Why Watch Homeschool Mom YouTubers? My Journey When I first started my homeschool journey (about three years ago), I was excited and terrified. Despite my background as an educator, and tons of years of experience teaching both in the classroom and tutoring setting, I was NERVOUS. As I began looking online for what curriculum I wanted to use, how to set up my homeschool room, and how to even organize all the books, documents, and information in my head - much less my computer - I stumbled upon the Youtubers. More accurately, my husband told me I should check YouTube for reviews of curriculum b ..read more

There are 44 sounds in the English language, and quite a few ways to spell each of them. For example, the long O sound can be spelled several different ways: o (go), o-e (sole), oa (goat), ow (row), oe (toe). And we could continue to get lost in the weeds…but we’ll come back to that at a later time. But what should I teach my Preschool or Kindergartener? For now, what should we actually teach when we simply introduce the sounds of English letters? How about a simple list of the letters with the most basic sounds that each letter makes? Check it out below…and you can even download it in PDF fo ..read more

Previously, I shared a list of “Free Canva Fonts for Teachers and Tutors.” You can download the FREE printable PDF here. In the meantime, I have discovered even more fonts that teachers will find helpful as they create worksheets for their students. Some of these new fonts (as you can see below) include cursive or script-style writing and others are even useful for tracing. In other words, this list is for the teachers whose students already know how to form their letters and won’t be thrown by some liberties taken in some of the following fonts. Think upper elementary and ABOVE. If you are ..read more

This one is super simple… What to do: Create (or login to) your free Canva.com account Choose paper size (i.e., US Letter) Choose font (Canva Student Font Dotte) Type the letters/words/phrases you want your student to trace Add any other fun elements - pictures etc. Then, select “Share” —> “Download” —> and under “File Type” choose “PDF Print” Hit the purple “Download” button Now you can save your file to wherever you’d like it and print it as many times as you need!! Want more FREE Canva Font suggestions? Check out this post ..read more

I love paper planners - but I also love the flexibility of digital planning. So, I decided to combine it! I created a lesson plan template and now just print it out before writing on it like a paper planner. In this way, I don’t have to rewrite “Math, Reading, Spelling,…..” every week. I can have any and all details pre-printed on the page - even small details like Daily Language Practice Week ___ Day ___. Then, all I have to do each day is fill in the numbers. And voila! BUT I can also change the spreadsheet as our curriculum changes. For instance, one month we may be finishing up a handwriti ..read more

I have come to love the FREE Version of Trello…and I use it every year to plan my curriculum for the upcoming school year. Click Here or click the picture below to view the board And, if you want to use it - JUST CREATE A COPY!!! This board is a sample to show how I plan my curriculum for my children. You can certainly add more children or delete extras. Each of the Trello Cards below has further information explaining how to make this board your own and how I utilize it to keep myself organized as I plan for the year ahead. Once you open it in Trello you will be able to view the instructions ..read more

Background: This is based on my experience using levels K and 2 this school year (we are currently about half way through). After a convo with a friend recently who told me she was frustrated with all the prep that Math with Confidence required each day, I realized that what I had done before we started the year had truly made it stress-free for me. (Ok, honestly - as stress-free as possible for teaching my own kids math.) There are occasionally items I have to grab the day-of. But 90% of the time (no I didn’t actually compute the percentage), I can literally open the book and go… Affiliate D ..read more

Plumpaper.com is having a 30% off sale right now through November 12th (2023). (This is NOT an affiliate link. I will not make any money if you purchase this product.) Plum Paper Planners are Incredibly Customizable Binding - Plum Paper Planners come in spiral binding (gold or silver), disc cut, or saddle stitched. Some even have interchangeable covers or hard cover options. Sizes - Options include A5 (5.8” x 8.3”), 9” x 7”, and 8.5” x 11”. Layouts - There are so many choices here Vertical Layouts (this includes 5 separate vertical options) Horizontal Layouts (This has 4 options within i ..read more

Help! I'm overwhelmed. Where do I start? There are SO many resources - I'll list some below that you may find helpful. And, many others have also answered this question. So, here is my stab at it... Disclaimer: My advice is based solely on my experience. It does not constitute legal counsel, but is just my opinion. Legal Stuff Seriously, check your state laws first so you know exactly what you need to do. I can't provide any legal advice or any state-specific (or country specific) laws. And then read the rest of this as far as it is applicable to you. Check your legal requirements - then doub ..read more

After using All About Reading (AAR) for several years, I have picked up a few tips that I hope might help someone else just starting out… Boss Tips Check the front of each workbook to see you can make copies for use with multiple children in the same family. I know the PreK workbooks (including the supplemental Alphabet letters book) allow this. If you have a color copier this might come in handy - especially if there is a “mess-up” and your kid wants to start over (or a younger sibling wants to participate even though they aren’t really doing the curriculum). Prep the student workbook ah ..read more