Want to be the hero of your homeschool week? Pull out a game board!

In this episode, Ginny and Mary Ellen share how to “gamify” your homeschooling—turning lessons into fun challenges that build motivation, confidence, and joy in learning. Discover how games activate the brain’s reward system, sneak in skill-building, and bring your family closer together (while making Mom look like a genius).

Show Notes:

• Activating the brain’s reward system releases dopamine—making learning pleasurable.
• A perfect boost for memorizing math facts, Latin declensions, and more.
• Board games and gamified lessons can be your best-kept homeschool secret.

Playing Games vs. Gamifying Lessons

Playing Games = Using an existing board, card, or online game to reinforce skills.
Gamifying Lessons = Adding game-style elements—points, levels, challenges—to regular schoolwork.

Gamification makes learning feel like play by adding:

• Friendly competition
• Small rewards
• Visible achievements

 The focus is still on learning, but the experience feels like a game!

How to Gamify Your Homeschool

• Award points or badges for completed tasks.
• Allow badges to be traded for privileges (screen time, outings, desserts).
• Laugh about it—yes, it’s a little like potty-training bribery, but it works!

Examples:

• Each handwriting sheet = 5 minutes of tablet time.
• A near-perfect math lesson = 10 extra minutes before bedtime.
• “Beat the clock” challenges for spelling or Latin drills.
• 100-day streak = family outing or prize.

Learning Through Play

Games aren’t just fun—they teach life lessons:

• Taking turns and waiting patiently
• Losing gracefully and trying again
• Congratulating others on success
• Counting, reading, strategy, and critical thinking

Favorite Educational Games

Try these family favorites for skill-building and fun:

• Scrabble – spelling and vocabulary
• Bird Bingo – nature and observation
• Yahtzee – math and probability
• Count Your Chickens (Peaceable Kingdom) – teamwork for younger kids
• Kerplunk – logic and planning
• Memory games – recall and focus
• Monopoly – money management
• Math Bingo or Flashcard War – fast-paced review

More Ways to Gamify Reading & Writing

• Reading Bingo: Make a bingo card with challenges like “Read under a blanket with a flashlight” or “Read a poem aloud.” Each square earns points or stickers.
• Story Quests: Break a writing assignment into “quest steps”—draft, edit, illustrate, share. Each completed step earns a “quest token.” Collect enough tokens and unlock a special reward.
• Monster Battle Spelling Test: Present spelling words as a “battle.” Each correct word defeats part of the “monster.” If all the words are correct, the student wins the battle.

Gamifying Math

• Timed Challenges: Beat the clock on a set of problems and earn a badge for each level (bronze, silver, gold).
• XP Points for Mastery: Each new math skill mastered earns “experience points.” At certain totals, the student “levels up.”
• Treasure Hunt Problems: Hide math problems around the house. Each correctly solved problem gives a clue to where the “treasure” (small prize or snack) is hidden.

Gamifying History & Science

• Timeline Quests: For each chapter studied, students earn a “timeline card” to add to a big wall chart. When the timeline is complete, they unlock a “History Hero” badge.
• Experiment Badges: Every science experiment successfully carried out earns a lab badge (like “Junior Chemist” or “Rocket Scientist”).
• Exploration Maps: Track progress on a map—e.g., each time they learn about a new country or historical event, place a sticker or flag to “conquer” that territory.

Everyday Gamification

• Streaks & Challenges: Track days in a row of practicing piano, praying morning prayers, or writing in a journal. Celebrate hitting the streak goal.

Bottom Line: Whether you’re playing a classic game or creating your own, the goal is joyful learning. Sometimes the lesson is math or spelling—sometimes it’s simply family togetherness.

❤️ Homeschooling Resources

• Seton Home Study School
• Seton Testing Services

So many problems that homeschool moms face can be solved by developing the habit of consistency. Lack of consistency has derailed many a homeschool.

