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Jen Merckling

life.unimaginable

Kindergarten

Homeschool Kindergarten Reading Curriculum

The Best Curriculum for Kindergarten

Kindergarten…so full of possibilities!  For many it’s the beginning of their “official,” journey into the world of homeschooling!  If that’s you–welcome!!  Along with all the excitement of starting something so monumental, comes a lot of pressure!  You are homeschooling because you feel it’s the best choice for your child and your family…You want to do…

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Filed Under: Curriculum, Early Learning, Elementary, Homeschooling, Math, Most Shared, Reading Tagged With: Affiliate, apologia science, favorite curriculum, Homeschool, Homeschool Curriculum, How to Homeschool, Kindergarten, Ready for Reading, Saxon Math, Saxon Phonics K

Letter A : Crafts & Activities

Let the games begin! My 5 year-old twins are just beginning to learn how to read!  They’re on step one: Learning the letters and corresponding sounds. We’re using my phonics curriculum: Ready for Reading (I created it especially for them and other homeschool families after years of teaching my other 4 children to read and…

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Filed Under: Early Learning, Homeschooling, Reading Tagged With: Affiliate, Apples, Crafts, Kindergarten, Letter A, Preschool, Ready for Reading

6 Reading Strategies for New or Struggling Readers

Training wheels…Sometimes I feel like teaching children to read is much like teaching them to ride a bike.  Some kids are super confident–“Take these training wheels off; let me go!” (These are the amazing early readers that apparently all the other moms have…If only kids reading too much was your biggest problem!) And then there…

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Filed Under: Early Learning, Elementary, Homeschooling, Reading Tagged With: Affiliate, First Grade, Kindergarten, Learning to Read, Preschool, Reading, Reading Strategies, Second Grade, Sight Words, Struggling Readers, Third Grade

Free Preschool Math Worksheets (Numbers 1-5)

As much as I truly believe that young children learn best through play…my littles love sitting down and doing “work”! I think it makes them feel grown-up…So in a sense, it’s truly an extension of their imagination and play! When they are doing their “work,” I want them to experience success and joy–this should be fun…

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Filed Under: Early Learning, Homeschooling, Math Tagged With: Affiliate, Homeschool, Kindergarten, math, Preschool, Preschool Games

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

“Once upon a time…” There’s just nothing like those four words signaling the start of an enchanting story…a fairy tale. Personally, I adore fairy tales—give me all the princesses, castles, bad wolves, and magic beans! And I love sharing them with my kiddos!  One of my favorites is Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It’s lite…

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Filed Under: Early Learning, Homeschooling Tagged With: Affiliate, Fairy Tales, Goldilocks, Kindergarten, Preschool, Thematic Units, Three Bears

Do you want to teach reading at home? Discover Ready for Reading, a phonics curriculum designed for moms by a homeschool mom and teacher!

Teach Reading At Home With Ready for Reading!

Teaching my kids to read has been one of the most rewarding experiences of homeschooling (and my life)! There’s just nothing like hearing your sweet babies read their first words and watching them grow as readers! When I decided to homeschool 15 years ago, the very first thing I purchased was a phonics curriculum!  My…

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Filed Under: Curriculum, Early Learning, Elementary, Homeschooling, Reading Tagged With: How to Homeschool, Kindergarten, Phonics, Phonics Curriculum, Preschool, Ready for Reading, Teaching Reading

Free Handwriting Worksheets! Handwriting practice for upper and lowercase letters! Improve your child's handwriting and help them learn the alphabet!

Free Handwriting Worksheets for Kids!

Get Your Free Handwriting Worksheets! Now, I’m not the biggest fan of handwriting worksheets –but sometimes you just can’t avoid them! (Because—kids gotta learn to write!) And interestingly, my son actually takes great joy in doing independent work and views handwriting worksheets as fun–so go figure! I’ve created an entire workbook to practice letter writing,…

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Filed Under: Early Learning, Elementary, Homeschooling Tagged With: Affiliate, Alphabet, Copywork, Free Printable, Handwriting, handwriting worksheets, Homeschool, Kindergarten, Learning to Read, Preschool, Teaching the Alphabet

Teaching Phonics--Tips for choosing a curriculum that will teach your child to read with confidence!

