Do you ever feel a sense of panic as you realize your children’s education is entirely in your hands? You are not alone! Parents with a background in education and those with no experience in the field share those moments that have them asking, “What on earth am I doing?”

As a veteran homeschool mom of 28 years, who was also educated at home, I can assure you, as I have confided to many parents before you, “You are going to miss things. There will be gaps in their learning. You will not bestow on your children a perfect education. So, let go of your expectations of the perfect homeschool right now. If you don’t, your days will be long and disappointing.”

I quickly go on to also assure these deer-in-the-headlights new homeschooling parents, that it doesn’t matter what school they might choose to send their offspring to, that school will miss things, and leave gaps in their children’s learning. Even the best school in the nation, will be found lacking.

The homeschool parent has something very important that can not be replicated at any school; a deep love that will fuel them to learn all they can to help their children succeed! There are some amazing teachers out there, but none that can truly love your children like you do!

At ShillerLearning we strive to create products and curriculum to help you as the homeschool parent meet the educational needs of your children in ways that fit their personalities and learning styles. We are passionate about helping you inspire a lifelong love of learning in each of your children, which will give them the tools to fill in any knowledge gaps they discover in the future.

One of the tools Larry Shiller has created is the Personal Lesson Plan Builder. This unique tool will help you discover areas of strengths and weaknesses. It will also clearly reveal holes or gaps in their education and give you, as the homeschool parent, an easy and gentle way to fill in these gaps providing your student with a solid foundation to grow from rather than pushing them along with their peers, leaving a base filled with holes and increasing difficulty as they try to understand new concepts before establishing comprehension of the prior one's.

The way all these learning management pieces work together is almost like magic. Let me walk you through the process from start to finish.

1. Diagnostic Tests

We do not want to make assumptions about what a student knows or doesn't know, so we recommend that the educator start each student, regardless of age, at the first test from Book 1, with the introduction: "This should be really easy for you and will take you just one minute to do. Let's have some fun and see if you can get them all right."

Diagnostic tests are included with each math or language arts kit. Additional copies may be printed from your downloads for additional children in the family. Diagnostic testing may also be purchased separately if you are trying to decide between kit levels. If you are unsure where to start, call us, and with a few quick questions we will guide you.

Check the answer key. If the student answers all the questions correctly, praise and move on to the next test. If a question is answered incorrectly, the answer key is prescriptive: it tells you exactly which lesson(s) will fill the hole identified by this question. Best practice is to have the student do those activities before going to the next test (unless you are using the tests to decide between kit levels before selecting a kit).

When the student misses most of the questions on a test, stop testing. You have now identified exactly where he or she needs to be in the lesson book - and you have identified and filled all of the holes in his or her math or language arts foundation utilizing all four learning styles (visual, tactile, auditory, and kinesthetic)!

This can be a fun process and can take place over the course of several days or longer.

3. Personal Lesson Plan

You can access the Personal Lesson Plans for all of your students in your downloads under see your existing personal lesson plans. 

Print your child’s Personal Lesson Plan list (list of lessons in order and lesson names). I suggest putting it in the front of a 3-ring binder. If you have a kit, a binder may have been included. Following the Lesson Plan, I recommend you insert the Completed Worksheet, and the Visual Tracking Sheet. These two record keeping tools will help you keep track as well as provide encouragement and motivation to both you and your student. These sheets can be found in your ShillerLearning Account under “My Downloads.” Scroll down to the Educator Helpers section for these tools and more.

If you purchased a kit, there will also a brand new PDF waiting for each plan with ONLY the lessons needed by that student. It doesn't get any easier than that!

If you don't have a kit yet, you also have the option of purchasing the PDF for the Personal Lesson Plan for $1 a lesson. (Call 888-556-6284 for assistance.)

4. Visual Tracking Sheet

Lay the Visual Tracking Sheet (available in your downloads) next to your child’s lesson plan and place an “X” through each lesson that is not on the lesson plan, giving a visual representation of what they already understand. Each time a lesson is completed your student may color in the box for that lesson. Watch their confidence grow as the chart fills up!

Now here is a piece of the Montessori magic.

One of the goals in Montessori education is for the child to learn to take responsibility for their learning. We emphasize that a child’s play and learning is their work and we want them to learn to initiate work and take pride in their accomplishments.

