Blog Business

Happy New Years, Homeschoolers!

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Happy New Year, Homeschool Friends and Non-homeschool friends too! I hope that 2023 will be a happy, healthy, peaceful year for my readers. I want you to know how much I appreciate each one of you. Over the years, this blog has made some connections for me that I can’t imagine my life without right now. So, thank you.

I wrote more bloggy-ish posts this year than I did the two years previously! One of the more popular ones was Slow and Steady. And here are some others I am fond of:

Top 5 Reasons Why I Love Homeschooling
Top 7 Things I Dislike About Homeschooling 
Project-based Homeschooling in the Later Years
3 Reasons Why I Know You Can Homeschool

Looking forward, I’ll be continuing to offer other opportunities to connect, if you’d like more personalized help from me with your homeschool.

On January 19, I’m offering a video chat on Homeschool Record Keeping, and if participants want to learn more about standardized testing, I will talk about that too.

I will continue to write more detailed posts about project-based homeschooling and our current high school and middle school work on Patreon. Patrons can access all my classes and a monthly support group, depending on what tier they join, but you can read detailed accounts of how we navigate middle school/high school and college visits/applications for $1.00 a month. Here are a few of my latest Patreon posts:

Thinking Outside the Box: Homeschooling High School
Sometimes I Wish We Had Never Homeschooled
When My To Do List Becomes Overwhelming
Homeschool Parents: Keep Good Records!
What I Wish I Had Done Differently

Of course, I’ll continue writing blog posts here too as time permits.

I want to give a shout out to my first patron, Lou Rahman. I’m really enjoying our conversations on Patreon, and we hope others will join us.

Thank You, First Patron!

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On my Patreon, I have promised to thank all my patrons in my public blog posts, but I think my very first patron deserves a post of her own!

Thank you Lou Rahman for signing up to be my first patron! Your support means so much to me because being a stay-at-home mom can be a wee bit lonely, and I love connecting directly with other moms who are interested in homeschooling in a similar way. ❤️

Looking forward to chatting with you more about this homeschooling journey and project-based homeschooling in video chats and online.

You can follow Lou on Instagram @lou_rahman. She lives in the U.K., and she’s got the sweetest four-year-old.

I’ll be putting together some classes for Lou, which is part of the benefits she signed up for. These will also be offered à la carte in my store, so I’ll let you know when they are available.

November 2022

~ shelli ~ 2 Comments

Happy Month of Thanksgiving! I want to say a heartfelt thanks to anyone who has been reading my blog long-term. I don’t know who you are, and maybe there’s only two of you, but for anyone who has stuck with me, I greatly appreciate it. I am also indebted to those of you who have reached out and sent me an email or message on social media. I appreciate your friendship so much.

I am not sure what compels me to keep writing on this blog. It’s just something I do to stay sane, I guess. But knowing it’s helpful to a few people means a lot, so thank you.

You may have noticed I’ve been blogging more lately. I’m trying something new as I reflect back on these years of homeschooling. I am writing posts that I might have liked to have read when I first started homeschooling. I hope that they can be encouraging to new homeschoolers. I don’t know how many posts I have in me, but we’ll see. And stay tuned because even though I hate my recorded voice, but I may try to do a few videos too. (Maybe.) Wish me luck!

I’m going to record more current, personal nitty gritty on my Patreon page, and I’m always happy to share more information with people via video chat too. I’m putting this behind a paywall partly for privacy and to make sure I connect with those who truly appreciate the information. I don’t want cost to  be a barrier, however, so email me, if it is. I will add a few links below to some of the work my boys and I have been doing on other sites.

As I have been writing this, my son spotted a young hawk outside my window, and then I had the privilege of watching it for about fifteen minutes. I saw it dive down into the leaf litter and catch a red-bellied snake and eat it! Then I saw it go up into the trees again, fluffing up its feathers because it’s cold outside. It was always looking around, looking for prey, I imagine. A very nervous squirrel sat in a tree nearby and sent out warning sounds. I never saw another bird while the hawk was in our yard. The animals in our yard work well together when they need to, don’t they?

It was a good reminder to me to slow down and remember why I’m doing everything I’m doing even when it seems pointless. The fruits of our labor don’t always show up in tangible ways. I hope someday I will look back on this life and see that homeschooling and all the sacrifices we’ve made were worth it. I hope I’ll feel that I’ve done well by sharing my tips on this blog too. But I imagine it will be a lot like my nature encounters: The time I’ve spent savoring them will add up to time well spent, though only in my mind and heart. I can live with that.

