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The Best Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum: Tips And Recommendations

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Looking for a solid homeschool handwriting curriculum? Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter for more tips!

There are lots of choices of handwriting curriculum.

 And I want to help you navigate them all whether you are looking for writers who are just starting out or a child who struggles with dyslexia or dysgraphia.

The Best Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum : Tips And Recommendations

One more important thing before you read on is for you to understand the difference between teaching handwriting and composition.

They are overlapping skills, but not in the beginning.

The focus with young writers is penmanship prior to composing thoughts.

I have rounded up 8 solid handwriting curriculum.

Look at the list and decide which one works the best for your child’s learning style, interests, and abilities.

Handwriting is an important foundational skill.

It has been proven that the brain engages differently when something is written by hand as opposed to typing it or by touching a screen.

Writing improves memory and teaches the alphabet faster as the learner interacts with each letter in various ways.

The Best Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum : Tips And Recommendations

Too, it helps to slow down and engage with our thoughts, and handwritten letters are so personal and special!

Besides the handwriting curriculum there are different techniques you can do with your learner to practice while always keeping it fresh and fun.

7 Tips and Recommendations for Homeschool Handwriting

Of course, I am going to share these ideas with you as well.

1. Do not mistake teaching handwriting for composition.

As I mentioned earlier, budding writers need to know how to form letters before you introduce composing thoughts.

If a child has not spent enough time doing handwriting where letter writing comes naturally, they will struggle with both motor skills and the mental process of composition.

2. Before you ever begin teaching handwriting, spend a lot of time in pre-writing activities.

These activities build fine motor skills and help children learn to recognize and form letters.

The Best Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum : Tips And Recommendations

This can be writing in a salt tray, forming letters with playdough, painting with cotton swabs or drawing with their fingers in shaving cream.

3. Repetition is key to success.

I think the most important part of learning handwriting is repetition.

It is a muscle that must be exercised regularly to make it strong.

Daily practice is important, but you can introduce different tools to make it fun.

The Best Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum : Tips And Recommendations

For very young, beginning writers draw the letters on handwriting paper with a highlighter and let them trace over it in pencil.

4. Use different writing surfaces to bring learning to life.

Use different surfaces other than paper- chalkboard, dry erase, or an LED board, these are just so fun and different that it makes it exciting.

The Best Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum : Tips And Recommendations

For pre-writing, when your child is almost ready to write or just beginning, consider using technology like the Wet Dry Try app from Handwriting Without Tears.

5. Technology has a place.

It is designed for kids to repetitively practice writing on a tablet with their finger or a stylus to teach how to form letters.

The Best Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum : Tips And Recommendations

6. Copywork is another successful teaching method.

Modeling for a child has always been a superior method of teaching.

Copywork is simply what is implies. Teaching a child to copy write what he sees.

A child must pay attention to the details of capital letters and punctuation.

In addition, a child reads and writes well-formed sentences because copywork resources should be superior writings.

For example, use nature books, scripture, history resources and poetry.

Further, copywork is a great resource for handwriting as it is a way to encourage repetition.

But also it works in other subjects, teaches punctuation, and develops spelling skills.

7. Match to your child’s learning style.

Finally you want to move on to a good solid homeschool handwriting curriculum that matches their learning style and meets any challenges they may have.

CURSIVE HANDWRITING TIPS

Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum Tips!

Keep reading for a list of 8 handwriting curriculum and the benefits of each.

Finally, look at these recommendations.

8 Handwriting Curriculum Options for Homeschooled Kids

The 8 Best Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum.

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You’ll love these homeschool high school literature guides which make teaching easy. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School for more ideas.

Though I was over the top giddy at accomplishing the feat of teaching my first son how to read, deep down I was anxious because I was already thinking about the upper grades.

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

The thought of teaching literature at the high school level made me feel defeated before I even started.

Many years later and after teaching all of my sons how to read well, I learned that one secret tool (not a secret anymore because you now know) to teaching literature in the upper grades is a simple, but well-thought-out high school literature guide.

Have you seen the nifty high school literature guides by Dover Publications? They are the Dover Thrift Study Editions. More on that in a minute.

I was given free books from Dover Publications and I was compensated for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off.  ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun stuff!

Why You Should Teach Classic Literature

First, to clear up any confusion, there is not an exact grade where reading turns to literature.

Somewhere during the middle and high school years, reading turns from learning to read to reading to learn. A big difference.

Like the early grades, classic literature plays a huge role in reading to learn.

When teaching a beginner reader, the focus is on phonics, comprehension and vocabulary.

Some of those elements don’t completely go away in the high school years, but reading to learn is about peering closer at literature.

high school literature guides 1

Look at a few of the common elements of reading to learn that a high school student will want to cover.

