* = Affiliate Link: This does not affect the price of any item listed, it just means I will receive a percentage if you choose to purchase.

Don’t miss the giveaway below so you can purchase some of these amazing gifts for your kids!

Holiday Gift Guide for Kids

Gift giving to kids is all about balance, a gift must be fun but also add value to their life. Right now, I am going to share with you 5 holiday gift ideas that wont leave your wallet empty & will leave the child happy as can be.  

GIFT ONE: For the builder (*Amazon)

cossy Kids Magnet Toys Magnet Building Tiles, 120 Pcs 3D Magnetic Building Blocks Set, Educational Toys for Kids Children

With endless build opportunities, these magnet building tiles will make any master builders dream come true! (My son spends endless hours creating all different types of structures for his dinosaurs to roam in & destroy!)

GIFT TWO: For the sculptor (*Amazon)

Sago Brothers Modeling Clay Air Dry Ultra Light Molding Magic Clay 24 Colors, Best Kids Gifts Ever

So many kids love to create, smash, & create again. Modeling clay is the best way for a creative mind to flow; but the best part is once they feel their creation is just right, they can have it air dry and show it to the world. 

GIFT THREE: For the energetic (*Amazon)

Champion Sports Standard Scooter Board with Handles

The best gift you can give an energetic child, and their parents, is something they can use with siblings and friends. I remember LOVING these as a kid, didn’t you? This is a gift you know will not be a was of money on your end nor a bore on theirs! 

GIFT FIVE: For the scientist (*Kiwi Co)

KiwiCo

30% off with code Share30

The Innovation Factory.

KiwiCo is monthly hands-on science, art, & technology projects that inspire kids to learn and explore. Gift this monthly STEM box for your friends child, do one month or multiple, they will love the ability to try something new and see if their child truly loves it and would want to keep getting it. 

GIFT SIX: For the Techie (*Amazon)

Which ever you choose the kids will be over the moon & the parents ecstatic about it growing their child’s mind.  Purchased any of these gifts for your kids before? Share your experience with our holiday gift guide for kids in the comments below! 

Christmas Blessings Giveaway!

I’m teaming up with an amazing group of bloggers to bless several families this year!! With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we know a little extra something can go a long way.That’s why we’re giving away FOUR $200 gift cards to four winners—and you get to choose where you’d like to spend it.Whether you’re dreaming of a shopping spree, treating yourself to a fancy meal, or checking off your gift list, this is your chance to make it happen. 

Each winner will get a $200 gift card to wherever they choose – a restaurant, clothing store, grocery store, online retailer – any place that offers gift cards!

There are lots of entry options in the Rafflecopter form below – the more you enter, the better your chance of winning!  I know it can seem tedious and time consuming to go through all the entries, but isn’t a chance at $200 worth it? I think it is!  Plus, all of these amazing bloggers donated their own money towards the prizes, so this giveaway wouldn’t be possible without them.  I hope you’ll take the time to check out each one. Who knows, maybe you will find some new blogs to follow.

The giveaway will run from Monday, November 18th through Wednesday, November 27th (ends at 11:59pm EST). Winner will be notified by email shortly after the giveaway ends and will have 48 hours to respond to claim the prize or another winner will be drawn. By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating bloggers.  Please be sure to read the Rafflecopter terms and conditions upon entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Holiday Gift Guide For Kids first appeared on True Aim.

While I love the beauty of autumn, the warmth of Thanksgiving, and the hope of Christmas, I cringe as I climb in the car to travel to family gatherings. You see, my sister is a public-school teacher and my mother actively promotes formal schooling of all sorts. You can imagine what kind of atmosphere that creates for my family and me, homeschoolers from the beginning. On top of that, they have something against “large” families (I have four children) because they constantly make remarks like, “because you have too many/so many kids…” I guess any more than two is too many.

