Summer Schooling? No Way!

It might seem early to start thinking about summer, but I have many parents enrolling and inquiring about my six week summer workshops. Even if you don't want to commit to summer workshops, consider how no school during the summer may be affecting your children.

One of the great blessings of homeschooling is flexibility in scheduling when we teach and learn. While many homeschool parents still operate on the "school year" schedule, I am finding that more and more of my students' families are schooling year round. Many families do this because allows them to take vacations at times other than in the summer, but there are definitely other reasons to do some schooling in the summer.

1. Loss of knowledge and skills - as a teacher, I see it every year. I don't need statistics, although there are plenty out there, to notice how many of my students return to class and need "refreshing" when it comes to skills. As a writing teacher, I have to review punctuation and grammar rules every September even for my returning students.If you view writing as a life skill rather than a subject, then you can imagine how important it is to use that skill regularly to keep it fresh.

2. Change in attitude - in particular, my reluctant readers and reluctant writers get out of the habit over the summer. For some of them, it takes a full quarter or about eight weeks to get back into reading and writing regularly. Since they don't enjoy it as much as other students, they're inclined not to retain the habit over summer. Often, Moms with this type of student will let them "just be kids" over the summer to avoid dealing with the complaining. I do understand, but in the big picture, consistency is vital for reluctant students to succeed.

Even if you don't want to officially "school" during the summer months, consider a few activities that could keep your children moving forward with writing or reading skills.

• Join or start a summer reading program/group. Most public libraries have reading programs which offer rewards and other incentives for reading regularly. If the library incentives don't appeal to your children, you could set up your own rewards system. Then make sure to schedule time regularly for reading, even if it's just a few days a week. If you read at the same time, you'll also model the importance of reading to your children.
• Visiting readers - sometimes it's nice to have someone else read to you. Periodically, consider having a special friend or family member come read with your children. Or have your children visit someone and read aloud to them. Children in hospitals and homeless shelters as well as the elderly in nursing homes enjoy being read to and it also provides an opportunity for an older child to serve.
• Throw in some creative writing activities - consider summer journaling, scrapbooking or notebooking different events, trips, etc. for the summer. The writing does not need to be lengthy or detailed to keep up skills. A paragraph written a few times a week could serve as a reminder of how to maintain those oh so important writing skills. For families with multiple children, a summer newsletter where each child contributes can be very fun. Add some photos and graphics, then share it with friends and family electronically or in print. A summer pen pal can provide practice in both writing and social skills. Plan a summer get together and have your child write up the invitation, create a shopping list, design a menu and more. This will also demonstrate how important writing skills are in everyday life.
• Enroll your child in a summer workshop - I offer all types of classes in the summer, from Author studies to creative writing to writing intensives, that I don't offer the rest of the year. With six week sessions, students can enjoy a variety of experiences or just spend part of the summer keeping up with reading and writing skills.

However you choose to spend your summer, maintaining consistent learning practices will help most children succeed all year round. A little bit of a schedule allows children to keep a routine but still feel the freedom so often associated with summer. 

God bless,

High School Study Skills and Learning Styles

Mid-year often presents a clear picture of a student's current abilities. Occasionally, in my classes, parents find themselves surprised at the mid-term report. This usually occurs because students lack study skills or choose not to study. The point of mid-year evaluation is to reveal students' strengths and weaknesses while there's still time for reparation and improvement. I've noticed more and more with homeschool high schoolers that they're challenged by study skills. This may be happening for a number of reasons:

      1.  Lack of practice – with some families, evidence of mastery is not determined through testing or other methods that require studying, so students haven't had to study in the past.
     2. Uniqueness of homeschool families – one of the beautiful blessings of teaching homeschool students is that they come from unique backgrounds with their families focusing on what they value most. Within that focus, study skills may not have previously seemed essential.
    3. Age and maturity level – more and more homeschool students start high school courses in 8^th grade. While I greatly support that students should move at a pace that challenges them and allows them to grow, it is not common for 8^th grade students to have already developed essential study skills.
    4. Study skills are not developmental, but learned – few students develop strong study skills without assistance. Bright students may ascertain how to study through trial and error, but typically students benefit from being taught how to study.

Most students find that once they utilize study skills on a consistent basis, their stress level decreases and their confidence increases. They discover that some time and effort can bring amazing results! A student's learning style directly affects which study skills are most effective.

