Spelling is hard enough for kids to learn without throwing them a curve ball full of contractions.  But unfortunately, that’s exactly what homeschooling parents have to do.  So how can we teach about contractions and make the experience a little less painful for the kids?

Look around for some contraction games to keep the kids interested.  There’s so much on the internet these days, so many resources just waiting to be discovered.   Google is your friend!

Have you ever heard of Opposite Day, where every word you say means the opposite?  The kids really enjoy telling me how much they hate me on opposite day!  They talk about how hot their ice cream is, and how they really want to go to bed early, etc.  Hey, it’s goofy but it’s fun and it works!

How about giving Contraction Day a try!  The rule is that everyone in the house has to avoid all contractions, because if they use a contraction in their everyday conversation, they have to….yes, you guessed it….SPELL it!  Make it fun, throw in some finger pointing and a “Gotcha!” when someone says a contraction, and make them spell it for everyone present.  It’s surprising how many contractions we use in normal conversation, and the kids really like it when parents get “caught” and have to spell out the contractions too!

Hi there – I’m a new writer here, so I thought I’d introduce myself!  I’m a mom of 5 kids and we’ve been homeschooling for 4 years now.  We love it and would never go back to public school.   I guess we’d be considered “accidental homeschoolers” because it wasn’t something we planned on doing, but our dissatisfaction with the public school system led us down this path.  I’m hoping to share my own perspective on homeschooling and have a little fun here a long the way.  

There are so many approaches to teaching a Language Arts curriculum, but compound words lend themselves especially well to visualization.  Some kids “get” the concept of compound words quickly, but others struggle with it.  Having a versatile lesson plan that encourages visualization can help make the abstract idea of combining two words into one a little easier to swallow.

How about using picture cards to represent each word?  Use one card with a cow and one card with a boy pictured on it.  Put them together, kind of like in a math equation.  Cow + Boy = Cowboy.  The spatial aspect of visualizing a cow and a boy helps some kids underdstand the concept of joining the two words together.

Of course, it’s always fun to look around the house for compound words. Kids enjoy this!  Point out that the fireplace in your living room is actually made from 2 words, or the mailbox out in the yard, or the doorway to the kitchen.  That feeling of discovery might be enough to get ‘em interested, and once they’re interested, the “click” of understanding will happen in no time.

There are plenty of other suggestions online as well, so don’t be afraid to search a little to find a unique method to reach your student.  Here’s a neat site I found with some educational compound word games to get you started!

Looking back, most people wouldn’t say that writing essays and term papers was even in their top ten favorite memories of school.  But I would.  But I just happen to enjoy writing.  As a homeschooling mom, I figured teaching my own flesh and blood to write would be a piece of cake.  I mean, a love of writing is surely a trait passed down in the DNA, right?

It would appear not.

My kids are more of the math & science type, like their dad.   Since we do much of our homeschooling online anyway, I started looking online for suggestions on how to teach reluctant writers.  I had my daughter do the online lessons, and she learned about writing business letters, and the differences in storytelling, creative writing, expository writing, etc.  It was all great stuff, but eventually you’ve got to just bite the bullet and go for the big one….writing a paper!

She chose a topic based on a class for homeschoolers we attended at a local park.  It was about the terrible flood our city endured a century ago, and it really caught her interest.  So she spoke to the instructor when class was over, got some recommendations for additional reading, and headed to the library.  We also toured one of the dams built to protect the city from another severe flood, and she had a great time.

She followed the steps she learned in her homeschool writing class, and soon she was engrossed in the task of writing, proofreading, editing, revising, and making a bibliography.  I sat by and watched, amazed.  It was working!  She was writing, and she learned it online!

I think the key was that she not only chose a topic that interested her personally. (No kid wants to write a paper on some boring, assigned topic…and neither did you!)  She was also able to get out and about, touring the dam and interviewing some of the volunteers there.  Learning how to write online worked for her because I was able to help her make the transition to real life.   She learned the skills online, and then applied them in a practical way in her world.

Of course, I feel completely relieved.  My child can write!  But does it work the other way?  I wonder if my daughter can teach me some math & science?