 Disclaimer: I am including links to different homeschool curriculum only for your convenience. These are NOT affiliate links. I receive no compensation whatsoever for traffic to these sites, nor do I necessarily endorse any of these curriculum companies. Please do your own research to decide what is the best fit for your family. Many homeschool books and blogs have summarized the different educational philosophies you can adopt as a homeschooler. There’s also no way to fully cover each philosophy in this brief list. Therefore, my purpose with this list is two-fold. #1 I want to give new homeschoolers an easy reference guide. From this guide, you can then go on to do your own deeper research. #2 I want to give my honest opinions as someone with a degree in education and experience teaching. This is something I haven’t seen in lists like this. There are certain things I want you to be aware of when it comes to child development and the way the brain works. I also want to point out some things to consider if your child has special needs. One thing I want to make clear before we go over this list, however: you don’t have to become a devout disciple of an educational philosophy to homeschool. You can actually pick and choose what you like from several different ones! In our homeschool, for example, I have combined parts of the Charlotte Mason methods and parts of the Classical method to create a homeschool that works best for my children. I also use a bit of traditional methods, because let’s be honest, it’s unavoidable. I doubt there are many homeschool parents who haven’t used a more traditional workbook or two. Then there are times we have done a unit study. We’ve done unit studies of the feudal system, the American Civil War, World War II, and Christmas around the world. Please remember that this is just a guide. Now that we have all that covered, let’s get started! Traditional Education - I start with this one because it is what most of us think of first when someone says “school.” Technically, an educator would call it the Dewey Method because it was created by John Dewey (yes, the same guy who invented the card catalog system for libraries!). We may think that schools have always been organized by age, with straight rows of desks, and lots of seat work. However, before Dewey’s reforms, schools were one room schoolhouses of multiple ages. Dewey’s philosophy was that schools were for training workers, so he modeled schools after factories of the Industrial Revolution. Efficiency and conformity were key. This model was also easy to implement for large classrooms. It’s why it is still the norm today. Curriculum that uses this method: Abeka, Rod & Staff, and online public school Pros: It is easy to implement because it relies on textbooks and workbooks written for school or the equivalent online; all the teacher really needs is the answer key. It is easy to find resources and curriculum. Cons: The content is dry for most students, and it is difficult to allow for learning differences. Kids read stories created for textbooks rather than literature. Also be aware: curriculum you use that is traditional will be written for a school setting. It will contain a lot of busy work to keep a large class quiet, so if you use one of the above curriculums, don’t make your child do all of the assignments. Charlotte Mason - Charlotte Mason was a British education reformer at the turn of the century. Mason disagreed with Dewey that the point of education is to train workers. She saw value in the child for who she was in the present, not just for who she would be when she grew up. Therefore, Mason sought to educate the whole child. Surrounding children with beautiful literature, poetry, art, and music is therefore a huge part of a Charlotte Mason education. Narration is a part of every subject. This simply means that the child says back to you what she just learned (or writes it down when she gets older). History is taught as a story. For science, children explore the world around them and keep a nature journal. Charlotte Mason was also really big on doing subjects in small chunks so children wouldn’t become taxed. Instead of textbooks, Charlotte Mason proponents use what they call “living books.” In other words, instead of reading a history textbook, you go to the library and find wonderful children’s books on King Tut, the Roman Coliseum, the Vikings, etc. Curriculum: Simply Charlotte Mason, Living Books , My Father’s World Pros - You go at the child’s own pace, so it is easily adaptable for special needs students. It requires few supplies other than a library card, pencil, and paper. You also hear the word “gentle” a lot in the Charlotte Mason world; this method never nags and is never in a hurry. Cons - Charlotte Mason is notoriously weak in math, so most people go outside the above curriculum for that subject. (We use Math U See, others add in Saxon or Singapore.) It can also be weak in science. After all, there’s only so much science you can observe with a nature notebook. Apologia science curriculum, however, uses a Charlotte Mason approach with a bit more content. Montessori - This pretty popular form of education was pioneered by Italian physician Maria Montessori. She believed that children are naturally curious and eager to learn. Therefore, Montessori teachers act more as facilitators. Montessori classrooms are typically mutli-age (for example 4-6 year olds in one class), making it a natural set up for homeschool families. Instead of teaching a lesson, the Montessori teacher creates stations in the room of different learning experiences: a sand table, a bucket of math manipulatives with puzzles to solve, an easel for painting, etc. Students are free to choose which stations to go to. Sometimes there is a timer, then students rotate. Other Montessori set ups are less structured. Student independence is of very high priority, and often students are taught to prepare their own snacks and meals. Montessori philosophy is strongly against testing, and students are to be evaluated through work samples and interviews. (Though many private schools and homeschools are still required to test under state laws.) Curriculum: None - prepared curriculum is opposite of the Montessori philosophy. However, Rainbow Resource sells hundreds of learning manipulatives, games, and puzzles. Pros - Most students under Montessori do become very independent. Since students choose what to explore, they rarely become bored. Activities are easily adapted for students with learning differences. Cons - Gaps can appear in a student’s learning with subjects that they aren’t as interested in. Gathering and setting up materials can be expensive and time consuming. Students may not be prepared for standardized testing. However, there are many test prep books that parents can use to supplement when testing is necessary by law. (I don’t think standardized testing should ever be our driving force, but I won’t get on that soapbox right now . . . ) Classical - Unlike the previous models, there is no one educator responsible for classical education. As its name implies, this educational philosophy goes all the way back to the great thinkers of Ancient Greece, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment. This model is actually how school was set up prior to the reforms of John Dewey. Dorothy Sayers, a member of the group called the Inklings that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, brought the classical method of education back to the forefront with her essay “The Lost Tools of Learning.” This method sees the human mind developing through three stages: the grammar stage (concrete thinking), the logic stage (logical thinking), and the rhetoric stage (abstract thinking). In the grammar stage (around ages 4-10), students learn to read really well and memorize facts (especially their math facts). In the logic stage, they begin to think critically and ask questions. In the rhetoric stage, they use their knowledge and logic to debate, write, and create. (I confess I’m oversimplifying, but for sake of time, this is a good summary.) In history, classical education emphasizes learning world events chronologically. Students learn the history of the entire world in four to five years of study and then cycle back through it in the logic and rhetoric stages. In each stage, their study of history simply deepens. Classical education also