Learning to correctly spell and understand words is an invaluable part of a child’s educational development. With the influence of word processing programs and smartphones, the motivation of learning to spell properly is often hindered by the convenience of autocorrect. What you need is a grade by grade spelling words list!

However, learning to spell a variety of words is essential to understanding and applying proper English into real-world situations.

With SpellQuiz, an online spelling quiz program, learning to spell has never been more learner-friendly. SpellQuiz offers quizzes and tests for hundreds of spelling words based on the learning stage of the student.

With this guide, you’ll read about many of the spelling quiz words taken directly from SpellQuiz materials. For each word, you’ll also find common definitions and insights as to why these words might be relevant to the associated age group, starting with first graders and ending with twelfth graders.

Try this vocabulary test tool to know your current vocabulary level!

Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today! This one game covers all the simple 4th grade spelling bee words, and even the hard 10th grade spelling bee words. 

First Grade Spelling Words

First graders start out with very simple verbs, nouns, and adjectives. These words will help them get a grasp on the basics of English speaking and spelling. The best 1st grade spelling words quiz should contain words that relate to simple things. This list should include those words that they would do or say in the real world.

• Smell

The word “smell” is a verb that describes the action of “inhaling a scent or odor with one’s olfactory nerves.”

Knowing how to distinguish senses by spelling, writing, and speaking is an integral part of learning and communication.

• Dry

The word “dry” is defined as something that is “free of moisture” or “not wet.”

It is a descriptive word that first graders can learn to use in a wide range of subjects.

• Cold

The word “cold” is an adjective describing something that “lacks warmth” or “has a low temperature.”

Like other adjectives that describe feelings, knowing this word is important for helping young children learn how to express themselves.

• Hope

The word “hope” is defined as a feeling that a given outcome or series of events will turn out for the best.

This word is a noun that can also be used as a verb (for example, “hoping”).

• Fog

The word “fog” is defined as “a cloudlike mass” that can occur near the surface of the earth. Similar to rain, fog is an important noun to know when discussing the weather.

• Play

The word “play” can be used as a verb when referring to “a fun activity for amusement.”

It can also be a noun describing a composition of drama performed on a stage.

• Bus

The word “bus” is commonly used as a noun to describe a “large motor vehicle” used for transportation.

Students will likely come to know this word very well.

• Glass

The word “glass” is a noun referring a type of transparent substance. Students may use the word when discussing a windowpane or cup, to name some examples.

• Late

The word “late” is an adjective that describes something or someone that has arrived or occurred “after the usual time.”

Late is an essential word to grasp for anyone who may need to do something within a deadline.

• Drink

The word “drink” is a versatile word that can be used as a noun as well as a verb. This is an expressive word that students should become familiar with right away.

Second Grade Spelling Words

A 2nd grade spelling test should only include basic words. It would help them incorporate a wider range of adjectives, nouns, and verbs. It would help them get rid of the fear of spelling tests and exams. 

Word complexity will increase slightly, but words will still be familiar and vastly applicable.

 

• Name

The word “name” is frequently used as a noun to describe a word that is “designated or assigned to a specific person, place or thing”.

Using this word is a great start for children learning to address individuals or ask questions to specific people.

• Puddle

The word “puddle” is defined as “a small pool of water” or some other type of liquid. This is a great double-letter word that a student can practice when learning about vocabulary and phonetics.

• There

The word “there” is an adverb defined as “in or at that place”. Second graders should be able to start recognizing the differences between “there”, “they’re” and “their.”

• Floor

The word “floor” is defined as a surface that encloses the lower part of a room in a structure.

Second graders should be able to spell and recognize the noun, “floor”.

• Truth

The word “truth” is defined as something that is “verified” or “conformed with facts”. This is a great example of a commonly used word that ends in “th”.

• Sister

The word “sister” is defined as a “female offspring” that has the same parents or a close kinship with another. Many students with siblings will use this word on a day-to-day basis.

• Bicycle

The word “bicycle” is a noun referring to a vehicle with “two wheels in tandem”. This is a commonly misspelled word that students should be introduced to as they learn how to ride bicycles.

• Knits

The word “knits” is defined as the action of knitting or “making a garment by hand with yarn”. This plural noun can be a challenge due to the silent “k”.

• Soil

The word “soil” can be defined as “a layer of the earth’s surface where plants and crops may grow”. Students may begin recognizing this word in physical science studies.

• Owl

The word “owl” is a noun referring to a member of a group of nocturnal birds of prey from the taxonomic order, Strigiformes. Learning simple animal names is a great way to catch a student’s interest in a 2^nd grade spelling words quiz.

Third Grade Spelling Words

Third graders may begin to learn words that are more specific to certain types of subjects. A 3rd grade spelling test may also start to incorporate longer words with more syllables.

• Airplane

The word “airplane” is a noun referring to “heavier-than-air” manmade This is a fairly commonly used word with two syllables.

• Cried

The word “cried” is derived from “cry,” which is defined as “the action of shedding tears.” This is a great example of a commonly used past tense verb.

• Property

The word “property” is defined as a possession (such as a piece of land) that a person owns. This can be a challenging three-syllable word to spell.

• Current

The word “current” can have several different meanings; it’s commonly used to define something that’s “passing in present time.” This is an example of a word that is commonly used both as an adjective and a noun (the flow of water or electricity, for example).

• Oxen

The word “oxen” is a plural of the noun “ox,” which is a type of This word is great spelling practice for appropriate words containing the letter “x.”

• Pleasure

The word “pleasure” is a noun defined as being in “a state of gratification or delight.” This word can be a challenge to spell and pronounce.

• Stand

The word “stand” is a verb defined as “to rise to one’s feet” or be in an “upright position.” This word is commonly used as part of many verb phrases (“stand down,” for example).

• Indoors

The word “indoors” can be defined as “the space inside or within a building.” This word is a commonly used adverb.

• Bounce

The word “bounce” is a verb meaning “to spring back” from the ground or another surface. This is a unique action word that makes an interesting addition to a 3^rd grade spelling words quiz.

• Photograph

The word “photograph” is a noun referring to “a picture,” usually produced by a camera. This is a frequently used word and great spelling practice for words that end in “ph.”

Fourth Grade Spelling Words

Quizzes with the best 4^th grade spelling words will continue adding more complex words that are increasingly difficult to spell and pronounce. Fourth graders may also start to learn more unique adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions as they gradually expand their vocabularies. That’s why a 4th grade spelling test starts to become a bit hard. 

• Whenever

The word “whenever” is defined as “at any time” depending on the usage. It’s a unique yet commonly used conjunction.

• Master

The word “master” is defined as a “person who owns or has the ability to control or hold power over something.” This word can also be used as an adjective (“a master play”) or a verb (“to master a language”).

• Award

The word “award,” as a verb, means to “assign or bestow.” As a noun, it’s something that one may receive, such as a medal.

• Citizenship

The word “citizenship” is defined as a position of having certain rights or privileges in a particular country or society. With its four syllables, this word may be a challenge to spell and pronounce.

• Approach

The word “approach,” as a verb, is defined as the action of coming near or closer to or “to make advances.” This word includes double letters (“pp”), which should be practiced in a 4^th grade spelling quiz.

• Acreage

The word “acreage” is a noun that defines “a plot of land” or a given extent of an area. This is an excellent spelling word as it can be a challenging word to use and spell correctly.

• Dungeon

The word “dungeon” is a noun that defines a type of “stronghold or cell, often found within a castle.” Students may come across this word while reading fiction or watching movies.

• Apology

The word “apology” is defined as an “expression of regret or remorse that may be written or spoken by a person who has wronged another.” This four-syllable word is a challenging addition to a 4^th grade spelling words quiz.

• Spoil

The word “spoil” is frequently used as a verb when discussing something that has become “severely damaged or diminished in quality.” As a verb used without an object, it can mean “to become bad” or “to plunder.”

• Squirm

This unique verb means the action of “wiggling,” such as in discomfort. This word is great spelling practice for uncommon

Fifth Grade Spelling Words

As they progress through more advanced subjects, a spelling quiz for fifth graders should include more creative or uncommon words that can still be used in typical, mature conversations. A 5th grade spelling test might include many polysyllable words so that students can have a better grasp over longer words. 

• Crawl

The word “crawl” is a verb referring to the action of a “body that’s moving in a prone position, such as on hands and knees.” Students may use this word when talking about the movement of an animal.

• Situation

The word “situation” is a noun referring to a “condition” or “state of affairs.” Students may begin to use this word more frequently in complex sentences.

• Misbehaving

The word “misbehaving” is a present participle of “misbehave,” which means “to behave in an improper way.” This is a long and challenging word to spell, making it a great addition to a 5^th grade spelling words quiz.

• Mighty

The word “mighty” is an adjective that describes the characteristic of “having great strength or power.” This word is an interesting adjective that fifth graders may learn to use in their own creative writing.

• According

The word “according” can be defined as “agreeing” when used as an adjective. “According to” is often used as a preposition, meaning “in conformity with” or “depending on.”

• Cheapskate

The word “cheapskate” is a noun referring to someone who is very stingy, such as with money. This uncommon word is an interesting noun that students may use in creative writing.

• Tourist

The word “tourist” is a noun referring to a “person who travels, usually for pleasure.” This word is a great example of when it’s proper to use “ou” instead of “oo,” although the sounds are the same.

• Ceremony

The word “ceremony” refers to a formal activity or rite, usually performed as an important public or personal event. Students may become familiar with this word when attending such events.

• Lexicon

The word “lexicon” is a noun referring to an inventory, dictionary or vocabulary, depending on the usage. This uncommon word is great spelling practice for words that contain the letter “x.”

• Scissors

The word “scissors” is a noun referring to a type of instrument made for cutting paper. This is a word that fifth graders may use often, yet it can be a challenge to spell due to the silent “c.”

Sixth Grade Spelling Words

A 6th grade spelling test should include words that require the student to test their attention to detail and level of comprehension. These words may have various pronunciations or silent letters that require knowing the core meaning of the word.

• Accept

The word “accept” is a verb for the action of “agreeing to take or receive something.” This word should be practiced as it can be confused with the word “except.”

• Acquired

The word “acquired” is past tense of the verb “acquire,” meaning “to gain or come into possession” of something. Students may use this word to build more advanced sentences.

• Emergency

The word “emergency” is a noun referring to “an unexpected occurrence or event,” usually in a situation where help or relief is needed. Students should be able to identify this word when learning about safety.

• Buildings

The word “buildings” is a plural noun referring to “more than one enclosed structure.” 

• Physical

The word “physical” is an adjective that describes something as “material” or “relating to the body.” This is an important word to spell as it may be used in a wide range of applications, in school and elsewhere.

• Scientist

The word “scientist” is a noun referring to someone who is “an expert in the field of science.” Due to the silent “c,” this word may be commonly misspelled; however, it’s a common and important one for students to learn.

• Disagreement

The word “disagreement” is a noun referring to “the state or act of opposing something.” This is a great example of a word that contains a negative prefix (“dis-“).

• Autumn

The word “autumn” is a noun referring to a season of the year, specifically “between summer and winter.” This is a commonly used yet misspelled word ending in “mn,” making it a great addition to a 6^th grade spelling words quiz.

• Different

The word “different” is defined as “unusual or not like others.” This word is an adjective commonly used in many types of discussions.

• Tropical

The word “tropical” is an adjective relating to “the tropics, a geographical region often characterized by heat and humidity.” Students may come across this word in ecology and geology classes.

Seventh Grade Spelling Words

Seventh graders should now be able to spell basic and common words with ease. This is a great time for students to practice longer and more complex 7^th grade spelling words that they can use in real life scenarios, such as college preparation. A 7th grade spelling test might have a lot of foreign words that the English language dissolved into itself. 

• Steppe

A steppe means “an extensive plain, especially one without trees.” Students may come across this word while studying physical geography, geography, and ecology.

• Inquiries:

The word “inquiries” is a plural of the verb “inquire,” meaning to investigate or ask for information about something. 

• Negotiable

The word “negotiable” is an adjective referring to something that has” the ability to be bargained or made a deal with.”

This word can help students learn variations of “ti” sounds.

• Rustling

The word “rustling” derives from the verb, rustle, meaning “to make a sound from softly or slightly stirring or rubbing something,” such as leaves. This is an interesting verb that people use in creative writing.

• Plague

You can describe a plague as “an epidemic disease that causes high mortality.” Seventh graders may come across this word in their history or literature classes.

• Bonafide

You can define Bonafide as “authentic.” While this word isn’t very common, it’s an important adjective to know that may come up in legal documentation as well as some literature.

• Obstacles

The word “obstacles” is a plural form of “obstacle,” which means something that blocks one’s way or hinders progress.” The word can refer to physical barriers or nonphysical concepts.

• Embarrass

The word “embarrass” means “to cause confusion and shame.” Chances are, most people have felt and used this word in a variety of situations. But the spelling can get confusing based on the number of repeated letters.

• Cancellation

The word “cancellation” means “the action of canceling an arranged or planned incident.”

However, it is one of those common words that children and adults should all know how to spell correctly. Seventh graders will likely come across this word in many aspects of their academic and career experiences.

• Abandon

The word “abandon” is a verb meaning “to give up or forsake.” You may misspell it as “abanden”.

Eighth Grade Spelling Words

An 8th grade spelling test should contain words that are relevant, interesting and challenging for young adults who may be especially busy with sports and friends. Words related to socializing and events can make for engaging 8^th grade spelling words.  

• Accompanied

The word “accompanied” is a past tense verb meaning “to have joined a person or people in an activity or venture.” This can be a challenging yet important word to know, especially in social situations.

• Gymnasium

The word “gymnasium” is a noun referring to “a large building, usually in a school, where gymnastics and other indoor activities are held.” This will prove to be an important word to know as students attend events or practice sports.

• Spectators

The word “spectators” is a plural noun referring to “people who are watching a sport or event rather than participating.” This is a great example of a challenging spelling word ending in “”

• Senator

The word “senator” is a noun referring to a person who “represents the ” This word will become more important to know as students learn about history, politics and government affairs.

• Abstain

The word “abstain” is a verb meaning “to withhold” or “refrain from” something, especially when it comes to voting or unhealthy behavior. Students will likely come across this word in health classes.

• Accumulate

The word “accumulate” means to gather something in increments. It’s an action word that may come up in a variety of subjects, such as math or science.

• Reunion

The word “reunion” is a noun referring to “the act of being united again”, such as the gathering of people who have met previously. This is a good addition to an 8^th grade spelling words quiz because it’s an example of a word that starts with “re.”

• Acoustic

The word “acoustic” is an adjective that describes “the sense of hearing.” This word is also often used under the subject of music, referring to “musical instruments without electric enhancement.”

• Perspective

The word “perspective” is a noun referring to the point of view or the state of something, such as in spatial relationships or visual experience. This is a great addition to a student’s vocabulary as it can be used in a variety of applications.

• Punishable

The word “punishable” is an adjective meaning “when something or someone is deemed worthy of receiving punishment.” This word is a good example of the use of “able” combined with a complete word (punish).

Ninth Grade Spelling Words

Ninth graders are now transitioning into higher levels of education with denser subjects. A 9th grade spelling test needs to contain several interesting or exclusive words that students may encounter both inside and outside of school.

• Orchestra

The word “orchestra” can be defined as “a group of people playing a variety of musical instruments” to produce harmonious sounds. Students may come across this uniquely spelled word while participating in school activities.

• Gambling

The word “gambling” is a noun referring to “the act of making a risk while playing a game or taking a chance when odds are at stake.” Students need to recognize words such as this when dealing with real life

• Acquittal

The word “acquittal” is defined as “the state or action of discharge or release.” While it may be confused for a verb, it’s actually a noun and sometimes used in subjects of law.

• Ambiguous

The word “ambiguous” is an adjective that describes something that’s “doubtful or equivocal with many possible meanings.” This is a challenging spelling word that ninth graders may begin to come across more frequently.

• Apparatus

The word “apparatus” is a noun referring to “instruments or mechanisms that are usually complex in nature.” Students may encounter this word in science and physiology classes.

• Laboratory

The word “laboratory” is commonly used as a noun defining “a place or building where scientific activities take place, such as experiments for research.” This word can frequently be misspoken and misspelled as “Labratory”

• Approximately

The word “approximately” means “roughly or slightly accurate but not exact.” This word is an adverb but derives from the word “approximate,” which is an adjective.

• Benevolent

The word “benevolent” is an adjective that describes something or someone who has “kindly or charitable feelings or the desire to help others over themselves.” Students may come across this word in literature.

• Blasphemous

The word “blasphemous” is an adjective that describes something that is “profane or irreverent.” This word makes a great addition to a 9^th grade spelling words quiz because it introduces students to words they may not otherwise hear very often.

• Bravado

The word “bravado” means “a bold display of courage intended to impress.” While it may sound like an action (verb), it’s actually a display or behavior (noun).

Tenth Grade Spelling Words

The best 10^th grade spelling words quiz should contain impressive spelling words that help students broaden their vocabulary and gain a firm grasp on proper spelling and grammar. Students should be able to integrate these words into their experiences while having a solid understanding of definitions and usage. A 10th grade spelling test should be able to judge the students’ grasp of the language. 

• Abnormal

Abnormal is an adjective that describes something that “deviates from the norm.” This word can be used in a variety of situations and discussions, such as when describing weather, behavior or economics.

• Integral

The word “integral” is commonly used as an adjective to describe something that “belongs to a part of the whole or something that is necessary to complete the whole.” This word may also come up as a noun in mathematic

• Geometry

The word “geometry” refers to a branch of study in mathematics. Tenth graders will likely be taking geometry classes, so it’s important that they are able to spell the name correctly.

• Conclusive

The word “conclusive” is an adjective defined as “serving to settle or decide a question.” This word may be used in discussions of subjects such as science or criminal justice.

• Ecstatic

The word “ecstatic” is an adjective that describes the feeling of intense emotions or ecstasy. This word has a unique spelling, making it a great addition to a 10^th grade spelling words quiz.

• Discipline

The word “discipline” is a noun referring to “an activity or behavior that involves training to develop a skill or make a correction in accordance with rules.” Due to its spelling with “sci,” this word can be a challenge to spell and pronounce properly.

• Appreciated

The word “appreciated” derives from the word “appreciate,” meaning to recognize or understand something to its full worth. This word can be categorized as a past tense verb.

• Exhibition

The word “exhibition” is a noun referring to “a public display” or “a showing” of something. This word can be commonly misspelled when the “h” is left out, making it an ideal candidate for a 10^th grade spelling words quiz.

• Institution

The word “institution” is a noun referring to “an organization, society or building” that devotes itself to a specific cause or program. Students may begin to come across this word when looking at colleges or learning about organizations.

• Preserve

The word “preserve” is a verb meaning “to keep something alive or maintain something.” It can also be used as a noun when talking about, for example, a wildlife preserve or fruit preserves.

Eleventh Grade Spelling Words

The best eleventh grade spelling words quiz will contain several uncommon, challenging adjectives and verbs that students may use to build a more diverse vocabulary for speaking and writing. An 11th grade spelling test quiz may also contain words found in 11^th grade class subjects, such as history, criminal justice, earth science, and so on.

• Thorough

The word “thorough” is an adjective describing something that has been completely or perfectly completed or executed. This word is great for spelling practice as you can confuse it with “through.”

• Castigate

The word “castigate” is a verb that means the act of “criticizing or punishing” in an effort. Mostly, Students may come across this word while studying history or criminal justice.

• Intrinsic

The word “intrinsic” is an adjective describing something that “belongs or lying within something naturally.” This is a useful vocabulary word that students may use in papers and essays.

• Abhorrent

The word “abhorrent” is an adjective describing something as “loathsome.” This is a unique adjective that you can use in creative writing.

• Sedentary

The word “sedentary” is an adjective describing something that’s “at rest” such as in a sitting position and not moving. You might confuse this word with the word “sedimentary,” which has a completely different meaning.

• Parliament

The word “parliament” means “the highest legislature of Great Britain.” Although you can use it to define “meetings and assemblies related to public or national affairs.” This word has a tricky spelling with the silent “a.”

• Severity

The word “severity” has a close connection to “harshness or intensity.” It often refers to extreme pain or behavior. Students may use this word in a range of applications. So, it’s important to learn how to spell and pronounce it correctly.

• Nullify

The word “nullify” is a verb meaning to “deprive or declare as void”. This is a unique uncommon word that you can see in many subjects, such as history and politics.

• Deprecating

The word “deprecating” refers to the act of “expressing disapproval” or “protesting against” something. This word is a present participle of the word “deprecate.”

• Contentious

The word “contentious” is an adjective that describes something or someone as “argumentative or quarrelsome.” Students may use this word when describing people or characters.

Twelfth Grade Spelling Words

A 12th grade spelling test should have an advanced, adult to near-adult level words that will truly put students to the test. These words may not be common in typical conversations. However, they still have learning value and you may speak or write them in more advanced topics.

 

• Mischievous

The word “mischievous” is an adjective describing something or someone as “annoying or harmful in a malicious or playful way.” This is a challenging word to spell due to the differences between pronunciation and actual spelling, making it a good candidate for a 12^th grade spelling words quiz.

