reading

"My child wants to read so badly, but he struggles so much. He is embarrassed because his brothers and sisters, even the younger ones, can read better than he can. We have tried so many curriculums. They have worked for my other children, but not for him."

As a reading specialist, and coordinator for HSLDA's Struggling Learner program, this is a statement I hear on a daily basis from homeschooling moms. What is really hampering this child's ability to read? Can a mom figure this out at home, or does she always need professional help for this?

My experience, after working with thousands of homeschooling families in my clinic, is that homeschooling parents are very capable of tackling this job successfully at home, once they have the correct information to work with. In this brief article, we will discuss the process that I teach parents to determine where their child's reading problem lies, and what to do about it.

Why is reading easier for the other children in the...

Dear Friends,

Time governs our days. The harder we try to hang on to it, the faster it seems to go! But, with careful planning, it is possible to use your time wisely during the high school years.

We suggest that you lay out a time line of important to-dos and major deadlines. You'll see the big picture, while at the same time you will be able to prioritize individual items. Your confidence will grow, and you'll see progress as items are checked off your list.

To help you get started, we've outlined a possible time line below Jump in at any point, but be sure to make up for any lost time by doing a quick review of prior years to check if any items were missed. For a more detailed look at what to include in your time line for high school, you may wish to download the HSLDA brochure "Keeping on Track: A Time Line for High School" along with the...

Dear Friends,

We hope this edition of the Homeschooling Thru High School newsletter finds you gearing up for a November filled with thanksgiving and joy. In the midst of homeschooling your high schooler and the busyness of your days, we encourage you to do a little extra math: count your many blessings! Remember that blessings come in the form of both joys and trials, but all are sent to increase our faith, boost our perseverance, and mold our character.

As you seek to provide a quality education to your teens, we suggest you include time to improve your teen's study skills. Many times, parents think that good study skills are naturally acquired, but that's often not the case. Study skills such as note-taking, outlining, pacing your time, organizing study materials and schoolwork, increasing reading speed, and maintaining motivation for studying are, for the majority of teens, learned skills that must be taught. The high school years--or earlier--provide an opportune time to polish up these areas of competency.

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Dear Friends,

August finds some families vacationing and others finishing up those last projects before beginning a new school  year. To help you look forward with enthusiasm to September, we encourage you to take some time now to put those final touches on planning, ordering curriculum, and mapping out your school year. As you go over your plans, let's zero in on English and talk about what constitutes a solid high school English course of study. We offer the following suggestions that can easily be tailored to your individual child and circumstance.

LITERATURE

The first component that comes to mind when thinking of English is literature. Before being able to fully enjoy good books, it's important to teach your child how to analyze them by introducing and discussing the literary devices the author uses such as setting, plot, theme, etc. Providing opportunities to practice picking out these devices through a variety of genres (drama, prose, poetry) will encourage your child to better...

Dear Friends,

Can you believe it's May? With the end of your school year fast approaching, why not plan a fun surprise activity with your teen this month? Maybe something as simple as surprising him or her with a day off from school! While your teen is enjoying the day off, print out this email, take it with you to the local coffee shop, and sip a latte or double chai, letting out a long sigh, and saying a prayer asking the Lord to help you finish out the year with grace and strength.

Since summer is just around the corner, this may be a good time to plan and promote a "summer reading program" for your teens. You might even offer an incentive to your children to read a variety of good books throughout the summer. So, this month we'd like to focus on reading suggestions for your teens and give you some ideas for increasing your teens' desire to read.

REQUIRED READING

Every high school academic program should include four years of English, and a component of that English course...