For the most part, all these long years, I would grin and bear it, while inside, I fumed and wept. When we got in the car, the kids endured my husband and me venting for an hour as we drove home. But, in more recent years, I began to recognize how unhealthy all this pent-up emotion was and I strove to find better ways to deal with it. I found Gary Chapman’s book, Anger: Taming a Powerful Emotion, and implemented some of his principles.

Do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not let the devil get a foothold
The first thing I did was determine in my heart not to “grin and bear it” any longer. I decided to lovingly confront these insults at the time they occurred. I took deep breaths and fought off the instinct to harbor resentment. It was sooo hard! As I spoke up, I was careful not to speak in angry tones, use sarcasm or insults, or attack their character. Instead, I formulated a phrase to use– “When you _______ I/my child feel(s)__________and that causes me/that child to_____________. Is that what you want?” They began to see how their offhand jokes, sarcasm, questions, and comments affected us. I noticed a subtle change in their behavior. After years of hurtful words and actions the healing will be slow, but at least things are starting to change.
Do not take revenge, my friends
Even while I fought hard to not let any new hurts occur, I still carried a lot of pain from the past. My husband commented on how he could hear it in my voice whenever I talked about my sister and mother. He said to me, “Julie, you have to let that go. You have to give it to God.” I admitted he was right, but, at first, I didn’t want to. But, God spoke to me and showed me that harboring resentment and anger only hurt me, not them. The spiritual and physical reality was that I punished myself by holding on to my pain. It didn’t seem practical or profitable to confront them about all the past hurts, so I had to unload that burden at the feet of Jesus—and leave it there. (For more about forgiveness, check out this post).
After implementing these biblical principles (why didn’t I do it sooner?), I’m not dreading this year as much as previous years. In addition to what I’ve talked about, we pray before we head into my parents’ house and remind ourselves that we aren’t there to please them. We’re there to please Jesus.

Julie is a veteran homeschool mom of 4 all of whom have special needs and has a degree from the School of Natural Healing! She also teaches middle school science workshops for a homeschool co-op. Her faith in Jesus leads everything she does including worship for the Women’s ministry at her church! You can read more about her in her new book called God Schooling or her blog, julienaturally.com!

The post Showing Grace to Hostile Family Members During the Holidays first appeared on True Aim.

Tip #1 – A Holiday Friendly Schedule

Tip #2 – Make Up For Lost Time

My Best Hack For Homeschooling Through The Holidays

Tip #3 – Turn Holiday Moments Into Educational Experiences

About The Author

The post 3 Top Hacks For Homeschooling Through The Holidays first appeared on True Aim.

Being from Mississippi, I have always loved the Fall! Fall is a time when we are finally rescued from the oppressive heat and able to spend some more time outdoors. Besides the better weather, I also love the food, smells, and all the activities associated with the season. Since I love the season, I always try to work it into our lessons as much as I can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One way that I’ve done this is through using books and activities. We’ve already had an S is for Squirrel fall themed day and Fall is almost a month away! The S is for Squirrel day is a great example of how I think Fall can help make lesson time fun. By incorporating “work” (in this case letter recognition and other sheets) with fun (outdoor educational games), my daughter was not nearly as likely to complain about having to do her “school”. Her attention span was lengthened and I didn’t end the day with a headache.

 

 

Adding Books to the Fall Fun

 

One of the books that I highly recommend is Autumn Song. Autumn Song is great because it comes with its own unit practically built in to the book itself. The author included links to youtube videos with musics, activities, and games. It is a great example of incorporating fun into lesson time. The other book that I have been using is actually one that I wrote myself, A is for Autumn: An ABC Fall Fact Book. I created it to use with my daughter. It allows us to work on letter recognition, learn fall facts, and work on our counting skills (each page has leaves to count for the child to figure out the page number). The book is a starting place to other fall units (V is for Veteran’s Day, C is for Colors – learn why the leaves change color, etc).

 

 

 

 

 

By incorporating music, activities, and books into lessons, Fall can come alive for your student. This will hopefully help keep them engaged as the season changes. Don’t be afraid to incorporate outdoor time either! Science can be taught looking at the tree leaves, investigated the local wildlife, and more!