My Patreon Posts:

What I Wish I Had Done Differently
Homeschool Parents: Keep Good Records!

(NOTE: I have a $1 tier for anyone who would like to support my blog and read my posts on Patreon, but you don’t need the support group.)

My pianist’s Patreon Posts:

Practice Video #1: Ginastera Piano Sonata No. 1, 4th Mov.
Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 5
Music Notes: October 2022 (monthly newsletter of activities)

As for my 13-year-old, he’s thrilled to have almost 100 subscribers on his YouTube channel, and he’s working on a celebratory video for when he reaches that milestone. If you haven’t seen any of his videos yet, here’s one:

find me elsewhere

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If you read home/school/life magazine (which you really should), you’ll know that I made a resolution that 2016 will be my year of citizen science projects! Today I posted my first project on the home/school/life blog. I hope you’ll check it out!

Citizen Science Project #1: Lab in the Wild

 

And here’s a couple of other posts I’ve written for the home/school/life blog recently. Enjoy!

The Most Helpful Math Games I’ve Found

Stuff We Like :: 1.29.16

Find me elsewhere today

~ shelli ~ Leave a comment

Dawn Smith, of the wonderful Mud Puddles to Meteors nature blog, asked me if I would share some of my photographs of our recent ice storm in Georgia. You can find that post by clicking here. Though the ice storm did a lot of damage, we were lucky enough to experience the wondrous side of the ice storm.

Also, I have written another Mindful Homeschooling post on the home / school / life blog. Click here for that.

a few small things

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I think the last few months have surely been the busiest of my life. Fortunately, I love everything I’m doing, or I would be a little more batty than I am right now.

First, I’m happy to tell you that the fall issue of home / school / life magazine was released yesterday, and I think it’s excellent. Of course, I’m biased, but I’ve heard from a few other people who aren’t biased, and they think so too, and that makes me happy. I wish I could take credit for the wonderfulness of this issue, but my editor-in-chief did most of the magic with two fabulous articles — one is about the 10 best cities in the U.S. to homeschool in. She set certain criteria, did tons of research, compiled it together and scrutinized the data to come up with this list. Though we’re not planning to move, I now have some town envy for sure! She also wrote a great piece about asking yourself important questions that will be helpful to you as you enter and navigate this homeschool journey. I’m pulling out my journal one night with that one!

I also love all the columns in this issue, especially Amy Hood’s tips on visiting an art museum with kids and Patricia Zaballos’ letter to her beginning-to-homeschool self. She sure knows how to comfort the frazzled homeschooling mom!

As for me, I wrote an article about how to become a better family photographer. If you’re a novice behind the lens, you may enjoy it! And something about writing this feature stirred up photography in my life (before-hand I had pretty much put it to rest for awhile) because suddenly I found myself with three photography clients. What fun it was to take photographs beyond the family snapshots I had been taking! You can see my work on my photography website.

And this brings me to my next piece of news: I started a Facebook page for my photography. It will probably remain mostly personal work, which is what I intended my photo website to be, but I also wanted a way to connect more easily with my clients and share their photos. If you are interested, I’d love for you to follow me there.

Between all this busy-ness, I have not neglected my homeschooling duties, and my eight-year-old has been delving into some new interests. I already told you about our adventures with tardigrades. We also recently had the opportunity to visit a Makers Faire near Atlanta, and I wanted to go to that because I knew there would be a lot of robotics groups there showing off their latest creations. That’s because my eight-year-old has been interested in robots lately! I wish it were easier to support this interest faster, but since good robotics kits aren’t cheap, he’s going to have to wait a little while for his wish to come true on this one. Anyway, I’ll be sure to write about an easy scribble bot we assembled with a kit from the faire, and I also have a surprise continuation of a project that I thought was finished: growing mushrooms. You can read about part 1 here, and I’ll fill you in on part 2 soon. (Of course, if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you already know all this.)

I’ve been trying to support my five-year-old a little more with his drawing interest by displaying his work and also creating a corner in his room with art supplies and space to work! I’ll write about that, eventually.

Meanwhile, I’m getting ready for out-of-town guests. (I told you I’ve been busy, right?) So if you don’t hear from me for awhile, that’s why.

I hope you are having a wonderful fall season! Please write me and tell me what you’ve been up to.

