Story time! Growing up, I was homeschooled from 2nd grade through 12th grade. When I was twelve years old, my mother had her third child and only son, Elijah. I had always wanted a little brother, so from the very beginning, I had a special love for the little guy. Being so much older than…
Essential Conversations
This blog is devoted to all aspects of writing, literature, and teaching. We are excited to partner with you on your homeschool journey and provide you with helpful and quality content in our blog posts.
Tips on How to Built Better Vocabulary
One regret I have about my time in kindergarten through high school is that I didn’t learn more vocabulary words, so I didn’t know how to integrate them into my writing. While I enjoyed spelling, I rarely took the time to learn what a word meant and how to use it. Now that I’ve graduated college and have…
Summer Writing Prompts for Homeschool Students
Summer is a time for fun and a break from the rigors of the school year. However, as Laura pointed out in the previous blog post (check it out, it’s really sweet), summer can also be an opportunity to continue growing! She encouraged parents to guide their children’s reading through the vacation months, but parents…
3 Ways to Encourage Homeschool Students to Read
As a member of the Essentials in Writing curriculum team, my hope is that students learn to enjoy reading and writing as a lifetime pursuit—not only when they are working on course assignments but also during the summer months. Truly, when a student learns to fall in love with reading, they have made a friend…
Writing on the computer or by hand? How to Integrate a Computer for Homeschool Students
Although this blog is titled with a question, I will not definitively answer it. This is an opinion piece based on my personal mindset and experience, but it may be helpful to some homeschool educators who wonder how they should incorporate the computer into their student’s writing program. The fact is that kids born after…
How Can I Help My Reluctant Writer?: 7 Tips for the Homeschool Parent
When you ask your student to compose a writing assignment, does your student: A. groan as loud and long as their lungs allow B. slump in their chair, slide off to the floor, and lie there face down like a slug C. pick up a pencil and start eating it while vacantly staring at…