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Homeschooled Kids Who Read – Pastime Pleasure or Professional Prerequisite?

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

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

In the early years of homeschooling much of our time is focused on how to teach reading and rightly so.

Today, homeschooled kids who read for pastime pleasure or as a professional prerequisite is about giving you a bird’s eye view of reading.

Being in the homeschool reading trenches, it is important to glance up every now and again to hone our reading vision.

Look at some tips to remember on your reading adventure.

Make it your aim to associate reading with pleasure in the early years.

How do you do this? By not just teaching phonics and then stopping for the day.

I know your time is stretched thin when the kids are all little but one attention grabbing story can capture the attention of 3, 4 or more young children.

Too, another tip I did along this same lines was to start a chapter book or long book like Charlotte’s Web instead of reading just a short children’s book that could be read in one setting. 

Don’t worry about the higher vocabulary in chapter books.  Just explain the meaning and move on. 

I piqued their attention for the next chapter or the next time we sat down together. They didn’t want to miss what happened next in the story.

Environment matters too.

Try to move away from a stiff and formal atmosphere for reading.  Don’t do like I did with my son.  The minute he started rolling on the floor, I got onto him. 

Soon I realized there was a difference between moving and wrestling.  Too, when I asked him at 3 years old what we were reading about, he could still tell me in a few simple silly words.  He was listening.

I learned to relax by taking a lesson from my son who was relaxed while we read even though he was moving a bit.

Add in choral reading.

I never heard of choral reading before I homeschooled.

Shortly after reading about the benefits of it, I added it quickly to my reading schedule.

In teaching my boys to read, next to reading aloud, choral reading was by far the best teaching tip that spanned from beginner reader even to high school with my boys.

Homeschooled Kids Who Read Pastime Pleasure or Professional Prerequisite @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Choral reading is reading a short passage with your child at the same time.  The benefits are far from simple.

I had one son who equated reading with not breathing or at least it seemed that way. 

He read so fast without pauses because I had focused so much on getting up his reading speed that he wasn’t comprehending, much less enjoying anything we were reading.

When we started choral reading, he could see where I paused, where I put emphasis and how I took a longer pause at the period.

It wasn’t too long before his reading fluency changed and he could not only understand what we were reading, but his volume, diction and rate of reading improved quickly.

Since he is my Sociable Sam type of personality, it was always a fun time for us.  He liked the challenge of reading with me.

Homeschooled Kids Who Read  Lifelong

It was also a skill I practiced with my sons as they entered high school.

Though I had let my oldest two sons do choral reading together a few times, it ended up being competitive and one son would always feel like he was doing less. So that didn’t work in my circumstance.

You may have children that are spread apart enough in age that an older child could do it with a younger child and not make the younger one feel defeated.

Much later in the teen years and even into high school, it was a fail-safe practice because not only would my sons be reading for pleasure but understanding what they read in books would be the stepping stones to passing tests for any profession they chose as adults.

Create memory aids.

Visual person that I am, I knew that at least two of my sons were visual learners also.

In the beginning, I made story props so that each child could hold up the character or prop when he heard it in the story.

Using hands-on props helped me sons to remember certain parts to a story.

For older kids, letting them look at a timeline or visual fact card on the subject you are reading about is helpful.

Public reading aloud.

Public reading aloud infused my boys to take reading seriously and to see the value of it beyond pleasure. 

When reading for pleasure, it’s not really important to have to remember what you are reading.

When my sons took up public reading aloud, it is a form of reading that is done in the adult world or work place. 

Public speaking and public reading aloud helped my boys to prepare for the work force and equipped them with valuable study skills if they are pursuing college courses.

Homeschooled kids do not have to make a choice between a pastime pleasure or using their reading skills as prerequisite for a professional job.  They can have both.

Adding in a few of these tips to your reading schedule not only will make your child a better reader, but when he is an adult, he will be an avid learner.

Guess what? Things have become too serious around here.

To celebrate National Reading Month, we are going to PARTY!!!!

I LOVE giveaways and I am so excited for you about this giveaway.