Just a few magazine updates

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HSL-SU14This is an exciting week for me because the second issue of home / school / life  magazine will come out! That’s the Summer 2014 issue, and I think it will be just as good as the first one, if not better. I have written a few pieces for it, although the one I heart the most is the feature about homeschooling through a financial crisis. Deciding to homeschool can be a real strain on a family’s financial life because it usually means that one parent isn’t working. (I’ve written about the financial strain in my own house, and that post is still current.) The families that I interviewed, however, reveal a different story. They have each kept homeschooling a priority despite financial troubles. It gave me much to think about, and I hope that it helps you, if you’re dealing with a similar situation.

On July 1st I’ll also be sending out home / school / life’s free monthly newsletter. This has been a lot of fun for me to work on because I’ve been able to connect more with other homeschoolers who share their homeschooling tips, Student Spotlight photos, and favorite recipes. I’m also excited because we’re going to start giving away a free digital subscription to home / school / life magazine in our newsletter every other month to one of our newsletter subscribers. (Current magazine subscribers will receive an extra year for free.) If you haven’t signed up for this, you have nothing to lose, so why don’t you?! Sign up here.

Now that the summer issue is almost out, I’m going to be brainstorming for ideas on how to utilize the magazine’s social media some more. Our blog has been quiet because we’re all so busy working on the magazine, but we have plans to change that too.  I’m excited to try my hand at writing some meditations for homeschooling parents because inspiring people makes me happy. And I can always use the boost too! When I start posting those, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Oh, and FYI, home / school / life is also looking for a Tech Columnist who can keep homeschoolers up-to-date on all things tech. If you or anyone you know is interested, see the full job description.

As for Mama of Letters, I have plenty of ideas I would like to write about. It’s just a matter of finding the time to write it! I’m working on our end-of-year review, which entails a big slideshow. It’s fun, but it’s a lot of work. (I rarely put family photos into any kind of memory book or slideshow, so I’m making myself do this!) Since the magazine issue is wrapping up, I should be able to find some time in the next couple of weeks.

All is good, though. I love working for the magazine. I love spending leisurely summer days with my kids. I’m busy in a good way. I hope your summer is going well too. Please write me a note, if you’re willing. I love connecting with you.

Introducing… home / school / life magazine

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Layout 1

I’m interrupting my regularly scheduled program (ha) to introduce you to a new venture that I think you’re going to love.  home / school / life is a new, savvy, beautiful magazine for homeschoolers or anyone who wants to supplement their child’s school education with home education. It’s going to be unlike anything else out there.

And I am its senior editor.

It’s a long story, but last week I was approached about possibly taking on this role. It came as a big surprise, and I take it as a huge compliment that my (now) boss would want me to do this. I have been freelancing for Amy Sharony for her other magazine, Atlanta Homeschool, so I know she has many years experience in the magazine industry, and she produces an excellent product. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

I look forward to helping home / school / life magazine be the best publication of its kind. We will strive to make it not just a magazine but a place where you can come to ask questions, find useful information, and share your own story. I hope that we can create a friendly community of people who share that one, important commonality: we love our children and want them to have the best education possible.

It will be available in print to those who wish to subscribe, and there will also be a digital edition available online for a nominal fee. There will be a ton of free stuff available on its website too. The first issue will be available this spring.

What does this mean for Mama of Letters? Right now it is hard to tell how much time the magazine will take, but I hope to continue writing my newspaper column and working on my blog. However, I will probably have to cut back on the column and the amount of writing I do here.  My storytelling e-book project may have to wait awhile. I’m not giving anything up, but I will continue to do what I have always done: take it one step at a time.

This is a wonderful opportunity for me, and I’m excited that by collaborating with Amy and the other awesome people she has rounded up to make this an excellent magazine, we will be producing incredibly useful information for you that I could not possibly have done on my own in the same amount of time!

So I hope you will bookmark the website (there’s not much there yet), like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Pinterest, send us your ideas and questions, and keep an eye out for that first issue! Thank you!

My e-mail for home / school / life will be shelli (at) homeschoollifemag (dot) com but you can still reach me at shellipabis (at) gmail (dot) com too.

Find Me Elsewhere Today

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Just a short post today to tell you that I’m happily sharing more of my photography on the Mud Puddles to Meteors blog today. I’m flattered that they want to share my work! These are some of my favorite images from our trip to Amelia Island, Florida a couple of years ago. We were celebrating my in-laws 50th anniversary. Check that out by clicking here.

And, the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair found my post about the seven-year-old’s first science fair project, and they asked me if they could feature it on their blog as an example of how to get kids involved in science! Way to go, seven-year-old!! Check it out by clicking here.