Teaching Phonics–Choosing a Curriculum

I bought my first phonics curriculum 15 years ago–I think it was actually one of my very first homeschool purchases!  I firmly believe that reading and math are the most foundational academic subjects for young students (Pre-K through 3rd graders).  So I knew it was important to choose an excellent beginning phonics curriculum!  And there…

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Filed Under: Curriculum, Early Learning, Elementary, Homeschooling, Reading Tagged With: Affiliate, How to Teach Reading, Kindergarten, Phonics Curriculum, Reading Curriculum, Ready for Reading, Saxon Phonics K, Teaching Phonics, Teaching Reading

Best Way to Teach Reading. My top 5 strategies for teaching a child to read.

Best Way to Teach Reading–My Top 5 Strategies

I’m about 14 years removed from those first major homeschooling fears…(I forget how much they once consumed me!) Will everyone think we’re weird? Will my kids be “socialized”? Is this a viable, sound educational option for our family? Am I about to ruin my kids? Am I crazy? So after jumping through those first mental…

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Filed Under: Curriculum, Early Learning, Elementary, Homeschooling, Reading Tagged With: Affiliate, Favorite Post, Homeschool, How to Teach Reading, Kindergarten, Learning to Read, Preschool, Ready for Reading, Saxon Phonics K, Teaching Reading

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Hello! Welcome--I'm Jen! I've got 6 kiddos (including sweet twins) --lots of laundry and always dirty dishes! I've been Jason's wife for 26 years, a mommy for 24 years, and a homeschooler for 20+ years...I'd love to be friends. ♡

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My sweet sister & I just created this adorable Fal My sweet sister & I just created this adorable Fall Coloring & Activity Book for Kids!🍁🎉
Just sweet—no Halloween references…Your kids will love all the whimsical details & fun activities!!🧡 

Link in bio…🥰
🍁Quick Tip: I love planning for the next school 🍁Quick Tip: I love planning for the next school week on Fridays! After we wrap up each  subject, I write out next week’s plan…

🤓I used to plan on Sunday night—but this routine has been so helpful because…
🍁Where we are & what we’re doing is fresh in my head.
🍁It feels faster because it’s broken into small chunks—I plan as we finish each subject & before I put away those materials for the weekend.
🍁I don’t have to drag things out on Sunday—because the planning is already done! 🎉
🍁 I know if I need to grab any supplies over the weekend! 

 #homeschoolplanning #homeschoolorganization
Created a sweet little notebook… Matches my Home Created a sweet little notebook…
Matches my Homeschool Lesson Planner! 👯‍♀️
Perfect for journaling & reflecting…🥰💗 

Details:
7x10 inches, 110 pages, lined notebook 
Available as a matte paperback or hardcover! 
(I like to use hardcover notebooks for Bible study.)💗
This is the loveliest book…💗🪶🪺 Perfect This is the loveliest book…💗🪶🪺
Perfect for the changing seasons, bird lovers, & a bit of history!! 
(Thanks to @readaloudrevival for the recommendation!) 🥰
We can be reluctant to "count" activities that did We can be reluctant to "count" activities that didn't come in our packaged curriculum as "school". 

❤️But so much counts...(I think it may all count??)

(I honestly have a hard time trying to think of activities that don't count as education!)

🎨Here's just a few: swimming, ballet, soccer practice, nature walk, going to the playground, coloring, cutting, video games, reading books together, cooking, chores, dress-up, video creation, poetry writing, imaginary play, documentaries, vacations, the grocery story, Sunday School, camp, museums, legos, collections, lunch with friends, planning a party, and the list goes on & on...

 👀 Watch for the learning that is happening all around you! 

🌻Life is an amazing teacher & there is so much to learn! Our kids know that instinctively--we can trust them to be curious. We can become curious again...
I like to start the year with Language Arts lesson I like to start the year with Language Arts lessons, Math, & one other subject...

(And Language Arts can have lots of parts--so I gradually add in pieces as we gain some confidence in our routine.)

It's okay if you don't have it all figured out on day one, week one, or even month one! Give yourself time to get comfortable with your curriculum.

When I taught elementary school--we spent so much time just going over routines that first week of school! But in homeschooling--we can just bypass all that... 

🥳(Yay for freedom to potty & snack when want--and no thanks to practicing how to "line-up" for 20 minutes)! 

Even once our routine is established--we RARELY do all subjects every day at my house. 

🔥Breaking free from traditional school is more than the leap into homeschooling...It's also breaking free from our ideas of what education looks like, where & how it happens, & how much time formal instruction takes. 

It takes time to make that paradigm shift--give yourself grace as you grow with your kiddos!

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