Welcome back, friends—or hey, first-timers, welcome aboard! You’ve landed in the right place: the Military Homeschool Moms Podcast, crafted just for mamas who juggle homeschool, household, and heart, all while serving this beautiful chaos called military life.

Crystal Niehoff is relaunching the show with renewed purpose—packed with a sneak peek of upcoming topics, why this podcast exists for YOU, and a dash of American homeschooling history. Because that’s a movement you’re a part of too!

Being in the military homeschooling world is unique. You’re constantly adapting—PCS moves, deployments, temporary housing, routine interruptions… you know the drill. That’s exactly why this podcast exists. Here, you’ll find:

Flexible and Portable Homeschooling Tips — Designed for life that’s always “in motion.”

Encouragement for the Tough Days — Because you CAN homeschool through chaos—with chocolate and grace, of course.

Stories & Wisdom from Real Military Spouses — From seasoned homeschoolers to deployed service members, mental health pros, and more.

A tip, a laugh, or a gentle reminder that you’re doing better than you think—sometimes all three!

A community that cheers you on, whether you’re new or a seasoned pro, CONUS, OCONUS, stateside, deployed—or just received PCS orders.

Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Share with another military homeschooling mama who could use encouragement.

Find show notes and extras at MilitaryHomeschoolPodcast.com

Follow along on Facebook: @militaryhomeschoolpodcast

The post Relaunching with Purpose: Homeschooling the Military Way appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

In this episode, we look at  Brisk Teaching, a powerful ( free for most things) AI Chrome extension designed for educators — and incredibly helpful for homeschoolers.

You’ll discover how to:

Use Brisk’s “Inspect Writing” tool to check your child’s writing history and detect copy/paste

Create auto-graded quizzes from websites, documents, or YouTube videos

Generate student-friendly podcasts based on age-appropriate content

Simplify or adapt reading material with the Change Level feature

Automatically create rubrics and give effective AI-assisted feedback

Get guided notes, exemplars, and even design science labs with household items

Brisk is like having an AI assistant just for homeschoolers — without the overwhelm. Tune in to learn how to integrate it easily into your homeschool routine.

Take a look at show sponsor, FundaFunda Academy to see what they offer for online classes and web-based unit studies.

Join our Facebook Group, especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode

The post How Homeschoolers Can Use Brisk AI appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Do you lack confidence as a homeschool mom? A number of moms on the Homeschool Sanity Facebook page have commented that they do. This is The Homeschool Sanity Show, the episode where we discuss how we can have more confidence as homeschool moms this year.

Hey, homeschoolers! Before we dive into the topic of mom confidence, I’d like to thank CTC Math for sponsoring this episode.

Finding a math curriculum that works for your family can be a challenge! With CTCMath, all of your kids from K-12 can learn at their own pace with one family subscription. That’s right! With a CTCMath membership, you have access to all grades and lessons, which means your children can work at whatever level is best for them. Whether your kid needs to catch up, keep up, or move ahead, with CTCMath they can finally understand math and work at their own pace. CTCMath is offering listeners a half-price discount plus a bonus 6 months when you register for a 12-month membership. Yep. That means you have access to a complete online homeschool math curriculum for all your kids for 18 months!

Before we can talk about building confidence, let’s talk about why we lack it in our homeschooling.

The first reason is fairly obvious: we haven’t homeschooled before. Even classroom teachers can be intimidated by the prospect of teaching all subjects to multiple students–especially their own. It’s normal to lack confidence without experience.

The second reason we lack confidence is we are aware of our shortcomings. I was keenly aware of my lack of organization–something I’ve written and spoken about extensively, and which troubles many a would-be homeschool mom. And it wasn’t just messiness I was worried about. I’d been excited about a lot of projects in the past that I’d lost interest in. What if I did that with homeschooling?

Many homeschooling moms didn’t get good grades in general or in particular subjects, causing them to worry about their ability to teach their own children.

The third reason we lack confidence is because of messaging from other people. We may have family members or friends who disapprove of homeschooling and tell us about homeschool horror stories. From childhood, we may have heard about our shortcomings repeatedly. Or we were mistreated, causing us to wonder who we are to take on this important responsibility. Finally, other homeschoolers can make us feel less than confident by presenting an unattainable picture of homeschooling. Engineers in your support group who lead a championship robotics team. Homeschoolers who pay for expensive private tutoring and classes to ensure their child’s success. Mothers with supportive family who have lots of time to plan and implement an enriched education. You may feel like you’re not qualified.

Inexperience, shortcomings, and others’ messaging can make us feel ill-equipped to homeschool successfully. But here is how we can overcome and take on homeschooling with a new confidence this year.

First, we can begin seeing ourselves as co-learners rather than professors. I learned more about child development and education by homeschooling my kids than I ever did in school or my work as a psychologist. We don’t want to fail in our homeschooling and parenting, but failing is the only way we learn. There are no homeschooling parents who haven’t made mistakes. There are also no classroom teachers who have been perfect.

The only way to grow in confidence as a homeschool mom is to do it. If we are so terrified of making mistakes with our kids that we never try homeschooling or quit at the first sign of challenge, that is the real failure. I’m not saying that everyone is called to homeschool. But if you feel called and you don’t take that call because of fear of messing up your kids, I think you will live to regret it.

These are the things I was afraid of when I began homeschooling: being too disorganized to follow through; having a child who couldn’t read; having an impulsive, immature child who would get hurt; choosing the wrong discipline strategy; having a child behave inappropriately online; having a child who couldn’t write well; having a child rebel; having a child embarrass me. I experienced ALL of these things. And praise God that I did. I’m not afraid of them anymore. The Lord got me through every single one of them.