 

What are your favorite fall activities? Post your ideas in the comments.

 

 

 

Joy Hardin is a former junior high teacher, but now is homeschooling her daughter, Carrie. Hardin has discovered that almost ten years in the classroom can’t prepare you for working with your own child. Carrie is five and has recently been diagnosed with Autism so there are daily struggles, but it makes the breakthroughs even sweeter.

Carrie has inspired Joy to also write children’s books. The first will be out soon. Carrie Can’t Choose a Costume is the first of the Choosy Carrie books.

Joy blogs at Finding Joy Publishing, http://www.findingjoy19.com

The post Fall Fun: Using multiple resources for Fall lessons first appeared on True Aim.

Depending on the area you live in, you and your kids might be noticing the leaves are starting to change colors. The weather is cooling down and it’s no longer so hot that all you want to do is hide indoors.

Plenty of kids (and parents too!) start to get cabin fever this time of year. Nobody wants to spend their days locked inside when the great outdoors are just so beautiful!

Fall Activities and Field Trips for Homeschoolers

Luckily, there are so many fun things to do outside this time of year. And a lot of those fall activities and field trips are educational – perfect for homeschoolers!

Hike Through The Woods

One of our family’s favorite things to do this time of year is go on a hike in the mountains. The mountains are beautiful any time of year, but they are especially fantastic when autumn is upon us.

Walking through the woods, crunching on fallen leaves, and enjoying the multi-colored scenery just puts brings such joy to our lives. In fact, the very thought of a fall hike in the mountains makes me giddy!

Going on a hike is a great way for kids to learn about nature and the world around them. See what wildlife you can observe. Have a chat about the proper way to behave on a hiking trail. Hikes are a great educational activity.

Art and Crafts with Leaves

My kids love collecting colorful leaves. They’ll make beautiful leaf bouquets and bring them to me as a special gift. As a family, we also like turning fallen leaves into some fun arts and crafts projects. We’ll paint leaves and use them as stamps. Or we’ll stick leaves to paper and use them as accents to a painting or drawing.

If you don’t have time for a field trip, arts and crafts with leaves is a fall activity you can enjoy without leaving your back yard. All it takes is a vivid imagination and a few pieces of paper! (and maybe some paint)

While you’re working, have a discussion about why leaves change colors and what makes them turn one color over another. For example – did you know that the color a tree’s leaves turn depends on the minerals in the soil? It’s true!

Field Trip to a Corn Maze

Nothing says fall quite like a trip to the local corn maze. Walking through a corn maze just screams fall, harvest, and Halloween. Family trips to the corn maze are always lots of fun. But did you know there is more to a corn maze than just a good time? This might surprise you – but there is actually a lot to be learned from a corn maze!

What’s educational about a corn maze, you ask? That’s a good question!

Take a peek at this Corn Maze Field Trip Curriculum and you’ll see what I mean. This 36-page unit study walks kids through the history of mazes.

For example – did you know there are multiple types of mazes? It’s true! There is also a great character-building success principle for kids found in the heart of this Corn Maze Unit Study. This guide, just like the other available field trip curriculums, makes it easy for homeschooling families to transform this family outing into an exceptional educational experience.

No matter how you plan on spending this beautiful time of the year, I hope you enjoy life to its fullest. This list only briefly touches on some of the fun fall activities and field trips available this time of year. Find something that makes you and your family happy, and get out and do it!

What are some of your favorite fall activities and field trips? Comment below! I’d love to hear all about it!

About The Author

Charlene Hess spent many years teaching kids before she had her own kids. She now has 7 kids of her own, whom she has been homeschooling for the last 10 years. Charlene still teaches other children outside of her home but finds great joy in exploring the world with her family. Charlene has participated in many leadership trainings with John C. Maxwell. Charlene blogs about her family’s homeschooling adventures over at https://hessunacademy.com

The post Fall Activities and Field Trips for Homeschoolers first appeared on True Aim.

