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secular homeschool
Our Homeschool Week in Review series, Parenting

Our Homeschool Week in Review 1/21 – 1/27

Giving Space to the Good Stuff

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I like to think we maintain a very whole-child balanced homeschool, but the truth is that I often go through phases when less-academic activities are perpetually put on the back burner. I always give plenty of space and time to free play and interest-based, curiosity-led learning, but the “good stuff,” as I call it–the art and baking and making stuff together as a family–is frequently put aside.

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reasons for homeschooling
Homeschool, Parenting

The Top 5 Reasons Why We Chose Homeschooling

If you gather a group of 100 homeschoolers together and ask them why they made the decision to educate their children at home, you will likely get 100 different answers. Although there are certainly similarities in the reasons that we jump into this endeavor, the heart of the matter usually comes down to specific needs of a child, values of a family, or (in many cases) a series of events that made that family decide to abandon public school.

And there is very rarely “just one reason.” Continue Reading

relaxed nature-based homeschooling
Parenting

The Beautifully Unhurried Homeschool

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I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time (I mean a lot) thinking about homeschooling my children. It goes in waves–for a few months, I feel like I’ve got everything figured out and have cracked the code for what works. We’ve got a steady rhythm going, they’re engaged and enjoying themselves, and I feel good about where we are. But then we come down the other side of the wave and I start wondering, researching, reading blogs of how others are doing things, and for the next several months, I’m in tweaking mode, trying new things and second-guessing myself. Are we doing enough? Continue Reading

big juicy conversations in our homeschool
Blossom and Root Early Years, Brave Writer Lifestyle, Parenting

The Gift of Listening: Why Big, Juicy Conversations are an Essential Part of Our Homeschool

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure statement for more information.

Any Charlotte Mason fan worth their salt is familiar with the concept of narration–the oral or written demonstration of knowledge and understanding as an alternative to the “memorize, regurgitate, repeat” model of testing used by the majority of public school systems. Narration is a uniquely profound way to discover what your child has absorbed, retained, and taken a deeper interest in during your work together. However, it can sometimes feel awkward or stilted, especially early in the game when your children are young, or the concept of narration is new to them. Continue Reading

socialization in homeschool
Homeschool, Parenting

Dear Naysayers, Your Socialization Argument Doesn’t Hold Water Anymore (and It Never Did)

Before I begin, I want to be clear about something. I am not “anti-public school.” I went to public school. I had a positive experience in public school. I know that, for many parents, public school is the best choice for their family. I support public school teachers and administrators, and I believe that the decisions we make about educating our children are highly personal and vary greatly from family to family, and even from child to child. But this socialization argument needs to go. Continue Reading

on homeschool curriculum: commit to the journey, not the map
Brave Writer Lifestyle, Homeschool, Parenting

On Homeschool Curriculum: Commit to the Journey, Not the Map

Let’s get one thing out in the open, right from the start:

Curriculum is there to work for you. You are NOT bound to work for it.

No, you do NOT have to follow it, verbatim, as-prescribed, day-by-day, task-by-task. No, you are not going to mess up your child’s entire education if you veer from it from time to time. No, you are not “ruining everything” if you ditch it after six weeks because it’s making you or your child miserable. Continue Reading

The Three Non-Negotiables of Our Homeschool Day: Go outside, read, and wonder.
Homeschool, Parenting

The 3 Non-Negotiables of Our Homeschool Day

With all of the ideas and resources available to homeschoolers today, it can be really hard to resist the urge to do all the things. One hour on Pinterest and you can rack up a pretty hefty list of crafts to do, unit studies to execute, math games to try, and field trips to plan. Sometimes these fit in seamlessly with our existing plans. Sometimes, they forcefully wedge into them like linebackers, tackling any sense of rhythm we’ve worked so hard to establish and Continue Reading

what a day of homeschool looks like for an entrepreneurial mom
Homeschool, Homeschool Planning, Parenting

What a Day of Homeschool Looks Like For an Entrepreneurial Momma

Every week, the same question comes up in one Facebook group or another: “Does anyone here work from home and homeschool?” A chorus of responses rolls out with every kind of answer. Some homeschoolers work a farm while homeschooling, some parents run an Etsy shop full of beautiful hand-made products. Some sell essential oils, make-up, or health supplements. Some work as a VA or an editor. Some are transcriptionists, some are writers, and some run in-home daycares. In this day and age, and in this economy, I suspect many Continue Reading