Today, Ginny and Mary Ellen distill their years of experience into ten simple and practical tips to bring harmony of practice, firmness of character, and lasting success to your homeschool.

Show Notes:

Consistency can be hard in every season of homeschool life. It’s hard for everyone. Mostly it’s about developing good habits, and each year presents a new set of circumstances, so new habits and routines must be developed.

These Ten Tips Will Help Get You in the New Groove.

• Have weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals.
• Start the day with what is most important and difficult to get done.  
• Keep to a daily rhythm: do the same things at around the same time every day. Children, especially small children, do much better with routines.
• Set clear expectations. 
• Habit stack. The excellent book Habit Stacking by S.J. Scott recommends linking a new habit to an already existing one.  For example, you brush your teeth every morning, so while you are doing that, you can say your morning offering. 
• Treat your homeschool hours as sacrosanct.  Do not look at your phone, turn on the TV, or answer the door. You are at work, and only emergencies should distract you.
• Be miserly with your time outside of homeschool. Carefully and prayerfully discern outside activities. 
• Have a “set in concrete” check-in time for each child to keep them accountable and to make sure they are keeping up with the work.
• Don’t schedule too much work in a day. 
• a.    Start with too little and gradually increase to the sweet spot. 
• b.    Do some subjects like history and science every other day. 
• c.     Make a schedule that works for each child. Overwhelm is death to consistency.
• Once in a while, be inconsistent. Stepping out of the box helps keep you on track when you need to be.

Habit Stacking by S.J. Scott

Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services

Remember life as a newlywed?  You vaguely knew you would have to cook, but hey, your husband could cook, and maybe you'd eat dinner out sometimes. 

Now, three or four kids later, you barely have time to shop for the food, much less prepare it!  Need help? Ginny and Mary Ellen have solutions and more on today's podcast.

Show Notes:

Struggling to find time to plan and prepare meals?

Use the KISS Meal Plan: Keep it Simple, Stupid

1. Remember, leftovers are your friend - Find ways to stretch one meal into two.

* If your family goes through one pound of pasta at dinner, make two.  Have it for lunch the next day or for dinner two days from now. - Add some cheese and make mac and cheese, or red sauce, a bit of meat, and some pizza cheese, and make poor man's lasagna.   

* If you buy a rotisserie chicken, put the carcass in a slow cooker with veggies and have soup later in the week.  

2. Want to have a salad every night?

* Want the health benefits, but don't feel like preparing one? Make a big salad one night. Store it in the fridge in a covered container with a napkin or paper towel in it.  

* The paper absorbs moisture, keeping the salad fresh.

3. Think simple

* Nothing is easier than baked potatoes; wash them, prick with a fork, and bake.  

* Fancy potato dishes can wait until the kids get older.

4. Teaching Life Skills through Meal Prep

* At four years old, teach your oldest to set the table, and it's off your to-do list forever.

* Kids are more likely to try a food they have helped prepare.

* Teach your primary school children to:

• Scrub potatoes
• Peel and chop veggies
• Dip cutlets in eggs and bread crumbs
• You are teaching them your family's heritage

5. Food choices

Our children have an obesity problem and need to eat healthier foods. Here are some hints:

• Serve fresh, healthy food first. Let kids make a fruit or veggie tray as an appetizer.
• One menu only – this is dinner –take it or leave it. 
• Have to take a taste.
• Enjoy food with your children.

6. Mealtime manners 

• Children's likes and dislikes are not proper table talk; if the child doesn't like something, the correct way to express that is, "No thank you," when the food is offered.
• No eating before grace
• No reaching 
• No disgusting behavior like chewing with your mouth open
• Don't hunch over food – no one is coming to steal it from you
• No screens, just conversation – 3 things you are thankful for; someone you helped today
• Ask to be excused
• Rules like placing your napkin on your lap or using utensils instead of your fingers to pick up food may seem overly formal for family meals.  But today's young adults report feeling uncomfortable when they have to attend business luncheons.