• Reciprocated

The word “reciprocated” is a verb meaning to “return a feeling or interchange,” such as the giving and receiving of gifts. This word is a past particle of reciprocate, a commonly misspelled word.

 

• Insincere

The word insincere is an adjective describing something that is “dishonest or hypocritical.”

This is yet another great descriptive word that you can use in creative writing.

• Conversationalist

The word “conversationalist” refers to “a person who is interesting or contributes well to conversations.”

Interestingly, this six-syllable noun is a great challenging addition to a 12th-grade spelling words quiz.

• Conspirators

The word “conspirators” is a plural of the word “conspirator,” meaning someone who “conspires or plots, usually in a secret or unlawful way.”

• Illimitable

The word “illimitable” is an adjective that describes something as “limitless or without bounds.” It’s an interesting and uncommon word that students can incorporate into their acquired terminology.

• Dormitory

The word “dormitory” refers to “a building with separate rooms for residents,” usually at a college with additional bathroom facilities. Students may become more familiar with this word when researching college.

• Imbroglio

The word “imbroglio” is a noun referring to “a disagreement between groups in a complicated situation.” Although people do not frequently use it, this is an interesting word to add to a spelling quiz.

• Cavalier

The word “cavalier” refers to a noun as “a man, knight or solider, usually mounted.” This word can also be used as an adjective to describe something or someone as “haughty, offhand or indifferent to something important.”

• Immiscible.

The word “immiscible” is an adjective that describes something that “cannot be mixed,” such as when talking about liquids. Students may come across this word in subjects such as chemistry.

Students Will Grow Their Vocabularies and Expand Their Horizons with SpellQuiz

Here are a few ways that SpellQuiz can directly help students learn and retain even the most complex spelling words:

• Includes spelling words for each grade based on difficulty.
• Uses clear dictation to teach children proper usage of spelling words with clear, complete sentences.
• Offers spelling quizzes and tests that students can practice and track to improve their learning success.
• Presents students with words that they can use while studying, writing essays, socializing, preparing for college, and much more.

SpellQuiz offers fun and engaging study materials. So, students can master spelling as well as learn how to use a wide range of useful words throughout their lives.

The purpose of this post is to present the information on the most influential and active Facebook English tutors.

Facebook has tons of groups and pages dedicated for learning English, but it is tough to search in Facebook and find those, who provide really exceptional services, dedicated to the knowledge transfer and being consistent in the way they present the information.

We made extensive research on Facebook, found pages with millions of likes on them, but no human face behind the big brands. We’re sure that they are doing a good job, but our interest was mostly about real people driven by real personas.

In the current article you will find the information about the most active and influential English tutors on Facebook, but if by any chance we missed you, a talented, English tutor who currently is active on Facebook, please let us know and we will be happy to add you into the list as well.

Facebook has a vast database, but it is also famous for poor search engine incorporated into it.

You can’t easily get comprehensive information by typing the search within a website; Google does a much better job.

So down below is what we did – we approached the most influential and famous Facebook English tutors and let them introduce themselves.

We did not touch the English tutors’ language and allow them to present as natural as you will see below.

Top 6 Facebook English Tutors Who Can help You Shine!

1. Iryna’s English Page

Facebook Page: Iryna’s English Page

Country: UK

Followers: 220,043

 

Hello, Everyone! My name is Iryna and I am a founder of “Iryna’s English Page” on Facebook. When I was a language student in the early 2000s, all our learning resources were very dry and dull.

Quite often we had to memorize everything by heart and spend long hours writing notes. It was definitely not an enjoyable time and it’s certainly not a learning experience I want to give my learners.

Language learning has significantly improved since then and there are so many useful resources available online. Creating Iryna’s English Page my mission was to help people from the disadvantaged parts of the world where there is still a struggle for learning.

I create bright and colorful posts and cover only one topic a day but in great detail. Apart from that, I also record short educational videos and arrange occasional live chats.

I strongly believe that language learning should be enjoyable and fun and I hope this is exactly what my learners receive improving their language skills with Iryna’s English Page.

 

2. SpellQuiz

Facebook Page: SpellQuiz – Learn English – Spelling Test and Listening Practice

Country: Canada

Followers: 12,083

 

Hi! I am Nazrin, and I am an eighth-grade student at a school in Calgary.

A couple of years ago my brother and I were behind in our spelling and listening comprehension, and my father created an online spelling test website – SpellQuiz by the help of experienced teachers from North America, both Canada and the USA.

Since the launch of the application in March of 2017 I have practiced more than 9500 words and bolstered my vocabulary. Moreover, I gained confidence not only in spelling and listening comprehension, but also tremendously improved my typing skills.

My father firmly believes that if you can learn by having fun, it will make the process of education more comfortable, pleasant and will provide long-term benefits. He further believes that teaching others also helps to comprehend the topic itself better. Try this vocabulary tester to understand your current skill level!

This is how my brothers and I started the SpellQuiz project on Facebook  – creating funny videos and trying to teach other students by enjoying what we are doing. The young kids can learn about the common sight words test from SpellQuiz too!

If you wish to follow the way how we learn and practice English, start here! Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today! Moreover, try these spelling tests to master English spelling!

If you like more the fun side of our page, you can always subscribe to our YouTube page to watch the latest SpellQuiz videos. Plus, now you can idioms and fun quizzes for kids here. 

4. Interactive English by Wes & Ioana

Facebook Page: Interactive English

Country: USA/Hungary

Followers: 222,170

 

Hi! We are Wes & Ioana from Interactive English. We’re from the United States (California), but we currently reside in Budapest, Hungary. We both love teaching, languages, and learning about different cultures. Therefore, teaching English to learners from all over the world was a perfect fit.

The Interactive English Facebook page helps learners practice and improve their English skills. We share fun video lessons to help learners understand a variety of topics ranging from grammar to pronunciation to idioms.

We also post visual aids and ask questions to help those in our community practice their skills.

Our goal is to make our Facebook page as interactive as possible. We love it when learners engage with our videos and answer our questions. This helps us create an active online learning environment.

We’re on numerous social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. For videos, as well as weekly live-lessons, learners can check out our YouTube channel.

In the near future, we plan to launch a website with online courses, ebooks, and much more. Stay tuned!

5. JForrstEnglish by Jennifer

Facebook Page: JForrestEnglish

Country:  Canada

Followers: 134,303

 

Hi, I’m Jennifer, a certified English Teacher and Communications Expert with over 10 years of experience helping busy professionals communicate their message fluently, confidently, and easily.

I started my Facebook page because I noticed that all of my students, even my advanced students, couldn’t understand me when I used “real” expressions (ex/ how’s it going). They could only understand me when I used “textbook” expressions (ex/ how are you).

Plus, my advanced students sounded awkward because the way they talked wasn’t natural. For example, all my students say “I arrived home at 6:00”. But that’s not what an English speaker would say. We would say “I got home at 6:00”.

So I created my Facebook Page to expose my students to real English, to improve their listening skills of fast-paced English and to teach natural expressions and pronunciation.

I recently launched a Facebook Group, Business English for Professionals, for Intermediate and Advanced students learning English for professional reasons.

I created the JForrest Online English Academy to help busy professionals speak English confidently in only 90 days so they can communicate their ideas without fear of being misunderstood.

Each week in the Academy, students get a self-study video lesson, Facebook live lesson, and a speaking challenge.

Each week members learn must-know expressions, correct pronunciation, and grammar in a natural context, and public speaking skills. The Academy takes students from frustrated English learners to confident English speakers. Learn more about the Academy here: JForrestEnglish.  

6. Jacob Teacher by Jacob

Facebook Page: Jacob Teacher

Country: Canada

Followers: 29,644 

 

Hey there! My name is Jacob. I’m an online English teacher based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. After teaching English to elementary students for two years while living abroad in Korea, I decided that teaching was the career for me.

Presently, I help adult English language learners step outside of their comfort zones in order to reach a higher level of confidence and fluency. I try to get my students to engage emotionally with the lessons I teach.

Furthermore, together we study and analyze English songs, YouTube videos, films, and a whole lot more! Moreover, My lessons challenge people to think and tell stories about their own lives in English. In addition to my Facebook page, I also release weekly podcast episodes for The Jacob Teacher Podcast and run an online membership community called Jacob’s English Club.

If you want to study native English materials and take giant steps towards feeling more confident as an English speaker, join Jacob’s English Club!

First grade is a vital time for children to learn and grow. To aid your children in this journey, we have come up with a series of spelling exercises to make learning English words fun and easy. This page includes 1st grade spelling words which have been used in our spelling exercises on SpellQuiz.

Help your children increase their vocabulary words count by practicing on SpellQuiz spelling for grade 1

Alternatively, you may use the spelling lists from our website to create a list of your own home spelling words or using dictionary words, all for free.

Practice with your children every week as much you please to improve their skills and customize the tests according to your child’s needs. Spelling quizzes are great ways to teach your kids spelling. Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today!

Also, try this vocabulary tester to understand your current skill level!

Encourage your child to practice on a regular basis and help them achieve brilliant scores in school, building the foundations for a brighter future.

It would also help them with the ultimate competition called Spelling Bee. This guide will help you get started with it.

Do you want your child to study spelling words for first grade with ease and fun? Try our 1st-grade spelling lessons on SpellQuiz! 

You can also check our Video Tutorial on how to practice spelling words on SpellQuiz. 

And below is the list of 250 spelling words for first grade: 

List 1: 1 – 50 1st Grade Spelling Words

Wig	Come	Pet	Be	Sat
Brick	Sack	You	Find	About
Soak	Dry	Snow	Rut	Tree
To	Run	Been	Cap	Hit
Number	Note	Wet	Play	Mug
This	Code	Of	It	Mat
Must	They	Pan	Race	Cat
Words	Soap	That	Oil	Ink
Note	May	So	Her	Wet
Mob	Name	Shy	My	Will

List 2: 51-100 1st Grade Spelling Words

Day	Must	Lip	Bun	Not
Page	For	First	Roof	His
She	Tan	Part	Hut	Lot
Or	Cup	Coat	Can	Well
Load	Bit	Sled	Would	Mat
Sky	Skin	Clock	Go	Bat
Back	Tray	Town	Moon	Kick
On	Hot	Two	Were	Snack
At	Other	Fun	Shell	Could
Show	Bat	More	Into	Now

List 3: 101 – 150 1st Grade Spelling Words

Legs	Stop	Spin	Out	Shut
Snake	Trip	Called	Pin	Use
Dog	Stuck	He	Way	Up
Thin	Cob	Tame	One	Pool
Block	Thing	Your	Try	Get
Pop	With	Nap	Tell	Nut
Long	Cut	Fox	Each	Win
Grow	Man	Sun	Said	Who
Had	Black	These	Water	Set
No	Plow	Took	Him	Ten

List 4: 151 – 200 1st Grade Spelling Words

Some	Made	And	Time	Big
Map	Truck	Bad	Cow	Sob
Bug	Red	Nose	By	Make
Drop	Hole	Wood	Look	Are
Clay	Float	All	Which	Spoon
Do	Then	Down	But	Like
Fled	Pot	Has	How	Mom
Flow	Dig	Bone	Have	Fell
Job	Pen	We	People	Stick
Hook	Mop	Sock	Shop	From

List 5: 201 – 250 1st Grade Spelling Words

Luck	Sell	Was	Cry	Sit
There	Pig	Is	Pit	Bed
What	Boat	Many	Kid	Ant
Write	As	Pay	Tape	An
Bat	Duck	Game	In	Fit
Less	Glad	Hop	Chop	Rug
When	Tuck	Sick	Bell	Hen
Time	Hug	Tooth	Rock	Too
Low	Run	Ship	Stay	Tool
Them	Bow	Hat	Let	Tap

 

 

Before teaching children about emotional intelligence, one needs to know what the terms exactly mean. Emotional intelligence is the ability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others. It is also about finding out the difference between different feelings and labeling them appropriately.

Using emotional information will help you in guide thinking and behavior, and managing and/or adjusting emotions to adjust to environments or to achieve one’s goal.

Why Should Parents be the First to Teach the Kids?

For parents, teaching their kids how to take care of themselves is a difficult task. But, more importantly, they should teach their kids emotional intelligence to make them capable to cope up with various social aspects of human society and human interactions.

It will also help children to express his or her emotions. Teaching such things to your children might seem easy, but it is a completely different scenario and completely different from the daily scenarios of taking care of a child. You may not be an “expert,” but with experience, you can build up your confidence.

Families Should Be the Primary Source of such education.

What Should be the Role of the Teachers and Schools?

Your kids may learn English and science in the classroom. They can learn how to write a business proposal or assignment writing. But, how about school’s teaching emotional intelligence to students? Educational institutions are responsible for teaching kids emotional intelligence.

This responsibility falls on the households, or to be more specific, parents. Families can teach a child about emotional intelligence better than any institution or teacher.

Hence, the first and foremost requirement to teach children about emotional intelligence is family. Keeping a child with a babysitter and spending most of the time on work can have a negative impact on the child which indirectly forbids them to learn emotional intelligence. If you are curious you could try doing an emotional intelligence test to understand the current level of your child. 

What Do the Experts Say?

“We have to look at emotional intelligence as art and science just like we teach kids math or spelling –we can’t assume kids know these skills,” says Dr. Shimi Kang.

Dr. Shimi Kang is a Vancouver-based psychiatrist and parent herself.

Tips for Teaching Emotional Intelligence to Your Kids

It’s a must for a parent to teach their child about emotional intelligence as soon as they are born. Responding to them crying, laughing with them when they laugh, playing games and communicating with them is helpful as it makes them comprehend the mediums of sharing emotions. It also helps them adjust to various functions and norms of society as a whole.

Kids with learning disabilities will get benefitted a lot if their parents help them develop such intelligence. We are talking about disabilities like dyslexia, dysgraphia, and others. 

Wondering about how to improve emotional intelligence? Here’s how you can teach it to your kids –

1. Allowing expressions
2. Acknowledging the child’s perspective and empathize with them
3. Acknowledging the child’s feelings
4. Teaching kids to give back
5. Allowing them to make mistakes
6. Teaching kids resiliency and to look at the big picture
7. The education of optimism and gratitude
8. Teaching kids how to manage their emotions

Why is Emotional Intelligence Important?

Children with higher emotional intelligence develop faster. In schools, teachers choose students with intelligence as they will not only be able to perform well but will also be better equipped to read workplace situations.

Furthermore, students with higher emotional intelligence get along with their fellow students, collaborate and solve problems better. It also creates a better environment for personalized learning too.

The most powerful way a parent can do is accepting the child’s emotions. One important thing to remember, you should always create a safer environment while you are teaching your kids. 

In addition, it is also necessary to provide them with the tools they require to manage those emotions by themselves.

Final Thoughts

Emotional intelligence is “being smarter with feelings.” It is a powerful set of learnable skills that can transform an individual to become more aware, make better choices, and be more purposeful. According to various reports, parents are the most important people to teach these life skills to their kids.  If your emotional abilities aren’t developed, it may be difficult for you to be self-aware and to manage your emotions. You can’t have empathy and have meaningful relationships, no matter how smart you are. And even if you do, you won’t go very far. 

Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today! Also, try this vocabulary tester to understand your current skill level! Try these spelling tests to master English spelling! Also, don’t forget to check the complete list of sight words.  

We aren’t exaggerating at all when admitting that technology has become an inseparable part of our daily lives. We cannot (or don’t want to!) escape from it, no matter how desperate we are. Technology has affected how we live, work, play, communicate, network, and most importantly how we learn. So, why are we being too afraid to add more convenient technology in the classroom?

Without a doubt, smartphones, tablets, and other wireless devices increasingly being used for better productivity and communication purposes.  Slowly but gradually, schools across the world are also effectively deploying mobile technology for delivering lessons.

It’s quite normal for the parents being skeptical as they think it would cause more procrastination among the students. The truth is – they are not entirely wrong! However, the ‘proper’ implementation can change the scenario. 

Main Issues with Implementation of Technology In the School

However, it appears that many schools aren’t fully onboard with the idea of implementing the latest technology for education. Also, technology can’t be fully implemented for home tuition.

Main reasons for the reluctance of using technology in the classroom include – 

• Many educators think using certain mobile devices in the classes is more of a burden than a strategic learning tool.
• Most schools don’t have capable Wi-Fi/wireless networks to properly support the technology.

Both of these concerns are easy to address, otherwise, it will be a huge loss for everyone involved in education, especially the students.

Nonetheless, below, we have compiled ten reasons for the benefits of using technology in the classroom. 

Let’s get started!

10 Reasons Why Students Need Technology in the Classroom

1.  Getting Ready for the Future

Technology has changed how we work today. It’s only normal that we would use technology even more in the coming years.

It would be a great strategy if today’s students learn and try adapting the situations. Being comfortable with gadgets and techs will surely pave the way. 

2.  Better Teacher-Student Relationship

Every student has a unique learning style. Some are slow and some are fast. Not every finger in the hand is equal. Integrating technology into the classroom, if used effectively, will help teachers to connect with their students. You can find terrific tutors online too.

Teachers can try different learning approaches and techniques. It can even create a personalized learning environment in schools.

3.  An Effective Learning Environment

Collaboration and interaction are two key pillars of an effective learning environment in the classroom. The more a student interacts with his/her teachers, the more they can learn.

Using technology (think of instant messengers like WhatsApp or Viber) in the classroom gives the students a better option to communicate with their teachers. It develops a better learning ecosystem in the schools.

4.  Learning Digital Responsibility

Technology can be compared to a double-edged sword. It is the main reason why the policymakers are afraid of implementation of technology in the classroom.

Using mobile devices is one thing; knowing how to use them for education purposes correctly and responsibly is entirely a different thing. If the students are taught how to use the technology by teachers, they could educate them better. It would create a better sense of right and wrong among the kids.

5.  Closing the Gap Between Students and Studies

Almost not a single child feel excited when they hear the word “Study!” Students don’t believe that studying can be a fun activity. A lot of students even feel forced!

Keeping the students engaged in studies in the era of smartphones and the internet is probably one of the biggest challenges facing today’s teachers. Integrating technology in the classroom will help students to stay engaged.

Studies revealed that the students were more productive when mobile devices like smartphones and tablets were used as learning tools.

So, it only makes sense that teachers should use technology in the classroom to increase student engagement. Because that’s what today’s students want and use for learning.

6.  Creating New Opportunities

We already mentioned using technology to increase student engagement, but that’s not sufficient. Educators need to enhance their students learning experiences and create new opportunities.

One great way to do that is by combining newer technological innovations like VR (virtual reality) with traditional classroom lessons.

7. The Key to Success – Staying Updated!

Let’s be honest, the information in textbooks isn’t up to date. Using mobile technology in classes will enable students to access up-to-date information about their subject areas quicker and easier.

Otherwise, the students will lag behind. Furthermore, the ones who can adapt to the changing scenario can have a better future. 

8.  Teachers Playing More Important Roles

This one is a no-brainer—the traditional system of teaching no longer work like it used to. The old teaching model is passive and broken. The teacher has to perform multiple roles such as a coach, an encourager, and an adviser.

Yes, we need the teachers to be the new Superhero! And, better technology in the classroom may help a teacher to be one.

9.  Growing as Better Individuals

It may sound a little far-fetched to some teachers. But technology helps students to become more responsible individuals.  Using the school’s devices or using their own devices for education makes students improve their decision-making skills.

Taking ownership of often expensive devices and using them correctly and properly makes them more responsible.

10. More Creativity

Using technology in education increases future career opportunities for students. Students can learn anything. from learning technical skills like programming to humane skills like leadership.

Of course, the technology harnesses the students’ ability to be more connected and be more creative.

Final Thoughts

We think you are now well aware of how technology can be the biggest player in education. It increases the overall engagement, productivity, and creativity of a student. Besides, it would prepare them for future career opportunities at the same time. 

If the teachers and educators still debate about introducing technology in the classroom, it’s unfortunate!

SpellQuiz thrives to promote a better learning environment, especially for English spelling and vocabulary build-up. 

Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today! This game works like a charm for those who are looking for a great way to practice 9th grade vocabulary words or 10th grade vocabulary words. 

Also, try this online vocabulary test to understand your current skill level! Try these spelling tests to master English spelling! Also, we have a complete list of the common list of spelling words that occur most frequently. 

Tests can be a bit challenging. There are a lot of consequences that come into failing them. Some major tests like the SATs or your final exams are life-changing, which means that a pass, a fail, or a high score can mean different results that will obviously affect your future. But it doesn’t end there, some are desperately trying to find effective study tips in college too! It’s not rocket science that you need some effective study tips to ace those crucial exams that have been bothering you.

Obviously, before you take a test, you should make sure that you prepare sufficiently. Consider that the study tip no.1!

Is There any Bullet-Proof Method for Preparing for Exams?

Studying is something that should be considered as a habit for students. Each one of us has different study methods, though, which is unfortunate. This means that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to learning your lessons. In other words, some study tips might work for you but may not work for someone else. There are lots of study methods that you can try and experiment with.

We thrive in different environments, and it is quite hard to learn in a setting where you are not comfortable. You need to find out whether you are in an optimal condition to learn or not. It is also quite difficult to stay motivated during Exams week, given that there is too much stress involved together with being tired of other daily activities.

We all thrive in different environments, and that’s the reason why students use different methods when it comes to studying for exams. It’s also hard to stay motivated during Finals week comes, especially when we are all tired and sleepy from the daily grind.

