The Been There Done That Homeschool Podcast was created to give back to the secular homeschool community. We are Maria and Nicole and have 5 children between our two families. We have both homeschooled from the very beginning - 30+ years!
This is not a conservative homeschool story. There will be wine, an occasional expletive and we may occasionally go off topic as most moms do. Be prepared to laugh and cry while you walk with us as we tell our stories, share tips and advice for what's worked for us and what hasn't.
So sit back and enjoy!
Whether your kids find math challenging or you simply want to help enhance their math skills, there are plenty of fun math games that will help your children improve their math skills.
Games have been a big part of our family long before we even considered homeschooling. Games are an excellent way to spend quality time together as a family. We talk about all these fun math games in episode 025. How Do You Successfully Teach Math?
“Gameschooling” can be especially powerful when it comes to math! Math is intimidating for many learners. Games help to make the material more accessible. You may be surprised when you find your children falling in love with math! Get TWO Math Freebies: Download your FREE Math Charts (pdf) Download your FREE Multiplication Wheels (pdf)
We only recommend games that we have loved and enjoyed with our own children.
BTDT Homeschool was created with a heartfelt mission: to empower and give back to the secular homeschool community.
In this special episode, we focus on our youngest homeschoolers—elementary-aged children who are learning to read or are budding new readers. We’re exploring beginning chapter books and sharing fantastic read-alouds that your kids will love! If you have a middle schooler, don’t miss our episode on Favorite Books for Middle Schoolers. Plus, you can check out our complete list of the TOP 50 Books for New Readers.
Tune in!
Episode 024:
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In episode 15, We covered how to Teach your child to read– how to know when they are ready, we talked about curricula, and games for learning. If you haven’t listened, you may want to revisit.
As we said in that episode, reading is fundamental and necessary for learning. And instilling a love of reading at an early age is the key that can unlock the door to lifelong learning. It’s the foundation that helps us learn and make sense of the world around us. Reading builds social and emotional skills and ignites imagination. Reading builds self-confidence, independence, and is a critical foundation for developing logic and problem-solving skills.
Once you are past that very initial part of beginning to read, you may wonder where to go next and it can be confusing to see all the options and different terms and technical jargon out there describing various stages of reading. We see terms like Emergent, Early, Transitional, and Fluent, when referring to groups of reading levels. These might be where students may have different reading abilities, writing skills, and sight word proficiency. There is a range of terms to describe readers in the different stages of their literacy journeys.
When we talk about developing and emergent readers, we are really just talking about the same thing. Technically, anyone who reads could be considered a developing reader, as we are all still strengthening our comprehension and writing skills into adulthood. But when we say that in relation to children, these are kiddos that are learning the basics of reading such as decoding, phonics, the alphabet, and sight words that are essential for long-term literacy. They may be making the transition to longer books with more complicated plotlines and they are just overall evolving into a more skilled and confident reader. They probably recognize high-frequency words, both in books and just things you see in daily life- while driving, in the kitchen, on TV. Usually they show a strong desire to read and listen to others read
Sometimes we use the term “Emergent” to emphasize these kids that are developing the foundational skills that will support lifelong literacy, and are truly emerging into a new territory of reading potential.
When we talk about transitional readers, Transitional is that stage right before moving onto chapter books. It’s totally ok to let your child decide when this is. And then also, when we hear the terms Early or Easy readers, this often means the books, not the child. They are books with age appropriate vocabulary and word usage, simple sentence construction, they can be utilitarian but they should also be rich and vibrant, keep your interest, keep the child motivated and able to decode words that are unfamiliar.
Remember how exciting reading was for you and you may rediscover your zest for reading alongside a child- it can be really refreshing for both of you. Because language used to describe reading development can be complicated, we just encourage you to meet your reader where they are at.
When our child first learns to read and they have begun their own unique reading journey, you may ask what kind of books should we be looking for? What books are going to continue to ignite their interest and encourage them to build upon those skills? So again, as you go looking for Early Readers or first step readers, sometimes it’s helpful to go to the library and see how they organize different level books- but remember you don’t have to stick to one level or kind. Some kids do like that or like to track their progress. Some kids may just jump right in to full on chapter books and that’s ok, too.
One of the things we think about as a Charlotte Mason homeschooler is avoiding Twaddle. Twaddle is defined as books with lots of pictures and action but with short snippets of no sentences and little character. They can sometimes talk down to children, or require little effort. It doesn’t help to strengthen a child’s imagination. I always use the example of Winnie the Pooh, the original books by A.A. Milne. They are beautiful and deep stories full of adventure, humor, and lovely language. And they are more than just funny- in fact, I often say to read these aloud to young kids, but also hand them off to older kids, because there are so many silly things in the ways the animals misspell things and use puns that you almost have to see it rather than just hear it. Now Disney Winnie the Pooh, is a whole other story- they are animated, and just really dumbed down. There aren’t puns and deep jokes but surface level funnies and storylines. Much of the very best things about the story aren’t even in those books/shows.
But also, consider that reading preference can come in many flavors and a reluctant reader may require other currency- graphic novels, for instance. Calvin and Hobbes and Far Side were favorites for our kids and their friends.
While looking at lists to make sure we didn’t leave things off. And by the way, we have left a lot off because there’s only so much episode time! We probably could go on and on forever. See the complete List of Top 50 beloved titles for new readers
We created our Top 50 books for new readers. We have enjoyed all of these books in our own homes with our own children. They have been beloved favorites throughout the years, and we really wanted to share all of them with you. This collection of early reading books has colorful illustrations, they have shorter lengths, clear formatting, and they’ve been picked with the readers in mind that are going to be bridging the gap between reading board books jumping into lengthier chapter books.
The one thing that I really love about this list is that we really combined a mix of beloved classics with some newer titles, and I think we did a pretty good job of incorporating diverse voices and characters and things that we enjoyed in our own homeschool. Representation really does matter, and we really want kids to see themselves in the stories that they read so I think that we did a great job on combining that so make sure you check that out on our show notes we will have the entire Top 50 list and we actually wrote a very detailed description for each book so make sure you check that out.
As we’ve both mentioned many times on our podcast, we both love to (and sometimes still) Read aloud to our kids, even though they are high school level now. But as younger kids this was definitely an every day, several times a day occurrence. And when we weren’t reading, we were often listening to audiobooks while we were driving.
Some favorite read-alouds or early chapter books:
Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osbourne– we’ve mentioned these before, too. We both really liked them. These books are sometimes predictable and they are definitely formulaic, but it adds to their charm. These siblings go on lots of adventures and introduce readers to a variety of real historical events and figures. They are a great stepping stone into deep dives on topics and they even have accompanying reference guides if your kids want more after the story. They are about 80 pages long. You can easily read them in a sitting or at least in a day or so.
Ramona series by Beverly Cleary– These were my favorite as a kid and I could not wait to introduce my kids. We went through all 8 of the Ramona series and then the spin-off Henry Huggins series (her sister’s best friend). The author also has a series about Ralph S.Mouse that we loved- a mouse that befriends a boy on vacation.
Geronimo Stilton books are really funny, have impactful illustrations and highlight new words.
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne-also big favorites that we talked about earlier. There are 4 books in the series but really two of them are Winnie the Pooh focused, the others are poetry and story collections.
Some kids don’t really like books with characters that have a lot of sibling rivalry. Not that we don’t deal with that in our homes, but there are books where that is the hallmark of the sibling relationship, and we just didn’t like it because they couldn’t always relate to kids that talked to each other like that. Some kids also don’t like books with constant school settings- especially as homeschoolers. So, one way we found our way around that was to search out older books.
Books by Elizabeth Enright- “Gone Away Lake” and “Return to Gone Away Lake”. The Melendy family series that starts with the “Saturdays.” These are older books that are about siblings or cousins and their adventures.
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Warner– These books are a sweet series of about 160 titles and written by a first grade teacher about 4 orphaned children that create a home in an abandoned boxcar and encounter many adventures and mysteries. There’s other adaptations of these including a version for younger kids even.
Sometimes adaptations are good- maybe read an adaptation of Shakespeare when you need a better understanding of the story. We definitely recommend reading both though, so you don’t miss out on the language, but start with that so you don’t get caught up in figuring out what is going on. Some things I think lose the beauty of the language when you read an adaptation and some risk that dumbing down and twaddle we are trying to avoid.
“Swallows and Amazons” by Arthur Ransom- another older book about siblings or cousins that spend the summer camping out on an island across from their summer house and have a lot of adventures.
Modern day versions of these kinds of stories would be “The Penderwicks.” Another sweet family that has their moments of rivalry or jerkiness but are otherwise loving and supportive.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin– this is a fantasy adventure novel inspired by Chinese folklore. This particular book is about a girl from a poor village seeking good fortune for her people. There is a sequel, but I haven;t read it. It’s a beautiful story.
Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-el (series). Kind of Winnie the Pooh-ish and inquisitive bear befriends an array of animals. This is also a series.
We really could go on and on all day about our favorite books. We will continue sharing our favorites in a middle school favorite books episode coming in the near future.
Finding the right book is essential to ignite young readers’ passion for literature and set them up for a lifelong love of reading. We want to guide them successfully as they make the leap into their first chapter books. On this book list, we have selected a collection of short, illustrated books that were family favorites and are perfect for children beginning independent reading.
This collection of early reader books – featuring colorful illustrations, shorter lengths, and clear formatting – has been carefully chosen to bridge the gap between board books and longer chapter books.
Some of these titles might be too advanced for your new reader. Reading skill development varies from child to child. For those titles, we encourage you to read them to your child. Reading rich stories to your children enriches their vocabulary and instills a lifelong love of literature. We have enjoyed all of these stories with our own children. Feel free to share reading time by alternating pages or have them read one page per chapter. Whatever works for you! If they are resistant, they may not be ready and just want to cuddle up and enjoy the story, which is perfectly okay too! If you are struggling with a new reader or are new to teaching your child to read, be sure to check out Episode 015. How Do You Teach Your Child To Read? for tips and tricks to set your child up for success!
Click each title below to read reviews or add to your wish list:
We love elephant and piggie. So funny! Lots of laughs for new readers, few difficult words, fun to read, and not so long that kids get burnt out from effort when starting to read.
This is an awesome book for young readers. It is masterful at showing relationships that can be very abstract to little ones—in and out, up and down, over and under. The car goes on green and stops on red. Dogs play and dogs work. “It’s a dog party!
Our family loves outdoors and camping! This book helps illustrate the concept of opposites and is great for children learning to read as well as toddlers that enjoy being read to. The word choices draw in their attention and gets them to rhyming and learning sounds and colors. Teach your child about sharing in camping and outdoor activities. An absolute favorite in our house!
“Like the sun, I am here to shine”. This is such a beautiful book – from the beautiful black princess on the cover, to all the beautiful and colorful pictures inside. Grace Byers did an awesome job telling a story of being proud of who you are, respectful of others, and loving others as they are, and acceptance. Your budding reader will love the illustrations too!
Another adorable Fred and Ted book for new readers. I got this for my kids right before their first time to travel on an airplane. It was really cute, and we read it over and over again getting them ready for their big trip in the sky!
Fantastically detailed drawings & answers to many a child’s questions to how the world works. From building roads & houses, how trains and planes and the postal service works, electricity, paper-making, farming, and baking bread. It does have stereotyped gender roles, but it ignited conversations with my children about that topic. These are teaching moments!
Shel Silverstein is one of those rare and gifted children’s book authors who truly understands the odd, amazing and ever-so-fleeting world that children inhabit. His writing speaks directly to children with incredible wit, hilarity, wisdom and absurdity. You can’t go wrong with any of Silverstein’s books -his poems are so funny and entertaining for the entire family!
This series is absolutely delightful! These stories are full of adventures with Jack and Annie, two siblings and likeable characters that kids can relate to. These books really ignited my children’s love of literature. They are also fun to read aloud with lots of description and dialogue. These are wonderful stories with real facts and bits of history woven into each one. Your children will learn about of all the places they visit and you can even get the non-fiction companion books to read more on each topic and make it a unit study. Mary Pope Osborne does a phenomenal job at keeping every book educational and yet magical!
Fun read and keeps their attention and gets their thinkers thinking! This was a favorite in our house and always made us laugh. Who can forget the funny, “And you don’t have to stop. You can think about SCHLOPP. Schlopp. Schlopp. Beautiful schlopp. Beautiful schlopp with a cherry on top.”
