Hi ,

I can't believe it's summer! Sometimes I feel like this year is dragging on, but lately, it's been flying. Tell me, do you follow the public school schedule and take summers off, school year-round, or just take breaks whenever you want?

We're a year-round family; we don't even typically do weekends. Luckily, our schedule is super light so my kids still get plenty of time to play. We have added some new things lately.

One thing we added in was regular typing practice. My kids have mostly gotten the hang of handwriting (we still practice tracing a line or two a day, just to keep in practice), but they've tried to type up a few things lately. Boy, that hunt-and-peck strategy sure takes a long time! Both of my kids also struggle with spelling, so I wanted a program that could work on both. There are plenty of free typing programs, but we've really been enjoying Touch-Type Read and Spell. Once we've done more with it, I'll write up an actual blog post. But if you can't wait for that, check out the post above for a discount code you can use to get 10% off.

We also got back into doing math a bit more formally. My kids started with first or second grade on Khan Academy, doing mostly unit tests until they started to actually need to practice the math. They're now both working on multiplication, so I dove into our game collection for extra practice. These games can work just on multiplication:

• Qwixx (I have some alternate scoresheets you can download to use with multiplication)
• Dragon Times - our favorite game to practice multiplication!
• Multiplication War
• Multiplication Battleship (I used a free print-and-play)

We also have lots of games that can incorporate some multiplication:

• Math Dice
• Rainbow Math 3: Pirate Adventure
• Math Explosion
• Prime Climb
• Bugs!
• Yahtzee

And some games are supposed to be just addition and subtraction, but we modify the rules to allow any operation:

• Shut the Box
• Sleeping Queens
• Frog Juice

I'm very pleased to report that after just a couple weeks of a multiplication game a day, my kids are getting the hang of their multiplication tables. Today, as we were working on our 7s with Qwixx, my daughter moaned, "You're making me memorize them!" Excellent, my child.

Something else my kids and I have been doing is learning about logic and logical fallacies. This is not something I was ever taught in school, so I'm loving getting to learn them now. (This might be one of my favorite aspects of homeschooling - I get to learn right along with my kids!) In fact, I'm so excited about this unit, that I've been working on coming up with a unit study to sell. So, keep your eyes peeled for that; it will have links to free lessons and YouTube videos, book and TV show recommendations, some different activities and games, plus even a book series for you to read (if you're so inclined)!

If you missed the latest issue of the Homeschool Quest's ezine, never fear: you can still access it for free! Make sure you check out my article on outdoor games.

And coming up, you can look forward to another great giveaway by the Homeschool Quest. I am donating my World War I Scavenger Hunt, so if you've been eyeing that, make sure you get your entries in so you can win it!

Until next time - Happy gaming!

Ashley

PS: I'm super excited to let you know that we'll soon be offering travel planning services. Whether you prefer to travel via RV, Airbnb, or hotel, whether you prefer nature or cities - we can help plan your travel, accommodations, and activities! Stay tuned!