How to Make the Holidays the Perfect Homeschool Reset

December 19, 2019 By Shawna Wingert

Are you tired of feeling like a homeschool failure each January? Try Shawna’s tips for using the holidays as a homeschool reset and start the new year off refreshed rather than tired and discouraged.

Written by Shawna Wingert of Not the Former Things.

The first few years we homeschooled, I used to give up right around week 2 of December. The post-Thanksgiving mess, the need for Christmas shopping and prep, combined with my out-of-routine, slightly overloaded children made for a very rocky start to the season.

Homeschooling seemed like the last thing I could accomplish as our schedules and my to-do list increased.

How to Make the Holidays the Perfect Homeschool Reset

I beat myself up for it. I went into January determined to get back on track, but every year, I struggled to overcome the feeling I was beginning the new year as a homeschool failure.

Tired of the same pattern taking over our holidays and homeschool every single year, I finally decided to try something new.

I decided to create an entirely different homeschool plan and experience for the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years.

You know what? It worked.

It worked so well that I have been doing it for the five years since. I will continue to do it until my youngest graduates our homeschool.

How to Make the Holidays Make the Perfect Homeschool Reset

How to Make the Holidays the Perfect Homeschool Reset

This new plan has become a kind of mid-year reset for our homeschool. Even better, it’s become a fun, highly-anticipated tradition.

Try our “holiday homeschool” traditions to create your own homeschool reset and start the new year off refreshed instead of tired and discouraged! [Read more…]

5 Simple Ways to Add Just for Fun Reading to Your Family’s Daily Routine

September 24, 2019 By Sara

Homeschooling families tend to read a lot, but do you include enough just for fun reading in your homeschool day? Try Sara’s simple tips to make sure you do!

Written by Sara Jordan Panning of Heart and Soul Homeschooling

You’ve seen them in the library – the family pulling the wagon loaded with books. Maybe you were looking in the mirror when you saw them. Whatever the case, it’s pretty safe to assume that anytime you see a book-toting, wagon-pulling family in the library, they’re probably homeschoolers

5 Simple Ways to Add Just for Fun Reading to Your Family’s Daily Routine

We homeschoolers tend to do a lot of reading. Especially when you’re taking a literature-rich, living books approach to learning as we do in our family. But how often do we encourage our children to read just for fun as an enjoyable activity?

Do you encourage reading for the pure joy of getting lost in a good story? Or exploring delight-directed learning of their own choice?

5 Simple Ways to Add Just for Fun Reading to Your Family’s Daily Routine

We all know how essential reading is to our children’s development. But sometimes it can be challenging to incorporate into your family’s already busy schedule. You probably already read often with your homeschool curriculum. But, making just for fun reading a fun part of your family’s routine is a great way to reinforce its importance in your everyday life.

Add reading to your family’s daily routine with these simple tips. [Read more…]

Curriculum-Free Geography? How to Get it Done and Have Fun!

July 24, 2019 By Bethany Ishee

Not sure how to homeschool geography without the fill-in-the-blank workbook? Bethany’s fun curriculum-free geography ideas will help you tune in to the world around you without ever cracking a dry, dusty textbook.

Written by Bethany Ishee of BethanyIshee.com.

If you’ve homeschooled for a while, you may be starting to wonder if all this curriculum is really necessary. Or maybe life has thrown you a curveball, and new curriculum purchases are on hold for a bit.

Whatever the reason you’re considering going curriculum-free, it can be helpful to view curricula as a tool and not a requirement.

Geography is an excellent subject to try out schooling without curricula.

Curriculum-Free Geography? How to Get it Done and Have Fun!

Diving deep into writing or math without the safety net of a curriculum can feel too daunting. Geography provides a fun, low-stress option for those looking to make that stack of textbooks a little bit shorter.

So how do you homeschool geography without all the memorization and workbooks? [Read more…]

How to Make Your Kids Want to Write (or at Least Grumble a Little Less)

May 14, 2019 By Kris Bales

If motivating your children to write seems like an impossible dream, try these tips to tone down the writing-related grumbling in your homeschool.

“My kid hates to write!” How many times have you said those words or heard another homeschooling parent say them? Reluctant writers are the entire reason we started sharing monthly printable writing prompts.

But, even with writing prompts, how do you get a reluctant writer to like writing…or, at least, not grumble about it quite so much?

Try these tips to make writing more agreeable to the pencil-twirlers and corner-doodlers in your house. [Read more…]

How to Create Simple but Effective Homeschool Language Arts Lessons

May 7, 2019 By Kris Bales

An integrated approach is one of the best ways to teach homeschool language arts lessons. Learn how to create literature-based lessons easily.

Sometimes, we homeschooling parents like to make learning more complicated than it is. We forget about the natural curiosity of children and lose sight of the fact that so much of the information we want to impart is already part of our everyday lives.

For example, we feel that we have to pull together the perfect spelling, phonics, handwriting, vocabulary, and grammar programs. (Guilty.) However, most of us likely have all we need for a great homeschool language arts lesson sitting on {one of our many} our bookshelves.

And, no, I’m not talking about those stacks of dusty, unused-but-I-just-might-need-it-someday homeschool curriculum. (Yes, I have them, too.)

I’m talking about the books that you already own. The ones you snuggle up with for bedtime stories. The ones your voracious reader devours when she’s supposed to be sleeping. And, the ones the whole family gathers around to hear during family read-aloud time. [Read more…]

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