Growing up, I got a great public school education that included a strong social studies curriculum, which has been my guide to good citizenship throughout life. So I was interested to learn awhile ago that the Colorado Department of Education was doing a mandated process of reviewing its standards for K-12 social studies instruction and that a proposed revision was posted on the department’s website. The revised document was developed by a committee of 35 teachers, administrators and content specialists. Upon reading it, I came away pleased that my grandchildren will soon be beneficiaries of it. Built upon existing successful standards, proposed subject matter and teaching practices are well synchronized with children’s learning development. The process proceeds from basic social...
This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: How to Include Shakespeare in Your Homeschool Plans. How to Include Shakespeare in Your Homeschool Plans 7Sister Sabrina loves Shakespeare and she has made our homeschool high schoolers love the Bard, also! Therefore, this week, she is going to share some proven ideas for including Shakespeare in your teens’ English/Language Arts credits. Shakespeare is important to include some Shakespeare in your teens’ high school experiences because: He was a great storyteller His characters and their relationships were intriguing: Heroes were flawed Bad guys were complex The stories are timeless However, the Elizabethan language can get in the way of enjoying the plays. Not only that, but sometimes the way Shakespeare’s plays are taught is...
Few milestones make such as big of a difference in how parents relate to their kids as talking. When a baby starts talking, it’s a major developmental and emotional touch-point. So it’s natural for parents to anxiously anticipate first words and wonder: When do babies start talking? At what age can they expect a baby’s first words? And is there anything parents can do to encourage a child to talk sooner?How to Help Babies to Start TalkingWhile every kid is different, most babies say their first words around their 1st birthday. But babies can start communicating (if not talking) long before that, gathering huge amounts of information through play, observation, and interaction with parents. That information eventually becomes the foundation...
In my mind, March starts the end of the year season. Spring break is just around the corner, and after that, the finish line is so near! This time of year is the perfect time for students to showcase the research, reading, and writing skills they've learned throughout the year. What better way to do that than through a digital research project? The Women in History Digital Research Project not only allows students to learn all about influential women in history for Women's History Month but also encourages students to highlight all the hard work they've put in this year! What I love most about this project (& I think you will too) is that it is completely linked up...
I almost titled this post “How to Steal Time to Teach Social Studies,” but I realized that not every school district is as short-sighted as mine by not giving Social Studies equal time in the curriculum. Whether you have a dedicated Social Studies block in your schedule or not, pairing close reading strategies with Social Studies text is a win-win combo for your students. First, it confirms to students that the teaching strategies for reading you have taught them transfer into other areas. They can actually use these in real life! Second, those strategies help readers of all levels learn Social Studies content in a manageable way. #differentiation What is Close Reading? “The main intention of close reading is to...
