Some of our kiddos read at age four, while others didn’t read till almost eight. One of my girls had no interest in even learning the alphabet as late as first grade, and I felt a bit panicked that she wasn’t reading at all in first grade, but she suddenly […]
Vicki Bentley
71 posts
You know that all kids learn at different rates and have different strengths. But it’s still easy to get a bit nervous when your 4th (or 7th) grader seems to still not grasp concepts you’d think she should know — or that you know you’ve gone over. You get a […]
An increasing number of homeschoolers are considering the question of whether to provide in-home care for aging parents or grandparents. Many of you face—or may someday face—the challenge of helping to manage a parent’s daily life of nurses and therapists, chemotherapy and blood transfusions, oxygen providers and medical equipment, prescriptions […]
Field trips can inspire your child to study a topic, give him further insights into his current studies, or provide closure to a completed unit. Is there somewhere you’d like to take your children to reinforce a topic this year? Or just want to visit because it would enrich their […]
If you homeschooled your child through the primary grades, you may find that you initially experienced moments of self-doubt, but you managed through the first year (or two, or three) and gained confidence to educate your child at home…until now! It is not uncommon for parents to second-guess themselves all […]
Let’s be real … homeschooling is not a cure for all that ails our families. Life is still messy. In fact, sometimes all that one-on-one time can really magnify shortcomings in our relationships with our children as well as with our spouses. Some of the most heartbreaking consulting calls I […]
In other posts, we’ve discussed testing and assessment options. Depending on the legal requirements for homeschoolers in your state, you may choose to instead have your child evaluated, or have a portfolio evaluation. Evaluations Who might benefit from an evaluation? Young children, students who don’t read well or quickly yet, children with learning […]
(I found this in my archives from almost ten years ago and realized I need to revive this system, as my desk paperwork is again running amok. Do you ever realize you KNOW what to do but just need a reminder?) The photos in this blog (well, in all […]
I was recently privileged to participate in a discussion with hundreds of homeschoolers of various ages, ethnicities, income levels, family sizes, and in various seasons of homeschooling. As the more veteran homeschoolers and the newer home educators interacted, I sensed I was privy to a tentative “dance” of sorts, in […]
Speed Mentoring By Vicki Bentley and Elizabeth Kennedy A traditional mentoring program (such as Home Education 101) is designed to inspire long-term encouragement and relationship. If that sort of mentoring relationship is the “marriage,” this activity is the “speed dating”! It can be used as an ice-breaker at the start […]