Summer: The Perfect Time to Begin Nature Study

If you are at all familiar with Charlotte Mason’s methods, you know that she encouraged teachers to expose their students to nature. And summertime is the perfect time to start nature study with your kids, because they have so much free time out doors. If 

Our Favorite Friends in the Early Years

Books become friends and many of the books on this list make me smile just typing their names down. We loved them and spent many days pouring over their pages and enjoying their illustrations. Many of you asked what we used in the early years 

The Early Years of Home Schooling

I have had several women ask me recently what I used for curriculum when my kids were young. Instead of telling you how we played school for a few years, let me give you what we found to be our most valuable resources. I tend 

Education Is A Life

This weekend Rebekah finishes her home schooling career. She is an independent, inquisitive, smart and beautiful girl. We started this journey thinking “How can we possibly mess up K4?”  Then, the next step was to instill a love of books and learning. Then, to give 

A Little Trick I’ve Learned By Homeschooling

Because I have five children and home school them all, I have learned a little survival trick in life. This trick is called “zoning out.” Incase you are not a “zoner”, let me tell you how this works. My kids will be incessantly talking to 

Some Good Advice on Home Education

A home schooling mentor once gave me some good advice: Begin with the end in mind. Looking back, my friend was insightful.  But when you are a new homeschooling mother, you are– I don’t know–just plain overwhelmed. And scared. Well-meaning people unintentionally put fear–no, out 

Instant Messaging my Kids

I have been thinking a lot about words. The words I use every day with my kids. As a homeschooling mom, my kids are with me all day. They  see and hear all that I do. As  I was thinking about training them the right 

Enjoying the Outdoors

Since we homeschool our children, we do not take snow days. Instead, we  take “beautiful days.”  When warm weather comes, we can’t stand to be bent over our books, so we head outdoors. The girls swing, I paint and we just plain enjoy the sunshine. 

My Big Little Girl

My oldest daughter is growing up! I know it has been 17 years in the making, but it hit me like a ton of bricks the other day. I was happily checking my mail, when I saw the latest Timberdoodle  catalog. We order tons of homeschooling