Posts in Homeschool
Fine Arts High School Credit

If your kid plays an instrument, fine arts credits are easy to put on the transcript. Weekly music lessons, daily practice, and the occasional recital add up to many credit-worthy hours. Even if your kid is just enjoying it for a hobby, the college fine arts requirement is usually quite manageable.

But for that kid who is NOT musical those fine arts credits can be more of a challenge to figure out. Some ideas (and can be achieved over the summer months) include…

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Meet the Morning Basket

As our schedules became busier I noticed some our favorite subjects like literature, art, and nature study were getting swept under the rug. Without these rich subjects our homeschool day felt off balance. Then I discovered the concept of Morning Baskets — something which has absolutely transformed our family homeschool.

A Morning Basket is exactly what it sounds like: a simple basket filled with “first-of-the-day items” where children, both young and not-so-young, can begin their day on their own. Fill the basket (or baskets, if you have many ages and stages in your homeschool) with a custom collection (for some ideas, see the list below) that will inspire and uplift your children’s imagination and set the tone for the day.

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Homeschooling: Highschool Electives

High school electives do NOT have to be daunting. Find something your child WANTS to spend time learning about and dive in. Look for online classes or those available through the community (community colleges are a great resource, too); find a friend or relative who has the skills/career that aligns with what your student is interested in and ask for some OJT or even an apprenticeship!

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Homeschooling: In Favor of Nature

I remember as a child moving several times, but with each move I would find some small sliver of space and claim it for my own. Whether it was a corner of a concrete courtyard, or deep in the forest under huge trees that folded their branches to the ground forming a hollow hut closest to their trunk, it was my space. Each space was limited in comparison to what children have to play with today, but rich in natural resources to use in the exercise and wanderings of my imagination. I could be both a lost orphan scavenging for food or an Indian Princess giving orders and regaling the wildlife with her beauty and bravery.

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Homeschooling: Different Ages & Stages

Anyone else homeschooling a variety of ages and grades? Unless you have multiples, I would imagine this is a common issue for homeschooling moms!

I am in the thick of it with a 1st grader and a ninth grader on either end of the spectrum and a fifth and seventh grader in the middle. The difference in learning styles and concepts can be exhausting! My ultimate goal is for my children to master skills and then be able to teach that skill to others, so I spend a great deal of time investing into my older girls who can then teach my younger boys.

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Homeschooling Hacks: Overcoming "Winter Burnout"

If you are new to schooling at home this year and feel like you have hit a wall, this is NORMAL! Every school year starts with new books, new clothes, new routines, and a new excitement. This rolls into the holiday season where all the emotions are flying so… more excitement, maybe some more new, maybe travel, you get the point…then the end of January hits or the beginning of February and you or your kids (most likely both of you if it is your first year homeschooling) hit a wall.

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Winter Homeschooling Hacks

Homeschooling through winter blues and blahs ...

This time of year, we’re all feeling the are-we-there-yet winter blues. Even though it’s finally March, months of cold weather and its accompanying cabin fever have wreaked havoc on emotions, motivation, and enthusiasm. Nowhere is this more evident than in our home classroom (for both mom and students)!

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Homeschool Scheduling Help & Hacks

In the beginning of 2018 I started to realize our homeschool schedule was not working very well for my preschooler, he lacked independent playing skills and needed a great deal of attention.

I would plan our day and rarely would we get to it all. It wasn’t because I was planning a whole lot in the day, but every time I mentioned what we were going to do next it would be met with groaning (with the exception of outside playtime or baking, which was always met with cheering and hard to rein the kids back in from) and they older kiddos were having lots of questions that would consistently interrupt our time, as minimal as it was.

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