AUDITORY LEARNERS learn best from listening. Their study environment should be quiet without multiple interruptions so that they can focus on what they're hearing. Headphones often positively impact this type of learner. With online classes, headphones may help an auditory learner to better focus. Study skills that support this type of learner include:

•   Books on CD – For history and literature courses, many materials are available on CD. Auditory learners tend to comprehend content better when it is read to them.
•  Reading aloud – Some students can achieve the same purposes by reading the material aloud to themselves. The oral reading helps imbed the content into long term memory. For other students, they do best when it's another voice reading aloud to them.
•  Oral practices – reciting vital material aloud often works well for this type of learner. For example, grouping material into fact packages (such as info about a particular person or event) and reading the notes aloud for a few minutes a day can make a huge difference. Another example might be vocabulary definitions – looking at the word on a notecard and reading the definition on the back aloud often works for auditory learners.
•  Put it to music – any information put to music, even just using basic familiar tunes, can help an auditory learner remember important facts and information.

VISUAL LEARNERS find that learning is easier when they have graphics and other visual aids. One important point to remember is that visual learners study best in an area where there is less visual stimulation to distract them. They often want to study in front of the television but may struggle to do so. To help your visual learner get more out of study time:

•  Use checklists or homework assignment sheets – visual learners tend to work well with graphic organizers such as checklists and charts.
•  Color coding notes – highlighters and colored pens often assist visual learners. Different colored highlighters used to organize different material (vocabulary, important facts, etc.) can be very effective. Colored note cards can also help visual learners when studying.
•  Visualization – I am a visual learner and I can often remember information based on where I specifically saw it. I struggle with people's names, but if a person has a name tag or some other form of visual connection, I can recall names by visualizing. At one time, I worked with middle school students who had serious spelling problems. A strategy that I used very successfully was a combination of flashcards and hand movement visualization. If you'd like the specific steps for this strategy, comment on this post with your email address. When studying, photographs, maps and other graphics may be used to recall events and information more readily.
•   Rewriting, typing and redrawing –  I had a roommate in college who retyped every note she ever took because seeing the word printed on the page created a visual image she could remember. Having students copy material, rewrite notes and create charts or other graphic organizers can be beneficial.
•  Class seating – visual learners tend to remember content better when they can see the person presenting the information and the white board or other source of notes. In a physical classroom, sitting in the front can be beneficial. For online classes, a visual learner will generally remember more if he can see video of the teacher and the material being covered.
•   Lapbooks, notebooking, Powerpoint creation, etc. ­– I have started using notebooking in my history classes because it allows for both visual and kinesthetic learners to excel.  The importance here lies in the fact that the students must create the materials, including Powerpoint presentations, rather than having the material created for them.

KINESTHETIC LEARNERS are the most unique of learners. I have met very few truly kinesthetic learners. Most learners of this type combine audio or visual learning as well.

•   Audio + kinesthetic – this type of learner hears best when physically manipulating something while listening. Boys more often have this learning style from my experience. Drawing or manipulating a ball of clay or rubber band while listening to recorded information can help this person study. For some parents, this is a real struggle because they feel their child is playing, but with this type of learner, it is very apparent that the movement connects with the learning process.
•  Visual + kinesthetic – many math programs have been developed with this type of learner in mind. Using manipulatives while learning concepts works well with this learning style. Memorization of math facts may seem impossible until the student begins moving around counting chips! Electronic readers can be beneficial for assisting this type of learner with reading and comprehension. The manipulation of the electronic device, particularly with touch screens, can make learning more interesting and appealing to kinesthetic learners. Lapbooks, notebooking and other graphic organizers may also benefit this learning style when studying.

Most people are a combination of learning types. For many of us, we don't discover how we learn or study best without much trial and error.  For younger children, simply paying attention to how they respond to different activities can often reveal their learning styles. If you have an older child, you'll need to look more closely at how successful they are when studying. If you find that your older child does well with daily work but struggles with tests and other evaluation formats requiring studying, it may be that your child simply doesn't know how best to study.

If you have questions about learning styles or study skills, please feel free to ask as a comment. This will allow other parents to benefit from your question as well.

Blessings,

When Did You Last Teach AND Evaluate a Writing Assignment?

But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.

-Lord Byron

Over the years, I have discussed many issues with parents about teaching and evaluating their children's writing. I have often joked that I am going to write a book called, "Confessions of a Homeschool Mom: My kids never write!" Parents, in moments of true heartfelt struggles, have shared stories of a year of writing that went ungraded, going through an entire school year without giving a writing assignment and only using workbooks because they don't feel confident evaluating writing. I have only compassion because I have been in the same boat, not with writing, but with high school math.