requires that students study Latin starting in the elementary grades. Curriculum: Classical Conversations, Veritas Press, Memoria Press Pros - This method follows the natural development of children’s brains. Students in classical education can recite a lot: famous poems, state capitals, pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, multiplication tables, helping verbs, and more. They can usually do math in their heads fairly quickly because calculators are a no-no. Most classically trained students have very high reading levels and high reading comprehension. Training in logic in fifth grade and up is highly important in our very topsy-turvy world of fake news and manipulative advertising. Cons - Sometimes the lists to memorize can be overdone. Unless you sign up for a classical co-op or hybrid where you have no choice, I recommend scaling back a bit on the memorization. Being able to do quick mental math is of high value - knowing all the kings of France? Not so much. (Unless you’re French, of course.) Latin is also very difficult for most parents to teach. I ended up dropping the Latin and having my kids learn Latin and Greek roots instead. Finally, classical curriculum in middle and high school is extremely rigorous - too rigorous for most students. As passionate as I am about classical education, it is not the best fit for most students with learning differences. Unit Studies - This philosophy of education became very popular during the 1960s when educator Herbert R. Kohl started the open classroom movement. I won’t get into all that the movement entailed, but one of its major tenets was that subjects should be connected to each other. Kohl thought that teachers should work as a team to create units that would touch on every subject. For example, a unit on the medieval feudal system would obviously include history, but you could also bring in other subjects. In science, they would learn about all of the simple machines used to attack a castle. In literature, they would read The Adventures of Robin Hood. In math, they would calculate the supplies needed to build a cathedral. In art, they would study stained glass as an art form. In music, they would listen to monastic chants. Curriculum - Konos, Heart of Dakota, the Literature Pockets and History Pockets series Pros - When students are immersed in something, they are less likely to forget what they have learned. Education becomes an experience, not just a series of assignments. Students are better able to see the practical applications of the STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, art, and math). Parents can use students' interests to craft units, making them more engaged. Units are also easily adapted to learning differences. Cons - Connecting all of the subjects can sometimes be a stretch, causing some to get short-changed. You can also easily overlook the nuts and bolts of language arts: grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. Planning units is extremely time-consuming and can also get expensive. *Fun fact - My middle school was an “open classroom” school, built in the late 60s. I had a team of teachers, just as Kohl advocated. However, they only did one big unit study per semester. The rest of the time, they taught us subjects separately. The ones I remember most were on The Olympics (I’m from the Atlanta area, and we had just been awarded the 96 summer games) and the Holocaust. I personally would take a cue from my middle school and only do unit studies occasionally - for your own sanity!* Unschooling - I’m going to be very upfront before I get into this philosophy: I am very passionately and adamantly against it. I want to be as objective as possible in describing these philosophies. However, knowing what I do about child and brain development, I just can not in good conscience support this one. Those of you who are passionate about unschooling are going to hate me, I know that. You’ll probably yell at me in the comments. So be it. As someone with a degree in education, I find this method extremely dangerous for students. I know unschoolers claim that my degree doesn’t matter anyway, but I have to say what I feel is right and ethical, regardless of the consequences. Educator John Holt is considered the “father” of unschooling, and it began in the 1970s. It is wildly popular with homeschoolers which is why I felt I needed to address it. Holt felt that the core issue with education was the structure of it. He felt, similarly to Maria Montessori, that students will naturally learn if given the space for it. Proponents of unschooling also believe that life itself is an education. Cooking a meal, fixing a car, buying groceries - all of these activities are educational. While we all can agree that is true, unschoolers see no need to add “structured” school time to these real life experiences. As for math and reading, unschool proponents claim that students will figure these out on their own when they are ready. If your child comes to you with a book, for example, and asks “Mommy, how do you read this?'' then give them a gentle lesson. Otherwise, don’t force lessons on students. Unschoolers believe making students learn things they don’t want to learn is actually detrimental. Unschoolers also take lots of field trips. Curriculum - None. Now, some parents claim to unschool while also using a curriculum for math and language arts. Technically, they aren’t really unschooling. (Go ahead, yell.) Pros - Parents don’t have to plan lessons. You don’t have to nag your kid to finish his grammar lesson. Kids have plenty of time to learn how to cook, budget, do car maintenance, and many other life skills. The family has plenty of time for travel and day field trips, which have lasting impact. Cons - Oi. Where do I begin? This educational method goes against everything we know about child development. We know, for example, that students have a window of time in which learning to read comes most naturally and easily. This is between the ages of four and eight. If you miss that window, learning to read becomes an incredible struggle. Now, that window is very broad and differs child to child, yes, but I read one unschooling blog that told the story of a girl who didn’t express interest in reading until thirteen. As an English education major, I almost had a panic attack reading that! That poor girl was short changed by her parents and now has an incredibly difficult uphill climb. Poor reading and math skills handicaps your child in every area. If it had been up to me, for example, I never would have learned basic math because I just didn’t enjoy it. At all. I hated it with every fiber of my being. Yet I am thankful every time I do my budget or go to the grocery store that I memorized my multiplication tables in the second grade. Aren’t you? Now, unschoolers will claim that I hated it because I was forced to do it. To which I ask: Have they ever met any actual children? I'm going to borrow an example from the book The Well-Trained Mind (paraphrased) Haven’t we all had this conversation with our kids: “Eat your broccoli.” “I hate broccoli!” “How do you know? You’ve never tried it.” “I just know I hate it!” Replace “broccoli” with “math” or “spelling” or some other subject, and you see why this method doesn’t work. In summary, take some of the pros above for unschooling and add them into another philosophy. Waldorf/Steiner - This philosophy is admittedly new to me, but since it is gaining popularity worldwide, including in the homeschool sphere, I thought I should address it. Surprisingly, you may have seen an example of Waldorf/Steiner education in an unlikely place - the children’s television show Bluey. The school Bluey attends is a Steiner school. The Waldorf model was developed by Rudolph Steiner, founder of the philosophy/religion of anthroposophy. Now, there is a lot to unpack there. I don’t have time to go into anthroposophy or when and how it developed. All you need to know is that in this particular belief system, there is a big emphasis on nature and man’s connection to nature. It is also very mystical. Educationally speaking, they believe that children are born with a connection to this natural, mystical world. Children are born pure and good, but this is often corrupted by the adults around them. To nurture this purity and goodness, children need a space for their imagination to flourish, so play and immersion in