Is All About Reading “Enough”?
Emily Emily

Is All About Reading “Enough”?

I am a huge fan of the All About Reading (AAR) series from All About Learning Press.…Many parents online mention that AAR is not a complete Language Arts curriculum. And, I agree. It is predominantly a PHONICS curriculum -- and in my opinion, an excellent one. But, in order to round out our kids' education, most parents want to include a few other components to this…here are my recommendations...

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I Was Interviewed On a Podcast!
Emily Emily

I Was Interviewed On a Podcast!

If you are looking for a podcast to help fill some hours of washing dishes, doing laundry, while encouraging you in your homeschool endeavors, check out this fantastic resource. Bex has so many episode interviews full of amazing resources, suggestions, and research.

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How to Set Up All About Reading So You Can Use It Again
reading, pre-reading Emily reading, pre-reading Emily

How to Set Up All About Reading So You Can Use It Again

How I set it up to REUSE all the materials with each kid…I pre-assemble the activities in a large 3-ring binder before we ever start the next level - The student book that comes with each level has lots of hands-on manipulative games to reinforce the concepts being taught throughout the book. I hate collecting and assembling lesson pieces on a daily (or even weekly) basis. I would much rather have a huge “project” where I gather everything for the whole year at once, spend several hours, and get it all done. Then when we are in the middle of a busy homeschool day, I can just grab it and start teaching.

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How to Start Homeschooling
Emily Emily

How to Start Homeschooling

Help! I'm overwhelmed. Where do I start? How to Start Homeschooling. Check your legal requirements - then double-check. Subjects - list out the main subjects that you must teach. Think through additional subjects that you need or want to teach. Next, do you know what style of homeschooling appeals to you? Curriculum...start looking at curriculum reviews. Browse curriculum retailer websites. Be aware of some different approaches to curriculum you can take - boxed/ready-to-go, from-scratch lessons, pick and choose. Also, talk to other parents. Here are additional resources.

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The Simplest, FREE Way to Help a Struggling Reader
homeschool, reading Emily homeschool, reading Emily

The Simplest, FREE Way to Help a Struggling Reader

Do you have a kid who struggles to read on their grade level? Desperate to help them but unable to hire a tutor?…Try assisted reading!! As a parent working one-on-one with your child, you have an incredible opportunity to apply this strategy. It has been called “arguably one of the easiest and most cost-effective methods of developing children's fluency” [1].

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Why I Chose a “Dyslexic Curriculum” for my Non-Dyslexic Child
curriculum, reading Emily curriculum, reading Emily

Why I Chose a “Dyslexic Curriculum” for my Non-Dyslexic Child

As Denise Eide says in her book “Logic of English” – why do we save the best and deepest phonics training for the kids who are already fallen behind? We put the reading specialists as the last resort for kids who can’t read…why not train the majority of teachers in a rigorous phonics education so that they – the ground work force – can teach the kids from the get go?

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