Nature study can be as simple as a short walk in the neighborhood or as elaborate as a week in a National Park. Don’t make it hard. Just go outside. This month, we suggest you spend some time outside every day that is reasonable and observe what wild herbs you can find in your own … Continue reading Nature Study: Wild Herbs
Hildegard von Bingen was a composer, poet, and saint who lived from 1098 until 1179 AD. She was a nun who wrote mostly liturgical music, but her Ordo virtutum is the oldest musical drama that was NOT written for church use. Her music was virtually undiscovered for hundreds of years; she was first recognized as … Continue reading Hildegard von Bingen
Hymns are beautiful truths poetically told, hung on a rhythm, and held in a melody. This makes them memorable. Hymn study is extremely simple. Sing the hymn once a day. We’ve provided you links to different versions to enjoy as well as a link to download the sheet music for the hymn. Some of this … Continue reading The Doxology (or Praise God from whom All Blessings Flow)
Picture Study is simple. Look at the picture with your children for a few minutes and then talk about what you saw. Try to remember as much about the piece as you can. Enjoy the beauty of it. Art is not a chore; it’s a pleasure. Beginning our Ancient Beauty theme, we’ve chosen some pieces … Continue reading Lorenzo Ghiberti
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
As humans, we naturally break things up into pieces. We separate work time and playtime. We separate reading from watching movies, and we separate art from science. These separations are good and help us make sense of the world. However, in another sense, these separations are artificial. It is good to find joy in your … Continue reading Teaching the Theological Truths at the Heart of Science
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
Many students (and parents) cower in fear when thinking about logarithms. However, while there are additional rules for dealing with these mathematical entities, there is nothing fundamentally different about exponentials and logarithms than there is about squaring and square roots. The problem is that most books don’t teach them well. Let’s start by looking at … Continue reading Teaching Logarithms
Homeschool mamas wear a lot of hats. That means that every day has a lot of jobs. Every day, we are a child of God, a wife, a mother, and a daughter before taking on anything else. In any one day, before we count any other employment, we are teacher, maid, chauffeur, chef, laundress, nurse, … Continue reading I Can Wear Three Hats in a Day
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
