Season 2, Episode 19

*Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*

You know we just LOVE read alouds, so why not offer you some suggestions for the most wonderful time of the year!?! This episode if full of books we think make for terrific reading as a family! We start with picture books, then move to middle grade and up. We even give some suggestions for the teacher(s)! Enjoy, friends!

2:10 Homeschooling Moments of the Week: Rachel (new vision therapy)

4:00 HSMotW: Mindy (Jubilee’s presentation)

5:23 S1E14 (Some of) Our Favorite Read Alouds

5:24 S1E34 Round 2 of (Some of) Our Favorite Read Alouds

5:45 Topic Talk: Christmas Read Alouds

5:50 How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess

5: 53 A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schultz

6:05 Picture Books Shared by Rachel:

6:10 The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

7:19 Mr. Willoughby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry

8:00 The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

8:30 Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco

9:24 An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco

10:03 The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll by Patricia C. McKissack

11:15 Apple Tree Christmas by Trinka Hankes Nobel

11:47 The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

13:07 Jotham’s Journey by Arnold Ytreeide

Christmas Chapter Books Shared by Mindy:

16:24 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

17:15 The True Gift by Patricia MacMachlan

18:27 How Winston Delivered Christmas by Alex T. Smith

19: 48 The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig

21:05 The Paperbag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne

21:57 A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig

23:08 Letters from Father Christmas by JRR Tolkien

24:44 The Toymaker’s Apprentice by Sherri L. Smith

27:01 The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries Edited by Otto Penzler

28:53 Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan

28:56 Currently Reading Podcast

30:40 Comments on need for Middle Grade Christmas books by POC authors

31:17 Refer back to this moment when 4 authors Mindy reached out to publish some ;)

Teacher Books shared by Mindy:

31:45 The Treasury of African-American Christmas Stories by Bettye Collier-Thomas

32:32 The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

22:25 The Deal of a Lifetime by Frederick Backman

34:15 Make It Personal for Near and Far Bookends: Share your fave Christmas read alouds on our IG post

34:Take This With You: Make S2E18 Easy Music Appreciation and Read Alouds the biggest part of your homeschooling this month… relax and read together!

Bookend Homeschoolers on IG

Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG

Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG

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*Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*

One of the easiest subjects to add to our homeschool is music appreciation! Hear (see what we did there?) why and how and tips! Mindy asks Rachel some ways she incorporates music appreciation into her homeschooling for this episode and listens intentionally (again, see what we did there?). We have two ?? Homeschooling Moments of the Week, easy ways to Make It Personal, and ? to end the episode out. Enjoy this in your ears (one more time)!

1:24 Homeschooling Moments of the Week: Rachel (yay, being off & requesting math!)

2:15 HSMOT: Mindy (DJ Paulie in the car)

3:58 S2E4 Easy Art Appreciation

4:04 Topic Talk: Easy Music Appreciation

4:20 Rachel’s musical background

5:33 Mindy’s musical background

6:53 Benefits of including this

11:47 Tips for adding this to your homeschool

16:22 Yo-Yo Ma

16:23 Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach’s Cello Suite No.1

16:28 The Piano Guys playing Bach’s Cello Suite No.1

17:31 Some women classical composers

Institute for Composer Diversity!

18:50 Two Cellos

19:02 Two Cellos “Sweet Child of Mine” (Mindy is now smitten with this!!)

19:03 Two Cellos “Thunderstruck”

19:21 Pandora Station The Piano Guys

20:05 Vivaldi

24:14 S1E13 Homeschooling During the Holidays

25:56 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (play music)

26:18 Bluetooth speakers we love for our homeschool-

Rachel’s fave Mindy’s fave

27:10 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (modern composer… Alex Lacamoire, Mindy and Chloe’s BFF- see photo on site. Yes, we are super proud!)

27:50 Hamilton

28:16 Take This With You: Mindy (Handel’s Water Music for our brains)

30:43 Take This With You: Rachel (As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride)

Bookend Homeschoolers on IG

Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG

Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG

Our Zazzle store!

