Homeschool High School Writing Resources - Creative Writing -

Summary:  Creative writing is a great way to get your teens to improve on their essay writing.  Plus it teaches literary analysis, through story telling. Resources for high school creative writing. This post may included affiliate links to products that we love and have used or would use in our  own homeschool. Please see my disclosure policy.

Outside it's windy here, and a little rainy....Fall is here, with a feeling that the beginnings of winter are coming soon.  At this time of year, my daughter and I often wanted a little break, to try something new, something a little different from our usual homeschool routine.

There is something about November and having just gotten through all the busyness of early fall, with new curricula for the year, new activities, etc, that led us to want a break from our homeschool routine.

Why Take a Homeschool Creative Writing Break

My daughter, not being the crafty type, did not want to do seasonal crafts and activities, so we looked for something else.

So for us, our break became a creative writing break.  When my daughter was in 8th grade, we discovered the National Novel Writing Month. Has your family ever joined in the fun of that, in November? 

What is the National Novel Writing Month - NaNovWriMo?

It's a guilt-free way of taking a break from your homeschool routine in November!

My young teen had an interest in story writing, and had written a few short stories during her middle school years.  So when I asked her if she wanted to do more of that, we found the NaNoWriMo site, and decided to join in for our first year.

We dropped our other homeschool courses, and just did creative writing for the month!..

How We Did Our Creative Writing Break

Sometimes my teen went to our local coffee shop, and wrote there. Other times, she gathered our favorite blankets, and wrote on the couch. 

My daughter wrote a 2-4 short stories each year.  One time it was a science fiction story.  Another year, it was an adventure story/novella about a road trip and favorite pets.  We made time for editing/revisions only after her drafts were done.  Less is more!

But one doesn't have to have the goal of writing a novel...How about a short story, or trying poetry? Or writing about a favorite hobby? 

My daughter loved it!  So we made it a tradition, and did NaNoWriMo for two more years...ah, November.....cozy and warm, at home, with pen in hand.   Here's one of our favorite resources for that, from NaNovWriMo and more options for doing it as well.

Resources for a Creative Writing Break

1.  "No Plot, No Problem" Book 

To get started, my daughter and I ordered No Plot? No Problem! "It is a low-stress, guide to writing a novel in 30 days, and it helped a lot to encourage my creative writer.  This book coorelates to the NaNovWriMo program.

"This book is full of helpful ways to get past the fear of putting words on the page, and "leaving your Inner Editor behind.  While doing NaNoWriMo, we did not stop to rewrite, edit, or critique my daughter's work."  

Click here for the rest of my review of this book.

2.  Resources on The NaNoWriMo site

The NaNoWriMo site includes LOTS of info for writers of all ages. To join in the fun, you can register for their Young Writer's Program here.  They offer resources for young writers' here, which includes workbooks.  To join in with other writers, there is also an online community here, made up of young writers, who are all trying to get some words on the page.  It includes games and encouragement.  And another great resource is How to Write a Novel in a Month.

NaNovWriMo gives the student guidance and some instruction, but it is a loosely structured program, perfect for my teen who already had written some short stories.  

For students who would like a more structured program, the One Year Adventure Novel program might be a better fit. 

3.  The One Year Adventure Novel 

This course gives your teen much more structure.  BUT it could still be used as a way to take a break from the routine.  

This course follows a step by step program, teaching your teen all about story writing, using video instruction.  They also offer a community online, and extensive support resources.  

More information on it is here, or click here  to read the rest of my review of this course.

It could be done, just like the NaNovWriMo, by dropping the regular homeschool routine.  Or the course can be spread out and done as one of your teen’s regular homeschool courses.

Whatever way you go, we found many benefits from taking a creative writing break each year.


Benefits of Taking a Creative Writing Break

Here's 5 ways that a creative writing break can benefit your teens:

1.  Creative writing is fun, and it is a great way to learn how to express oneself in writing.  

That is so important to later essay writing endevours.  Doing NaNovWriMo was a more relaxed way for my daughter to find her own voice. 

2.  Writing a story is a great way to learn the components of good literature! 

Putting together a fiction story teaches your teen all about character development, setting, plot, etc.  My teen learned the parts of a story, in a hands-on way, by writing one.   

3.  Story writing builds critical thinking skills, important for high schoolers, especially if they are college bound.

4.  Creative writing builds up the confidence needed for essay writing.

It can be made into a homemade course in writing.  Keeping track of the hours spent in writing, you can give your student a creative writing credit.  We did that, and it was accepted as a high school credit by all of our colleges.

