Everything You Need to Know to Start Homeschooling

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – embarking on a new homeschooling journey can be scary. What can be more intimidating than being in charge of your child’s education when it’s been done by “professionals” for generations?

Well, I’ll tell you what…taking that very first step to begin with.

The fact is, there is so much more to beginning to homeschool than choosing curriculum and praying you get it right. Truth be told, choosing curriculum is actually one of the last things that should happen when getting started. 

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A Must-Follow Reading Plan for Every New Homeschool Parent

I’ve been thinking. If there was one thing I could change about the beginning of our homeschool journey…. okay… strike that. (Because, unfortunately, there’s way more than one thing I’d change.) Okay, let’s rephrase that… one of the things I wish I had done as a new homeschool parent was to take the time to read.

Seems simple enough, right? So simple, in fact, that you may be wondering why I now feel it would have been so important for me then.

I’m going to tell you why. 

Don’t Make This Mistake When Homeschooling High School

Homeschooling high school is a scary thing. Believe me, I get it.  I’m going to cut to the chase today because I need to address someting that I see happening quite often. You see, this very fear is what I honestly believe is at the root of a mistake many homeschooling parents make once their kids reach those last four years of “school.”

It’s a mistake that many people wouldn’t even consider to be a problem in the first place, and therein lies the problem. 

How to Homeschool with Living Books

I love homeschooling. And I love books, so what better than to combine the two?

Now I’m not talking textbooks here – no thank you! As a homeschool mom, it is extremely important to me that my kids are learning in a way that is interesting and engaging, and, unfortunately, textbooks just don’t fit those criteria in my humble opinion. 

5 Common Reading Mistakes Made by Homeschool Moms

I love books. Are you with me? Chances are, if you’re a homeschool mom, books are as much a treasure to you as they are to me. Let’s face it. When a child learns to read, it opens up an entire world of knowledge to them.

Today I’m going to help you not to sabotage that. 🙂

One of the hardest things for us homeschool moms is to realize that you simply don’t have to replicate school in order to give your children a quality education. Unfortunately, that mentality is often all-encompassing and can potentially turn a child’s love for reading into a loathing of reading.

Take it from me. I’ve been there. 

Teaching Your Kids Reading and Math Skills Just Got Easier!

Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong century. As a homeschool mom, I often look around at all of the online possibilities for educating my children – especially for reading and math – and feel intimidated instead of comforted.

Because of this, I’ve always tended to shy away from educational websites…until about 6 months ago. 

Here’s What Every Homeschooling Parent NEEDS to Know

In this day and age, coming across homeschooling advice is as easy as the press of a button.

While tons of useful guidance of all kinds is available, there’s one thing I haven’t seen mentioned thus far. I’m going to tackle it today because I believe it can be vital to the well-being of any homeschool, and it’s something that I don’t think a lot of people give much thought to.

Okay, here goes. 

There’s No Place Like Home: Vlogs and Livestreams

If you’ve been here before, you may be aware that besides my blog, I also have a YouTube channel. 

A few weeks ago, I made the decision to start sharing not only some DITL vlogs, but also to start a weekly livestream. (Thursdays at 10pm ET)

Today I’m going to share with you the links to those videos, just in case you’re interested. 😉

Thanks so much for being a part of my life, and Happy Homeschooling!

Here are my latest vlogs:

 

 

 

And here are my livestreams:

 

 

The Year-Round Schedule That Saved Our Homeschool

Back-to-school time is here for both traditional school students and a good portion of homeschoolers. 

When we first started out on this journey, I thought I was obligated to follow the public school schedule for our district, so that’s exactly what I did. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the best fit for us, and it ultimately contributed to my bout with homeschool burnout in which I gave up and sent my kids back to school for two years.

Worst. decision. ever.

Fortunately, when I came to my senses and pulled my kids back out, I was armed with a new philosopy of homeschooling and a new schedule.

Today I’m going to share that schedule with you. 🙂

 

Homeschooling and education are my passion. It is my fervent hope to one day devote more time to creating content for you. If you’re interested in helping to make this a reality, consider supporting me on Patreon.

Thank you so much. I appreciate each and every one of you!

Discouragement and Isolation in the Name of Education

As someone in the homeschooling community who is very vocal in my criticism of the public education system, there are pretty many comments I hear time and again.

One of these comments is the notion that parents may, indeed, be capable of homeschooling elementary age children, but they just couldn’t possibly be equipped to homeschool high school.

I beg to differ.