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Books That Spark Joy: A Chat with Sarah Mackenzie
This episode of the Homeschool Better Together Podcast features a delightful conversation with Sarah Mackenzie from the Read Aloud Revival. Sarah and I chat about rekindling the joy of reading for ourselves as moms. We explore the power of quitting books that don’t spark joy, the fun of keeping a reading log, and how to find books…
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Making a year-round homeschool schedule work for you
Let’s start with a misconception about year-round homeschooling. It is typically NOT homeschooling all the time. Just because we are year-round homeschoolers that doesn’t mean we are doing more school than your average students. Traditional American school schedules begin in late August, take a couple of weeks off in December, and continue through the end…
The sad truth: teaching from rest is not passive
It’s official. Anecdotally anyway. Recently, I asked a question on my Facebook page about which homeschooling book moms should absolutely not miss. Overwhelmingly the answer was Sarah Mackenzie’s Teaching From Rest. It’s no secret that I am a fan. And while the enthusiasm for this book doesn’t surprise me (okay, maybe the sheer volume of…
Are we measuring homeschool planning success wrong?
We tend to have a lot of philosophical military conversations around here. Things like the ethics and value of counterinsurgency (See Consider This by Karen Glass to know why we got off on that tangent one day.) So recently I asked the husband (long-time National Guard officer) what he thought about this quote from Dwight…
The most important person in your homeschool plan is not your kid
In this world, there are two kinds of people. People who buy any old planner and just use it, and people who buy multiple planning products and never really use any of them. There’s quite possibly a need for a twelve-step program for that last group. 🙂 The people in the last group aren’t wishy-washy….
Seven summer ideas for a better homeschool year
Ah, summer. The time for swimming pools, cookouts, camp, and getting your house in order. Yep. I said that last one. It is tempting to shut down during the summer and only focus on fun (actually, it is really good to do quite a bit of that) but summer is also a great time to…
Your words aren’t as helpful as you think they are
I know you mean well. When I published my post on homeschool consistency I got quite a few responses. There were people who thanked me for writing the post, talking about how much it helped them (which was my intent). There were a few who condemned the need for me to write the post in…
Dear Self: Why you stink at homeschool consistency
Dear Self, I am here today with some tough love. Because I do love you and I know this homeschooling your kids thing is important to you. And yet, you struggle with homeschool consistency. Often. So someone has to point out the elephant in the room before all the peanuts are gone and you are left…
Find and Fix the Gaps in Your Child’s Reading with All About Reading
This post contains affiliate links. Disclosure. As a kid, I was a reader. A lot doesn’t even begin to describe how much I read. And though it had to happen at some point, I can’t remember not being able to read or learning to read. I just remember hours spent curled up with a good…
Ten Steps to the Perfect Homeschool Plan
The perfect homeschool plan is not elusive. In fact, it is easy to create the perfect plan for your family if you begin by considering the needs of your family, considering your limitations as a homeschool teacher, and avoiding common pitfalls. Planning means following a series of prescribed steps that will ensure that you have a…
How three lists can save your homeschool… and your sanity
I got an email this morning that almost made me break out into hives. It was from a popular homeschool planning company that was touting their ready-made homeschool plans. Now having done this homeschool mentor thing for a number of years I know that people really want plans that are already made — after all…
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