Teaching Textbooks saved my homeschool reputation. :) It all started when my oldest child, Ally, needed to take Geometry. We had previously used Bob Jones curriculum for Algebra and I felt very confident teaching that math subject. However, I only succeeded in Geometry in high school because the teacher used the exact same proofs on the test that she covered from the text. I have, or had, a wonderful memory so I did well, at least according to test scores. However, I left high school never really understanding proofs. So, one day, I was grading my daughter's work based on the key in the Geometry book and her proof was different from the answer. However, looking at it, I realized that in my limited understanding, it made sense. Confused, I contacted a homeschool father, who was also an engineer and good friend, and asked him about the issue. He had me read the proof, approved it and explained that there was more than one correct path for that proof. I truly panicked. How could I evaluate Ally's math work if I didn't understand it myself? After trying to teach myself Geometry again, scouring the textbook hoping that something had been retained from high school, I sadly gave up. It was not much later when a friend introduced me to Teaching Textbooks which included DVDs where the professor fully mapped out the solutions. Now, I am not promoting Teaching Textbooks beyond my own personal experience, and it saved me at the time. I had to turn over my children's high school mathematical education to someone who was an expert. I was grateful to have the option!  During those days of struggle, I often put off grading Ally's math work. Although it wasn't fair to her, it reminded me of what I considered to be a great weakness in my own education and I didn't want to face it on a daily basis. My procrastination, of course, made the days that I caught up on grading absolutely miserable.

About a year ago, I considered going back to college and getting a degree in mathematics. It still bothers me that a part of my high school education left a gap in my knowledge. After prayer and consideration, I realized that I was just trying to soothe my own pride by proving I could do it. God spoke to me and encouraged me to focus on the gifts He has given me and not on where I feel deficient.

If you're inconsistent with teaching and evaluating writing with your children, it may be from your own fear  or reminder of a personal educational gap. Sadly, your inconsistency may be the way you pass on that gap to your children. None of us go into homeschooling planning on sharing our weaknesses with our children, but for most of us, those weaknesses become glaring as we teach. That's okay. We all have academic weaknesses. That's why I teach writing. Many moms express the relief that they feel from having someone who is actually a writer teaching their children. Removing that stress can be life changing and allow you to focus on those areas that you enjoy teaching and where you excel.

Whether you utilize Classes by Beth, another educational source or teach writing yourself, I strongly urge you to find a way for your children to write consistently. It's also vital for them to receive specific feedback on their writing so they don't develop poor habits that they could carry throughout their lives.  Viewing writing as a life skill and not as a subject in school may help you remember the importance of our children expressing themselves effectively through the written word.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about your children's writing progress or teaching writing.

With God's blessings,

Attitude Reflecton

It's not surprising when homeschool children come to me with weak writing and grammar skills. I'm not saying this because I am cynical about homeschool parents and their ability to teach. Writing is just one of those areas that intimidates many parents and students. I feel the same way about Geometry! Just a few of the reasons why this situation is so common include:
1. Parents don't feel confident teaching about writing. This can result in a parent who simply doesn't teach writing or focuses entirely on grammar because there are workbooks for those skills.
2. Parents don't feel comfortable evaluating their children's writing assignments. In this case, the parents usually give writing assignments, but since they're not graded or evaluated properly, the children don't grow as writers. I receive many emails from some pretty wonderful moms who are stressed out about the writing assignments piling up because they're too intimidated to grade them.
3. Parents attempt to teach writing, but the children's attitudes keep progress from being made. This often occurs when parents express their dislike for writing which gives their children permission to feel the same way. It may be that the parent had a negative experience in the past or never really learned to write well, so the idea is just uncomfortable.
4. Parents work hard to teach and evaluate their children's writing, and they still seem to be lacking in skills. This can happen with any subject. The child may not be developmentally ready to learn how to write (I don't recommend formal writing education until at least 3rd grade). Sometimes children just don't retain what has been taught to them, particularly if they're not interested or not really ready. Even with my high school students, I remind them continually that "learning to learn" is as important as learning and practice skills. I tell them that they are cheating themselves out of an education is they only learn things for the immediate. 

Of each of these scenarios, the most difficult for me to overcome with a student is #3. A lack of knowledge is so much easier to combat than a negative attitude. I call this "Attitude Reflection," which tells you how often I see it. :) I even have a name for it! So, if you really abhor writing, how can you prevent your attitude from being reflected by your child?

