Tag: K – 3rd Grade

How to Think About Reading in Homeschooling Your K-3rd Child

This kid loves books. It makes me so happy. Except when he can’t hear me calling to clean up because he’s buried in a book. Then I just get frustrated. Go figure.

Are you ready?

Let’s talk about READING for your K – 3rd Grade peeps! Woot!

I have written about my simple, hassle-free method of teaching reading to my kids, so if you’re working on that in your home, check out my article here!

(Want good suggestions on where to start for titles of great books to consider for your kids?  Click the link in the sidebar to get a lovely, printable list of 21 of my favorite books for reading aloud with your kids!)

There are 4 things that come with a love of reading:

1. A lifetime-long love of learning

2. Self-teaching in a wide variety of subjects

3. Creating a heart after things that are noble, true, and godly

4. You make a lasting, meaningful impact on your child’s life

1. LIFELONG LOVE OF LEARNING:

I passionately believe that helping your child learn to love reading is helping your child learn to love learning.

Once a child discovers how magical the printed word can be, creating new worlds in their imagination, or leading them into truths and ideas that blow their minds with wonder and awe, they will develop a lasting sense of the pleasure and adventure in reading.

And a child that loves learning only needs to be gently nudged in the direction of their studies, since they will eagerly move forward in their own motivated energy, rather than be dragged along by parents, miserably resisting all the way.

Did you catch that?

It means: Your job of “teaching” your child just became a lot easier, because you become more like a “learning coach”, while your child is the one who charges forward, excited to pursue knowledge. It means your child becomes their own teacher.  Which is an incredible life skill.

2. SELF-TEACHING IN A WIDE VARIETY OF SUBJECTS

If your child loves reading, they will effectively absorb a large amount of information ACROSS MULTIPLE SUBJECTS (such as history, geography, language, philosophy, science, social studies, language arts, civics, and classic literature) without you needing to do more than direct what they read by choosing good books and provide help in processing and understanding it through conversation/discussion! 

Getting to discuss varying aspects of the Pacific Theater during WWII, comparing and contrasting the size of the Persian Empire with Alexander the Great’s conquered territory, hearing my younger child correctly describe whether a specific muscle movement is voluntary or involuntary, being told the average speed of lahars (when I didn’t know what a lahar was before)…

Um, hello stimulating and fun home school day!

3. CREATING A HEART AFTER THINGS THAT ARE NOBLE, TRUE, AND GODLY

Books provide ideas and information on any subject imaginable. Good, wholesome books help form moral values of courage, heroism, truth, honesty, persistence, self-control, careful thought, and many other virtues.

It takes intention and thought to stimulate your child’s inner appetite for these nobler things – it will not usually happen by chance. You as a parent are deeply crucial in this aspect by what you encourage and allow your child to absorb during these developmental years – whether through books, social media/online, television and film, or through peers.

To help create in your child an understanding of the beauty in things that are beautiful, true, and godly is to help them see the beauty of God.  It helps create a desire in them to encourage and add to this beauty – His beauty – in the world.

The parent who achieves this has done good work in preparing the fertile, rich soil for the seeds God will plant in their child’s life.

4. YOU MAKE A LASTING, MEANINGFUL IMPACT ON YOUR CHILD’S LIFE

The hours may seem to drag some days, but ask any older parent: Time is precious and it flies.

These days spent at home with your littles are valuable opportunities to pour into their hearts and lives. Your children love you and cherish time with you above anyone else.

You, as a parent, are the most impactful person in their lives in these young years. Don’t waste your impact. Don’t later wish you had lived differently during this season of life. Know that your daily input is foundational and critical for your child.  Spending time reading with your child is an enormous gift with incredible benefit for the rest of their lives.

Reading out loud (even just ten minutes each day!) from great, inspiring stories or fascinating historical or scientific books is only going to increase your connection with your child, stimulate their curiosity about the world, and deepen their intellect.

What book will you start reading with your kids?  When do you plan to set that 10-minute commitment to read with them that works best for you? Don’t forget to click the link in the sidebar to get a lovely free printable list of 21 of my favorite read-aloud books!

I am excited for you to see your children’s eyes and imagination light up as you pursue this reading adventure!

– Maria

Next up: How to Make Space for Reading Time in Your Home

How I Home School K-3rd Grade Now: Simple MATHEMATICS

Barefoot, in the kitchen, on the floor, teaching my son 1st Grade Math. What this picture doesn’t show is the dishes in the sink, the piled laundry waiting to be folded, and the toddler wailing in the background while she clomps around the hall in my shoes. Welcome to my home school life.

(PART 2)

In my last article (found here:), I wrote about keeping the focus big and bright on only four basics:  

Mathematics, Reading, Writing, and Character Development.

