I grew up in a very budget-conscious household where I learned a lot about wise money management. I’ve tried to pass along that wisdom to my children, as well. However, I never officially studied the vast subject of economics–why prices matter, how free trade benefits the economy, the importance of…
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I have placed very little emphasis on art in our homeschool. Because I’m homeschooling a large family, most of my attention has been focused on the academic essentials–math, reading, and writing–and other required subjects. At the same time, I realize that exposure to creative…
Chemistry. Just the word seems to strike fear in the heart of many students. But what if there were a way to make chemistry less intimidating by introducing basic concepts in a FUN way? Well, there actually is a way to learn basic chemistry concepts without cracking a textbook. And…
I am quite possibly the world’s most artistically-challenged person. (Just thought I’d throw that out there for any other homeschool moms who feel completely inept in the art department. Y’all are not alone.) I can’t imagine where my daughter, Kaylee, gets her love of all things artistic, but I’ve done…
Most of my kids are not really into science activities. They would much rather read a textbook, complete worksheets, or watch science videos. Recently, though, Collin has taken an interest in what I would call creative science activities. (One of his coolest projects was a lamp made from a can…
Why We Love Easy Grammar and Daily Grams When we first began homeschooling more than 11 years ago, I found that one of my children was struggling to grasp even the simplest grammar concepts. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions – recognizing and labeling all the words in a sentence was confusing…
Over the years I’ve discovered that simplification is the key to homeschooling a larger family. One way I streamline things is by teaching only math and phonics in the early grades (K-2). However, it’s vitally important to be introducing history and science to younger learners, even if those subjects aren’t…
Looking back over our years of homeschooling, I can see that I’ve focused almost exclusively on teaching American history during the elementary years. Honestly, the thought of teaching world history–especially ancient history–has felt rather overwhelming to me. The truth is that I’ve always supposed that ancient history would be boring and…
Math is unfortunately one of my kids’ least favorite subjects. I regularly hear one or another of them say, “I’m just not good at math.” Or, “Math is just too hard!” Now that I have two teens who are working through algebra, I also hear the oft-repeated question: “But what…