7. After dinner

• Everyone clears their own place
• An older child or parent rinses and stacks
• Younger child loads the dishwasher
• A child wipes the table and fixes the chairs
• The floor is swept
• Consider setting the table for tomorrow's breakfast

Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services

Has anyone questioned your sanity for deciding to homeschool? 

The questions you hear range from silly to insulting. Today, Mary Ellen and Ginny prepare you for those questions in a fun way.

Show Notes:

Don't be caught off guard. These replies, mostly tongue-in-cheek, provide responses to various things homeschool detractors might say to you. 

1. Homeschooling? Is that even legal?

The pandemic may have rendered this question moot, but I have received it nonetheless. The reply is that, yes, of course it is legal in all fifty states. Homeschooling, thanks to the efforts of some brave mothers and fathers, including Dr. Mary Kay Clark, is now legal and even commonplace in the United States.

2. Aren't you concerned that your children will have no friends? What about socialization?

That this question continues to be asked astonishes me. Study after study shows that homeschooled children do as well or better in social situations than children who attend brick-and-mortar schools.

3. You must be so patient.

I have a little secret to tell you. I lack patience. 

"I have more patience for my own children than I would have for thirty children in a classroom."

That usually stops the conversation.

4. Your children will know nothing of the world or of pop culture.

Your reply to this silly question can be, "Which R-rated movie would you suggest my ten-year-old see to bring him up to speed?"

5. How will you teach calculus?

When people ask what I am going to do about calculus, ancient Greek, or organic chemistry, I generally say, "Well, I thought I might ask you to tutor them. After all, you went to public school, so you must be qualified."

6. What about the prom? How can you deny your child a prom?

The fact is, many homeschool groups hold proms for their high school kids because if a homeschooled kid wants a prom, he/she will plan and execute one with a little guidance from an adult. Homeschooled kids are like that; they get stuff done.

7. I could never homeschool; I want my kids to have a life.

You want them to have a life, so you lock them in the same room every day with the same twenty-five people, listening to the same person day after day. In contrast, my children are out in the world, meeting people, taking classes, and having the freedom to try new things. Tell me again, who is lacking life experiences?

8. Why would you want your kids around all day? Don't they drive you crazy?

Here's the thing: I actually like my kids. I'm glad I have them. They are funny and smart, and their presence fills me with joy and gratitude.

That's not to say that they don't drive me crazy sometimes, but so do people who ask silly questions.

9. How will your children learn how to line up?

I'm not kidding. This is a genuine question that homeschool mothers often get asked. It stems from some post-cafeteria stress syndrome people have.

The response is to call your children to you and ask them to line up. It's easier for certain people to have a visual. Then laugh. Seriously, laugh your head off.

10. What is your child going to do for a high school diploma?

Well, if my kid graduates from Seton, they will receive an accredited diploma. 

Bottom Line: 

Don't let anyone question your motives or desire to homeschool your children, but rather, let them know that you are equal to the task and unwavering in your commitment. Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services

Homeschooling an only child or the youngest with older siblings? Ginny and Mary Ellen share tips to keep your ‘caboose’ happy, engaged, and thriving. Tune in for encouragement and practical ideas!

Show Notes:

Got a homeschool ‘caboose baby’—the only child left at home? Here are six creative ways to keep them happy, engaged, and thriving.

Tip #1 – Search for Co-ops

• Even if you’ve checked before, look again—new groups often form.
• Some only meet weekly, but it’s still a chance to connect.

Tip #2 – Offer Classes Yourself

• Share your skills with other homeschooling families—teach French, math, or science right from your dining room.
• Low-cost or free classes attract families, and your child gains schoolmates.

Tip #3 – Explore Local Programs

• Many libraries, museums, zoos, and 4-H clubs run homeschool days.
• Programs may not be Catholic, but they’re great for meeting wonderful families.