nature is of highest priority in a Waldorf education. There is actually no formal learning until after the age of seven. In a lot of ways, a Waldorf school room is set up much like a Montessori school and students are free to explore the different stations. Since they believe children learn through play, the teacher is just a guide. She also reads the children myths and legends from many different cultures to enrich their imaginations. Schools are set up to look like homes, which makes it easily transferable to a homeschool environment. Curriculum: Oak Meadow, Lavender Blue, Little Oak Learning (since this is new to the homeschool arena, I know the least about these sources) Pros - It is multi-cultural, gets kids out in nature (which is sorely needed today), and inspires the imagination. Even as more formal learning is introduced at ages eight and up, art and creativity is still emphasized, and formal testing is discouraged. It is also technology free until the higher grades, which in my opinion, is a plus. As a matter of fact, a lot of people in the tech industry are enrolling their kids in Waldorf schools as they have seen first hand the detrimental effects of screen time too young. It is easily adaptable for learning differences and translates easily to home learning. Cons - Though not as problematic as unschooling, I still feel putting off formal learning until after the age of seven is a little late. The influence of anthroposophy is troublesome to me as a Christian. Though Wikipedia claims this educational philosophy is Christian, that is only because it has traditionally taught stories from the Bible. However, this is taught as part of the mythos of all men, not as a text of infallible truth. In other words, it’s cultural legends. I’m also uncomfortable with the mystical beliefs about nature and the use of gnomes. (I’m still a little confused about the gnome thing, to be honest.) Waldorf education has also been criticized for teaching pseudo-science and being anti-vaccine. I know for some, being anti-vaxx isn’t a con, but it’s still something parents should be aware of. So, there you have it! These are the main philosophies of education. Whether you’ve been homeschooling for awhile or are new to the game, it does help to decide what works best for your family. What are you passionate about when it comes to your children and how they learn? What is of greatest value to you? On the other hand, what elements of the above sound burdensome or unimportant? I hope I’ve helped you weigh the pros and cons, but at the end of the day, your homeschool will be uniquely suited to your children and no one else's!
0 Comments
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a small commission from any purchases. However, these are all books that my children love and all opinions are my own. *
In my last post, I talked about the three strands of reading: silent reading, reading aloud, and being read aloud to. I shared in that post that the silent reading part is left completely up to my children. One of my favorite reads as a homeschool mom is The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. There is so much in that book that I heartily agree with. Their suggestions for library visits is not one of them. In the book, Jessie Wise says that on library visits, she required her children to "check out the following books: one science book, one history book, one art or music appreciation book, one practical book (a craft, hobby, or 'how-to'), a biography or autobiography, a classical novel (or an adaptation suited to age), an imaginative storybook, a book of poetry." (The Well-Trained Mind p. 6) Even as an adult, this control sounds stifling to me. And who exactly has to hound the kids to actually read this list of books? I certainly don’t want to. And if there’s no guarantee that they are going to read, say, a book on how to knit, why make them check it out? To me, a library is like a carnival. Your library card is like that string of paper tickets, and you can explore and spend them however you like. So take your kids to the library and let them explore! The only limit I put on my kids is playing computer games - I give them like ten or fifteen minutes, then they have to go look at the books. (Of course, ever since Covid, our library has taken out the computers. They have the one with the card catalog, of course, but no computers to play games on.) The Well-Trained Mind also recommends monitoring what your children read. In some ways, I agree with this. We sometimes think as long as they are reading, it doesn’t matter what the content is. Yet we don’t let our kids watch, say, HBO’s Game of Thrones at age ten, so why would we let them read the book? Would you give them pornography as long as it’s in a book and not online? Of course not! I think most parents are on the same page there. However, Wise and Bauer take this one step further. They are also against comic books and series like Sweet Valley Twins. (In the outdated 2nd edition of the book I have, anyway. Newer editions may call out Junie B. Jones books or something, I don’t know.) Wise and Bauer first off claim that comic books don’t qualify as reading because they are too visual. As for popular series, they say they are “fluff” literature with over simplified plots and uninteresting sentences. They call them the reading equivalent of candy. I highly disagree. Let’s first tackle comic books. This genre has come a long way. Many are so complex, they have the much more accurate label of graphic novels. The stories can be very rich, the dialogue intelligent, and the themes surprisingly deep. Yes, many graphic novels and comic books have adult content. They can contain graphic violence, over-sexualized depictions of women, and mature sexual situations. However, this genre has overall gotten a bad rap. Not all of them are risque. Especially these days, there is a wide array of comic book content, even books written for kids, tweens, and teens. My rule of thumb is that if the comic book is in the children’s section of the library, it’s probably okay (not that I don’t still look them over). If it’s in the teen or adult section, proceed with extreme caution. Also, the visual nature of comic books is especially appealing to reluctant readers and students with learning challenges. It isn’t “dumbing things down” to encourage their reading passions. It’s just a different genre. To help you out, here are some great graphic novels and comic books that my kids love: 
Now let’s talk about those series like The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins that we read growing up. My daughter’s favorites would also fall into this category: The Never Girls and Nancy Clancy. Are these the literary equivalent of candy? If we let our kids read these are they never, as Wise and Bauer suggest, going to want to read more challenging books? Well, how about this: I read Sweet Valley Twin books like crazy as a child, and I went on to major in English and become a teacher. It’s just a ridiculous suggestion, in my opinion. Plus, it’s like the old adage: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. I could tell my kids they can only check out the classics or Newberry award nominees or something, but I can’t make them read them. The books they read ON THEIR OWN have to be books THEY choose. And if I act like the snooty literary police, the joy of reading will be sucked right out of them.
I’m not saying I don’t sometimes say, “the content of this book is not morally appropriate, I don’t want you to read this.” I absolutely do. But that is VERY different than looking down my nose at them and saying, "that’s not a very challenging piece of literature, so you can't read that." This is what they are choosing to read for fun, for heaven’s sake! Some people look down their literary noses at what I like to read for fun. I like to read clean/Christian romance novels. There, I said it. I read romance novels. *whisper* I write them too. If what I read for pleasure is seen as “fluff” to many, who am I to judge my kids for just wanting to read something fun? So, moms, I set you free. Don’t worry so much. Just foster a love of reading in your kids. It will pay dividends for many years, I have no doubt. I know because it did for me. Here are some of my daughter's favorite "literary candy": 
When she was a little younger, she loved this series:
So, go ahead, let them read candy!