This episode finds Near Bookend and Far Bookend thankful lists! Homeschooling is hard, tiring, and work. It is also amazing and gives us quite a bit. Hear a bit more of Rachel and Mindy’s journeys at they share their Top Ten on this topic! Hear two great Homeschooling Moments of the Week, two easy ways to Make It Personal, and encouragement!

*Please note that some products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*

1:32 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel

2:51 Frog and Toad Books

3:00 HSMotW: Mindy

4:48 Topic Talk: What We Are Thankful for in our Homeschool Journeys

5:17 Rachel #1 Breva Expresso Machine

6:20 Mindy #1: Read aloud memories

6:45 Rachel #2: Good books

7:17 Mindy #2: Curriculum that brought her really great books

7:49 Rachel #3: Large laminated maps

9:46 Mindy #3: Supportive Mom and Dad (Papalou)

10:23 Rachel #4: Really supportive family

11:18 Mindy #4: Vacations at discounted times

12:16 Rachel #5: Being in the trenches together

13:24 Mindy #5: Homeschooling friends for weekly get togethers

14:02 Rachel #6: Three amazing friends

15:33 Mindy #6: Co-ops at the right time and place

16:14 Rachel #7: Great tip right off the bat

17:39 Mindy #7: Found the right fit curric right off the bat

18:43: Rachel #8: Homeschooling in the internet age

20:38 Mindy #8: Homeschooling friendly states

21:26 Rachel #9: Specialists

22:49 Mindy #9: Evenings free of school stress

23:21 Rachel #10: Family time in abundance

23:43 Mindy #10: 23 years!!!

24: 22 Paul Brouse’s IG and email [email protected] :) Help a sistah out!

24:50 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (write it down!)

25:33 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (have your kids write it down)

26:13 Take This With You: Rachel (enjoy the holidays as a homeschooler)

26:38 Dec 5th will be our Christmas Read Aloud episode!

26:54 S1E13 Homeschooling During the Holidays

27:38 Take This With You: Mindy (Homeschooling = the Thanksgiving table)

Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram Mindy at gratefulforgrace Rachel at colemountainhomeschool

Our Zazzle store!

Today we continue our discussion on burn out. We shared last week things we should not do, so today we bring you things to do to help start recovering from burn out. We care. Mindy has been there. We also start with two great Homeschooling Moments of the Week, provide ways to Make It Personal, and end with two tips this week! Enjoy S2E16 now!

1:30 Homeschooling Moments of the Week: Mindy (family reading time)

2:25 HSMotW: Rachel (Halloween homeschooling Amelia Earhart awesomeness)

3:52 Topic Talk: Burn Out- What to Do

4:01 S2E15 Burn Out: What Not to Do

5:22 Talk to Someone (spouse, counselor, friend)

8:05 Thing about what’s NOT working?

8:27 S2E14 Being the “Bad Guy”

10:30 S1E2 Choose Your Method

11:11 S1E1 Know Your Why

14:37 Consider this could be hormonal or depression?

15:34 Lean into relationships

16:21 Go back to homeschooling loves

17:03 Truly address the changes in our lives due to this season of history

19:26 Find our people

20:37 Consider a big yearly schedule change

22:04 Take care of yourself (for real)

24:3 0 Evaluate our social media usage

28:37 Look into outsourcing

30:33 S2E9 But Are You REALLY a Homeschooler?

31:21 Make It Personal: Near Bookends

32:00 Make It Personal: Far Bookends

33:15 Take This With You: Mindy (artichoke casserole tip)

34:0 9 Take This With You: Rachel (marshmallow hack)

Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram Mindy at gratefulforgrace Rachel at colemountainhomeschool

Our Zazzle store!

Artichoke Casserole 2 cans (drain and save water) artichoke hearts

1 c Italian shredded cheese, 1c Italian bread crumbs, 2T minced garlic, 1 tsp Italian seasoning. Mix. Spread artichoke in a baking dish. Spread mixture on top.

