply at home. She blogs and shares her journey at mommyslittlelearners.blogspot.com.
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