A FUN online community for homeschoolers
I have a confession to make. I had no intention of homeschooling. After public high school with our oldest two, I was convinced that we would never go the government-provided-schooling route again, so we enrolled our younger two in a top-notch private Christian school. Somewhere in the first year, God laid homeschooling heavily on my [...]
In September we started our first year of homeschool. We were all so excited. With colorful books and a little schoolroom all set up, we started out. It went well… and then my son started to push– his will against mine.I began to instruct him and then leave him alone for a while. He [...]
Let’s face it, there will be days and even weeks when our best-laid plans for our homeschool will be thrown out the window. This happens to homeschool families located anywhere in the world. Children get sick, or you the teacher, falls ill. This past school year we had so many sick days that we [...]
I had my first real homeschool convention experience in early April when I attended the Great Homeschool Convention (GHC) in Cincinnati. I’d considered going to a convention before – to GHC, Teach Them Diligently, or any one of several mid-sized regional events – and I did help at a vendor booth for a very small [...]
So you think you might want to homeschool … or not … or you just have no idea… I understand completely. I’m just finishing up my second year of homeschooling, so I’m hardly an expert. However, I do know a lot about starting to homeschool and all of the questions that go along with that. [...]
Anytime we have the opportunity to travel as a family, we are making lasting memories of fun and adventure. However, one of my favorite benefits of homeschooling is the chance to take a homeschool travel approach to the trip and capture the opportunity to learn on the road. My husband travels a lot for [...]
Common conversation in our car: “Turn right here.” “Turn right?” “No turn left right now.” “Turn left?” “Right.” Aggghhh! The word that is pronounced [rahyt] is not only a homograph, (same spelling, two different meanings), it is also a homophone, and can have more than one spelling (write, right, wright, rite). If write is what [...]
We wouldn’t start our day without breakfast. After all, our kids need fuel to participate in school and stay on task. For many of us as adults, we wouldn’t think to start our day without coffee. At least I wouldn’t! But how often do we fail to start our school day in prayer? One morning [...]
Recently, while I was on Facebook, I clicked through to a link to a blog post entitled, 18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children. A doctor, who also happens to be a mother, wrote the post and began it by saying, “I’m going public today with a secret I’ve kept for a year [...]
I think it is odd that I am a homeschooler and such a strong advocate of it no less. Why you ask? Well, I was one of those anti-homeschooling people who thought that it was the height of arrogance to think that anybody could give her child a better education than someone with a four-year [...]
Recently, I had the opportunity to answer a question that a fellow homeschooling mama asked in a group of which I am a part. She wanted to know what a ‘typical’ day looks like for our 4-5 year olds. Below is the response I gave: “Currently, we are not officially homeschooling our 4-year-old. She spends [...]
If you’ve chosen to homeschool then inevitably you’ve already been confronted with the concern by family, friends, neighbors, and yes, even strangers– {gasp!} “But what about “the socialization”? As if by keeping your children out of the classroom and interacting firsthand with the world in some way forces us homeschoolers into a weird societal black [...]
We are very fortunate to be able to take several trips each year as a family. It’s nice to be able to travel when most kids are in school. The lines are shorter and things are generally less crowded. I used to worry about taking all that “time off” from school, but over the years [...]
Scrapbooks. I bet you’ve got them. I know I do. I’m not the greatest at scrapbooking, but I do have a book for each of my boys that documents growth and firsts. You know – those “baby books.” My boys love looking at theirs. I know I still enjoy looking at mine! As I thought [...]
I joined my local homeschool association when my daughters were still toddlers, eager to meet experienced moms and begin learning all I could well before I had to make it “official.” As soon as I joined Facebook, I sought other homeschool moms there, and I found online homeschool communities, too. I also started following homeschool-oriented blogs. And through all those [...]
I feel like homeschooling families get a lot of questions, simply because we aren’t doing the “normal” thing. The top of the list is of course, “Are you crazy?”. The other question that is asked a lot is, “Why did you decide to homeschool?” It seems like it should be such a simple question to [...]
Approximately eight months ago, my husband and I decided that we will be homeschooling our girls, now ages four, two and a half, and 11 months. Four months ago I took my oldest daughter out of preschool. After that it took me about two months to get into a good routine, a groove, if you [...]