To help you, here are some study tips for finals that might help you score higher on your exams.

8 Effective Study Tips that You Can Count On!

1. Ease Up: Take Breaks Periodically

Your brain needs some tender loving care. The more exhausted it is the day of your exam, the poorer it will function. Make sure that you take regular breaks as this will ensure that your brain is at its tip-top shape. For every hour of intense studying, do a 5-minute walk. Anything that will get you out of your study corner.

Some students might ignore it but this is the most important study tips of all. 

2. Form Up Study Groups

Have you ever felt overwhelmed while completing the whole syllabus? Don’t worry that is quite common!

So, what should you do?

A group environment has been found to help students get into a great studying groove. Set up a study group with your classmates and a group of friends. Your friends may also have notes that you do not have. Being in a group setting will help you trade notes and lectures so you all can be prepared. Skipping class is unavoidable, and during your absence, you will most likely miss out on a few key points.

Just be warned that you might get too comfortable with your friends and just hang out instead of study. I recommend going to a study place like a library so you can focus.

Another fun idea you can do with your friend is to quiz each other and hold word games, for example. This helps you learn while also allowing you to spend quality time with your friends.

3. Take Help from the Internet

As a student, you should know that the internet is your friend. It is filled with information. If there is a lesson or a subject that you did not understand, it takes only a fraction of a second to search for it with Google.

There are also a lot of free online resources available for you, such as online courses and video documentaries which you can use to learn more about your subject.

4. Charge Up Your Brain: Drink Caffeine!

Coffee is a student’s best friend. When you are studying, you would need some coffee to wake up, especially on late nights when you’re up spending hours on a project or a paper.

Aside from waking you up, the research found that drinks rich in caffeine such as coffee and tea help keep your mind alert and susceptible to receive information.

5. Omega-3 Fatty Acids – Your Brain Booster!

Your anxiety levels during exams are sky-high. By ingesting food that is rich with Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids will help reduce your anxiety and help you answer the exams perfectly.

Fish, Nuts, and Olive Oil are rich with Omega-3 fatty acids, which are known for their brain-boosting potential.

6. Use Visual Aids for Better Concentration

When you make visual aids like charts and diagrams to help you learn, you are also going through your coursework and learning whatever lesson you need to learn. You can consolidate all your notes into outlines so you can revise them regularly. It would help you concentrate better.

Images are much easier to recall than just plain words. This way, you can recall everything you need to know during the exam.

7. Take a Step Back: Practice Previous Questions

Practicing on previous exams given out by the same professor would be beneficial for you as it would give you some insights on what your professor tends to favor in terms of questioning methods and important lessons.

Make the best of being friends with your seniors and ask them for tips on how to ace your exams. Practice makes perfect, and this holds true with tests. When you answer exams, you also go through the process of answering. You can even make it much better by adding time pressure so you can get used to it.

It doesn’t matter whether you are looking for study tips for college or study tips for high school, or even middle school. This approach will give you an immense advantage.

8. Discover New Learning Styles

Okay, time for the last study tips. There are many ways that you can learn. Your brain receives information through different means, which means that there are many ways that you can learn. Some find auditory learning effective while others work better with visual learning. Others even find kinesthetic learning as the most effective study method for them.

If you are a homeschooler, trying out new methods will help you diversify your learning approach.

Auditory learning is processing information quickly through their hearing. Reading notes aloud and discussing them with a group of friends is one of the best ways to go through with auditory education. Everyone’s phonemic awareness, for example, is learned through auditory learning.

On the other hand, visual learners are people who learn faster with visual aids and reading. Recording your lectures will also help you learn. Reading your notes and creating visual graphs and charts will help you retain all the information you need to ace your test.

Drawing diagrams of your lessons will aid you in remembering key points that are important to get the highest mark possible. This works like charm if you are looking for best study tips for visual learners.

Kinesthetic learning is a new method. Role-playing or building models is one way to retain the course lessons that you need to learn.

Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today! This game features words coming from the spelling bee list!

Also, try this english vocabulary quiz to understand your current skill level! Try these spelling tests to master English spelling! Also, don’t forget to check the complete list of sight words for mastering spelling words by grade. 

Education is the most important civic right of a human being. We have no doubt about it. But throughout the last few decades, we have seen a lot of questions regarding the way we receive the education. Currently, we have a system that tries to educate all children uniformly. Though, we know that every single human mind is different and unique, we use the same pattern to educate all and expect things to change. It’s time we used a different approach – personalized learning!

Have you heard of the example of the fish? It goes like this – our education system tries to educate and assess a fish, then judges its capability of flying! Everybody has to read the same book and cover the same curriculum. But is it fair to the students?

It is quite normal for the kids to have a potential for a particular thing or topic. What our system does is shave out the potentials and make them general pawns in the skill game.

It’s time we put some deep thought to our education system and make a custom solution to the problem. The future is going to be very different. The only thing that will matter will be skill – nothing else!

Most of the jobs we think to be glorifying today might go extinct tomorrow. You might say that the education system depends on the qualification of the teachers and my children don’t have the best teachers in the world. One of the biggest boons that technology has blessed us with is seamless communication. That means we could use this very technology to learn from the best of the best teachers around the world.

That was a big opening speech! The point I am trying to make for so long is – we have the option open now finally. We can give our child the quality of education that we dreamt of all our life long.

Today, I am going to tell you about this alternative way of learning and how your child might get started.

Brace yourselves; this is going to be a long read! But let me assure you, the personalized learning approach might change the future of your child and might make him or her perfectly ready for the future coming ahead.

So, let’s get started, shall we?

Table of Contents

The Skill Game: What Tomorrow Offers?

What is Personalized Learning? The Detailed Version

Why Consider Personalized Learning?

Steps to Implement Personalized Learning

Can Personalized Learning Meet Traditional Educational Goals?

A Technology-based Model to Improve Teaching Quality

Personalized Learning in the Classroom

Technological Tools Suitable for Personalized Learning

Helping the Struggling Students: How Can Personalized Learning Help?

Revolutionizing Teaching Models with Personalized Learning

Devices and Services to Accompany Personalized Learning

Final Thoughts

The Skill Game: What Tomorrow Offers?

Are We Skilled Enough?

Have you ever thought- How good our current education system is? Or is a university degree the only parameter to have a successful career?

First things first, education and career are completely two different concepts. But these two concepts are strongly co-related. Even in some point of views, you might say that a good educational background is a prerequisite to a good career.

For example, if someone wants to be a doctor or an engineer, he or she has to complete at least an MBBS or Bachelors’ degree in Engineering. Or maybe someone wants to be a lawyer; it is mandatory to complete at least the LLB degree. So, you see, education is very important to have a sound career plan.

But we have forgotten an important parameter – this example is true for this era only. Such degrees were invalid in 300-400 years ago. So, will it be important in the future?

The Professions of the Future!

Researchers think the future will be very different from now and technology will play a big role to change it. If you are well aware of the Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning, then you will know that Artificial Intelligence or in simple words robots will do most of the jobs humans do now.

A well-made robot could perform even more precise operation than most qualified doctor now. A robot can make more logical reasoning to win you a lawsuit. The same kind of example can be said for most of the prestigious professions too.

So, it is obvious that humans need to harness more skills and on more unique fields that can be done by a human only.

It’s needless to say that mere cramming, doing repeated tasks, and performing petty jobs will not be enough to cope up with the future.

We need to harness skills like communication excellence, team-playing, critical problem solving, creative thinking, innovation, digital excellence, and adaptability.

Such skills cannot be taught using the education system we already have. We need to evolve, and our education system has to evolve as well.

Personalized Learning: The Kind of Learning We Deserve!

Now imagine an education system where the learners take complete ownership of what they want to learn, where they want, and when they want! We might not realize this – but we are actually practicing personalized learning every day in our life now.

Don’t you believe me? Tell me the exact height of the Eiffel Tower. Some of you can tell me right away that the height is 324 meters. But others need to look at a search engine to answer my question, right?

That means, you faced a situation and decided to learn the answer on your own using your smartphone or a computer, from wherever you are, whenever you want.

Personalized learning is almost the same, well, at least it has the same basic concept. There are so many resources available online now that anyone with a suitable device and an internet connection can learn anything.

In this system, a learner takes complete ownership of his or her education making their skills more diverse and unique – more human!

So, doesn’t this system have teachers? Well, of course, there are teachers. You cannot expect to learn if you don’t have someone to teach you. But the system is diverse, and teachers create different learning environments and path to learning new things.

You seem too worried! Don’t worry; I am here. I will guide you to adopt a systematic way to educate your child using personalized learning.

What is Personalized Learning? The Detailed Version

So, I have told you guys already about the future and how to dominate it with differential skillsets. But the big question is how your child can harness the skillsets?

From centuries on we have been educated with the method “one size fits all.” But does actually one size fits all?

One of the best weapons to break the stereotypical ideology is Personalized Learning. So, what kind of education or learning process can be characterized as it?

Many educators and organizations have tried to define the system lately. I think the US Department of Education has come closest to define the system properly. According to them, the Personalized Learning definition would be –

“Personalized learning refers to instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each learner. Learning objectives, instructional approaches, and instructional content (and its sequencing) may all vary based on learner needs. In addition, learning activities are made available that are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests and often self-initiated.”

Modern Approaches to Learning

Although, we think that the system has a close tie to these three terms – personalization, differentiation, and individualization. One might easily confuse these three.

In simple words, personalization is a tailored system where learning needs and preferences tailored to different learners. A learner has a complete independence over what topics or skills he or she wants to harness. You could call it a self-directing learning approach.

In the differentiation approach, a teacher provides differentiated instruction to the different groups of students. Here, a teacher has the authority to teach a different group of learners that suits the need of the group. In short, it’s a group approach.

And lastly, in individualization, a teacher tries to educate an individual student so that his or her skills can thrive. The teacher sets the pace, goals, and curriculum for the individual learner. Still, the teacher is at the seat of the key driver in this method.

So, I think you can easily assess how personalization is different from the other two. If you want to be even clearer, in personalization, the learner has the complete authority over what he or she wants to learn about. Other methods have the teachers to do that for the learners.

Personalized vs. Adaptive vs. Competency-based Learning

There is another popular method of learning emerging these days – adaptive learning. Adaptive learning is a completely technology-driven method to assign a human being based on their needs.

Are you getting more confused? Yes, adaptive learning is almost similar to personalized learning. But there is a key difference between them. In adaptive learning, the technology is the driver whereas in personalized learning technology plays the role of the support.

On the other hand, the competency-based learning method tries to figure out the learning path based on the learner’s capability to demonstrate the skills and proper competence. Here, the learner will apply the adopted knowledge learned along to practical fields. This activity bolsters creativity in a learner.

All of these methods are some of the modern approaches that can change the way we have been educated, or our ancestors have gone through. It is time we used the technology to shape up the education system that flourishes our inner potentials.

Why Consider Personalized Learning?

Three things were always constant in traditional classrooms –

• The fixed syllabus
• Fixed duration of the semesters, classes and exams.
• Limited and predetermined resources, i.e. books, notes, etc.

All of the above elements try to equalize the students. There is very little or no room for creativity. Think of a kid who has the potential to be a magnificent poet or a writer. There is a possibility that he or she might not be good with math or physics. But our education system will label the student as a failure.

I have listed out some of the critical reasons that should make the parents rethink about their kids’ education method. Check them out –

A Dynamic Learning Environment

Every student has a different knowledge base or learning rate – you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know this simple truth. Typical old generation educators just didn’t agree to give different time to teach each student.

Luckily the modern educators strongly disagree with the traditional classroom model. They believe one-to-one or 1:1 teaching strategy is much more practical and effective for a student to truly grow.

Not only that but also this begets dynamic environment in the classroom. With just a little help from the technological tools, we can empower the students and make them their own driver of their education and future.

Settling off Competitions

This approach could also settle off the unhealthy competition among the pupils and diminish the difference between them as they would dwell in and competition-free environment.

I think you can relate to this fact you might have been pushed by your parents too for a better grade. We have also seen countless examples of a child committing suicide as he or she cannot take the pressure anymore.

Academic pressure is one of the main reasons for suicides and attempted suicide among teens. This is a crisis especially in Asian countries like in India, Korea, Japan, etc.

So, why should we make the lives of our kids miserable and make their life a living hell?

Suitable for Gifted Children

Weaker or the gifted children will stop feeling shallow as they don’t have to match the standard and have ample time to learn what actually want to learn.

For example, a dyslexic child faces a lot of problems in reading texts. So, it’s only natural that they would need more time than an average child to learn or master a topic. With personalized learning, they can learn without any pressure at their own speed.

Collaborative Learning Environment

As I have said earlier, team-playing is a vital skill for a person in this and the upcoming era. Technology can help one to collaborate with another person breaking the boundary of a classroom. Personalized learning encourages an individual to work with another. So, we can easily conclude that this method will cultivate collaboration among learners.

Real Lessons Rather than Cramming

Naturally, a learner will choose the topics that interests him or her that have a direct or indirect impact in the real world. Moreover, we can assume that the learning activities will be authentic and connected to real-world activities.

On the other hand, the traditional learning approach covers up a common curriculum. So, we have seen them learning a lot of lessons that has zero or little impact in real life. Cramming up answers of the some “important” questions before the exam day is a common scenario.

So, we can say that personalized learning can make studies more important and effective.

Coaches Rather than Teachers

In the personalized learning approach, a teacher plays the role of the facilitators or coaches. Actually, they don’t directly teach them things rather guides the learners to achieve their personal goals.

So, you see, a learner can learn way more and better and have an open view towards the world as the learning process will be so diverse.

More Independence!

A learner has complete control over their syllabus or curriculum, whichever you prefer to call it. Such independence cultivates some of the important traits in a learner. For example, a learner practices critical thinking, creativity, and self-efficiency while selecting the topics and he or she might not even notice it!

Such independence makes a person stronger and helps him or her to make real-life decisions more efficiently and effectively.

On the Driver’s Seat!

A student has to take some of the critical decisions like – what to study, how to study, and how to study. Such activities make them more pro-active about decision making. When someone feels that he or she has total control over their life they tend to put more effort into a task.

It would most certainly motivate them to study. We know that a child has little attention to their studies as they don’t feel like reading the topics that don’t attract them. If we can change the situation and let them choose the topic that interests them, they will most likely study them wholeheartedly.

The good news is the personalized learning will allow them to do so.

Better Assessment

Teachers and parents sometimes find it really hard to identify the reason behind a child to fail or get bad grades. Finding the core reason such issues is really a tough nut to crack.

Personalized learning embodies technological help. With various progress report and analyzing study patterns of a learner, the teachers and parents can address the weakness and the strengths effectively.

Such reports could help a teacher to re-shape the study pattern of a particular learner. Such assessments are way more effective than the exams we have now.

Moreover, the demonstration of skills could have various forms than some written exams. Not only it opens the door for a better assessment, but it will replace the obsolete exam methods.

I am calling the exams obsolete as it creates unnecessary pressure on a learner that hinders the process of learning!

So, I think we are now on the page that personalized learning can eradicate all the negativity that our traditional education system had! But is our current world ready for the change? I am going to answer all of the questions, hold your horses!

Steps to Implement Personalized Learning

So, now you know what personalized learning is and why should one consider it. But how can a student get into the ecosystem of personalized learning? Over the years, researchers have tried to find a proper guideline that would help a student to get into the system of personalized learning.

Well, the transition will not be a simple one as a student will have forfeit the traditional approach and adapt to the newer method. So, rather than jumping into the new approach it better to adjust to the system step-by-step.

So, now I will discuss the six-stage inauguration approach to personalized learning.

Stage 1: Identify the Learners and Assess Their Capabilities

Before jumping into the practice to personalized learning, the teacher or the mentor should understand the learners and their capabilities well. This stage is crucial as this assessment will allow the mentor to come up with a personalized learning plan and execute the approaches better.

So how could the mentor know the learners and their abilities? There is a method to identify the learners, and it is widely accepted – Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. The UDL principles try to understand the inner strengths, weaknesses, challenges, aptitudes, talents, and interests. You could call it a SWOT analysis for the students.

The initial goal of UDL principles was to provide a better learning experience for gifted children. But the method is really effective in more cases.

In this method, the mentor will create profiles for individual learners. The mention will try to find out three answers in the following terms –

• Access – How the learner accesses information or how to make him or her understand a topic?
• Engage – How the learner engages with the learning materials?
• Express – How the learner expresses the learned materials?

Based on the answers, the mentor will create a chart where he or she will try to identify these parameters –

• Strengths
• Interests
• Challenges
• Talents
• Aptitude
• Aspirations

Stage 2: Creating Custom Learning Environments

After identifying the needs of the learners, the mentor will try to create a learning environment. The learning environment will be suitable for each individual student but there will some form of scope for collaboration and team-playing.

The mentor could change the arrangement of the classroom. A good way could be the removal of the desks and chairs and creating different zones. There could zones for boosting creativity, thinking and self-exploration, experiment conducting zone, presentation zone, and so on.

My suggestion for the teachers would be to be creative and design the personalized learning classroom in a way that inspires the learners to learn new things every moment.

There can be posters that motivate and a wall for showcasing creating through painting. The bottom line is that the environment should be vibrant and lively. Of course, there should be a Wi-Fi connection so that students can connect to the internet whenever they wish. The door to knowledge should always be open.

Stage 3: Develop Individual Goals and Lesson Plans

Now, the students are ready to learn as they have a suitable personalized learning environment. But should the mentor choose a learning method that is more “one-size-fits-all?” Of course not! The primary assessment will come handy now. The teacher will try to work on the weaknesses as well as on the strengths of the students.

The mentor can choose different practical tasks (individual and group) that will try to help the students to overcome the weaknesses and improve the strengths. But at the same time, the mentor should keep in mind that at the end of a certain time frame, the whole class should achieve the benchmark of knowledge that makes them qualified to go through the next class or phase.

Moreover, the learning material should be relevant to the age of the learners. The mentor cannot expect a third grader to excel topics that are suitable for a tenth grader. I have discussed a model, SAMR in the later part of this article. A mentor can follow that strategy. It would be really effective. 

Stage 4: Ask the Students to Drive Deeper and Create a Strong Sense of Humanity

Throughout the whole lesson, the mentor should teach them to think more humanely. As the students are going deeper into the world of infinite knowledge, they should build a strong sense of right and wrong.

This is very crucial. Knowledge is a powerful tool. If one uses the knowledge for the good of humanity, it’s a boon. On the other hand, if a student uses this knowledge for destruction, chaos would destroy everything.

So, it is mandatory to teach them about wrong and right and make them more humane.

Moreover, the mentor should ask the students to go even deeper and seek more knowledge. Knowledge is like the infinite ocean. There is no end to it. It is the responsibility of the teachers to make them ever-thirsty for knowledge.

Stage 5:  Help the Students to Choose Proper Learning Tools and Strategies

Students are like unmolded clay; you can shape them into anything! It is quite normal for the kids to be unfamiliar with the technological tools and proper personalized learning strategies. The mentor should help them follow a path that would bring better results. For example, the mentor would suggest which websites to follow, which device to use, how to create a project, answer the relevant question, and so on.

This stage requires a lot from the mentors. The learners have all the power, but the mentor will teach them to wield power. Moreover, the mentor should be updated with newer technologies and tools at the same time. The whole system is advanced and updated; there is no scope for the mentor to be backdated in any way.

Stage 6: Assessment as Learning

I have always believed that exams are the most demoralizing aspect of traditional learning. There is no way that some exams for a few hours can determine the excellence of a student.

The ability of a student depends on how fast he or she can fill up some circle of MCQs – this is funny and quite sad at the same time!

Personalized learning enables a student to choose the topics that interests him or her. It is a more self-directed approach. So, the assessments should be different from the traditional written exams. Rather, the mentors should see if a student is actually learning.

How could they do it? They can check the progress or track the students using various tracking tools. The student can be asked to create a film on a topic with his or her peer. The mentor should be creative about it.

After the mentors have assessed the learners, the learners can use the assessment to know the sectors they are lacking. They can work in the sectors they are weak or learn the things they loved. That’s the beauty of personalized learning.

 

So, this is a step-by-step approach to how a student could get familiar with this format of learning. There are other great methods too.

Can Personalized Learning Meet Traditional Educational Goals?

No matter how obsolete or backdated we call our traditional education system, it had some effective goals too. If we want to create a better educational system, we must pay heed to the former goals as well. Otherwise, we have to call the personalized learning approach to be obsolete as well in the near future.

If we want to impose this new education system, it would most likely cost a lot of money. The reasons are quite simple. Reshaping the classrooms, purchasing the technological tools, training the teachers are not just a few dollars more, it’s a gigantic costing!

But the schools are constantly facing pressure to meet the standards. Maybe that’s why the US Department of Education came up with a new plan in 2010. They are calling it the National Educational Technology Plan 2010 under the title of “Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology.”

The plan suggests implementing technology to teach and assess the students. In their words, it would be “pivotal in improving student learning and generating data.”

Apart from the governmental approach, three organizations – Greaves Group, Hayes Connection, and One-to-One Institute initiated a program naming Project RED. Project RED stands for Revolutionizing Education.

Their study and analysis concluded that the kind of investment that I have talked earlier about has a significant ROI rate if implemented effectively.

