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.

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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.

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!

Are You Overcomplicating Your Homeschool?

When it comes to homeschooling, there are many temptations that come with it, both good and bad. Unfortunately, as is often the case, we parents will ignore our God-given instincts about what’s best for our children and, instead, try to stick with the status quo of what school is “supposed” to look like.

Think about it.

How often have you been tempted to take the day off and just do something fun, only to give in to guilt and continue with your homeschool routine as planned?

How many times have you suppressed the urge to just let your kids sit and play together quietly in order to interrupt an intense period of play so that your kids could learn about consonant blends?

And how many times have you gone against your instinct as a parent to keep your homeschool simple, and alternatively jammed as many things as possible into your everyday routine?

If you’re anything like I am, probably quite a bit.

Today I just wanted to talk to you about that last one: the oh-so-common pitfall of becoming obsessed with covering everything, only to find that not only does it not work, but it’s likely to impede a child’s learning as a consequence.

5 Ways Unit Studies Saved Our Homeschool

Once upon a time, I quit homeschooling and sent my kids back to school.

Yes, really.

It’s not something I’m proud of, but I’ve come to realize that that dark experience is what gave me the courage to be as – ahem – outspoken about homeschooling and the public education system as I am.

While there were many things that gave me the courage and confidence to take them back out again after two years to begin our homeschool anew, today I’m going to focus on one thing that has kept us grounded:

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. 

Stop Making This Mistake in Your Homeschool!

When it comes to homeschooling, no family has the perfect method. No matter who it is, it all comes down to trial and error.

Take our family for example – particularly me as the facilitator. I’ve made a lot of  mistakes. As much as I wish many of those mistakes wouldn’t have happened, I have been able to learn so many things I never would have realized had we “done it right” in the first place.

Today I’m going to share with you one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your homeschool, and the reason I can share this with you is because I learned from experience.

That’s the beauty of this lifestyle. You get lots of do-overs.

Enjoy!

 

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!