One of the most common feelings expressed to me by other homeschooling moms is self-doubt. Am I doing enough? Am I doing it right? Am I organized enough? Am I doing too much? Am I getting through to my kids? Am I measuring up to other moms? Notice a trend? The relentless “am I” questions [...]
A “Hallmark” holiday, a marketing gimmick, an arbitrary day for people to suddenly express their love for one another with chocolate and roses, and just another way to blow through a lot of money…. that’s Valentine’s Day, right? Yes, it’s sappy and silly and redundant and commercial, and I don’t even really care for [...]
My children’s first Volcano in 2008 It’s 1:30 a.m. and I am writing this blog quietly in our home office while my whole family is tucked neatly in their beds. I spent the last few hours prepping for my eleven-year-old daughter’s advanced calculus class… okay, seriously, don’t believe that for a moment! Besides the fact [...]
It had been a frustrating morning of trying to get my son to stay on task. He whined about writing and kept asking how much more work he needed to do. I decided it was time for us to take a break from what we were doing. We sat on our comfy couch in the [...]
Routine can be an important part of the homeschooling process. As important as it is, routine can become more of a rut at times. This makes learning a duty and the joy can be sucked right out (for the child and the teacher!). So if your routine has become a rut, here are 10 ideas [...]
On my blog, there is a page dedicated to “advice for new homeschoolers” or Breathing Lessons, as I call it. The title “Breathing Lessons” came about because at the end of most, if not all, of the paragraphs, I wrote “Relax. Breathe. Breathe again.” It was meant to instill calm and confidence, a spirit of [...]
{Ten day series on every day life in our homeschooling family of eight. In addition to the play by play, each day has a different emphasis. Today’s emphasis is housework as we homeschool.} 8:12 Roll out of bed and get dressed and ready. 8:14 Stun the kids by coming out fully clothed and ready to [...]
I was overconfident to begin with, so maybe I doomed myself from the beginning. But I’d already brought three children into the world, so why should I be rattled by the impending arrival of a fourth? I could handle another baby. I’d done this all before! I was managing life nicely, after all. Not perfectly, [...]
This usually busy season of life has been slowing down dramatically in our family because of a certain tiny, new baby brother or sister that is growing inside of me making me feel like doing nothing (other than sitting/laying around). I was sitting on the couch the other day, feeling nauseated and exhausted as usual [...]
Some may believe that homeschooling is this lovely world of arts and crafts and playtime with the children. While this may be true for some, it is not always the case. I started home schooling about three years ago and started during the middle of the school year. So let me first say I am by no means an [...]
The question on my mind today is “Are you guys back on schedule after the time change?” Well, we are! I began preparing for the time change a week ahead, slowly altering the kids’ bedtime and wakeup time about 10 or 15 minutes for a day or two. This worked like a charm. A few [...]
One day we were all gathered around the little coffee table in our home, my older sister, my toddler brother, and the bird.*cue pyscho theme song* The lorikeet’s name was Solomon, after the wise king, but spending time with him was far from regal. As we colored our pictures depicting biblical stories from the Picture [...]
There are numerous benefits to homeschooling. One of our favorites is the freedom it gives to travel. My husband is often out of town for work and since we homeschool, we like to join him on his travels. For the most part, we are able to keep up with our homeschooling while we are away. [...]
Two or three days a week we see them there, legs stretching, arms reaching, jumping and spinning with such an appearance of ease. Two ballet dancers, a duet, partnering in rehearsal and preparation for their big day on the stage. My son watches them with rapt attention. He is almost six, just completing his first [...]
It was the day after Labor Day—and the first time in my adult life—maybe ever—that I was at home on this day. August was not filled with watching sale flyers for back-to-school bargains, polishing a classroom, making bulletin boards, or fielding phone calls from anxious parents. The only anxious parent I had to deal with was [...]
Celebrate verb(usedwithobject) 1. to observe (a day) or commemorate (an event) with ceremonies or festivities. Don’t you just love a celebration? It’s a special time set aside to honor an accomplishment. As homeschoolers it might be easy to overlook such a time since our days can be filled with many accomplishments OR perhaps on a not so good day, [...]