This is a classic heartwarming tale of finding your place, being broken and getting fixed, finding love and comfort. The story is adorable and filled with a little mystery and a very happy ending. The illustrations look vintage and beautiful which definitely add to the reading experience. Everyone in your family will fall in love with this sweet little bear!
Wonderful story of a little boy who wakes up on a snow day and makes his first encounters with the snow, by creating different traces on the ground and keeping a snowball in his pocket to play with the next day.
This is such a precious book! Full of adventure, humor, and lovely language. Not only is the story classic and wonderful, but this particular copy is also wonderful as a reprint first edition – just adorable. Winnie the Pooh is such a great classic piece of child-like innocence and sweet humor in literature. It isn’t just for young children to enjoy!
Excellent stories with simple but powerful life lessons. Frog and Toad books are simple, gentle stories with just enough everyday mayhem to make kids laugh. Everyone will fall in love with these two silly characters. You cannot beat the simplistic friendship of Frog and Toad!
My children and I absolutely love this book! It’s fun and sends a powerful message to children about trusting your heart and not letting fear get in the way of doing things you know in your heart you can do. The imagery is cute, the wording and length makes for perfect book for a new reader. We hope you and your family love Buzzy as much as we did!
All Sandra Boynton books are so silly, cute and fun to read. These books aren’t just for babies, new readers will love to read them on their own. They are clever and adorably illustrated. Follow along as this shy hippo observes spirited animals cavort in a bog, try on new hats, and go for a jog, all while longing to join in the fun.
This beautiful pictorial book is based on a Ukrainian folktale. It is a wondrous winter tale, and the story with delights your young reader. The text is written with almost a poetic cadence with lovely sounding words and the illustrations are so sweet. The story tickles the imaginations and offers a grand platform for talking about animals who might or might not fit into a mitten. My kids love to read this story during the cold winter days!
This is a very sweet story about the power of imagination and childhood. The children in this story find endless uses for what most people would call trash – and the story is told in such a way as to excite children to use their imaginations with the things they find lying around. I loved watching my kids mimicking the story while playing outside with their friends!
It’s a great story good for lots of laughs! Even though this is a story about going to school, we really enjoyed it in our homeschool. Teaches a great lesson but the main character Lilly maintains her strong personality throughout the highs and the lows. Lilly receives a purple plastic purse containing her many treasures from her grandmother and brings it to school to share with her teacher and her friends. It’s really adorable!
Chrysanthemum is a sweet and unforgettable story about mouse with, according to her parents, an absolutely perfect name. When she starts school however, she is teased about her long name. This book teaches kids about kindness and embracing everyone’s unique differences. Another one that the character goes to school but we still adored this book in our homeschool.
Little Bear’s adventures with his various family members and friends are great fun and teach important lessons without being preachy. The stories are simple, easy to understand, and creatively illustrated. We have loved every single Little Bear book and your young reader will too!
I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love Henry and Mudge. Henry is a sweet kid from a nice family, and he has the kinds of interests and adventures you hope any kid might have. Mudge is his adorable 180lb English Mastiff dog. They do everything together – walking to school, exploring, and even sleeping.
These books are so cute! Cynthia Rylant is a genius with these “easy reader” books—the words are relatively simple and few, but she weaves them in such a way that you are still completely drawn into the story. The accompanying illustrations are so charming, sweet and humorous–a perfect match to the text! Mr. Putter and Tabby the cat have great adventures together that will make you fall in love with them.
Geronimo, the mouse and newspaper reporter will have you giggling alongside your child. The Geronimo Stilton Series have fun illustrations, and the added graphic kick applied to the text throughout makes this a good choice for those transitioning from early chapter books to more advanced ones. The entire book series is full of tongue-in-cheek cheese humor with all the mouse and cheese puns!
Every week, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don’t own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn’t he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty—and fun—in their routine and the world around them. It finds beauty in unexpected places, explores the difference between what’s fleeting and what lasts, acknowledges inequality, and testifies to the love shared a little boy and his grandmother.
These are adorable simple first chapter books with dialogue and a few sentences per page. The gorgeous illustrations bring this series to life and add to the storyline. They are so sweet with simple enough dialogue for a budding reader. Your child will fall in love with these kind characters and be so proud for reading a real chapter book!
A childhood classic that is fun to read and lets children know that not every day is going to be a perfect day. This is an excellent book that can be used as a springboard for discussions. This is a great book. Alexander definitely is NOT having a good day. It helps kids learn to laugh at misfortune, to know they’re not alone in feeling misunderstood and unfairly treated sometimes, and that running away from their problems to magical far-off places probably won’t solve anything, and sometimes you just have to get through the bad stuff and hope tomorrow will be better. It’s a cute, funny book!
This creative series follows Flat Stanley — a boy who was flattened when his bulletin board fell on him. In the set of four books, children will learn more about Stanley and read about his adventures with becoming invisible, catching bank robbers, traveling to space, and more.
Narwhal and Jelly books introduce children to the fun and friendly characters as they go through various adventures under the sea. The books are laid out like a simple graphic novel, with multiple images and text boxes on each page. Your kids will be laughing at this one!
Diary of the Pug series follows Bub, formally known as Baron von Bubbles. The chapters were short, making it a good book for that in-between stage of being too old for picture books but not ready to read most chapter books alone yet. I love it because it is funny and also recommended for dog lovers!
Drake, an 8-year-old boy is taken from his home and trained to be a Dragon Master. During his training, he must learn about training his dragon and discovering his special powers! The chapters are a manageable size and there isn’t too much text on each page so isn’t too intimidating for children who haven’t read a chapter book before. The story manages to be really engaging without using vocabulary that is beyond a 5-year old’s understanding. Let the adventure begin!
Join the world’s greatest detective, Nate the Great, as he solves the mystery of the lost picture! Perfect for beginning readers and the Common Core, this long-running chapter book series will encourage children to problem-solve with Nate, using logical thinking to solve mysteries! This is the first in this wonderful series.
I grew up reading these books – everyone loves the Berenstain Bears! In this treasure, your children can learn more about various scientific concepts. The collection includes an almanac, nature guide, story about the science fair, and more. It’s a great introduction to many science topics with a lot of good pictures.
In retelling her migration story, the Yuyi Morales celebrates the gifts immigrants bring to America and the wonder of public libraries. It’s a story to remind us that we are all dreamers, bringing our own strengths wherever we roam. Such a beautiful book and a great conversation starter for children.
This is a beautiful book and story. Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school. Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything. A welcome celebration of girls of color, an important lesson for all kids (and grownups), and a necessary message for any child who has been made to feel unworthy of love on account of their looks. It’s so heart felt and perfect for any new reader but especially those who can truly relate to the story.
The appeal of Beverly Cleary’s stories about the wonderful, blunderful Ramona Quimby has never faded. Ramona has a unique way of looking at the world as she tries to adjust to new teachers, feels jealous about Susan’s curls, and is secretly pleased by Yard Ape’s teasing. These books are funny and heartwarming, and sometimes embarrassing. No matter what, Ramona’s lively, curious spirit shines through!
With her new backpack and light-up shoes, Faizah knows the first day of school is going to be special. It’s the start of a brand-new year and, best of all, it’s her older sister Asiya’s first day of hijab–a hijab of beautiful blue fabric, like the ocean waving to the sky. But not everyone sees hijab as beautiful, and in the face of hurtful, confusing words, Faizah will find new ways to be strong. This is an inspiring story about identity, visibility, and confidence. This book warmed our hearts!
Little ones who love Milne’s classic stories will be enchanted by this heartening account of the bear’s real-life origins. The story is full of wonderful Lighthouse facts as discussed briefly in the informative afterward. This book inspired me and my children to learn more about the history of lighthouses.
This is a heartwarming series about four siblings that are orphaned but looking for their grandfather. They are always loving and caring for each other and have a lot of adventures. They are perfect for children who are just beginning to show interest in reading chapter books, or for younger children who are being read toThere are a few topics within the books that may be culturally outdated, but that is a great opportunity to discuss these things with your kids. They are a very simple read but have more of a story than a typical level 1 or 2 books. My 6-year-old loved that he could read these almost independently!
We love this series with the four children discovering the magic in the various places they find themselves, and then figuring out how to use it as they face various challenges. Fun and imaginative. A laugh a loud funny story that we all loved. The chapters are a bit long so it may be a good book to share reading with your young new reader.
It’s a wonderful story about a little brown Mouse taking a walk through a deep dark wood and not getting eaten by bigger animals by convincing them of the existence of a terrible creature, the Gruffalo. All is going well for our Mouse, until he meets the Gruffalo face to face! Then he has to convince the Gruffalo that he’s actually a big scary creature. We love this book because of the repetitive rhyming scheme and it’s easy to jump in words at the end of sentences for even your youngest pre-readers.
Great illustrations and a funny take on the somewhat familiar story of an animal or animals who for some reason do not make the sounds they are supposed to make. So cleverly comical. A genuinely funny story that will have everyone if your family laughing out loud!
The fun book series about 2 girls that are best friends and appeals to curious, adventurous, and imaginative spirits. This is not like other “girl-oriented” chapter books that focus on fairy bunnies, or the mystery of the disappearing dolls, or other really girly plotlines. Short chapters with simple illustrations. Let the adventure begin!
The Magic School Bus books are filled with fun science facts inserted throughout the fictional stories. The details are great for kids that love science. Miss Frizz takes her class on a lot of adventures on the Magic School Bus. They are loaded with facts and information worked into an entertaining format. They often let to us learning more about the topic in each book. Every homeschooler needs these for budding scientists!
This is the #1 book that we have loved and adored in our home. It was the first book that my preschooler read to the baby after he was born and unfortunately it is out of print. You can find used copies by clicking the picture. Having two children that were really into science, the toy magic rocket that grows and grows taking Felix on an adventure when his dog is captured by aliens is a fun adventure book that your new reader will love as much as we did!
We laughed through all of Amelia’s taking life literally. She is an endearing character and creates love and laughter everywhere she goes. They are perfect books for beginner readers. You may start to hear chuckling from the other room when your child gets a hold of these books!
The book has a rich storyline, and an uncle instructs her that it is important to do something to make the world a better place. She sows lupine seeds as she walks and her flowers dot the countryside. We need more stories about sweet, older people like Miss Rumphius. We love books that have a deeper meaning and something can be learned from them along side a beautiful (and true) story with lovely illustrations.
The stories are simple but have developed and likable characters doing fun things together. The illustrations help tell the story and have their own humor. This Collector’s Set is a wonderful addition to your homeschool library! It comes in a sturdy, magnetic securing, container to help keep the collection together and organized! We all love this collection!
t is a wonderful charming little tale that is quirky and fun. Strega Nona has a magic pot that makes pasta. It starts with the magic words only she knows and it stops making pasta when she says the ending magic words. A favorite line is, “The pasta will cover our town!” Tomie DePaolo has the warmest and most charming illustrations to accompany this wonderful story. We highly recommend this book!
Jack Prelutsky is one of the best children’s poets out there. Teach your child in the joys of reading poetry. This poetry collection centers around problems children encounter, with a twist. Prelutsky writes amusing poems that still acknowledges how these issues can really affect kids’ lives. The poems vary in length and vocabulary, so your new reader will love to find the ones at their level!
How do you keep all those homeschool records organized without it becoming a headache? Curious about how to write a transcript that truly showcases your child’s achievements? And what exactly is a Counselor Letter and a School Report—do you really need them? Tune in this week as we discuss these topics and more, offering down-to-earth advice and helpful tips to make the process smoother and less stressful!
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Homeschooling high schoolers isn’t necessarily any harder than homeschooling younger grades, in fact, some think it is even easier because you become more of an administrator or facilitator than a teacher. Homeschool record keeping is part of the job of being a homeschool parent but keeping track of those records doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
As a homeschool parent of a high schooler, in addition to often being the teachers, you wear many additional hats:
Secretary: Provide documentation Record keeping, registration and administration.
Researcher: Help student identify and evaluate colleges Find sources of information for student (e.g. scholarship search, test options)
Project Manager: Understand the process Provide scheduling guidance Transportation
Academic Counseling: Help student with course selection, schedule modifications Credit acquisition Help student tailor academics and activities to goals
This is all part of that awesome benefit to homeschooling, where we get to handcraft a custom educational experience for our child. It does not need to feel overwhelming or hard with a little bit of organization and help.
We’d like to again thank Mary, Shari, and some of our other homeschool friends who have helped us along the way and specifically to craft some of the documents we are going to be talking about today.
Document and Records Guide
To go along with this episode, this 24-page High School Document and Records Guide will walk you through everything you need for homeschool high school recordkeeping.
