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HollyVanH

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About HollyVanH

  • Birthday 11/02/1967

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  • Website URL
    http://www.knittedthoughts.com
  • Biography
    I homeschool my 2 kids and teach at a Homeschool Learning Center near the L.A. area.
  • Location
    Pinon Pines, CA
  • Interests
    Writing, Literature, Knitting, Music
  • Occupation
    Homeschool Teacher to my own 2 and many other homeschooled kids at a homeschool learning center
  1. HollyVanH
    I work with a lot of homeschoolers as a writing tutor and I wanted to post information about a successful way to do this http://www.knittedthoughts.com/2011/12/writing-tutoring-on-line-and-by-phone.html -- not as a way to advertise my services, but hopefully as a way to help others use this technology too. You may have a strong writer in the family that would be willing to work with your kids this way or know of a teacher you like, but that is too far away for face to face tutoring -- this may solve your problem! :)
  2. HollyVanH
    RootAnn -- you may already know about this, but we enjoy lots of free audiobooks from LibriVox.org too!
  3. HollyVanH
    Hi Canadianmumof4 -- I see your point, but I've also seen kids that do lots of grammar drills, but without the reading -- it doesn't "stick." I don't think you can do one without the other. They need to understand the rules of grammar, but also see them applied on a regular -- daily basis.
  4. HollyVanH
    I agree with all of you - a nice mix is best. Audio books are fantastic for learning disabilities and I think if you listen with the book in front of you -- you get the best of both worlds!!
  5. HollyVanH
    You'd be surprised Kleine Hexe -- I see it more than you'd think -- especially around ages 9-11.
  6. HollyVanH
    That's the thing Amy -- I find we have very little time for tv -- we don't even have cable. Audio books are my substitute for TV most of the time. And I agree, my kids love to be hearing an audio book and playing quietly or somehow doing something busy with their hands.
  7. HollyVanH
    I love Audio books, but too often homeschooling parents use these in place of reading. I've written a blog post about this: http://www.knittedthoughts.com/2011/11/reading-versus-audio-books.html because as a writing teacher who regularly tutors and works with homeschoolers in Writing Enrichment classes, I see this as a trend that can have some unfortunate consequences (especially when it comes to grammar, mechanics and spelling). A good balance between eye-on-the-page reading and audio books is what works best!
  8. HollyVanH
    I agree with you, Faithe. We recently listened to Sissy Spacek reading To Kill a Mockingbird and it was such a pleasure to hear her do it. And often when my older kids read Shakespeare I have them listening to an audio version as they follow along in the book. It makes it so much more understandable for them and they're still getting the visual "reading" experience.
  9. HollyVanH
    I'm curious -- do they give a list of all the books they read together in that Alice Ozma book? I'm guessing that would be nice one to have :)
  10. HollyVanH
    Thanks for the book recommendation, Kareni!
  11. HollyVanH
    Thank you Sparrow -- Read-alouds are such a wonderful way to encourage reading and family togetherness. I'm going to show your post to my husband and encourage him to be more involved in our nightly tradition. It's wonderful that your husband is so involved and supportive.
  12. HollyVanH
    I've written a post about the unexpected benefits of reading aloud to older kids and teens. I've found it such a wonderful way to talk about difficult issues with them: http://www.knittedthoughts.com/2011/11/reading-aloud-to-older-children.html
  13. HollyVanH
    Thanks so much Robin!
  14. HollyVanH
    I'm teaching a writing class to a group of homeschooled teens and I'm using blogs: http://www.knittedthoughts.com/2011/03/teaching-writing-with-blogs.html Come take a look if you'd like some ideas on how to do this with your teen. My goal here is to help increase student awareness of audience and encourage them to really engage with the issues their analyzing. The class is a work in progress and I'd love any feedback you might have or if you just want to share your experiences teaching writing to homeschoolers.
  15. HollyVanH
    kalphs -- even bullying over a blog post. I've had a hard time with this one for whatever reason. It surprises me how vicious people can be if they can hid behind "Anonymous" on the internet.
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