5.  Taking a break brought all of us many benefits as well.  

We slowed down, built in more nature study (on the less rainy days), and when we got back to our routine, we were ready for it.  And we could face winter with a feeling of renewal.

Do you feel a need to take a bit of a break from your fall homeschool routine?  Do you have a budding writer in your midst?  Or one that hates essay writing, and wants to try a different approach?  

Do you have a college bound teen in your house?

Have you seen my book on college for homeschooled teens yet?  
My teen got into each of the colleges on her list, with scholarhship offers.  And it was not hard to get her into college.

I wrote a book to share how we helped our daughter get there in 10 easy steps. 

Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition gives you everything that you need to help you plan your high school homeschool for your college bound teen.  Plus get them into the college of their choice. 

Amazon for only $11.99

For more information, click here - Frugal College Prep for Homeschoolers or to buy it here - my book on Amazon for only $11.99.  

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, highschool, 
college, gifted/2e and wrote -Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition,   She offers homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting,  and has had some of her articles picked up by the Huffington Post.

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Copyright 2020
Updated 2019 All Rights Reserved

Spelling in Our Homeschool -

This article has moved here.

Teaching Homeschool Spelling and Help for Struggling Spellers

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is retired O.T, homeschool blogger, and most importantly is mom to her 2e college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school, college and 2e.  

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Copyright @ BJ's Homeschool 2023
All rights reserved.

Homeschool High School - YOUR Way

Summary: How to do high school your own way, even when applying to college. About pubic school graduation requirements and more.  Note - This post may included affiliate links to products that we love and have used or would use in our  own homeschool. Please see my disclosure policy.

As many of you know, we are a homeschooling family.  We began that early on, during preschool, and it worked well for our  daughter that we continued on for many years.  

Then we hit middle school.

4 FUN Ways to Help your Young Handwriter

Summary:  How to encourage your child's handwriting skills through a playful approach, based on my Occupational Therapy experience.  This article includes tips for fine motor play, strengthening, developing mature grasp patterns for handwriting and more.  #homeschool #handwriting

Do you have a child who is just starting to learn to write?  

Or do you have a child who is struggling with handwriting?  Do they hold their pencil in an awkward manner, hold it very tightly, or just hate to write?

Today, I'd like to share 4 different types of activities that may help your struggling handwriters.  And most of these ideas do not involve handwriting at all!   They include helpful activities to build good:

1.  -- Fine motor skills
2.  -- Mature grasp patterns
3.  -- Postural control and shoulder strength
4.  -- Visual perceptual skills

If your child is struggling with handwriting, they are likely to have problems in one or more of each of these areas listed above.

And they can improve their handwriting by working and playing with the activities discussed below.

Each activity is fun and play based. They come from my work as an OT, and also from my time homeschooling. 

I hope they will be a help to you as you encourage and guide your young handwriter.  

First, let's look at fine motor skills.

1.  Fine Motor Activities

The first thing that we usually look at when there is a handwriting problem is small muscle coordination.  Does your child lack hand strength or small muscle coordination?  

  

If so, the post below includes a number of clever and easy to do games for developing fine motor skills. 

Small Muscles Games 

Click here for lots more ideas for fine motor coordination--Small Muscles Games. 

Then, if your child needs to strengthen their hand and finger muscles, Oak Meadow has a number of ideas for doing that with clay, below.  These may appeal to the older child as well.

For hand strengthening click Developing Hand Strength with Clay Activities. 

Next, let's talk about how your child holds her pencil, or grasp patterns.

2.  Grasp Patterns

Does your child have a very awkward grasp of their pencil?  Do they hold it with their whole hand?  Or do they have a tight grip on their pencil?

The post below explains what a mature grasp pattern is, and shows many ways to encourage that, through playful games.  

These fun activities are all designed to encourage a fine pincer grasp.  And when your child uses that kind of grasp, writing will become so much easier.  Click the link below for much more on grasp activities.

9 Ways to a Mature Grasp - Games and Fun!

There are many variations on the theme, re mature grasp patterns, so if your child develops one that is not quite the same as the photos show, that is ok.  

The idea is to find a grip that decrease the effort and pressure when writing.

