How far can you drive on an empty tank? To many of you, this question seems like a crazy question. You can’t drive on empty. Right? Then there are those of you who had an exact figure drop into your mind. I’m talking to you today sister. You are my people. Racing through errands, trying to get…
It seems like everyone has an opinion about what kind of schedule you SHOULD have for your school day. Here is the thing, I don’t. I hear-by absolve you from pleasing anyone but your family with your schedule. Your school does not have to satisfy anyone but your family. Do you know how many years…
Comparison can keep you running in the wrong direction for your school. Have you tries a curriculum because your friend loved it only to find your kids hated it? We can feel pressure to keep at it because we should feel just as enthusiastic. We are subject to SO much pressure as homeschoolers. Your future…
I had a lesson in child training from a prisoner and a horse. There was a gem in my FaceBook news feed. I rarely watch videos in the quiet of the morning but a few days back I watched this video about horse training. It was a short piece about a prison in Arizona that pairs inmates…
Comparison will ensure that you have hard time finding your stride. I remember, early in our marriage, I kept thinking I should be more like my husband. He was outgoing. The man could work circles around me because he was a tireless producer. Literally sleeping just 4 hours, he would work an 18-hour day, go back…
There is no shortage of great advice out there, but the best advice is to find what is working well for you and maximize it
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…