If time flies when you’re having fun, then we must be having a blast!
It seems like just yesterday I was wondering if this crazy idea called “homeschooling” would work for our family. Now we’re ten years into our home educating journey and my oldest is starting high school!
Each year I’ve shared Our Curriculum Choices and plans for the year. Read on to find out what homeschool resources we’ll be using this coming year with our 9th, 6th, and 2nd graders.
It’s that time of year again.
Swimsuits. Pool parties. Watermelon. Ice cream trucks. And, best of all…
… the next chapter in Our Homeschool Summer Break blog series!
Okay, maybe a blog post isn’t better than ice cream (or any of those other things). But it sure beats swatting away mosquitoes while mowing the lawn!
I love “Day in the Life” posts. Well, I love other people’s “Day in the Life” posts, that is. (After all, I already know what a day in my life is like.)
But I know how much a glimpse into other homeschools helps give me new ideas… so I’m hoping this will do the same for you!
The other day my six year old asked me what we’d be doing for school that day.
“No school today,” I reminded her. “It’s Saturday.”
With a delighted sigh of relief, she found a comfy corner of the couch and started reading Life of Fred: Butterflies.
Side Note: If you’re not familiar with the Life of Fred series, it’s a quirky but effective math curricula adored by many homeschooling families. We’ve used it as a math supplement over the years and all three of my kids love it.
When her brothers picked up other books in the Life of Fred series and proceeded to read math books for over two hours… on a Saturday… for fun… the inspiration for this post was born.
(There may be affiliate links in this post – click here to learn more. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. IEW® and Structure and Style® are registered trademarks of the Institute for Excellence in Writing. L.L.C.)
Writing is one of those subjects that puts fear in the hearts of homeschooling parents everywhere. After all, it’s been enshrined as one of the historic “3 R’s” so we’d better not mess it up, right?
Even if we aren’t aiming to raise the next Dickens or Tolkien, at the very least we want our kids to be able to write a professional cover letter or a college application essay.
(IEW® and Structure and Style® are registered trademarks of the Institute for Excellence in Writing. L.L.C. Fix It!™ is a trademark of the Institute for Excellence in Writing, L.L.C.)
We started using Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) products four years ago when my oldest son was in 4th grade. Since then, there hasn’t been a year we haven’t used at least one IEW product!
Up until now, I haven’t had a chance to collect my thoughts and share about our IEW experiences. But that’s about to change!
If you’re searching for a high quality language arts or writing curriculum, or if you’re wondering if IEW is the right choice for your family, you’re in the right place so read on!
This is the next post in a series where I’ve been sharing the curricula I’ve used to home educate my three kids. I can’t believe this will be our 9th year homeschooling!
*pause for nostalgic reminiscing*
OK… I think I’m ready to continue.
As I’ve written this post, all of my family’s belongings were loaded onto a 26’ moving truck and taken to our new home in another state!
After searching online for co-ops and extracurricular activities near our new home, I realized firsthand how helpful it is when bloggers share their favorite local homeschooling resources!
So, before my family leaves the northwest Chicago suburbs, I want to post a “brain dump” of all the northern Illinois homeschooling resources I’ve found over the years. We’ve been parenting and homeschooling here for over a decade and have collected a list of awesome co-ops, support groups, nature centers, field trip ideas, and more!
(There may be affiliate links in this post – click here to learn more. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Have you ever questioned your ability to educate your own kids? Are you scared to teach math or science (or any other subject) because you barely made it through those subjects yourself?
Or, have you wondered how homeschooling parents can teach their own kids when they aren’t certified teachers?
The “parents-can’t-homeschool-since-they-aren’t-certified-teachers” criticism is (unfortunately) still a common homeschool myth. I debunk it pretty thoroughly in my book, Think About Homeschooling: What It Is, What It Isn’t, & Why It Works, so you can check that out and put that myth to rest in your mind.
But, for now, I’d like to address those of you who are genuinely concerned that you won’t be able to teach your kids _______ (fill in the blank with your weakest subject).
Kid: “Mommy… I’m bored!”
Mom: “Good!”
I think this is how I’ll respond to my kids from now on when they complain to me that they’re bored.
No, it probably won’t go over very well with them. But boredom – free, unscheduled, unfettered time – is a GIFT in our culture today. Too much free time can become an issue, of course. But, for many of us, time to think and dream and putter around is often lacking.