Fall also is a time for pent up homeschooler energy which is why we have collected some fun fall themed activities, field trips, celebrations, & more. 

• Fall Celebrations to Consider this Year
• Fall Activities and Field Trips
• Fall Fun: Incorporating Games and Music Into School time

See a post you’re interested in? Be sure to follow the True Aim – Homeschooling and Parenting Facebook page to see exactly when each post goes live.

FALL GIVEAWAY

ENTER to win Evangelism Tools Sample Pack Giveaway – 2 Winners!

Here’s a great way to witness for God during Halloween! Use these fun tools to slip in with candy for Trick-or-Treaters! Just fill in the Rafflecopter below!

Check out all the cool ideas at Let The Little Children Come.

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Check out the other Mom’s Library series topics and Posts!

The post (GIVEAWAY) Fall Activities, Field Trips, Celebrations, & More! first appeared on True Aim.

The History

If you’ve read any portion of Leviticus, then you may remember reading about something called appointed times. These are known as specific times that the Hebrew people were commanded to observe for a particular reason.

Each one mentioned had a meaning then and foreshadowed things to come. Anyone who celebrates these in the present day usually understands that although we cannot do it perfectly, we do it because:

1. It was commanded to be observed throughout our generations.
2. It is practice for what is to come.
3. It glorifies the Father.

Before you get confused on what this means for the believer in Messiah today, let me address a common misconception. When it comes to observing the biblical feasts (fall or spring), it should be noted that they aren’t “Jewish feasts.” Instead, the proper context is to consider them the Lord’s feast given to His people, both those apart of natural Israel, and those grafted in.

With that in mind, let’s look at each of the fall feasts as well as practical ways to observe them with your family this fall – and beyond!

Yom Teruah

Scripture says in Leviticus 23:24-25 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh new moon, on the first day of the new moon, you have a rest, a remembrance of Teruah, a set-apart gathering. You do no servile work, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to YHVH.” I won’t get into why we don’t do sacrifices today, but I will say that we still observe this day by not working and gathering with others (if able).

Teruah literally means soundings, by instrument or human voice so you can imagine how fun (and loud) this Holy Day can be.

Below are some great resources to help teach about and observe this feast day:

• Use coloring and activity pages by Bible Pathway Adventures (our favorite)
• Help your kiddos make their own shofars with this easy DIY craft
• Here is a Yom Teruah BINGO game by The Kefar
• MTOI has some great resources called Parsha Pearls that are perfect for this feast

Yom Kippur

Scripture says in Leviticus 23:27 “On the tenth day of this seventh new moon is Yom HaKippurim. It shall be a set-apart gathering for you. And you shall afflict your beings, and shall bring an offering made by fire to YHVH.” This passage also goes on to describe how to set this day apart: no work. There are also various ways people have attempted to describe “afflict your beings” but we choose to use this day to fast from food and reflect on teshuva (repentance).

Yom HaKippurim means Day of Atonement or Day of the Coverings so spending this day in total reflection and observation of how one can follow YHVH’s instructions is a day well spent.

Below are some practical resources to help teach about and observe this feast day:

• Use these free Atonement activity pages by Bible Pathway Adventures (did we already say they’re our fave)
• This is a neat song that my kiddos love that relates the story of Jonah to Yom Kippur
• Enjoy this lapbook by Anna Matrix

Festival of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)

In Leviticus 23:34-44 we read about the Festival of Sukkot being observed on the fifteenth day of the seventh new moon and celebrated for seven days. This passage also sheds more light on the how-to: first day is a set-apart gathering with no work, last day is a set-apart gathering with no work, and dwell in booths (tents) for the seven days.

Some people have the amazing privilege to be off work the entire week and camp out with like-minded believers. Our first year of observing this we camped out at a lake and had an amazing time with our little family (just 5 of us at the time).

