Expert Advice
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It’s so hard to know when quitting is the right decision or when it is a detriment to our child’s development. How do we know when we should let our child quit? We discuss research, helpful questions to ask and consider, and some practical tools to figuring out this hard parenting question with your child.
Friendship is a huge component of helping our children live a joyful life! Navigating friendships can be both beautiful and challenging. It is important that we, as parents, equip ourselves to guide our children and help foster healthy friendships.
What should we do when our kids give us the boredom report? We all have mixed feelings when it comes to our kids feeling or saying that they are bored. But there’s more to boredom than what we typically know and believe about it.
It's the small things we do throughout our homeschool days that make our lifestyle a bit easier. We offer 10 shortcuts to creating the homeschool life you want.
Have we let school become an idol? So much conversation centers around kids’ schooling, including: achievements, success, challenges, and interventions. We all seem so concerned about measuring our kids, that I have to ask: is our focus on school healthy?
Let’s stop canceling historical figures and stop hero-worshiping them too. Instead, let’s teach historical figures as complex people, just like you and me.
One of our favorite things about homeschool is planning out all the amazing things we want to teach our kids. Over the years we’ve experienced both extremes: over-planning and under-planning. Both can be frustrating, but will a few of our best tips, you can plan an awesome school year of your own.
It’s the extra stuff we learned as children that we remember, not the textbooks and workbooks.
Promote attention and focus in your child’s learning by adding novelty - not just buying new things, but implementing activities that provide novel learning experiences!
Who do you let into your home on a regular basis? Is it possible that the stranger on social media, or a fictional character on a TV show or movie is getting to mentor your child more than the people who actually know and love your child? We touch on this as we look at author John Taylor Gatto’s thoughts on modern day mentors.
You are not alone. Every homeschool mom has fears about how her homeschooling decisions impact her child. Take heart though, while your child grows, so do you.
Children these days are laden with rules galore - and the majority of these rules are from institutionalized schooling. So, does school rule? We share our thoughts on an award-winning public school teacher’s commentary on School’s hidden curriculum.
Socialization often comes up as one of the first concerns people have when they think of homeschooled children. Many people think (wrongly) that homeschooled children don’t interact often enough with others to be well socialized. We believe that much of this concerns comes from not understanding what socialization really is.
Homeschooling is hard. Parenting is hard. We are going to make mistakes, and we are going to do things wrong. We need to give ourselves permission to fail.
We all encounter haters in our lives. Some haters are people easy to dismiss and others are important people in our lives who disagree loudly with us. Either way, when it comes to homeschooling, it is important to know how to interact with the haters.
As homeschoolers, do we need state standards? Will necessary content be left behind if we do not follow the standards? We discuss educational gaps and more here and on our podcast, episode 40.
What motivates your child? We dive into what types of motivation are driving your kids, and how to be intentional with helping your child with his motivation.
Boredom is a gift. It’s the catalyst that begins everything creative. We discuss the importance of free time and why it’s essential in your homeschool day.
Can we all just say we “Us-School”? Julie Bogart’s book, The Brave Learner, reminds the homeschool family to customize and find the magic in the ordinary.
Extracurriculars aren’t always what they seem! Sometimes you need to edit them out because of what they are costing you. Check out our Homeschool Edit project, inspired by our Book Club book, Ben Hewitt’s Home Grown, which will help you reset your mindset and intentionality when it comes to extracurriculars.
Our kids need to know the richness of their faith - and they can easily learn it through this simple way.
We’ve said you can homeschool anywhere. And we do homeschool anywhere - actually, we homeschool EVERYWHERE! When we homeschool, we are in the car, at the dinner table, on the field, at a family event, at the beach, playing in the pool - it’s all homeschooling. Just living life is a major way many of us homeschool our children.
As educationally conscious parents, what can we do to facilitate this amazing learning process called “Play”? There are so many ways to offer an enriching, wonder-filled preschool life for your child and your whole family. Let’s dive in with 10 educational ways to play with your preschooler.
I gave this advice to my nephew when he graduated last year from high school and would be leaving soon for UCLA. “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You are good at so many things, so be great at being uncomfortable.”
In our galaxy, far, far, away...a Franken Berry cereal box travels to distant lands in outer space. And “it’s just me, you, and Uranus. Wait a minute...who thought it was a good idea to name a planet Uranus?”
It’s quiz time: What’s the funniest kids’ show ever? Put your hands down! Everyone knows it’s...Mr. DeMaio!!
It’s a scary world out there! Seriously, between a pandemic, earthquakes, a tornado, and a threat of economic collapse - it’s enough for anyone’s anxiety to skyrocket. And we have big questions right now…What about my kids? What about their education, their activities, their brains? What about my time, my work, my SANITY?!? Never fear, the Rappin’ Mathematician is here!
So many people believe that if they are working full-time they are unable to homeschool their children. This isn’t always true! The beauty of homeschooling is that it is flexible and can be organized to fit every family. While parents who have to work full-time outside of the house may have a much harder time figuring this out, parents who can work from home can absolutely homeschool too!
Dear Emergency Corona Schooling Moms and Dads,
We see you. We feel you. This is hard and it’s different. It sometimes feel like a gift of time and togetherness, and sometimes it feels incredibly lonely and disconnected. Take heart, know that you are not alone. Find ways to homeschool that work for you.
You are enough. You are exactly who your children need right now. You know your child better than anyone and are equipped to guide them on their educational journey.