How is your school year going so far? Is overwhelm haunting you? There are a few things you can do to re-assess your plans and find smoother days. Let's dig up the root of your overwhelm. The first step is the hardest. Why are you overwhelmed? Is it because you are trying to do too…
The What, When, Why and How of CLEP Testing During High School What is CLEP? A CLEP is a college-level test you can take to prove you know the subject. Many universities take CLEP credit and it is easy to find a list of the CLEP exams accepted at colleges you are thinking of attending…
As I read about cognitive and neuroscience and all the amazing ways our brain learns I often see why I was attracted to certain educational philosophies and also why I didn’t jump all in. In other words, most of the educational philosophies popular in the homeschooling world have clear strengths and weaknesses when viewed through…
How to tell if your kid is being lazy and how to help them overcome it. We cannot see inside our child’s mind. What seems simple and easy to us, as adults, could be taking a great deal of cognitive effort for them. This does not mean there is anything wrong with their brain. It just…
Let's step back. Away from the hustle and bustle, the gadgets, the information age, and the world where we need to know a million 'things' to succeed. Back, to a time in history, or into a secluded tribal community where there is no idea that children need to be educated by a government, state or…
To write an article detailing what I do during a typical day is a difficult task. In some ways, it is much more difficult than actually stepping through my typical day. When we talk about homeschooling, the idea is that we not only want to know what mom is doing but also what each of…
Disclosure: I was compensated for my time spent creating this blog post. What is that? My husband pointed at a jar full of….something? I wasn't sure. We called in the kids. Three of them explained what it was, why they had set it up, and how long they planned to leave it sitting on the…
Four ways to make information sticky We cannot store every piece of information our brain encounters in our memory. How does it decide what needs to be remembered? Well, since our brain likes to avoid thought, if we spend a lot of time thinking about something, our brain decides to store it. Our brain listens…
Two Teen Boys Share Their Thoughts Let's start with the oldest. He is 16 and articulate writing is not his strength, but he is very passionate about homeschooling. He was homeschooled from the start but we put him in public high school in 9th grade. By the end of the first semester, it was obvious…
Tables, couches, and beds, Oh My! Children who are raised to love learning take their learning wherever they go. Writing with charcoal (burnt wood from the firepit) on bark…easier or harder than graphite on paper…essential knowledge. Sure, they sit at a table when they need a hard surface to work on. Yes, that is food…