  • Understand an author’s background or biography;
  • Understand an author’s message;
  • Understand literary analysis; and
  • Explore examples of literary terms like plot, theme, point of view and even complicated ones like similes and metaphors.

Why It’s Important to Go from Broad to Focused

Also, one more significant difference in teaching literature at the high school level is that a reader moves from being exposed to a variety of genres in the younger grades to a more focused look at one genre or time period of literature.

For example, a student will do a yearlong study of American, British or even World literature.

We recently started using high school literature guides by Dover Publications because not only did I want something that Tiny could do independently, but I wanted to contain the overflowing amount of high school curriculum.

Focusing on British literature, I was tickled that I got in my bundle the following books.

 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Homeschool High School Literature Guides

Look at some of the reasons why we are using the comprehensive study guides.

  • The unabridged book and comprehensive study guide are together in one book.
  • There is an analysis of the chapter.
  • There are study guides with answers, thank you. I loathe extra bulk in curriculum and sometimes it’s unavoidable with high school curriculum, but an all in one book where the questions and answers are together is very useful.
  • There are suggested essay topics. I love that I don’t even have to think about topics for him to write about.
  • One more detail worth noting about the essays is that not only are there suggested topics, but also suggestions for the type of essay. For example, in reading The Scarlet Letter, there is a suggestion for a compare and contrast essay. Can you just say practical help for the new high school mom?
  • There is a biography of the author at the beginning, which gives Tiny a fuller understanding of the story. For example, in reading Frankenstein, Mary Shelley is a young author with a lot of unhappiness early on in her life. She goes on to write Frankenstein, which is Gothic fiction and it is the early beginnings of science fiction. Did she write to console herself or to escape? Are the two reasons really any different? The guide and book together allow for some great debate conversation with my teen.
  • Having used very comprehensive study guides before, I wanted something that gives me a framework instead of dissecting every literary element. Maintaining the love of reading at the high school level is paramount to the technicalities of elements. The Dover Thrift Study Editions have been just the right amount of balance for us.

Too, my roots have been classical though I love the freedom and mastery that learning through unit studies engenders.

Classic novels are a mainstay I expect my boys to cover in high school, but I love the fact too that studying a whole novel can be quickly turned into a unit study.

Homeschool High School Literature Guides @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

For example, when we read an abridged version of A Tale of Two Cities, in the early years, Tiny can draw from what he knows about studying the geography and culture of France and England.

It wasn’t necessary at that time to develop the underlying theme that no historical period will be free of serious problems.

However, now in the high school years by reading an unabridged version of A Tale of Two Cities he can connect what he knows previously and turn the book into a high school level unit study.

Focus is on the ugly side of war or the French Revolution.

Of course, for us, you know any time period we read about history has us always thinking about a unit study.

The point I’m making is that it’s so much easier making the jump to language arts, science and history when the books are classic.

Homeschool literature guides do not have to be cold, austere and overwhelming, but helpful, compact and motivating.

Not only can they teach critical thinking skills to your high school student, which helps him to dig deep to find the hidden message in a story, but study guides help you to move to the reading to learn stage of literature.

Finally, look at this short list I created. Grab one or two!

Dover Thrift Study Editions For Easy High School Literature Guides

The guides are literature and analysis in one book. the guide includes:

• Scene-by-scene summaries

• Explanations and discussions of the plot

• Question-and-answer sections

• an author’s biography

• List of characters and more

Dover Thrift Study Editions feature everything that students need to undertake a confident reading of a classic text, as well as to prepare themselves for class discussions, essays, and exams.

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6 Boy Approved Books Which Spark the Love of Reading

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have six boy approved books today. Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter for more tips.

Not wanting my boys to be among the boys-who-hate-to-read statistics, it was a challenge in the beginning to keep my boys’ enjoying reading.

I had a LOT to learn about how boys learn.

Sharing these 6 boy approved books which spark the love of learning, I’m hoping that one or more of them will flame that ember to read in your boys.

3 Boy Mom Reading Tips

Now that I have lifelong adult son readers, I know you’ll benefit from these three simple, easy, and tried and true reading tips.

1. Quit thinking like female teachers.

I know, it sounds crazy because homeschool stats reveal that a majority of the teaching is done by moms.

It’s hard to not think like a woman when you are one.

Where am I going with this?

The point is we add to our son’s dislike for reading when we try to use the books we loved as a girl to spark a boy’s interest.

My boys didn’t connect with a lot of the books I loved as a girl.

When I started homeschooling, I felt like I had a diversified reading diet growing up, but it didn’t include a lot of topics boys liked.

6 Boy Approved Books Which SPARK the Love of Reading!! Sharing these 6 boy approved books which spark the love of learning, I'm hoping that one or more of them will flame that ember to read in your boys. CLICK here to look at this short but TRIED and TRUE List!!