Some kids do better using a grasp aid or device.  Here are a number of them, offered by Draw Your World.  If you see one that you would like to try, I recommend googling it.  There are many devices on the market now.

For more on Aids/Devices for Grasp just click this link.

Another thing to think about is your child's posture when writing.  

3.  Postural Control and Shoulder Strength

When our kids struggle with handwriting, we usually think about doing small muscle activities, but sometimes that is really not the problem.

When we write we need good postural control, which refers to strength in the core muscles of the trunk.  And the shoulder muscles are also important to handwriting.  How can we help our kids develop these foundational skills when they don't have them?

Play Pack Gross Motor Cards have some easy to do activities that can help.  More info on this here.

Click here for those activity ideas that can help build postural control and more in your kiddos.

And lastly, here's some ways to help kids who struggle with visual perception, also key to handwriting success.

4.  Visual Perceptual Skills 

Visual perception is not fully developed until age 9.  That can make learning to write and staying within the lines.. SO hard for kids.  

If you child's writing is all over the page, writing guides discussed below may really help.  

Click the title below to learn about these simple-to-make writing guides: 

Helping Struggling Handwriters 

So we have discussed four different things that may help your struggling hand writer, including:

- developing small muscle coordination and strength
- encouraging a mature grasp pattern
- developing core strength and shoulder strength
- compensating for visual perception issues

I recommend scrolling through whichever topic or activity speaks to you,  and start with one of two activities at a time.  

What have you found to be helpful for your struggling handwriters?  I so love to read your comments.  It makes my day!  

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her college grad, whom she homeschooled from preK through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college and wrote - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting. 

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This post was shared on my favorite linkups here.

Copyright, 2020

All Rights Reserved

BJ's Homeschool - Through My Teen's Eyes

Homeschooling through my teen's eyes...well that is easy to do, as my daughter loved taking pictures, and sharing about her homeschool, especially during high school.

When my daughter was a senior in our homeschool, she decided to make a video about her homeschool.  She had been studying video making as an elective, and wanted to put together something that would tell her friends and family about her high school years.

I just provided the video camera, and she did all the rest.  Well, I got to help with some of the filming, too.

So today, I am sharing her video....then some of the highlights of her high school years and graduation.  Those I took, but they were some of her special memories of high school at home.

LINK - My Homeschool Adventure Video - We are a small family, with an only, so we did a lot of extra-curricular activities. I hope it gives you encouragement and ideas for your homeschooling journey through high school.

Now for some high school highlights, here's one of the best parts for my teen - her homeschool prom.  Here' s the story of that....She found this dress at a thrift shop.

A Rooster and A Prom Dress

She also loved participating in a speech and debate program called Youth and Government.  Here's a selfie with some of her Youth and Government friends....

Here's one of her field trips with her co-op friends...

She loved reading on our deck....

and doing science experiments at our local river, related to salmon and spawning....

and entering contests at our state fair.

This gave her outside feedback on her work.  But best of all were 
our study breaks at the beach, and it didn't have to be a sunny day to be fun...

Finally, here are the photos of her homeschool graduation picnic... 

Celebrate Your Graduate Your Way has photos from the ceremony and a link to graduation ceremonies around the US, hoping they will be held again this spring.

So that gives you a peek into our high school years at home, from my daughter's eyes. 

Every homeschool is different.  That's the beauty of homeschooling.

Does your teen like to do photography too?  

What do you like best about homeschooling teens?  What is your biggest challenge?  

This post is a part of the 8th Annual Back to Homeschool Blog Hop.  Check out all the other great posts from iHN homeschoolers and more.

If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, I have many high school and college posts there: 

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 Homeschooling High School Pinterest Board

Homeschooling high school yielded us so many gifts, for my daughter, for our family, and for her high school education.

Thanks for stopping by,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her 20 year old daughter whom she homeschooled from day one.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college and wrote Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers homeschool help and messages at BJ's Consulting.

 

Want to stay in touch?  

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Copyright, 2016, All Rights Reserved

BJ's High School - A Week in the Life -

Do you wonder what homeschooling your teen might look like?

Today, I'd like to share how we did our days during my daughter's senior year...fitting in core studies, but also making time for other important things like..cookie making, homemade electives and not to forget, nature study to refresh and renew us.

Usually, my teen and I would meet on Sunday nights, and make a schedule for the following week, based on what was needed to be accomplished for each core subject.  Then my daughter would write out a rough schedule for her week. 