As the student becomes familiar with the curriculum and can read independently, you will likely discover that they will get out their book, and manipulatives and complete a lesson on their own. They will color in the Visual Tracking Sheet and fill out the Completed Work Sheet initialing their column and then bringing it to you for your initial verifying their progress.

When used in conjunction, as part of a cohesive learning environment, the Diagnostic Tests, the custom Lesson Plan Builder, the Completed Work Sheet, and the Visual Tracking Sheet can help to find and eliminate areas of confusion while building both confidence and a love of learning in your child.

All of the customer service representatives at ShillerLearning are homeschool parents and have personal experience using the curriculum. Please call us at 888-556-6284 with any questions. We love to chat with you and help make your homeschool journey just a little bit easier and more fun!

“The education of even a little kid, for that reason,

does not focus on preparing him for school but life."

– Maria Montessori

A Montessori-style "Circle Time" can be used to kick off the homeschool day or as a transition. This 10 to 30-minute session can function as an anchor point in your day to keep your routine going and conversation about learning flourishing. What is Circle Time and how can you incorporate the mixture of routine, tradition, music, movement, conversation, collaboration, learning, and fun? Can it help with practical life skills?

What is Circle Time?

Circle Time is a time to gather all of the children together. It paves the way for questions and discovery in a relaxed, conversational setting. It is comfortable. The circle shape allows all students to equally see the person that is leading Circle Time and allows the leader to be able to see all of the children in the group.

When incorporated into your homeschool routine, Circle Time can help keep the whole family on track and motivated as you collaborate, review new skills or knowledge, convey treasured traditions, and have fun with group learning, music, or movement. Some examples of Circle Time activities include discussion of recent homeschool lessons, family read alouds, dancing to educational songs, noting the time, day of the week, the month. or the weather for students working on mastering those topics, or doing a group hands-on science activity.

It is an excellent way for children to reflect on what they have learned, what they enjoyed, what they would like to do differently, and create excitement about upcoming special events.

When to do Circle Time?

Circle Time can be done at any time of day. You can use this as a time to bring everyone together in the morning to start your school day or you can use it as a calm down activity before nap time. Choose a time of day that works best for your family and stick with that as often as possible. Children thrive on consistency and routine. They will look forward to Circle Time being at the same time each day.

Where to do Circle Time?

Be flexible with the location. Choose a spot that you and your children are comfortable. You can sit on the floor, around the table, on the sofa, etc. You can even take it outdoors!

Can older children participate in Circle Time?

Absolutely! There are so many topics that can be covered in a group setting. Art, music, science, geography, and history are all subjects that can be taught in a group setting and lend themselves well to group projects.

You can use Circle Tme as part of your family read aloud. Consider including props to get their imagination flowing. When you begin a new book, challenge your kids to a scavenger hunt to find toys, tools, and other accessories to recreate and act out scenes from the book.

What are the benefits of Circle Time for homeschooling?

There are benefits for everyone. It helps introverted students get more involved. Extroverted students get a time to share and gives them the stage.

Circle Time can be grounding for both students and educators. Use it to launch the homeschool day or as an anchor point in your schedule. It will help to keep you on track with your goals.

It is also perfect for reviewing information previously introduced. A daily review helps you to see how your children are progressing and plan accordingly.

You can also use Circle Time to plan for upcoming events. If you have activities that you need to prepare your children for such as an upcoming field trip, discuss the schedule and anything that you need to cover for the event.

Why Your Homeschool Routines Can

Benefit from Circle Time

ShillerLearning is excited to launch our new Circle Time Posters and BONUS coordinating student coloring books! Perfect for use as Circle Time discussion points and review, this set will be a wonderful asset in any homeschool. The beautiful color posters include: lowercase alphabet to practice letter recognition and sounds, numbers 1-10, colors, shapes, days of the week, months of the year, and the sign language alphabet. Bonus student coloring activity books are also included: My Alphabet Book, My Color Book, My Shape Book, My Calendar, and My Numbers Book. Students can review, color, and track their homeschool journey. It's an incredible bundle!

No matter what resources you use, give Circle Time a try. There truly is something for everyone. The conversational setting solidifies skills and prepares your child for the kind of collaboration that happens in life.

