Let me share three unique ways we show love by honoring our child’s unique gifts and interests in our school life. I keep the focus on each individual child and their interests, and avoid a school day where I am the only one winning I have a son that loves to win. My son is deeply committed to…
We show love by giving our time. [Tweet “Time is our most precious and finite resource”] Time. There is no more to be had, no place to buy an extra tomorrow. As homeschool parents we have left jobs, careers and opportunities behind to give instruction time to your child. We calculated and intentionally structured in our…
I can identify the exact moment when a board game stops being fun, can’t you? You hear the giggles lessen and the arguments increase. If you intervene you know where the focus will turn; the score. As soon as winning and losing becomes the primary focus, the kids forget about the fun they were having. [Tweet “To have your focus…
What if the middle of your homeschooling years could be as exciting as that first one? In Due Season is a series for the long middle stretch before you. Beginnings are great, and planning for the end is satisfying, but the middle can be a long, winding, uncharted road. This series is full of weekly encouragement…
Illusionists understand the human capacity for misdirection. They are counting on it. While we are looking at the hat, the rabbit is moving in spaces unseen, right before our very eyes. In our times of direct focus and intention we can miss action that reveals the trick. Have you ever found yourself tricked, looking at…
I was never what you would call a reader. My first “F” was in the 2nd grade. I failed reading, and now I read about 80 books a year. We homeschool with a literature based curriculum, yet into adulthood I was never a reader. In fact I lived in a house with no books when I was…
I listen to my husband on the phone, saying I did a good job. It seems like a million years ago that the kids were having a fun time at the lake splashing in the shallows. In a moment everything changed. He says I did the right thing. I was watchful and alert and it saved my…
When you hide, no one can see that you need help I imagined a frightened child, continuing to hide, even as responders cried out, braving the flames. Tears were rolling down my cheeks. I had to go to the hallway to collect myself. This was not how I had planned to react at my children’s…
Like all responsible people this morning, I was watching a YouTube clip. A monarch caterpillar morphing into its chrysalis and it was like watching me get out of last year’s swim suit. (it has not been a good year for my motivation) As he struggled, his caterpillar skin piled up at the top of the…
Summer is sporadic, chaotic and off-balance with ten kids at home and little desire to keep them occupied. Every Morning is different and the lack of routine gets me agitated. How do I keep balanced, even when Summer is kicking the tar out of me? I carve out quite time every day. The trick is how…
Summer is rapidly playing out right before our eyes. Are you missing it? Being a creative Mom is a hard act to balance. Add Summer break and a lack of routine and it is nearly impossible to keep track of your projects. How do you guard your creative time? Here are a few…
Do your ever get an invitation that you really want to accept, but you have far too many chores to really allow your self the luxury of an outing? This is how I was feeling a few weeks ago. Summer should be relaxing compared to the life we live while homeschooling 10 kids, but it…
[Tweet “I deal with a lot of broken stuff over here. If you have kids avoiding breakage is a way of life, but God has a purpose for brokenness”] I have dishes I never use. Yes, I have heard people talk about using the good china with the people you love and not waiting for…
Have you ever felt like you were just holding your breath, waiting to beat out the clock? Motherhood has hit me in many waves. We race. We hold our breath, but eventually we break the surface and swim our own channels.
What kind of Christian are you? Are you a nurturer and protector, or a cannibal of your fellow man, and fellow followers in Christ?