Homeschool
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Christmas Snuggles and Reads
Cold weather, steamy mugs, fuzzy blankets, and good reads go together like milk and cookies. Our family loves books. We love sharing adventures and learning about new and exciting lifestyles, together. We read to each other all year long. But no reading feels quite as magical as Christmas book reading. (This post contains affiliate links. Just thought you’d like to know.) Here are a few of our favorites: THE FAMILY UNDER THE BRIDGE- A family fallen on hard times meets a streetwise drifter. Along the way to becoming an unorthodox family, they meet Santa, hang out with gypsies, and discover all they need to feel rich is each other. Warning: …
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Homeschool After Illness
Oh man! Oh man! Life hit me like the hammer of Thor. I went from being well and chipper to being on bed/couch rest for the large part of four weeks. Slowly gaining strength isn’t really an option when you’re counting High School credits and days in the semester. This homeschool mom might not bounce back with vigor but she also doesn’t wallow in her massive clean laundry pile, either. This is how we homeschool after an illness. First: GO SLOW This doesn’t mean ditch school altogether. (Though when my kids were little that is exactly what we did. We huddled around audiobooks and just picked up where we left…
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Together Time Fall 2019
Update Fall 2019: The Hualdes have formally begun their homeschool year. This means books… a lot of books. Let’s investigate each “subject” one at a time. Starting with our Together Time Basket…. my favorite! I often get asked, “How do you keep together time going strong with older kiddos?” My answer? “Easy Peasy! Combine subjects!” I love combining subjects. It does several things: It makes the teacher’s workload lighter. (that’s me- mom, by the way.) It builds relationships… (How? see point 3) It creates a natural environment for discussion It gives us a time to recalibrate and recenter Plus: It keeps me more engaged which equals a better understanding of…
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Put Your Clothes On
What do you wear, Mama, when you’re leading your homeschoolers through their day? What do you make your students wear? Are you a down to lace-up shoes kind of family? Or are you happy as long as everyone is wearing pants? Whichever it is… you’re welcome here. Let’s toss the clothes in the laundry hamper and put on what really matters. Dive into Colossians with me.
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Return to Your 1st Love
Mom life can be all-encompassing. Toss in a hearty dose of homeschool and it’s a whirlwind of crazy. It’s easy to lose your focus or hyper-focus on one area and neglect others. Beware and be careful. Do not lose sight of your first love. The love of your life and the lover of your soul- Jesus. Too late, you say? Repent and return. Start over. Love Him like you did the first time you let Him in. Crack open Revelation with me. I’m cheering you on,
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Shiny New Curriculum Rebound
Whoa there Mama! Stop! Don’t pick up that new catalog. Put down your credit card and shut off your computer… well after reading this post, of course. Don’t give in to Shiny New Curriculum Rebound. Don’t bounce from burnout or blasting full steam ahead into another program. Reboot, recalibrate and focus on rebuilding before you find yourself trapped in the next Shiny New Curriculum Bomb. Reboot After mourning the failure of whatever SNC you attempted, it’s vital to take time to reboot. Refresh your spirit. Dive into personal time with God. Not deep intensive study, unless that’s what He’s leading you to do. No, the open the book, color the…
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Shiny New Curriculum Fail
It looked so good online. Your friends raved about it. You researched, scrimped and saved to afford it. You applied it to your homeschool and followed every iota of each lesson plan. So why are you sitting among torn pages and broken hopes? Why did the Shiny New Curriculum (SNC) fail you? Are you just that terrible a teacher? Are your kids less intelligent than you thought? How come it works for everyone else but you? Sounds like we’ve walked through similar seasons. Let me give you some hope and few tips to get you through the Shiny New Curriculum Blues. Mourn & Move on It may seem like your…
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Celebrate
Yes the end of anything can be sad. But it’s also a time to celebrate. Did you chase after your Savior? Did you give it everything you’ve got? Then it’s definately time to celebrate. Let’s hang out in the book of Matthew together.
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Year in Review Printable
Yay! The school year is done! YES! Celebrate! But before you jump into planning next year, take a moment and look back. Somethings work and somethings didn’t. Here’s a printable to help you look back and write down your year in review. Print one out for your overall year. Then print one for each student. 🙂 Be on the lookout for my blog series: What to do when the Shiny New Curriculum Fails. I hope you like it. As always: I’m cheering you on!
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Stony Hearts made Squishy
Sometimes this Mama can find herself being way too harsh on her kiddos. Her expectations do not match reality and everyone sees it but her. This is where I lean into the Lord and ask Him to take away the heaviness and replace it with tenderness. Do you ever find yourself judging those you love harsher than you do everyone else? Share how you deal with in the comments. I’m cheering you on!