This guide will walk you through step-by-step as you begin to create your own documents and records. It includes Checklists and Easy to Understand Examples for everything! You will be guided through all your responsibilities as your student’s guidance counselor:
Creating your homeschool portfolio
Writing the transcript
Writing the resume
Creating your school profile
Writing your counselor letter
Creating course descriptions
Ensuring great letters of recommendation
Save yourself all the confusion and set your student up for success with the confidence this guide will bring you. You will learn how to create and keep track of all your documents and records while homeschooling high school.
The most important thing to consider when we talk about record keeping in homeschooling are your state requirements. We are in Texas, where we do not have any kind of record keeping requirements and so up until high school, we generally don’t do a whole lot with that. I keep a single envelope per child per year that may have some examples of work or artwork, ticket stubs, programs, mementos from field trips, and a single sheet with what classes they took, places we visited, shows we saw. It’s really more of a memory thing for us, rather than something representative of our schooling.
I tend to be a little bit more rigid on recordkeeping. I keep an actual portfolio -some states actually require this, but not here in Texas. My student’s portfolio is a three-ring binder detailing academic years with course information and materials, resumes, first day pictures and questionnaires, year and review, extracurricular, clubs, volunteer hours, awards, field trips, etc. I really keep all of our projects, samples of schoolwork completed elsewhere in a bin in the garage that I add to every year. Typically, at the end of the year, I will purge a majority of it and keep my favorites. Look up your state’s homeschooling laws and requirements
How do you keep homeschool records? (7:43)
Staying on top of homeschool organization is a good idea and will make your life as a homeschool parent so much easier and efficient. So, even if you have younger students, I encourage you to start making a habit of recordkeeping-even informally. Just a synopsis of what your child has done through the year on a one- or two-page document is sufficient in those younger years. Making recordkeeping a part of your homeschool routine and keeping up with it regularly will ease the burden when you need documentation for graduation, college admissions, and more.
If your student is college bound, there are 5 things that top colleges are looking for:
Intellectual Curiosity
Initiative
Leadership
Social Consciousness
Commitment
You can showcase these qualities by taking classes with increasing rigor, participating in extra-curricular and community service activities, showing consistency & depth in extracurriculars, and developing leadership skills. We will have another high school series episode where we focus on extracurriculars and community service in this series.
Meanwhile, there are 4-5 documents you will want to keep that you will need for college admissions that will help you illustrate these qualities. A transcript, a resume, a school profile, and counselor letter.
In addition, some colleges are also going to want to see course descriptions. It’s up to you if you want to prepare these. Frankly, they are a lot of work and not every school is going to want to see them. If you have mostly homeschooled at home, or used non-traditional sources, you may be asked for more information to back up your transcript.
Resume
A resume is a one-page document that provides an overview of your experience, skills, and other relevant information. A strong high school résumé gives potential employers and colleges a quick, but detailed and accurate snapshot of who you are and why they should be interested in getting to know you better. The primary goal of a resume is to sell your abilities to a hiring manager, making a resume is your first step toward finding a job. Colleges often want to see a resume, as well, and these can be uploaded in the Common App or whatever application program you use. They are a great place to showcase your child’s accomplishments or special skills that aren’t necessarily educational or class type things.
Writing a resume is fairly easy, there are many templates out there to help as well as blogs and articles to guide you. The basic items you want to include on your resume are:
Name and contact info, phone number, email
Summary
1-3 sentences emphasizing the experiences and accomplishments that best define you. If you are looking for a job, you might want something job specific in there, but keep that pretty broad for college applications. And often, when looking for a job, specific job details will be in your cover letter anyway.
Experience
For high school students, you probably aren’t going to have a long job history or even any at all. But you can emphasize the skills and knowledge you’ve developed in your studies, internships, community service, or part-time work. So it’s fine to include volunteering, babysitting, dog walking, tutoring, odd jobs, summer jobs, temporary jobs, and internships if you don’t have much in the way of real work history yet.
Education
This is where you can put the name of your homeschool if you have one, any dual credit information, etc. You can also add your expected graduation date here. Not all states require you to name your homeschool. We have a name we picked out when we did have to have one, and it looks good on paper- probably most people guess it’s a swanky private school.
Accomplishments
For the jobs or skills you listed in the experience section, you will want to clarify the responsibilities you had, the tasks that you successfully completed, and the outcomes with bullet points. Be specific but brief. We suggest using lots of action words such as: assisted, built, created, designed, drafted, installed, maintained, presented, programmed, repaired, served, and so on.
Skills
Here is where you can include any other pertinent information and accomplishments from home, school, or community, test scores, relevant coursework, non-credit courses taken, academic honors, special projects, leadership roles, extracurricular activities, hobbies, clubs, athletics, scouting, community service awards, scholarships, certificates. This is where things like specific computer programming expertise can go- fluent in Word, Excel, typing, etc. Are you CPR or First Aid certified? Maybe your student has Lifeguard or Babysitting certifications? Proficiency in a musical instrument.
We later also use this resume for work or as a base for creating a future job resume, so it is a great thing to start early and then revise as you go.
Course descriptions are details about individual courses and may be required or accepted by colleges. You may want to check the admissions website or with the admissions counselor to see if these are necessary.
There are 5 parts of a quality course description. You are going to want to format it in a way that’s clear and easy to read.
1. Header: Your header should include the course name, instructor and/or course provider, semester/year class was taken, # of credits, grade received, and your texts and resources.
2. Description: Next you will want a good course description that will describe the class. What is the purpose, the content, the experience.
3. Methods of Evaluation: Here, you will explain how the student was graded. Discussion, quizzes, tests, assignments, essays are some commonly used methods of evaluation. Many homeschoolers use a mastery approach, and this is where you can list that, as well.
4. Materials Used: List the main resources used in the class. This can be textbooks, plays, essays, online resources, newspapers, journals, lab materials. Some people include book lists for the year.
5. Test Scores: If your homeschooler took Subject Tests or AP exams following this class, you can add them here, too.
If you are struggling writing these descriptions, keep in mind that you do not need to recreate the wheel. You copy and paste directly from the course catalog or website for community college or online courses. Textbooks often have a summary listed on the publisher’s website. If you used a tutor or other private class, you can ask the instructor if they have a course description or if they can write one for you. Also, if you have designed your own course, you may want to look for similar courses online and just use description as a guide while writing your own, or you may have already had it written out when you crafted the course.
Lastly, if you have a student that is an artist or designer or maybe an actor or dancer, you will have different requirements. We do have some friends who have walked this path and plan to have some guests on our show at some point that can talk about their students’ experiences in applying to specialty programs and we can hear about the audition or other admission processes they have been through. In some cases, students may need to build an artist’s portfolio in addition to or instead of traditional application materials.
How do you write a transcript? (19:06)
What is a transcript?
Your transcript is a document that ensures that base admissions requirements are met, determines the student’s readiness to work at a college level, and showcases course load and rigor. Every school that your child attended in high school will provide a transcript for college admission. For us, that meant we sent one both from the community college and from our homeschool. Some students may have another from a public or private school that needs to be sent in.
Your transcript should be a single page. It should obviously be accurate. You want it to be easy to read and easy to skim. And you want it to be professional and attractive. I prettied mine up by printing on parchment and I ordered gold stickers with my school’s crest on it. You don’t have to go all extra like that, but you can!
We see this question a lot- a college wants an official high school transcript and people freak out. You know what makes it official? Simply typing the words “Official High School transcript” across the top. Later, when you send the last one after graduation, you will add the word Final. The top line of the document should make it clear.
So your transcript should have these basics:
At the top- Student Information
• Name
• Contact Information- your student’s, not yours. We include address, email, and a phone number.
• Birth Date
• Other (sometimes optional) a SSN or xxx-xxx-last 4 digits. They will be using this number a lot once admitted- now is the time to learn it!
There may be multiple students applying with the same name as your student, so you definitely want to have them identified as well as possible.
Graduation information
• Date of Graduation (actual or anticipated) and a start date (optional). If you did something creative, like count 8th grade coursework, or have a super senior year, you may want to leave the start date off. Again, it is up to you.
School information
• Name of School- not all states require this so you may not have one or maybe you are making one up now. Some people get creative with this, other people use their last name or street name in the title.
• Contact Information- this is where your parent info goes- I just put my name and email.
You are going to list both full and partial credit courses.
You will want to include courses taken elsewhere (dual credit, other schools)
Courses taken before 9th grade.
Courses that are honors or AP
You can designate these as separate from your homeschool courses done at home with an asterisk or other indication.
You will want a key and legend on your transcript that clarifies that information.
Also, you can put classes on your transcript that your student is currently taking or will take next semester (this is important for seniors applying in the fall for the following school year). We just put IP (for in progress) on the transcript without a grade.
Credits and GPA
You want a spot on your transcript to show the number of total credits completed and your GPA. When it comes to Grade Point Average (GPA) there are several options for this. You just want to choose something that is simple and easy to understand and that is consistent. You want to list a cumulative GPA calculated for all completed courses.
And you can choose Weighted, unweighted or both. Grade-weighting is the process of increasing grades from more challenging courses when calculating the student’s GPA. Grade-weighting rewards students who take challenging courses. For example, common weighting is honors = +.5, college level (AP or DE) = +1 point. Again, just make sure weighting clearly marked.
1. Multiply each grade by the number of credits awarded to get the grade points.
2. Add all the grade points.
3. Divide the total grade points by the total number of credits.
In your key, where you may put clarifying information and a legend, you can indicate where courses were taken, your grading scale and your weighting formula.
Test Scores
You may also want to include test scores. PSAT, SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests, AP, some people do CLT.
Signature
Lastly, you want a spot for your signature and report date.
If your students won any awards or notable activities, you may want to include these on the transcript. Some people are adamant about these being showcased on the resume or other part of the application, I have mine on the back of our transcript. This may include prestigious awards, volunteer work, leadership or specialized training or Internships.
Which leads us into what format of transcript should you use?
This is very personal, and you have a lot of options here. There are so many transcript templates out there. Look around at several. Some people like to list by year/term. This is the most familiar to admissions teams. It is easily organized and showcases increasing rigor from year to year.
Some people like to list by subject. This can be an easy way to de-emphasize unusual timings (gaps, fewer/extra years) high school classes taken before grade. We use it because my kids took many shortened semester classes and it looks weird to have several in one year. Super senior years. This can also showcase passion/focus.
What is a School Report? (31:04)
A school report or school profile is a document that provides information about a school within the context of its students and its community. It gives an overview of the academics and opportunities offered. College admissions officers are typically familiar with the schools in their assigned region. They usually already know the quality of academics and the quality of the students who graduate from that school. As a homeschooler, you need to provide that context by providing evidence that your homeschool is also a quality one – rooted in strong academics and unique learning opportunities.
The school report/profile is about your homeschool, not your homeschooler. Up until this, all of the varying documents have highlighted your student. Obviously, there will be some overlap, but this is the place where you can really highlight your academics and your academic choices and homeschool philosophy. The school report/profile is not a part of the transcript, but can add or provide context. Not all schools will request or allow a school report, but some will, and this will come in handy especially if you are using a general admissions website, like the Common App.
Here are some items you want to cover in your Homeschool School Profile/report, aside from your school name and contact information.
The history of your school. You’ll want a brief overview of when your homeschool was created and maybe why, and maybe how it has benefitted your students. Again, talk in general, not specifics. Even if your homeschool will only ever have one student, talk as if there could be many.
Describe the philosophy of your homeschool. Is it interest-driven, rigorous, student-led, self-designed, classical or other popular methodology, project-based? I used this section to explain a little bit about Charlotte Mason philosophy and mastery approach. We don’t do a lot of testing, so I explained why here.
Describe your curriculum and choices. Why did you choose dual credit over AP courses? Did you opt to focus on a particular path or interest? I also use this section to talk about educational partnerships we may have had- local community college, brick and mortar homeschool school, university model program, etc. You may want to include a brief description and bio of each provider.
Describe how grading, weighting, and assessments are done in your homeschool. How do you assign credits? Determine weight?
Graduation Requirements. Here you may list your state’s graduation requirements or talk about your specific grad requirements if you are in a state that leaves that to you.
What is a counselor letter?
The counselor letter is basically a letter of recommendation submitted to colleges on behalf of an applicant and this would typically come from a school’s guidance counselor. Since you are technically the guidance counselor, you’re responsible for writing the recommendation. In a traditional school environment, this letter would usually be evaluating a student compared with other students in that specific school community. Since homeschoolers obviously cannot be compared in this way, we really cannot do this. We still want to demonstrate that they took rigorous classes, had impacts on the community, were leaders socially and in their extracurriculars.
