Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Honest. Quirky. Real. Practical tips, candid reviews, and stereotype-smashing humor for homeschooling families.

Honest. Quirky. Real. Practical tips, candid reviews, and stereotype-smashing humor for homeschooling families.

8 Creative, Simple Ways to Homeschool with LEGO

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Are you homeschooling LEGO fans? Get them excited about a LEGO homeschool with these creative ways to use LEGO bricks in your homeschool lessons.

Written by Chelsea Gonzales of Wonder Wherever We Wander.

LEGO bricks are seriously awesome toys. They encourage creative thinking and problem solving, and they keep my 7-year-old entertained for hours on end. Sure, they hurt like crazy when you step on them, but late-night LEGO landmines aside, they’re well worth keeping around.

Do your kids love LEGO too? If so, you’ll love these ideas for incorporating these nifty little toys into your homeschool. After all, the kids are more willing to sit still for a bit when lessons involve one of their favorite playthings. Capitalize on that fact!

8 Creative, Simple Ways to Homeschool with LEGO

Try these eight creative, simple ways to homeschool with LEGO and make school a little more colorful and engaging for everyone. [Read more…]

How to Maintain Scheduling Boundaries : 6 Simple Solutions

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When you homeschool, it can be difficult to set and maintain scheduling boundaries. Try Sara’s tips to stay focused and avoid derailing your school day.

Written by Sara Dennis of Classically Homeschooling.

Do you know the one skill all homeschooling parents need? The ability to set scheduling boundaries! After all, you need to drive the kids to activities. Your spouse needs you to run an errand. The church is asking for volunteers. Everyone wants a piece of your time.

So how do you maintain scheduling boundaries?

How to Maintain Scheduling Boundaries

Treat Scheduled Time Like an Appointment

Treat your scheduled time (for exercising or homeschooling, for example) like an appointment. You wouldn’t skip a doctor’s appointment just to run a quick errand, would you? Give yourself the same respect you give the doctor and treat your time as an appointment. [Read more…]

5 Quick and Easy Test-Free Ways to Test Your Child

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Formal assessments can be painfully stressful for students. Try Shawna’s practical, quick, and easy ways to test your homeschool student without formal tests.

Written by Shawna Wingert of Not the Former Things.

I spoke to my best friend last week. As we caught up on life, she told me that her daughter was having a tough time and that she may need to jump off the phone.

When I asked why, her answer surprised me. “She has an important math test tomorrow, and she’s worried she doesn’t know the concepts.”

Her sweet little girl is in first grade.

5 Quick and Easy Test-Free Ways to Test Your Child

My friend handles this type of thing exceptionally well. Although her children are in a very competitive public school district, she consistently reinforces how not worried she is about test scores. She values their hearts above all else and seeks to cultivate their strengths.

She realizes that testing is just part of education these days.

When my oldest son was in school many years ago, we experienced the same thing. In second grade, he once came home worried because he had state testing the next day. His teacher had told the class they needed to eat eggs for breakfast the next day, so they had the protein to fuel their brains for the test period.

He started to sob as he relayed this to me. “I don’t like eggs. I don’t want to eat eggs, but I need to do well on this test.”

(Eggs, y’all.)

The truth is, tests can be stressful, even for the best students. [Read more…]

How to Homeschool Like the Finnish

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As homeschoolers, it’s helpful to look at successful educational models to see what we can emulate. Finnish schools have earned a reputation for excellence that still allows time for play, creativity, and time outdoors. Learn how to homeschool like the Finnish!

Written by Alicia Hutchinson of Learning Well Community.

Have your kids read any of those “chose your own adventure” books? The story is different for every reader because, at various points in the tale, the reader chooses what happens next.

Homeschooling is like that. Because we choose our homeschool style or model, we open up a world of possibilities for our kids. We get to choose our own adventure! Part of what makes the experience so exciting is looking at what others do well and incorporating what works for us.

How to Homeschool Like the Finnish

We get to glean from what they’ve already figured out. Then, we can look for ways to emulate their successes into our homeschools. That’s why I started learning about the Finnish school system. I wondered how we could homeschool like the Finnish.

I love the idea of looking at lots of other education models and seeing how they match up with our family. We never should copy and paste another method into our homeschool. We’re all unique, so we should always make our homeschool fit us!  But there’s so much to learn out there, and the Finnish are doing school so well.

Let’s take a look at how we can homeschool like the Finnish and use what they’re doing well to improve our homeschools. [Read more…]

7 Simple Secrets to Kid-Free Time You Need to Know

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Do you struggle to find time for yourself as a homeschooling parent? Discover the simple secrets to carving out some kid-free time.

Written by Adrienne Bolton of The Mommy Mess.

One of the biggest challenges for me throughout our homeschooling years has been making sure I have time for myself.

Homeschooling parents don’t talk about this much, but we are with our kids every single second of every single day. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, the time of day, or the type of appointment we have to get to, our kids are usually with us.

7 Simple Secrets to Kid-Free Time You Need to Know

It’s one of the many things nobody tells you about homeschooling: you will get tired of being with your kids 24/7.

That doesn’t mean we don’t love them. It doesn’t mean we don’t love homeschooling. Homeschooling parents find it difficult to admit this frustration because it sounds like we’re complaining about something we chose to do. We signed up for this gig, didn’t we?

Nearly all homeschooling parents will experience burn-out. And if you’re not careful a simple case of homeschool burn-out can turn into an ugly stage of life for you and your family. Believe me. I know somebody who has perfected being a miserable homeschool mom.

So what do you do? How do you carve out a little kid-free time for yourself? [Read more…]