Getting Started

Every year as summer winds down, inspiration strikes me when I’m shopping at my favorite store. You know, the one with the hypnotizing bull’s-eye and all that inviting redness? When the water guns disappear and are replaced by colorful displays of glue, markers, and folders, I want to pull a school list from the end cap and start pitching notebooks … [Read more...] about Not-Back-to-School Homeschool Supplies

Simplifying Your School Morning When it's time to go back to school, it's not easy to get everyone up, fed, dressed, and ready for school, especially when it still feels like summer outside. If you're not a morning person, it is even harder to think straight when you are rushing around trying to get things done. My boys are not natural early … [Read more...] about Back to School Morning Cheat Sheet

Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy. How do you inspire kids to have a love for the world, while also inspiring them to love reading? Obviously, having access to good books is a start. Jamie Martin makes this job easier with her brand new book, Give Your Child … [Read more...] about Give Your Child the World

Are You a Homeschool Planner Drop Out? Even before I was a homeschool mom I’ve loved planners. Well, I mean I’ve loved the idea of planners. I have purchased big ones and little ones, all beautifully inspiring in their own way. Unfortunately, that’s about where I stop. I’ve had a few successful months of planning, but overall, I’m a planning … [Read more...] about 3 Perfect Planning Tools for Homeschool Planner Drop Outs

When we started homeschooling, we were living in a tiny house. I mean, really tiny. And, the only place I had for “doing school” was our kitchen table, which was in the middle of our small 1930s kitchen and also the center for meals, craft projects, games, and gathering in general. All of my school stuff was stored in a few baskets in the pantry, … [Read more...] about Schoolroom Organizing

What's your homeschooling style? Our homeschooling style, if I had to label it, would be academic/Charlotte Masonish/hands-on/eclectic/hodgepodge. As a new homeschool mom, I found a curriculum that we loved, but I soon discovered that we needed to branch out from it for some subject areas. Letting go of the compulsion to check off all the … [Read more...] about Homeschooling Outside the [Curriculum] Box

Being Mom When You're the Teacher When your kids are little, your role as mom is intertwined with your role as teacher. From birth, your kids are learning as you are teaching them EVERYTHING. Even before homeschooling “officially” begins, you are already established as your kids’ teacher – you teach them how to walk, talk, eat with a fork, and tie … [Read more...] about Balancing Roles

Families Homeschool for Diverse Reasons There are as many different reasons families homeschool as there are homeschooling families. For many, homeschooling is a calling. Some say it is a necessity, and others simply say it is a choice. Regardless of the reasons families choose home education, each individual must make the decision freely, and … [Read more...] about Why Do Families Homeschool?

Hitting a mid-year slump in your homeschool?  Here are 13 ways to gain a new perspective as we begin a brand new year: Purge old papers and books, and re-organize your school space. Sort out what you need to keep for each child's portfolio, and get rid of the rest. Chunk what isn't working. If necessary, pare down to the three R's for awhile … [Read more...] about 13 Ways to Revitalize Your Homeschool

Here it is--your permission slip: You have permission to adapt your curriculum to meet your needs.  You really do. I promise. One of the most challenging things I face, even after many (12 so far) years of homeschooling, is giving myself permission NOT to check off all of the boxes on my instructor's guide schedule pages. One of the biggest … [Read more...] about Adapting Curriculum to Meet Your Needs

It seems to be a well-known phenomenon among homeschool moms that the "January blues" settle in shortly after the holidays. Feelings of not being as far along as we wanted to be can become overwhelming, and the "shorter" days and yucky weather seem to add to the stress. Just knowing that I'm not the only one who experiences the January blues has … [Read more...] about 5 Ways to Chase Away the January Blues

Embracing the “Light Bulb” Moments If you’ve been following our “Peek Into My Homeschool” series, you have seen what a variety of homeschooling styles we have. I’ve postponed my article a bit, because our homeschool changed drastically this year, and I wanted to wait to share it with you after we’d had a chance to get into a routine. Our Family … [Read more...] about A Peek Into My Homeschool

This time of year, many homeschool moms start discussing mastery.How do you know when students have mastered a subject and are ready to move on to the next level? Some experts recommend that you complete at least 75% of a textbook to consider it credit-worthy. But, what if you don’t use a textbook? Or, what if you switch curriculum … [Read more...] about Aiming for Mastery

It’s the middle of the school year, and your child is not thriving or growing. You think it is time to pull him out of traditional school, but you aren’t sure you can do this. You might be wondering, can I homeschool? What will my family think? What will my friends think? How do I start? I found myself in this same quandary a few years ago when … [Read more...] about Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The homeschool convention vendor hall is full of eye-candy, isn't it? In my opinion, it's a lot more fun than the mall! After reading homeschool catalogs and pondering the best products for our family, it is a real treat to get to touch and look through materials and speak with the vendors in person. My kids would tell you that their favorite … [Read more...] about How to Shop a Homeschool Convention

Sometimes, homeschooling can seem like a long and daunting road. Though I would not trade our days at home for anything, some days are admittedly better than others. I have days when I feel like a squirrel, running from thing to thing to thing . . . When I feel like my wheels are spinning, but we aren't getting anywhere, I've learned to take a … [Read more...] about 5 Tips for Homeschool Encouragement

The reality of our homeschool is that learning and life are integrated, and we do not recreate a classroom setting or schedule to achieve educational goals. Learning happens, and life happens. Whenever challenges present themselves, both big and small, we regroup when necessary and adapt. I think that the ability to adapt is one of the most … [Read more...] about Homeschooling When Life Gets in the Way

Dear Homeschool Mama, From the day I decided to homeschool, you have been there as a supportive friend, an experienced adviser, a cohort, a prayer partner, and an encouraging voice. When I had no clue how to start down this path, you assured me that I could do it. You helped me by suggesting which curriculum catalogs to order and how to get my … [Read more...] about Dear Homeschool Mama,

We are year-round homeschoolers, but we scale back during the summer a bit as we make the transition back to school and on to the next grades. We're gearing up to our full schedule over the next couple of weeks. Although we "do school" all through the summer, our pace is more relaxed for these months. We still cover our core subjects, but not in … [Read more...] about Easing Back to School

When my kids were little, I would hold them close and talk to them about the wonders of creation and the power and grace of God, and they would soak it up like a sponge. The greatest thing about homeschooling? As my kids grow older, discipleship is still the focus of their education. Sure, we cover the three R's, but the Bible is the foundation … [Read more...] about The Importance of Discipleship