More than anything else in the world -- and yes, I think that includes piano and birds -- my boys love their digital games. Nothing depresses them more than not being able to play. If I needed to punish them, this would be the only way to punish them -- to take away their games. … Continue reading Digital Games and the Learning They Have Inspired
I'm very happy to announce that I've finally finished a project I've been working on for a long time. It's a new e-book, The Everyday Homeschooler's Guide to Teaching First Grade. I recommend this book for anyone contemplating or currently homeschooling a child between the ages of 4-8. ("First grade" is only a guideline!) This book … Continue reading Your Guide to Teaching 1st Grade
Being is the great explainer. ~ Henry David Thoreau When I tell people that I'm a homeschool mom, I'm sure most people think that I teach my boys everyday. But the truth is, they have been teaching me. They are the teachers, and I'm the pupil. They have taught me that you can be happy, … Continue reading What My Kids Have Taught Me
One of my goals is to read more nature and science books, and I particularly love birds, so when I found Ravens in Winter by Bernd Heinrich at a library book sale, I couldn't pass it up. I knew that more research had already been done on ravens because I had seen an interesting documentary about … Continue reading Book: Ravens in Winter
{A Year of Easy Citizen Science Projects for Homeschoolers} Last year I gave myself a big project by declaring it "My Year of Citizen Science." Every month, I tried doing one citizen science project, and I wrote about each one on the home/school/life magazine blog. It was a lot of fun, I learned a lot … Continue reading My Year of Citizen Science
At the end of May, my 10-year-old marked a full two years of taking piano lessons. In less than two years, he advanced to playing late intermediate/early advanced repertoire. This is quite remarkable, and for me, it finally sunk in just how remarkable this is over the past year. Of course, my husband recognized it … Continue reading Our 4th Grade Piano Adventures
When we were in New Mexico, we stopped along the road to enjoy the view and take photos. If I hadn't of almost stepped on this little guy, I would have never seen him. My boys knew exactly what it was and told me it was a "horny toad." After searching on the Internet, I've … Continue reading Nature Watch: Horned Lizard
As I look back over our school 2016-2017 school year, it's been fun to think about what my boys' major projects were this year. For my eldest, it was pretty much piano and gaming. But for my seven-year-old, he pursued many endeavors, and I had fun pursuing some of them with him. Yet it was … Continue reading My 1st Grader’s Ongoing Projects
For most families, summertime means a huge change of pace. The children are home and need entertaining. There are trips to the pool, BBQs, family gatherings, outdoor entertainment etc. Well, we don’t have access to a pool, and we rarely eat BBQ, and we see our extended families about the same as always. While we … Continue reading Summertime for a Homeschooling Family
In May, we took a trip out west. We weren't expecting to undertake such a big trip this year, but we often mused about taking the boys out west. Then, my sister asked us when we were coming for a visit...she and her family live near Denver, Colorado. That was the push we needed to … Continue reading Trip West