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission from any purchases. However, all opinions are my own. I never recommend a book or curriculum that I have not used and loved myself.* There are things we do in our homeschool that I love, but my children aren’t that crazy about. Then there are things that they love which surprise me because I honestly have to make myself get enthusiastic about it. However, there is one part of our homeschool day that we all agree on. As a matter of fact, it’s my favorite part of the day, and my kids say that it’s theirs too. It’s when we settle on the couch, usually one on one, and we read a book of fiction together. Our literature, or reading time, has two components: me reading out loud to them, and them reading out loud to me. When they are young, they read easy readers while I read them a children’s classic. Over time, however, we simply go back and forth reading out loud with the same book. There are no discussion questions, no quizzes, no narrations. I don’t make them do a book report. We simply read. We laugh, we exclaim in surprise, and we even cry as we experience each book. Sometimes we make guesses about what’s going to happen next, or we talk about the poor choices that the character seems to be making. Through experiencing the book together, we are studying it and delving into its themes, characterizations, and plot development without ever making a formal lesson out of it. This may surprise you, but as a former English teacher, I think this is the best way to study a book. With a high school class of thirty, I couldn’t do it this way, but one on one with my child, I can. Guess what else? If we don’t like a book, we stop. Since I’m the teacher and the parent, there’s no need to force an assigned book. I want my children to associate reading with joy and pleasure. I don’t want it to be a chore. It’s fiction, after all. Why don’t I just assign them chapters to read on their own? Because there are three strands of reading, and each one is important. They are silent reading, reading aloud, and being read to. Most schools, by necessity, focus on read-alouds in elementary school and silent reading in middle and high school. However, all three strands are vitally important at all levels. This isn’t just theory. Studies have been done showing that different parts of the brain are engaged in each of the three strands. To fully exercise the brain, all three strands must be practiced. Reading out loud also builds children’s confidence and helps them read with more fluency and speed. Most people know this when children are young and first learning to read, but it is important that it continues into adolescence. I was first exposed to the idea of the three strands of reading when I taught sixth grade at a classical school. We were required to spend at least half an hour reading out loud to the students and having them take turns reading to us. Because of my job there, I also learned about Jim Trelease’s The Read-Aloud Handbook. Trelease’s book was fascinating to me as an English major and educator. It’s full of research and data backing up the importance of all three strands of reading. Of course, by the title, you can tell that Trelease is advocating specifically for read-alouds to be returned to the classroom, even in high school. The book would probably seem a little dry to the average parent, though. I’m just a nerd about this kind of stuff!
Why don’t I just read one book to all three of my kids? Wouldn’t that be a lot less time consuming? Yes, it would, but it wouldn’t be best for them educationally speaking. It is very difficult to find a book that is developmentally appropriate for all three of my children. I will sometimes read the same book with my younger two because they are very close in age, but for the most part, I try to make it one on one. It also gives my kids a special bonding time with me on a daily basis. The value of that can’t be measured!
What about the silent reading strand? Because books are so highly valued in our house, my kids do that all on their own! We visit the library weekly, and I let my kids pick whatever they want to read for fun. Whether it’s an American Girl book, a comic book, or an encyclopedia of Lego mini-figures, for the most part, I don’t dictate what they choose. There are moral guidelines in our family, of course. If I feel a book is morally inappropriate, that is the only time I say “no.” Yes, I’m okay with comic books. I’ll actually write an entire separate post addressing that at a later time. The point is, my kids' choices for their silent reading is up to them. As for our read-alouds, I read every book on my own ahead of time before we start the school year to decide if I think my children will enjoy them. (Of course, sometimes, I’m wrong, and then we toss said book.) Here are some of our selections for this school year: From Luke's reading list (age 13):
From Haley's reading list (age 10):
From Ian's reading list (age 8):
Ian and Haley's joint reading list:
As you probably noticed, I try to select some books that go with the historical period we are studying. I also try to balance the reading difficulty, choosing a few that are challenging, some that are easier reads, and a majority that are right on their reading level. You want to slowly build their reading skill by challenging them without frustrating them. That’s why you want to have two separate books in the earliest years: one for them to read to you and one for you to read to them. Kids can comprehend stories far above their reading level, but they also need to practice their own reading. Make sure you are doing both.
I encourage you to try your own read-aloud time and see how rewarding it can be! 
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission from any purchases. However, all opinions are my own. I never recommend a book or curriculum that I have not used and loved myself.*
My homeschool philosophy is mostly a mixture of classical and Charlotte Mason, and part of both of those philosophies is exposing our children’s minds to the good and the beautiful. Classical art and music is to be explored by the young child so they have mental pegs to hang later study upon. I completely agree with this, and I had grandiose visions of my kids enjoying Mozart while doing their own version of Monet’s Water Lilies. Yeah, it hasn’t exactly played out that way. No matter how hard I tried, I could never fit the arts into our curriculum. I remember buying an Usborne book that I was so excited about. It taught kids about a famous artist, then had them imitate their style. It was a disaster. My boys, who aren’t into art, would just make a big, ugly mess and yell, “done!” Meanwhile, their little artist sister would work for an hour on a painstaking first grade version of cubism, which meant we never got to math or phonics that day. I spent tons of money on supplies that I wasn’t even sure how to use, made a big mess, and stressed out myself and the kids. Music appreciation didn’t go much better. Both subjects ended up being done only sporadically. There had to be a better way, but I wasn’t sure what it was. Then, I went to an amazing session at a homeschool conference done by Sonya Shaffer of Simply Charlotte Mason. She showed us how to do scripture verse memorization, art appreciation, poetry appreciation, music appreciation, AND hymn study without taking up a huge amount of time. Thus, “morning school” was born in our house. Go check out their website in the link below to find the resources that make up the backbone of our morning school. It’s a fantastic website that also has videos and blog posts to help you with a variety of homeschool issues. 