Lightly pour the artichoke water on top and allow to soak in. I poke the crumb mixture with a toothpick before pouring the water.

After water soaks in, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

Bake at 350 covered until bubbly, then uncovered to lightly brown.

Share. IF you want.

It’s time for a tough topic: burn out and homeschooling. It’s for sure a real and difficult thing. Hear our hearts as we dive into this topic, but first hear some fun homeschooling moments.  We end with encouragement and a tip this week! 

1:38 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel

4:28 HSMotW: Mindy

4:55 The Jam on Jerry’s Rock

6:45 Topic Talk: Burn Out and what NOT to do

7:22 Love you, Darcy!

7:38 What is burn out?

10:43 Symptoms of burn out

12:16 Please seek help if you are depressed

12:30 Find a counselor near you

12:30 Suicide Hotline: 800-273-8255

14:22 Some things NOT to do for burn out

15:25 S2E2 Keeping (or Getting) a Sense of Humor with guest Betsy Jenkins

27:34 Make It Personal: Near Bookends

29:44 Make It Personal: Far Bookends

30:15 Take This With You: Rachel

31:28 Take This With You: Mindy

Come back next week for Burn Out: What To Do

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Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram Mindy at gratefulforgrace

Rachel at colemountainhomeschool

Have you ever felt like the “Bad Guy” in your homeschool? It’s a common feeling, unfortunately. Mindy and Rachel bemoan this and share some remedies and prevention tactics. As usual, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week (two really special ones!), give you ways to Make It Personal (yeah, homework), and end with some encouragements or hacks (a great product and an easy hack this week!). Enjoy Season 2 Episode 14!

1:45 Homeschooling Moments of the Week: Mindy’s (Jubilee to first class setting)

2:50 HSMotW: Rachel’s (Moonlight Sonata recognition!)

4:36 Topic Talk: Being the Bad Guy

11:44 How Do I Get My Child to Actually Do This? S1E7

16:40 Smile to Frown idea from Mindy

21:32 Two Types of Field Trips S2E11

21:3 Doing Something Hilarious S2E8

21:39 Embracing Our Kids for Who They Are S2E5

23:35 Make It Personal: Near Bookends

25:51 Make It Personal : Far Bookends

26:50 Take This With You: Mindy (homeschooling parent bestie product: Smart Warm Coaster)

27:32 Meredith Monday-Schwartz Remote Schooling S1E27

27:37 Currently Reading Podcast

29:00 Take This With You: Rachel (cup assignment idea)

Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram Mindy at gratefulforgrace Rachel at colemountainhomeschool

Our Zazzle store!

*Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*

Oh, y’all! We are super pumped about this episode. Reading is near and dear to us, but book clubs make reading even better! Join us as we chat with Amy Allen Clark about book clubs and the benefits for moms, working, homeschooling, or anything! You’ll get some tips and suggestions along with some Homeschooling Moments of the Week, ways to make the topic personal, and encouragement. You may also hear Project Hail Mary a few times! Enjoy Season 2, Episode 13 now.

Amy Allen Clark of MomAdvice.com

1:43 Homeschooling Moments of the Week

3:45 Betsy Jenkins guest Bookend Homeschoolers S2E2

4:07 Bookmans in Flagstaff

4:13 Jurassic Park

5:08 Topic Talk: Book Clubs for us?

5:42 Amy on Bookstagram

Book Gang on MomAdvice

8:08 Mom Advice Book Club

10:13 Benefits of being in a book club

11:45 Tips to being in a book club

14:22 Hamnet Spotify Playlist (yeah, yeah… Amy didn’t mention a specific one, but I couldn’t pass this chance up!)

22:06 Leave the World Behind

23:58 The Midnight Library

24:01Project Hail Mary

26:00 A Cup of Joe blog

26:04 Article club idea!

