Maybe it has been an extraordinarily long and busy weekend, or week, or month. Everyone sits around completely zoned out, except for one zooming around the house like a kitten at midnight and one grumping about the zoomer. Does this mean that homeschool should be canceled? Are you failing at educating and your little people … Continue reading Education is a Life
When my children were little, I wish I had known how fast the little would go away. I wish I had known that all that worry about the future was a waste of the time that we could have spent playing outside. I wish I had known that my friends really didn’t care if my … Continue reading What I Wish I Had Known When My Children Were Little
Discipline, “the practice of training,” is nowhere more necessary than in the application of education. Whether we are schooling from an all-in-one boxed curriculum, an eclectic mix of sources, or choosing a life-schooling/unschooling option – the practice of training our family to a disciplined education is crucial. So what does it mean to treat this … Continue reading Education is a Discipline
There are some places or events where the atmosphere is so focused and palpable that mental immersion in the situation is almost inescapable: the starting line of a marathon, a solemn religious service, a college classroom during a final exam. Whether it was your intention to be involved or not, when someone puts an extensive … Continue reading Education is an Atmosphere
Have you had too many weeks in a row when you couldn’t get everything done? I don’t mean you didn’t finish all the schoolwork; you are way behind in the stuff one would think would be easy. For example, when it’s time to pay the bills, you realize you haven’t filed away the bills for … Continue reading That’s What Break Week Is For
One of the advantages of homeschooling is flexibility in your school schedule. However, I always had a schedule that needed to be followed and did not always appreciate the flexibility that homeschooling offered, but rainy days always called to me to stop and just enjoy that we weren’t running from here to there. Rainy days … Continue reading Rainy Day Fun
Field trips can be a rich source for actual education; I mean REAL learning. My family visited a military history museum in Broken Arrow recently, and the guys who work there are all military veterans who want to tell you about the wars they were in and their personal experiences. It was enlightening! There’s no … Continue reading How to Plan a Field Trip
“So…where do your kids go to school?” “Oh! We are homeschooling for now.” For now. Back in 1997, when Bill Clinton was committing to another four years in office, the Hale-Bopp comet was doing a fly-by, and The Lion King opened on Broadway, our little family of four embarked on the adventure of home education. … Continue reading Homeschooling… for now
Much of the mystery and mayhem associated with the raging hormones of the middle school years can be mitigated by choosing to homeschool. While many of us remember the drama, tears, and embarrassment of attending public school in junior high, we can offer our own children a safe haven of support and understanding during these … Continue reading Managing Middle School Mayhem
Ah, those upper elementary years! They’re not chubby-fingered cherubs any more, but they’re not yet ready to learn on their own. This is the age of emerging skills. Most students are still mastering the basics of reading, writing, and math, and schoolwork can seem incredibly tedious. Here are a few things to keep in mind … Continue reading Teaching Older Elementary Students