You must have noticed that I have used the term “if implemented effectively.” So, how can we make sure of it?

Well, the following model could come in handy!

A Technology-based Model to Improve Teaching Quality

There is no doubt that the teachers have changed their way of teaching the students if they want to impose this technology-based one-to-one learning approach. Not only it will change the quality of the system but also the teachers can help to implement the system more effectively.

Dr. Ruben R. Puentedura suggested a brilliant personalized learning model that could change the way the teachers have been teaching the students from the beginning of the education system. The model is better known as SAMR.

SAMR model has four stages –

• Substitution
• Augmentation
• Modification
• Redefinition

The SAMR model works like a ladder to teaching quality improvement. What this model tries to accomplish is to implement technologies in the traditional approach. This is a step by step process, and at the highest level in the Redefinition stage, the students will eventually see drastic changes in how they are learning a new thing more efficiently.

This will change the overall result of the teaching quality, and the teachers will soon notice the change in the grades of the students than before.

So, let’s dive deeper into the model, shall we?

Substitution

At the first stage of SAMR, the teachers will use the technologies to do the same tasks they used to do before using the traditional system. For example, if a history teacher is teaching about World War I or II, instead of just telling the students about the incidents, they would show them videos. A student could use word processors to do homework rather than handwriting them. Apart from reading the textbooks, the student would research on the internet about a particular mathematical problem.

The idea is to do the same tasks with just some minor use of technological tools. You could think of it as a blending process of the traditional system and the modern approach that teachers are planning to impose eventually.

Augmentation

After the successful implementation of the Substitution, the teachers will slowly introduce Augmentation. In this stage, the students will enhance or improvise the traditional activities. You could call it a continuation of the previous method.

In this phase, a student would take part in online quizzes, rather than giving them in the earlier fashion. They can receive immediate results of such quizzes and check the mistakes and reflect immediately.

In the previous stage, the teachers used to show them videos on a giant screen in the classroom, and now they would watch that video on their mobile phones. The teacher can later check that is a student has actually seen the video or not or even skipped it!

In the substitution stage they used word processors only, they can be introduced to spell checkers and how they can use the graphical tools as well.

As I have said earlier, Augmentation is a continual process of the Substitution process.

Modification

 At the Modification stage, things will change drastically. By this time the students are now comfortable using various technologies for their studies. Now, the teacher will try to introduce personalized learning in a tiny bit.

The teacher can hand over project-based tasks to the students. A student will be asked to work on his or her particular project. But they will not do them as a solo project! They will team up some of the peers across the country who are interested in doing the same project.

Instead of working face-to-face, they would use various communication tools such as Skype, e-mails, Facebook, or any other instant messenger of their own choice.

This will bolster their communication skills and group performance even if their team member lives a thousand miles away!

Redefinition

Redefinition is the final stage of SAMR. In this stage, the various learning experience will become impossible to perform without technological tools.

For example, a student will create videos or podcasts on a local historic area and share the video live using YouTube or Facebook to other students living in different cities. The students from other schools can interact live with him or her.

This is just a simple example. A teacher can guide the student to perform various other tasks that would be impossible to perform without a mobile device. Moreover, all the tasks will differ from student to student as each student has different strengths, weaknesses, and personal preferences.

A teacher can help a student to collaborate with other students having a similar mentality. This will also create a scope for peer mentorship as a student learn so much from other students.

Personalized Learning in the Classroom

Some of you might think that personalized learning will eventually eradicate the classrooms. But actually, no, personalized learning will just improve the quality of learning and change the classroom environment.

Changing the classroom environment doesn’t necessarily mean that it would remove the classrooms from the system. As you have seen in the previous section, the SAMR model embodies the teachers and classrooms. The teachers will not be the same kind of teachers as before; they will become guides or mentors.

Technology will play a big role to create an atmosphere where the students will collaborate with others, use software every now and then, and start to learn through experiences. You could think of the new format of education as more interactive and content based.

Think of this example for a second, in the traditional classrooms; there are two sources of knowledge – the teachers and the textbooks. These are the only two sources of knowledge. You could easily say that the sources of the knowledge are too narrow and adverse to the broader perspective.

So, how the scene changes now? Think of a classroom where the teachers teach the students showing vlogs or other videos found online. The main source of the educational videos could be YouTube or some other profound educational websites. Or take a moment and think of the students learning from the various blogs rather than only depending on the textbooks they were provided.  

Wait, let me give out some points that would clarify the situation –

• The Blog Publishing Platforms

In the traditional style, students would use notebooks to take down the notes. Well, a human brain can only perform one task at a time. If someone says that they are very good at multitasking, they are just doing one task at a time but very quickly rotating between the tasks. So, it is quite impossible to pay heed to the lecture or understand a topic and take down notes at the same time.

A student can make a video of the lecture, make illustrations of the lectures and add notes. This could be a perfect note to clear a topic. The students could use blog publishing tools like WordPress to create such notes. Moreover, other students can follow the contents and learn even effectively. Other tools like NoteStar could do the same too.

• Surveys Made Easier

A student is asked many times to work on surveys. A survey helps a student to understand what common people think on various issues. It enables the students to understand the varying opinions of the population. The traditional method suggests a student roam door to door asking people to fill out a survey form. This could be tiring and time-consuming at the same time.

But if a student uses online survey forms, he or she easily get the same result spending a lot less time. Online tools like SurveyMonkey could be a useful tool here in this scenario.

• Tracking the Progress

What if a teacher could create online lessons and keep track of the students’ progress using simple tools. Well, there are a number of tools available online for the teachers to do so now. For example, TrackStar is an online tool where teachers could create interactive study materials and online lessons. The tool also enables the teachers to track the progress a student makes.

What if we use such progress tracking tools rather than making the students go through the fearsome exams? Food for people, food for thought!

• Tools to Brainstorm

Brainstorming is considered one of the most critical skills that the skill-hunters seek these days. Brainstorming also has a close tie to other useful skill such as critical thinking, pressure handling, quick decision making, and creativity.

Now students can use online tools like ThinkTank to brainstorm and organize their research ideas.

When students are allowed to use online tools, a boundary breaks – the boundary of limitations. We have asked the students for too long to limit their imagination and thoughts. I believe this is the most destructive limitation we have set for the youngsters. Imagination is the most important skill a student needs and with the more modern tools they can truly dive into their world of imagination.

The best thing about personalized learning is the customization. Students can decide what they want to study and the teachers can set up different approaches for different students. The monotonous classrooms will shed off the gloomy colors if we could introduce technology in the classrooms rather than prohibiting the usage.

Technological Tools Suitable for Personalized Learning

By this time a common question should pop into your minds – “How various technological tools help personalized learning?” Well, I have decided to divide all the technological tools into five major categories –

1. Literacy Resources
2. Digital Information Resources
3. Web Tools
4. Social Networking Websites
5. Learning Management Systems

Now, let me explain how these five types of technological tools will help the students to meet up all the necessities.

Literacy Resources

Examples: e-books, blogs, forums, and journals.

You could say this is the oldest method of learning any new topic. The reason is quite simple, here, a student will read about various topics. The main difference is that compared to the traditional style, a student will have much wider resources. Earlier, a student had only one source for learning new material – their textbooks. Now, a student could read opinions from real people from all over the world.

There are two main impacts – one, a student can study newer material and choose which writer soothe their taste. Two, the versatile opinions from people all around the world will broaden their mind.

Certain other technological tools will come to play at the same time – text-to-speech or virtual assistants will become tools that a student will use more frequently.

Consider this example to analyze the impact of wider literacy resources. Suppose, a teacher asked his or her students to complete an essay on “Impact of Globalization on International Trading.”

As you can see that the topic is quite broad and writing an essay on this topic could have multiple angles. The growth of knowledge would be much more diverse than the typical approach.

When the world of free knowledge is open to the students, they can delve into knowing new things every day and enrich their minds to newer possibilities.

Digital Information Resources

Examples: Encyclopedia websites, search engines, podcasts, expert websites, and media websites.

With search engines being sophisticated, we can know a new topic just with a single click. Suppose, someone asked the meaning of the word “Trypophobia.” It is quite common for a person not to know the meaning of the word. So, what is a quick solution? “Just Google it!” Yes, this is one of the most common phrases one hears after asking a difficult question.

As I have said, one can know the meaning of the word Trypophobia just by searching the meaning.

Similarly, various other digital information resources can answer any question that might be bothering you. Acquiring knowledge is easier than ever with the blessing of technology. Web research is one of the most sought-after skill these days on various freelance platforms as well.

With these tools becoming handy, the teachers could try teaching the students how to use them even more efficiently.

Web Tools

Examples: YouTube videos, podcasts, wikis, media creators, and aggregators.

The demonstration of the learning is a crucial factor. Nowadays, only learning a new thing is as important as showing that someone knows it. Being proactive is not just another option now, people who want to excel in their career path has to be proactive.

Using these tools will enable a student to show or demonstrate their knowledge to others. Skills like content creation and creativity get a positive boost. Motivating the audience and presentation skills also get positive feedback. Students can learn about these technologies in a more practical way.

Let me tell you a case study. A class in Duane Webb was asked to complete a project on the Cold War. The teacher told the class that they can use any media that they wish to use. Moreover, there were instructions suggesting the student to be creative with their presentation – display of collaboration, self-direction, and creativity were highly encouraged.

Trang, a Vietnamese student, created a self-directed video. He was still learning English and interviewed his neighbors, family members, and fellow students. Finally, he presented the video in English and made the class stunned.

Not only he created a creative video on the Cold War but also improved his English speaking.

This could be a perfect example of a student using the technology and newer techniques of study improve themselves and having fun at the same time.

Social Networking Websites

Examples: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Skype, WhatsApp, and Viber.

Communication is a basic human need. The human race lives in communities, and there are pretty rational reasons behind it – together we are stronger. Schools and educators often consider social media platforms to be a pure time killer.

Well, apparently, the impact is closely tied to the intention of the use. If one wishes to use the technology for the good, they can go beyond the limits. For example, consider Nas Daily. He is a Harvard graduate who instead of following the common path wanted to bring positive changes in his lives and all lives in this world.

If someone has a positive attitude and mindset, wonders can be created. The social networks can the students to cultivate co-operation among themselves and bolster team-playing characteristics.

Again, I am going to use a practical case study here. Donald is a high school student suffering from autism. He used Edmodo which is a social networking platform to connect with other students breaking the boundary of distance. Being an autistic child, he had problems communicating with others in the real world. But with the help of Edmodo, he overcame his fears and showed excellent socialization skills.

I can go pages after pages giving examples like Donald’s. But I think you get the gist.

Learning Management Systems

Examples: Limos LMS, TalentLMS, Docebo, eFront, eCoach, Canvas, etc.

Learning Management Systems or LMSs are helpful for both the teachers and the students. The teachers can make learning programs, communicate with the students, monitor their progress, and communicate with the parents all at the same time.

Such management platforms are like a one-stop solution to a lot of problems. Students could use such LMS platforms to educate themselves and be more organized about their studies. One thing for sure, learning in an organized manner helps a student to reach his or her goal more than choosing a random fashion.

Helping Struggling Students: How Can Personalized Learning Help?

I have been discussing the impact of personalized learning on the students who comparatively are more active in the classes from the very beginning. It’s time I discuss the students who struggle to manage good grades or may be gifted.

Personalized learning is not just suitable for those who are proactive in school o wishes to do well in the class. There are students who find it a bit hard to keep up with pace like their peer.

So, I will divide these students into two groups –

• At-Risk Students
• Children with Learning Disabilities

 At-Risk Students

One thing is for sure, the students who lag behind their peer finds the school or study as the most frustrating or spirit-killing place on the earth. Who is to blame for this? I think, all the kids are born talented, but the education system labeled them as failures!

It’s quite normal that not all the students will learn at the same pace. Some will fall behind. So, what do we do with them? We give a tag of failure. How demoralizing!? When a student fails a couple of times in the initial phase, he or she gets for demoralized that they start to believe that they are not capable!

Personalized learning focuses on creating newer ways of learning, customized for individuals.

So, how does it help an at-risk student?

First of all, a student is learning using different methods, not with chalks and dusters anymore. They are assessed by creating films, or blogs or any other media oriented presentation. Students will not just pass the exams based on the black and white written exams. So, a different approach of showing competency might increase the interest in them.

Second of all, a teacher can monitor the progress of each student using various tracking tools. So, if a student is falling behind, the teacher could set different method to educate the child.

Third of all, the assessment of the learning progress depends on multiple factors. You can consider, team-work, creativity, leadership to be even more important skills than before. 

Children with Learning Disabilities

Let’s start with a statistical fact, roughly, 186 million students cannot complete their primary school as they suffer from disabilities like dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, or DCD. This huge number of special children cannot continue their education as the current system doesn’t seem as fit as the others. This is really shameful as students with disabilities have an equal right to educate themselves.

One of the man reasons behind such occasion is that the students don’t feel emotionally weak as they think that everyone is judging them. The sad truth is – others do judge them.

In some cases, they are badly bullied while in other cases, they are heavily mocked by their peer as well as their teacher. Such demotivating acts make them feel shallow, and eventually, they drop out.

With the new technology-driven personalized learning they can keep on moving in their own pace and never feel competitive. The last thing you want to put a gifted child to go through is competition. To more competition they feel the lesser they feel about themselves.

With personalized learning, the gifted child can learn about the things that make them interested. The special teachers can guide them in a better way. Moreover, they can finally live in the education world where they don’t feel like being in a race.

They can also enroll in the special study courses that are designed differently from ordinary ones. Finally, we can educate them by only teaching them and not by judging their capability to compete with others.

Revolutionizing Teaching Models with Personalized Learning

For years, we have been educating our young generation is a “one-size-fits-all” way. There are a lot of newer models of teaching invented in the past couple of years. Such new models could impact the way we have been educating the children.

For years, we have prohibited the students from using technological tools in the classroom. The reason is quite simple; we thought that these technological devices would be “distracting.” Or maybe we haven’t understood that a mobile device could be much more than a child’s plaything.

I would say that it was our lack of knowledge and failure to seek the bigger picture. Technology could be our best friend when comes to educating while we thought it would be the thing hindering the progress.

Don Knezek, the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) told us differently ten years ago in 2008. He said that integration and implementation of technology in education would beget positive impact on student achievement. 

If we can collaborate with the technology and tweak our teaching approaches, wonders can happen. It will not only make the students more skillful but also can enhance the bonding between the teachers and the students. Rather than being specialized mentors on a particular subject, the teachers can truly play the character of an advisor, guide, content expert, life coach.

So, now I am going to discuss four technology-based teaching model that can revolutionize the teaching –

• Blended Learning
• Flipped Learning
• Online Learning and
• Mobile Learning

Blended Learning

Blended learning is an approach where the online learning and traditional face-to-face learning reside side by side. For example, a teacher would teach the class about a particular topic in the classroom. This part of education would act as an initiation. After students have learned the basics, they would research the topic online and explore on their own.

This approach is more controlled than a completely technology depended on learning method. At the same time, it is much faster paced than the traditional approach.

The blended learning approach is quite effective as the face-to-face learning approach bolsters the brainstorming skills and idea-sharing. Moreover, the online learning section helps a student to be more thoughtful and exploration.

The online learning part is not dependent on being in a classroom. Students could do such online learning even on the go. Only a good internet connection and a device to connect to the internet is enough to indulge in such activity.

The “blended” approach helps both the teachers and the students. Each student can move in their own speed and work on their individual strengths and weaknesses. Crucial skills like deep-thinking, communication, collaboration, and exploration get cultivated.

On the other hand, the teachers can plenty of time to plan ahead and monitor the progress of the students with proper care. A teacher can assess the learning approaches and tweak it according to the demand of the pupils.

Flipped Learning

Flipped learning, as the name suggests is quite the opposite to the traditional method of learning. In a more common scenario, a student comes unprepared in the class, and the teacher teaches them about unknown topics.

In the flipped learning environment, each student is expected to have personal computers in their home. All the students join a personalized learning network where they can find the study materials needed to complete the syllabus – a video, e-books, or other media contents. They go through these study materials before attending the class.

In the classroom, the teacher answers the questions the students have in their mind. You could call it a reactive method. A teacher’s role is to guide the students only and help them to overcome the confusions they have in their mind.

So, why is this method effective? Well, students can save their time taking notes and don’t have to keep up with group pace. Instead, they can take their time and learn about the topics when they please and explore the ideas according to their wish. And if they have confusions and questions about the topics, the teachers will be there to solve the issues.

The brighter side of this method is a student has more independence and freedom. This method is not a modern one but an ancient one. Socrates, the famous philosopher, used this method to educate his followers. He only asked questions and told his followers to find the answers themselves.

Online Learning

You should have a clear idea about online learning at this time. Online learning completely ignores the necessity of physical classrooms. There are already a lot of online programs available. Even the mighty universities like Harvard and Yale have online courses offered to the students all over the world. The location of a student doesn’t matter in the case of online learning.

The study materials are available online – online lectures, tutorials, books, relevant videos, and everything you can imagine. With online learning, education becomes truly global and within everyone’s reach as it should be.

As time passes, the idea of complete online learning is getting more and more popular. A 2013 study, “Survey of Online Learning” discovered that about 7.1 million US students took online courses in fall 2012 alone. It is also a result of the blended learning environment. Students learned about a particular topic in the classroom and then decided to look even further and ended up taking online courses.

This also indicates that students are considering online learning more effective than learning in the classroom.

With proper guidance, the online learning approach might overthrow the traditional learning method in the coming years.

Mobile Learning

Mobile phones were considered the enemy of the students not so long ago. Teachers and parents saw these devices as the killer of their kids’ future and education. Well, every device has its own good and bad impacts. The effect depends on how people use it.

Today, almost every human being has a smartphone. It’s a necessity now, not a luxury anymore. Studies show that about 80% of teens all over the world own a smartphone. It’s the fastest moving technology the world has ever seen in terms of usage.

So, how can this device become the primary tool for education? It creates an opportunity for the students to learn on a new topic even on the go. Suppose, a student is taking a bus to the school and the way to the class they can check on the topics they are about to learn in the class that day. As I have said before, everything depends on the perspective on the user.

Mobile learning opens the door to newer possibilities. For example, a student can get study materials on his phone via the cloud service, take photos of the notes, share the notes to his or her peers, get reminders, skype with other classmates, join a webinar, get lessons, and many more.

The only limit to hold a student back is the imagination. Who said we need implanted technologies to become androids, we are already one!

Devices and Services to Accompany Personalized Learning

Which tools come to your mind when you are imagining the word – education? Pen and paper will obviously come to the mind, next come whiteboard, markers, chalks, and blackboards maybe. But these days we see devices to take the positions of the educational tools.

I have been saying in the whole article that technology is the main driver of personalized learning. But which of the technological tools come to play along with this learning approach? Moreover, are there any good services that can help the students?

Well, in this section I will try to list out all the possible devices and services that can help a student to learn on their own terms. Moreover, I shall try to describe how these devices can be of the use of the students.

Mobile Phones or Smartphones

Smartphones are now the most widely used electronic device in the world. At present, there are about 2.5 billion smartphone users that are about 36% of the total population. With this many people depending on these devices, can we call them a device of luxury? Moreover, people don’t only use the smartphones for convenience or communication – it has become a lifestyle.

Students can connect, surf websites, use educational apps, play constructive games, watch videos, read books, and what not? I believe, smartphones can be the strongest electronic device that can help flourish personalized learning. But one must remember, only the use of smartphones cannot be sufficient to meet all the needs of the students.

Pros: Handy, easier communication, simple, has a camera and video recording options, GPS and internet functionality.

Cons: Smaller display, can be distracting and out of control quite easily.

Laptops

Laptop PC is one of the most useful devices for the students. You can take these handy devices anywhere you want. Unlike smartphones and tablets, they can get works done! They have a much bigger screen than the other portable devices. The physical keyboard works perfectly when it comes to word processing. It obviously has more computational power than the others.

Students can plug it to the projectors instantly to showcase the projects and presentations. Laptops were born way earlier than smartphones, Chromebooks, tablets. That makes them more dependable. And to be frank, they are much sturdier than then newborn devices.

Overall, laptops are more essential mainly because of the wider functionality and offering diverse usage.

Pros: Bigger display, physical keyboard and touchpad, portability, more computational power, and diverse usage.

Cons: Heavier and bulkier compared to the newborn devices.

Tablet PC with Keyboard and Pen

Some of you might think that a tablet and a tablet PC is the same thing. Well, they look really similar but has some distinctive differences. For example, a tablet is run by mobile operating systems like Android or iOS. On the other hand, tablet PCs have desktop-based operating systems like Windows, Linux, or Mac. Moreover, a tablet PC comes with a keyboard and digital pen by default (in most cases). So, they are just PCs but has the portability of a tablet.

Considering the positive application, some of the schools have already decided to buy a tablet PC to enrich the multimedia system of the classrooms. I think the tablet PCs are the perfect companion for the younger children who don’t need an awful lot of computation power. Although, a college or a university student might need a laptop or a desktop to handle the heavier load.

Moreover, a tablet PC comes with a keyboard and a digital pen. So, it eradicated the cons of an app-based tablet in many ways. A student can take notes using the word processors, even with their digital pens. The digital pens are very handy when it comes to editing or taking notes.