28:00 Hamnet (Hi, Liz! My precious Hamnet Pusher)

28:01 Harry’s Trees

28:44 Make It Personal: Near Bookends

30:04 The high bar set by Rachel’s first book club

30:36 What Rachel walked away with from being a part of her first book chat

33:05 Make it Personal: Far Bookends

33:37 Take This With You: Mindy (benefits of daily reading time)

34:16 Take This With You: Rachel (personal pizzas)

Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram Mindy at gratefulforgrace Rachel at colemountainhomeschool

Amy Allen Clark on IG momadvice and at Mom Advice.com

Our Zazzle store!

Rachel asks Mindy about the difference in parenting the 1st versus the 7th in today’s episode! Rachel got to ask ANYTHING, so there are confessions and hilarity. We don’t talk homeschooling issues in this episode, but that is coming in a few weeks! Bedtime, TV, gaming, books, and more for how Mindy did it 24 years ago and how she’s doing it now. As usual, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, then dive into our topic, suggest a Make It Personal, and end with someone lovely.

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3:15 Homeschooling Moments of the Week

6:40 Topic Talk: Ask Mindy anything for 1st vs 7th kid

13:36 Nintendo Wii (feel free to buy big items through our links! ;) )

15:49 Harry Potter series

20:20 The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi

23:33 Call out lies! Bookend Homeschoolers S2E2 Keeping a Sense of Humor with Betsy Jenkins

25:47 Boy undies!! YAY!

27:48 Geronimo Stilton books

28:00 Common Sense Media

28: 13 The Martian

28:20 Mandie books

28:24 Anne of Green Gables

28:29 Project Hail Mary

28:38 Make It Personal: Both Bookends

Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram - go comment: 1st vs (current caboose)

29:51 Take This With You: Mindy (laugh!)

30:05 Ted Lasso

Take This With You: Rachel (see a friend)

Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram Mindy at gratefulforgrace Rachel at colemountainhomeschool

Our Zazzle store!

  *Please note that all products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*

We love field trips as homeschoolers! Right? Mindy & Rachel talk about two types of field trips and how to make the most of them as homeschoolers. Which kind do you lean towards? How can you up your field trip game? As usual, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, dive into Topic Talk, provide ways to Make It Personal, and end with a couple of hacks!

2:20 Homeschooling Moments of the Week

4:20 Topic Talk: Two Types of Field Trips and How to Make the Most of Them!

5:33 Car Schooling S1 Ep11 Bookend Homeschoolers

6:00 Two types of field trips: explanation

8:22 Lesson field trips

10:40 Japan Guide S1 E39 Bookend Homechoolers

10:43 Fat Bear Week Guide S2 E8 Bookend Homeschoolers

17:44 Experience field trips

24:55 Make It Personal: Near Bookends

25:57 Make It Personal: Far Bookends

26:43 Take This With You: Rachel (two kits to keep in the car!)

27:00 Mindy’s Diaper Hack for Spills in the Take This With You in S2Ep9 at the 26:31 mark

30:00 Take This With You: Mindy (what to keep in the car also)

Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram Mindy at gratefulforgrace

Rachel at colemountainhomeschool

Homeschooling happens … at home. And that means life messes. How do we handle chores and homeschooling? Hear Mindy and Rachel share different dos and don’ts. As usual, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week (you know Fat Bears will be involved this week, right?), provide ways to make it personal, and end with something positive!

2:00 Homeschooling Moments of the Week

2:06 Fat Bear Week on explore.org

2:16 Fat Bear Week Mini-unit and S2 Ep Why Take the Time to Do Something Hilarious?

5:12 Topic Talk: How to Incorporate Chores Into Homeschooling

7:06 Remote Schooling with Meredith Monday-Schwartz S1 E27 Bookend Homeschoolers

8:16 Charlotte Mason in Choose Your Method S1 E2 Bookend Homeschoolers

25:56 Make it Personal: Far Bookends

26:32 Make It Personal: Near Bookends

29:00 Take This With You: Mindy (s’mores hack)

Sorta Awesome Show

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30:16 Take This With You: Rachel (suggestion) Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram Mindy at gratefulforgrace

Rachel at colemountainhomeschool