Tip #4 – Invite a Buddy

• Bring a homeschooled friend along for field trips or activities.
• Offering transportation makes it easier—and gives your child a partner in learning.

Tip #5 – Build Sports into the Day

• Practice basketball, soccer, or skating during daytime hours.
• Many rinks and facilities offer off-peak sessions and lessons.
• Sports fill free time productively and provide team connections after school.

Tip #6 – Encourage Work Opportunities

• Younger kids can help neighbors with pets, yard work, or babysitting.
• Middle schoolers can be mother’s helpers or take on light chores.
• Building reliability and a strong work ethic early often opens doors later.

Whether through co-ops, sports, or neighborhood jobs, there are countless ways to make sure your “caboose” thrives in homeschooling life.

Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services

Jesus Christ calls us to spread the Good News. Fostering religious vocations is one of the most effective ways to answer that call. Sensitive to the issue, Catherine contacted us on Facebook and asked us to discuss ways we can foster these vocations.

It’s a timely topic, and today, Mary Ellen and Ginny are delighted to discuss ways to foster vocation in our homeschool families. 

Show Notes:

Hey, you are already fostering vocations because you homeschool.  

• Homeschooled men are four times more likely to enter the seminary when compared to Catholic school graduates.*
• In 2023, 11% of newly ordained priests had been homeschooled. 
• 14% of newly professed members of religious orders had been homeschooled.

*Based on a study by The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate – known as CARA – at Georgetown University

Other Ways to Foster Homegrown Vocations

• Have more kids if you are blessed to do so! 

In 2013, most ordinations came from families with four or more children.  

• Use Catholic materials in your homeschool.  

A solid catechism program is essential, and it can be enhanced by adding biographies of the saints, many of whom were priests or religious.  Learning about the significant role Catholics, especially Catholic religious, have played in history and science can be inspiring to young minds.

• Show your children the beauty of the Catholic Church. 

Expand your horizons - Visit your diocesan cathedral.  When traveling, look for beautiful churches, shrines, convents, and monasteries to inspire your children.  

• Consider retreats and spiritual direction for high school students.  

An older student who shows interest in the priesthood or religious life may greatly benefit from one-on-one attention.  See what is available in your area.

Check out this interview we did with Fr. Phillip Schumaker.  It’s definitely worth a listen.

Father Schumaker- Encouraging Faithfulness and Vocations in your Students 3/8/24

Father Andrew Clark’s Video: Homeschooling and Vocations

Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services

Do you remember when you took your wedding vows and promised to accept children from God and raise them in the faith? You repeated that vow each time one of your children was baptized. But what does this vow require of us homeschoolers?  Today, Ginny and Mary Ellen discuss keeping that promise and training our children to be responsible and respectful adults by living according to Church teaching.  

Show Notes:

Why it's Important:

Raising virtuous children is part of our homeschooling vocation.  Along with reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic, and religion, we parents must teach our children another R -- responsibility, and yet still another R -- respect for authority, 

Responsibility – We do not raise children, we are raising adults

Two books to model on:

• Bringing up Bebe, American author Pamela Druckerman talks about French children emptying the dishwasher at 3.  
• Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder recounts how her husband Almanzo was training a yoke of oxen at nine years old.

Yesterday – Higher Expectations

In rural areas, 75 years ago, Little boys:

• Hauled wood and water
• Cared for animals starting when they were maybe 5 or 6.  
• Worked in the fields.  

Girls didn't get off easy either: 

• They kept the fires going, 
• weeded gardens, and 
• helped with laundry before washing machines

Today - Living Up to Low Expectations

Holy Mother Church teaches that 

• Sloth – laziness – is one of the seven deadly sins.
• Diligence – applying oneself to hard work –is one of the opposing seven heavenly virtues.  
• We are required by our vows to forbid laziness and encourage hard work.