We always met in the mornings to go over the studies for the day. My teen would decide, then, what she wanted to do when.  Once she was a senior, she scheduled her week herself, based on a list of assignments that I gave her each Sunday. 

Core studies were usually done in the mornings through the early afternoons.  After a break, we often took time for science experiments, writing projects, or electives.  Homeschooling high school took us a lot more time than middle school.  But we still had time for teen-led electives, and we built in the fun, too.

Then evenings were for outside activities a couple of days per week.  Sometimes evenings were used to finish up work, as needed.  
Yes, that's a lot of study time.... 

However, when we got behind we would do a catch up week, and take a whole day to do each core subject, like English on Monday, math on Tuesday, etc. 

For catch-up weeks, my teen got up early, and did a whole block of one subject each day, allowing for solid studying through the late afternoon.  Then we looked for something fun to do afterwards, to de-stress. 

So, here's how one of our catch-up weeks went, from my teen's senior year...... 

It was in the spring, a few weeks before her homeschool prom. We had just bought this dress....

We got this at a thrift shop.

After all the excitement of the prom dress...we did some catch up work, but also a lot of goofing off, too.

Monday, my teen focused on her chemistry course, at the coffeeshop. We are using Switched on Schoolhouse (SOS).  I love how it is self graded!  

If there is a question that I can't answer (btw, I am not a science person!), my teen could have tutoring from SOS, by the half hour, which was easily arranged, and has been a great help to us.  There are also a number of online tutoring options available, for help, as you know.


Tuesday, it was warm enough to study outside....so nice!! So my teen studied outside and made it an English day, using our Oak Meadow Literature and Composition course.  Afterwards, we drove together just for fun and for her driving practice.

Studying outside makes it so much better!

Wednesday, she worked on her online Government course.  Taking a lot of time at once, really helped her to catch up on this course.  Then she had an irish dance practice, getting ready for this recital...

A chance to hang out with her teen friends.

Thursday was math day. We went to the library, where I worked on some computer projects, while my teen did her online math course, also from SOS.

Later we stopped by our local farmer's market and picked up some favorite veggies, for a easy to prepare dinner for that night...

I love the farmer's market.

We also picked up some veggies starts at this market, can't wait until I can plant them!

Friday morning, a friend came over to study. They worked together on one of my daughter's electives, video-making.  I think making cookies and was just as interesting, though...

After she left, there was one assignment and an essay to finish for the weekend.  

But we both needed a break, so we decided to head out... into a beautiful, sunny day!  We drove to our most favorite beach... and were treated to this gorgeous blue sky!  Yes, I am a photography mom.

I think that 1-on-1 time is so important to our children as teens, especially as they begin to widen their horizons.

Enjoying nature means a lot to me and I am so glad to be passing that onto my daughter.  She has become quite a photographer, too.  What hobbies do you like to do with your teens?  They can be made into a homemade course!

My daughter had a busy senior year to finish her college entrance requirements in English, science, social studies, and also her elective.  There was a lot of concentrated work to be done, so we also built in concentrated FUN, too.  You gotta play!

Especially when there is such a nice sunset.....

My daughter has developed a true appreciation of nature.

We made sure that we not only worked hard, we played hard. too.  And all of our electives were teen-led.  Plus my daughter got to choose her curriculum for each of her high school courses. 

Are you curious how our days looked when my daughter was younger?  We homeschooled all the way, and here's how we did it in the elementary years.

My daughter is in college now.  She received acceptance letters from all of colleges that she applied to, with scholarship offers,...... and that could be your teen!  It really is not that hard!   I put all my best tips for high school and college into a book.  Have you seen it around yet?

Kindle or in print on Amazon 

What does your high schooler's day look like?  I really do love reading your comments.

If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, I have many high school and college posts there: 

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 Homeschooling High School Pinterest Board

Homeschooling high school yielded us so many gifts, for my daughter, for our family, and for her high school education.

This post is a part of the 8th Annual Back to Homeschool Blog Hop.  Check out all the other great posts from iHN homeschoolers and more.

Thanks for stopping by,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college junior, whom she homeschooled from day one.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college and wrote the book - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting. 

Want to stay in touch?  

Subscribe, Pinterest,Twitter, Facebook 

This post was shared on my favorite linkups here.

Copyright, 2017, All Rights Reserved

Note - This post may included affiliate links to products that we love and have used or would use in our  own homeschool. Please see my disclosure policy.


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