“Lemme do it, Mom!” whines, Caden, your 10-year old tween, obviously struggling with the screw driver. He is thinking, “Can I do this?” He doesn’t want your help. He resents your assistance with anger and sass. Sometimes he is willfully disobedient. However, he is learning self-confidence as he unscrews the battery cover. Caden is now the [...]
“Not right now . . .” “Just let me finish this . . .” “I’m busy.” I usually say these words to dismiss something that’s not quite as important as what I’m doing at the moment. We’ve all said them. In fact, Nehemiah said them too, and for good reason. He has been given a clear calling from God to rebuild the [...]
When I was homeschooling, I thought teach foreign language was hard. From my perspective as a math/science gal, I can also say I thought it was icky, yucky and not my cup of tea. But, it’s also possible. It’s doable. Even I could do it! Teaching your child a foreign language is not insurmountable, even [...]
When I first felt that I was to homeschool my children, I did not know where to begin. To be honest, the only examples that I had were not very good ones. Both my husband and I were raised in the school system, so there was really nothing to go on between the two of us. So [...]
When I was a kid, the words, “Back to School” excited me to no end. I loved new folders, clean paper, and freshly sharpened pencils. I loved meeting my new teacher, walking into my brightly colored classroom, and organizing the desk that had my name and the alphabet in D’nealian stuck on the top. I’d [...]
If you plan to homeschool a special needs child, you would do well to plan ahead: Plan ahead of time to stop dead in your tracks if whatever curriculum you purchased at the convention is obviously not working. Plan ahead of time to regroup and revive if your plan fails. Plan ahead of time to [...]
Although you might not have guessed it when you saw that fun graphic above, today’s post tackles one of the toughest subjects for the homeschool parent (drum roll please): …. high school math. I’m not simply talking about arithmetic or elementary number concepts but the real, nuts and bolts, algebraic and abstract concepts that constitute [...]
It’s the night before public school starts. I’ll admit that there’s a little nostalgic twinge of excitement I feel for those who will be beginning a new school year tomorrow. I remember first days of school. The fuss over what I should wear, the giddiness about seeing friends again, the anticipation of using fresh new [...]
As our culture becomes more and more “screen bound,” our kids are inundated with flashing facts, opinions and graphics. Their ability to evaluate this input and generate their own unique ideas will be valuable to them in life. For this, they must develop an ability to think creatively, “outside the box.” Most curricula fall short [...]
At this time of year, homeschool moms are inevitably turning their thoughts to the start of next school-year, with visions of shiny new curricula dancing in our heads. The hope contained in all the unopened, un-creased new books, and the promise of new, perfected lesson plans, the sparkly new school supplies . . . It [...]
“A mother’s heart is the child’s classroom.” Henry Ward Beecher Families choose to homeschool for a variety of reasons, and our family is no different. One of our reasons to homeschool was our desire to teach our children from a biblical worldview. Let’s face it, there are many things out there vying for our children’s [...]
There were several reasons I said I’d never homeschool. Teach a kid math? Are you serious? And what about the time commitment involved in homeschooling? How was a mom to get anything else done? Besides, (and please pardon my past ignorance here,) why on earth would I devote years to educating my children when there [...]
Picture it: New Jersey, summer, 2012. A group of adorable, if small, suntanned children seated at their astonishingly gorgeous mother’s sandaled feet, listening attentively as she reads to them from their well-rounded selection of children’s literature classics. They’ve just been to the library and have a fresh supply. In the morning, they ate their healthy [...]
Homeschools are not invincible. No matter how much we want our homeschool to survive, it takes more than just a desire of our hearts to keep it thriving. I can speak so clearly on this issue because we are now into our third year of homeschooling and we are only just beginning to move from [...]
This school year, both of my children are in the middle school years – one is at the end and the other is just starting out, and it made me start thinking – the middle of what? The name is really so appropriate. They are no longer heavily influenced by mom. They have their own [...]
My decision to homeschool was not an easy one for me. I’m a single mom. I’m a graduate student. I don’t work. And my oldest son has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), ADHD, and he’s gifted. Clearly I’ve got a lot on my plate. When I first mentioned that I wanted to homeschool my boys I [...]
As I watched my son, seven years old, sitting on the swing in the backyard, wearing a fantastic four costume and reading, I realized that I really do love homeschooling. I love that he has the freedom to read on the swingset. He can come to class in a super hero costume. He can spend [...]
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