Give Your Children Real Work to Do

• Toddlers can stow their diapers and dirty clothes and pick up their toys. 
• As kids get older, they can learn to vacuum, mop, do dishes, and even handle their laundry. 
• By 15 or so, they should be capable of running the household if you get called away.

The Next R: Respect - The 4th Commandment

Train your children in the ways that God demands

It makes family life more pleasant and prepares them to take their places in the adult world.

Start right from their first words – Please and thank you, Do you mind? Would it be too much trouble?  

Mealtime manners- No negative comments about the food, ask to be excused, clear your place

Proper greetings –  Look up from the screen and ALWAYS recognize a person who has entered the room.  

Do not interrupt for anything less than a medical emergency.  If they must, they have to excuse themselves.  

Do not allow your children to speak disrespectfully to an adult.  Ever!  Including, actually especially, you!  

Books Mentioned in the episode.

Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman

Free Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children by Lenore Skenazy

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services

Some homeschool moms on social media are miserable.  Their kids are out of control, and it's often described as a typical day. 

Well, it wasn't our typical day – and it doesn't have to be yours either. Nothing can derail home education faster than out-of-control kids.

Today, on The Stay-at-Homeschooling Mom Podcast, Mary Ellen and Ginny discuss why this is happening and share the ways to fix it. 

Show Notes:

Out-of-control kids are not unique to homeschooling families.  A trip to the park, the library, or a family restaurant will convince you that poorly behaved children are epidemic.  Many parents have convinced themselves that brattiness is just a normal stage of growing up, like cutting teeth -- it is not.  In countries all over the world, children are obedient, respectful, hardworking, and even sacrificial.

Why have we lost control?  A few ideas:

• Americans are generally pretty well off.  
• In movies and TV, parents, especially dads, are often portrayed as buffoons. 
• Childcare professionals, the so-called experts, give terrible advice.

So, who SHOULD we follow for parenting advice?  

Catholics should follow just three "pages" when it comes to raising their children:  

• Sacred Scripture
• Our Holy Traditions
• The Magisterium or teaching authority of the church.

The 4th Commandment is NOT a suggestion.  

We are required to teach our children to honor and obey us in everything that is not sinful.

The simplest path to well-behaved kids is to establish your authority right from the start.  As soon as they can understand you, probably about 1 ½ years

Rule #1: Clear, easy-to-understand rules.  

• BEFORE we leave our bedroom in the morning, we stow dirty clothes and make our beds.  
• When we get up from the table, we clear our places. 
• We always say please and thank you.  

Rule #2: Don't whine or beg your children to be good.  

• Express your expectations clearly and leave no room for doubt. 
• If they don't listen, give a clear and immediate consequence.  

Rule #3: Do not give delayed consequences.

• "No TV for you tonight is ineffective."  The kid will never remember, nor will you.  
• You don't have to yell or scream – calm and confident works best.  
• You just have to persevere. 

Rule #4: Do not argue with your kids:  

• You will never win!   
• Expect obedience and walk away from an obstinate child.  
• Do not engage. 

Rule #5: A simple, sensible schedule and a check-off list for responsibilities.

Set a regular time and post it on the fridge or a whiteboard:

• Schoolwork
• Chores
• Instrumental practice, or whatever
• Too strict? It's just the opposite.  There's ultimately less stress when children know what is expected of them.

Tune in in two weeks for part 2 of our discipline series.  

Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services

In just a few decades, we’ve gone from floppy disks to artificial intelligence. Computers that once filled entire rooms now slip easily into our pockets and purses. The digital revolution is here—and homeschooling parents can’t ignore it. So how do we navigate this ever-changing landscape while staying true to our values and educational goals? That’s what Ginny and Mary Ellen are diving into today on the Stay-at-Home Schooling Mom podcast.

