Since homeschooling happens in the real world while our real lives are going on around us, we often face disruptive events which throw us off stride and threaten to derail our entire educational process for a time. Younger siblings, home-based businesses, and household emergencies all can disrupt our planned school day. However, we know that … Continue reading Dealing with Disruptions
While we want our teens to move toward self-regulation and independence, it’s important to remember that executive function is not always at a consistent level in the maturing human. Teens are in a constant state of growth and development, and sometimes certain areas will fall back while others surge ahead. The child who efficiently managed … Continue reading Goal Setting For Teens
It’s a well-known fact that most abandon New Year’s resolutions by the end of the day on January 2. If we didn’t follow through today, we definitely can’t make it for 363 more days, so we should just give up. No doubt, many of us have seen that same concept sneaking into our homeschool goals … Continue reading Goal Setting in Your Homeschool
As home educators, we want our children to use their childhood years of education to gain knowledge and skill and prepare their minds for the future. To that end, we research, purchase, print, and present various materials, supplies, and curricula. We study and write lesson plans. We sit down with our children, we show what … Continue reading Teaching vs. Learning
I have about three or four busy boxes that keep active toddlers and preschoolers occupied. I fit several different activities into each box, sorting them by age as I see fit. The trick is to keep them special. Put them away where they can’t be seen, and pull one out when you need a child to be … Continue reading Busy Boxes
It’s too expensive. I just don’t have time. It doesn’t really matter. We’ve all said these things, and sometimes they’re true, but not always. We homeschooling parents do so many things well, which is admirable. We’re a thrifty, hardworking, resourceful group. We can also be somewhat shortsighted when it comes to the proper care of … Continue reading Buy a Good Bra
Building families & culture by gathering around the table, one meal at a time. “All great change in America begins at the dinner table,” said Ronald Reagan in his farewell address in the Oval Office, Jan. 1989. Gathering around the supper table for daily family meals is something our family values deeply and prioritized since … Continue reading Restoring the Lost Supper:
Many of us, at one point or another, have thought that our child is behind. Maybe they have not completed the curriculum by the end of the year. Possibly they missed an idea somewhere along the road and now there seems to be a gap in learning. Or they are just plain behind. All of … Continue reading My Kid is Behind
Oklahoma is an excellent state in which to homeschool! I’ve met families who moved to Oklahoma for the sole purpose of home-educating their children. In 1907, the drafters of Oklahoma’s constitution established the freedom to homeschool in Oklahoma. Because of the beautiful blessing we have in educating our children “by other means,” we also have … Continue reading Oklahoma House Bill 2030
As I come to the end of another year of homeschooling, the magnitude of this year hits me. We are graduating our oldest child. I can not rewind time. I can not go back and change what I did, but I can share what I have learned. First, let me tell you, I would do … Continue reading What I Wish I Had Known When I Started Homeschooling?
