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
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
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
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
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?
When my children were very young, and everything seemed hard, I would often have other moms that had been there and done that tell me to enjoy every moment because the time goes by faster than I expect. I look back now and wish I had taken that advice to heart a little more. It … Continue reading Where Did the Time Go?
