by Donna | Jul 5, 2019
I love teaching! Love seeing a student’s face light up when they “get it”! Love hearing kids excited about their next writing project. Just really love it!
And one thing that makes me love teaching even more is the creativity that we get to use in order to help students “get” a concept.
Enter AIM–Answer It More.
More formally, this is known as parenthetical teaching, but you know my love for all things cute, memorable, and creative.
Plus, why parenthetical? I mean, parentheses are to de-emphasize. Why not dash teaching….dashes are to emphasize.
But I digress….
I recently did a live video training on how to use parenthetical or dash teaching to Answer It More (AIM–after all, that is the AIM of that type of teaching, right?)
And…I also have a freebie for you to help you remember key words and phrases to use!!!
So here you go…
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by Donna | Jun 2, 2019
On the two year anniversary of my dad’s death, I wanted to honor him on FB with pics or memories or kind words……then I saw some old pics of him doing school with my kids and knew how I wanted to share about him.
My dad never graduated from high school. He never had the opportunities for education that we have now.
As we homeschooled our kids, he and my step-mom were so proud of us and our kids. They bragged about how smart the kids were, how obedient and kind they were, and how much they loved to be with them.
When we left the kids with them whenever we went away, Dad took his role as their substitute teacher very seriously.
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by Donna | May 13, 2019
The history of the holiday known as Mother’s Day is an interesting one. It was founded by a single lady who wanted to honor her mother. Anna Jarvis arranged two ceremonies in 1908 to honor mothers and initiate the holiday.
Soon thereafter, the holiday was catching on and Mother’s Day services were held in 45 states, as well as Canada and Mexico. For four years, Jarvis continued to advocate for a national holiday to honor mothers until she founded her own association in which white carnations were the icon and the terms “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day” were branded.
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by Donna | Apr 25, 2019
The who/whom question is a tricky one. Out of all “pronouns” (some grammarians call who/whom pronouns; some call them subordinators; some call them…who knows…grammar is so subjective!)…anyway, out of all pronouns, who/whom is the trickiest to use correctly because it simply doesn’t sound as “wrong.” (We all know that you don’t say “Her is coming over later!”) Stick with Language Lady—and I’ll give you a tip for every usage problem you encounter (okay, maybe not every one…but I’ll sure try!)
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by Donna | Feb 15, 2019
We used to get asked a lot WHY we homeschooled…like all the time….twenty years ago or more. Nowadays, reasons for homeschooling are as diverse as the number of people homeschooling.
There are not just a handful of reasons any more—and many of the reasons (especially the fear-based ones) are not as prevalent as they were. (Not sure if this is all good….we need to fear some things for our kids.)
After thirty-two years of homeschooling (and being done for two years now—well, done with our own kids, but not the 170 kids in our classes and part time programs!), we have narrowed it down to one big reason—with lots of sub reasons.
Truly, TIME is the biggest reason that I would homeschool if I had it to do all over again—and is something I would like for you to at least consider in your decision to homeschool or not, go to school or stay home, continue on or end. Because TIME is big—and can never be redeemed.
Blessings to you and your family on your journey! Enjoy every moment you have!
P.S. Feel free to share this video. I don’t think it is something that people talk about a lot….but it was hugely impactful to our family!
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by Donna | Dec 18, 2018
Merry Christmas from Language Lady and Character Ink Press! It is the time of good cheer, festivities, magical moments with children, celebrating the Nativity–AND grammar errors galore! Usage errors are to be expected since many of the things we are writing this time of year are things we only write once a year. It’s hard to remember grammar and usage protocols that we use daily, much less ones that we only use yearly. I hope this post will clear many of your Christmas grammar issues up!
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