How-To – Page 3 – DIY Homeschooler

How-To

9 Ways to Encourage a Lifelong Reading Habit

Update: The new 2020 report is a bit more optimistic. Back in 2007, a National Endowment of the Arts report showed that fewer people read. Americans in almost every demographic…

How-To

Skill Subjects vs. Content Subjects {The Key to Simplifying}

If you look at the typical scope and sequence, you may wonder how you are going to cover so many subjects in a single day. And if we have more…

How-To

4 Ways to Provide Time for Productive Interests

Below are 4 ways to provide time for productive interests. But before worrying about how to fit this into your already tight schedule, you'll probably need to understand why you…

How-To

Over 100 Free Units! {And Ways to Use Them}

DIY Homeschooler / HomeHearts is now in our 19th year. Over those years we have posted a great number of free unit studies. The other day we stopped to count…

How-To

14 Ways to Plan Studies Around an Interest

The secret behind developing an educational program tailored to meet the needs of each individual student is simply getting to know the student! And part of getting to know the…

How-To

6 Ways to Encourage Your Children to Pursue Their Interests

The secret behind developing an educational program tailored to meet the needs of each individual child is simply getting to know the child! And part of knowing the child is…

How-To

Making Wise Curriculum Purchases: Math

Math is one of those areas where we tend to struggle. Our frustrations in this area tend to stem from one of a handful of problems: A particular math curriculum…

How-To

Teach a Child to Read: The Natural Way

Teaching a child to read is one of the areas that we tend to make more complicated than it needs to be. One easy solution is to simply teach a…

How-To

14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Note-Taking

16 Nov 201620 Aug 2021

Note-taking is one skill older students of all types need to perfect. There are several benefits of being a great note-taker: Forces you to think while you read.Encourages you to…

How-To

8 Ways to Supplement Your Math Program

No math program is perfect! With that in mind, there are always ways to make the one you are using more effective. Here are 8 ways you can supplement any…

How-To

11 Tips for Choosing a Math Program

No matter what homeschooling style you prefer, choosing a math program can be a trial. There are endless options, and incredible claims to sift through. Then there is always the…

How-To

Confusing Words: Shades of Meaning

Students have a tough time with certain confusing words. We’ve looked at perplexing prefixes, and pesky parts of speech. In this final installment we will look at: Shades of Meaning…

How-To

3 Ways to Develop Critical Thinking Skills

In a chapter titled “Thinking Skills” in her book A Biblical Home Education, Ruth Beechick explains that we don’t need a “thinking” class. Instead we want our children to apply…

How-To

Confusing Words: Parts of Speech

We are looking at confusing words. Last time we covered those pesky prefixes. Let’s take a look at: Parts of Speech Many confusing words can be differentiated by examining their…

How-To

Confusing Words: Perplexing Prefixes

All writers can point to a collection of words and phrases that they find confusing—and each individual writer’s list looks a little bit different. Isn’t there a simple way to…

How-To

16 Tips: Building a Better Writer

Around here we obviously believe that a "writing curriculum" isn't going to help your student learn to write well. We prefer more natural ways — ways most adults use —…

How-To

Language Arts the Natural Way: Dictation

We started by reading to our child, familiarizing him with language. At some point we had him narrate to us what was read, absorbing the language. Our child traced his…

How-To

Language Arts the Natural Way: Copying

Once a child is comfortable holding a pencil, he can begin copying. Rather than starting with copywork, some prefer to start with tracing. Probably your child's first writing lesson was…

How-To

Language Arts the Natural Way: Narrating

21 Apr 201621 Oct 2021

I remember when we first started homeschooling our oldest. I, fortunately, didn't know any better than to just pull together those materials I thought we needed. One of these gems…

How-To

6 Ways to Incorporate Geography

It is always best to introduce a topic when it is at its most relevant to the student, and geography is no different. We can spend weeks memorizing geographic terms…

How-To

Language Arts the Natural Way: Reading

Most great writers are great readers. That makes sense if you consider that, by reading, an authors' words and the way they are used are input, and "copied" when we…

12 Fun Ways to Learn with Kites

April is National Kite Month. With little ones antsy to get out and enjoy the warmer weather and get a head start on celebrating the end of a learning term,…

How-To

Language Arts the Natural Way: Introduction

Before your child reaches school age, does he know how to talk? How did he learn? Did you pull out the flashcards, go over grammar, show him diagrams of how…

How-To

Interacting With Literature: Making Predictions

Making predictions is part of life. We do it all of the time without really giving it much thought. For example, with a simple glance outside the window we predict…