As I sit cocooned in the ambient sounds of a coffee shop on a Sunday afternoon, I take a deep breath. I have laid the Best Plan Ever for my week (never mind that it took three hours to hammer out) and I just know that this year is going to be the year. Gosh, […]
This is the first white Christmas I remember since my childhood. It’s today’s high right now: nine degrees. (I just took a walk that hurt my face, you know…while it was warm.) I usually do this post of our house at Christmas time much earlier in December, but it’s been nonstop sickness since we returned […]
I can’t tell you how good it feels to have these photos off my camera and on to the blog! I took them in May right after we closed and just before we began renovations. I pulled them off the camera tonight and edited only this one photo below because I’ve got a goal to […]
Socialization…it’s kind of the “s” word among homeschoolers. In fact, it can sometimes seem like a tired old topic we wonder if anyone really asks about anymore. Or so this is what I thought when I unwittingly posted an eight-second Instagram reel about it. (Tra la la) FALSE. It turns out that socialization is still […]
Are you shopping for homeschool curriculum? Are you feeling the rush of magic and wonder? Goodness, I love those mid summer Amazon packages of possibility on my door step! All of us have had an experienced homeschooler or two tell us to just relax on curriculum. Well thank you Carol, but what does that even […]
One way that I’ve simplified our homeschool (and homeschool planning) is by consolidating all of our structured learning into two simple learning formats: Reading Aloud and Table Time. While we use a lot of natural learning (games, baking, field trips, play) these two formats cover the structured part of our learning day. They represent the […]
As I was doing some preliminary packing and decluttering for our upcoming move, it dawned on me that I had never done a homeschool year recap for the blog! This past school year was one of the messiest and most relaxed years we’ve ever had. We incorporated screens, did a lot of free play, listened […]
Movies centered on animals are some of the most family-friendly films. Adults and children alike will love these classic read-clouds on screen. Still, I’ll always recommend previewing any films you plan to show little ones! If you don’t have the time to preview, watch the trailer and then look up the movie on Focus on […]
One of the most intimidating parts of starting homeschool is the mysterious process of teaching a child to read. In our generation, literacy has been an affair handed over to professional teachers. It’s a process that most of us know little about, aside from our own childhood experience. So when our five-year-old isn’t reading Fox […]
Do you ever look around at your homeschool and wonder where it all went wrong? We stand in our kitchen stumped because we know we did this right. We have classical books, hand-lettered planning sheets, tea times, nature hikes and co-op days all slated out. We have market baskets and mini chalk boards. This afternoon […]
With the change of season and all of the unsettling events of this year, I’m just craving some solace and a little something to soothe my heart. There’s nothing that comforts and brings perspective like a great book. This list is designed to contain something for everyone, from devotional to memoir. They will inspire you, challenge […]
Hey friends, it’s countdown to baby time over here, but I really wanted to get this post up before things get too crunched! It’s fun to look back on the year and see how much things have grown and changed in our homeschooling life. And how different our homeschool space looks now! Wrapping up a […]
This book list is a labor of love—fitting for the month of February, don’t you think? It took me two years to work through the potential candidates for this list! I abandoned many novels either for inappropriate content or being just a tad too cheesy. It’s hard to find romance that embodies the old-fashioned values […]