Designing a home-centered life: learning, exploring, and creating with our five littles
Okay, confession time. Our CC memory work review time has been a little chaotic. I blame the children. ;) Truly, there are four of them. They move and talk and distract. Then add in the toddler (he makes 5) and it's all a big fat mess. My threshold for frenzied school times is low, so we've modified how our review time works a little bit in order … [Read more...]
“Moms, let me say it again. You can’t help him too much. Okay?” These firm, but gentle, generous words from my son’s Essentials tutor washed over me for the second week in a row and I realized what freedom they had brought to our homeschool experience. I had been warned the first year in Essentials could be overwhelming and it's certainly … [Read more...]
Charlotte Mason promoted handicrafts as an opportunity for children to spend careful attention + neat effort making useful products while encouraging them to build skills that would help them to be industrious adults. Doesn't that sound noble? While she was suggesting this in the early 1900s, I think they're still an important part of a … [Read more...]
The lessons, the calendar, the schedule was making us all a bit weary. I could feel we needed a slow-down, but instead I wanted to hurry ahead to finish. I'm like that. It can feel productive, but it's often quite the opposite. And besides productive? Producing what exactly? Harried children and a frazzled mother? No good. And that's when … [Read more...]
Us homeschoolers, we're renegades, right? Let's ditch the primary colored wall posters and seasonal cork boards to create our at-home "schoolrooms". Instead of making our homes look like classrooms, let's make learning look good. In our home, we happen to have a dedicated school room, but our learning certainly doesn't keep to only that … [Read more...]
We are a baseball loving family. I can remember being a young girl having fun on the sidelines of my dad's games and as a college girl, there was no better way to spend a spring or summer night than cheering on my future husband. Now as a mom of three boys who are playing, I spend even more time (lots and lots of time!) on the sidelines … [Read more...]
Please welcome my 9 year old son, Kyle, back with his third post on animals. He provides the topic and research, does all the writing, and selects the pictures. I simply help with the technical aspects. Although I imagine, I won't even keep that job for long. I hope you enjoy this and share it with the littles in your life! European … [Read more...]
Been picking up tidbits from around the internet that I thought you'd be interested in too. Consider it weekend reading and be sure to leave me your thoughts in the comments. It's dialectic. Screentime is Making Kids Moody, Crazy, and Lazy I definitely think I see times where this seems to be true for my brood. We limit their time, but this … [Read more...]
I have never before used a homeschool planner. While I am very much a planner, they all felt a little intimidating and not quite what I needed. However, when I saw the chatter on the Classical Conversations group Facebook page about the Homeschool 18-Month Classical Planner by Hot Pink Lime, I was instantly interested. The folks over at Hot Pink … [Read more...]
I love this story from Kim & her family of the Flat Littles' trip to Florida. They attended the dolphin show at Sea World first, but half an hour later were destroyed from the splash by a killer whale. Haha. Guess that's what happens when you sit in the Splash Zone! I know visiting Sea World can be considered controversial these days. If … [Read more...]