We’re gearing up to start our 12th year of homeschooling. Or maybe I should say, I should be gearing up. I have purchased all our curriculum. It’s waiting on the shelf. And waiting. But I have not felt like starting to plan. I’ve enjoyed taking the summer off, and it’s hard for me to admit that…
Experience History Through Music by Diana Waring
It’s summer. We don’t have to do school, right? Maybe not officially, but I like to make sure we’re still learning. Recently, I’ve had a great opportunity to sneak a little history into my family’s day. Experience History Through Music I don’t know if your kids are like mine, but I cannot watch a video or…
Third Grade Curriculum Choices
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. It is hard for me to believe that my baby girl will be in the 3rd grade this fall! Lizzie is, for the most part, a cooperative student. She grasps new concepts quickly, and she doesn’t mind writing things down. She liked having her own school desk in the…
Thoughts on Homeschool Kindergarten Curriculum
I had the opportunity to talk with a friend at church who will be beginning to homeschool her oldest son for kindergarten this fall. She was interested in hearing my recommendations for homeschool kindergarten curriculum. In my opinion, kindergarten should be kept simple. For formal school I recommend phonics, handwriting, and math. This conversation occurred…
Freedom from Distraction
Distraction As I set my goals this year, I started by thinking about some of what I had been struggling with during the previous year. I was frazzled. I felt pulled in all directions. I lacked focus. I wasn’t paying enough attention to any of my children during “school time”. I was exhausted. I determined that there were…
Benefits of Outside Classes for Homeschoolers
Whew. Did you hear that big sigh of relief? We finished up the last of our outside classes on April 30. It was a great experience for David (10th) and Anna (8th), but it did make for hectic Mondays. A level of hectic that I’m not used to since we’ve always homeschooled. I’m glad they’re…
OverlapMaps – Fun Geography Resource
Have you ever wondered if Australia would fit inside the state of Texas? (It doesn’t) What about Brazil? I’ve always thought it was smaller than the continental US. It turns out it’s very similar in size. I have just been introduced to a fun geography website: OverlapMaps.com. OverlapMaps is a very simple, entertaining, and educational…
Homeschooling Struggles: The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same
I have been making an effort this year to share more of our homeschooling struggles. I hope that by sharing my struggles, I may help someone else who is going through similar struggles. Plus, I’ve found that writing helps me to put my struggles in perspective and even helps me come up with ideas for…
Dave Raymond’s American History Curriculum Review
As I look back over David’s homeschool career, history has often been a struggle. We started off well, with lots of hands-on projects and notebook pages. He began to use the computer for making notebook pages at a young age (about 2nd grade). We had one year in a co-op for Tapestry of Grace and…
High School Curriculum Plans
I can’t believe it, but next year 2 of my students will be in high school! I must say that overall high school has not been as scary and hard as I thought it would be, but it has been a big change in our day to day schedule with the addition of outside classes.…