Google, the tech giant, has launched their own laptop PCs designed to serve the students naming Chromebook.

Pros: Video and still camera, internet surfability, physical keyboard and a digital pen, larger display, more sophisticated OS.

Cons: Not as powerful as the laptops.

App-Based Tablets

Tablets and smartphones are almost similar. Well, with a few minor differences. First of all, tablets have a slightly larger screen than smartphones but not as big as the laptops. So, tablets with various apps can be something that classrooms can use quite efficiently.

Recently, the app stores of the mobile OS platforms have a huge collection of educational apps that students on K-12 can use on various purposes. Even our website have different games that help the children to learn with fun.

As for functionality, an app-based tablet can is pretty much a smartphone without the ability to make phone calls and sending text messages.

So, it is easier to control in a classroom environment without being distracted.

Pros: Larger display than the smartphones, comes with a video and still camera, has an internet connection, a wide collection of apps available on the app stores, and less distracting compared to the smartphones. 

Cons: Doesn’t have a physical keyboard or mouse, no support for digital pens, and has less computational power compared to the laptops.

So that was the discussion about the devices that can help the community to create the environment for personalized learning. There are some great services available today that also play vital roles to promote personalized learning.

Cloud Computing

When we want to store any piece of data in any device, we need digital storage spaces. Have you ever imagined where are the millions of videos of YouTube is stored? We are not talking about only terabytes. YouTube needs about 7.7 Petabytes of storage space per year to store the videos constantly uploaded by people all over the world.

Most of the online services store their data on the clouds. This means there are huge warehouses with millions of storage units and internet users can access them via an internet connection.

This a great technology where learners can find the educational materials easily. We don’t need to rely on the papers anymore; the human race has found a better way to store the infinite knowledge that is open for everyone.

The only downside is if by any issue the data centers shut down, we might lose the data stored on the cloud. But that is like imagining the complete apocalypse.

Social Media Platforms

I have already discussed about the social media platforms and their valuable role in personalized learning. They are the ultimate tool for communication, collaboration, and innovation.  

It is because of these social media platforms that we feel that the whole world is a global village where anyone can communicate with anyone.

Final Thoughts

Personalized learning is now getting more and more accepted by organizations all over the world. We are living in the pinnacle of the technological era. Smartphones are now our companions. Machine learning, artificial intelligence, and bio-engineering have reached newer heights. It’s high time we took a step and upgrade ourselves and most importantly our education system.

Education is now a thing that is open to all. Knowledge is easier to achieve. Everyone can be everyone now. With just sheer will, people can educate themselves and be whoever they want to be.

If you look around yourself, you will see massive changes that were simply unimaginable just a few decades ago. So, keep faith in yourself and be positive. You have the power to change the world for a better tomorrow!

So, what do you think of the guide? If you have any question, shoot it down on the comment section below, and I will try to answer them all! 

Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today which is great for 5th grade vocabulary words or 6th grade vocabulary words! Also, try this vocabulary test to understand your current skill level! Try these spelling tests to master English spelling! Also, don’t forget to check the complete list of sight words and common spelling words.  

In this world of open education and the availability of online educational resources, kids don’t necessarily need to go to schools to get a quality education. Traditional schooling is poisoned with flaws that might impose a negative impact on your child. Rather than going into the typical path, you could always go for homeschooling for the betterment of your kids.

Homeschooling which is also known as home education is a popular form of education nowadays. North Americans call it ‘Homeschool’ where Europeans call it ‘Home Education’.

Rather going to a formal school, homeschooled students are taught at home in a less formal way. Mostly, their parents, house tutor or online teachers play the role of teachers in this case.

Now, more than ever, parents are choosing homeschool and teaching them at home instead of sending their children to a formal public or private schools.

Table of Contents

Why Should You Prefer Homeschooling?

How Homeschooling Came into Being?

How Can Homeschooling Benefit Your Child?

Some Success Stories that will Motivate You

What do You Require to Homeschool Your Child?

Some Important Tips for Parents to Start Homeschooling

How Can Parents Start Homeschooling Their Kids?

What Types of Curriculums are Followed While Homeschooling Kids?

How do You Maintain Homeschool Schedule?

Are Homeschooled Kids More Advanced than Public School’s Kids?

What are Some Best Homeschooling Methods?

Best Homeschooling Resources Available Online

Best Websites That Will Answer All Your Questions

Some of the Best Online Learning Platforms

Best Blogs for Homeschoolers

9 Facts about Homeschooling You need to Know

How to Overcome Homeschool Related Burnout?

The Future of Homeschooling

 

Why Should You Prefer Homeschooling?

The United States National Center for Education Statistics shows that about three percent of all the students in the US were homeschooled in 2011-2012.

There is no clear evidence of exactly how many students are being homeschooled nowadays. But as of 2016 record, there are almost 2.3 million students who were homeschooled in the United States.

This clearly illustrates that homeschooling is getting more and more popular and now parents are interested in teaching their children at home.

The motivation behind choosing homeschool varies from parents to parents. But there are mainly two reasons –

First, many parents are not satisfied with the way traditional schools teach. Second, parents want to be more involved in their children learning process and they want to spend more time with their children.

That was also the case for Helen Clark, a mother from Iowa who homeschools her only elementary-aged son. Homeschooling allowed her son to learn things at the natural pace which is pacier than traditional schools.

She likes the flexibility of homeschooling and the extra time she can spend with her child. It allows her to take decisions on the direction of education.

She tells that, she is not the best teacher her child may have, but homeschooling allows her to spend more time with her son and she actually knows what her son is learning.

A World full of Possibilities

There are some legal requirements for homeschooling and they vary from place to place. But some universal rules are practiced.

Parents certainly need some preparation to homeschool their children. They have to maintain a schedule so that they get the best result out of it.

The beauty of homeschooling is its flexibility. There is no hard and fast schedule for homeschool. Parents can customize the homeschooling schedule with their preferable time.

There are also many methods to homeschool children. It depends on parents which method to follow.

Parents will find many resources nowadays to homeschool their children. They will find these resources online.

However, homeschooling has many criticisms as well. Many commoners think that homeschooled students are not socialized enough.

But there are many success stories at the same time.

The school shooting has created huge tension in the US. Many students are bullied in the schools as well. Many of them feel inferior.

These are the reason homeschooling is becoming popular in the US and around the world.

Homeschooling is getting popular day by day. That doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you as well.

Would it work for you and your children? Well, you’re the one to decide that.

How Homeschooling Came into Being?

Teaching children at home is probably the most common thing in all different cultures for most of history. It was a common practice before formal education was started.

Professional tutors were expensive and commoners had no access to it. This option was only available to rich people.

Eventually, the system declined with the activation of compulsory attendance law in the 19th and 20th century. Though many isolated communities kept practicing this form of education. 

Homeschooling became resurrection in the 1960s and 1970s as many educational reformists were dissatisfied with the traditional schooling system. And from then on, it’s getting more and more popular.

A New Trend in the Town!

The first public schools were established in 1524 and 1527 in Gotha and Thuringia, two German states. The literacy rate increased from the 1500s to the 1800s.

Although, the public school increased the literacy rate, the development in literacy rate started before implementing the compulsory attendance or universal education.

In fact, home education or homeschooling was the main form of education until the 1830s. Many people in Europe did not have access to informal education in the 18th century.

However, formal schooling became popular and the most common means of education system across the developed countries since the early 19th century.   

Back in 1647, compulsory elementary education was provided in New England. Although, the educational situation was different between New England and New York.

There were regional differences in colonial America as well. Education was more compact in the north than that of the south.

Native Americans used to pass their knowledge to their children through home education. They resisted compulsory education in the United States for a long time.

The Advocates Who Gave Life to It  

Rousas John Rushdoony started advocating homeschooling in the 1960s. He wanted to combat the secular public schools in the United States.

During this time, a research came out that showed how harmful formal school can be for a child before 8-12 years of age.

With this research result, the Moores started publishing their view against public schools. They presented evidence on how formal schooling was damaging children mentally, academically and socially.

They claimed that the bonds and emotional attachment between children and parents evolve during these years. But enrollment in schools cut short this development.

They stated that children are better suited at home. They will get exact treatment at home rather than in schools.

A book named ‘Better Late Than Early’ was published in 1975 that paved the way for homeschooling. The Moores embraced homeschooling and started advocating for it.

With the publication of other books like ‘Home Grown Kids’ and ‘Homeschool Burnout’ many authors published books questioning the necessity of compulsory schools.

With the publishing of many more books advocating for homeschooling, people in the United States and around the world became interested in homeschooling again.

And now, parents are more concerned about their children’s mental health and academic performance. And that is why hundreds of parents are homeschooling their children.

This is how an age-old system of learning became not only a popular form of education but also an alternative to formal education in the 21st century.  

How Can Homeschooling Benefit Your Child?

Homeschooling is a popular movement around the world. More parents are choosing to homeschool nowadays for a variety of reasons.

This includes dissatisfaction with the quality of education in schools, religious beliefs, etc. Many parents think that traditional schools are not progressive enough for children.

The movement for homeschooling started growing in the 1970s when some authors and researchers started writing for reform in education by raising questions against traditional schools.

They started advocating for homeschooling because they believed that homeschooling does not affect the physical and emotional development of a child.

Parents are very concerned about their children nowadays. They want to know everything that is happening around their child.

They choose to homeschool because of many reasons. Homeschooling isn’t what many commoners think it is.

Homeschooled kids have the same access to learning, socialization and extracurricular activities.

This creates a debate on homeschooling vs public schooling. 

Let’s see some of the reasons why homeschooling is better than traditional schools, shall we?

Customized Learning

In traditional schools, kids may not be able to cope up with the pace or the pace is simply not enough for all the students.

The main idea of homeschooling is that the kids need to learn at a pace that is perfect for them. Every individual kid has a different ability.

Traditional schools do not have the luxury to take care of every individual student separately. They use a common system for all the students.

Here, homeschooling makes the difference. It customizes everything with the need of the students.

This approach is called ‘personalized learning’ in academia and it is very popular among parents and students. This guide should help you to get started with Personalized Learning.

Personalized learning uses technology to make lesson plans for students. And probably that is the reason why people like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are big fans of this approach.

Homeschooling parents are the only people on earth who know what their kids need. And that is why they can bring the best result out of this method.

The Freedom to Learn What You Love

Informal school, the school authority or some third party decides the curriculum of the students. They create this curriculum for every student.

As a result, many students are deprived of what they really need. Not all the students have the same pace or ability.

Also, not all students are interested in the same topic. Each student may have his or her own preference.

Homeschoolers get the chance to tailor their curriculum and focus on what they really want to learn. They can learn about their favorite topic more intensely.

Not only can they explore many more topics that are usually not offered in traditional schools, but also they can learn those that are not usually offered before college or university.

For example, they can learn Anthropology in fifth grade and Finance in eighth grade. This allows them an intensive learning opportunity. 

Many parents are well equipped to teach their children, many rely on the resources and platforms that are available to them.

Again, many parents take their child to formal schools or colleges after a certain period of time.

But no homeschooling parents limit the subjects only to Math, Science, English or history. They try to make sure that their children are learning a variety of topics.

Make Friends in a Better Way

The biggest misconception about homeschooled kids is that they lack social skills. Sometimes misleading that the kid has lower emotional intelligence than average. They become introvert and do not interact with people.

Well, this stereotypical conception probably had some truth before the internet thing happen. There was not much opportunity for kids to interact with a lot of other kids.

But now, homeschooling kids have the same opportunity to interact with other kids and actually make friends like those in traditional schools.

And with the help of the internet, they do it without zero distraction.

Apps like Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook may become an addiction for homeschoolers, nonetheless, they get to meet other homeschooling kids or even kids of their own age from traditional schools. The more we move towards technological advancement, the more we would witness the presence of technologies even in the traditional schooling system. So, they are actually ahead of their time. 

Homeschooling kids spend most of their times with their parents. This allows them to learn the values of different relationships.

They value their friendship. They do well, if not better in their own life and their social life.

So, the stereotype misconception that homeschooled kids are not social enough or they cannot interact with people, is no longer a truth.

Rather, homeschooling kids are now making friends, hanging out with them and doing all the things like normal traditional school going kids.

Free from Bullying

Homeschooling kids do not have to face the toxic environment like other school going kids. They do not have to face all those bullying that frequently happens at schools.

Though many argue that these downsides are good for students as they make them tough but kids who are frequently bullied may face depression and anxiety.

Eventually, they lose their confidence, their academic performance gets lower in the class and they attend school less frequently.

But homeschooling kids get better opportunities. They are already familiar with the environment and that is why they are always confident. 

As a result, they are able to learn their lessons in a more harmonic environment.

Connected to the Real World

Though homeschooling is called homeschooling but students spend a great deal of time at community colleges, libraries, and museums.

They gather knowledge and experiences from these places. The knowledge and experiences they cultivate from these places actually makes them open-minded.

And as homeschooled kids spend most of their times around adults, they are always in the ‘real world’ mode.

A Better Result in the Long Run

There is a high chance that homeschooled kids will do better in their life. The entire system makes sense if we see it from an achievement point of view.

Many researchers suggest that homeschooled kids do better in given tasks. They have more patience and they do very well in colleges once they are enrolled.

A record shows that 67% of all the enrolled homeschoolers graduated from college in 2009 where only 59% traditional school going students graduated from college in the same year. 

A Community Only for Homeschoolers

Hundreds of thousands of parents made homeschooling work properly. And other parents are now inspired by them.

And that is why it has become extremely popular nowadays. More and more parents are choosing to homeschool their child in recent time.

They are choosing to homeschool because of the success stories of the homeschooled kids. After all, homeschooled kids have achieved much success in the last few years.

They have won the spelling bee, published books at an early age, got into Harvard and what not! 

Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today which is great for 6th grade spelling words or 7th grade spelling words. 

Because of these outstanding achievements, they have been featured in newspaper and national magazines several times in the last few years.

Now parents homeschool their children more than ever. The simple reason behind this is homeschooling is now easier than once it used to be.

The main factor of the boom is the availability of the resources. The internet is helping homeschooling parents incredibly.

You are Not Alone Anymore!

Parents felt very alone who homeschooled their kids in the beginning years. But now there is a strong and huge community for homeschoolers.

They can post about any problem at any time in their community platform using the internet. And there is always somebody to help out.

In the local homeschooling community, parents often share the teaching of certain subjects like math or science or history with each other. So, everybody does not have to be a master in all the necessary subjects.

Homeschooling parents also conduct physical-education classes and field trips to museums or historical sites.

Full of Resources

There are tons of academic learning materials available for homeschoolers. These resources are available in the form of books or online.

Many communities offer internet classes for homeschooled kids. Many have opened a resource center to help them out.

Communities are strong now. There is a platform where parents, as well as kids, discuss the betterment of the learning mechanism in the community. 

Check out this ultimate list of homeschooling resources. 

Some Success Stories that will Motivate You

How do you measure the success of homeschooled kids?

Well, there is some evidence that shows that homeschooling kids are doing tremendously well everywhere nowadays.

They typically score 70 to 80 percent marks on all the national standardized tests. That makes them well ahead of their counterparts from traditional public or private schools. 

A Maryland University professor conducted a study that shows that on average, a homeschooled kid in the primary grade is actually one grade level ahead of the kids from traditional schools.

By the time they are in the eighth grade, they are fourth grade-level beyond their friends from public or private schools.

They are Well-Accepted!

The most amazing thing about homeschooled kids is that hundreds of universities and colleges are enrolling them.

For example, in their last enrollment, Stanford University has 65 incoming freshmen who are actually homeschooled.

You will find the evidence that kids actually grow well if they are taught at home when you look at the first generation of the homeschoolers. They are doing well with their life.

These success stories are motivating hundreds of parents every day to homeschool their children rather sending them off to the schools.

What do You Require to Homeschool Your Child?

The Qualification You Need to Homeschool Your Kids

Is there any legal requirement for you to homeschool your kids? Well, actually there is.

The requirements vary from place to place in the United States. Some states have a little or no requirements and some have very standardized requirements, portfolio reviews, etc. for parents.

Holt, author of the bestselling book named ‘Teach Your Own’ says about the most important thing parents should consider to homeschool their children is that they have to like the physical presence and their company.

They have to take their energy positively and try to answer all of their questions patiently. They have to listen to what they have to say.

This clearly indicates that homeschooling requires equal interest and enthusiasm of both parents and kids.

Parents have to provide enough time for their kids to teach them at home. They need patience as well.

Apart from time, patience and interest, parents need some academic qualification as well.

The Requirements in the Different States of the USA

Let’s see what academic requirements are needed in different states across the United States.

Eleven states in the United States require either a high school diploma or GED of parents in order to teach their kids at home.

These eleven states are Washington, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, North Dakota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The Washington state requires further qualification. Parents have to have college credits or home-based study completion certificate.

The rest of the 39 states does not require any kind of qualification of parents and allows any parent to homeschool kids.

Well, there are loops in six states that allows avoiding the required qualification. Parents can bypass their high school diploma or GED as followed

These three states allow parents to teach their children at home without a high school diploma or GED considering religion exemption. Virginia allows parents without qualification through an umbrella school.

These three states allow unqualified parents to teach their kids at home under the supervision of a qualified teacher. Most of the time it has to be a teacher. In Ohio, the teacher must have a bachelor degree.

These three states waive parents’ educational qualification at their discretion and allow them to homeschool their children.

The remaining five states Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina do not actually waive any requirements for any consideration. Parents must fulfill all the requirements to teach their kids at home. 

What About the Rest?

Apart from these 11 states, there are three states that have a set of standard for parents to homeschool their kids.

These three states are California, Kansas, and New York.

To teach students at home in these three states the parents have to be competent and capable of teaching.

However, they do not require any compulsory qualification. Nobody has any official authority to determine who is qualified and who is not.

In the rest of 36 states, no educational qualification is required whatsoever. These states allow many parents to homeschool their children regardless of any standard qualification.

Check out this comprehensive guideline on the rules about homeschooling in all the states in the US.

Some Important Tips for Parents to Start Homeschooling

Homeschooling is definitely a hard task for parents. They have to make sure that their kids are learning what is best for them.

When it comes to homeschooling, some common questions pop up in the mind. How the kids are learning and what they are learning are some of those questions?

In homeschooling, kids learn the majority of their lessons from their parents, especially during the early years. But teaching kids at home and parenting them at the same time is a tough job.

If you think of homeschooling and if don’t know where to start, here are some important tips for you which may come handy for you.

Find Out the Legal Boundaries

Public school rules and curriculums vary from state to state so does the homeschooling rules and regulations.

There are fifty different states law for fifty states in the United States and parents have to be clear on what their state requires for homeschooling.

Moreover, parents need to be always prepared when they think about homeschool their children.

Every state in the United States allows parents to homeschool their kids but some states ask them to register as a private school. Some states ask the homeschooled child to sit for the standardized test.

If you do not know what your states require, you better visit your state’s homeschool association to be sure.

Select a Proper Approach

The amazing thing about homeschooling is it has flexibility. You have the freedom to choose what your kids learn and how they learn it.

If you want a traditional school environment in your home you have to follow the traditional curriculum approach which is also known as a structured curriculum approach.

This structured traditional education at formal schools greatly focuses on the greatest works of Western literature of all time.

Where homeschooling parents allow their kids to select courses they like most and that are most effective for them.

You can, of course, take formula from other homeschooling parents and take your decision from it.

Join the Local Homeschooling Communities

As you can already guess, homeschooling can be lonely if you do not get yourself introduced to other homeschooling parents in your community.

With its growing popularity, you will find many homeschooling parents nearby. And there are many homeschool communities nowadays.

Tap yourself into your local homeschool community, cause without an outsider’s help homeschooling can become a tough job.

In your community, you can actually share your experiences, ask for suggestions from other homeschooling parents.

Most importantly, your kids will see other homeschooled kids and can make friends from this type of community.

Moreover, many zoos and museums are now creating events for homeschooled kids and parents. 

Have Patience!

A study shows that it takes almost a year for parents to blend in the homeschooling system.

So, you have to be patient with yourself and with your kids. Don’t lose your temper or patience.

At first, you may find it super exhausting, but once you get into the system, you will start enjoying it.  Knowing other homeschooling parents will help a lot.

Now that you know some important tips, it will be easier for you to start homeschooling. Best of luck!

How Can Parents Start Homeschooling Their Kids?

Homeschooling is a big decision for parents. They need prior preparation for homeschooling their children.

The thought of homeschooling kids does not just come out suddenly. Most of the parents take their decision after necessary researches and preparation for a long time to homeschool their kids.

And when its time, they know what to do. But how do parents start homeschooling their kids?

Well, there are many ways to homeschool kids. But most parents have some common questions in their mind. 

When they know the answers to these common but confusing questions, it gets easier for them to take their decision.

Let’s see some of these common questions and their answers.

Do Parents Require a Formal Education Degree or Any Special Educational Certificate?

When it comes to homeschooling, the first thing that appears in the parents’ mind is that if they need any kind of educational background or any special certificate to homeschool their kids.

In the US, all the states allow homeschooling and most of them require no educational background of parents.

But some states have some specific requirements for parents which parents have to ensure to homeschool their kids.

