Using Read-Alouds as the Spine of Your Homeschool

Imagine a homeschool day with no textbooks, no worksheets, and no busy work. Imagine a homeschool day quietly spent reading aloud to your children, all the while feeling perfectly confident that this was enough. Imagine a homeschool day devoid of disconnected subjects and seemingly impractical lessons but instead filled with quiet conversations and sometimes passionate debate.

Sound impossible?

This, my friends, is a homeschool that is centered on read-alouds.

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Homeschooling, Censorship, and How They’re Connected

We’re living in a world today of mass censorship. Whether it’s blocking dissenting opinions on mainstream social media platforms, removing information that goes against the status quo from websites like Amazon and Etsy, or discriminating against “conspiracy theory” videos on YouTube, one thing is clear:

We, the people, are no longer trusted to do our own research or form our own opinions on anything of importance.

Our Must-Have Notebooking Supply List

I remember a time when I could never get my kids to write without dealing with complaints, insecurity, and tears. Since we began notebooking a couple years ago, I’ve found that not only are my children much more receptive to writing, but they often do it in their spare time, as well – voluntarily.

I’ll admit that if I had just approached notebooking as yet another way to incorporate writing, it would have backfired. The key to our notebooking success has been less about using it as a method and more about using it to provide my kids with choices.

3 Practical Hacks for Homeschooling High School

Over these past ten years, I’ve realized something about homeschooling high school:

It is way too easy to overcomplicate things.

Honestly, though, it’s understandable. It’s a big deal! What if we mess up?? The fear is all too real.

So what do we do to ensure that won’t happen? We overcompensate. We overschedule. And worst of all – we start trying too hard to look like school.

Using Curriculum As Your Tool Rather Than Your Master

Having the right curriculum can either make or break your homeschool. Am I right? Getting sucked into the belief that your homeschool resources of choice must be used as written is one of the most debilitating things that can happen to your homeschool routine.

Don’t do it.

While some homeschoolers feel perfectly at home using life as their curriculum, most of us prefer to at least have something we can fall back on. Unfortunately, it can be far too easy to get so hung up on staying on track, doing every single activity, and covering every single page that the freedom that homeschooling should bring will feel like an unattainable feat.

Introducing “This Week on There’s No Place Like Home”

What do relaxed homeschooling, ADHD, public school, and Konos all have in common?? They were all topics on my YouTube channel, “There’s No Place Like Home,” this week.

Several days ago – before I was hit hard by a serious case of the flu – I came up with the idea of sharing a weekly Friday night post with my readers showcasing the YouTube videos I had published throughout the week. (I sure am saying “week” a lot. Bear with me!)

You see, if there’s one thing I’m not good at, it’s social media. I hate it. The problem with that is that, consequently, I never really seem to follow through with letting my peeps know what I’ve been up to on my channel.

So here’s what I’m going to do: every Friday night, I’ll publish a short post with links to any videos I published that week (there it is again!) plus one link to an older video that you may have missed. If you find yourself looking for weekend homeschool encouragement, advice, or a productive way to veg out, my videos may be just what you’re looking for. 🙂

Konos and Beautiful Feet Books: The Perfect Combination

When it comes to homeschooling, it would be putting it mildly to say that I’m pretty transparent. Take curriculum, for example. When I find a resource that really works for our family, I can barely contain my excitement.

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Very often, that excitement is short-lived. Since our homeschool is constantly evolving, so is our curriculum. However, for us there have been two curriculums we’ve used for years that have been a constant source of inspiration:

Konos and Beautiful Feet Books.

Both of these resources are spectacular standing alone, but used together they create the perfect combination of learning approaches for my children.

Here’s how we do it.

#ExposeChristianSchools, HSLDA, and Russia: I Smell Desperation

Well. Last weekend gave us quite a show, don’t you think?

I very rarely talk politics here on my blog, and I know that some people don’t like when I do, but here’s the thing:

I will not be silent when both Christians and homeschooling are attacked, and that seems to be the “thing to do” recently. For those of you haven’t heard, a far-left website attacked both HSLDA and conservative homeschoolers last week by claiming we are all in cahoots with Russia.

No, I’m not even kidding. Sounds like the plot of a B-rated movie, right?

A New Perspective on Homeschooling

You are your child’s first teacher.

How many times have you heard that adage? The beautiful thing about it is that it’s true, whether you homeschool your children or not.

Unfortunately, I believe this message has been lost in the shuffle of schooling, experts, and degrees. It’s something that, sadly, isn’t reflected on much anymore.

My 10 Most Popular Homeschool and Education Videos from 2018

You know what I love about the New Year? Countdowns. How exciting is it to reflect back on some of the most “happening” things of the previous year?

Last week, I shared my 10 most popular blog posts from 2018. This week I’m going to do something I’ve never done before – share my most popular YouTube videos from 2018. I’m actually really excited because, as I write this, I still don’t know what they are!

That’s right. It’s all a surprise to me, too! So let’s get started!