Sure, some of the books were the same ones I loved like Where the Red Fern Grows and The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.

But I had to expand what I thought were appropriate topics to read about.

2. The Hero or Heroine Matters.

Although boys love to get lost in a world of fiction too, relating to the hero matters.

It’s hard for boys who are struggling to read to relate to a sentimental girl.

At the time my first son was struggling with a love of reading, unless the girl was mischievous or a tomboy, it wasn’t easy for my boys to understand the sentiment.

Too, a lot of boys, including mine, develop slower.

Their maturity rate is different than girls.

They don’t necessarily see themselves in a place through the eyes of the character, so you have to be sure they do.

Instead of trying to read between the lines, my boys needed to understand the why of a point directly.

Finding a solution to the problem was more paramount than understanding exactly how a character felt.

A story line with male role models no matter the age was a good starting point in helping my sons identify with people who are like them.

3. Boys LOVE Pictures.

Boys are not ready to move away from pictures as fast as girls may be.

Realizing that significant fact, I was so grateful for the Great Illustrated Classics series.

True, some of the pictures are not like the comic books that boys love, but pictures are still pictures to boys.

The size of the print mattered to my first reader too.

The bigger the better in the beginning.

Until he felt comfortable and was hooked on reading, we just kept on reading most of the books from the Great Illustrated Classics series.

I never worried whether the books were abridged or unabridged until I hooked my reader.

Out of all the books I used for my boys to hook them on reading they narrowed down their favorites to these 6 choices to nurture a love for reading.

  1. Where the Red Fern Grows
  2. The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (Great Illustrated Classics)
  3. Invisible Man (Great Illustrated Classics)
  4. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
  5. Shiloh
  6. Stone Fox

One or more of these books or series should give your boys a taste of boy approved books, but more important they’ll nurture a love of reading.

A book list doesn’t have to be long to work; the book list needs to be focused on what boys can relate to.

I’ll be sharing more book lists that have worked for us through the years.

Does your son have a favorite book or series that worked to fan that tiny ember to a raging love for reading?

6 Boy Approved Books Which SPARK the Love of Reading!! Sharing these 6 boy approved books which spark the love of learning, I'm hoping that one or more of them will flame that ember to read in your boys. CLICK here to look at this short but TRIED and TRUE List!!

You’ll love these other tips:

12 of the Best Books For Beginner Readers Being Homeschooled

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Finding the best books for beginner readers was at the top of my list when I sat my first homeschooled grad on my lap at 3 years old to teach him to read. Also, look at my page Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum for more tips.

Equally important was learning the other skills I needed as the homeschool educator to teach him to read.

Like many educators who have their first budding reader I too was overly worried about the process.

First, look at some of these tips for teaching beginning readers which have worked for me through my many years of homeschooling.

12 of the Best Books For Beginner Readers Being Homeschooled

Books for Beginner Readers

  • Trust that the process is natural. Unless your child has special needs or a disability to hamper learning how to read, he will learn to read. What I’m saying is that children learning to read are learning with every breath they take. Seizing their love of learning in their organic environment (your home and your lap) is where the seed is planted.
  • In addition, I didn’t realize the value of my habit of reading aloud to my first reader and reading silently. The point is from the beginning I was placing not just a high value on the skill of reading, but a love for it. Although you may not think so now, teaching a child a child to read can be quite easy compared to teaching him to be a lifelong reader. Lifelong readers model what they see.
  • Next, like a lot of new homeschool educators, I concentrated on intensity instead of consistency. That was a mistake and I almost gave up homeschooling. So the power of little and often cements a pattern for how your child learns to read. Short fun spurts throughout the day teaching your child to read is how to make true progress.

Timeless Tips for Beginner Readers

Picture Books Library Lists

Second, remember that while you’re teaching your child to read, he will need direct phonics instructions.

Not only are you training his eyes to read or decipher (decoding), but you’re training his ears to hear sounds (encoding).

On top of that, remember to look at the BIGGER picture as you embark on your journey to teaching your child to read.

Direct phonics will help your child to decode words, and training his ear to distinguish between sounds and writing the correct symbol for that sound is encoding.

The Power of Little and Often

What I’m saying is that you want to pair a phonics program along with teaching your child to read.

Look at some of these helps:

All About Reading

In addition, you also want plenty of time reading aloud to your child which doesn’t include direct instruction.

You constantly want to reaffirm that reading is enjoyable, meaningful, and should be pain free. Keeping that warm and fuzzy feeling for reading is essential.

Books that Help Kids Learn to Read

So read below about books which make it easier for teaching beginner readers being homeschooled.

12 Books For Beginner Readers

I know some of these books will work for you because they have worked for homeschool families for years.