I have joined a few of my fellow bloggers from iHN to give away a Kindle Fire HD 6 16 GB !  Oh yeah baby, it’s nice!

Would you like one FREE?

Just a few guidelines.

1. Open to U.S. residents only.

2. The giveaway is from 6:00 am EST Monday, March 16 until 6:00 am EST Friday, March 20.

 The winner will be announced on Saturday, March 21.

3. Follow the instructions closely on the Rafflecopter. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Scoot by and visit the other hosts and check out their tips about reading.

Starts at Eight: Children’s Books about the Library

The Heart of Michelle: 5 Ways to Encourage Reading in a Reluctant Reader

Our Journey Westward: 11 Tips for Raising Readers

Life’s Hidden Treasures: Family Favorites and a Kindle Fire Giveaway for National Reading Month

Hugs and love ya

Tina 2015 Signature

Look at some more helpful tips!

Teaching Homeschooled Boys How to Read – When to Panic!

Letting Go of the Homeschool Language Arts Stranglehold

What You’ve Got To Know About Teaching Reading Comprehension

 

Homeschooling Kindergarten: What Subjects to Teach and For How Long?

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

Giving you practical advice on homeschooling kindergarten, what subjects to teach and for how long, now that all of my boys have moved well past kindergarten gives me a different perspective than giving advice in the moment, which may or may not have been helpful. You’ll love the tips on my page kindergarten homeschool curriculum.

Homeschooling Kindergarten

I always prefer giving you specifics, which were way more helpful to me than generalities.

In helping a lot of homeschool moms plan their kindergarten day, one thing a lot of them had in common was over planning academic subjects.

Homeschooling Kindergarten: What Subjects to Teach and For How Long?

Let me back up first and tell you how I felt when I started homeschooling kindergarten with my first son, Mr. Senior 2013.

I wished that I could say that I was reasonable, balanced, and unafraid when I started with my kindergartner. I was not.

I was terrified that if I didn’t start the formal learning part of kindergarten on time or earlier that my son was simply going to be behind and evermore I would ruin his chances for success as an adult.

Focusing on more scare tactics I read than practical advice, I made the mistake a lot of parents do which is to rush the part of learning that comes with kindergarten, which is to play.


It’s ugly to admit, but I wasn’t the mom interested in if he was delighting in learning, I was only interested if I could prove what he was learning. Ouch!

Going one step further to reveal my twisted attitude, I thought that moms, who spent their day doing crafts with their kids didn’t have the same goals I had, which were rigorous standards. There I said it.

In my defense though those feelings were coming out of a heart of love. I wanted to be a conscientious homeschool mom because like you, I wanted the best for my son.

Kindergarten Beginnings

This is the very opposite of the way I feel today.

It is a privilege to learn and I will take a child any day with an almost unquenchable resolve to learn over one who only cares about getting finished.

Would you believe me if I told you it starts in kindergarten?

That is how important your beginnings.

You can nurture a scholar who basks in learning and then rigorous learning comes OR you can raise a learner who resents academics because you feed a “show me the results” attitude only.

Part of the hard time I had in kindergarten was that my son, though I didn’t fully understand it at the time until he got around other kindergartners, was advanced for his age. I was told at public school that he was gifted as the term was used then.

Did you know that this is common for some homeschoolers to have high achieving children?

Many times I hear moms say: “Oh you don’t understand, my son or daughter wants to sit and do schoolwork for hours and hours.”  I will talk about that in just a minute.

Whatever label the public school wants to give advanced learners, which I never worried about much, I knew the subjects I did and did not do in kindergarten had a positive affect on his development.

Essential Subjects to Cover When Homeschooling Kindergarten

Like I mentioned before, some of my experience was based on failures or what did not work because it was unbalanced.

However, many things and subjects I covered did work.

I have divided homeschooling kindergarten subjects or activities into two groups.

One group, which is vital and the other group, which if you can find the energy to possibly do, adds enrichment to your kindergartner’s path and what is more creates the life long learner we all want.

New Homeschooler Online Self-Paced Boot Camp By Tina Robertson

Too, I have given an estimated amount of time to spend on that subject.