Show Notes:

Should your kids have a smartphone—or maybe just a “dumb” phone? Many homeschooling parents proudly declare, “My kids will never have cell phones!” when their children are toddlers. But as those kids grow, the reality of modern life sets in. Pay phones have disappeared, and at some point—music lessons, sports practices, part-time jobs—your child will need a way to reach you.

That doesn’t mean you need to hand them a smartphone with full internet access.

In this episode, Ginny and Mary Ellen discuss realistic, age-appropriate approaches to phones and tech. From basic flip phones to laptops and Chromebooks, they break down when kids actually need a device—and what kind. They offer practical, experience-based advice on:

·      When kids truly need a phone (hint: driver’s licenses change everything)

·      Why flip phones still work—and how they can be a great first step

·      The educational benefits of controlled computer access

·      Setting healthy tech boundaries in your home

·      Social media safety and how to teach kids digital prudence

·      Creating family-friendly tech rules—like public charging stations and shared screen time standards

They also cover the importance of parental controls, device monitoring, and open conversations about online risks and responsibilities.

Today’s digital world moves fast, but with some planning, clarity, and common sense, you can raise capable, tech-wise kids without letting screens take over your home.

Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services

Do you have buddies who are toying with the idea of home education but have not yet made the leap? If you do, this is the show to pass on to them. Mary Ellen and Ginny discuss it all today, as they discuss Why NOW is the time to start homeschooling.

Show Notes:

Public schools are a disaster.

• NAEP Reading Assessment – ⅔ of students do not reach basic proficiency in ELA: ¾ in math.  
• Major universities have students taking remedial math courses. 
• The social environment in too many public schools can be toxic. Pronoun police, kindergarten drag shows, gay pride parades, and girls forced to undress in front of bio boys!  
• Often, schools ignore specific requests from parents to exempt their children from these programs.  Even if your local school is not that bad, it will certainly not help pass on your Catholic faith to the children.
• Catholic schools are few and far between and often beyond the means of many families.

You can tailor your curriculum.

• Is Junior a math whiz, even in primary years?  You can do 3rd grade with 5th grade math!  Does your daughter struggle to keep pace in her classroom?  You can move her down a level.  Or you can take longer to finish the school year.  Or you can get a special curriculum to meet her needs.  Virtually endless options for homeschooling
• Maybe your in-laws are immigrants.  You can add their native language to your school day.
• Is your child a high-performing athlete or performer? You can schedule your school day around practices, competitions, rehearsals, and performances.
• Does your family like to travel?  Pack up the books, and away you go.

It’s unnatural for kids to sit for long hours.

It is not even a little unusual today.  Little Johnny doesn’t sit still in class and has trouble paying attention.  It must be Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and school officials will often recommend medicating him.  BTW, school districts get more money for “handicapped” kids.

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder should be required reading for every family with kids.  Based on a true story from a 19th-century NY state, little Almanzo is given a yoke for his 9th birthday, which he enthusiastically uses to train oxen.  Before breakfast, he and his siblings care for the livestock; they collect eggs and haul water and firewood.  Then, they have a long walk to their schoolhouse, where they are thrilled to sit down for a while.  After the long walk home, they again care for livestock before even looking for an after-school snack.

Compare that with today’s school kids. They eat breakfast; most don’t even make their beds. They wait for a bus less than a block from their homes, sit on a bus, sit in a classroom and a lunchroom, sit on a bus, and come home—too often to play video games.

Homeschooled kids can be active for much of the day.  They can do chores, take lots of breaks between classes, and rarely have to work after regular school hours.  They live a much more natural life.

Let your kid be a kid!

Brick-and-mortar schools will always be there.

We now know that most homeschooling parents can do a great job. Homeschoolers routinely outperform kids in brick-and-mortar schools by almost any measure.

But things can happen – family illness, financial problems, sometimes we just can’t continue.  Here’s the thing – the schools will still be there if you want to change your mind. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Homeschooling Resources

Seton Home Study School

Seton Testing Services