I found my homeschooling days to go much more smoothly the times I produced lesson plans before the year began. There was more peace in the home and I experienced greater confidence. Lesson plans helped me so greatly because they reduced the stress of homeschooling on a daily basis. It worked best for me to create… Continue reading Lesson Plans
Homeschool planning was something I enjoyed. It helped me stay in touch with my children's needs, goals, interests, personality, and learning style. I always took these things into account when writing and evaluating each child's plan. My oldest was an independent learner and my youngest a self-starter. One was overcoming dyslexia and the other was… Continue reading Homeschool Planning
Over the years homeschool moms have asked, "Why notebooks?" And to that I would have to say creating and using notebooks was one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things we did in our homeschool. It honestly kept me afloat and from feeling discouraged or ineffective. In fact, notebooks even gave me a sense of accomplishment,… Continue reading Why Notebooks?
Charlotte Mason found amazing success using the tool of short lessons—lessons that span only ten to fifteen minutes for elementary students. I found this same tool to be extremely helpful in aiding my children's retention. Here’s why I believe this works: Studies show that we remember only the very first part and the very last… Continue reading Short Lessons
We’ve all heard this and that about how children need to get out in nature. Charlotte Mason advocated for nature study ruthlessly—demanding we gather our kids and a book and go sit outside somewhere natural, even if we have to take a twenty minute train ride every day to get there. She was passionate about… Continue reading Nature Study
I want to share some of the things we did for geography in our homeschool. Our method was not only educational, it was easy, and it included incorporating inspiring living books into our geography studies. Each summer at the homeschool convention we scoped out the YWAM booth. We would purchase all the Heroes of the… Continue reading Easy Geography