You will have to find a balance here between proud mom and teacher while still presenting in a professional manner. You do not want to sound like a gushy mom, but you do want to share the great qualities and achievements that you know your homeschooler has. I personally thought this was the hardest thing we had to do for the process. Everything else has a template out there or you can ask friends for examples. But this is such a personal and specific document, you really cannot do that with this.
So in writing your letter, you want to think about your application process as a whole and think about what your application does NOT say. All in all, your transcript, resume, application (essay questions) and counselor letter should say everything you want them to know about your student. Think about- Is there anything missing academically? If you feel that the transcript doesn’t show the academic rigor of higher level classes, Ap or Dual Credit grades and test scores, provide other evidence of intellectual curiosity and examples of independent projects. If you have other credentials or experience in teaching, explain this in detail. Discuss your child’s development.
You may want to detail more about your homeschool and philosophy again and perhaps explain how this shaped your student or was shaped by your student. Talk about what motivates and excites your student, how they show initiative, how they have taken advantage of homeschooling and the schedule and flexibility it has provided them. You’ll also want to talk about extracurriculars and socializing. While the number of homeschoolers continues to grow and universities are becoming increasingly accommodating,there are still stigmas or negative stereotypes that go along with homeschooling.Take this opportunity to discuss their social strengths within the context of groups, leadership roles, and other activities in the community.
Colleges really want to know WHO their applicants are. What kind of person are they and what will they be at college and in the future. Universities are specifically looking for students that are going to add to an already rich school culture. Why would your student be a great fit?
You can reveal your teen’s positive qualities through anecdotes and examples- don’t go overboard! You can also quote someone else or even the student to support their character and values. Be sure to back those quotes up with specific examples.The most important thing to remember is that this letter is about the student.This should not be a list of accomplishments or a resume- you already supplied that context elsewhere. And while there may be slight overlap with your school report/profile, this is really just the story of your student.
Things that should be in The Homeschool Counselor Letter:
Greeting to the selection committee with words that you are writing this letter on behalf of “student name.”
Examples, stories, or anecdotes about your students’ positive traits or values. Information about your homeschool journey or philosophies, quotes from your homeschooler or other leaders familiar with your student (this could be someone else who has written a recommendation for them)
Make sure to include Common App or Application ID#, Counselor Signature, and Counselor Title.
This letter can be difficult to write. It is insanely personal, and it can be a powerful and moving experience writing it. Prepare to feel all the emotions as you think back on their childhood and homeschool experience. Definitely allow yourself to congratulate yourself on navigating an unconventional education path and your part in creating this special being. This really is an incredible honor to get to present and truly recommend your student in this manner. Celebrate your child and what you have both accomplished together!
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What are the benefits of outdoor nature time? How do you get your family to spend more time outside? How do you incorporate nature study into your homeschool?
Tune in this week while we discuss these topics and more!
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I am a certified Master Naturalist and a hiking group leader and I have been bringing groups of kids into the woods for about 14 years. I really wasn’t always like this though! Forging a love of nature is something I have grown into and it really started after becoming a mother and seeing how excited my kids were to explore the outdoors. I remember very specifically standing on the edge of the woods, looking down a trail with my kids and my son saying- can we see where this goes? And though I was hesitant, I said yes! And this started us on a path (literally) of chasing down all the trails we could.
Maria and Nicole on a camping trip with our families
Like you, Nicole, I’ve always loved nature and being outdoors. Up until the age of 9, my family lived near a lake in rural Michigan. I’m the youngest of 4 and one of those classic GEN Xers that spent all day outside, drinking from the water hose. My mom would tell us to come back in at dinner time. Outside, we would explore the woods and eat wild blackberries. It was quite the life! My parents were immigrants from Cuba and had four children by the age of 25. We had no extended family in the area, so it was just the six of us and money was really tight. The only vacations we could afford were camping, and it may not sound like much, but for a little kid, it was incredible. We would go to campgrounds on Lake Michigan. We explored the woods and climbed the sand dunes and swam in the great lake. Also, I was also a Girl Scout and there was always a camping trip, or some activity organized in nature. So, when it came time to introduce nature to my own children, it was a no-brainer!
The benefits of outdoor nature time are well documented scientifically. The article “Nurtured by Nature” from the American Psychological Association has so much information about the cognitive benefits of nature and just study after study that show that nature has benefits for both physical and psychological human well-being.
Spending time in nature is linked to both cognitive benefits and improvements in mood, mental health and emotional well-being.
Feeling connected to nature can produce similar benefits to well-being, regardless of how much time one spends outdoors.
Both green spaces and blue spaces (aquatic environments) produce well-being benefits. More remote and biodiverse spaces may be particularly helpful, though even urban parks and trees can lead to positive outcomes.
Hiking from an early age begins a lifelong love of the outdoors
People who live in urban environments may think that they may not have access to natural places or they might think they need more time to drive out to a natural environment. But you can find pockets of nature everywhere and it doesn’t take much to reap those benefits.
Even a day at the zoo can be beneficial!
What are the benefits of outdoor nature time? (8:04)
Increased feelings of calmness and stress reduction
Sometimes just taking the time to unplug and go outside can do wonders for lowering stress levels. We are surrounded by screens daily and always just so busy. Nature can have a calming effect on our brains, even if it means going outside for only 5 minutes a day. Outdoor exercise, like going for a walk, hiking, biking, paddleboarding, all just gets the blood flowing and heart pumping, which is another way to lower stress levels.
Increased endorphin levels and dopamine production (promotes happiness)
Endorphins and dopamine are both chemicals in your body that make you happy, but they function in different ways. Endorphins are released when you feel pain or stress and nerves in your body send pain signals to your brain. Your brain releases these endorphins to block the nerve cells that receive the pain signals and essentially they relieve pain naturally by attaching to your brain’s reward centers (opiate receptors). And then, voila, dopamine is released. Endorphins may naturally help soothe achy muscles. And then when the dopamine releases, you get a runner’s high. Dopamine motivates you to do something over and over again. Like giving birth. It helps you forget the stress or pain and feel that happy feeling instead.
Restored capacity for concentration and attention
Researchers have a theory called “attention restoration theory” and it states that nature replenishes one’s cognitive resources, restoring the ability to concentrate and pay attention. The idea is that If you’ve been using your brain to multitask—like most of us do most of the day—and then you stop and put all of that aside and go just be outdoors, you’ve let the prefrontal cortex recover, which then allows you for focus on the task at hand and start fresh.
Reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression
We just talked about how being outside in nature increases happiness, so it’s only natural that it would reduce irritability. You can find all kinds of different activities outdoors for all fitness levels and preferences. Whether it means going for a swim, taking the dog for a walk or mountain biking, spending time in nature promotes mental well-being.
Lowered blood pressure and reduced cortisol (stress hormone)
Numerous studies show that both exercising in forests and simply sitting looking at trees reduce blood pressure as well as the stress-related hormones cortisol and adrenaline. In one of these studies they actually just gave some people pictures of trees and found it had a similar, though less dramatic effect. Studies examining the same activities in urban, unplanted areas showed no reduction of stress-related effects.
Strengthens the Immune System
Going outdoors and getting enough sunlight can help boost your immune system. Part of the reason is that it increases levels of Vitamin D, which many people are deficient in. Obviously, too much sun can be bad for you, but, studies show that getting between 15 to 20 minutes a day of sunshine will allow your body to better absorb vitamin D, which helps strengthen bones and reduce the risk of cancer, type 2 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.
Another immune boost comes from breathing fresh air. While we breathe in the fresh air, we breathe in phytoncides, which are airborne chemicals that plants give off to protect themselves from insects. Phytoncides have both antibacterial and antifungal qualities which help plants fight disease. When people breathe in these chemicals, our bodies respond by increasing the number and activity of a type of white blood cell which can kill tumor- and virus-infected cells in our bodies.
Improves short term memory
A University of Michigan study revealed students who regularly went for a nature walk actually had a better time retaining information. In the first of two studies participants were given a 35 minute task involving repeating loads of random numbers back to the experimenter, but in reverse order. After this they were sent out for a walk – one group around an arboretum and the other down a busy city street – both while being tracked with GPS devices. They each repeated the memory test when they got back.The results showed that people’s performance on the test improved by almost 20% after wandering amongst the trees. By comparison those subjected to a busy street did not reliably improve on the test.
In the second study participants stayed in the lab but were given pictures of natural scenes while others looked at urban environments. The improvements weren’t quite as impressive as the first study, but, once again, the natural image group beat out the urban image group.
Improves Sleep
Spending time in natural light helps our bodies better regulate our sleep patterns. When the sun goes down, our brains will release the right levels of melatonin to help get a good night’s sleep. Nature can also help reset your circadian rhythms. Circadian Rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. These natural processes respond primarily to light and dark and affect most living things, including animals, plants, and microbes. The circadian rhythm regulates metabolism, too and just keeps us functioning optimally.
Improves Vision
We spend a lot of time looking at screens, which can damage eyesight. Eye strain is experienced in up to 90% of people who use computers daily. Going outside gives our eyes a break. When we’re outside, we’re able to focus our eyes on objects in the far distance, helping to prevent the onset of myopia and reduce headaches.
Older kids benefit from outdoor activities too!
Inspires Creativity
Being out in nature can help you to get inspired by all the sights, smells, and sounds of the outdoors, not to mention all the brilliant colors that make up our landscapes, sea and sky. Science shows that spending time outside actually helps get our creative juices flowing. There was a study that showed that hikers on a four-day backpacking trip could solve significantly more puzzles requiring creativity when compared to a control group of people waiting to take the same hike—in fact, 47 percent more. Nature can inspire you and help you get past a creative block via self-reflection.
Develops a Deeper Sense of Spirituality
Being outside in nature gives us a chance to clear our minds, self-reflect, or meditate. Spending time in nature helps us live in the moment as we breathe in the air, listen to the sound of the birds, small animals, a babbling brook, or feel the wind through our hair, touch the grass or leaves. The changes of season may reflect changes in your life. All of this can relate to your inner spirituality.
Rocky has been visiting our backyard for over 10 years
How do you get your family to spend more time outside? (17:45)
Kids can paddleboard too!
Studies show that a minimum of 2 hours a week spent in nature, either at one time or broken up over the week can significantly increase your health and well being.
Make sure you pick a safe and welcoming place to visit. Time in nature is only a stress antidote if you are able to properly relax and embrace the experience.
To maximize the health benefits of being in nature, try your best to really take in your surroundings and be present. Breath deeply, don’t wear headphones, take time to listen and look.
While just a stroll or sitting outside can expose you to all those awesome nature benefits, also try moving your workout outdoors. Exercising in nature can reduce the risk of mental health problems by up to 50%.
Take up a new hobby or activity that allows you to spend more time outside, such as birdwatching, gardening, paddleboarding, or running.
Are there places you need to go anyway that are possibly in walking distance? Walking to the store or drugstore or a coffee shop instead of driving can be a great way to get your family outdoors.
Do you live in an urban area with few outdoor options? Consider making your interior more nature friendly. Add indoor plants, furniture made of wood materials, let in as much sunlight as possible, and hang pictures of natural scenes.
Enjoy nature but be aware of your surroundings!
Here are some great ways families can connect in the outdoors
Enjoy your backyard. You don’t have to have a fancy yard to experience nature. Go outside and find what amazing things lurk just in your yard. You might be surprised!
Take walks together. Walk in your neighborhood and point out different trees, flowers, and other animals. Walk nearby nature trails.
Visit your local park and playground. Play on the swings together, check out the ducks and swans that live in the ponds, climb trees.
Visit a nature center or state park. Read the placards, walk the maintained trails, and take a class. These are often great places to find kids’ activities and great guidebooks, too.
Go for a picnic. This doesn’t even have to be a fancy one you pack. Stop by the drive through or store and just take your food and eat it somewhere else.
Go camping.
Visit a zoo or wildlife facility or some other place with animals and wild spaces.
Visit the beach. From jumping in waves, to collecting sea shells, and just breathing that salty air, the beach offers tons of family nature activities.
Hike up a mountain- is there a great place to explore elevation changes in your area? Climbing to the top can invite a great sense of accomplishment and give a goal to your walk.
Find out if there’s a place near you where you can search for stones, gems, or fossils.
High ropes courses. A super fun way for a family to build resilience is to challenge, motivate and help each other through a high ropes course.
