Reading

Why AudioBooks Totally Count for Reading

Sometimes you just don’t want to read one more book out loud to your children. Yes, you love them and want them to hear amazing books but you just don’t want to read out loud. Or maybe you’re sick and you have the sorest throat going. Audiobooks are the best thing in a homeschool. Have you tried them yet?

Why AudioBooks Totally Count for Reading

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

Like I said, sometimes you just don’t want to read out loud anymore. I can only read so many novels out loud to my kids, day after day, month after month.

Audiobooks for Homeschooling on the Go

Audiobooks are the best think for getting your reading in while on the go, no one is walking away, or playing with something instead of sitting down and listening.

When you combine a book with an audiobook, your child can read along independently, which will improve your child’s decoding skills, which is a great reading strategy when reading a book without audio assistance.

What exactly is decoding skills? Decoding skills are the ability to apply knowledge of letter-sound relationship and letter patterns to pronounce words.

Audiobooks Benefits

It saves time! Lunchtime is an excellent time for listening to a book. We are all sitting around the table together eating and listening to one of our favorite books.

You know what else audiobooks save? Space! Books have taken over my house to the point of needing more bookshelves in a house that already has six bookshelves.

Books including audiobooks can also improve critical listening skills. Not everyone is a visual learner too, something I have trouble with because I am a visual learner.

Audiobooks can help the child who might be discouraged by the length or genre of a book.

Audiobooks can come in handy when you have multiple children in different levels. Moms can only read so much to her children before running out of time, and energy for language arts. It saves also helps save your voice and eyes in the long run, you can only read so much before you get tired dry eyes.

4 Ways to Keep Learning All Summer

by Ashley Mullen

Summer weather in Saskatchewan tends to be hot and dry. It means we can count on getting outside everyday to have fun and keep learning at the same time. We like to go outside as much as possible after being stuck in the house all winter, so we enjoy everything from reading to taking our history lessons outside in the warm weather.

4 Ways to Keep Learning All Summer

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information. *

1. Get Outside

We like to make lessons a little more fun and messy when we’re outside because I’m not as worried about clean up or spills. History this year was one of those subjects this year made me wish we didn’t live in the freezing cold. Otherwise, we could have gone outside for the messier hands-on projects that my kids love. This summer we have plans to dig site in a section of our garden. Don’t forget just how much you can learn from gardening with your kids during the summer, too.

2. Museum Trips

If you are going on a family vacation this summer check out the museums in the area. We’re heading to the East Coast of Canada and will be going to fishery museums and cannot wait! You don’t have to go anywhere new to check out museums though, just head to your local one.

No matter how many times we go, they always come away with something new. Besides new exhibits being held each new season, the children seem to take a special interested in a different display each time. But even if we do spend most of our time at their favorite human body display.

Check to see if your museums have educational materials on their website. Before you head out, you can print off scavenger hunts or other learning guides to extend the experience. This tip is especially useful for going back to a locale you’ve visited several times before. Having a goal in mind for your visit can bring renewed interest.

4 Ways to Keep Learning All Summer-science center

3. Catch Up Time

Did you run out of time during the school year on some topics? Catch up on them now. Head to the library and pick out some engaging titles your kids would like. Choose topics that you skipped during the year or topics that you know your child is crazy about.

Lay great books around the house at reading level for your child, books that might grab their attention. While they are browsing the books, they are working on their reading skills.

There are things that I left out of our homeschool lessons that we will be doing during the summer For example our Book of World History has a number of hands-on crafts that we are going to continue to learn through, similar to our hieroglyphs.

Did you do every science activity from your Science kit? Redo them. Let your kids create their own science experiments, explore and learn.

4. Reading

Reading is one of the best ways to keep your child learning this summer. Don’t try to force them to read, but have books out for them. Last summer we got our BookShark curriculum early in the summer and my oldest had read a couple of the read aloud chapter books from the History curriculum, I had simply put them on our bookshelf and didn’t limit her reading choices. That meant she started the school year a bit ahead!

The BookShark schedule is not case in stone. Letting my daughter get a bit ahead on one subject means that she’ll have time to explore her own interests more, or she can listen in when I am reading to her siblings. There is no rule that you can only read a book once.

A summer reading challenge might also be something to try this summer. We take part in a summer reading program at our library for all school aged children. The kids are challenged to read as many books as they can during the summer and to report back each week. At the end of the summer those that have read the most get a little something special, usually a book. If you are interested in doing one on your home, I have one you may want to look at.

Benefits of Gardening with Kids

by Ashley Mullen

Have you tried gardening with your kids? While my kids don’t love the hard work that comes with getting a garden planted, they sure enjoy the fruits, or vegetables, of the labor. Some of the biggest benefits of gardening with kids for us is that there aren’t many vegetables that they won’t eat and they are always willing to try something new now.

Benefits of Gardening with Kids

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

Watching a plant grow from the seed you planted is quite the experience. And if you can start some seeds in a clear container you can teach your kids all about root systems and sun light, all those science things.