So here’s how our morning school works. As we sit at the breakfast table, I read a morning devotional to the kids. I have used various kids' devotional books and children’s Bibles over the years. Here are some of my favorites:
I end the devotional by leading them in prayer, Then, we go over our Bible memory verses. It takes just minutes, I promise you! Here’s Sonya Shafer explaining her Bible memory system - it’s so easy:
After that, we do our poetry, art, or music appreciation for the day. We don’t do all of them every day of course! Here’s our schedule:
For art appreciation, we use Simply Charlotte Mason’s picture study portfolios. I can’t rave about these enough! Each portfolio contains eight gorgeous, glossy 8x10 reproductions of paintings by a particular artist. We have done Van Gogh, Monet, Homer, and several others. There is also a short biography of the artist included and questions to ask your children as they look at the pictures. The key again is enjoyment, not a quiz or deep study. My kids love them and actually argue over who gets to look at them first! The teacher guide recommends choosing only six of the paintings to study, but I have such a hard time choosing, we just do all eight. After we’ve studied the picture and talked about it, I hang it on the bulletin board of our school room to enjoy all week long. For music study, I’ve used several different resources, but right now we are using the Meet the Great Composers series. I do NOT have the kids do the worksheets. I just read about the composer, then we listen to the selection on the accompanying CD. Again, it takes only about five minutes. Below you’ll find links to other resources we have used. 
On Thursday, we do hymn study. We go to a church that worships with only contemporary music, and while I love our worship, it was a bit sad to me that my kids weren’t being exposed to the classic hymns I grew up singing in my little country church. Not only that, the stories behind many of these hymns are really inspiring! However, if hymns aren’t something of value to you, choose something else musical for Thursday. Broadway, movie scores, jazz, rock and roll - the possibilities are endless! If you do want to study classic hymns, these books are the best I’ve used (there are three volumes total):
I don’t do all of the hymns in these books. I choose the ones I am familiar with from my childhood and that I can find decent versions of on YouTube. Yep, I said YouTube. I have learned from personal experience: don’t search for a hymn on the spot! Search ahead of time, and save a version you think your kids will enjoy to a playlist. I’ve found versions of hymns by contemporary singers and bands that my kids recognize like The Newsboys, Chris Tomlin, For King and Coutnry, etc. I don’t want them to hear the hymn and hate it! Therefore, I avoid the big choir versions. All I do is read the brief one page history of the hymn from Then Sings My Soul, then we listen to the hymn. That’s it. To increase their exposure to both the classical music and the hymns, we also listen to them in the car on the way to co-op (it’s a forty minute drive). I call it “car school” and my kids love it. Okay, they don’t. They actually whine every single time and beg to listen to the radio instead. Oh well, our kids won’t always love school, right? Finally, Friday is “Stuff They Left Behind.” This is the name of another series of study portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason. These are just as amazing as the art portfolios. For each historical period (Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Middle Ages, Early Modern, and Modern), you get sixteen, glossy, 8x10 photographs of artifacts, architecture, or feats of engineering from that time period. Also included is a teacher guide with a bit of background information and discussion questions. For example, Ancient Egypt has a photo of the pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, King Tut’s burial mask, and several others; Modern times has a photo of the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, a Faberge egg, and more. Again, my kids find these really fascinating and fight over them. Once we’ve studied the photo, I hang it up in the school room next to the painting of the week. So that’s it, that’s our morning school. It probably took you longer to read this than it does to actually do it - I’m not kidding, it’s that simple. The only prep time I do is writing our Bible verse of the week on an index card and finding the hymn on YouTube. The rest is just open and go. It’s really the easiest way I’ve found to expose our kids to the great artistic masterpieces of the ages!  Well, my fellow homeschoolers, we’re well into August, and even if public schools aren’t back yet where you are, I’m sure you’re constantly inundated with back to school commercials and displays at all the stores. One thought always comes to my mind this time of year: how blessed I am to homeschool. Yes, honestly. I don’t have to buy that long list of supplies I see at the stores. I don’t have to carpool or worry about getting my kid on the bus. I don’t have to drag them out of bed at an obscenely early hour, rush to get some breakfast in them, then rush them out the door, hoping they didn’t forget anything. In short, our mornings are our own. We can linger at the breakfast table, talking and laughing. We can have a devotional together to start our day. I can make something like french toast or bacon and eggs without a clock ticking down in the back of my mind. I mean, there’s a reason I saw kids scarfing down protein bars or fast food biscuits as I did carpool duty when I taught. I don’t blame those moms; that would be me in the same situation. Take a minute and read that previous paragraph again. Notice how I didn’t describe our mornings. I didn’t say that everyone sleeps until ten and stays in their pajamas until noon. If that’s how you want to do your homeschool, then this post isn’t for you. I’ll be upfront: I don’t think letting your kids sleep in everyday is the best homeschool plan. For one, it doesn’t teach them the self-discipline that they will need in life. Second, it makes your entire homeschool day start off on the wrong foot. I have had homeschool moms ask me how they can finish the school day earlier, and I always ask this question first: what time do you start? Because, guess what? If you don’t start until 11:00 or later, most likely, you’ll still be doing school at dinner time. You can’t expect to finish by lunch if that time frame is only two hours. I’m not trying to be mean, it’s just math. That doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible. There are times I do let my kids sleep later, or even sleep as long as they need to. It’s usually after we’ve had a late night or I just see that one of them is run down. So yes, as homeschoolers you have the luxury to be flexible. But it’s like what one of my favorite professors in college used to say: you can always loosen up, but it’s almost impossible to tighten up. If the norm in your house is a structured morning, then your kids can handle the occasional loosening of that structure. However, if there is no structure, and you realize that your homeschool is in chaos, it is a lot harder to change course without your kids struggling. What that structure looks like is completely up to you, of course. I’m going to share how our mornings go, but I only do that to give you ideas. What works for me won’t work for everyone, so adjust accordingly. Also, full disclosure: I’m human. Things don’t always go exactly like this. I hit the snooze some mornings just like anyone. I get distracted some mornings by social media. Or I go to make breakfast and realize we’re out of eggs, so I have to run to the store. Life happens. I’m not perfect, and you won’t be either. The routine is a safety guide, not a prison. My alarm goes off at six each morning. I know, I’ve lost some of you already. But, I can’t stress this enough, you really need to be up before your kids. My kids are early risers, so it has to be six for me. For you, it may be later, but having that time to pray, breathe, fully awake, can make a huge difference. For me, I spend about half an hour in prayer and reading my Bible. Then, during the hotter parts of the year, I wake up my daughter for a bike ride. We get back at seven, and I jump in the shower. At seven thirty, I start breakfast, and the kids take turns helping me cook. Usually by eight, we’re sitting down to eat together. Eating meals with my kids has been one of the biggest blessings of homeschooling. I really encourage you to make it a priority. You have the time, so don’t waste it! After we eat, we do what we call “morning school.” (I’ve tried to think of a more clever name, but “morning school” has stuck!) It’s actually really simple and brief. Just enough time for a devotional, prayer, and art appreciation. My next post will be all about this “morning school” time. After morning school, it's time to “do our Bs”: Body (dress it), Bed (make it), and Brush (your teeth). Confession: this is the part where I tend to nag my kids. Why, oh why, do children drag out things that ought to take only minutes? Human nature, I guess. And, yes, I make them get dressed even if we aren’t going anywhere. I feel less alert and productive when I’m in my pjs, so I assume it's the same for my kids. Plus, if we suddenly have to leave the house, we’re all dressed. The times, I confess, vary, but typically by this time it’s nine am, and we’re sitting down to start school. Of course, I’ve already got things to record on their weekly sheets! Bike rides, cooking, Bible, and art appreciation. Not to mention their beds are made (okay, not very neatly, but they’re made). So, that’s mornings in our house. I encourage you to sit down and write out goals for how you’d like mornings to look at your house. Then come up with a plan. I think it will make for a less stressful start to your day.
