Until recently, I would have considered that an oxymoron. I grew up in a family that was really into coffee and its attendant paraphernalia. My parents were ahead of their time and owned a restaurant coffee maker. When I was a teen, they obtained a commercial espresso machine. Later came a coffee bean roaster. As … more
Every woman needs a tote bag, right? And we all have ideas of what a tote should be. One sees everything from posh designer leather to plastic grocery bags being used as totes. (Don’t be too quick to discount the grocery bags. There really is nothing better for putting wet or poopy clothes into.) I … more
I decided to do something new this year and post a quick review of the curriculum we used last year so we can all see how well it worked. 10th Grade Jacobs Geometry – I will admit it was a rough start, since Dusty was transitioning to self-teaching with a textbook from a video-based program. Once … more
I don’t know if there’s anything more overwhelming than shopping the vast beauty industry. At least for me. When I was younger, it seemed like every other girl had a natural knowledge of skincare, haircare, and makeup that I lacked. I floundered for awhile, then was swallowed into the super-conservative world for several years. Faces … more
You may have noticed my mentions of pens in posts regarding our schooling. Yes, we do use pens. I had heard pens, specifically fountain pens, recommended for children who are learning to write and who become fatigued by pressing too hard. I was told it was how children learned penmanship here in the past as well as … more
Have you started a new planner with the advent of a new year? I am still using the Bullet Journal. After three years, it continues to work for me, though I have made a couple modifications. For my lifestyle, I found that daily logging got a little tedious and repetitive. Did I really need to write “laundry” … more
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
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
If you move in the same online homeschool circles I do, you are well aware of the debate on whether a “Charlotte Mason” education, popular among homeschoolers, is a type of the coveted Classical education. Karen Glass, one of the founders of Ambleside Online, recently wrote a book attempting to prove similarities between the two. I … more
A fresh new year is spread out before us, and many are embarking on their New Year’s resolutions. I thought it a good time to share about a planning system I discovered this past year. Up until now, I have not been able to find a planner that worked for me. Computer-based was not my style. … more