Below are some resources to help teach about and observe this feast day:

• Don’t forget your activity pages by Bible Pathway Adventures
• Bim Bam has a pretty cool video
• From the edible Sukkah to the real deal and decorations, there are lots of activities for kids here

Don’t Forget the Food

One thing that is well-known with Feast Day celebrations is the FEAST! Cooking big meals is common and expected. The few times we have had the privilege of observing feast days with others, none of them lacked in food.

Check out this YouTube playlist of clean eating recipes for feast days and beyond!

Now that you’ve gotten a run down of three celebrations to consider this fall, we’d like to hear from you! What are some celebrations you and your family do during the fall season? Share in the comments below!

Author, Speaker, and Curriculum Resource Creator Michelle Huddleston is first and foremost a child of the Most High, wife to an incredibly patient husband, and homeschooling mama to four blessings (and another on the way). She is passionate about educating, encouraging, and empowering other homeschooling families to homeschool their way. Michelle would love to connect with you on her Blog, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!

The post 3 Celebrations to Consider this Fall. first appeared on True Aim.

Read Together

Spend quality time together reading. Read aloud as a family, share bedtime stories, and read beautiful poetry over tea. Reading should never just be a subject we endure and conquer. It should be an event and part of your family culture. 

Before radio and television, reading was entertainment. The family would gather together and listen to a story, then play some music and sing. These moments are just as powerful today. Our children need to see us reading and experience the joy of reading as a family. Even after children can read independently, reading together is important.

Audio books

Sometimes, the frustration with learning to read is that new readers can’t read what they want. The simple, phonics based readers are wonderful for learning to read but rarely have much of a plot or story line. So, children go from reading wonderful stories with captivating prose, gorgeous pictures, and clever rhymes; to “See the dog. The dog is big. Dog, dog, dog.”

Audio books allow children to read independently at a level that holds their interest. Also, listening to higher level language is essential to language development. They can continue to love reading, even if the mechanics of reading with their eyes is difficult. The magic of literature will not be lost in a sea of three word sentences.

Share Great Literature

The phrase “as long as they are reading” is counter productive. Getting children to “read anything” really will not increase their reading skills, nor encourage them to become lifelong readers. Children will thrive on great literature and timeless poetry. That is not to say that children can only read books by Austen, Shakespeare, and Chesterton. However, to really nurture a reader make sure they are being exposed to truly, good literature. This can be done by audio book or read aloud. However you decide to immerse your child in the world of great books, do it! Don’t wait for high school or high level reading. Do it now!

Give Your Reader Time

Reading is a skill that takes time, and also needs to happen at the perfect time. Not every 6 year old will be able to read. In fact, the normal range for learning to read is between 4.5 years old and 9 years old. So, if your seven year old is still struggling and doesn’t want to read, perhaps he just isn’t ready. Taking a break, and trying again in six months may be the best thing you can do. Pushing children who aren’t ready to read makes reading something they resent. They know that they can not do it, and find no joy in it. Stop your phonics lessons, ease off on spelling and leveled readers. Keep reading to your child, and give him room to grow. No matter what age children learn to read, they are generally on the same level by age 11. Slowing down now is not holding your child back or making him “fall behind.” It just may be what he needs to soar when he is ready.

How do you get your children to fall in love with reading?

A homeschool mom and devoted lifelong learner, Jennifer Elia serves the homeschool community at Sound Foundations Homeschool. She is a blogger, best selling author, and homeschool consultant. Jennifer is on a mission to help every mom get the tools and support she needs to easily build a thriving and successful homeschool for any child. Jennifer lives in New Jersey with her husband and their four children who she has been educating at home for over a decade.

Read more from Jennifer Elia  https://soundfoundationshomeschool.com

Connect with her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/soundfoundationshomeschool

The post Cultivating the love of reading in your reluctant reader first appeared on True Aim.

What is the best way to teach kids to read when they think reading is hard?

#learntoread #howtoread #strugglingtoread #mykidcantread

But what constitutes ‘struggling with reading’?  