*I was inspired to take the above pictures by a post I saw on a homeschool blog called bluemanoreducation.com. Unfortunately, the specific post no longer exists, but I did want to give credit for the idea. *
School starts this week in my area, and that’s always a time of mixed emotions for me. For that reason, I’m pausing in my series on planning to make this special post. I’ll go ahead and be upfront: this post is for homeschooling moms ONLY. If you aren’t one, you may be offended by what I have to say. It’s not that I’m intentionally trying to be mean or offend anyone; it’s just that I want to encourage my fellow homeschool moms, and I can’t do that in this post without being completely candid. So there you are, homeschool mom, able to sleep until eight (or nine) because your kids don’t have to be on a school bus by seven am or dropped off by seven thirty. You’re feeling confident in your decision, free even, as you think of the carpool line you don’t have to line up for later this afternoon. Then you get on social media. Post after post of smiling children holding little chalkboards that say “first day of kindergarten” or “first day of middle school.” (Okay, those kids might not be smiling, lol.) Posts of smiling, beaming teachers with shiny hair like Miss Honey in Matilda. The brand new backpacks are so colorful, the pencils so sharp, the chromebooks so . . . Wait, you ask yourself, they give chromebooks to four year olds? Mine can barely use scissors! It seems like all these kids are headed straight to the Ivy League, and yours are still in their pajamas watching Puppy Dog Pals. And all of a sudden, doubt rushes in. Are you doing the right thing? You make the mistake of reading some of the posts. “Little Tommy just loves his teacher!” one gushes. “We are so blessed by our local school,” another one proclaims. “I can’t believe we have a high schooler,” another mom states with a crying emoji, “but I know these are the best days of his life!” Several moms relate crying after dropping off their preschoolers and kindergartners for their first ever day of school. Thank God, you think, at least someone is being honest! But these moms inevitably go on to say the same thing: “You have to let them go sometime!” Mommy guilt rushes in once again: are you holding them too tightly? Are they missing out? No, Mama, they aren’t. I can promise you that. Yes, we will have to let our children go someday. But at four or five? Is that really all the Lord expects of us? The preschool years, then we can hand them off to someone else for eight hours a day? Really? Those Chromebooks may look really impressive, but is that the best education for our kids? To stare at a screen all day long? But it’s educational! It’s technology! But don’t doctors and child experts tell us to limit ALL screen time on multiple devices? Or does that only apply at home? Are these really the best years of that high school kid’s life? All we have to do is think back to our own adolescence to know how much that rings false. And being in a traditional high school with its pecking order and intense pressure to fit in definitely doesn’t do anything to make those years easier. That’s all your teenager is “missing out on” - the encouragement to follow the crowd. So are all of these parents really being genuine in their gushing happiness? Maybe. But usually, if they were brutally honest, they’re relieved to have the kids at school again. They're excited to go to Target alone after carpool. They’re excited about taking that 11 am yoga class. And believe me, I get that. Sometimes I wish I could do those things. But I’ve chosen this homeschooling path because I truly believe it is best for my kids. It takes sacrifices that I am more than willing to make, and I can’t let the status quo cause me to doubt that. We also have to remember that social media only portrays people’s best selves. Those back to school posts don’t show us the whole picture. They don’t show us the seven year old melting down over his homework at four in the afternoon. They don’t show us the fourteen year old in tears after being bullied all day long. They don’t show us the parent teacher conference when a ten year old is failing math because it isn’t being taught in a way he understands. Not exactly Instagram worthy. So be encouraged, Mama! You may have chosen the road less traveled, but rest assured, it will make all the difference.   *Disclaimer: Homeschool laws vary country to country, and even state to state in the US. All of my posts on record-keeping and planning are based on homeschool law in the state of Georgia, USA. Please be sure of requirements in your own country/state before implementing any record-keeping system. *
In my last post, I encouraged you to write down what your child accomplishes each day rather than making a checklist of things to do ahead of time. Am I telling you then to just fly by the seat of your pants? Of course not! The biggest advantage of having a teaching degree and school experience is understanding how to make long term plans and goals. Notice I said long term. It’s not so much about making a daily lesson plan; it’s about knowing where you want to get in the long run. Because here’s a little trade secret: public school teachers don’t finish everything on their lesson plan either. They are required to write them, but they aren’t slaves to them. And homeschoolers aren’t the only ones who get their lessons interrupted. When I taught, I faced the frustrating interruptions of fire drills, snow days, and discipline problems. Your child isn’t falling behind all the public school kids just because you got the flu. School teachers get the flu too, and believe me, their substitute teachers are probably just there for crowd control. Life happens to everyone. What education majors and professional teachers understand is something they call a scope and sequence. That’s a fancy term for a plan of what you want your students to cover and master by the end of the school year. However, just like the daily plans, these also have to be flexible. Flexibility: that’s the most important thing I want you to get. Here’s another professional term: IEP which stands for “individual education plan.” These are used in the school system for special needs students, but in an ideal world, every kid would have one. Guess what? You, homeschooler, are in the ideal situation to give your child an individual education plan. I write one of these up for each of my children. It lists all their subjects, how often they will do each one, what curriculum is being used, and a reading list. Here’s what my daughter Haley’s looked like last year: Haley’s Individual Education Plan 2020 / 2021 - 4th Grade Math: Math U See Delta / Test Prep and drill on Thursdays (Standardized test - Nov.) Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting D Alternate these: Phonics: Explode the Code Six and Seven (Maybe Eight) Spelling: Spelling Workout C (Fall) and Spelling Workout D (Spring) Alternate these: Grammar: Finish First Language Lessons 4 (two weeks) Writing: Writing with Ease 2 (Fall) and WWE 3 (Spring) (one week) Literature: The Egyptian Cinderella Tirzah D’aulaires Book of Greek Myths & The Illustrated Odyssey (w/ Ian) Detective in Togas (w/Ian) Ramona’s World Voyage of the Dawn Treader (w/ Ian) From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Charlotte’s Web (w/ Ian) Misty of Chincoteauge (w/ Ian) Matilda I wrote this for me, not to share with other people, so some of this might not make sense. However, let me try to break down some of it for you. Do you see the sections that say “alternate these”? Well, that means I alternate weeks for those subjects. I heard Sonya Shafer of Simply Charlotte Mason at a homeschool convention. The title of the session was “How to Simplify Your Homeschool.” Her talk set me free as a homeschool mom! One thing she said was that you don’t have to do every subject every day. I knew this, on some level, but I felt that only applied to the “extra” subjects. Surely I had to do all of language arts every day, right? But Sonya said to just pick ONE or TWO things that fall under language arts. Phonics, spelling, vocabulary, writing, grammar, and reading all fall under the banner of language arts. She told us don’t try to do all of those every single day. Then it hit me: I taught high school English for six years, and I never did everything everyday! Some days, I focused on literature, other days I focused on grammar, and when we were writing research papers, that was all we did for several weeks! Why was I trying to do it differently as a homeschool mom? So, my kids do math every single day, but everything else alternates. If you look at Haley’s IEP above, you’ll see that I alternated phonics and spelling every other week. For writing and grammar, we would spend two weeks on grammar, then a week on writing, then two weeks on grammar, etc. We actually do reading everyday, but that doesn’t mean you have to. (Reading is our favorite part of the day, however! I’ll write a whole post on that later.) What about history, geography, science, and the arts? We actually do those subjects together. How we do those will be my next post. Let’s get back to my daughter Haley, however. Each day, I look at her IEP. I go through the list with her, and I let her pick what she wants to do first. (Getting to pick what they want to do next gives my kids ownership and reduces whining.) As we accomplish each item, I write it down on her weekly record sheet I told you about in my last post. I do set a timer for an hour, but that’s only to make sure I don’t tax her. Once the timer goes off, she gets a break, and I work with her younger brother. After her brother has worked for an hour, we look at her IEP again and choose something we haven’t gotten to yet. Some days, we don’t get to everything, and that’s okay. We’ll just start with that subject the next day so she doesn’t get too far behind. Notice that I didn’t write down specific dates for finishing lessons/chapters. That’s because I don’t just want to cover the material, I want her to actually learn it. So if we go through the book slower, that’s okay. If she catches on quickly, and we go a bit faster, that’s okay too. The key is to have a general plan that is flexible. I hear people say that the problem in public schools is that everything is dumbed down. I disagree. If you ask teachers, they will tell you the problem is that the curriculum is a mile wide and an inch deep. Most state standards ask for teachers to cover too much, meaning they never delve deep enough for students to really master the material long term. Please, please, resist the temptation to simply “cover” a ton of material. Always ask yourself: “Is my child actually learning this? Or did we just finish the book?” Covering fewer subjects a day at greater depth will do far more long term. Doing fewer subjects a day also means we can spend more time on the one subject you really need to do daily: math. If you are trying to cover too much, you’ll speed through math and your child won’t really learn it. Remember when I said you have to be flexible even with a long term plan? Well, you’ll see above that I had planned for Haley to do the last half of Spelling Workout C in the fall and then the first half of Spelling Workout D in the spring. Things did not work out that way. Haley, who is a hands-on, kinesthetic learner, was not doing well with Spelling Workout. After Christmas, I decided to switch to All About Spelling. Because we had to start over from the beginning, and because All About Spelling recommends fifteen to twenty minutes a day, I changed her daily plan. We now do spelling and phonics every day. However, I cut the amount she does in each by half so she doesn’t get overwhelmed. We do half a lesson in spelling and one page instead of two in phonics. Isn’t it exciting that our kids can get such specialized instruction when we homeschool? I hope this post helps you plan long term for your kids in a way that brings freedom and flexibility! Next time, I’ll share how we do the other subjects.  *Disclaimer: Homeschool laws vary country to country and even state to state in the US. All of my posts on record-keeping and planning are based on homeschool law in the state of Georgia, USA. Please be sure of requirements in your own country/state before implementing any record-keeping system.* For years, I struggled in our homeschool with planning our days so we got everything done. I spent most of my time frustrated and riddled with guilt. It would go something like this:
Every time we started a fresh school year, I would try a new schedule. I’d read a new idea on a blog somewhere, hear a great idea at a conference, and I would be so sure that this new plan would work. We would do great with it for maybe a week, and then the above cycle would start all over again. Finally, about two years ago, I had a revelation. What if, instead of planning what we would do, I simply kept a list of what we actually did that day? It seemed almost sacrilegious to this education major and former public school teacher. However, isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results? No matter how I planned our day, we never got everything done. Maybe I needed to change my perspective. I’m telling you, this ONE THING revolutionized our homeschool. I simply printed out a sheet of paper with each kid's name at the top and the days of the week listed beneath. I labeled each sheet with that week's date. As we went through each day, I jotted down what each child did. At the end of each day, I would see a list of things like this: Ian Week - 10/15 Monday: Read aloud a chapter of Encyclopedia Brown; did lesson 12 in his phonics book (alk/awk words); practiced multiplication tables 0s, 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s; did First Language Lessons lesson 185 (prepositions); helped Mommy make lunch; road bikes Seeing all that my child was actually learning was much more productive and helpful than seeing a list of things we didn’t finish. You’ll notice I added “non academic” things (helping make lunch and riding bikes). Look for things in your child’s life that are educational, even if they aren't part of a set curriculum. Don’t get too crazy (sorry, but playing video games doesn’t count!), but if they’ve learned something from it, list it. This will also help you see what you need to spend more time on the next day. Let’s say Ian didn’t have time to practice his multiplication tables. Since math is so important to do consistently, I know to make that a priority the next day.  Overall, though, the beauty of this is having a record of your child’s progress and accomplishments. That is far more important than a great plan that never actually happens.