In some states, parents need a high school degree, in some states parents have to have college credits to teach their kids at home.

But no special certificate or training is needed for parents to homeschool their kids.

How to Start Homeschooling?

Kids who have never been to any formal school will start homeschooling as soon as they enter the age of going to school.

And then some requirements pop up in some particular states and parents have to adhere to these requirements.

But kids who have been to formal school before but want to start homeschooling, they have a different process to follow.

They have to write a letter of withdrawal to the school principal or the local superintendent who is in charge of the school.

The letter will be about the parents’ intention to remove their kids from school and start teaching them at home.

Now that parents notified the school, now they have to follow their district’s given guideline.

Is There Any State Funding for Homeschool Programs?

In some states in the USA, there are fundings for homeschool programs. These optional state-run programs or funds, the states provide for some resources for free to meet some necessary requirements for homeschool program.

But these government-funding homeschool programs vary from state to state. Different state has a different scheme for homeschoolers.

However, in most of the cases, parents and families fun their child’s education of their own.

Is There Any Community for Homeschooling Parents and Kids?

With the increasing popularity, many families have decided to teach their kids at home rather sending them to formal schools.

And with this, there is actually a large number of people who homeschool their kids nowadays.

There are local communities for people who homeschool their kids and these communities are very active.

Homeschooling kids have access to an arrangement of resources and social networks in almost all the states in the US.

And these communities, families get together for shared classes, they organize social events and they discuss together on the betterment of their kids.

Ways to Follow (for Parents)

Many parents seek the answer to this question.  What are the ways that all the parents follow to homeschool their kids?

Well, there are no such formal ways to homeschool kids but some universal practice is there that most of the parents follow.

We can learn how parents homeschool their kids if we know the answers to some questions. Many parents have these questions in their mind before they start homeschooling.

Once parents know the answers to these questions, it will be easier for them to homeschool their kids.

Let’s see these questions and their answers.

How Could Kids of Different Ages Homeschool Together?

This is an important question almost all the parents have in their mind before starting homeschooling.

There may be kids of different ages in a family and how they are taught together? Because we know there are many subjects which are age and grade specific. Arts, History, and Literature are such subjects.

Well, parents may teach history for example at the same time to all their kids and then give an assignment in accordance with their age and grade. It will reflect their ability according to their age.

In other subjects like Math and Reading, parents may teach each child once at a time so that they get the necessary attention and their individual needs are fulfilled.

Other children can do their individual homework in the meantime or can play in another room.

What Happens When Parents are Sick?

Like I said earlier, the most amazing thing about homeschooling is the flexibility it offers. Parents can make the curriculum and teaching schedule at a time which is convenient for all.

Even if the parents are sick, the important aspects of the day are not hampered. They can ensure their necessary works are done. They can give instruction from bed if needed. 

Parents may have to cancel the group works that need direct supervision from them, but they can focus on the need of the individual kids.

And most importantly, if one parent is sick, another parent can carry on the extra load if that if that is a two-parent family and if that option is available. So, both the parents can contribute to the schedule. 

What Types of Curriculums are Followed While Homeschooling Kids?

Since the number of homeschooled kids have increased, so does the variety of curriculum and resources that are available today.

The catalogs are full of different available options based on different educational philosopher and learning approaches.

 The curriculum also depends on the time and effort that parents or homeschool tutor can put every day and their method of instruction and so on so forth.

In homeschool, kids are usually taught typical subjects which are also taught in different formal school programs. The kids are also taught those subjects they are especially interested in.

In his bestselling book, ‘The Element’, Ken Robison has said that the key to educational transformation is not to standardize education but to personalize it, discover the individual talents of each student, put them in such environment where they want to learn things and where they will discover their true passions.

Homeschooled kids get a natural environment with their parents where parents can ensure a personalized curriculum or an instruction for every kid. 

How Do You Maintain Homeschool Schedule?

Homeschool has its necessary flexibility. It does not have any hard and fast rules like a normal traditional school does.

Flexibility is the key feature of homeschooling. Everything depends on the parents and the kids when they schedule for study.

If we want to know how homeschool schedules are maintained, we have to see some questions and their and their answers.

Every parent who wants to homeschool their kids have these questions in their mind. When they come to know the answers, it will be much easier for them to teach their kids at home.

Let’s see some widely asked questions and answers and it will be all clear to us. 

Do Homeschooling Parents Follow Traditional Structural School Hours?

Homeschooling parents organized their days in a way that is best for them and their kids. Many parents love to teach early in the morning as every school does.

Some of the parents want to make homeschool less different from traditional schools. They create a school-like environment.

Some parents follow their kid’s enthusiasm and make a routine according to it. They ensure flexibility in learning. They allow their child whatever they want to learn and whenever it is.

There are some educational philosophies that influence the structure of the homeschooling parents’ today.

Most of the families follow only one system – the traditional school like style with textbooks, desks are arranged in rows and a standardized evaluation system.

But there are many more arrangements of educational philosophies that exist. They are very effective and can be beneficial as well.

Waldorf, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Leadership Education, Montessori, Interest-led Learning, Unit Study are some of those educational philosophies.

Most importantly, homeschooling parents have the freedom and the necessary instruments to blend different ideas and make such a system that best meets their children’s interest.

Do You Have to Follow Traditional Public School Calendar Year?

Like I said hundreds of time, homeschoolers have a flexible curriculum. They have complete freedom on how the structure of their school year would be.

Many parents teach their kids following the formal school calendar. Some parents school their kids all year round.

A lot of parents teach their kids whenever it is suitable for both kids and parents and take off whenever they feel they need breaks.

Are Homeschooled Kids More Advanced than Public School’s Kids?

Homeschooled kids can study and make progress in accordance with their timetable and temperament.

A study conducted by the National Home Education Research Institute shows that kids who are homeschooled have a higher average in standardized test compare to the kids in public schools.

Homeschooled kids score 87 percent where traditional public school going kids score only 50 percent in these standardized tests.

But it has both sides like a coin. Homeschooled kids are ahead of several grades in some subjects and behind in other subjects than school going kids.

The Way Your Homeschooled Kids Move Forward

Homeschooled kids are sometimes ahead of traditional public school going kids. They get a proper environment which allows them to grow well.

But homeschool has many similarities with the public school curriculum and the way of teaching. Parents sometimes follow the traditional school approach at home to teach their kids.

When you homeschool your kids, their learning will depend on the measures you have taken to teach them.

Here we will answer of some of the frequently asked questions. It will allow you to know how homeschooled kids are moving forward and preparing themselves for the future.

Do Homeschooled Kids Receive Homework?

Homework in the homeschool system is not very important. Often homeschool lessens the need for traditional homework, unlike public schools.

In public schools, there are many students attend the same class. It gets harder to teach them and assess them.

But in homeschool, only students are your kids. So, classwork is complete within a short period of time during the school hour and it eliminates an extra load of work after class time.

Homeschool allows parents to teach one-on-one. As a tutor, parents are able to observe their kids constantly as they learn.

This observation helps parents to make sure that their kids’ have proficiency and struggle. Parents tailor assignments for their kids in accordance with their need.  

With the flow of time, homeschooled kids grow old and they attend more traditional classes.

As they get older, they may get into the community colleges and begin their college studies early than other public school students.

How Homeschooled Kids Receive Grades?

Grading is not very important to all the people. It varies from person to person. These grading systems in some subjects are not very significant nowadays.

But some parents asses their kids’ and administer grade test. They do it with the help of computer programs.

It allows students freedom and they allow kids to grow up at their own pace as long as they master the necessary materials.

Do Homeschooled Kids are obliged to Take Standardized Tests in Order to Move to the Next Grade?

Some states require standardized testing at some specific circumstances. It differs from state to state.

Some families or parents want to have their kids tested for clarification and to ensure that their kids are making progress academically.

But some homeschooling parents think that there is no need for standardized tests until a certain period of time.

How Long Should You Continue Homeschooling?

It entirely depends on parents on how long they would continue to homeschool their kids.

Homeschooling can be continued up until a student gets into a college or he or she graduates.

Families or parents may choose to homeschool throughout their child’s complete education period.

Again many parents homeschool their kids for a few years and then again send their kids to the mainstream formal schools.

Most of the colleges now are taking note of homeschooling’s popularity and every Ivy League universities have recruited and accepted students who are actually homeschooled.

Homeschooled kids enjoy a flexible study schedule and they move forward with what they are learning from their parents or homeschool tutor.

What Are Some Best Homeschooling Methods?

Homeschooling has become widely mainstream. As a result, a wide range of teaching method is available nowadays.

Most of the homeschooling parents are liberal when it comes to choosing a method for teaching their kids.

No family generally wants to make a boundary by following only one philosophy. Because homeschool is all about flexibility and freedom.

And that is why parents blend different philosophies and methods and make such a method that serves the best interest of their child. 

Parents usually consider their children’s individual needs, their age and grade and their stage of development to choose an effective learning method for their children.

Here are eight common methods which are widely used by homeschooling parents. These eight methods will give you an overview of how parents teach their child effectively at home.

You can choose a method which best fits for you and your children or you can combine different methods together to make an effective method for your family.

Traditional Homeschooling Method

This traditional homeschooling method is like traditional school teaching system. It mirrors the typical classroom approach to learning.

In this method, parents generally use textbooks, workbooks, boards, etc. to teach their child. They conduct tests to keep track of their kids’ performance and progress.

In this method, parents can have a separate room in their house for teaching their kids at school hours.

Some kids love to learn from wall-mounted boards, do worksheets, this method is best suited for them.

But as a parent when you choose to homeschool, you may want to experiment with other methods and philosophies first as the main focus of homeschooling is the flexibility it offers.

So, many families think out of the box about teaching their kids at home and follow other approaches rather than the traditional ones. 

Classical Education Homeschooling Method

Parents who choose the classical education method to homeschool their kids usually base their kids’ education on the trivium.

Trivium is a method of learning that has three distinct stages. Each stage has its own focus and specialties.

The framework of this method includes language learning such as Greeks and Latin, the study of the classical work of the literature and philosophy, etc.

The first stage starts with grammar learning. Kids start learning grammar at a young age in this method. The main aspect of this stage is to memorize facts and figures.

The second stage starts at around fifth grade. This is called the logic stage. This stage begins when children are able to understand the relationship between different events and their causes and effects.

Students progress towards the final stage when they enter in their teenage. This phase is called the rhetoric stage.

This stage focuses on the ability of students to express themselves in both writings and speeches. They are able to express their thoughts about what they are learning at this stage.

Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Method

This is a different kind of approach which was developed by Charlotte Mason a teacher from Britain. She developed this method in the late 1800s.

In this approach she had her students read original works by noted authors instead of giving them textbooks.

She wanted them to be familiar with great thoughts. She believed that this is how students will think naturally for themselves and their well-nourished body will grow physically, intellectually, morally and spiritually which is the sole focus of education.

This approach has been revived among the homeschooling parents where they teach nature study, short academic lessons, art and music, narration, etc.

Waldorf Education Method

This approach was developed by an Australian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner, in the late 1800s. This is a holistic approach to education.

This method focuses not only on the education and development of the children’s mind but also on their character, compassion, and creativity.

Subjects like math and reading come with drawing and teachers incorporate storytelling, the study of nature and different craftworks in their curriculum.

Though this educational philosophy led to a popular private school movement, the homeschooling parents embraced this method of education. 

Interest-led Learning Approach

This learning approach solely focuses on children’s personal goals and interests. Their individual interest is the basis of their education according to this method.

The movement took into place when a classroom teacher named John Holt found himself frustrated with the flaws of the traditional school system.

He was a pioneer to advocate homeschooling in the early 70s. He wrote a book named How Children Fail.

In this book, he wrote that children should not be made to learn to be better and they should not be told what to do and how to do. Rather they should have enough access to see the world. They will find out what is best for them and they will find a better path for themselves.

Leadership Education Model

This model is also known as the Thomas Jefferson Education model. The followers of this philosophy believe that kids learn in different ways at the different stages of their development.

This approach takes students through three different stages. Core, love of learning and scholar are the three stages.

In this method of education, classical books, inspiration from the parent-teacher play a vital role in the homeschooling.

The core phase mainly focuses on the family relationship development, the love of learning allows kids to learn things of their own interest and the scholar phase makes student study traditional books and learn academic stuff.

Unit-study Homeschooling Method

This method allows students to select a subject that they feel most interested in. Parents who enjoy hands-on work can incorporate this method.

This method of teaching takes more time to make preparation than other methods.

Students are given the opportunity to learn intensively and inclusively on the subject or topic they feel interested in.

Different art, handwriting and craftwork assignments can be included in the unit’s topic so that kids grow interested in these subjects.

Montessori Homeschooling Method

An Italian physician named Maria Montessori developed this philosophy in the early 1990s.

This philosophy focuses on the hands-on experience, freedom, flexibility in choosing subjects and the study environment which led to a popular private school movement.

Homeschooling parents who follow the Montessori Method, observe the development of their kids and what they are ready to learn and provide guideline according to that.

 

Best Homeschooling Resources Available Online

Have you seriously considered homeschooling? While you make your decision let’s see some of the best homeschooling resources that are available all over the internet.

The president of the National Research Institute has declared homeschool as the fastest-growing form of education nowadays.

And this huge popularity resulted in a huge number of homeschooling online resources than ever before.

This large number of resources can be very helpful to the new parents and students who start homeschooling programs. It makes the process easy to get started.

We have a list of available online tools which will assist parents to get started and to figure out if this educational form will work for your family. Let’s see the list.

Get the New Educational Philosophy

Many homeschooling kids become surprised at the beginning to see a verity of educational methods and philosophies.

It has the opportunity and freedom to blend these styles and make a better mix which serves the best purpose of your children. It is your duty to find out a solution that fits best in your children.

Charlotte Mason

This 19th-century British educational reformer and philosopher who put her importance on qualitative literature, studies of nature, narration, etc.

 

Classical Education Method

It shows that there are three stages of children’s education. These stages are grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Together these three stages are called trivium.

Leadership Education Method

This is also known as Thomas Jefferson Educational Method or TJEd in short. This method allows students to focus on how to think and what to think. It gives importance to reading classical writings and discussing them with a mentor.

Interest-led Learning Method

This method was given by the educational reformist and pioneer John Holt. Homeschooling parents who follow this method usually allow their children’s interest to make the base of their study.

 This method believes that children are by nature curious and they have their own desire to learn different things.

Montessori Homeschooling Method

Italian physicist Maria Montessori developed this method in the early 1900s. This method solely focuses on the hands-on experiences, choice, and order in the learning environment.

Best Websites That Will Answer All Your Questions

It is okay if you are confused about the legal boundaries of homeschooling. You already know that homeschooling is legal in every state in the US and many foreign countries.

There are some websites which are always ready to answer all your legal questions. All you just need is ask them. 

Here, I’m giving some website where you can ask all your queries.

Home School Legal Defense Association

This is a non-profit organization. A bunch of lawyers started this in 1983. Their main goal is to provide information about the current law regarding homeschooling.

The other responsibility of them is to provide legal support to those homeschooling parents who face legal challenges.

In its international section, you will find the homeschooling rules and regulations of another country. It will give you an overview of the recent policies around the globe.

Home School Legal

This website allows visitors to search for information state by state. You have to select a state to know all about homeschooling in that particular state.

This website contains law summaries, downloadable e-books, forms, and checklists, etc.

Check Out the Best Homeschool Curriculums Available Online

Whenever you are ready to homeschool your kids, the first question that will pop up into your mind is which curriculum to follow.

Out of many curriculums, it is not very easy to find out the best one or you. But there’s nothing to worry about.

I’ve made a list of best online curriculums for you. You can explore them and will be able to find out which one best fits for you.

Oak Meadow

This child-centered approach gives importance on delivering knowledge for preschool kids through high school and uses their imagination power emphasizing on creative arts, literature, drawings, music, painting etc.

 Moving Beyond the Page 

This curriculum comes in a package which focuses on the critical thinking and comprehension for kids how are 5 to 12 years old.

This curriculum observes students’ learning style, their strength and gives project-oriented instruction.

K12 

This curriculum is fully integrated and complete and it offers online support and solution and assessment tools.

Through this curriculum, kids will meet their standard of education in homeschools.

Homeschool Reviews

It is foolish to spend money on a curriculum you have no idea about. If you hear from other homeschooling parents it will be easier for you to make decisions.

In these websites, parents give an extensive and unbiased review of hundreds of different homeschooling curriculum.

Some of the Best Online Learning Platforms

The Internet has given homeschooling students access to a lot of online resources and learning tools. It has brought a positive change in educational possibilities.

Here are some best online learning websites that have enough resources to help out homeschoolers in need.

Khan Academy 

This is free for all online learning platform on the internet where students can actually learn things free of cost. Yes, you will get the helps on the homeschooling online for free!

It has a large number of subjects for students to choose from. Subjects include math, biology, physics, chemistry, finance, history, etc.

The website contains short video clips on each subject. It has inclusive video clips for interactive practice as well so that students can assess them of their own.

Starfall 

This website contains video games, short videos and phonetics reading materials and e-books. And all of them are completely free of cost.

Kids can play video games, start learning readings using phonetics and watch videos to learn sounds from this website.

Clickschooling

The main feature of this website is that you get free email on web-oriented curriculum that is free directly in your address and this service is available 6 days a week.

And another amazing feature is students can take virtual field trip and tours in many places like the London Museum or Kentucky Farm etc.

Time4Learning 

This can be a good resource for you if your kid is a gaming enthusiastic. Your children get access to learn games in order to improve their math, science, social science studies and reading for a certain amount of fee.

Reading Eggs 

If you are looking for a platform for teaching your children to read, this website is for you. Your kids make progress through fun lessons.

This website provides your kids with reading learning materials and gives online rewards based on their performance.

Academic Earth

Time magazine listed this website as one of the top 50 websites in 2009. It contains intensive and advanced lectures in a variety of subjects at completely free of cost.

Best Blogs for Homeschoolers

You will be a better homeschooling mentor when you surround yourself with parents who are already doing it.

Blogs provide you with this opportunity. These homeschooling blogs are full of contents that show the lifestyle of the homeschooling parents and homeschooled kids.

Let’s see some of the best homeschooling blogs.

Simple Homeschool 

This blog has nine writers who contribute lessons for a variety of age group kids from preschool to high school.

It helps parents by providing direction and encourages them to consider homeschooling for their kids. It also gives practical advice and reviews on different curriculums.

Special Needs Homeschooling 

Some parents consider homeschooling who have kids with disabilities because they want to provide some extra care for their child’s special needs.

In this blog, a mother of five kids who need special care writes about her experiences and give suggestion so that other parents might find some sort of support.

 

9 Facts about Homeschooling You need to Know

There are hundreds of thousands of parents who are homeschooling their kids nowadays. They have their own different experiences and stories.

Homeschooling parents do everything public or private school teacher does. They give homework, taking students to field trips, do science experiments and take vacations.

But still, they are a minority in their society. And their neighbor may think if they are really learning anything or parents just spoiling them with tons of freedoms.

Many of them think that these homeschooling kids are isolated from others and their socialization is not good enough.

With these different situations, many homeschooling parents have shared their experience and their views on those who think that homeschooling has just come out of a nasty Pandora’s Box.

Here I’m sharing some of the thoughts homeschooling parents want you to know about their lifestyle.

Homeschooled Kids are Not Isolated

Many commoners think that homeschooled kids are isolated. But they do not live in a bubble. If anyone thinks that they are some lonely bunch of people, they are completely wrong.

Many common parents wonder how homeschooled kids are socialized. But they should know these kids have a huge community. They make friends and hang out like a school going kid does.

Surrounding with people of different age in different stages of life reflects real life. And it helps.

On the other hand, school going kids spend the majority of their time in a day with kids of their own age. It does not allow them to learn many things homeschooled kids are learning at their home and their communities.

Being Judgemental is a Problem

Judging homeschooling parents and kids is a problem and it doesn’t help in any way.

Homeschooling parents have to face judging from both their community and outside of their community. It is a serious problem.

As a result, most of the time homeschooling parents gave to explain themselves and justify their decisions.

The criticism and sometimes daunting they get from neighbor and relatives is heartbreaking.

Many people think that homeschooling parents are just lazy and that is why they let their kids stay at home and don’t let them go to school.

It Takes a Lot to Homeschool A Kid!

Teaching kids at home is a huge process and it requires a lot of things to be done. It has to be inclusive and interactive.

Teacher in traditional schools do not always have access to all the resources and they cannot afford to take care of every student equally in the class.

But in homeschools, parents have access to a vast number of resources that are available online, libraries and in their own communities.  

Parents can provide a mentor for a better result. Even there are freelance writers who teach writings to the homeschoolers.

And most importantly, parents can take care of all their kids equally.

Homeschooling Mostly Mirrors Schools

A common scenario of homeschooling is mom teaching her kids sitting at a kitchen table. But it does not have to be like this always.

There are many communities and co-operative organizations of homeschoolers where you will find classrooms, periods, lunch break just like a traditional school. But of course with necessary flexibility and freedom unlike traditional schools.

To teach kids at home, all you have to know where to make the boundary between being a parent and being their mentor.

Parents Have the Control Over Speed

The greatest thing about homeschooling is, it gives necessary flexibility and freedom a kid requires for his development in every stage of life.

