Category: Homeschool: Random Thoughts

Rewards and Motivation 2

Rewards and Motivation: Keeping the Joy in Learning

One strong benefit to homeschooling is that we can bring joy to learning. We have the ability to engage the kids with activities, experiments, projects, books, play, field trips, and more. Homeschooling allows us to keep learning and education both creative and challenging.  And hopefully, we can help the kids find what they love doing, which is the very best reward of all!! There have been a number of famous...

Creating a Homeschool Curriculum for Grade 4-5 13

Creating Your Homeschool Curriculum Grade 4-5 — Free Resource Guide

How to Create Your Own Homeschool Curriculum: Grade 4-5 Today I want to share this free 50+ page Resource Guide for Creating Your Own Homeschool Curriculum. It has been created to help answer some basic questions: What subjects should I teach my 4th or 5th grader?  Where do I start? How do I know what to teach my kids? We are eclectic homeschoolers, which means that we use a wide...

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The Opportunity of a Lifetime!

Those words automatically suck us in, don’t they?  They evoke feelings that we might miss out.  But what if we applied this to the small choices we make each day?  To the small actions that really make a difference in the long run? Don’t miss this opportunity of a lifetime!  Today day is the day… to say I love you to your family. to be a good friend. to smile...

Are you a good Homeschool Role Model - take this quiz 0

Are You a Good Homeschool Role Model? Take this Quiz!!

There are so many things that go into homeschooling… good curriculum, engaging lessons, keeping the house (reasonably) organized, the laundry done, and meals on the table. But the kids are learning SO much from us.  They are watching most everything we do! How good of a role model are you? Are you a good homeschool role model? Take this Quiz! I get enough sleep. I am always prepared for class....

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Behind the Scenes in Our Homeschool This Holiday Season

This holiday season has been full.  There have been a lot of wonderful things, but also two great losses for our family.  Right before Thanksgiving, my husband’s uncle passed away.  And last week, my aunt passed away. Both were quite unexpected. I personally have shed a lot of tears in the past week. It was my Mom’s sister who passed. I think it was hard for me because my own...

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Kindness

This brought our homeschooling to a standstill today! (A thoughtful, touching gift from some friends of ours!!)  This was so cute, I just had to share! It reminds me of the time I took DD out to breakfast… and when I went up to pay, we found out that someone had already paid for our bill.  Sometimes people try to make someone’s day simply because they can!! We all have...

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Mid-Semester Blues: Homeschool Motivation

Two different people reached out to me this week and asked similar questions — How do we stay motivated? How do we go on, when we just don’t have the energy? If you’re feeling discouraged or out of patience, if you are having a hard time… know that you are not alone! It is quite common for homeschoolers – and teachers – to reach a tough patch  in the middle...

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The Power of What you Do Each Day!

In homeschooling and education in general, we can’t always see spectacular results from one small snippet of our day. Our homeschool activities are like a small drip of water rolling down the ceiling and falling to the ground.That water droplet seems pretty inconsequential.  It doesn’t appear to make much of a difference. What it has left behind seems almost insignificant. With the passage of time, you start to notice the...

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“Not Typical” Homeschool Days

In the blogging world, many of us write about a typical or ideal homeschool day.  Those are the days that are filled with accomplishments and a schedule of subjects with the kids skipping merrily (or not so merrily) through the day.  Sometimes we write about the struggle of it all (but leaving the impression that we get through all the subjects “on the schedule.”). But we are not as apt...

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A Great Honor!

I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to a fellow blogger. Sarah over at the Homeschool Base mentioned our blog in her post, 13 of My Favorite Homeschool Bloggers That You Might Not Be Following. That made my day and was such an honor. She mentioned that she really likes our About Us page. If you haven’t already, you can check that out here. It explains how...

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Why You Need a Family Meeting!

Back to Homeschool Challenge: Day 9 Family Homeschool Meeting There are so many positive things about holding a family meeting. They give everyone – including the kids- a sense of belonging and ownership of the rules. We want the kids to know that they have a real and important voice in the family. Family meetings give everyone a platform for making your family a better team. And one reason to...

homeschool mistakes to avoid 0

5 common homeschool mistakes to avoid

Back to Homeschool Challenge: Day 8 As we begin the year, don’t let any of these ruin your homeschool day… Comparison – Every homeschool is unique.  Don’t worry about what your friends are doing. Don’t feel like your homeschool has to incorporate every project on Pinterest.  Don’t compare someone’s best day to your worst day.  Remember that when someone tells you about their homeschool day or writes about homeschooling online...

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Sick Days for Home Educators!!

Right now you’re healthy, you’re excited, you’re energized… Motivation is at an all-time HIGH.  But let’s be realistic… there are times when we don’t feel up for homeschooling.  It might be because of a seasonal cold. It might be because we have a series of errands/appointments that fill up the morning. It might be because we’re downright *tired*!! So what do you do when you feel it coming on? When...

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Taking Care of Ourselves

Welcome to Day 6 of the Back to Homeschool Challenge! Last week our challenge was to work on some of the nuts and bolts of our homeschools: Our first challenge was just to spend a few minutes reflecting on the journey we’re on and being grateful for the opportunities we have as homeschoolers Then we spent time Organizing our Homeschool Work Space And we made sure we’re *actually* ready to...