A December Thought
Just a visual reminder that a rich education can be simple. Here is some of last year’s copywork and math for our then third-grader. Enjoy your December!
What I Have Learned About Mathematics
If there’s one subject that intimidates homeschoolers, it’s math. We homeschool moms love us some humanities: literature, history, geography, Bible. We will attend workshops on these subjects, spend the lion’s share of the budget on these subjects, and fill most of our schedule with these subjects. But we often treat math as a necessary evil. And usually, … more
Our Favorite Grammar
I don’t think I’ve done any curriculum reviews yet, but this is a good one to start with. I was lucky enough to stumble upon this book with Dusty, and now I’m wrapping up another successful foray with Duncan. Introducing The Sentence Family. I started out all gung-ho on grammar instruction for young children, but Charlotte Mason … more
Starting Up a New School Year
The day after Labor Day is kind of like a second New Year’s Day for me. I try to get my life reorganized for this big day. The schedule is reset. Chore lists are up on the wall, goal and curriculum lists in a binder. The Mason jar is filled with new colored pencils. It … more
Mastery Learning and a change to the Plans
One of the principles that we attempt to run our homeschool on is that of mastery. Mastery learning is a simple concept that is not common in our fast-paced society. Put simply, it is staying with a concept until mastery is achieved. You don’t move on if your understanding is below an A level. Obviously, this … more
Curriculum for 2016/2017
In the plans for the coming year: Dusty/10th Grade Jacobs Geometry – After many months of researching geometry, we have settled on the second edition of this popular-among-homeschoolers textbook. I like to use older math books in general, but was finding difficult or impossible to locate teacher’s manuals for the older geometries. This 80’s-era text was recommended to me by … more
Time to Bump the Planning Posts
Planning the School Year What Subjects? Student Planners
Homeschooling 101 – Starting Out
This post is for those who want to start homeschooling for the first time! Where do you begin? What do you need to know? A simple Google search will lead you into an overwhelming flood of information. When I am venturing into a new world I like to have one place that I trust for information until … more
The Language Arts – In Real Life
So how do those Charlotte Mason methods work out for a simpler schoolday? Here is a peek into the days of my K-er and 3rd-grader. Kindergarten: Pearl listens in on Duncan’s read-aloud time (this is at her wish, I do not require it) and then has her own. Her read-alouds contain a Bible story, … more
The Language Arts – Part Two
What would you think if I were to tell you that you could effectively cover all of language arts, from kindergarten to jr. high, without curriculum; just books, pens, and paper? After trying many different curricula with my firstborn, I have left them all behind and traded them for Charlotte Mason’s methods for my younger … more