Let’s talk Math!

At this early age, Math is pretty straightforward. (Even if Math scares you a little, like it does for me.) I try to keep it as one of the first subjects we do each day so that their minds are fresh and ready to tackle it well!

Depending on your child’s learning style, there are many options that could work.

I tend to keep it pretty simple and use A Beka workbooks. They are repetitive but very thorough, so I know my child will be solidly grounded in the math facts by the end of the grade. They usually cost around $22-25, and are widely available.

I also don’t get the answer keys since the math is so basic I figure I don’t need them at this level.  (Don’t tell A Beka.) 

I have a small bin of plastic “counting bears” as a visual aid for addition and subtraction for my earliest learners, and to explain lower-level multiplication/division. Anything small will work – buttons, beans, toy cars, crayons, Cheerios… (just don’t be surprised if the Cheerios start disappearing mysteriously).

Other moms I know have kids who do better with other math curriculum, like Math-U-See or Singapore Math. It really comes down to how your child learns best.  

Try not to get too bogged down in research before you just start. It can become so overwhelming that decision-paralysis sets in. 

If your child is genuinely struggling, pray about it first. The God who created your child’s mind and heart will help bring you the wisdom and resources you need.  It’s remarkable how suddenly the connections and information you’re looking for will gently become clear in the upcoming days.  It’s another way God shows His loving care and concern for every aspect of our lives.

The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

Psalm 37:23, NLT

Sometimes He’ll bring along another mom with a kid who learns remarkably similarly to yours, and you can get help and advice along with friendly support!

You know your child.

Trust your gut and trust that you are the best person to figure out how to help them learn in the way that most fits them.

If your child is a slow and deliberate math student (I have at least one of these), it might be a good idea to set a timer, and take a break from whatever else you are doing to sit with them and patiently explain and help. Kind voice, no judgement, just pretend you’re a tutor with nothing else to do but patiently help this child have a pleasant interaction with math for a brief time.

Start with 15 mins (or less), if they’re struggling. Then slowly work up to 30 mins.  When the timer rings, math is done for the day.  Even if they’ve only got through half a page. Or less.  At the start it should be more about teaching consistency and familiarity with concepts. And avoiding tears. (For them and you!) 

Then, as they get a bit older and more confident, another helpful idea is to plan something fun or different that they enjoy immediately following math (if math is more of a challenge for them). Have a coloring or LEGO-time for 20 mins afterwards, or a fun snack, or let them run outside and blow bubbles or build a fort in the living room, or have a read-aloud time with an enjoyable book, cuddling together.

If your child is more like a streak of light able to rush and get through math quickly (I’ve got a few of these), require a minimum amount per day – for me it’s one lesson (2 pages), and I check in often to make sure they understand what they’re doing. 

But for the most part, these lightning-learners only need my help with explaining a new concept – and then they’re off again.  Sometimes I have to slow them down and encourage them to breathe – my young daughter flew through seven lessons without stopping the other morning, and I wanted to make sure she was grasping the new material.

Home school is wonderful in that if your child wants to fly and feels confident shooting through the material in a subject, they can!

They are not being held back by the lowest common denominator, but can move quickly on to something that actually challenges them more, even if it is beyond their peer-group grade level.

Home school is phenomenal in that if your child needs extra time and nurturing in a subject so that they achieve mastery before moving on, they have that opportunity!

They are able to receive the attention and tailored approach they need to thrive and learn. This relieves the stress, fear, and the feelings of inadequacy and insecurity that can easily develop in a forced group-learning style when something is more of a challenge for them. 

One day I sat at the table and helped one child with two things: how to write a number eight (my child was stumped) and what the ten’s place value was. For thirty minutes we did nothing else except practice swooping 8’s, and discussing and practicing place value.

Guess what? While we did not get through even a fraction of the workbook that day, by the end there was an encouraged smile in place of tears, a new pride in the smoothly-written 8’s on the page, and a secure grasp of place value for two-digit numbers.

This was serious math success because of the way my child had experienced math in a positive, confident way. This is when home schooling seriously rocks!

What a precious gift this kind of learning can be – for their heart and yours.

So take a deep breath, mama. You got this! I’m cheering you on.

– Maria

If you’ve found this article helpful, please share it on your social media pages, and send me a message to let me know it was valuable! (I’ll be so pleased and thrilled I’ll probably cry. I tend to do that.)

If you have any questions or want to know more about what I use and how I homeschool, send me your question in the comments and I will get back to you!

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Next up! Part 3- How I Home School K-3rd Grade Now: READING! Woohoo! (Can you tell I’m excited?)