Over the next few months I’m going to break down each subject and look at how we study it and what our favorite resources are.

Our family adheres to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education. To truly understand how to teach each subject, check out my series on Charlotte Mason’s 20 Principles.

Hymn study is one of those easy to neglect subjects. We write it off as unnecessary because we feel it’s either archaic or something that belongs in church (that is if your church still sing hymns. I hope you’re blessed to be at a church that does). But I encourage you to do hymn study with your kids. Singing has been a part of humanity for all of time and it’s only recently that we’ve consigned it to the “experts” and you really only hear people singing on stage or in church. Let’s sing in our homes, too. To sing is to be human. And what better to sing than the hymns?

Read more and find links on my Substack

I’m big on philosophy when it comes to education but at some point we need to stop thinking and discussing and actually do the thing. This is the nuts and bolts of it all.

How do we actually homeschool? What is the super practical application of the beautiful Charlotte Mason Philosophy?

1. If your child is under 6, get all thoughts of curriculum shopping out of your head and commit to these three things instead: Read great books, Go outside, Work on habits. (Trust me). That said, sometimes we are so excited about homeschooling, we just want to take it out on someone (i.e. your oldest child). If that’s you, consider this. ;)

2. If your child is school aged or high school aged, decide if you want to rely on an all-in-one curriculum like Ambleside Online or Simply Charlotte Mason, or if you’d like to piece it together for yourself.

3. Figure out what you want to teach each child (individual work) and what you can combine (group work, aka Morning Time). Or flip these if that makes more sense for you.

4. Use a planner of some sort to help you stay organized.

5. If you are putting together your own curriculum, plan your year/term/week (this podcast breaks this down).

6. Decide where these things will fit in your day (routine).

7. Cut the fat (we always want to do too much; make Margin now or regret it later).

8. Make your list and collect the curriculum and supplies you’ll need (Borrow, bargain-hunt, or buy).

9. Pick a start date. I suggest a Wednesday, not a Monday. You can also ease in and start Morning Time only on Monday, add individual readings on Tuesday, shoot for full day on Wednesday or whatever works best for your family. Make start day fun — cook a big delicious breakfast and take “back to school” pictures afterwards.

   1. Adjust the plan as needed. Remember, curriculum is a tool, not the master ;)

10. Resources*

    All six of Charlotte Mason’s volumes, but especially this one

    Sarah Mackenzie’s Teaching from Rest

    Ambleside Online is a time-tested, all-in-one (FREE!) curriculum

    Morning Time by Cindy Rollins

    Simply Charlotte Mason, especially the podcast and the curriculum builder

    The Lifegiving Home by Sally Clarkson and Sarah Clarkson

    Modern Miss Mason, especially her book

    Wild + Free, especially their conference, content bundles, and this book

    Get Started Homeschooling: Begin

    Get Started Homeschooling: Methods, Teaching Space & Routine

    Get Started Homeschooling: Subjects to Teach & Curriculum to Choose

    Get Started Homeschooling: Organizing & Planning

    Essential Rhythms for Busy Days

    Homeschool Rhythms: Get Ready

    Homeschool Rhythms: Rest Time

    Homeschool Rhythms: Reading Aloud

    Homeschool Rhythms: Individual Work

    Homeschool Rhythms: Group Work

    Homeschool Rhythms: Narrations

    Homeschool Rhythms: Morning Time

    On Starting Well

    On Littles (for those with children age 6 and under)

    On Education

    On Principles 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15: The Curriculum Issue

    On Rhythms & Routines

    ***The (Very Updated) Get Started Homeschooling Guide ***

    If you get stuck, email/message me to find out more about my private or group consultations to help you plan your homeschool year.

    Thank you for reading. I offer forever-free articles on my Substack every month and a paid monthly resource, as well. You can become a paid subscriber to support my work.

    If that’s not for you right now, shared links are the best way for others to find my work. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and share :).

     

I am not doing interviews right now, but I want to bring you some great talks from past seasons. Enjoy!

Homeschooling is not for the faint of heart. It requires endurance and initiative. It requires sacrifice and diligence. But it also requires something you might not realize…a sense of humor. We homeschool moms can be so serious; the stakes are high! We’re going against the grain! What if we mess up…this is our kids we’re talking about, after all?! But, but, but…we were never meant to completely reinvent the wheel, and one of the best things we can do for ourselves, our families, and our homeschool is to take ourselves just a tad less seriously.

