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In this episode, we talk about what summer break looks like in our house, and what options are available for homeschoolers.  

What about highschoolers? 

How do we know how to choose curriculum, there is so much to choose from, what’s right for our family?

How do we moderate what comes into our house and ensure it gets used?

 4:16 - What does summer vacation look like? When does it start? 
11:58 - How to choose curriculum
29:37 - How to moderate what curriculum you bring in
36:42 - Exposing ourselves to beautiful literature

Theology of dirt

My personal Facebook page

Always learning

Ruth Beechik three r’s

YouTube homeschool workshop

Teaching children without curriculum

history timeline game:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FX71HC8/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_I2o8EbND93QVC

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In this episode, Elizabeth and I discuss the importance of reading and some of our favourite story books - here are the links to the books we talked about:  

Go Dog Go
Clown of God
Something from Nothing
My Very First Mother Goose
D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths
The Tale of the Three Trees
books by: Tomie de Paola
Journey Aaron Becker (wordless)
Elephant and Piggie books my Mo Willems
Ignis by P.J. Lynch
The guardians of Childhood series by William Joyce
any books by Don and Audrey Wood

2:04 - Importance of reading books that we like 
6:16 - Elizabeth and Bonnie share their story book selections 
33:37 - How to pull curriculum out of a book 
35:25 - Books create a family culture 
39:07 - Wordless books 

And a few resources for reading: 
books
reading gets an upgrade

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This week, Elizabeth and I discuss several questions on dictation.  What is dictation, how does it work?  When do you start dictation, and how long do you do dictation?  What can you learn in dictation?  What about high school? 

How does it look at times of crises, or during pregnancy or post partum? 

0:58 - What is dictation? 
2:26 - What is the importance of dictation? 
3:55 - How many times should you repeat the sentence? 
8:11 - Is telling the child the answer as helpful as letting them figure it out? 
11:25 - Could dictation take the place of a curriculum? 
13:18 - How do you know what to teach without a curriculum? 
16:49 - What are some common challenges with dictation? 
23:32 - What ages do you start dictation? 
27:02 - Dictation and poetry
32:47 - How dictation can work during pregnancy
35:30 - Where is the best place to do dictation? 

On Dictation

Dictation example

Resources for dictation

More dictation thoughts 

How children learn to read through dictation

The difference between dictation and writing

Dictation what does it look like 

Dictation help on pinterest

Usborne Grammar and Punctuation

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In this episode we talk about the importance of building the relationship and reducing the drama.  It affects our whole day, not gonna lie.

3:30 - How can I transition away from coercive parenting?
20:33 - Disinterested service (CCC 2223)  
23:57 - When kids are fighting with each other 
30:55 - When a child refuses to join a family read-aloud
36:25 - Advice for teaching Language Arts
38:03 - Does your routine change during pregnancy and post-partum? 

Parent resources:

Hold Onto Your Kids by Gordon Nuefeld 

Judy Arnall (professional parenting

Why attachment?

A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

Carrot and Stick

Catechism quote

Reading Aloud

The effect of reactivity

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Do your kids get input on what you study and how you spend your day?

How do you decide what to cover each year?

How do you know what to do next?

Is it important to have mentors?

How does technology play into home education?

Are there good apps for kids that you’ve come across?

Reading aloud…how much do you prepare? 

Creating an environment where kids learn to love learning.

The importance of encyclopedias.

1:28 - How do you decide what to cover and do you let your kids have input? 
4:01 - Interest based studying (History) 
8:45 - One on one subjects (Math & Language arts) 
11:07 - The importance of having a mentor and mentoring others 
14:37 - Using Apps in homeschool 
18:07 - What order should we teach History? 
30:46 - Should we prepare a lesson plan when reading aloud? 
33:54 - Using encyclopedias 
38:30 - Tips for buying encyclopedias 

Blog post, what to teach when

Blog post, The importance of mentorship

Shakespeare graphic novels

Saints Chronicles

Hazardous Tales

Anatomy books

ALSO!  Please feel free to send us apps you love for education, as that question came up!

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The first half of this episode discusses a question about prayer life in the family, finding time, developing habits.  As I have a lot of secular followers, I wanted to qualify that I don’t think it will be a waste of time for you!  Finding time for self reflection, gratitude, sorting out our ideals and expectations are built on the same ideas...building routines, developing mastery of ourselves in small ways daily. 

Here are the things we discussed in today’s show:

• Building family prayer life, the importance of routine and mastery
• We share some favourite family prayers
• What happens when the day goes sideways, and how should we respond to meltdowns
• Keeping our kids close
• How do we know when homeschooling isn’t working

1:44 - How do you start a family prayer routine? 
15:38 - Prayers for kids and family 
25:33 - What to do when children are not joyful
32:40 - When homeschooling isn't working

And here are some links to 

Family prayer life, responding to angst, and when do we know that homeschooling isn’t working

AVOIDING BUTTING HEADS

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This week, Elizabeth brings some basic questions about what Bonnie believes about joy.  As the episode unfolds, they discuss what the ideal day might look like, the proper place of curriculum in our homeschool life, all those unused curriculum sitting in storage...

Some thoughts on structure and planning our day, and balancing self care with the sacrifice we make as parents. 

4:07 - The importance of having ideals
5:02 - Leading by modeling virtue 
9:09 - Challenging children appropriately 
11:46 - Planning for self-care 
16:19 - What does a typical homeschool day look like? 
23:03 - Routine over schedule 
24:02 - Homeschool curriculum 
33:56 - Importance of keeping records 

Some resources were mentioned, here are those links

Ruth Beechik, The Three R's

Homeschooling, simplified: dictation

Bonnie's full day workshop in four parts on YouTube

Planning our time (blog post, with templates)

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