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The Talking Baby

I just finished a new book written by a husband and wife team, Jeremy and Karina Sweet, titled The Talking Baby.  Jeremy and Karina are a father and mother who are able to speak from personal child rearing experience. Additionally, Karina has experience as an elementary school teacher.  The book is designed to help parents learn not only how to communicate... [Read more of this post]

Teaching Kids About the 4th of July

Last year when Bubby was 2.5 years old, I started teaching her the basics about the 4th of July.  I told her it was the American flag’s birthday, because at that age she was really starting to grasp what birthdays were all about.  So this is what she learned at that age: The date: July 4th It is the American flag’s birthday (because... [Read more of this post]

All SORTS of Fun in Tot School

I’ve always been good about spending time with my 3 year old daughter, Bubby, since she was the first and only one for a while.  We are starting to get our feet wet with homeschooling, but I have found I need something to do with my youngest daughter Boo (16 months old) in the meantime. I came across Tot School and found my answer!  Tot School... [Read more of this post]

Art History Books for Kids

For the past couple weeks I’ve been teaching my 3 year old daughter, “Bubby” (nicknamed this when she was little because she called everyone Bubba for some reason), about famous artists.  I think it is important to teach my children about art and music history, and want them to be able to have an appreciation for each.  While at... [Read more of this post]

Differences Between Children

I spent Friday outside replanting the garden area in my front yard.  Some of the plants were damaged due to a few freezes this past winter and it’s also needed mulch for at least the past year or so.  We just were not ready to put money into it and had not made the time to do it.  It looked pretty bad (to put it nicely!) and was definitely... [Read more of this post]

Go With What You Know

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!  Today I have a special guest post from Jason Barr, who has given us a dad’s perspective on what it means to be a part of his son’s life and education.  You should also head over to Jason’s blog Start Being Your Best, where you can read my post titled The Working Mom’s Dilemma. As... [Read more of this post]

Teaching Sentence Structure

I was doing a bit of homeschooling with my oldest daughter a few days ago and she was reading through sight word and blend cards that came with a game we have.  Having the words on the cards all mixed up reminded me of a particular test I have given as a speech pathologist to evaluate a child’s language skills.  One section of the test evaluates... [Read more of this post]

The FURminator

For all the pet owners, I want to tell you about the Furminator because it does such an awesome job.  It is a shedding tool for dogs and cats that helps to remove the undercoat.  My oldest daughter has an allergy to dog dander.  Getting rid of our dog was not an option, so I’m always looking for ways to reduce the allergens in our house. ... [Read more of this post]

Testing & Improving Reading Fluency

In my previous post, I discussed the importance of reading fluency and the impact it has on reading comprehension.  Now I will discuss how to measure and improve reading fluency. Testing Reading Fluency You can easily test a child’s (or your own) reading fluency by selecting a passage of appropriate grade level text.  With a timer set, have... [Read more of this post]

The Importance of Reading Fluency

What is reading fluency and why is it important?  Reading fluency is comprised of the rate, accuracy, and prosody you use while reading.  Reading fluency is important because the ability to read efficiently, accurately, and with appropriate expression and meaning allow for what is read to be comprehended. Reading rate just means the speed, or how... [Read more of this post]

What Is Your Learning Style?

Auditory Visual Kinesthetic (AVK) modes of learning incorporate sound, sight, and touch into the learning process.  By incorporating all three modes together, it allows for more avenues of input to the brain, which make learning easier.  Most people have a particular strength (for example, mine is visual) but by incorporating as many modes of input... [Read more of this post]

Downsides of Homeschooling

In my last post I discussed the benefits of homeschooling, which mainly revolve around the ability to customize and control your child’s education.  The following is my list of possible downsides of homeschooling for you to consider. Cons to Homeschooling: 1.       It is a full time job.  Homeschooling is a full time job when you consider... [Read more of this post]

Benefits of Homeschooling

Deciding whether or not to homeschool can be a difficult decision for parents.  It’s hard to know what the benefits of homeschooling are if you have not experienced it for yourself.  If you are like me, you went to public school and feel like you got a decent education.  There is also something to be said about the public school experience…riding... [Read more of this post]

How to Teach the Concept of Time at Bedtime

Understanding the concept of time is an important milestone in language development and early learning .  So after my daughter learned the 7 days of the week, I wanted to teach her how a calendar works so she could start learning about the year, months, days, and holidays and start to grasp how a calendar can be useful.  I hung the calendar in her... [Read more of this post]

Better Speech & Hearing Month (BSHM)

The month of May is Better Speech and Hearing Month (BSHM), which was started by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) to raise awareness about communication disorders and to promote treatment that can improve quality of life for people experiencing difficulty hearing, understanding, or speaking. Hearing loss can be caused by genetic... [Read more of this post]

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