If you are on Instagram, you have no doubt seen memes of classic artwork splashed with humorous text. Betsy Jenkins is the woman behind the memes and it’s her mission to make you laugh. She does an amazing job at this while simultaneously educating people on art and exposing them to a wide range of prints. Betsy’s homeschool memes began as a family thing and she started her Instagram account, “Homeschooling With the Classics” as a simple way to share them with a few friends. These few friends have multiplied into thousands of followers who are thirsty for a refreshing laugh in the midst of their busy homeschool day. She struck a chord in the community and for good reason; laughter is a soothing balm on a hard day and the mental refreshment that we need to persevere towards excellence. 

Join us today as Betsy and I indulge the importance of laughter in our homeschools.

• Betsy’s Instagram account, Homeschooling_with the Classics

If you’re just at the beginning of the high school years, it may feel like the end is still far off but I warn you, the ball sure does start rolling quickly once it starts.

The end is nigh, my friend. You’ve been working yourself out of a job and when you make it to the high school years, and you should begin to feel that change. It sounds somber to call it “the end,” but remember it’s just the end of a chapter and not the whole book. You’re still your teen’s parent, after all ;).

As I said in a past article, the high school years are a different animal in many ways, the lens often focused on the future. More complex subject matter, heavier work loads, afternoon jobs, driver’s license, friends, formals, sports, hobbies, dual enrollment classes, prep for the ACT, and post-high school plans disrupt what was previously a lovely and semi-predictable homeschool routine. All of these things require the same thing: more time.

A wise woman once told me when our kids were young that you really only have until they are fifteen. To do what, I was never quite sure, but now that we’re beyond that benchmark I know what she meant. Your role as a parent and educator changes. Your impact, though still felt, is felt in a different capacity. Your child’s world broadens and though you are likely still the most prominent voice — and should be — you are not the only one. There is a definite shift around this age as teens grapple for autonomy and understanding of who they are and how they fit in this world. They begin to look for purpose outside of your home.

While it’s a good, healthy, and necessary thing to grow, the bittersweet truth is your homeschool will begin to feel different as you have less control over everyone’s schedule. The long, leisurely days of family read alouds and afternoons spent on nature walks may start to disappear from your schedule if you’re not intentional. And let’s be honest, even if you are intentional, there just won’t be as much time for them as there used to be.

Read more on Substack

Follow me on Instagram

Check out my Website for archives and more

I am not doing interviews right now, but I want to bring you some great talks from past seasons. Enjoy!

Stories have been a part of human history from the very beginning and have been used as a powerful teaching tool throughout the centuries. Teaching through stories is a wonderful way to approach lessons in your homeschool, as well.

Jim Weiss is a household name among many homeschoolers. He made his mark by doing this very thing – teaching through stories. His seamless delivery and enchanting ability to tell a great tale allows him to weave important character development and historical fact into wonderful stories that listeners are happy to enjoy. Jim and his wife, Randy, were pioneers in the field when they began the journey of bringing stories to children via audio. It’s hard to remember, but there was a time before Audible ;).

Join us today as Jim talks about why oral stories matter so much and are worth including in our homeschool. Listening to stories is such a beautiful benefit for our outside-the-box kiddos. his storytelling, Jim makes these timeless tales accessible to kids who might not otherwise be able to enjoy them independently.

• why stories matter so much
• how you can include Jim’s audios into your homeschool teaching
• why teaching through stories is so powerful
• how storytelling makes these great lessons and tales accessible to our outside-the-box kiddos
• an example of Jim’s storytelling ability as he performs one of my family’s favorite poems, “Jabberwocky” (You know how I love poetry)
• why these timeless tales are so important to us today

While I am not able to do interviews right now, I want to bring you some great talks from past seasons.

Join me for the replay of a fantastic interview with Bryn Hogan.

Are you ready to see autism in a new light?

So often the conversation about autism is surrounded by a list of limitations. And let's face it, living the daily grind as a parent of a child on the spectrum sometimes really highlights those limitations. Join us today as Bryn Hogan, Executive Director of the Autism Treatment Center of America® talks about how the program came to be and what makes it is so radically different (in a fantastic way) and why that makes this therapy program so effective. Bryn is a breath of fresh air in what can be a very overwhelming environment when you have a child with autism. She will free you of the pressure and guilt that often come hand-in-hand with being an autism mom and set you on a path to move forward in a positive and uplifting way to help your child.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• what autism really is and why it's not the enemy
• why your attitude is so critical to your child's growth
• why you can't train a child not to be autistic and what you can do instead
• how to have a beautiful relationship with your child no matter where they are on the spectrum
• what you can do immediately (as soon as you finish listening!) to help your child

• Autism Treatment Center of America®
• Finding Your New Normal
• What is the Son-Rise Program®?
• Autism Breakthrough: The Groundbreaking Method That Has Helped Families All Over the World  (affiliate link)
• Son-Rise Miracle of Love DVD
• The Son-Rise Program Social Curriculum (Developmental Model)
• How to Get Started 
• Autistic Logistics (affiliate link)
• The Son-Rise Program® Online

While I am not able to do interviews right now, I want to bring you some great talks from past seasons. 