Volunteer with a park or trail group. Sometimes parks offer trail clean up crews or other things that you can do as a family.
Join a group like my hiking group (free) or other national groups like Wild and Free or Barefoot University.
Enter a race or other family competitive event.
Start a garden, join a community garden, or even just plant some plants in pots at your house.
You can even do your regular school outside!
There are so many different ways that you can bring more nature into your family’s life. Being present with your child in the outdoors will build wonderful memories that lead to lifelong family connections.
How to incorporate nature study into your homeschool? (29:09)
Set up a bird basket by a window in your house that looks out to a spot in the yard and maybe set up a feeder. Our basket had bird books, a bird journal and pencils, a bird sound maker, and binoculars. You really get to know the birds that come to your feeder, patterns to their seasons, families, etc.
We also carried a backpack with binoculars, magnifying glass, id guides, and specimen jars. I love the plastic tri-fold guidebooks for trees, plants, birds, dangerous animals, snakes, butterflies, etc. I also like to purchase these at our state parks or nature centers, so that money goes back into their programming.
Like we mentioned, take a nature walk. It doesn’t have to be far, in fact you can slowly build up to greater distances. We often say that our littlest hikers will hike for miles as long as they have someone to talk to, so feel free to walk with friends, too. Geocaching or orienteering are fun activities to kind of get reluctant kids out.
Just scooting around the neighborhood is beneficial
Keep a Nature journal- draw pictures of what you see, write about your nature walk. Keep flowers or leaves- you can press them into a book or flower press or preserve in wax paper. Keep a collection of things.
Choose a category to study at a time, like wildflowers and then trees, birds, and then mammals. You may want to focus on a certain thing for weeks at a time.
Sketching in a tulip field
Charlotte Mason was a big proponent of using nature to aid in memorization. If they can list 200 Star Wars characters, they can memorize the 10 most common trees and wildflowers in your neighborhood.
The Laws Gude to Nature Drawing and Journaling is by far the BEST Nature Journal we use in our own homeschool. There is so much information, beautifully illustrated, in an easy-to-understand way. Your children with love it
The Julia Rothman Collection: Farm Anatomy, Nature Anatomy, and Food Anatomy
Anna Comstock Handbook of Nature Study- popular very old nature study book for kids. First written in 1911―and revised in the spirit of its authors by a group of naturalists in 1939. She took the view that we should know first and best the things closest to us. Only then, when we have an intimate knowledge of our neighbors, should we journey farther afield to learn about more distant things.
One small square books series:
Thornton Burgess books
Animal friends series
Bird book
Seashore book
Animal book
Curious Kids Nature Guide
First Lessons in Nature Study
National Parks 4th grade
The voucher or pass grants free entry for fourth graders, all children under 16 in the group and up to three accompanying adults (or an entire car for drive-in parks) to most federally managed lands and waters.
Books for parents
“Last Child in the Woods” Gathering thoughts from parents, teachers, researchers, environmentalists and other concerned parties, Louv argues for a return to an awareness of and appreciation for the natural world. Not only can nature teach kids science and nurture their creativity, but he also says, nature needs its children: where else will its future stewards come from?
“Balanced and Barefoot” In this important book, a pediatric occupational therapist and founder of TimberNook shows how outdoor play and unstructured freedom of movement are vital for children’s cognitive development and growth, and offers tons of fun, engaging ways to help ensure that kids grow into healthy, balanced, and resilient adults.
“There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)” Could the Scandinavian philosophy of “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes” hold the key to happier, healthier lives for American children?
Flower Finder
Get Your Family in Nature and Discover the World Around You!
How Do You Homeschool a Child with a Learning Difference?
You might be a parent who has considered or chosen to homeschool because your child has a learning difference or requires specific accommodations to support their learning journey. Traditional school systems often struggle to provide a curriculum that effectively meets these unique needs, leaving you to fight for the necessary adjustments. You may have wondered, “Can I homeschool my child?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” With the right resources, strategies, and support, homeschooling can offer a tailored educational experience that nurtures your child’s strengths and addresses their challenges, ensuring they thrive academically, emotionally, and socially. Tune in this week as we discuss these topics and more!
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Learning challenges can make it difficult for children to keep up with peers academically and may lead to frustration and behavioral issues. Children with learning differences often struggle with social interactions and have low self-esteem. It is important for children with learning disabilities to receive appropriate support and in order to succeed academically and emotionally.
Sometimes people may have the idea that kids with learning disabilities are not motivated or intelligent, or it’s the parents’ fault. That is absolutely false. We really need to widen the lens of how we look at these kids. Also, keep in mind that all students are unique and special and every single one has areas of strengths and areas of weaknesses. It’s important to remember that there are functioning, responsible adults everywhere that grew up navigating the system with a learning disability.
What is a learning disability? (5:18)
Learning *disorder* is a diagnostic term. A licensed professional — usually, a psychologist — diagnoses a person with a learning disorder based on a list of symptoms. Learning *disability* is a legal term. A public school identifies a student with a learning disability. People will often use these terms interchangeably, but those are their definitions.
Sometimes we use terms like developmental delay or gaps in knowledge to describe learning disabilities. Learning disabilities are actually a neurological disorder. The most common of course being reading disabilities with dyslexia as the most common. The reality is that 5–10% of students in the US have some sort of learning disability.
There are many ways that professionals will go about diagnosing a learning disability including tests that psychologists do. That may include an aptitude test and an achievement test and often they compare those two. They may run more tests and once they have those results it helps them determine if there is a neurological disorder, a gap in knowledge, or they just need more exposure and more time to catch up. Typically, these sorts of assessments are done around 6 or 7yrs old.
Sometimes there are even children with really high IQs that may be labeled GT, gifted and talented in a school system that may actually have a processing disorder. Knowing that and getting appropriate diagnosis is going to really help make your approach to how you teach them in your homeschool.
Unfortunately, some kids may feel shame because it may take them so much longer than their friends to do something. It makes them feel that there is something wrong with them. It’s important that these children see themselves and also that we see them not from a deficit viewpoint but from an asset viewpoint. So often we label and put people in boxes because it’s easy to identify them like that, but we know that people are multidimensional— every single human being — not just academically, but emotionally but also in their talents.
When you are able to personalize your child’s education in your homeschool, you will be able to break that cycle of failure they may feel. When they can feel small measures of success, you can help them to change their internal dialogue and their mindset about themselves. It will help build their confidence and will help with every aspect of their life. These are often the kids that grow up with the most resilience, persistence, and grit. It’s not just about academic success!
It’s critical that you and your child learn about their diagnosis together. You need to become their advocate, but ultimately, you want them to be their own advocate in life -in the classroom and beyond- so they need to understand how they best learn and process information too.
There is no better ratio for educational success than 1:1. Being able to customize an education to your child’s specific needs is what homeschooling is all about. Positive outcomes begin with having the right blend of teaching style, curriculum, and a keen understanding of how your child/teen learns best.
How do I know if my child has a learning disability? (12:10)
Learning disabilities usually fall within four broad categories:
Spoken language-listening and speaking.
Written language-reading, writing, and spelling.
Arithmetic-calculation and concepts.
Reasoning-organization and integration of ideas and thoughts.
Today we’re going to address 6 common learning disabilities and how you can tailor your homeschool to accommodate your children and their individual needs. Each of these conditions can present with a range of symptoms and can be diagnosed through a combination of medical and educational assessments.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is the number one learning disability that affects people of all ages. It affects a person’s reading and language processing skills. If you are the parent of a child with dyslexia, you have probably searched long and hard for ways to help your child learn. Because children with dyslexia are often highly intelligent, creative, gifted, and productive, you can often capitalize on your student’s strengths to make the most of homeschooling. You have complete control over the materials you teach with and can even choose a targeted homeschool curriculum for dyslexia.
Dysgraphia
Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects a person’s ability to write. It can manifest as difficulty with spelling, poor handwriting, or trouble putting thoughts on paper.
ADHD
Although ADHD is technically not considered a learning disability, research indicates that 30-50 percent of children with ADHD also have a specific learning disability, and that the two conditions can interact to make learning extremely challenging. ADHD, if not treated, can interfere with a person’s ability to succeed academically and socially, and may lead to challenges in relationships and employment later on.
ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to pay attention, control impulsivity, and regulate their level of hyperactivity. It’s the second most common learning disability and can affect people of all ages. I know many people that have struggled all their life and then to be diagnosed as adults.
ADHD makes it difficult to concentrate, which can lead to one child distracting others around them in a classroom setting. Many children with ADHD are disciplined for misbehaving, but they can’t control their actions.
Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia is a learning disability that affects math skills. It can make it difficult for a person to understand math concepts, perform arithmetic calculations, and solve math problems.
Lots of people dislike math, but they’re eventually able to understand it with enough practice. Dyscalculia is more severe because it’s diagnosing a learning disability that makes it challenging to understand even the most basic math concepts. Since math builds upon itself, children with dyscalculia can fall behind and struggle to catch up for years.
Dyspraxia
Dyspraxia is a neurological disorder that affects a person’s ability to plan and coordinate movement. It can affect fine motor skills, such as writing or tying shoelaces, as well as gross motor skills, such as balance and coordination. Dyspraxia can also affect a person’s ability to process information and perform tasks in the correct order. It is often referred to as developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and is thought to be caused by problems with the brain’s ability to process information about movement and coordination.
Although dyspraxia is a condition that affects someone’s motor skills, it still has the potential to hinder specific learning.It mostly interferes with hand-eye coordination skills. Dyspraxia presents itself differently in each affected person, but some symptoms include poor balance and struggling with fine-motor skills.
Auditory and visual processing disorders
Visual Tracking Disorder
There are some families where parents feel it’s necessary to read and write everything because their child has behavioral issues when they try to make them do their own writing for math or reading. Sometimes there is something else going on and can translate as a visual tracking problem that makes reading very difficult for them. At this point, it would be advisable to look into professional help.
Auditory
Although CAPD is not considered a learning disability itself, it can make some aspects of education particularly challenging. Central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) is a condition in which the ears and the brain do not work well together. A child that struggles with central auditory processing disorder is unable to properly process information. Their ears can hear, but the brain does not organize and store the information in a way that lets the child remember it easily.
How do I homeschool a child with a learning disability? (18:37)
We likely see a disproportionate number of students with learning disabilities in homeschooling circles. This is typically because either the school has failed to meet their needs and the parents feel they do better with one-on-one instruction. Or, the diagnosis comes earlier as the parents have noticed something in their day-to-day interactions that may have slipped by in a busy classroom. For whatever the reason, in order to homeschool a child with a learning disability there are some steps you want to take.
Diagnosis of disabilities
If you or someone who knows your child suspects a learning disability, you may want to have a complete evaluation done by a psychologist or specialist to get a clear picture of their strengths and weaknesses. You may also seek testing through an educational diagnostician. These are available through school districts, or an independent evaluator or private provider, or medical institutions like pediatric psychology groups. Check with your state homeschool laws or school district to find out about evaluation services that may be available to you. Sometimes these resources even provide support.
Learn about your child’s diagnosis
You know your child best and no one loves them more or is a bigger cheerleader for them than you can be. You know that they are more than a label and you are the one who can help them reach their full potential. You want to do all you can to learn as much as possible about their diagnosis so that you are able to understand how to support them. You are going to need all the understanding and tricks in your toolbox to aid them and to recognize their different abilities.
Educate yourself on treatment options
Learn about what your options are for treatments. There may be medications, or therapies or other interventions available to aid you in your new journey. Seek advice and information from your student’s diagnosing professional and their pediatrician. Other treatments may be available by working with an integrative physician. There are more and more types of therapies available for various disabilities and special needs: art and music therapy, pet therapy, behavioral and cognitive therapy.
Traditional or standard speech/language, vision, physical, and occupational therapies are common treatments. Unfortunately, nearly all health insurance plans exclude coverage for Educational Evaluations.insurance companies do not cover for testing that is educational in nature. Sometimes it is FSA eligible. So, in some cases testing and therapies may be financially out of reach if you are seeking private care but are free through the public school system. Again, research the resources available to you (some states give homeschoolers with learning disabilities access to special services).
Seek Support
Seek support of all kinds from professional to other families. Finding supportive people or groups is a great way to get personalized answers and practical resources. Many of our friends that have been through this struggle say, over and over again, that other homeschool moms who have been through it were invaluable to them.
For parent support you may want to try groups such as International Dyslexia Association, and Decoding Dyslexia. National charitable organizations such as Scottish Rite, Easter Seals, and The Arc offer resources, support, directories, grants, scholarships, and other helpful tools.
