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Most of the Christmases of my life have been beautiful — steeped in tradition and filled with all the joys that make for a perfect holiday season. But there have been those exceptions, like the first Christmas after we lost my mom. My dad and brother and I were coping relatively well I thought, trying…
I wish it wasn’t true, but I really believe we often learn best through our mistakes. That is as much the case with homeschooling as it is with everything else in life. And my homeschooling blunders have been many. Some of them are easier to dismiss – like buying the cheap pencils, or thinking the…
We may not all be super-planners, extreme organizers, or uber-schedulers, but I would say most homeschooling moms do believe in the power of routine. At my house, perfect plans and tidy little schedules seem to unravel quickly, leaving me frustrated and discouraged and totally stressed out. Personally, I prefer a regular routine rather than a…
Even under the best of circumstances, homeschooling is tough. But who manages to homeschool under the ‘best of circumstances’ anyway? Life has a way of throwing challenging situations at us, creating major kinks in all our best laid plans. It may be an illness, an accident, a birth, a death, a move – feel free…
Where I live we recently came through a period of 11 straight days with zero sunshine. ZERO. In eleven days. And our glimpses of sunlight have been few and far between even since then! Talk about winter blues! It may be even worse where you live. While we’ve dealt with gray skies and lots of…
I love writing. I mean, I love it in a nerdy, weirdly passionate sort of way that makes me very sensitive to statements such as, “I hate writing,” and, “Writing is boring.” For me, comments like that border on blasphemy. But, then again, sometimes it seems we do everything in our power to make writing…
Chores (or Life Skills or whatever more pleasant name you wish to give to common household tasks) don’t generally rank up there at the top when we start listing school subjects we consider most important. Plenty of other things usually take priority, and yet, while we’re so absorbed in teaching our kids the “important stuff,” I’m…
My oldest daughter will be a junior this year, meaning we have survived two years of high school! Now I know there are many of you amazing homeschool moms out there who have already graduated multiple children and you’re still homeschooling, and right now you’re rolling your eyes because you’ve been there and done that…
I can’t help but chuckle at the idea of someone like me writing a post like this. Because, trust me, some of my past experience with plants hardly make me a poster girl for amazing gardening! I am the daughter of a green-thumbed, stick-anything-in-the-ground-and-watch-it-flourish kind of woman, and yet I did not inherit the gardening…
Division had become my mortal enemy. I mean I hated it to the point most days when we finished math, I was either ready to burst into tears or to beat my head against a very hard surface. No matter how many times I explained division – once, twice, 27 times — it didn’t matter. …
There are at least 100 things I love about spring: Warmer weather. Longer days. Greener grass. Flowers. And the startup of the homeschool convention season! Whether you’re talking about a small local event or a giant regional one, I love homeschool conventions! I love the workshops and the sharing of ideas, and I love wandering…
There’s something about the New Year that makes you want to reevaluate your entire life: Your relationships. Your priorities. Your diet. Your checkbook. Your sock drawer. But what about your homeschool? While I realize January isn’t the start of the school year for most homeschoolers, I still think it’s a great time to do some…