Before I give you estimates for the formal part of learning, one important point to remember is that kids this age are learning with every breath.

That is why playing outside, nature, and plenty of time for arts and crafts is part of a learning. They are just as important IF not more so depending on your child’s development for learning.

Subject

Time Covered

Phonics

20 minutes direct instructions which means 1:1 time each day.  Then an unlimited amount of time exploring the sounds through hands-on crafts and movements.

Penmanship

10 minutes with direct instruction which means 1:1 time each day and showing them how to form letters. Then an unlimited amount of time enforcing the shape of the letter and strengthening fine motor skills through play and movement.

Reading

30 minutes with direct instruction which means having them read to you mixed with a combination of you reading to them. Then an unlimited amount of time each day as they want to read to you, listen to audio books and yet still more reading aloud by you.

Math

30 minutes with direct instruction which means working with them 1:1 teaching them about the basic operations. Then an unlimited amount of time reading living math books, playing games about numbers and using interactive content like iPads along with hands-on manipulatives to learn math.

This next group of subjects is inextricably linked to a kindergartner’s development and like I mentioned play a valuable part in stimulating the intellectual growth of my sons.

  • Art, music, and gymnastics.

Art stimulated imagination and fed their creativity.

Music played an important in stimulating math and science thinking skills and gymnastics helped to strengthen their motor skills for both large gross skills and fine motor skills.

Learning Through Play – Vital to Kindergarten.
It’s called Developmentally Appropriate

My reason for dividing out the groups in this manner is because when you are overwhelmed taking care of so many littles, you need the assurance that if you just do the vital subjects that your kindergartner will still have a huge head start.

I am sure you noticed by now that the actual direct part of teaching kindergarten only takes about 1 1/2 hours.  Yes, that is it!

This is the only formal part of teaching that is needed. 

Learning at this age is intertwined with playing as it such be.

I almost made the mistake of allowing Mr. Senior 2013 to do workbook after workbooks for hours because he wanted to until I realized that by second grade I almost had a homeschool burnout.

All About Reading Pre-reading

When children are high achievers, gifted or just enjoy learning, think of long term hands-on projects or activities that can be expanded to feed their almost tireless need to learn.

Guide them to expand that learning not only takes place with seat work, but that is it more hands-on than seat down.

Look at some wonderful, detailed tips for teaching young kids:

I have never heard an older child reflecting back say that he or she did too many crafts or interactive activities during their kindergarten years, but I have heard many who wish their moms had done more fun things and crafts.

They only have ONE year to be a kindergartner, make it memorable for the right reasons and they will remember and better yet grow up to be well-rounded high achieving homeschoolers.

How many subjects are you covering in kindergarten? Do you need some help? Post them here and I don’t mind a bit looking them over.

Do you want to see some of what I used in kindergarten?

I look fondly at these products like Dr. Maggie’s Phonics readers because this set was my very first set and Alpha Omega Horizons phonics challenged us.

Also, be sure to look at my Amazon Store where I have subjects organized for you on things I’ve used through the years.

Homeschooling Kindergarten: What Subjects to Teach and For How Long?

Hugs and love ya,

Homeschool Kindergarten. What Subjects to Teach and For How Long @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

What You’ve Got To Know About Teaching Reading Comprehension

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

Today, in what you’ve got to know about teaching reading comprehension, I will share surefire ways to rekindle the love of reading. More important these tips will help your child understand what he is reading.

When I took Mr. Senior 2013 out of public school for the short time he was in Kindergarten and started homeschooling him again, I realized that he had changed from adoring his reading time to abhorring it.

Reading Material Matters. 

I am always astounded at how children naturally figure things out and they know when something they are reading matters.  One book I had chosen to focus on my son’s reading comprehension was called Bags The Lamb.

Okay, not very inspiring title and so I soon learned that my first mistake in helping my son to care about what he was reading was to make it matter. 

One stepping stone to having your child lap up reading is to give him a meaningful purpose.

For Mr. Senior 2013 that meant reading a comic book or a non-fiction book about science or history. 

