July 05, 2018
Tags: begin, hands-on, homeschool, homeschooling, life skills, reading, special needs, summer
By Kathy Kuhl Summer: time for sun, vacation, lazing about—and homeschool? Yes! Even if you aren’t already homeschooling your child, I recommend summertime homeschooling. But the homeschooling I recommend over the summer may not be what you think. I firmly believe that kids and teens need unstructured time. So by […]
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June 28, 2018
Tags: communication disorder, emotional health, family, holiday, relationships, sensory, social skills, Socialization, summer
By Kathy Kuhl For most families, thoughts of a summer holiday–with family picnics, parades, fireworks, and other patriotic celebrations–are happy thoughts. But for some of us with kids who learn differently, they are times of stress. Are you longing for fireworks without emotional fireworks? Cookouts without meltdowns? Parades without panic? Manage your hopes You […]
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June 21, 2018
Tags: Assistive technology, communication disorder, handwriting, learning disabilities, reading, resources, Tech, technology, writing
Who can keep track of all the new tricks your computer, tablet, or phone can do? Who can keep up with all the apps in Google Play or the App Store? When you add tracking new accessibility features on top of teaching children or teens with learning challenges or other special needs, it’s hard. But […]
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June 14, 2018
Tags: begin, classes, group, homeschool, homeschooling, Socialization, start
By Kathy Kuhl How do you homeschool? At the kitchen table, in a co-op where you teach, with DVDs or online classes, or via a paid service? I’ve done them all over the years, as have many other homeschooling parents. Do you know all the options? Do your friends who have children struggling in […]
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May 17, 2018
Tags: charlotte mason, classical education, homeschool, homeschooling
By Kathy Kuhl After I started homeschooling, friends recommended a classical approach. My sister-in-law recommended a Charlotte Mason approach. Both sounded intriguing, but too hard. “My fourth-grader can’t read! You want me to add copywork, nature journalling, Latin, and Great Books to our day? I can’t do it!” As I interviewed parents for Homeschooling Your Struggling […]
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May 10, 2018
Tags: Assistive technology, dyslexia, learning disabilities, reading
by Kathy Kuhl Joan Green is one of the nation’s experts on finding tools to help people with all kinds of learning challenges. I’ve recommended her work in assistive technology before, and now she has new ways to help. Why I like Joan Green’s work Joan keeps up with the fast-growing field of assistive […]
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May 07, 2018
Tags: learning disabilities, math
By Kathy Kuhl If you’ve heard me speak on teaching math to kids with learning challenges, you know I recommend the multisensory math strategies developed by Marilyn Zecher of the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Training Center. Some of my best ideas for teaching math lessons grew out of projects I created while taking her classes. […]
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April 10, 2018
Tags: anxiety, begin, beginning, de-school, deschool, deschooling, homeschool, mental health, stress, unschooling
by Kathy Kuhl As a child, I liked school. As an adult, I know many excellent teachers. But some children and teens have very different experiences. They are miserable in school. That’s one reason some of us homeschool. That’s also why some kids need “deschooling.” Yesterday, the mother of such a boy wrote me. […]
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March 08, 2018
Tags: homeschool, homeschool conventions, homeschooling
by Kathy Kuhl Once I heard a convention center employee ask another what people do at a homeschool convention. The second said he guessed we bought textbooks. That’s like guessing people go to the beach only to swim. It’s not the whole story. Homeschool conventions are not bookstores, just as the beaches I love […]
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March 01, 2018
Tags: homeschool, homeschooling, organization, Time management
By Kathy Kuhl If you homeschool kids, you have a lot to manage. But when you homeschool a child with learning challenges, special needs, and/or giftedness, you don’t just need lists. You need sub-lists, lists that repeat, lists to save for next year. Some of us have distractible kids, and some of us are […]
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