Here in homeschooling, parents have control over everything. They can craft the curriculum and make syllabus in a way their kids can cope up with.

Every homeschooling parent gets into details when their kids need help. And they can, of course, speed up where their kids are up for it.

They can control the speed of learning. They have this freedom to teach fast sometimes and then slow whenever they feel like.

Sometimes Life Gets In

Life doesn’t work in the same way all the time. It has ups and downs. Sometimes inevitable issues come up.

Kids get sick, parents get sick, the dishwasher stops working these everyday distractions can hamper a lesson plan.

Again, it is a tough job to homeschool a young kid and an older kid together. They need individual attention.

Sometimes, kids, as well as parents, can take an off day. These issues are all there and parents have to deal with them.

Homeschooling Could Become Exhausting at Times

Homeschooling parents have to be with their kids 24/7 and it is indeed very pressure.

The workload for homeschooling is very high. Parents have to do research, make a syllabus for their kids, plan time for teaching and finally teach them.

And homeschooling parents sometimes wish they could take a coffee break.

As a result, homeschooling requires self-discipline. Moreover, parents have to make sure the separation between the home and the environment where they are taught.

It Makes Family Bonding Strong

The blessing thing in homeschooling is that kids get to spend all their time with people they love and really care about.

Homeschooling makes parents and kids closer. This creates an understanding between them.

As a result, they can spend more time with each other unlike a regular school going kids. It allows them to have an emotional attachment between parents and kids.

And interestingly, parents and kids can enjoy their evening without any tension of completing the homework given by the school.

Homeschoolers Have a Great Community

Another good thing about homeschooling is that they stick together, help each other when needed and of course give support and encouragement.

These communities arrange different events throughout the year and showcase family projects. It encourages other parents to participate in these events.

In communities, kids and parents get to know other kids and parents, share their experiences, and of course, they befriend each other.

Together, they are strong enough to fight any odd.

How to Overcome Homeschool Related Burnout?

As we have discussed earlier, homeschooling can be an amazing experience and a road full of excitement. Or it can be a stressful journey with an overwhelming level of stress and anxiety.

Many parents stop homeschooling kids and send their kids to traditional schools out of frustration and stress.

Burnout is a very common thing in homeschooling. Almost every parent burns out because of stress but many do not admit it.

Burnout has many forms. Depression, exhaustion are two of the causes. At a certain point, homeschooling might not feel enjoyable.

You have to learn how to control stress and anxiety and stay cool even in the worst situation. Does it sound fancy?

Well, it won’t when you read our homeschooling burnout combatting formulas. All you have to do is read it carefully.

Do Not Compare Yourself With Other

Comparing yourself to everybody else only results in worse. So, stop doing this. It won’t give you any solution rather the opposite. It is one of the main reasons for students to get afraid of the tests in the first place. 

This is a piece of good advice for all the parents. But it results worse for homeschooling parents.

Homeschooling parents always feel that they have to prove themselves to others that their kids need to be better than others who go to public schools.

Homeschool parents who fall into this trap are always restless and they are always doubtful about if they are doing everything enough for their kids.

And this inevitably results in overburden and makes the parents burnout.

But this comparing game is bad for you as well as your kid. Your energy will be better used when you focus on the betterment of your child rather than comparing them with others.

Get Support From Others

Being a parent is already a tough job but when you have a double role combining of parents and teacher, it can be very stressful.

They have to express the attitude of both parent and teacher at the same time. And they have to play the role of both parent and teacher.

As you can understand, it can be a stressful job. You have to be extra careful about this.

Getting helps from others help. Ask help from others when any subject or topic creates tension between you and your kid.

But this is not always about a specific subject. This is sometimes about blending in the community with other people.

It is very important to get into the homeschooling community. Other parents are there who have faced some adversity and they are there to help you out.

Try to Accept Your Limitations

It is completely okay that you have some limitations. Everyone does. Accept your limitations.

After a certain period of time if your burnout doesn’t go away, maybe it is time for you to stop homeschooling and enroll your child in a traditional school.  Many parents did that.

But homeschooling parents do not take this decision very easily. They sometimes feel terrible to let their child go to public schools.

But homeschooling is all about providing a better learning opportunity for your kids, and if you think you are unable to provide that, you should give up. And you should not feel bad about it.

This is how you will be able to combat burnout.

The Future of Homeschooling

Recently homeschooling has become very mainstream. The number of students choosing to homeschool over traditional institutional education doubled over the last few decades. 

The use of internet has brought a huge revolution in the method of study. Now endless information is available all over the internet. 

Homeschool is already very popular and most probably it will be the future of education. The formal education system can break down, who knows!

The advocates of homeschooling give importance to the freedom and flexibility it offers, the family time they get together and customized learning opportunity.

They give their focus on the overcrowded public schools, rigid rules, and super stressed teacher when they oppose the traditional school system.  

 On the contrary, critics claim that homeschooling lacks in socialization and the power oversight. They think that homeschoolers cannot easily mix with people and they are unable to take things in the way it is. 

Well, you can see both homeschooling pros and cons from different perspectives. But the interesting thing is, people are accepting this system more than ever before.

Technology has grown tremendously in the recent few years. Education systems have also been blessed with technology. 

A new term ‘EdTech’ has arrived which means education technology. Though many technologies have been invented, the development process is going on. Still, there are unlimited areas of education where technology can grow in the future.

Let’s see what changes technology can bring in the future.

Education Through Augmented Reality

We have all heard about augmented reality. In the future, students can learn through this augmented reality.

They can virtually visit an art gallery when they learn the art or a biology student can see through an animal or plant through this technology.

Even more, students can go on a field trip with the help of this tech.

Things have changed, classrooms are no longer the mecca of learning neither books are not the best resource for learning anymore.

Education Through Games

Now, kids have less attention span than before. And today’s kids love video games.

In the future, students may learn through video games. Video games will incorporate learning tools. This gamification learning will be a cool thing in the future.

Computer Programming

Programming languages and coding has become a mainstream subject to study on these days. Students don’t need to go to traditional schools to learn and practice coding in programming languages.

What next is coming to the education sector? Well, nobody knows. We will have to wait and see what changes technology brings for us. 

Also, try this vocabulary test to understand your current skill level! Try these spelling tests to master English spelling! Also, don’t forget to check the complete list of spelling words.  

Mastering grammatical rules and having a rich vocabulary may seem to be enough. But when it comes to communicating in English, the proper pronunciation is as essential as an abundance of the word stock and a good grip of the grammar, if not more. Mispronunciation of any language can create confusion, misunderstanding, and an overall bad impression.

A prevalent misconception is that if you are a native English speaker, you do not need to work on your elocution. On the other hand, if you are a non-native English speaker, you have to invest your efforts to bring yourself a native accent. Your success as a foreign speaker depends on how close can you get to the original accent.

However, that is a wrong idea to have. As a matter of fact, an accent refers to a distinct way of speaking a language. And, the appropriate pronunciation of a language refers to the correct use of articulation, stress, and intonation when uttering each word.

Regardless of whether the English language is native or non-native to someone, unclear and incorrect delivery of words is unwanted. The best time to structure someone’s speech is when they are still in their childhood. It paves the children’s way to a better future as, by the time they grow up, they will already have the hold of a correct speech pattern.

In this article, we elaborately talk about why it is necessary to have your children learn the pronunciation of words. We also provide advanced guidelines to how kids can achieve the proper elocution.

Table of Contents

The Importance of Making Children Learn the Right Pronunciation

How to Improve Your Kid’s Word Delivery?

Apps to Improve English Speaking Skills

Having Personal Trainers for Better Pronunciation: Would it Help?

Speaking Activities that Can Help to Improve Pronunciation

List of Online Resources for Better Pronunciation

The Difference Between Accents and Pronunciation

Speech-related Disorders and Ways to Overcome

The FAQs: Common Questions about Pronunciation

Final Words

Chapter I: The Importance of Making Children Learn the Right Pronunciation

Have you ever been in a situation, where someone says something to you, and you are unable to understand what? Although that person is talking in a language pretty well known to you, you have to ask them to come again?

For example, someone said, “You have a nice dress.” But initially, you thought it was “You have eye stress.” The wrong way of delivering words may often create such miscommunication.

What makes building the practice of vocalizing sound in the right manner in kids is discussed here.

• Expressing Thoughts  

When a kid is inaccurately uttering a word, it is most likely that people may interpret a wrong meaning of what he or she is trying to say. If that keeps happening, a child will often not be able to communicate with people about what exactly he feels or thinks about something without being misunderstood. His or her words will either be misheard or be misinterpreted from the way they sound.

Even when kids are saying words correctly, there may be other problems in their expression of a language. When a person speaks with proper intonation, the pitch and the rhythm in their voice add feelings to their words. In addition to that, depending on the stressing of words, the focus and meaning of a speech are defined. For instance;

“John was playing football.”

“John was playing football.”

If in each sentence stress is put onto the italicized words, they don’t quite express the same thought. Whereas the first one focuses on the fact that John was playing football, the second one rather highlights that football was the sport being played.

Means, these can impact the meaning as well as the important points of a sentence. If parents don’t teach children the proper way of delivering their speech, their thoughts and opinions may, time and time again, be misinterpreted.

• Developing Social Skills

To interact with people is the key to building good social relationships. Unclear and improper speech may significantly affect how a child bonds with not only other children but also adults.

This will result in your children not willing to attend gatherings, not having friends who they can trust, and being detached from society in general. Being introvert and not socially interacting are different.

Being unable to speak in a language fluently can make your child socially awkward, uninterested in involving into conversations, and make them keep things to themselves.

• Avoiding Behavioral Difficulties:

From being unable to maintain social relations to failing in engaging in complex conversations, things often may get very frustrating for your youngster. They start losing confidence. This piled up frustration doesn’t take too long to give rise to behavioral issues in kids.

A child growing up with behavioral difficulties has to face many more struggles while growing up. Such problems only accumulate and get worse over time, if not taken proper care of. Prevention is better than cure- so do not let your child be unable to find self-assurance.

• Creating the Impression

Although creating an impression on others may not be important at a young age, as one turns into a grown-up, creating a good image in the surrounding environment including university, work-place, and society is vital.

If your offspring is trained to have a flawless articulation from an early age, even before he or she enters adulthood, he or she will have a well-practiced and impressive manner of speaking. In contrast, if they are not introduced to elocution, they may face big trouble in adolescence to cope up with the situations demanding high interpersonal, interactive skills. They may often get embarrassed if they do not have proper word delivery and intonation.

• Building a Career

You may think if my child is a doctor or a scientist, there is no necessity of concentrating on pronunciation. But doctors have to communicate with their patients throughout their working hours. And scientists may often need to explain their theories verbally.

You can never say elocution is unnecessary to focus on because you don’t know where your kid will head to in the future.

They may be able to build a good career, but with a proper grasp of speaking in English, they will always get the chance to be more successful.

In today’s world, the job market is excessively competitive. Presentation and communication skills are a prerequisite of almost every sector. So, don’t let your child fall behind in the future for something you can modify now!

• International Communication

English being an international language, it is of utmost importance to make your kid’s speech delivery understandable and faultless to everyone to deal with international projects, meetings, seminars, and other programs during school as well as in work life.

Even during traveling, or moving to another country, comprehensively speaking English is a prerequisite. Otherwise, spending days in a foreign country without being able to make people over there understand what one is saying is quite a hassle.

In a nutshell, the English language works as a whole. Grammar, vocabulary, and articulation are all equally demanded. A child lacking proper pronunciation will lack confidence, social skills, and also may have a bad impression in certain situations while growing up. In addition to that, elocution is also imperative to maintain international relations and achieve career goals.

Chapter II: How to Improve Your Kid’s Word Delivery?

Motivate Your Children

You can’t really force youngsters to be good at something they lack the will-power to accomplish. Hence, it is an essential requirement that you motivate your children to work on their word delivery.

You have to make them understand the necessity of having the appropriate pronunciation. So that when they’re learning, practicing and trying to reach an objective, they are doing it enthusiastically, and not out of pressure.

Intriguing Tips That Can Help

The Basic Rules

Similar to grammar, spoken English comes with a set of rules to follow. To improve children’s speech delivery, the first and foremost step to be taken is getting them to be familiar with these rules as well as some basic knowledge.

Phonemes, stress, rhythm are all components of a sentence when speaking. The 26 English alphabets can produce up-to 44 distinct sounds- the phonemes. For instance, the ‘A’ in ‘case’ and ‘cat’ are uttered differently. In the first word, ‘A’ makes a long vowel sound, which is the same as the name of the letter. In the second word, it makes a short vowel sound. Even the NATO Phonemic alphabet can come in handy.

Often, letters are silenced in a word. E.g., ‘L’ in half, ‘K’ in the know, and many other letters in many other words.

In addition to phonetics, attention should be paid to stress. A word may have one or multiple syllables or ‘units’ of one vowel sound, either or not with surrounding consonants. Stress refers to the emphasis on certain syllables in a word.

Kids must be introduced to the significance of stressing syllables in a word as well as stressing words when putting them into a sentence. Stressing will be different depending on if a word is used as a noun, verb or adjective.

It is very important to teach your little ones all these basics as they start to learn English.

Focus on Understandability

Frequently people are discriminated on the basis of the ‘accent’ they have. However, having an accent is normal. The focus should be on making your child’s talk clearly, and understandably. Encourage your kids to speak with comprehensibility.

The Origin of Sounds

The sound wave generated by the vocal folds of humans is modified by the articulators (tongue, palate, lips, etc.) to produce the different sounds of the letters we hear. Thus, the pronunciation of each letter involves the use of particular articulators in a distinct way.

To illustrate, saying the letter ‘M’ involves bringing together your lips, whereas saying ‘N’ involves touching the roof of your mouth and a slight part of your front teeth with your tongue. Both of these are nasal consonants.

While saying ‘Th,’ the tongue has to reach in between the top and the bottom teeth.

For every word, it is vital to teach your children where the sound of each letter has to be originated from, in order to have a proper pronunciation.

Pronunciation and Meaning

When you’re giving your child the English lessons, make sure you teach them the accentuation and meaning of a word at the same time. In this way, they can memorize it better.

Also, instruct them to keep the focus more on how the word sounds, rather than how the word is spelled while talking.

Listening Carefully!

It is mandatory to learn to listen before one learns to talk. That’s how youngsters should be trained in order to have better articulation. Instead of listening to speaking exercises, keeping ears open to random videos, movies, TV shows, as well as real-life people who are good speakers, can be much more helpful.

You can try making your little one watch a movie with subtitles first. The next time you show him or her the same movie without the subtitles and ask to listen carefully. This will guide them to concentrate on the pronunciation of words.

In addition to that, kids these days do not only play video games but also watch youtube videos on particular gameplay. These videos too can come handy, if you inspire your kids to take lessons from it.

Brushing Up

Providing your kids with the knowledge, and making them understand the rules as well as techniques to improvise their speech can be useless- if those aren’t practically implemented. The key to becoming skillful at something is to practice over and over again!

One fundamental way to brush up the skills is to read out loud. Storybooks, paragraphs, newspaper- instruct your children to read it out loud. In this way, they can hear themselves and correct what sounds wrong. In this way, they will not just get to practice speaking, but will also recognize specifically on which points they struggle.

For example, some kids may face difficulties in uttering specific letters; some may tend to pronounce vowels too long, and some kids may have confusion while saying the longer words.

Poetry

Recite rhymes and poems to your little ones starting from their young age. This reflects the proper intonation of words, and also makes it easier for the children to absorb it. At one point, your children will start to join you in the recitation.

Reading stories from books or just story-telling from your memory can also help your child pick up the effortless articulation of words from a young age. After all, infants mostly have parents as their favorite figures, and they try to copy things that they see their parents do.

Singing 

Singing? Although it may sound like singing has got little to do with pronunciation, it can actually prove to be wrong. Everyone loves music, and so do children. Listening to their favorite song is something they can do effortlessly. If they try to sing that song following lyrics, they will have to practice unless their articulation sounds good enough as the song.

Children often have some best-loved musicians who inspire them. Trying to cover their songs develop a sense of refining how their words sound.

Also, don’t worry if your children are already too big to recite to them rhymes and poems. Make them practice “shadowing” by making them sing along with the song. Their voice will only shadow the original song correctly if they’re getting the correct utterance and rhythm of the lyric.

Correcting Bit by Bit

If you wish to repair everything wrong with your child’s speech pattern in one day, it is not possible, is it? In fact, targeting several issues at the same time may turn into wastage of all efforts. The best way is to move step by step, and aiming at one problem instead of multiple at a time.

Don’t rush. Let your child take the time.

Slow down!

It is not necessary to speak fast if one wants to be fluent in a language. Practicing to speak fast as a learner will make your kids nervous, and also make their speech unclear. Moreover, it can mumble up words while talking.

Thus, go slow.

A Learning Partner

Having a companion in their process of learning will make things much easier for youngsters. A mate with whom he or she can set goals, mark each other’s problems and help to fix it. Learning will hence be much faster.

Also, it is very important to conversate in a language to truly master the speaking skills. Getting your child a partner will make sure that he or she is getting to exercise proper conversational English.

Getting an Opinion

Get an opinion on your little one’s progress from an expert- a teacher, or a good speaker, or someone with experience.

Give your children the compliments they deserve. Try to inspire them rather than demotivating them so that they can build the willpower to overcome all their problems in elocution.

Self-assessment

Encourage your children to evaluate their own improvement. They can do it by recording their speech. Recording and re-recording until they think they have reached their goals will not only fix what’s wrong, but it makes them practice and revise repeatedly. Being able to solve the problems on their own will boost their confidence and enthusiasm.

The Body Language

Correct articulation is not limited to the sound of the words, but also one’s approach has to be considered. Starting from facial expressions to certain gestures of a person’s hands and body, everything has an impact on how one communicates verbally.

You can prepare your children by making them practice talking in front of a mirror so that they can learn the do’s and don’ts. They can always have a role model they want to follow.

Chapter III: Apps to Improve English Speaking Skills

Why using apps is a good option?

• Time and space: Using web apps and especially mobile apps do not require committing a lot of one’s time. Particularly for kids, who do not like to do one thing for too long, these applications can be very beneficial as they can start from where they left in the previous session.

Also, children can practice speaking anytime and anywhere using apps, for instance in their bed, while eating, when outside, simply just at whatever time, and at whichever place they want!

• Attractive for kids: While English exercise sessions may get boring for kids, playing on the phone, or watching videos on a device is something they like from a very young age. They may, in fact, enjoy their time getting their lessons from an application.

Some apps have fun elements, games involved in the teaching process. This will keep the young ones motivated.

• Affordable: Most of the apps being free, it is very convenient to seek help from these. Even for the apps that are not completely free, the lessons, activities, and resources are very much affordable.

A few apps are named below – 

• Hello English

This app focuses not only on the speaking but also all other aspects of the language. One of the best things is that the app takes a test containing 20 questions, in order to assess the user’s current knowledge of the language. It then filters only the lessons most suitable for the user.

Apart from books, audiobooks, and news, the app uses interactive games in which one has to earn coins to unlock the following lessons. For youngsters, this is very challenging and keeps them excited.

• ELSA

ELSA or English Language Speech Assistant, specifically emphasize on tuning one’s pronunciation. First, this app will listen to your child speak; then it will detect what exactly he or she is facing trouble with, e.g., syllables, rhythm, intonation, etc.

• English Pronunciation

A mobile and web-based application which teaches the basic rules of spoken English. Those include, the utterance of short and long vowels, double vowel sounds, voiced and voiceless consonants, voices and silenced sounds. It also has lessons on the movement of mouth and tongue for making sounds behind every word.

Also, the app provides the chance to listen to the pronunciation of each word searched or taught in the practice area.

• English Speaking Practice

This is an app designed to rehearse conversational English, containing previously recorded conversations. One can also record and listen to their own speech in this app.

A more advanced version of this application is the English Conversation Practice app, to practice more and more English conversations.

• Duolingo

It can be sometimes problematic that Duolingo starts from the very basics of a language. However, this application teaches the articulation by breaking it down- which makes it easier to understand the absolute sound of each letter in a word, and each word in a sentence.

 

• Learn English Daily

Solely focuses on teaching English speaking and listening. Consisting of words and phrases spoken by native speakers, this assists one in becoming fluent in the language. When the sentences are narrated by native speakers, there is less chance of an error.

• Perfect English Pronunciation

The most attractive part about this web and mobile app is that it uses 3D animations to reduce the wrong intonation. The app also contains interactive jaw exercises and face diagrams to guide on tongue and mouth placement for uttering certain sounds.

• Using a Virtual Assistant Program

Siri and Google Assistant, respectively for iOS and Android are the electronic programs that can answer questions, provide recommendations, search as you dictate it to, or perform other functions on your command. Your children can actually have actual conversations with these programs, and also learn to enunciate.

If a word is mispronounced, children can instantly recognize that from the response by the program. When the program mishears a word that one has said, the answers or the search results will not be as expected. It can be instantly detected what the program heard instead of the actual word. Children can then work on those particular words or phrases.

Plus, it’s fun to ask them anything one likes! There is no way children will not like having a conversation with these programs.

• Google Translate

This might not be an application, nonetheless, google translate can be an absolute savior. Because, it doesn’t only translate words and sentences from one language to another, but it also gives one the chance to listen to the correct pronunciation of words in any language including English.

