When we first began our homeschooling journey, we were invited to a book club for my older daughter, who was about 9 at the time. That book club lasted until she had outgrown it, and her little sister took over as the participant, and then also outgrew it. We read SO many good books in that book club, each time culminating in a day of activities and fun centered around the book's theme. Oftentimes my friend who hosted the book club would plan a book based on the fact that th

It can be hard to imagine teaching all of your children at one time if there is a spread in their ages, but it can be done. If your students are all within a couple of years of each other, it's likely you can pretty much lump everyone into the same grade level, perhaps having everyone on different math or reading levels. There are many subjects, such as history and science, that can be done together to save time and materials. At one point in our homeschooling journey, I had

Are you familiar with the term "co-op"? It's short for cooperative and it can have different meanings. For example, farmers can have a co-op where they share machinery, seeds, or fertilizer. Or, they can have a farming cooperative where they share the burden of marketing, distribution, and transportation of their goods. Farming is not the only area where cooperatives are used. It is any group of people who get together to meet a need and everyone is in some way invested in th

Did you know that you don't have to have your child do every single math problem in a lesson? They can do just the odd numbered problems or just the even numbered ones sometimes. It's true that some students need a lot of repetition and practice whereas some children will curl up and die if they have to keep doing problems when they have already shown mastery. Skip problems. Skip whole lessons, if needed. It's O.K. Did you know that instead of always having your child write o

If you've seen the 2005 movie starring Emma Thompson, then will may remember Nanny McPhee's criteria when she first arrives at the home of Colin Firth's character, Mr. Brown. His children are out of control and she is there to help. She asks him if his children go to bed when they are told, do they say please and thank you, and very simple things like that. Looking at those seven out-of-control children, the viewer is left wondering why she would begin with such simple things

It might help to start thinking about the #youngeryears by discussing a few schools of thought. Oh come on, Brenda, I just want you to tell me how to homeschool my preschool or Pre-K kid! I don't want to talk about educational philosophy! I get it. I promise the fun stuff is coming. To keep this really simple, I'll talk about only the two ends of the spectrum and you can use your imagination to fill in the middle parts. Tiny School On the one hand are those who favor what I w

Or Kindergarten? Why yes, you can! In fact, these years are such a wonderful time to begin homeschooling because you can establish good habits in your younger children that will serve as great helps when they are older. Before we talk about that though, let's look at your state laws. Remember, homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but each state has it's own set of regulations homeschool families must follow. For the purpose of this post, I am talking about those years bef

For the 2020-2021 school year, I will have a 3rd grader and a 10th grader. (We have a college student too but I'm not her teacher anymore!) Here are our curriculum choices for the year: Language Arts/English/Writing/Spelling/Grammar/Art/Geography Yes, we really will cover all of that in one, fell swoop with The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts. This will be our third year using TGTB and we haven't looked back. I very much wish this curriculum had been around for my oldest

Do you have a child who always has a book in their hand? Have you ever punished them by taking a book away? Our oldest daughter read constantly when she was young. We had to tell her "no books at the table" during meals. We had to remind her "lights out" at bedtime because she would stay up way too late reading just one more chapter. Maybe your son or daughter isn't that crazy about books, but learns well through reading nonetheless? A literature-based curriculum might be jus

The first sick day we need to discuss is what happens when you, the homeschool teacher, are sick. You may have thought ahead enough to realize that there are no substitute teachers to call in homeschool. This can pose a problem. But with a little planning ahead, these days can go much more smoothly. (I am talking about regular illnesses, not COVID-19, which would call for other precautions to be taken.) When a Parent is the Patient When Mom (or whoever the main teacher is) ge

I'll be your coach through all this getting started on homeschooling thing, but you will need a team. You need people who will support you and you need people who are playing the same game as you, so to speak. Support Hopefully, you have family around you who can be your support. I know some people don't live near enough to their family. The mom of a friend of mine virtually teaches her grandsons certain subjects. Technology can be a great thing. If your family does live near

I'd like to share some curriculum choices we have used in past years, but no longer use. I have included my memories of what I liked or concerns I had. These are just my opinions and you could easily find a plethora of differing opinions. That's the beauty of it---we all get to choose what is best for our families and even what is best for each individual child. Part of the reason we no longer use some of these items is because they worked well for my oldest daughter (who has

Really? You can't possibly need to grade anything yet. Just kidding--this section is coming soon! Check back for great tips on grading. #grading #homeschooling

So you've decided to homeschool. You've checked your state laws. You've decided on what subjects you need to include. You've even carved out a space in your home to do this in. Hopefully, I've quieted some of your worries. You may have even thought over your school calendar and schedule a bit. But WHAT will you teach with? Friend, you need curricula! Curriculum--the courses offered by an educational institution. (Merriam-Webster) It's not enough to know that you need to teach

And prom? And graduation? And scholarships? And transcripts? And college applications? High school scared me a bit. The highest grade I ever taught as a public school teacher was 4th grade. I remember when my oldest daughter began 5th grade, telling her, "We are both in uncharted water now!" I began preparing for her high school years when she was in 8th grade, but I began worrying much sooner than that. But don't you worry about high school. It's just one grade higher than t

It might sound lame, but it's a legitimate concern! If we homeschool...what about our first day of school pics? ...what about class parties? ...what about assemblies? ...what about the class play? ...what about book character day? ...what about band/choir/shop/speech class/drama? ...what about the 100th Day of School? ...what about new backpacks and lunchboxes? ...what about their friends? ...what about music/art/library time? Especially if you have had a pretty positive expe

My former career as a public school teacher might have harmed me more than helped me when it came time to make a schedule for our days. I was used to school schedules where everything is figured down to the minute. So here is where I'll remind you that homeschool is life. It's home. You don't need to make a schedule for restroom breaks. When we first began homeschooling, my oldest daughter was in 2nd grade and had attended both public and private schools for a time. It took w

Please visit the first post, about school calendar options. Then come back here and we will wrap up your calendar planning for the year. Time to cross off! Here are some templates I like to choose from. The one I used in 2019 was from the Yearly School Calendar section of that page. You can even edit these templates in Word, including adding your school name at the top. OK now it's time to print a calendar and mark off the holidays and vacation days your family will be taking

(I really love this part.) (I fully acknowledge my nerdiness.) If you have made it this far on my website, you must have decided to go for it! Yay, you! I am so excited for your homeschool journey. Even if you have been homeschooling for some time, you might not have made a school calendar before, or you might want to tweak how you have done it in the past. Why are you making me do this? Many states require a certain number of instructional days, or some may require instructi

This has actually been a really hot topic in the homeschool community for some time. There are many parents who want their children to be allowed to participate in public school sports, but not attend public school. The other camp says, "You can't have it both ways" and doesn't want that to be a connection because then the public schools could make demands of the homeschoolers. The homeschool crowd historically has been fiercely protective of their rights. They wanted the sch