Our needs at home vary because we want to teach phonics, love of reading, and sight words all in a natural way.

More Tips for Beginner Readers

12 of the Best Books For Beginner Readers Being Homeschooled

Other Tips or Books for Beginner Readers

Our tools and books we choose should help us to nurture lifelong readers so I know you’ll love these.

Do you have other favorite new reader series?

You’ll love these other tips which work solidly for me through the years for beginner readers.

5 Easy Steps to Putting Together Your Own Homeschool Phonics Program

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 5 easy steps to put together your own homeschool phonics program. And look at my page How to Homeschool Preschool and Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum.

I shocked myself.

Mr. Senior 2013 started to read before kindergarten, but the shocking part was that I wasn’t quite sure what I had done to help him read early.

I did know that it was important for him to start reading as quick as he could, so I went down to the local teacher store and purchased a set of Dr Maggie’s Phonics Readers.

5 Easy Steps to Putting Together Your Own Homeschool Phonics Program

It was one of the best things I had done though I didn’t know it at the time.

Each book highlighted which consonants and vowels the phonics reader was teaching.

How I turned a Book into a Reading Program

In my stupidity, (yes I felt that way but chuckle now) I had accidentally started putting together my own phonics program.

First, look at the fun resources and books to add to your learning day.

13 Phonics Readers and Games for Homeschool Kindergarten

You can never have enough decodable books and hands-on ideas and games.

Sharing what I did, I am hoping to help you purposefully put together a phonics program.

5 Easy Steps to Putting Together Your Own Homeschool Phonics Program

1. Purposefully purchase phonics readers.

Look at the book above, which was the first phonics reader my son read.  I studied the book and realized that it had a sound focus or objective with each reader.

It was not only teaching my son how to read, but it was given me tips as the parent.

Realizing which letters were highlighted in the first reader, I started putting together activities for those specific letters for my son to work on while I pointed out the letters and words to him in the book.

I used those letters to focus on hands-on activities for each week and used songs too.

2. Work with the sounds of the letters that are highlighted in the phonics books.

To build his fine motor skills while teaching him to read, I also made time for him to cut out pictures from an old magazines and paste on a page.

We made crafts for each letter that was focused in our phonics readers.

More Homeschool Phonics Program

Though I had been doing activities for a letter a week, I realized I could move a bit faster than introducing one letter per week. 

He got bored with hands-on activities for only one letter each week.

3. You don’t have a classroom, so go your child’s pace when introducing letters sounds.

I finally found a perfect balance for us.

I would have one letter that I would highlight, but I would continue to add in and introduce other letters during the same week.

Later I learned what I was doing was reviewing. 

It was a great strategy or technique that I learned naturally by following the capabilities of my son and adjusting our activities to his needs.

When he could read the first phonic reader, he wanted to do it again and again.

4. Reading the same books repeatedly instills confidence and builds mastery.
  It’s not just repetitive work, it’s nurturing a love of reading.

Of course, when he was able to read the first phonics reader, he had to read to me again and again and to his dad and to his grandma and to paw paw and to his aunt and back to me again.

5. Reading aloud needs to be varied in content. (psst! use audio books and sing alongs too)

Besides Mr. Senior 2013 reading back to me, I read aloud to him often also.

I started off with Dr. Seuss books because he could start making connections to the words and sounds I was teaching him.

Homeschool Phonics A,B,Cs

Choosing books where he could pick out words he knew over and over again was another strategy. 

I didn’t have to be so formal all the time by creating tons of flashcards and even having a word wall.

Simply holding him in my lap and using the book to guide us, he learned to read naturally.

In addition, to books like Dr. Seuss that had repetitive sight words, I also read books several grade levels ahead of him to stimulate his vocabulary and build it.

Frog Street Press for Early Phonics @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Too, big books are not just for public school. 

Realizing that I would have to teach phonics to at least three kids to teach phonics, I bought some fun and useful tools like big books and music.

Homeschool Phonics Program

As we went through each of Dr. Maggie’s phonics books playing with letter and sound recognition from each book, Mr. Senior 2013 was off to a great start.

All About Reading Pre-reading

I chuckle at how unconcerned I was back then with reading delays or if my son would not love to read as he got older.

Reading is a natural process and it doesn’t take a teaching degree, it takes a teaching heart. 

It does not have to be complicated; it has to be consistent.

A few phonics readers along with learning sounds and a great heap of good books to read is the foundation to a wonderful reading program.

That’s it. Trust that reading is a natural process and unless your child has some special need, he or she will learn to read.

What reading program are you using? Is it working? I also love and used All About Reading.

Also, look at:

5 Easy Steps to Putting Together Your Own Homeschool Phonics Program @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus