If you ever had even one classroom lesson on diagramming sentences, then you probably feel the sudden urge to run - - far, far away - - when you hear the phrase “parts of speech”.  But the truth is that understanding the parts of speech and how they fit together makes writing and reading […]

My youngest son struggled with phonics.  Even in kindergarten, his teachers sent home notes that he was having a difficult time understanding the connections between certain letters and the sounds they made. 
The following year, we began homeschooling him and working one on one with him daily to help him grasp letters, phenomes, and […]

One of the most interesting phenomena of homeschooling a child with dyslexia has been watching his approach to spelling.  It is quite a myth that people with dyslexia can’t learn phonics…they can!  However, the rules of phonics can become a crutch for many who see its do’s and don’ts as unwavering guides for how […]

Teachers and homeschoolers across the country are studying our national parks this week thanks to the current PBS airing of Ken Burns’ documentary series “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”  If you are one of these teachers, you might be interested in some great vocabulary and spelling tie-ins to this subject.
SpellingCity: National Parks Play games […]

Yesterday, my boys and I attended a homeschool program about nature journaling.  Nature journaling, we came to find out, involves taking paper, pencils/crayons/markers, and possibly a camera, binoculars, magnifying glass, and even a field guide outside to get up close and personal with the natural world.
Doing this means paying attention to the details you normally […]

If you already use SpellingCity as a tool with your students or children, then I’m preaching to the choir, but if you don’t…you should definitely check it out!
SpellingCity is a free spelling practice program online that lets you input your own lists, or use ones already on the site.  Then students can practice their […]

The elementary school years are the cornerstone of vocabulary development. Children are learning that words make the world go round, and they are building their word bank by leaps and bounds. Almost every moment of a child’s school day is an opportunity for building vocabulary.
The social exchanges between kids in elementary school are […]