Tag @ShillerLearning on social media to show what you are doing with Circle Time.

Save money and stretch your homeschool budget by printing your own nomenclature cards.

As so many homeschool families do, you love having beautiful nomenclature cards and your kids respond so well – learning, sorting and playing games with the cards. But buying printed sets of 3-part cards for every new subject can become pricey - even cost-prohibitive.

Printing Nomenclature Cards: A Non-Definitive Beginner’s Guide

This lovely set includes flags of countries and territories around the world. They are grouped and color-coded by continent and organized alphabetically. The color-coded borders on the cards make it easy for your child to keep the continents organized.

The cards coordinate with Montessori-colored continent maps and materials, perfect for including the flags in your world tour of the continents and continent boxes. You can also use the included blackline world map to create a Montessori-colored world map of your own.

This set will grow with your child over many years and skills. It also includes a 24-page World Flags Nomenclature Card Guide with Introduction, Printing Tips, How-to-Guide for Nomenclature Cards, printable blackline continent map for coloring (or painting), plus 7 printable color-coded, continent charts with the country/territory common name (in alphabetical order), official name, and country of control (for territories).

ShillerLearning nomenclature cards are designed for printing on 3x5 cards, but multiple cards can easily be printed on 8.5x11 cardstock with just a few clicks in your print dialog box.

Printing on 3x5 Cards

This is revolutionary. Printing on 3x5 or 4x6 cards means almost ALL of the cutting is eliminated. This is my favorite for ease of use and a nice, uniform, sturdy product. Many printers come with an option to print on 3x5 cards. This is of course ideal. If you have never printed on 3x5 cards before, I suggest trying 1 or 2 cards first to make sure you have it all figured out. (Unlike my first time when I sent 47 cards to be printed and had not set up my cards correctly!)

Printing instructions with screenshots are included with each set of cards, but I’ll share my personal experience.

First choose print the PDF file to access your printer’s dialog box.

Next go to advanced settings and choose paper size. Here is where different printers will have slightly different options. Look for a “3x5 index card” setting. Most Epson Workforce printers have this option. My HP Envy does not. But have no fear, there are still options. If your printer does not accommodate 3x5 printing, it most likely has a 4x6 option. (This is a common photo size.) Some printers have a special place for photo size cards and in some printers the paper guide adjusts to fit.

Here are some pro tips:

-Set the Scale to “Fit to printable area”
-Set Paper Size to 3x5 index card or 4x6 if you do not have 3x5
Under Paper Size if it is not working, experiment with other sizes until it works. My first time, I spent an hour --I know, I could have cut out all the sheets in that time! But now I know, and my cards are so lovely. It was worth figuring out my printer!)
-Choose Color, if that is an option, your cards will be vibrant and beautiful
-Under Pages choose “custom” and print just page numbers 1-2 at first, until you know you have the settings figured out

It is beyond the scope of this article to give specific directions for each and every printer. But, if you take the time with your first set of nomenclature cards to figure it out, you will save a great deal of time in the long run and have beautiful, professional quality cards.

Printing Multiple Cards on 8.5x11 Sheets

This is how most nomenclature card designs are designed to be printed, but it involves a little bit of prep work to be ready to use. Each card is cut out, then the picture and label parts are cut apart. We strongly suggest you print on cardstock. If possible, use a paper cutter to keep the cards uniform. They are much more pleasing to use if they are all cut to the same exact size. Cardstock is recommended as a sturdier material for your child to grasp and it helps avoid the frustration of paper pieces blowing around. Lamination is also a nice touch but it does cause sharper edges and corners, so parents with younger children sometimes prefer to avoid this.

To print multiple cards on an 8.5x11 sheet, simply select printing 4, 6, or 8 cards to a page - depending on how large or small you would like your cards. The outline of the cards becomes your cutting lines.

More new sets coming in 2022!

Oceans and Continents
Landforms
Famous Works of Art
Weather
States and Capitals
Courtesy Words Around the World

Hopefully you have been both inspired and empowered to start printing your own nomenclature cards. At ShillerLearning we are inspired to keep creating beautiful cards for you!

Comment below if there is a topic you would like to see covered.

