When God Changes Your Homeschool Plans

/
When God Changes Your Homeschool Plans

The alarm labeled “Its Co-op Day!” goes off at 6:00 am. Thankfully, the coffee pot also automatically starts at 6:00am. I’m not a morning person, so, in all honesty, the next step in my morning routine is hitting the snooze button. Lunches have been packed the night before and the kids are old enough to get themselves breakfast, so as I grab that first cup of coffee I take a moment to sit in the dark, pray over the day ahead, get snuggles from my dog and let my brain wake up a bit. 

Then we hit the day running. Everyone out the door by 7:35am to be on time.

If previously you had told me this would be my norm this year, I would have scoffed. I love sleeping in and cozy mornings reading on the couch with my kids. It’s why I homeschool. The packing of lunches, the hustle to get out the door, the stress over “did you remember this or that” is something I have avoided like the plague. 

Read More

Why Yelling Just Doesn't Work... (Restoring Children with a Gentle Spirit)

/
Why Yelling Just Doesn't Work... (Restoring Children with a Gentle Spirit)

This post was contributed to Life, Abundantly by the talented Amber Palmer. See her full bio below. I hope you’ll be as encouraged and convicted as I was!

The intense yelling coming from the other side of the house floated down the hall to where I was putting laundry away in my room. “Oh, not again, I can’t do this again…” I thought to myself as my children’s yells and cries got louder.  This was the third time within thirty minutes that I was interrupted while trying to put the pile (ok, mountain) of laundry away.  

Anger poured over me and through me and all around me as I marched down the hall toward the sibling fight. Huffing and puffing, mumbling and complaining, I hustled to the fire I was desperate to put out for good.

Marching over to them, I matched their loud screams with, “Why are you always yelling at each other!” I felt pain rip through my throat and a voice come out that I wasn’t even familiar with myself.

Read More

A Peak Inside a Relaxed Preschool + Kindergarten Rhythm

/
A Peak Inside a Relaxed Preschool + Kindergarten Rhythm

This is a guest post written by Kim! I hope you enjoy all of her encouragement and insight as she details a typical homeschool day with her two little ones. Find out more about Kim below.

With two boys, three and five, our days are usually full of a lot of energy, a lot of noise, and a whole lot of crazy. When it comes to our daily homeschooling, I have been slowly introducing a gentle learning environment for both boys since they are both still young.

When I first began to plan our official homeschool “Kindergarten” year, I was already (almost unconsciously) trying to recreate a public school environment. I was already beginning to forget the freedom homeschooling allows in learning. While planning, I was trying to check all the boxes and tick all the subjects. I was trying to figure out how to cram all of this material into one day… for a five year old! 

Read More

The Charlotte Mason Method in a Single Parent Home

/
The Charlotte Mason Method in a Single Parent Home

This article is a guest post by Tia McArthur. You can learn more about Tia and find her online via the information at the end of this post. I hope you’ll find Tia’s words a comfort and encouragement!

As a single mom with a small business that is a full-time ministry, homeschooling looks a lot different in our home than many others.  Finding balance to implement the feast that is a Charlotte Mason (CM) education while also providing our sole source of income is the most rewarding challenge of my life.  Like family dinners, this feast is often messy and loud and one of us often wants to take our favorite dish/book off to a corner somewhere. But this time spent together is weaving a fabric of memories for us both to treasure for a lifetime, just like those family dinners from my childhood.

I would have loved to have met Charlotte Mason.  From her writings, she seems so wise yet approachable. However, I cannot now sit down with her to chat over a cup of coffee, so, instead, I sit down by myself or with like-minded mamas with a cup of coffee and her six volumes.  This nineteenth century educator has completely revolutionized the way I envisioned homeschooling my son, and thusly, both of our lives in the process.  

Read More

When 2 Minutes of Waiting Gets on Your Nerves... {Becoming an Unhurried Wife}

/
When 2 Minutes of Waiting Gets on Your Nerves... {Becoming an Unhurried Wife}

This guest post was contributed by the delightful and talented Carly Wilson. See the bio at the bottom to find more of Carly’s work. We are delighted to have her!

My husband just stands there, doing nothing. I can’t tolerate it! He pours the coffee into the mug, pops it into the microwave, hits start, and then…nothing. He just lounges against the counter while it heats up.

He should be putting the time to good use.

He should be wiping up the counter, putting away the milk, or closing the drawer.

“Don’t you need to do something?” I asked him. “Aren’t you bored just standing there?”

“Not at all,” he answered. “It’s actually kind of nice to do nothing.”

For some reason, this annoys me!

Read More

Dear Mama- Don't Be Scared of the Teen Years

/
Dear Mama- Don't Be Scared of the Teen Years

Like any sane parent, I've dreaded the teen years. Drama, backtalk, rebellion, unrepentant anger, zits, relationships, driving... I have kind of had a low-grade terror about the whole deal.

But now I'm in it. I'm dealing with boyfriends and periods and friend betrayals and acne and anger, and I'm here to tell you: This is the BEST. It does NOT have to be a nightmare.

NOTE: I write this to you with a bit of trembling and timidity because I'm not done yet. I'm not all the way through the teen years and only half my children are there. But I also say what I'm saying with boldness because the word of God confirms it's truth, and I'm witnessing it not only in my own life, but in the lives of friends and their teens as well.

So, I repeat: The teenager years don't have to be a nightmare.

Read More

What I Learned When I Quit Homeschooling

/
What I Learned When I Quit Homeschooling

Just over 3 years ago, I was 4-5 months pregnant with my very welcomed but highly surprising 4th child. At that time, my 3rd was still shy of his FIRST birthday, and I had a daughter going into junior high and one struggling greatly due to dyslexia and dyscalculia.

As a new school year loomed large, I was overwhelmed. As a matter of fact, I was CERTAIN that I could NOT do it. I could NOT successfully homeschool my two girls with any sort of excellence while wrangling a newborn and tiny toddler. I went to the Lord with my great overwhelm. Shockingly, to us and everyone around us, my husband and I felt completely led to put our two girls in the local public school.

Read More

Kindergarten Morning Binder Sample

/
Kindergarten Morning Binder Sample

I’ve been exceedingly shocked by the enthusiasm and reactions from the very-popular Preschool Morning Binder. And of course, as my own little kiddos get older, I knew we would need a slightly more advanced version of this great tool. Beyond that, since Level 2 of The Gentle + Classical Preschool is for ages 4-6 years and is a full Kindergarten program, I knew that most of us would want a morning activity binder perfect for our kiddos who are 5-7 years old.

So what is a Kindergarten Morning Binder?

Read More

Think You Have a Strong-Willed Child? (Maybe not…)

/
Think You Have a Strong-Willed Child? (Maybe not…)

For years and years, I would have called a couple of my children (and myself) "very strong-willed." I'd read book after book about these children who are like little attorneys. Children who must learn everything "the hard way, " and who are so determined and set in their ways that it's an act of war to have them ever obey or submit to authority. 

Defiant.

Hard-headed.

Stubborn.

Big personality.

Strong-willed.

If you have a child who could give a Harvard law grad a run for their money... You aren't alone. I have two such children, and I've been told, I am that person too.

Read More