Reading

Your children can be reading to find which vegetables are the best for your growing zone and what type variety fits best for your area. Then there is the reading about how to plant them: germination, planting and spacing, harvesting, etc. Let them do some research on the plants they want to grow.

Math

There are a lot of teachable math moments when gardening with kids: how deep to plant a seed, how far apart to plant seedlings, how tall plants get, and how to arrange them in a garden to provide for maximum growth.

Science

Gardening provides a fantastic introduction into the world of natural science. From planting a seed to watching seedlings grow and mature, flower formation, fruit formation, insect and plant life cycles, and the importance of sunlight and water; these are all the beginnings of botany, biology and chemistry!

Health

One of the many benefits of gardening with kids is that they begin to appreciate the hard work it takes to grow and harvest food. They learn patience, confidence, and that it can be great to get messy! If you don’t have space for a garden, then try container gardening with kids. You’ll get the same benefits but you need less space!

Do you do any gardening together as a family?

How We Do Read Aloud in Our Homeschool

by Ashley Mullen

I love reading, although I hated it as a child, and I think because of that, have always read to my kids, and encouraged them to read whatever they wanted. I want my kids to love reading as much as I do. I haven’t always done planned read aloud in our homeschool. It’s something new that we are doing this year and has been a great addition to it. We love books already after all.

How We Do Read Aloud in Our Homeschool

*This post is part of a series of posts that I have been writing in exchange for receiving BookShark curriculum. My opinions are 100% honest at all times.*

Why have I added read aloud to our homeschool routine this year? Because BookShark Reading with History includes some amazing books, and the schedule in which to read them. They make it simple to plan for, and fun with interesting books.

BookShark provides you with a base schedule that you can choose to follow as you like. My favorite part of the history schedule is the read aloud part. They tell you which book to read, how much to read each day. They also provide you with the books too so no fear of not having the book you need when you need it.

We are starting a new read aloud today! Have you read this one yet? Thanks to @bookshark we are! #ad . . . #bookshark #newbooktime #welovebooks
A post shared by Ashley (@forgetfulmomma) on Nov 14, 2017 at 7:13am PST

We start each school morning with reading now. It has been a lovely, slow and relaxing way to get our days started. All of us sit together on the sofa to read a chapter or two. No more jumping right into math or spelling. Easing into school in the morning or the afternoon is more our style now.

Audiobooks

But what happens when you just don’t want to read anymore or your kids are tired of hearing your voice? Audiobooks. In fact, after a few books, that’s what I decided to grab. Instead of me reading Henry Huggins I requested it in audiobook form from the library for us to all listen to. And because listening to Neil Patrick Harris read it is much better than listening to my own voice. Now instead of first thing in the morning only, we can listen during the drive to the library or to get groceries. A perfect use for an otherwise boring drive.

We started reading the book but needed a break from the reading each morning. Instead we'll enjoy it when we drive to and from the library and/or grocery shopping. We'll enjoy it more this way. . . . #readaloud #libraryfind
A post shared by Ashley (@forgetfulmomma) on Dec 10, 2017 at 2:27pm PST

The Reading with History 1 curriculum comes with a number of great read aloud books, a whole school year of them. So far we have read Charlotte’s Web (our favorite without a doubt), Little Pear, and Owls in the Family which was awesome in part because it takes place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

5 Ways to Make Time to Read for Moms

by Ashley Mullen

Am I the only mother with a stack of books that you want to read but you just have no idea how you are going to read them? Making time to read as a mother is part of the impossible, especially if you don’t have a naptime for your kids. Grab one of those homeschool books you have been wanting to read and find some time.

5 Ways to Make Time to Read for Moms

*This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.*

I’m not the best at grabbing a book, sitting down to read, just me and book, it doesn’t happen very often. Not as often as I would like.

Audio Books

There is nothing wrong listening to a book instead of reading. We have listened to them as a family travelling, and hubby has become a big fan of the driving back and forth to work. PLUS Amazon has Audible where you have access to over 180,000 books!

Read Before Bed

Keep a book beside your bed and for 10 minutes a night read that book you have been waiting to read. Ten minutes is enough to read a chapter or so depending on how fast you read.

Take Book with You

Everywhere you go, take a book. Throw one in your purse or diaper bag, or even in your child’s backpack so you have it as you drive them around. OR download the Kindle app onto your phone, you don’t leave without your phone do you?

Family Quiet Time / Reading Time

Make a some space in your day for reading. Everyone grabs there own book to read or look for the little ones, giving you time to read each day.

Put a Book in the Bathroom

Seriously. This is the only time I can catch a second to myself. Read a paragraph or a section while you take a quick break, and before long, you’ll have made it through a chapter! I also love to read in the tub, it’s my quiet relaxing time once or two a month. Just don’t drop it!

Reading

Why AudioBooks Totally Count for Reading

Why AudioBooks Totally Count for Reading

Audiobooks for Homeschooling on the Go

Audiobooks Benefits

Similar posts that you may be interested in:

4 Ways to Keep Learning All Summer