When we began homeschooling in 2001, I knew I wanted to instill in each of my children the love of learning. I began simply by telling them after each meal, "Go find your favorite book, get in to a comfy position (I don't care if you sit on your head) and read for half an hour!" This is simply how we began. We had electronics back then, but just a couple super old desk top computers that were 8GB and maybe 16GB on their hard drives. We had educational computer games, lots of wonderful educational posters on the walls in the dining room, watched educational shows on TV and DVDs and used our Bibles to learn how to read aloud.
You see, reading is essential to learn anything in life. Unfortunately, electronics are taking over books, but this Momma is steering her young folks to find information in good books and literature first. There is something that happens to a person, no matter the age, when you hold a book in your hands. You can adjust, get comfortable, and let your mind get involved in the book. When my children were younger, we did "Read Aloud" time where after lunch was cleaned up, they curled up whichever way they were comfy and listened to me read. They would always say, "Momma please read another chapter!" And I would happily oblige. These were the times that I knew would form them for later in life and they would be precious memories for me, so I obliged.
As they grew and read everything on their own, our "Read Aloud" times became Bible races. They would race to the scripture verse and whoever got there first read the verse.
As with everything, reading comes with writing and speaking. In order to communicate well with others they had to learn how to spell.
They also had to learn to find out information for themselves. It is bittersweet, but had to be done.
They had to learn to read to know how to do things like read patters and follow directions.
And read their own Bible on their own.
And study Biology 2.
They've each learned at their own rates, with their own sets of challenges from ADHD, kinesthetic learner, Dyslexia & Dysgraphia. I have researched until my eyes hurt in how to help my kids learn how to read and they each read very well now with very little issues. If they do have any issues, they know how to self correct. This is what reading is all about. Gaining the skills to learn, research, understand, communicate in writing and speaking, as well as how to correct themselves when they know something didn't sound right.
And it all began with telling them to find their favorite book and get comfortable even if it meant sitting on their head! (Seriously! I used those words! And they laughed! LOL)
My job was to find out what they were interested in and supply them with TONS of quality literature. Going to the library wasn't always convenient for us, so I scoured Amazon for good books very cheap based on their interests and reading levels. I remember buying 3 different books on General Custer, all on 3 different interest and reading levels. Over the years we've resold many many books, but they were all worth it.
Where do you begin?
If I had to begin again in 2001, I would begin with this book. I read this book after our first year of homeschooling. I would have loved to read it before we began, but I didn't know about it. So, as a result, I encourage all new homeschoolers to read this book IMMEDIATELY. It will change your homeschool for the better! It will help you understand your own learning style in order to learn your child(ren)'s learning styles. Once you do that, you'll better understand where they need to be and how they need to study.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! There is no such thing as a stupid question.
God Bless,