Kids in public schools are expected to be reading by a certain age. Naturally, homeschooling moms feel pressured to make sure their own kids are also reading by this ‘magical number’. The fact that many public school kids are not meeting this ‘deadline’ is overlooked.    

So when a homeschooled child starts turning 7 or 8 or even 9 and still has not mastered the art of reading, social media blows up with moms asking how to help a child struggling with reading.

I used to fall into this same trap.

As a child, I learned to read before I even started preschool. So when my oldest kid turned 3, I ‘just knew’ it was time to teach him to read.

Boy was I naive!    

Looking back, it’s amazing to see how much I’ve learned about educating kids over the years. But at the time, I didn’t know any better. I figured that since I had learned how to read at 3, all of my kids would also know how to read at 3. After all – how hard could it be?

I started with the same method I used to learn to read – Hooked On Phonics.

Hooked On Phonics is a great program. Children all over learn to read with this great system. My first kid, however, was not one of those children.    

How To Help A Child Struggling With Reading

At first, I was frustrated, Frustrated with my son and frustrated with myself. Why wasn’t he getting this?

I decided to try another program. I did a bit of research and we went through a few free trials before we settled on Reading Kingdom.

Reading Kingdom is another great program. And this time, the program began to work for my son. He started to pick up reading rules and sight words. He was starting to make connections between letters and sounds.

He was learning to read!

And still, he wouldn’t read books. Or anything else.

My son was 7 years old. He knew how to read (the basics, anyway). And yet he still wouldn’t.

At this point, I just gave up. I figured he knew the basics, he would start to read on his own time when he was good and ready. All my time on social media and watching other homeschool moms go through the same thing had taught me that kids will read when they are good and ready – and not a minute sooner.

So I let it go.    

Fast forward a few years. My son is 9 years old and we’re at the library picking out some books. I still encouraged reading regularly, and we still introduced new books often, with the hopes that one day something would catch his eye. And today was that day!

My son found a graphic novel (comic book) about Pokemon. He brought it home and had finished all 250 pages by the end of the night.

By the end of the month, he had read every single Pokemon book at that particular library.

And now, at 10 years old, he is finally going through a larger variety of books. He has officially mastered reading. And it only took him 10 years.

After this experience with my son, I was a bit more equipped to handle teaching my second child to read. Or so I thought.

We started right away with Reading Kingdom. You see, I figured it was Reading Kingdom that had given my first son his start, so of course my next child would be a strong reader in no time with this same program.

Nope! Wrong again!    

After several months of fighting and struggling, I decided this program wasn’t working for her. It was time to find another method.

I introduced her to Reading Eggs. This program seemed to work for my daughter. She was picking up the basics at least. But, just like my son, even though she was getting the sight words and learning the rules, she just wouldn’t read outside of her ‘school work’.

Remembering my experience with my son, I let it go. She still worked on her Reading Eggs regularly, but outside of that, I didn’t push things too hard. And low and behold, she’s now 8 years old and is finally starting to read independently. The turning point? She found a couple of books about horses that piqued her interest. And now she is reading all kinds of books all on her own.  

So at what age should a child know how to read? What constitutes a struggling reader? That’s a good question.

  My conclusion is this:

Every child learns to read at his or her own pace. And every child learns best with a method that is best suited to his or her own learning style. What works for one child won’t necessarily work for another.

My third child learned to read fantastically with Reading Eggs. He’s 6 and reads almost as well as his older siblings. Whereas just today, my husband and I have decided that child number 4 will need a whole nother method to teach her how to read. Reading Eggs is doing absolutely nothing for her. So we are on the hunt for a program to use for this little girl.  

If your child hasn’t learned to read yet, don’t worry! Barring any learning disabilities (and even with learning disabilities – my older 2 sons both have dyslexia which means they naturally struggle with reading and spelling as it is) kids will learn to read in their own time. Try a method or a program for a while. If it doesn’t work, move onto something else. Keep looking until you find something that works for your child.  