SPED Homeschool is another national nonprofit organization that offers encouragement and an online community to support families impacted by special needs. They have all kinds of resources from teaching tools, planning guides, and empowering media.
International Dyslexia AssociationScotish RiteThe ArcEaster SealsSPED Homeschool
Get real with your child
We mentioned this earlier, but it’s critical that you and your child learn about their diagnosis together. Ultimately, you want them to be their own advocate in life -in the classroom and beyond- so they need to understand how they best learn and process information.
You really want them to understand that they are not defined by a diagnosis. One in five people have a learning disability and there are so many bright and successful people out there who also share the same learning disabilities. Understanding their difficulties and how their disability affects them while also realizing what their strengths are and ultimately learning how to work around or with all of this will help.
There probably is not a greater life skill than self-advocacy. Some other resources like the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity and Understood.org can help you find resources to educate your child and teach them how to advocate for themselves.
Accommodations help students take in information or demonstrate what they know but at their level and at their abilities. Decide what kind of accommodations your child may need and make sure to discuss these with other people who may be in supervisory roles in your child’s life, like outside teachers/tutors or coaches and other instructors. Some common accommodations that may be of use are audiobooks, dictation or oral work in lieu of writing. Other accommodations may be frequent breaks or extra time to do a task. This is something you may want to document in your homeschool records.
Elizabeth Hamblet’ website offers advice and makes presentations based on her professional experiences drawn from her 20+ years as a college -level learning disabilities specialist. Explore her site to learn all about the college disability accommodations system, and how disabilities are handled in the admissions process.
Have confidence and faith in yourself
You are your child’s best teacher, and you are totally able to give them a completely personalized education plan. One of our friends did emphasize that you need to be willing to constantly adapt and change what you are doing.
Some of our friends have been able to teach their dyslexic children to read. Others had to seek outside assistance. One used Scottish Rite and said her student responded very well to the structure of the program. Another friend was able to teach one of her kids with dyslexia to read but not the second. The second child received intensive remediation through a reading specialist, who was trained in research-validated multisensory programs that work when other approaches fail. These programs address underlying weaknesses that make reading, spelling, writing and comprehension difficult.
Read Texas
Instructors are trained in the following programs and instructional approaches:
Seeing Stars® Symbol Imagery for Phonemic Awareness, Sight Words, and Spelling.
Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking®
Talkies®: Visualizing and Verbalizing for Oral Language Comprehension and Expression
Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing® Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech
On Cloud Nine® Math Program
Orton Gillingham approaches including Take Flight: A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia
You’re going to find that there is no single best curriculum for your child. I would encourage you to really tune in to their specific strengths and weaknesses, and personal preferences, and customize the best homeschool curriculum options for them. That might mean choosing a blend of homeschool curricula.
Parents should read to their kids, help them sound out words, and guide their reading activity, but they can’t learn for their child. That’s where using a reading program that accommodates their disability can aid independent mastery. Online courses, read-alouds, interactive videos, field trips, box curriculum, physical movement, and manipulatives, group/co-op learning can all provide exciting and engaging ways in which your child will succeed in homeschooling.
Ideally, you will want to choose learning tools that:
Utilizes techniques that best fit their learning style
Self-paced so they can move ahead when they have mastered a concept
Be multisensory and include plenty of visual or audio instruction and support (depending on their needs)
Include instruction in all the rules of reading and strategies both for decoding and spelling new words (especially for dyslexia)
Builds on existing reading, writing and math skills
Encourages kids to become active learners through exploration and discovery
Introduces new learning opportunities in a safe, supportive environment
Balances learning with fun!
A couple recommendations we heard from friends were the program All About Reading. Another one recommended Reading Eggs and Hooked on phonics. While these programs aren’t specifically designed for learning disabilities like dyslexia, they can help.
All About Reading uses the Orton-Gillingham approach. Children with learning differences find it’s a lot easier wy to decipher the code. Learn More>>
Sounds Abound: Listening, Rhyming, and Reading by Hugh Catts Tina Williamson is recommended. This program builds skills students need to become proficient readers with an evidence-based, systematic progression of lessons. The 125 one- and two-page lessons help students connect letters with sounds and improve early reading achievement. The lessons are organized into five skill areas in order of development. Each skill area begins with picture-supported lessons and progresses to listening tasks without pictures. Determine student progress with a pre- and posttest for every unit.
Sound Foundation’s Dancing Bears were easy-to-use books developed to teach reading and spelling to young children and students struggling with literacy. First published in 2001, ‘Dancing Bears’ pioneered synthetic phonics. All the exercises were chosen for their proven success in teaching dyslexic children to read and spell. Our books are designed to empower amateur teachers (AKA parents)
Sound Foundations Dancing Bears
Replacing writing with typing can be a helpful tool. Dyslexie font is a typeface – specially designed for people with dyslexia – which enhances the ease of reading and comprehension. To design the dyslexia-friendly typeface, all typography rules and standards were ignored. Instead, all the challenges of dyslexia are taken as a starting point. There’s an array of products you can add this to- like Microsoft Word, Google Chrome, etc.
Dyslexie Font
Another introduced us to Grammarly, which is a writing support program that
supports streamlined and effective writing. Their suggestions help identify and replace complicated sentences with more efficient ones, refresh repetitive language, and uphold accurate spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Catch typos, missing punctuation, or commonly confused words before they become distracting to your reader.
A couple of our friends also chose to become trained in The Orton-Gillingham Approach to better help their students, which is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling does not come easily to individuals, like those with dyslexia. It is most properly understood and practiced as an approach, not a method, program, or system. In the hands of a well-trained and experienced instructor, it is a powerful tool of exceptional breadth, depth, and flexibility.
Will having a learning disability hold my child back? (32:50)
It doesn’t have to. And remember that as homeschoolers, there is no behind. The biggest benefit of homeschooling is flexibility. Some other advantages of homeschooling your child with a learning disability are:
A quieter learning environment in a familiar setting. This can reduce anxiety and pressure.
Daily Progress In a school environment you may get feedback from teachers at the end of the day or weekly. But as a homeschooler you can track progress daily and see them blossom. And you are also there if the day goes bust.
Set the pace. Spend as much time as you need on concepts or skills that are hard for your child. Move on when you have mastered something.
Choice of curriculum and resources Children have different learning styles and sometimes music or movement are better than sitting still and listening. There are So many different approaches you can use as we discussed in the last section.
Quality social opportunities. You can join local groups that encourage kids to relate to one another on their own terms. You can pick your activities and extra curriculars.
You may have concerns about things like not having as much structure as a school environment.
You may worry about having fewer resources than a school may. You may be worried about having less social interaction and getting burned out. Focus on things you can fix. There are things that you have much more control over, but you still can’t control everything that might go wrong in a homeschool environment. Instead of thinking about the resources that aren’t available to your homeschooled child, think about how you can fill in the gaps and gain valuable skills.
Each public school child eligible for special education has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). As a homeschooling parent, you may not have to have one at home, but it’s a good idea to set goals at the beginning of the year and monitor progress over time. An IEP can also help you communicate with specialists. There are free sources online that can help you generate your own.
A common fear for parents as their child with disabilities grows up is that they will sit at home all day after graduation and do nothing. This is a normal fear but doesn’t have to be reality.
One of our friends is using a vocational rehabilitation service for youth. They updated testing for her adult child and helped prepare for post-secondary education and employment opportunities. Services are eligibility and need based. Some even pay tuition and books at the community college.
Ultimately you know yourself and your child. Your child with disabilities could thrive under your tutelage if you have the patience and courage to lead the way. You know your child best.
What was a waste of time? What should I have spent more time on? What is the biggest lesson I have learned? Tune in this week while we discuss these topics and more!
Episode 020:
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There are so many things we wish we had known when we started homeschooling. Perhaps you are a new homeschooling parent just starting to navigate this journey. When we first started homeschooling, we didn’t know anything about homeschooling and it made it seem very overwhelming. While the list of things we wish we’d known before starting homeschooling is much larger, today we are sharing the top 10.
Deschooling
If you are brand new to homeschooling and withdrew (or considering withdrawing) your child from a traditional school environment, Deschooling is an essential step to successfully homeschool. Deschooling will help reengage your child and reignite their love for learning. You’ll spend time reconnecting with them and figuring out what kind of education you want to provide so if your kids are in an unhealthy environment, pull them out NOW and start this process. You don’t have to have it all figured out to begin. This period of time is also helpful to the homeschooling parent. You have time to get your ducks in a row, do some homeschooling research, figure out what you think your homeschool philosophy or style will be, and order supplies. There is no need to keep your child in a bad situation because you think you don’t have a plan. Take the time to figure things out. You will not ruin your child of any age or make them “behind” by taking this necessary time to Deschool. During this time, check out the TOP 10 Books Every Homeschooler Should Read.
1. Don’t compare yourself with others. (5:24)
You do not need to keep up with public school, private school or anybody else’s homeschool. Also, don’t compare your child’s accomplishments or failures against any other child. They are individuals. It’s easy to see what people post on social media with their perfect homeschool rooms and lives and think that is reality. It’s not. It’s just a highlight reel.
Go at your own pace Spend more time on concepts that are hard and slow down and skip mastered concepts.
Unless you plan to send your kids back, you really don’t need to keep on track with what public schools are doing. Do your own thing. There is no behind in homeschooling, and unless you are bound otherwise by state laws, you can go at your own pace and on your own schedule. It doesn’t take all day to homeschool. Much of the time that children spend at school is spent in waiting, recess, and lunch. Even though kids are at school for about 8 hours a day, they aren’t actually doing school work that whole time. So don’t try to copy the schools or another family’s homeschool. Don’t worry if someone else spends six-plus hours a day, and your kids are done in two or three hours! Keep in mind that kids are learning all the time.
I encourage you to celebrate the individuality of your child, your family and your unique homeschool. You will all be much happier and content in the long run.
2. Find your people (7:48)
Do whatever you can to get into a community of like-minded kids and parents as soon as possible. It was an absolute lifesaver to find like-minded families. We started off in the beginning with great park day groups. These were our main connections. We camped together, did co-ops together, found lifelong friends, and our children grew up together. These relationships have been so fulfilling and long lasting. And that’s not just friends for your kids, it’s friends with other parents. No one is going to get your daily struggles like another homeschool mom will. Find your people and debunk the SOCIALIZATION Myth!
Regular friend hangouts is fun for you and your kids
You will question yourself especially in the beginning, which is normal and okay. Find other homeschoolers to encourage and support you. Sometimes, on the hardest of days, you just need to hear someone tell you that you are doing a great job. Or you need to tell your friend that what they are doing is enough. We always question that, and honestly, it’s the sign that you are a great parent. Ways to Gain Confidence as a Homeschooler
3. You don’t have to follow a curriculum verbatim, and grades are not that important. (9:35)
You are making the schedule and you can decide to omit mastered concepts. You can and should skip things that don’t work for you or your child. You don’t have to use school textbooks. You can hand pick your curriculum. It’s one of the greatest things about homeschooling.
Grades don’t always reflect learning Take a lot of field trips to keep learning fun! (printing press)
We also want to emphasize that grades aren’t everything. Does your boss care what your GPA was when you were in school? Of course not! This kind of thing holds no meaning once you are out of school. Felicia Day is a popular YouTube star and actress that also happened to be homeschooled and in college fairly young and was a total perfectionist. She had a professor of a very difficult math class tell her, “It’s ok to take a B. No one cares about your 4.0. You don’t need to kill yourself for a grade.” What’s the saying? C’s get degrees? Don’t get caught up in the grade that you lose sight of the real purpose of homeschooling. To educate your child and foster a life-long learner. Grades don’t always reflect that.
Best and Worst Homeschool Buys We interviewed hundreds of seasoned homeschool moms with real stories and real advice. We spill the beans on what worked, what didn’t, and how to make your homeschool budget count!
Another thing to keep in mind is that your child will be in different grade levels for different subjects. This is completely normal and again one of those benefits to homeschooling that you can completely cater their education to their level. Remember, schools need to keep children within their factory level grades because it is the easiest way to manage the sheer volume of kids that work through their system. More than likely, that will not be the case with your child. Maybe they will be in 5th grade level math, but still working on reading proficiently.
