3 Reasons Why I Don’t Give Grades or Tests in Our Homeschool

Every year at my children’s physicals, the same question inevitably pops up:

How are their grades?

Now, we’ve used the same pediatrician for almost 18 years, and she knows we homeschool, but it’s the same conversation each year. I usually just respond that their grades are fine (because I honestly don’t feel like having an hour long discussion about the futility of grades), while my kids look on in puzzlement because they know darn well there are no report cards handed out in this house. 

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Guess What? Homeschooled Kids Really ARE Weird…and Here’s Why…

As a child, being homeschooled carries with it a certain stigma. Watch your teenager mention to a few new acquaintances that they’re homeschooled and behold their new “friends” start to snicker.

After all, homeschoolers are weird, right?

I’ll admit, I used to get irritated by hearing this stereotype over and over again, but I’ve come to believe that there just may be some truth to it. 

10 Practical Ways to Shorten Your Homeschool Day

Life is hectic. In this age of constant busyness, it just seems to come at you from all different directions every single day.

It’s exhausting. 

Why in the World Is School Considered Normal?

As the summer came to an end last year, I received this in the mail from the cable company: 

10 Ways Teacher’s Manuals Can Sabotage a Simple Homeschool

Homeschool moms can be pretty hard on themselves. I can’t even count how many times in the past few months I’ve interacted with people who are doing their absolute best when it comes to educating their children but feel like they’re failing them miserably.

There are a variety of reasons why they feel this way, but, by far, the biggest culprit seems to be their curriculum. (For more on this subject, watch this video.)

Why? 

10 Homeschooling Strategies to Use with Your Resistant Child

Homeschooling is a beautiful thing. Every morning we wake up looking forward to a new day of learning. Watercolor paintings waiting to dry cover every flat surface in the house. The sun shines gloriously through the windows and the sweet song of birds creates a lovely background melody. I’m smiling, the kids are content, and the schoolwork is finished as peacefully as the kids went to bed the night before. 

7 Reasons I Didn’t Buy Homeschool Curriculum This Year

As a frugal mom of 11 kids- 10 who are actually being homeschooled- I’ve turned my money-saving skills into an art. I mean, really, who actually wants to spend thousands of dollars on curriculum each year if they don’t have to?

Of all the years I’ve been homeschooling, our second year was the year I spent the most money because I was going through the “homeschool has to look like school” phase and bought individual boxed curriculum sets for each kid. 

How to Tell the Difference Between Wants and Needs: A Lesson for Today’s Adults

In this age of neverending consumerism, one question I hear over and over again is how our family of 12 manages to live on one income. I’m going to tell you that it’s not easy, but it isn’t impossible.

I can’t begin to count how many times someone has expressed to me how much they’d love to stay home with their kids to homeschool but simply can’t afford it. I honestly think that most of their concerns are an illusion brought on by a society that highlights possessions over “less glamorous” things, like family. 

A Word to the Wise- You Can’t Have It All

The past few decades, an insidious lie has been repeated over and over again to women in our society- You can have it all!

I don’t know when this falsehood started, or why, but I’m pretty sure it began somewhere in the 1970s when women, en masse, decided to forego homemaking in order to work outside the home.

Don’t worry. This is not going to be a diatribe against working women. I myself have worked outside the home off and on, and, because of that, I know how hard it is. 

Revolutionize Your Homeschool with Notebooking Success!

Imagine a homeschool day where your children beg you to let them start doing their schoolwork as soon as they wake up. Imagine your children happily chatting away as they diligently tackle the day’s assignment with nary a complaint or protest to be heard.

…Now imagine that assignment is a writing assignment.

Does this seem like an impossible scenario? Last year at this time I would’ve agreed with you, but guess what?

That’s been the atmosphere in our homeschool for the past month.