Join me for the replay of a fantastic interview with Melissa McMahan.

Homeschooling High School…what is it about this phrase that makes even the most confident homeschool mama shake in her boots a little? The expectations seem to go through the roof. The pressure from the elusive yet always present critics “out there” seems to double. And the group of moms who’ve gone ahead of you who have the credibility to cheer you on seems to thin out drastically the longer you homeschool.

Melissa McMahan – YouTube host and mother of five lovely daughters – has homeschooled from the beginning and is still going strong with high schoolers in the mix and she’s here to tell you…don’t give up. High school can be a really wonderful and rewarding time with your children despite the extra weight that it brings.

Join us today as Melissa encourages us to find the joy in homeschooling our children during high school and use it as a time of connection and preparation for their launch into the world.

• Why you should take the high school years seriously…but not in a fearful way
• How humility is the secret trick to homeschooling high school
• How mom’s role shifts in the high school years
• How to have a “together time” in the high school years
• How the high school years look when you have younger ones
• The value of car time
• Why homeschooling high school is ideal for OTB kids
• Why you shouldn’t quit before the harvest
• All about the coolest field trip Melissa ever took her girls on
• How to get prepared to launch your kids into the world

This is the crux of it all.

When you are homeschooling kids in the K-8 range, you are in the sweet spot, my friend. The pre-school years are largely spent cleaning up messes and putting out fires (hopefully only theoretically ones, but you never know), and trying to get a handle on how to run a home with littles running underfoot. You’re building your philosophy(whether you realize it or not) and coming up with routines to create a (mostly) well run home. While I would argue that Kindergarten is really part of the early years and doesn’t need to be lumped with the school years, I understand that’s a pretty counter cultural opinion. For the sake of this article let’s agree that we’re talking about kids who have started formal schooling, around age 6 or 7, or Year 1 in Ambleside-speak.

The high school years are a different animal in many ways, the lens often focused on the future. More complex subject matter, heavier work loads, afternoon jobs, friends, formals, sports, hobbies, dual enrollment classes, prep for the ACT, and post-high school plans disrupt what was previously a lovely and semi-predictable homeschool routine. While it’s a good, healthy, and necessary thing to grow, the bittersweet truth is your homeschool will begin to feel different as you have less control over everyone’s schedule.

Don’t get me wrong; I love both the precious moments of the pre-school years and the independent nature of the high school years but when most people think of homeschooling — at least the homeschool of Instagram reels — I’m sure images from the K-8 years are what come to mind. And not without good reason.

Read more on Substack

Follow me on Instagram

Check out my Website for archives and more

While I am not able to do interviews right now, I want to bring you some great talks from past seasons. 

Join me for the replay of a fantastic interview with Andrew Pudewa.

Are you raising effective communicators?

Andrew Pudewa is a well-known name in the homeschool world and for good reason. His ideas on effective communication and the arts of language - listening, speaking, reading, and writing - have helped to shape our homeschool over the years.

I'm excited to share with you today some practical and thought-provoking ideas on how to help your child - no matter what his challenges - to become a more effective communicator and to understand why it's so important.

In This Episode You'll Hear: 

• how you can help your children to grow in their thinking and communication skills
• how the Four Arts of Language will make you think differently about Language Arts
• why age and ability have little to do with each other
• why IEW's products work so well with all children, no matter what their challenges

• Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)
• Suzuki Method
• Andrew’s “Nurturing Competent Communicators” Talk
• Sarah Mackenzie and the Read-Aloud Revival
• “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
• “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer
• The Arts of Language Podcast

Isn’t this the best month of the year to talk about this?

It seems like January is the time we all want to finally get our lives together and give a valiant effort to do so.

Despite our best efforts, though, somehow the new of the year wears off over the months and by the time the weather warms, life is in its lovely, unavoidable spiral once more.

So why bother?

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