In addition to these few applications mentioned here, there are many more apps to help kids work on their speech delivery.

Chapter IV: Having Personal Trainers for Better Pronunciation: Would it Help?

At the end of the day, apps are designed programs who have a limited number of instructions in them. Whereas problems with speaking can greatly differ from person to person, these programs will only have limited solutions to offer, which are very generalized.

Employing a personal tutor for your little one besides only depending on apps can be a favorable choice. Having a personal trainer for your child who is a native speaker, will help him or her getting introduced to the right way of saying words.

Multimedia, web and mobile applications will only make children observe, or have indirect conversations. However, having a trainer ensures direct, face to face, and extended conversations. This is at the same time an in-depth practice session and a process to uplift the assertiveness of youngsters.

As the conversations will be in person and uninterrupted, it will be much easier for the tutor to identify the precise struggle your child is having. They can also come up with alternative solutions until the problems are solved if one suggestion or activity fails.

Lastly, recruiting a trainer who will be a friendly guide to your kids can make learning much more fun, easier, and less time-consuming. The mentor can involve in fun activities with the kid. The perk being, if your child likes the trainer, then he or she is not going to make excuses to avoid lessons.

 

Chapter V: Speaking Activities that Can Help to Improve Pronunciation

Games

Children are always attracted to activities that are thrilling. Playing a scored game with your child will play the trick. Your kid will try to win it, and in this process will learn correct articulation of words.

You can try a game of rhyming words. Draw an object, for example, a chair, and ask the kids to come up with words that sound similar to the object in the picture. Each new word gives them one point. Fix the number of rounds to be played, and whoever has higher points in the end wins.

Move your mouth to say a word, without making any sound. Ask your child to guess the word. Playing this by taking turns will help your kid to understand the movement of mouth necessary to make different sounds.

The best part is, you can design your own games based on your child’s interests!

Now you can check idioms with exercises and play fun quizzes on SpellQuiz.

Practicing Minimal Pairs

A minimal pair refers to a pair of words that are distinguished by only one sound. E.g., it/eat, wait/wet, ice/eyes, etc. These words can be rehearsed by uttering repeatedly. Or, an ‘odd one out’ game can be played.

Put minimal pairs and an odd word in a group of three. For instance, pace/case/plays. Create a number of groups and ask your child to read out the words and cut the odd one out for each group.

Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters can are difficult to articulate, but they are a fun way to practice clear utterance of words. These have to be repeated quickly, and often mistakes occur. However, rehearsing tongue twisters until they sound perfect can be a key to achieving clear speech. Kids can learn to distinguish between similar-sounding words.

A few examples are,

• She sells sea shells on the seashore
• A proper copper coffee pot
• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
• A big black bug bit a big black bear
• Around the rugged rocks, the ragged rascal ran
• Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry.

The Colored Vowel Chart

The color vowel chart involves a method that uses visual learning strategy for correct pronunciation of words. In the color vowel chart, each color represents a vowel sound. To give an instance, the color green is the sound of vowel /iy/, which is found in the words “tree” and “reach”. The color blue, on the other hand, represents the sound /uw/, as in the words “student” and “moody”.

For each of the 15 vowel sounds, color vowel chart also employs a noun along with the color adjectives. Green tea, Blue moon, Red dress- so that the stress of a vowel represented by color can be determined from the noun.

Kids can make a list for each of the colors of words that make a similar sound of vowels. They can also make many other uses of the colored vowels for the better learning of how to say a word correctly.

The “Jazz Chants”

Popularized by Carolyn Graham in the 1980s, jazz chant is an expression by which spoken English is linked to the traditional Americal jazz. It is appropriate for children because it makes the utterance of words easy by breaking them down into chunks falling into short jazz beats.

Children can be assembled into a group with their friends. They will be given a chant depending on the problems they face during speaking. Then, they can clap and march together to build the rhythm.

1,2, I like you

1,2,3, you like me

Chants are always fun for children, aren’t they?

Chinese Whispers

Chinese whisper is a multiplayer game commonly played by children. The first player whispers a message to the next one, and then it’s passed on to the next one. Once the message reaches the last player, he or she says it out loud. The distortion from the original message can then be compared.

If Chinese whisper is being played as a part of a lesson, children can figure out which words are mostly being changed in the final statement. So, they can then work on the elocution of those words.

 

Chapter VI: List of Online Resources for Better Pronunciation

Apart from using apps, there can be many online resources from where your child can gather knowledge, learn techniques, and practice speaking in English. Some of these are discussed here.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a series of downloadable audio, and which are free! Videos podcasts are also available. You can make your children listen to podcasts regularly, especially the ones made by native speakers. To learn American English, NPR or National Public Radio podcasts can be very useful.

YouTube

Kids are not unfamiliar to YouTube videos. YouTube is where children can find everything they will ever ask for! Songs, gameplay, movies, memes, any form of entertainment as well as knowledge.

Many channels on YouTube are dedicated to guiding people with the proper pronunciation of words. Watching these videos can have a huge impact on your child’s English speaking.

VOA learn English

VOA or Voice Of America is a YouTube channel uploading videos that are like news reports, except, they are conducted by trained English teachers. They utter each word clearly, and the sentences go pretty slow so that it’s easier to understand the pronunciation. It also comes with subtitles, so one doesn’t have to confused about any word.

Rachel’s English

This channel mainly focuses on the articulation of words in English. How mouth and tongue movements are involved in creating certain sounds can be very well understood by watching the videos from this channel.

Real English 

This channel posts videos of interviewing English speaking American people, to give an idea about how everyday English is spoken.

These are some channels that you can subscribe to for regular updates and videos, which will assist your little one in practicing their speaking skills. You can also always search on YouTube if you want to help your child to pronounce a certain word, or want to find a solution to certain issues that he or she is having while learning.

Not only that, if your kid is interested in watching interviews of his or her favorite celebrities and trying to understand those, even that can prove to be very useful.

Easy World of English

This is a website that assists one learn English- including grammar and speaking. What makes it attractive is that it has sections for practicing listening, and also interactive picture dictionary.

Macmillan English

This website provides tips, interactive phonemic charts as well as webinars on the articulation of the English language. You can also browse an exclusive series of short videos on this website to work on your child’s speaking skills.

Spoken Skills

Based on teaching North American English pronunciation. This site focuses on stress, rhythm, intonation. It also covers English communication skills. A list of exercises available for listening and speaking.

Phonetics Flash Animation Project: University of Iowa

Uses visual representation through animation with sounds, to help understand words clearly. It also pays attention to different aspects of stress, vowel, and consonant sound.

ManyThings

The website includes computer-assisted language learning activities, quizzes, word games, puzzles, proverbs, etc. The site particularly has a section to focus on the pronunciation of words. This includes practicing the minimal pairs.

Sounds of English

On this site, your kid can learn how sound is produced. It also provides audio and video files for assistance. Helps kids identify the difference between very similar words.

Pronunciation Pro

It is an online course to teach people elocution of words and employs a skilled American trainer. You can try the seven day trial for free, or register for the full version.

Chapter VII: The Difference Between Accents and Pronunciation

English being an international language, there is great diversity in how the language is spoken across the globe. For example, British and American English vary in their use of vocabularies, such as ‘autumn’ for British and ‘fall’ for Americans, ‘football’ in British English and ‘soccer’ in American English. But apart from the words, the accent is what is significantly different.

In fact, there’s a different phonemic chart for British English and American English. The way British people and American people say particular words are not the same. For instance, for the word ‘tomato,’ in an American accent, the ‘a’ is pronounced like the alphabet. However, in standard British, it is pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘car.’

Know the Difference

Similarly, English is spoken differently across the world, including native and non-native speakers. Countries that have English as their first language, e.g., Ireland, Canada, Australia, and so on have differences in their way of speaking English. Also, countries that have English as their second language, e.g., India, Philippines, Poland, etc. have their distinct way of pronouncing English words.

Spoken English doesn’t only vary among countries, but also across regions where English is the predominant language. In the USA, different dialects exist for different regions, i.e., Northern America, Southern America, Midland, etc. Dialect is an all-encompassing term to refer to a regional language. An accent refers to the part of a dialect that reflects a particular way of saying words of a language.

Don’t Get Too Confused!

The question then may arise, if accents vary, why is it important to learn to enunciate properly? The goal is not to talk like a speaker from a particular region. It is to speak English in an understandable way, which is pleasant to hear. Also, when a person is paying attention to learn proper articulation, it becomes much easier, in general, to understand and communicate in English. In fact, the person who works on having a correct pronunciation can also differentiate between accents on their own upon hearing.

Chapter VIII: Speech-related Disorders and Ways to Overcome

Imagine your 12-years-old child having trouble in saying words correctly, and you’re totally frustrated about the situation. Instead of understanding him or her, you create immense pressure which causes him or her to have a breakdown. It’s a scary thought, isn’t it? What could be wrong? Rather than wondering when it is too late, speech-related disorders should be identified at a young age so that they can be cured.

Many children may learn to talk a little late, many may face problems at a very young age to utter certain sounds. However, most of the times these troubles are fixed naturally with age. Nevertheless, some speech trouble at ages as young as 2-3 years can be a sign of speech disorders or speech sound disorders.

What to not worry about:

As a parent, you should not be worried just your children does the following at a very young age.

• Replace sounds in words. E.g. ‘nana’ instead of ‘mama.’
• Simplify complex sounds.
• Miss sounds from either end of words. E.g. ‘par’ instead of ‘park.’
• Fumble syllables in words.

These are very simple mistakes, and okay to make for kids as big as three years old. You just have to make sure your kid is not making lots of errors.

Speech disorders refer to the conditions in which a person is unable to deliver a normal speech. Being mute also falls in the category of speech disorder.

On the other hand, speech sound disorders are when children have trouble saying certain words past the expected age. Kids who have this disorder may be having one of the following struggles.

• Not producing certain sounds
• Not producing sounds correctly
• Unable to use sounds properly.

Types of Speech Sound Disorders

Articulation Disorders

An articulation disorder is the inability to physically produce certain sounds and words correctly. Sounds are often deleted, added, altered, or swapped. This difficulty is connected to the use of articulators, i.e., teeth, tongue, lips, palate, glottis, etc.

However, this is not a developmental impairment. Thus, over proper guidance along with patience and hope, these problems can be overcome.

Phonological Process Disorders

In such disorders, children have trouble understanding how the sound system works. Often, they get confused and cannot differentiate two different sounds or phonemes, and end up making the same sound for two different letters. For example, saying ‘tall’ for both the words ‘call’ and ‘tall.’

You should learn more about phonemic alphabets to teach them better. 

In some cases, kids may use one phoneme instead of several others. In that case, the chance of error is much higher.

We have discussed the minimal pairs of words before, and those can actually prove to be a great exercise for children with phonemic disorders.

Some kids with this disorder often fail to recognize that they’re using the same sound for multiple phonemes but can distinguish the phonemes in someone else’s speech.

Mixed speech sound disorders: Articulation disorder and phonological disorder may coexist in the same child, and that is known as mixed speech sound disorders. The priority when assisting these children is to teach them the phonemes, differences and provide therapies based on those. Since even after learning sounds a child must know how to produce them using articulators, activities to eradicate the articulation disorder is also necessary.

Residual Errors

Most speech sound disorders can be treated in childhood with considerable success. Nevertheless, some errors may sometimes persist in their adulthood. These persisting difficulties are termed as residual errors and may remain lifelong.

Causes Behind Speech Sound Disorders

Most of the times, the cause behind these disorders are unknown. Yet, in many cases, any of the following have shown to be a reason.

• Head injury that caused brain damage
• Brain damage leading to neurological disorders; for example, cerebral palsy
• Intellectual or developmental disability; e.g., autism
• A history of ear infections leasing to hearing loss
• Physical abnormalities, including cleft palate or cleft lip
• Disorders affecting the nerves involved in speech
• A genetic disorder, such as down syndrome

Diagnosis and Treatment

Parents can detect early signs in their babies as they go through developmental phases. If parents notice their children making an unusual noise, having trouble pronouncing words even after passing the expected age, and repeating similar patterns of mistakes, they may seek help from experts.

It is important to check your child’s hearing before concluding anything because it is possible that the child has had a partial hearing loss and simply cannot hear clearly sometimes. This may make them miss out phonemes and letters while learning to talk.

When the hearing loss is ruled out, a speech therapist or speech-language pathologist may provide a wide range of services in order to treat your kid.

Effects of Speech Sound Disorder on Children

• Kids may face trouble linking together more than one or two sounds. Eventually, they will talk less with people as they notice something is wrong with them.
• If by the time your child reaches the age to join the school, and yet has problems with speaking clearly, they may have difficulty communicating at school.
• Children who have speech sound disorder due to physical abnormalities, such as cleft lips, may face problems like dribbling and messy eating habits.
• Children may become distant and frustrated and will suffer in the long run.

The Law of Attraction

It is crucial to have a positive outlook on the situation. A parent is the prime support system for every child. Once you lose confidence in the fact that your child’s condition will cause no harm to his or her future life, and can be fixed with some assistance, your child will be frustrated.

On the other hand, if you deal with the situation with patience and positivity, your kid will have the strength and support they need.

After all, if the disorders are recognized and diagnosed early, they can be completely overcome by the children with appropriate guidance. They can learn to communicate properly and also find comfort and confidence in speaking.

Chapter IX: The FAQs: Common Questions about Pronunciation

Few common questions that are asked by parents regarding their children’s English speaking are discussed here.

Is pronunciation important?

Having a clear and acceptable speech pattern is important in order to communicate. However, trying to have an accent like another person is not necessary. Everyone has a unique voice, and it is okay to sound different, as long as one is saying the words correctly.

Starting from what age shall I focus on my child’s pronunciation?

It can get confusing for many parents that how early should they start. Of course, trying to teach your toddler to speak perfectly is not a very good option.

The right age to start emphasizing on your child’s speaking is around 4-5 years. Children go through an ‘imitation’ phase at this age, which means they try to imitate whatever they hear or see around them by role-playing. This is the age when they actually start learning new words, phrases, and sentences.

It is the absolute right time to start having conversations with your little one, and also correcting words, they tend to utter wrongly.

How to fix a toddler’s mispronunciation?

Toddlers are children 1-3 years old. It’s completely normal for toddlers to mispronounce words. Parents don’t have to do much in this case. Instead of telling them they’re wrong, just repeating the correct word several times will be enough.

How to encourage a toddler on his/her spoken language?

Babies learn words from their surroundings, as they hear people talk.

It is most important to talk to the toddlers as much as possible. Running commentary on whatever you’re doing while you’re with them will help. Supplement it with asking questions, even if the kid doesn’t answer. The more people will talk to toddlers, and in front of them, the more they’ll learn about communication.

Singing and reading to them from time to time will make learning fun for them. Also, pointing at things and asking them what those are will develop a practice of communicating, and also picking up the right sound of a word.

How to make learning pronunciation fun?

Depending on your child’s interests, involve him in activities that will help him or her get a grip of the articulation of words. Reading, watching English movies or series, playing games that involve speaking activity- do as much as possible. Encourage your kid by reflecting on how impactful can learning to deliver a speech properly be.

What is phonics information?

Phonics is the relationship between how a word is spelled and how a word is uttered. Children are taught to read a word by breaking it down into the ‘phonemes’ and to blend these together to make the complete word.

Aren’t the spellings in English too unpredictable and irregular to apply phonics?

Although there are many exceptions where the pronunciation of a word breaks the rule of phonics, applying phonics is still needed. For a larger part of the language, learning phonics information and applying them properly helps get the hold of better pronunciation.

How important are vocabularies in Spoken English?

Expanded vocabulary does not only enhance a person’s reading and writing skills but also brings a variety to their speech, making those more attractive.

But, if your child is not good at the proper articulation of words, having substantial vocabulary knowledge will be of no significance. Also, in the case of comprehension during reading, even if certain unfamiliar words appear, most of the times a contextual meaning can be assumed.

That is why the primary focus shall be on improving how your kid is making the words sound. Once the pronunciation is satisfactory, vocabularies are definitely going to add to the skills.

How to make children more confident in speaking English as a second language?

Starting with more one-on-one conversations will help to build up confidence in your child initially, and he or she will have no fear of getting embarrassed. Also, engaging in conversations with native speakers will assist them in understanding the pronunciation and intonation. Keeping a personal trainer may help in this situation.

Also, complimenting children on their progress, and not pressurizing them to be perfect will keep them self-confident.

Should my child learn British accent or American accent for ESL (English as a Second Language)?

British and American accents are very different from each other. That’s not it, even within the UK or the USA, several dialects and accents exist. It is more important that you focus on your children’s learning of speaking words and listening to words in a way that your kids can understand the various accents when someone is talking to them. Absorbing a particular accent is not required for ESL – learn more.

How much should parents get involved?

After their children have crossed a certain age, many parents may worry if they’re overstepping on their children’s interests. It is true indeed that forcing your son or daughter to work on their English pronunciation may put them under pressure.

Hence, the best option is to prepare your children from an early age in a way that they themselves can realize the importance of being good at speaking in English in a proper way. If they’re showing disinterest, you can always talk to them about it rather than pushing them to join a particular activity.

That does not mean you make yourself too distant. In that way, your little one will not have the assistance they need. After all, the guidance of a parent is crucial before the learning process at school or society begins.

How much time a day shall a kid practice for having better articulation?

There have to be no fixed hours a day for your child to practice speaking. The speaking and listening activities are very flexible, and they can do it whenever convenient. But for a scheduled progression, you can make a daily routine for all the activities your child will perform.

In the morning they can sing the rhymes, in the evening they can read as well as practice speaking, on alternate days they can have listening exercises, and on weekends they involve in special activities like games or movies. Mobile applications are very versatile and adaptable, and they can be used at any time and at any place to have practice sessions.

In spite of everything, it depends on your child how much of activities he or she must cover in a day. If you’re loading your little one with a lot of activity, they might just fail to memorize what they’re learning. The learning process has to be efficient. Thus, provide your child daily with the information only as much as he or she can absorb in a day.

Shall I pressurize my child to say words he/she is facing difficulty pronouncing?

No. Creating pressure on youngsters or compelling to do something is a very bad way of getting them to work. That makes them think their parents will not understand them, and they will become reserved and distant.

If children are having a problem with uttering certain words, pay attention to the pattern of the issues they are having. You can try alternative practices to make them say the word properly. If it still doesn’t work, you can consult an expert about the situation.

Sometimes, this can be a symptom of a speech sound disorder. You must not ignore the struggle of your child and you have to notice the little details to reach a conclusion.

Why is my child having trouble pronouncing words?

Toddlers and even children up to the age of 7 may make mistakes in their speech, that is often normal. Sometimes kids will create their own easier, simplified versions of words they find complicated. Sometimes they might add or remove letters from a word while saying it.

Nonetheless, these errors go away as the kids get older. By the age of 8, children are expected to make speech sound properly.

If the problems exist even after a certain age, and also if you notice some issues unusual in normal kids, it is possible that your kid has articulation disorder or phonological disorder. In that case, you should see a speech-language pathologist.

However, speech sound disorders are mostly treated successfully while these young people are still in their childhood. So you should not worry if your child is having problems, you have to observe and be supportive.

Shall I tell my son/daughter about his/her speech sound disorder?

Children will automatically learn there is a problem in the way they talk once they communicate with people, as it’s different from everyone else. Under the circumstances, if you decide to not tell your children about the disorder they have, they may, in fact, think they suffer from something worse. They may feel like they are defective.

Instead, talk to your kid about the problems he or she is having. Tell him or her about the condition, and that it is okay to have it. Enlighten them about the fact that the condition is not permanent, and that practicing more and more, as well as taking speech therapies can make their problems go away.

Be your child’s partner in speaking exercises. Keep them motivated and never make them feel like they lack anything because they don’t.

Chapter X: Final Words

The teachers often neglect to teach youngsters the proper delivery of words, believing that English is a language all about literature. They think, “If a child is able to read from books and perceive the meaning of a text, why bother to give so much attention to how each word sounds?”

English is the third most widely used language in the world and is an international language. For higher education and a shining career, having the knowledge of written English and rich vocabularies is not enough, as the world has become communication-based. Moreover, having a precise pronunciation starting from an early age is definitely impressive.

Brushing up your child’s English speaking with reading out loud, listening, and speaking activities will take them one step closer to having an appropriate speech pattern. The more they practice, the better they learn. You can covert learning pronunciation into fun activities such as singing, playing games, browsing YouTube and other resources, watching and listening to multimedia.

Nevertheless, you should never pressurize your kids to teach something. Let them take their time as you guide their way as a parent.

Taking everything into account, a little work today will help children to be confident as their impressive pronunciation will pave their way to much easier communications and overall, a brighter future.

Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today! It’s a great way of practicing spelling quiz for grade 4 or spelling quiz for grade 5.

Also, try this vocabulary test to understand your current skill level! Try the spelling test to master English spelling! Also, don’t forget to check the complete list of spelling words.  

You can find much more information on Spelling Bee by reading The Advanced Spelling Bee Guide.

Also, try this vocabulary test to understand your current skill level! Try these spelling tests to master English spelling! Also, don’t forget to check the complete list of spelling words.