You may be wondering, “But how do I know what I need to be doing?” I’ll explain a very simple way to keep track of that in my next post, so stay tuned! Every homeschool mom has that story. The story of how she decided to do this homeschooling thing. Most homeschool moms I talk to once thought it was something they would never do. We’re also an extremely eclectic bunch. Since we’re so eclectic, I can make no assumptions about you, my fellow homeschool mom. I can’t assume you are homeschooling because of your religious or moral beliefs, for example. I can’t assume your kids are doing all their work online. I can’t assume you’re in a co-op. The reasons why people homeschool, the way they homeschool, and the community they choose to do it in has never been more varied. We live in a society of influencers eager to give us their advice. For the most part, people eat it up. However, I’ve found myself pausing before I listen to someone. I’ve been let down too many times, you see. I think the problem is we don’t stop and ask, “why should I listen to this person?” Because they have fifteen thousand Instagram followers? Because their YouTube videos went viral? Because they have a blog. I take starting this blog very seriously. As a matter of fact, even though I thought about doing it for years, it’s only now, with almost a decade of homeschooling under my belt, that I feel ready and confident to give any kind of advice. I think “why should I listen to you?” is a valid question, and it’s one I want to answer by telling you my story (briefly, I promise!) I graduated from Asbury University (actually, it was just Asbury College back then) with a BS in English Secondary Education (6th-12th grade) passionate and idealistic about education. It was December when I finished my student teaching and moved back to my hometown. I got hired by a local high school on a Friday and started on a Monday! I was only twenty-two with zero experience, and I was given three different grade levels and about ninety students. Two of the classes had special needs students in them and a special education co-teacher. To say I was tossed into the deep end without a life preserver is an understatement. Fast forward five years, and like the vast majority of public school teachers, I’m burned out and ready to jump ship. It wasn’t just the stress of the job, it was education itself. “There’s got to be more than this,” was my constant thought. By this time, I was married and we were trying to have a baby. I was also thinking, “I want more for my child than this.” During those five years teaching public school, I tried to satisfy that cry within myself by getting certified to teach gifted students. My course work was exciting, and my gifted students were simultaneously a challenge (in a positive way) and a joy. It still wasn’t enough, however. Something was broken at the core of how students were being educated. After much prayer and quite a bit of fear, I took the leap and started looking for a private school job. What most people don’t understand is that private schools in America, contrary to what you see on tv, are not paying their teachers huge salaries. As a matter of fact, teachers take a pay cut to teach at most private schools. They also can’t provide the health insurance the public schools can. Nevertheless, my mental and emotional health was suffering at my current job. Looking back, I think the Lord used this time to prepare me to homeschool my kids. I was offered a job at three different schools. The first taught no differently than my public school and I wondered, "how will this be any different than what I'm already doing?" The other two, however, excited me. One was a Charlotte Mason school. One was a classical school. In applying for the jobs, I was required to read For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley and the essay “The Lost Tools of Learning” by Dorothy Sayers. Reading them changed my life. As a teacher, I had wondered if there was more. I now had the answer - there absolutely was! Yet I also realized it was impossible to give in a large classroom setting. It was somewhat easier to give in the classical school where I taught (yes, that’s where I accepted the job!). I taught sixth grade there for two years. The first year, I had only six students. The second year, I had twelve. My fire for learning was reignited as I watched kids thrive in this environment. While there, I also noticed that most of our curriculum was originally created for homeschoolers. Much of it I fell in love with. Sixth grade was also self-contained in this school (as part of the classical grammar stage), so I taught all subjects except for art, music, and Latin to the same kids all day long. Seeing all of the wonderful curriculum and realizing that “huh, I can teach math and science,” made a lightbulb go off. So I said to my husband, “What do you think about homeschooling?” In a way, the rest was history. After only two years at that fantastic, life-giving classical private school, I left to be a stay at home mom to our new baby boy. Over the years, I would also teach at a homeschool hybrid and private tutor homeschoolers, but the most rewarding teaching I have ever done is to three special students named Luke, Haley, and Ian. Nothing has compared to discovering the world by their sides. Nothing has compared to seeing them struggle to sound out letters, then string together words, then read more difficult chapter books, then finally read higher level books smoothly out loud. Their love for the library fills me with joy. When they finally master a word they’ve struggled to spell or a math concept that just wasn’t clicking, we cheer and high five in a way I never would with anyone else. They are getting an education that can only be achieved one on one. I think about the way God orchestrated my life. I went to college never dreaming I would be a teacher. I entered public school teaching never dreaming I would ever leave it. I took a job at a private school never dreaming I would homeschool. Maybe it sounds selfish to say all of that was leading me here: to be a teacher to my own kids, but it’s what I truly believe. So yes, I have a teaching degree. Yes, I am certified to teach gifted students. Yes, I taught at a classical school. Yes, I have received hours upon hours of teacher training. Yes, I now have almost a decade of experience at this homeschool thing. However, none of that means I’m more qualified to teach your children than you are. Why? Because they are not MY kids. It sounds conceited to say, but I do believe I am the best person to teach MY kids. I know them in a way a teacher never could, no matter how dedicated. It’s the same for you and your children, my friend. However, I do want to share what I know with you. I want to encourage you, from someone who has taught in pretty much every scenario, that you CAN do this. I want to give you tips and tools to help you do it better, with confidence. I want to share my mistakes, so you don’t have to make them! I don’t take doing this blog lightly because I know a little of what you’re feeling, mom. You worry, you wonder if you’re doing enough, you compare your kids to everyone else’s, you make mistakes and think you’ve ruined your kids for life. Guess what? I’ve struggled with all that, too. The last thing you need is some supermom with beautiful Instagram pictures feeding you unrealistic expectations. You won’t find that here. Just me, a mom who has always wanted more for her kids. Just like you. |
AuthorHi, I'm Melanie! I'm a homeschooling mom of three kids ages 16, 13, and 11. I have a BS in English Secondary Education from Asbury University plus 30 hours of gifted certification course work. I've taught in just about every situation you can imagine. Public school, private, homeschool hybrid, and private tutoring. The most important thing I've learned? One on one, individualized instruction can't be beat. Archives
August 2023
Categories |
RSS Feed