4. We are the masters of our own time (13:27)
Homeschooling affords us a lot of extra time to master concepts or enjoy a beautiful day outside. Homeschool Field Tripsare a great way to learn! Be sure to download your Free Field Trip Bundle
When your child shows an interest in something, capitalize on that and abandon other things to dive deep into whatever ignited them. This keeps the excitement alive with learning. And also you can encourage them to spend their extra free time exploring their passions and interests. Learn more about Creating an Entire Homeschool Lifestyle.
That’s the benefit of not being a slave to a clock or someone else’s schedule. You also don’t have to keep to a traditional school schedule. We’ve schooled all year round for most of our homeschool career. It really wasn’t until we took college dual credit classes that we really started working around a county school calendar.
Kids choosing and planning an impromptu roadtrip on a SCHOOL DAY!
If you are having one of those terrible no-good days, step away. We had a recent episode where we talked about Surviving a Bad Day. It’s ok to spend an impromptu day in a nerf battle, hiking a trail, or enjoying the latest traveling exhibit at your local museum. Do schoolwork on stormy days and abandon academics and get out on those glorious days where other kids are stuck in a classroom. Take full advantage that you are in charge of your schedule.
5. You don’t owe extended family, random friends, or strangers at the grocery an explanation of your homeschooling. (14:51)
I always tell people, spend less time with unsupportive people. Don’t include people in conversations where the result is that they think they have a vote. They may try to quiz your child on fractions or stress you out with socialization questions everytime you see them, but you don’t have to give any energy to that. Simply say, “this is what works for us” and move on.
I love when a stranger once asked, “aren’t you worried about socialization?” and I said, “Of course! That’s why I don’t want to send them to school!” It’s funny when a stranger at the store asks you something like that while you are out with your kids. What do you think we are doing right now? Talking to you. Interacting in public. Socialization is one of the biggest myths in homeschooling. But What About Socialization? Learn More
6. You don’t have to be available for everyone else just because you have chosen a more flexible lifestyle. (16:02)
You don’t have to be a YES person. You may be out and about exploring with your kids, but that doesn’t mean you have time to do extra favors all the time for friends and family. You have chosen a lifestyle with more freedom so go enjoy it without guilt.
And some of this is even just typical for all stay-at-home moms- just because we don’t have a job doesn’t mean we can sit around all day for the washer repairman. We have busy schedules and work to do with our kids.
7. You are well qualified to teach your kids (17:51)
There is nobody more qualified to teach your children than you are. As you read to them, spend time with them, and watch them as they learn new things, you will be learning right alongside them. There is no one that loves them as you do, or knows them as well as you do.The greater culture doesn’t set parents up with confidence if they opt out of the public school system. That sense of doubt, fear of failure, and overwhelm can become great. But you absolutely are qualified to do this!
You know your child best and are qualified to teach them!
You know your child and their needs better than anyone. You probably already do know more than you think you do, but you also have a ton of resources available to teach. There are fully scripted curriculums, there are classes that can be outsourced, there are classes you can take together and other instructions available for things. As a homeschool parent, you don’t have to be an expert. No teacher has all the answers, but they know where to find them. As we look for answers while teaching our kids, we are teaching them how to be lifelong learners. You will make mistakes but that doesn’t mean you are a bad parent or homeschooler.
If you find certain subjects challenging to teach or if your child has specific educational needs, consider enlisting the help of tutors or specialized educational programs or outsourcing classes. We both have outsourced classes-math and science, writing classes on Outschool.
Outschool: What is it and should I use it in my homeschool? Outschool is an education platform that connects teachers of any subject with students around the world for a variety of engaging small-group classes online. It can be a huge time saver and opportunity in your homeschool!
8. All kids are different. (20:16)
Their temperament, their learning style, and the way they interact with you is different for all kids. Parenting and homeschooling styles with change for each child. They are not cookie cutter people and the way you interact with them shouldn’t be either. Again this is where that big benefit of being able to cater to your child comes in. Everything from curriculum to schedule to style is something you get to decide. Find what works for your special, unique child, and do that!
9. Relationships are more important than academics. (21:27)
Don’t get wrapped up in a teacher/student mentality. Remember that we are first parent and child and we are here to shape and guide and grow these little beings. Some who end up turning to homeschool from a traumatic school situation may need some extra time being nurtured. We also may have sensitive children who need a little extra attention or a different approach to harder topics. We may have a unique family dynamic that demands a different style.
Enjoy time with your children (surfing on a school day)
There were many times in my early days of homeschooling when I would get frustrated and impatient with one of my kids when they just couldn’t “get it”. This not only can kill their love of learning, but it also hurts your relationship. You will have bad days.We are all human and will mess up and lose our cool. Do your best to learn from the situation and do better next time. When things go really bad or you are not feeling like you made a good choice to homeschool, stop and remember all the reasons why you have chosen to homeschool. Look at the big picture and know this too shall pass. Learn Strategies to Keep Learning Fun.
10. Reading. (24:12)
Read to your children EVERY Day. Teach them to enjoy great literature.
Reading to my children was the single most important thing we did in our homeschool. Even older students benefit from being read to. And it doesn’t have to be boring schoolbooks. We read everything- all kinds of styles, authors, genres. When you model reading to your child, and when you read to them, you are instilling a lifelong love of reading, which in turn creates lifelong learners. Be sure to check out our Top 50 Books for New Readers!
How do you determine which core subjects are essential for high school? What are the best electives for your high schooler to take, and how do you choose them? What exactly qualifies as a high school credit? These are important questions for any homeschooling parent, and in this week’s episode, talking about these topics and providing valuable insights to help you make informed decisions. Tune in!
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We know that the idea of homeschooling high schoolers can seem daunting, but we are here to assure you that with a good plan in place, homeschooling high schoolers can be a cinch! In our first high school series episode, we coveredhow to make a four-year plan and everything you need to know before starting your plan – graduation requirements, state law requirements, and more. It’s a great jumping off point for those of you that are just starting out. I always say that I really thought it was easier to home school high school than homeschooling was in younger grades. You really become more of an administrator than a teacher, especially if you are outsourcing some or even all of your subjects.
So what subjects does my high schooler NEED to take? (6:44)
There are several ways you can look at setting up your high school class plan. Most importantly, look at your state homeschooling requirements to see if you are bound to certain requirements and restrictions. We are here in Texas, where we are considered our own private school, and we get to set our own graduation requirements.
There are two things that you may want to consider. One, what are your state’s *public* high school graduation requirements? The average is between 21 and 26 credits. That is often a great guideline of the minimum classes/credits you may want to strive for and may want to be your goal for a student who may not be college bound.
Remember, you do NOT have to meet these requirements! They are separate from your state’s *homeschool* requirements and you don’t always need to adhere to those. However, being aware of them may be helpful, especially when applying to State universities. Many homeschoolers exceed well beyond the state requirements.
Also, if college bound, work backwards and look to see what some of the potential colleges your student may be interested in requiring for incoming applicants. You can find this information on college admissions websites pretty easily. We suggested making a list of both of these class recommendations to start and then planning from there.
College Requirements:
When researching admissions requirements for colleges, like required high school courses, your best resource is going to be the college’s admissions website (or the college admissions advisors). We mentioned it in our High School Trailer Episode.
Other sources for college admissions information includes:
This is just a suggestion. Again, one of the huge benefits to homeschooling is that you are able to completely cater the education experience to your child. There are endless opportunities to how you may want to set this up for your student.
● Language Arts (English I, II, III, IV – regular, honors, or Advanced Placement®*): 4 credits
● Social Studies (U.S. History, World History, American Government .5/Economics .5, Social Studies elective, ie. Geography) : 4 credits
● World Language (2-3 years in the same language): 2-3 credits
● Electives (Any other electives offered for credit): 5 credits
Choosing core curriculum
Years ago, there were few options for homeschool curriculum-especially high school. That’s not the case anymore. Now we have SO many options, and that can be overwhelming to select the best fit for your student and family.
Are they college or career bound? What are their personalities like? What are their interests and abilities? 7 S
When you are ready to research core curriculum, you need to keep a few things in mind.
Keeping the big picture in mind
Parent time investment
Student time investment
Financial investment
Student learning style
Remember, there’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school, so there’s not ONE right kind of curriculum. And beware of the folks who say: You MUST use this curriculum because it’s the right way! (Sometimes, they are selling expensive curriculum!)
We want to circle back to the basics of worldview and homeschool philosophies, and what kind of materials you are looking for (online, book based, etc.) before choosing curricula. This narrows down your search immensely and things may have changed since you first started on your journey, or maybe you are brand new to homeschooling altogether. If so, you may find our episode 004 on Homeschool Styles and Philosophies handy:
What electives should I choose? (16:28)
When it comes to electives, your imagination is really all that limits you. Typically, there will be one to three elective courses in each year of high school. Too many electives can overshadow the core academic courses. Your student’s electives should reflect who your student is and what they are all about. When we think of electives, some things come to mind:
• This is one of those places where you can incorporate your student’s talents, interests, and achieve that stand out status.
• Electives can allow your student to explore career options.
• Elective call for authentic experiences- your student can oversee their own education and incorporate many different ways of learning.
• Electives leave room for unconventional experiences like internships and more.
• They don’t have to require lots of book work.
Elective courses require less work from your student than core academic courses. While some electives fit within the core academic subjects of Math, Language Arts, History, Science, Foreign Language, others are not core subjects at all – for example, PE, Auto Maintenance, Theater, Cooking. You will be able to find existing curricula for many of the elective courses your student might want to take. However, you can also easily design these courses yourself.
There are so many options for electives, really this can be an endless list. There are certain options that may be pretty standard- PE, health, drivers ed, music art, etc. But you can also look to electives as a way of fine tuning a student’s specific interests or maximizing on a talent or specialty. When it comes to electives, your imagination is all that limits you! Typically, there will be one to three elective courses in each year of high school. See our FULL List of Electives
Some colleges may want 2 fine art credits specifically, some don’t specify at all, so again, looking at what potential schools require or recommend can help you fine tune your list. Electives are also a great spot to start when exploring dual credit programs. These can be easier classes to start with and knock out college credit at the same time.
What constitutes a credit? (22:59)
Credits are a way of measuring a student’s completion of the educational requirements you have set or that are required by your state homeschool laws. Most high school courses are going to be worth either 1.0 credit (for a one-year course) or 0.5 credit (for a semester course). The credit assigned to a course generally takes into account course content, instruction time, and the time the student spends completing course work.
A textbook designed to be completed in one school year is typically given 1.0 credit, while a textbook meant to be completed in one semester is often given 0.5 credit. Many publishers and curriculum providers are going to provide this information online or in the actual text. It’s important to note that even many school systems don’t finish the entire book or class. We usually recommend that your student completes at least 75–80% of the assignments in a textbook to earn the credit.
For courses that don’t follow a set curriculum, you can determine credit by keeping track of the reasonable time your student spends on the course work. For a core course (English, science, history, math, or foreign language), you will want your student to log at least 150 hours for 1.0 credit (roughly five hours a week for 30 weeks). Logging more than 150 hours does not earn a student more credit; it simply indicates that the threshold of 150 hours has been passed.
For honors courses and Advanced Placement (AP) courses, students may log far more than the 150 hours. Generally, honors courses require 8–10 hours per week for 30+ weeks, and AP courses require 10–15 hours per week for 30+ weeks. Even though honors and AP courses demand more hours than a standard high school course, they do not earn more credit when students spend more than 150 hours completing them. Instead, there may be GPA rewards to taking these more challenging courses. For instance, we award an extra .5 point for honors courses and an extra 1 point for AP/Dual credit courses on our transcript.
For a lab science course, you want to log a minimum of 180 hours; the additional 30+ hours are for required lab work. One college we applied to required an addendum for homeschool, private, and charter school students to determine that their high school lab science classes were legitimate.
For an elective course (such as physical education, art, music, or another course that is not a core academic course), log 120+ hours for 1.0 credit and 60+ hours for 0.5 credit.
If you have a student who is a musician for example, consider all their lessons, practice time, performances as credit. Open mic nights totally count! So does writing a theme song for your mom’s podcast! Kids that are competitive athletes may receive PE credit because they definitely put in the training/competition time.
If your teen completes a 3- to 5-credit college course in one college session (either an eight-week term, 11-week quarter, or 15-week semester), we recommend converting this course to a 1.0 credit high school course on your teen’s high school transcript. Even with abbreviated classes, the amount of coursework is often the same as if this was a semester or year long class.
Also, consider that not everything needs to be a class. I see that a lot on message boards- “my kid spends x amount of time a week doing this, how do I make it a class….” You *want* to have some great extracurriculars included in your records- it makes your student appear more well-rounded and interesting.