Be patient with yourself and with your child. Each child is an individual. Treat them as such. I promise, they will learn to read eventually. If you just keep loving them and guiding them and introducing them to good things, eventually something will just click and they will take off all on their own.

Tell me – what methods have you used to teach your kids to read? Post your different methods in the comment section below so that other parents can get some more ideas as to which method to try next!  

About The Author

Charlene Hess spent many years teaching kids before she had her own kids. She now has 7 kids of her own, whom she has been homeschooling for the last 10 years. Charlene still teaches other children outside of her home but finds great joy in exploring the world with her family. Charlene has participated in many leadership training’s with John C. Maxwell. Charlene and her husband Benjamin blog about homeschooling and success principles for kids at https://hessunacademy.com

The post Learning to Read with Multiple Methods first appeared on True Aim.

When we decided to homeschool our daughter, the main thing I dreaded was teaching her how to read. It was a daunting task, and to be honest it still is. Thankfully I’ve found some easy learn to read activities to ease into the process. The fact that these learn to read activities are broken down into baby steps help make these learn to read activities fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I started to work with my daughter, I approached teaching her to read the same way I usually tackle any project – I went to Pinterest. I browsed for hours and pinned hundreds of pins. This just left me feeling overwhelmed. I was a junior high teacher for over seven years, but frankly I was completely in the dark about where to start. Eventually I found a few mentions of two books – The Reading Lesson: Teach Your CHild to Read in 20 Easy Lessons and Teach Your Toddler to Read Through Play: A Detailed Account with Over 130 Games/Activities, Tips, and Resources that intrigued me and gave me a glimmer of hope. Usually I like to buy the actual book, but I had some Kindle credit so I purchased the ebook version of both. Using these two books together was a lifesaver! Utilizing the books as well as some simple activities has made this process of teaching my daughter to read a little easier.

 

 

Learn to Read Activities

 

While the books have great pictures and come with excellent diagrams/worksheets, I have the Kindle version so I created my own flashcards for a lot of the activities. I also have pressed a few of Carrie’s many dry erase boards into service. She loves them so it also serves as a motivator to sit down and work. One of the suggestions was breaking up the alphabet into chunks and making sure your child knows the sounds for those words. I enjoyed how they gave examples of words to use as well as plenty of practice.

The other suggestion that I appreciated was to ensure that your child knew the difference between letters, words, and sentences. Those are definitely the building blocks that are needed and I hadn’t considered that previously.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the issues has been my daughter’s lack of attention span. She’s five and she’s autistic so we have had to get creative at times. One of the things we discovered was using games. Sometimes we get to use them as intended and others we have to manipulate to fit our needs. One that we actually utilize both as intended and with some changes is The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Spin and Seek ABC Game. It has allowed us to work on both sounding out letters and helping with other issues that we sometimes struggle with – for example counting.

 

Learning to read activities are just like anything else – you have to find what works for you and your child. A program/activity can be highly rated but if it is not going to translate to you and your child’s individual needs, it is just a waste of time and money. If you child isn’t ready to read yet. Here are two letter recognition activities: F is for Fart and Grocery Store Preschool Lessons

 

So Mommas (and Daddies), please share what you’ve done to help your child learn to read. I’m sure there are plenty of parents who were overwhelmed like me.

 

 

Joy Hardin is a former junior high teacher, but now is homeschooling her daughter, Carrie. Hardin has discovered that almost ten years in the classroom can’t prepare you for working with your own child. Carrie is five and has recently been diagnosed with Autism so there are daily struggles, but it makes the breakthroughs even sweeter.

 

Carrie has inspired Joy to also write children’s books. The first will be out soon, Carrie Can’t Choose a Costume and is the first of the Choosy Carrie books.

Joy blogs at Finding Joy Publishing, http://www.findingjoy19.com

The post Ease into Reading: Fun Baby Steps to Help Your Child Learn to Read. first appeared on True Aim.