The ShillerLearning philosophy says that every mistake is a learning opportunity; it encourages discussion and improves understanding of concepts and processes. This is true for all education topics, whether homeschool math or language arts, and life in general. The language used by home educators in identifying and correcting mistakes has a huge impact on how well or poorly children will learn from mistakes, avoid repeating them in the future, and even whether or not they develop a growth mindset.

 "In a growth mindset, challenges are exciting rather than threatening. So rather than thinking, oh, I'm going to reveal my weaknesses, you say, wow, here's a chance to grow."

- Carol S. Dweck

Do you have a homeschooler that could benefit from that outlook? Are you getting excited about your child's next mistake? Mistakes will occur early and often. Parents with children that reach their full potential have a clear strategy for dealing with the situation.

Education expert Larry Shiller and the homeschool team at ShillerLearning suggest the following approach when a mistake is made:

1. Mistakes are opportunities to identify holes in the child's knowledge or approach.

ShillerLearning recommends employing the Socratic Method of questioning to help the child discover his or her own error. Once the hole is known it is usually easy to "fill." Be sure the reasons for the mistake are well understood before moving on: "This card says three thousands and you have two thousands. How many more thousands do you need to have three thousands? That's right: one more thousand. You may get another thousand."

If you child doesn't answer your question correctly, you have spotted an opportunity to better understand his or her thought process and why the mistake is being made.

2. Focus on the process, not the person. 

When they mess up, children (like adults) don't like to hear that they are a lesser person for it (because they're not). Blaming a child for a mistake can discourage the child from wanting to try anything other than what they excel at with very little effort or thought.

Instead focus on the process. Try using phrases like, "Does that seem right?" "I might've come up with a different answer; walk me through your steps to solve this problem." "I would've got that answer wrong too! Let's see how we can get to the correct answer and understand why it's correct." Or: "Maybe there's a different approach; let's start from the beginning." Children often spot and self-correct mistakes while explaining their process. If not, you will be able to spot the learning opportunity of the mistake in their process.

3. Go back to basics.

Revisit the Montessori Three Period Lesson of "This is, Show me, What is," which as explained in the ShillerLearning Educator Guide in the beginning of your lesson books. Yes, it is short, but don't be tempted to skip the Educator Guide! Those few pages include best practices to help you and your child get the most out of your homeschool math or language arts experience. The ShillerLearning YouTube channel also has a short video with Larry Shiller talking about the 3 Period Lesson.

4. Use the other learning styles.

New knowledge is best learned when it is concrete, explored with all learning styles (visual, tactile, auditory, and kinesthetic), before they are asked to work with it in the abstract. It is almost always a big hit to put the audio CD (or mp3s) on and sing and dance along. The manipulative index can be used to find an activity that uses a favorite manipulative. (You can also use the Find feature in a lesson book pdf file to do this.) If an activity is not your child's dominant learning style, don't worry, that learning style will be incorporated in another lesson. You can use your concept index to see the list of lessons that teaches a particular concept. You may find that your child likes to repeat activities (over and over) that use their dominant learning style. That's okay. Resist the urge to interrupt a focused and concentrated child.

By using all four learning styles to teach every concept, in the strategic manner used in a Montessori-based approach, your child will see and understand the concept before being asked to work with it abstractly. That experiential learning helps to prevent mistakes from happening in the first place and to provide a no-pressure way to self-correct when they do happen.

5. Be creative. Feel free to extend the activity or game in the lesson - or make up games as you go along should the urge strike. Give your child free time to explore materials after use with a scripted lesson. Kids can come up with amazing off-label uses for materials and discover new concepts with imagination, creativity, and curiosity.

The ShillerLearning homeschool blog, ShillerLearning.com customer downloads, and ShillerLearning social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube) open a whole new world of support and ideas to make learning multisensory and fun.

6. Keep a sense of humor. When a child associates math with laughter and warm feelings, it's bound to be a good and lasting one. Laugh together. Laugh at your own mistakes and verbalize your learning opportunities . Acknowledge limitations with a wink and a smile. Keep a sense of humor and positive attitude while you cultivate your own growth mindset and your child will likely model your behavior.  

All this discussion of mistakes - what about when the child does something correctly? PRAISE. We will explore praise more in another blog post. In the meantime, don't miss out on treating a mistake as an opportunity. Keep in mind that these tips work for all areas of home learning as well as life, not just homeschool math and language arts.

Let us know how they work for you!