Making homeschool decisions easy
Often I am asked by new homeschoolers about how to make an overall plan for the year. They are looking for the nuts and bolts of putting lots of great ideas together because they tend to get overwhelmed by the whole process. I shared the following ideas with a friend and I hope they help with planning the homeschool year and encourage readers here at
People have strong opinions about interjecting morals onto stories. Are Aesop’s Fables improved by tacking a pithy moral on the end? Should we read stories to our kids that aim to improve them? On first glance Laying Down the Rails for Children might seem to fall into such a category–stories intended to help kids form good habits. But what I’ve found, is that really the
There’s an idea popular in some homeschooling circles that the classical model and Charlotte Mason homeschooling are very different things. The first is for serious scholars, the second is a less rigorous course of study. In her book Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition, Karen Glass clarifies both the historic tradition that Charlotte Mason writes out of and the sometimes limited understanding of
Oh, how important it is to fill our day with good things. I make the same mistake almost daily of letting my day run me instead of running my day. Even after 15 years of homeschool experience it’s still so easy to get pulled this way and that. This year I am very thrilled to have the Ultimate Homeschool Planner from Apologia to aid me
Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we have entered the rush toward Christmas. With family, church, and homeschooling obligations it can seem like we are always a little bit behind during the month of December. Why not consciously choose to create a little margin? Homeschooling offers us that kind of flexibility. In our homeschool, we will be setting aside the bulk of our studies in
As homeschoolers our days are steeped in books. We connect with the characters we read about. And their stories become a part of our story. Carrot Top Paper Shop has created a wonderful line of gifts celebrating literary heroines from Jane Austen to Lucy Pevensie. The hand-drawn prints are whimsical and evocative. Each girl meets your gaze with an open, friendly expression. Role Models for
Homeschooling is hard, sometimes isolating, work. We can all use encouragement and an outside perspective. Throughout the month of September, Julie Bogart, the creator of Brave Writer, read an essay a day from her book A Gracious Space, Fall on Facebook Live. Even though you can’t tune in live, you can still watch the replays. They are available on the Brave Writer YouTube channel. It’s
Even after you settle on curriculum choices and are faithfully showing up to do the work of homeschooling, there are lingering problems. All these people need to be reliably fed and the house and calendar kept with a modicum of order. If you are a homeschooling mama, you’ve no doubt come across the ideas of a 30 Day Meal Plan and a Home Organization Binder.
