Home education theory is an interesting discussion, but we need precise instructions for turning the idea of an authentic classical Christian home education into reality. Navigating any journey requires planning the course from start to finish. That’s why I have prepared my road maps for mastery of reading, thinking, and speaking skills. These checklists represent my personal goals for my children. You can use them as a springboard for developing your own homeschool curriculum goals.
In my opinion, these are the six specific language abilities that every literate homeschool child needs to master:(1) how to read, (2) how to spell, (3) how to write, (4) how to punctuate and capitalize, (5) how to use proper grammar, and (6) how to decipher unfamiliar vocabulary.
If you are one who needs more detail in achieving and assessing the skill, I have listed some basic abilities that I look for in my own children, but the list is certainly not all-inclusive.The beauty of classical education lies in the fact that you get to customize the content and methods to your own family’s needs. Here is the complete Home School Curriculum Road Map to Mastery of Reading Skills:
How to Read
- Read aloud (from/to)
- Inflect voice
- Decipher phonetics
- Recognize sight words
- Read independently
- Narrate and predict content
How to Spell
- Apply rules in context
- Find and correct errors
- Divide syllables and hyphenate
- Record dictation and correct errors
- Play spelling games
- Participate in spelling bees
How to Write
- Learn lower and uppercase alphabet
- Create ABC book
- Refine print and cursive handwriting
- Copy classic authors
- Learn to type
How to Punctuate and Capitalize
- Learn rules of usage
- Add missing marks and capitalize
- Find and correct errors
- Learn proofreading marks
How to Use Proper Grammar
- Memorize the eight parts of speech
- Substitute eight parts in context
- Learn gender, case, and declension of nouns
- Learn comparative and superlative rules of modifiers
- Learn conjugation of verbs
- Apply syntax rules
- Diagram sentences
- Familiarize with verbals
How to Decipher Unfamiliar Vocabulary
- Interpret contextual meaning
- Practice dictionary usage
Please feel free to tailor this road map to your own needs.Simple goals allow us to teach out of a position of rest instead of anxiety.Keep your eyes on the big picture and be creative in achieving the goals of your homeschool curriculum.
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Check out my other checklists for teaching the three skills of the classical Christian trivium:
Homeschool Curriculum Road Map to Mastery of Thinking Skills
Homeschool Curriculum Road Map to Mastery of Speaking Skills
[...] for homeschool high school credit. Once you teach your children to master the three skills of reading, thinking, and speaking the student can explore any number of disciplines that excite his or her [...]
[...] capitalize, (5) how to use proper grammar, and (6) how to decipher unfamiliar vocabulary. Use my Road Map to Mastery of Reading Skills to add or subtract content from your personalized homeschool [...]
[...] Homeschool Curriculum Road Map to Mastery of Reading Skills [...]
[...] Homeschool Curriculum Road Map to Mastery of Reading Skills [...]