You also don’t want to just add classes for the sake of filling up your transcript. It can delegitimize the rest of your transcript. We already work hard to give our kids varied classes and learning opportunities with other teachers to avoid the appearance of just “mom grades”, so we don’t want to add a bunch of nonsense filler just for the sake of filling space and saving time. We are all about multi-tasking but be smart about it.
Kendi’s book is a powerful read for anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the history of racist ideas in America and their continued impact on society today. This book has helped to open my eyes to what has been happening in the U.S. since the days of slavery and teach that in my homeschool.
“Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America” by Ibram X. Kendi is a comprehensive and insightful examination of the history of racist ideas in America. It boldly explains certain sides of history that much of our society has missed and continues to ignore in our education system. The book explores the origins of these ideas and the ways in which they have evolved over time, from the colonial era to the present day. Kendi provides a thorough examination of key individuals and movements that have shaped the conversation around race and racism in America, including key figures in American history such as Thomas Jefferson, William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Angela Davis, and more.
In addition to being informative and thought-provoking, this book is also highly readable, making it accessible
One of the strengths of this book is Kendi’s ability to connect the past to the present, demonstrating how the racist ideas that have been prevalent in American history continue to impact society today. The book is well-researched and provides a wealth of historical detail, making it an excellent resource for homeschoolers looking to add the history of race and racism in America to their curriculum. It should be the anchor text for every US History class in every high school in America.
How do you create lifelong learners? How do you create habits that work for the entire family? How do you create an environment that inspires learners?
Tune in this week while we discuss these topics and more!
Episode 018:
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Creativity and curiosity are the cornerstones of a lifelong love of learning. Children who learn to read well, become well-read adults. Children who are guided to follow their interests and passions are more likely to think outside the box. Children that are encouraged to be independent learners set themselves up for success in their job, business, and personal life.
In the school system, there is a lot of emphasis on factual memorization and standardized testing versus the more emotional and passionate elements of learning, like curiosity and wonder. The very concept of mass education promotes conformity to the standards of the state.
Socialization: Will My Homeschooler Be a Weirdo? We’re debunking this common MYTH! Homeschoolers have MORE OPPORTUNITIES to socialize since they are not limited to a classroom setting all day! Download your FREE Complete List of 100 Ways to SOCIALIZE Your Homeschooler!Foster their natural curiosity.
Schools tend to be a test heavy environment which creates students that are afraid to try new approaches for fear they will make mistakes or be “wrong”. They also tend to focus on core test subjects, even if their talents and aptitudes lie in other fields. Another downfall for this kind of environment is having a school system that relies on funding for test results so even teachers who are there for their love of teaching can get caught up in the teaching to the test.
There is no one who made a more profound and moving case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity than Sir Ken Robinson. Sir Ken passed away in 2020 but during his lifetime, he advanced the traditional idea of education more than anyone else. He was a British author, speaker, and advisor on education and was a Professor of Arts Education was knighted for his services to the arts. He made a huge impact on the way many people view education. His incredibly powerful TED Talk is still one of the most viewed TED Talks ever.
Sir Ken Robinson
For many of us, homeschooling isn’t just the method of schooling we use from 8am-3pm every day. It is all encompassing and a lifestyle. This choice that we’ve made bleeds into everything we do and of course, we want it to be successful and we want to grow our students into responsible, caring, intelligent and independent adults. We want to instill in them a love of learning and encourage them to continue being lifelong learners well after they’ve left our homes as adults.
It can be so easy to get caught up in your everyday curriculum and forget the importance of creativity. Let loose, don’t be afraid to toss formal studies out the window in favor of writing stories, or putting on a puppet show and telling a story through toy play.
Embrace the Outdoors
Make sure your kids spend time outdoors as often as possible. Being in nature inspires creative thinking. It gives us valuable vitamin D and fresh air and a break. Many homeschool families are cultivating not only gardens but also a deep connection to the land and their community. These practices can bring a simpler and more connected way of life right into suburban neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs, showing how rural traditions can thrive in more urban settings. Learn more in Episode 067. Homesteading in the Suburbs
Encourage the Arts
Creativity naturally pours out of children when they have a blank canvas in front of them. Art can take on many forms, whether it be poetry, cooking, music, painting, or drawing. Be sure to have supplies on hand to allow them to explore. Learn more about Incorporating Arts in your Homeschool.
Take a Technology Break
Technology is awesome and almost surely a part of your homeschool, but unfortunately, tech can also inhibit creativity. Sometimes you can really ignite creativity by taking a tech break. Download your FREE Social Media and Tech Guide.
Read, Read, Read
One of the best ways you can help your children think beyond themselves is reading. It is a great way for them to use their imaginations to visualize the characters and events in the stories. Top 50 Books for New Readers
Encourage reading by reading to your children and encourage literature in your everyday life. Take them to the library and pick out their own books. Teach them how to find a book when they want to learn something new. Include many of your own curated selections.
It’s ok to make Mistakes: Teach your children that mistakes are learning opportunities. Model Learning from your own mistakes; learn together; show how you learn from your own mistakes and help your children learn from theirs.
Let them Ask Questions: Teach them to question things, and how to find answers. How to find answers is a powerful tool. It goes along with reading and a love of reading. We may not know the answer, but we know how to find it, and how to know if our source is credible.
Give them Free Time: Give them freedom to explore. Provide books and an environment for learning. Also, Encourage reading by reading to your children and encourage literature in your everyday life. When they are younger, this means sometimes foregoing school to let them free play. And the older years, it’s important not to over schedule them so they have a lot of free time.
Set Goals: Teach how to work towards a goal. Setting goals together can be a powerful tool to get your child engaged. Start with small goals and build to bigger goals. Make a goal together, work on it together, and teach them that sense of accomplishment. Get your FREE Planner Templates.
Celebrate: Be sure to celebrate their accomplishments. It helps to create excitement and enjoyment when you meet your goals. This is an important part of the process.
Celebrating our award at Future City Competition
Our children are always learning and we are always modeling for them. That means that parents and the other adults in their life are an incredibly huge influence from a very young age. If you want your children to be lifelong learners, you had better keep learning yourself. Children often follow in the footprints of their parents and we need to model the attributes we want them to develop.
We are both voracious readers and have always made reading and books a huge part of our children’s lives. Reading and a love of reading is one of the single most predictors to raising critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Another important thing you can do to create, lifelong learners, is to let your children be a part of the planning process. When a child has the power to choose what or how they learn, they will be more engaged. Talk to them and bring them on board. Homeschooling is a cooperative effort and children learn passionately and joyfully when they choose the material.
How do you create habits that work for the entire family? (14:36)
Again, you have a huge responsibility to model habits that you want your child to have. It’s also important not to do for your children what they can do for themselves. We don’t want to coddle or cater to our kids, but rather allow them a safe space to make mistakes and learn from them. They naturally question, investigate, collect information, experiment, and hypothesize. All children are naturally critical thinkers so be sure to allow them the space to do that. Learn more about Finding Balance and Creating Habits for your Family>>
Laundry time!
Education takes a large dose of discipline, not only for the kids, but for the parent, as well! Charlotte Mason believed that ⅓ of Education is Discipline. Discipline in the sense of controlled behavior, the way one conducts oneself, mental/physical training, etc.
We talked in a lot of detail on Episode 009 “Schedules, Routines and Rhythms”about the importance of finding a method that works for you and your family. Figuring out a pattern and devising a plan for your day will help you immensely and then you can fold in great habits along the way.
Habits are great because this can really be worked on with young kids but it’s also something to continue to model and to expect as kids grow. Some habits to work on or encourage with children are:
Home should have a greater influence on our children than friends and outside factors, especially in the younger years. Don’t be afraid of spending less time or limiting interactions with friends or family members that don’t support or instill good habits or encourage your kids negatively in other ways.
How do you create an environment that inspires learners? (17:49)
How do you picture education? A cold classroom, filled with bored kids? A teacher droning on about things that the students will soon forget? Some people don’t really think about education other than something for kids to do during the day, something to major in in college, or something that requires a lot of brains and isn’t for everyone. We are actually educated by people and friendships, our interests and passions, and we are inspired by our relationships. We want to make sure our kids have these three basic things to self educate: Something to love (parents, siblings, friends, pets), Something to do (If you are bored you are boring) activities: handicrafts, chores, reading, etc., Something to think about: things to see and hear and question and discuss.
Charlotte Mason believed that ⅓ of Education is atmosphere.
Emily Cook in her book, “Literary Education” continues with that philosophy, saying “three keys to creating an educational environment in your home: surroundings, routine, and relationships… when these three things are in order, your home will be the perfect learning environment.”
When we talk about surroundings, remember that one does not have to have a huge home and lots of money and beautifully curate homeschool classrooms to cultivate a rich and comfortable learning environment. Really just a few things are needed:
A home library– again, while we can all hope and dream of spaces with books stacked to the ceiling and ladders to reach the highest place, your library could be a single shelf or basket where you rotate library books in and out. We always talk about loving our local libraries- we visit often to get heaps of books.
Amber O’Neal Johnston talks on her heritage mom page about how she curates her home library. She does a big library haul, gives books a few page test and flip through, separates into now, later, never piles, and then decides if books will be for family read- aloud, personal reads, or book club reads. She then purchases books she would like to keep in their permanent library. She also chooses a diverse selection of books in which her children see themselves and others who are different from them.
Games- Keep a shelf or closet of games. Some elaborate, some simple classics, like dominos, dice, checkers. Games are great for inspiring learning and just great family or sibling bonding. Maybe keep little baskets around with plain decks of cards, or small card games, bananagrams, things with easy access. Having a chess board out can encourage random play.
Maps/timelines- It’s amazing how much learning kids do on their own, with just a map on the wall. They can’t resist looking up where they live and it also opens up conversations about where other relatives, or characters from shows, or other animals live.
If timelines have been an assignment in your curriculum, you may also have one of those around. We kept ours in a book- a Book of centuries, but we also had timeline figures hung around the border of a room at one time in another house or a large wall timeline.
Place to store nature finds-when kids come home and empty out their pockets of all their rocks, sticks, treasures they’ve found in nature, they need a place to put them.
Even just a random box full of fossils, sharks teeth, dried sea things, cicada shells, is fine.
Bird basket- keep a bird basket by a back window by a feeder with binoculars and bird identification guides.
Poetry Tea time- a popular homeschooler activity is poetry teatimes. We have tried keeping a stack of great poetry collections out, but those aren’t as enticing as games and comic books, having a fancy tea time at your house once a week or month with delicious treats and snacks, will bring all your kids to the table! You may be surprised that everyone becomes a fan of poetry this way.
Music appreciation– from a very young age, we always kept a variety of music instruments in our home. A basket of harmonicas, a keyboard, boom sticks, drums, guitars, ukeleles, all kind of stuff. These can be outside an actual instrument that they may take lessons to play. We also still have an old school cd player with classic music and Beethoven’s Wig cds for kids to listen to. My kids have record players, too.
Creative Corner- have a table or area with craft and art supplies- paints, markers, crayons, paper, other mediums, glue, tissue paper, etc. at the ready. Leave no instructions, just have it there for kids to create at their leisure.
Wall space- hang art and artwork- if you can spare the wall space, have a spot designated to hang up art. Art made by your kids and art by others. It’s really simple to build art appreciation just by exposure.
Science- if you have science loving kids, maybe have some books with easy experiments and some supplies nearby. A set of magnets can be fun for hours! We also enjoyed paper airplane books, rope and pulley sets, snap circuits. Check out the resources on our Science Page >>
Julie Bogart’s book “The Brave Learner: Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning and Life” is a great read. She talks about Enchanted Living and education and making learning Magical. She has these 4 forces of enchantment- surprise, mystery, risk, and adventure and ways to bring those elements into your homeschool.
When children are surrounded by and inspired by great learning, they will become great learners. Charlotte Mason said, “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.”
Children are naturally curious and are always looking for answers.
As homeschoolers, we have a huge advantage to follow the natural interests of our children. So do that! Watch them, observe them, and find out what ignites them! Provide a creative space, supplies and let them explore. It’s important not to over schedule your children. They need plenty of downtime away from tv, devices and structured activities so they can have thoughts and dreams. We accomplish our schoolwork in a couple of hours every day and then they spend the rest of the day pursuing their own interests.
If you have very young children, preschool or kindergarten, I highly suggest that you listen to our episode 5, “What your preschooler should now”. Instilling a love of learning and life is so much more important than anything you could teach from a curriculum, and they will continue on with these skills for the rest of their lives!
