Name that Note

Here's a fun way to teach your children to read music. It's called Name That Note.

How to Speed Up Your Child's Reading

If you can afford it, I highly recommend buying a Kindle 2 to help your reluctant reader. The Kindle's text-to-speech capability can reinforce reading skills and increase fluency. My husband,  Bill, who has some vision loss, is my proof. 

Before the Kindle, like many men (and boys), Bill didn't enjoy reading. In fact, he rarely read a book. But now, because of the Kindle, he reads all the time!  

Bill's had the Kindle for more than six months now, and he loves it. He takes it with him everywhere we go. He reads while I shop, while waiting for appointments, and even at home instead of watching TV. That's a huge change!

The text-to-speech feature is increasing his reading speed, too. I discover that when I tried using his Kindle one day and couldn't keep up with the speed on which he had it set to scroll. After seeing Bill use the Kindle, I heartily recommended it to anyone who has a reluctant reader. 

Please note: Not every book makes text-to-speech available. Check before you buy! Also, complain to Random House (and then boycott them) for forcing Amazon to disable the text-to-speech feature. They are afraid of losing money, when instead, my husband proves that they could make a lot more sales because of people like him. In fact, now I have to buy two copies of a book instead of one. Bill likes the Kindle, but I don't. I want the real book. So, we buy two copies of books we want to read together - one Kindle version and one in print. But it's worth it to me to see Bill enjoy reading and then we have something to talk about together. It's better than a movie!

Review of Bit and Bridle magazine

I normally don’t review magazines, especially magazines which are not related to homeschooling. However, Bit and Bridle magazine was created by a 15-year-old homeschooler, Emily Echols, of Georgia in 2004. It’s now under the management of a 2006 home school graduate, Mandee Widrick, of New York.

Bit and Bridle is a bi-monthly magazine for horse owners and/or lovers. It’s faith-based and written from a Christian perspective, which makes it a nice gift for children and teens. The articles are written by the staff and freelancers and cover topics such as grooming, breeding, horse-related book reviews, horse-themed devotionals, reader-submitted photos of horses and short stories about horses and horse owners.

I am impressed with the entrepreneurial spirit of these two homeschooled girls. If you like horses, please consider subscribing to this magazine. For more information, see www.bitandbridlemag.com.

Disclosure Notice

I am an affiliate of Christian Book Distributor and Amazon.com. If a product I suggest can be purchased on one of these two sites, I link to it and earn a small referral fee. I also link to products I recommend that are found on sites that do NOT pay me referral fees. My goal is to provide information; however, any money I make from affiliate links helps pay my expenses and earn a profit. Thank you for purchasing from my affiliate links. I really appreciate it!

Ideas to Inspire

Looking for some creative ideas to inspire your student's learning? 

Check out Ideas to Inspire. You'll find ideas for geography, writing, math, art, music, and science. My favorites so far: Weather Dominoes and Make Your Own Telescopic Text and Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom. You can also send in ideas of your own!

If you decide to do a lesson on weather, be sure to check out my Weather Games and Cloud Chart. Enjoy!

New School Year

It's hard to believe another year has gone by, and it's already time to plan your next school year! 

If you just happened to stumble upon this blog and wonder what this homeschooling stuff is all about, read "What is Homeschooling."

If you're new or fairly new to homeschooling, you'll find some great tips to get you started on my Get Started in Homeschooling page.

If you've been homeschooling a while but wondering why your curriculum is not working, check out my free, Step-by-Step Guide to Choosing Curriculum.

Are you teaching High School next year and don't know how to get started? Try my Homeschooling High School page.

Maybe you're just looking for some planning forms? Try my Homeschool Forms page.

I hope these are helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions. I'll be glad to answer!

New Giveaway - Medieval Times Activity Book

Win a FREE copy of Hands-On Heritage: Medieval Times Activity Book by Edupress. You'll love the fun activities for kids in grades K-5th+. There are art projects, crafts, recipes and historical aids that make learning about the Middle Ages lots of FUN! 

Enter now (see right side bar) and you just might be the winner! One winner will be chosen by random drawing on May 30th. 

And don't forget to keep track of your studies using The Checklist!

Free Unit Studies by Cindy Downes.