If you are using a reading program that has dry, boring books that do not matter to your child, then use a book they choose so it matters to them. 

What You’ve Got To Know About Teaching Reading Comprehension

This is the first step to encouraging them to make meaning of what they are reading.

A Skillful Teacher Models the Process. 

Then there is one pet peeve of mine that we unknowingly do in a lot of subjects that we teach and that is somehow by osmosis we expect our kids to know what we want.

I too made this mistake in thinking my son knew how to skim the material, ask questions silently and look for answers in reading material.

Switching my approach, I focused on one paragraph in the book that he chose and talked out loud while he was sitting with me.

I would continue to talk out loud asking who is this character or I would say this reminds me of so and so whom we both know.

In talking out loud, I was helping my son to make a connection with what he knew right now and otherwise question what he was reading.

He soon learned that it was okay to have questions and that questions are the beginning to understanding what he was reading.  It is not necessary to

have all the questions answered, which is what Mr. Senior 2013 was doing.

Reading comprehension is about weighing and identifying facts though not always having the answers until the end of the story.

Slow Down Your Reading Pace Mama! 

Another mistake I was making was allowing my kindergartener to read the whole story in one gulp. 

What good did that do him if he didn’t understand the first paragraph?

He had me fooled because he was such a good reader, never mind the fact that he didn’t understand too much of what he read. 

I realized he was hyper focused on rapid reading and correct pronunciation instead of understanding what he was reading.

No wonder he didn’t like reading at the time because it became more about reciting meaningless chants instead of savoring the satisfaction that comes from filling his mind about the fascinating world around him.

From that time on, I assigned my 1:1 reading time with him for just one or two paragraphs each day. 

Implementing my tip on modeling the process, I read the paragraph or two aloud the first time. 

Pausing at commas, and emphasizing important words by the inflection in my voice helped him to see how he should be reading. 

This tip significantly improved his reading comprehension in the first few months.

Besides forming a close bond with him, to this day he has never forgotten the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from understanding what he is reading.

The rest of the day as a Kindergartener he spent with alone reading time, but I could hear him off in the room practicing some of what I had modeled.

By taking this 1:1 crucial time with him, my reader who once loved reading prior to sending him to public school returned to a love of reading.

Visualize and Imagine. 

Too, I had not tapped into my son’s love of visualization. 

Boys especially need to use this strategy. Again, he was a very visual person, but I had not helped him to see that he needed to use that strength to visualize the characters or place.

I had read somewhere that we should teach them like it’s a movie going on in their head. 

It’s true.  I helped him to see that if he could picture what a character wore, how he sounded when he talked and where he lived that those things would add to his understanding of what he was reading. 

It worked. Simply explaining that to my son and helping him to make that connection was all he needed to rapidly improve his reading comprehension.

I learned again that we need to tell and give our kids those strategies specifically instead of thinking or assuming they learn those things by absorbing them. 

Too, let them turn their imagination loose even if you don’t see a fact in the reading for their imagined thought. 

Just the fact they are imagining shows they are attempting to make connections with what they are reading. 

It adds to the intrinsic value too of making reading a lifelong habit.

Too, don’t break down every reading lesson into a chore, but choose carefully when you want to apply the strategies above. 

In the beginning, I did it every day, but after a few weeks, I applied these strategies about 3x a week so that it didn’t become boring. 

Remember, changing from repeating words or phrases over and over again because a child may be intensely focused on phonics or how-to ready instead of meaning takes time to slowly change.

Many children are afraid in the sense they think they are not pleasing you if they don’t read rapidly. 

Every bit of time I have put into helping Mr. Senior 2013 slow down and absorb what he was reading had paid off with tremendous benefits to him as a young adult now.

On many days, he reads more than I do and my heart leaps because of his fondness for reading knowing he has carried this into adulthood. 

There is nothing more satisfying to me as the teacher!!  Give one or two of these tips a try and you’ll see improvement.

What You’ve Got To Know About Teaching Reading Comprehension

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What You've Got to Know About Teaching Reading Comprehension