• Honesty may not always be the best policy...sometimes not sharing is more helpful. While I am all about being honest with a child, if the honesty doesn't positively affect the child, then what's the point? Is it beneficial for your child to know you despise writing? If you didn't enjoy writing as a child, but can discuss the value of it in your life today, that's a different story. You can express how important writing skills are rather than focusing on how you feel about them personally.
• Evaluate your child's writing in a timely manner. If you put off grading your children's writing, they may assume that it's not important. They probably aren't thinking that math is easier to grade or that you don't  have the energy at the end of the day to edit your children's written work - they just see it still sitting there on the desk. If you don't feel you can evaluate your children's writing, consider using CBB evaluation services. Either way, if you're not going to grade the assignment, it's probably better not to assign the work.
• Model writing as a life skill. Most of us email, text and write in other life situations. If you keep a prayer journal or participate in a Bible study, you're writing. If you create a Christmas letter, you're writing. When you find yourself writing, even if you don't enjoy it, point out to your children how you're using this important tool and why it's so important to be a writer in life.
• Treat writing like driving a car. Most of us can't imagine our children never driving, not using a computer, not having a job or being unable to verbally communicate. Writing is an invaluable life skill. Without this skill, imagine all of the different things that wouldn't exist in our world. It's amazing how many people will put their child in piano, dance or sports, requiring extensive rehearsal and practice. Yet, writing is viewed as a subject in school rather than a life skill.

Still unsure about how to create writers when you don't really enjoy it yourself? Check out my article, How to Grow a Successful Writer, on the CBB website. Just remember that your attitude tremendously affects your children's attitudes. As a teacher, I see the reflections whether they're positive, negative or as in most cases, somewhere in between.

God bless your new year!

Planning Ahead!

I am amazed at how many parents are already discussing plans for the next school year. Like seeing Valentine's gifts in the store the week after Christmas, it seems that parents request information about classes earlier and earlier. For that reason, I spent part of the holidays completing revamping my CBB website. Many thanks to my sweet son, JP, who was such a tremendous help. He is like having my own personal Geek Squad. I do understand the need to feel like you are moving forward. 

Often in January, I found myself, as a homeschool mom, realizing that the "long" semester was ahead. The first half of the year is so nicely broken up by holidays, but the second half seems to go on and on!

I also tended to feel a bit of panic at what hadn't already been accomplished. If you feel that way, some tips for handling the upcoming semester might be helpful. 
1. Take a few minutes and evaluate the previous semester. Don't dwell on what wasn't accomplished but focus on what you and your children did together. You can't get the time back, so lamenting it won't help.
2. Set a few reasonable goals for the coming semester. Try not to overdue it. Pushing too hard will probably only result in frustration. Try just finishing up a project you started with your child, evaluate that first draft that has been sitting on your desk over the entire holiday season or finish reading that novel together. Don't give up on what you started the first semester, but finish some things that will give you and your child both a sense of accomplishment.
3. Don't jump over skills and move on. Sometimes we're behind and we just think that we need to be writing well developed paragraphs rather than finishing up those parts of speech. Don't move forward until it's time. Mastery is more important than a checklist. 
4. Go ahead and plan for the upcoming year. Don't forget what you want to accomplish now, but if it gives you peace to know that you're working on future goals, then definitely do it!

Most importantly, enjoy your time with your children. As I watch mine return to work and college, I delight in my memories of having schooled them. While they may not always think it was the perfect experience, I know that we would've missed out on so much if we hadn't homeschooled.

As this new year arrives, God bless your family and your schooling! I am eager to help parents with teaching writing, literature and history, so be sure to contact me if you have any questions. Answering questions in blogs often leads to helping out more people than you realize!

In Christ,

What is Relevant Writing and How Do I Teach It?

Many of my students' parents and readers of my blogs have commented on a phrase that I use "relevant writing."  This idea encompasses the thought that relating writing to what children are already learning makes the most sense. It's the difference between treating writing as a life skill rather than an academic subject. 

I taught first grade in a private school for several years. Although it's a wonderful age to teach, I was often frustrated by the writing assignments from our language arts curriculum. I wondered if the authors ever actually worked with young children. The assignments often required students to think of original material with very little direction. Children at that age have lived a very limited life. How many original ideas could a first grader possibly have? The way I solved the problem was to adapt the writing assignments so they related to other material that we had been reading and experiencing. I used the same method when I taught my own children, and others, to write as a homeschool mom.

Relevant Writing Strategies You Can Use in Your Homeschool

• As you plan activities in other subject areas, such as science and history, combine writing with specific concepts from those subjects. Have your child retell a historical event in writing or explain a science concept. 
• Utilize activities such as field trips, family vacations and other special events as writing opportunities. Be sure to create specific assignments rather than general ideas like "Describe the field trip" or "Write about our family vacation."
• Choose assignments that are developmentally appropriate for your child.
  
• Make sure you and your child have a clear understanding of the goals of the writing assignment before starting. Writing assignments make more sense when students know what is expected.
  
•  Vary the length and depth of writing assignments. Every written assignment doesn't have to be a report or essay. Shorter writing assignments can often serve the purpose, cause less student stress and make it easier for you to grade.
• When assigning longer assignments, such as reports, break it down into parts such as notes, thesis statement, outline and multiple drafts.
• Consider giving your child multiple options for writing assignments. Students often feel more empowered and eager to complete work when they have choices. No more than three choices will alleviate undo pressure for most students.
• Give your student's written work as much attention when grading as you expect him or her to give it when writing. Discuss the writing, both positives and negatives, and allow for more than one draft, if needed. Encourage your child to improve his or her writing without demanding perfection with every assignment. Keep in mind that writing is a process that improves with practice and additional skill level.

If you view writing as a life skill and not a series of lessons or an academic subject, you'll transfer that perspective to your child as you teach. If it is a burden and hardship for you, if you can't see it as an essential life skill, your child will view it that way as well.

Happy Teaching!

Writing Questions Parents Ask

I often receive emails from homeschool parents with questions about writing. In my classes, I encourage my students to ask questions in front of the whole class because often other students benefit from the answers. With that philosophy in mind, I thought I'd devote my early blog posts, starting today, to sharing the answers I have given to parent questions. I have adapted some of my answers to be more beneficial to the general parenting public and of course, I am not revealing any personal information about parents doing the asking.

If you have a question about teaching your child to write, please don't hesitate to ask. I don't have all of the answers but I'll be happy to try and help!

Diagramming Sentences - Is this a valuable writing skill?

This question came from the mom of a middle school student. She tends to be literature based in her teaching and I think she was struggling with work that might seem more like "busy" rather than fruitful. Good question in my book!

I have a history with diagramming sentences, so I may be carrying some baggage here. :) I remember spending much time in grammar class working on those diagrams. I even vividly remember the textbook cover and the page layout. I dreaded those assignments although I generally aced them. Honestly, I dreaded most grammar lessons. Probably sounds funny coming from a professional writer and educator. However, if I hadn't taken creative writing in 10th grade, I would've left high school despising English. Once I realized the value and beauty of putting words together in a manner that flowed and demonstrated my ideas, I loved writing. All of that grammar never really translated over for me. In fact, I am not very good with grammar rules to this day. I have to use a grammar resource for tough student questions. Yet, I do know when writing is right and when it's wrong, in most cases. It just makes sense to me because I had a teacher who made it make sense.

As an educator, I am not a fan of diagramming sentences except in the rare case that it helps a specific child visualize how to use different parts of speech and construct various sentences. I do think that particular case is rare because I have found that my students who spent time diagramming before attending my classes are generally no better at constructing intelligent sentences than students who did not diagram. It's like memorizing the parts of speech and reciting their definitions. You might understand that an adjective modifies a noun, but if you don't practice using adjectives and reading well written literature utilizing adjectives, that definition won't help your writing.

I sort of think of diagramming sentences as a way of turning writing into math. Writing is one of the most unique skills you can learn. It involves both subjective and objective evaluation. That is the main reason most parents don't enjoy or feel confident evaluating their children's writing. Diagramming sentences have a right or wrong answer, they're easy to grade (assuming you can read your child's diagrams) and may demonstrate some level of skill. Unfortunately, they don't demonstrate whether your child can or will be able to effectively create a sentence.

With so many "writing" programs out there focusing on completing grammar pages, including diagramming sentences, I think that parents are astonished to find that after years of practicing such skills in isolation, their children still don't write well or want to write. That is due to the fact that you can understand grammar without understanding how to utilize it in writing. Few children naturally make the transition from workbook page to paragraph development.

I know there are plenty of educators and home school parents who disagree, but my experience, over twenty years of it, supports my point. I learn to teach better from watching how my students learn and I never used a grammar workbook, worksheets or had my children or students diagram sentences. Amazingly, many of them have turned out to be outstanding writers. I don't believe in luck, so praise God for His blessings on my classes.

Next blog...if not worksheets and workbooks, how do I teach writing? This is one of the most common questions I receive. See you next time with the answer! 

God bless,