Homeschool English

Whatever else is on our homeschool schedule for the day, daily reading and writing practice is a non-negotiable. Reading and writing are the keys to literacy, and no matter which home education philosophy your family follows (or not!), being able to read and write are the cornerstones of education. Including daily writing and reading exercises…

Left-handed learners often find writing more of a struggle than right-handed peers. Holding a pencil and writing can be uncomfortable, words smudge easier and it can be hard for learners to read what they’re writing as their hand covers the words. A little bit of practice and a few tweaks to how they write can…

Ebooks vs paperbacks: which is better for home education purposes?

Home education is so much easier if homeschoolers are enthusiastic, confident readers. Reading aloud with kids has numerous benefits and it is a gentle, beneficial way to slow the pace and reconnect in the middle of a busy school day; the downtime equivalent of a toddler nap. Books mean stories, and stories mean adventures and…

The Poetry Foundation is a great place to start when looking for ideas, inspiration and resources for a home-ed poetry module.

Are Songs Poetry? A home-ed lesson

Reading poetry is a fantastic way for pupils to develop reading-aloud skills and reading fluency. As an additional benefit to the home educator, lots of poems are short, making it easy to slot poetry reading into a daily homeschool routine. Poetry as a lesson subject encourages engagement with language in a way prose doesn’t; poetry…

Great books to read with 8-12 year olds! Adventure, mystery, magic and fun!

Audiobooks are fantastic teaching material for home education. Easy to use in a variety of lesson formats, audiobooks are easily accessible lesson content to use at home or on the go. The audiobooks below are books we’ve used/are using as part of our home education curriculum. (*The links below may be affiliate links. If you…

The purpose of writing is to transfer thoughts, stories or information via words to someone else. Once written on paper and passed to us, we call the process of absorbing that information ‘reading’ and place an educational value on that skill: We’re able to read, therefore we can absorb the writer’s words. So if we’re…

Poetry, prose, etymology.. Shakespeare’s writings are something no literature curriculum is complete without. If you’re not an English teacher the idea of teaching Shakespeare might be daunting – even if you enjoy his works in the theatre. As with all subjects, the earlier you can expose children to it, the easier it will be to…

Drama is a fun element to add to a homeschool curriculum and also a fantastic way to encourage homeschoolers to develop confidence in narration and presentation, skills that are useful outside of the classroom. Watch performances – online and in person – and act out plays at home. Make ‘Script Writing’ the focus of an…

The more comfortable we are with the medium we’re using to write words down..pen, pencil, keyboard.. the easier it is to transfer the words from our heads onto paper or a screen. Digital literacy – the ability to use a computer fluently- starts with being able to type as naturally as writing by hand. The…

short, effective lessons that are simple to follow and teach: using ‘Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons’ in a homeschool classroom

Reading is magic and children love magic. All we have to do is show them how to access the magic inside a book and enable them to access that magic themselves. Teach them to read and guide them toward books they’ll want to read themselves. Reading with Toddlers At toddler stage, the child is not…