The second way we can grow in confidence is to focus on our strengths. Organization wasn’t my forte’, but making learning fun and exciting was. As long as our homeschool was reasonably organized, my kids would focus on the fun unit studies, field trips, and co-op activities we did. And that’s what my kids remember.

I disliked gathering the supplies needed to do experiments only to discover that something didn’t work. What I loved doing was teaching literature, writing, and speaking. So my friend and I swapped those responsibilities based on our strengths. She was organized with the labs and I was organized with language arts. Teach your kids from your strengths and share responsibilities with a friend or co-op in your weaker areas.

We also focus on our strengths when we pursue our passions. Teaching world history wasn’t my strength because I had no background in it. But that’s why I was so excited about the topic. I would have read the lessons even without my kids. Even if you’ve struggled with a subject in the past, you can be an exceptional teacher because you’re passionate about learning and teaching it now.

The third way we can grow in confidence is to make the right comparisons. You’ve probably heard that when we feel we are falling short, it’s because we are comparing the inside of our homeschool (and what’s really going on) to the outside of someone else’s homeschool (where it’s carefully curated to present the best image).

But don’t get me wrong. There will be areas that another homeschool mom is further ahead than you are. She’s been doing it longer, has different abilities, has a supportive family, or kids with different strengths. Before you wish you were her, realize that she has made choices that you wouldn’t make. I used to feel inadequate with a mom who was constantly planning fun outings for the kids down to healthy snacks for them to enjoy afterward. But I couldn’t be her and didn’t want to be her. I placed a higher priority on academics and cleaning at home. Yet, what a blessing it was to enjoy her gift for planning activities that my kids enjoyed!

The Bible describes the kinds of comparisons we make as being as foolish as a foot comparing itself to an eye in importance. We are all part of the same body. We can all help one another as homeschoolers so we can achieve our unique goals.

When a friend or family member who doesn’t approve of homeschooling questions your ability to homeschool because of some shortcoming, you can say, “Oh, there are bigger issues than that to prevent me from doing a good job at homeschooling.” You’re likely to surprise a homeschool hater that way.

We can stop worrying about what another mom we know or what a social media influencer is doing because that’s not our role. But we can also stop the comparisons by comparing ourselves to Jesus. Are we as loving and faithful and just as He is? No? Then we should give up. Really. We can stop trying to be great homeschool moms and realize that we can’t do it. Instead, we need Jesus to take over. We need Him to use our unique combination of weaknesses and strengths to be the homeschool mom He planned all along.

Instead of worrying about whether we are going to ruin our kids for life, we can give the responsibility back to Jesus, trusting that He will work everything together for their good and ours. In that sense, we can be confident as homeschool moms because we are confident in Him. What a relief it is for me to know even now that I don’t have to worry about what I did or didn’t do. God had it under control and He still does. Philippians 1:6 is a verse we can hold on to: “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

We can grow in confidence this year as we continue to homeschool, focusing on our strengths, and making the right comparisons. Ultimately, we can be confident that we don’t have what it takes to homeschool our children successfully, but Jesus working through us does. Amen?

I pray this episode has been a blessing to you. Thanks again to CTC Math!

Have a happy homeschool week!

The post Special Replay: How To Have More Confidence As A Homeschool Mom This Year appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: 5 Tips for Making Spanish Learning Fun with Karim Morato.

Most homeschool high schoolers need some World Language credit for their graduation requirements. Our friend and Cousin, Karim Morato, is a Spanish subject matter expert and favorite of many homeschool high schoolers. She joined Vicki for this chat about making learning Spanish fun and meaningful.

Karim is originally from Guatemala. Her husband is from Bolivia. He came up to me with a “crazy idea” to homeschool before they had kids. Uh, we got married and I was so excited and, you know, dreaming when we have kids and we gonna send them to private schools.

Karim has a Master’s degree in Education and taught in schools for sixteen years. However, when they had kids, she started visiting homeschool conferences. She loved all the curriculum choices and learning opportunities. Not only that, she loved watching the interactions of the homeschooling parents with their homeschoolers.

So they began homeschooling their three kids. At first, she was the only one in her community who was homeschooling but it caught on! She and her family led the way.

Now her homeschoolers have graduated and in college. In fact, one recently graduated with a degree in Industrial Engineering. Her second homeschool graduate is studying Business in college. Her youngest is a homeschool high schooler.

Karim started a Spanish-learning online platform years ago at Spanish Homeschool Curriculum. She and her teachers make learning Spanish fun and meaningful. All her teachers are native Spanish speakers, so teens learn to speak authentically.

Karim also serves as Spanish-speaking community liaison for Homeschool Legal Defense Association.

There are lots of ideas for a fun and meaningful Spanish program. Here are just a few.

Teens and parents love the Becoming Bilingual podcast. Spanish speakers or Spanish learners join Karim each episode to share encouraging and fun ideas and adventures. Vicki suggests that even if you are not learning Spanish, you will still love the podcast because of the interesting people on it.

Karim her teachers make learning Spanish fun and meaningful. They provide instruction for Spanish learning for high schoolers, and also for elementary and middle schoolers as well.

Not only that, Karim shares FREE 5-Day Parent Courses to help parents understand Spanish language and earning credits. It addresses throughts like:

If that’s you, you’re not alone—and you’re exactly who this course was made for.

Karim learned long ago that teens sometimes experience anxiety when they are speaking Spanish in group classes (even online classes). She notice that they would often turn their cameras off during speaking times. One of the gifts Karim brings to her students is addressing the stress and helping teens overcome the fear of “public speaking” Spanish. Once teens address the stress, they are free to enjoy learning!

Karim also realized that some teens will feel less stressed when they take self-paced classes instead of live classes, so she offers both formats.

The Becoming Bilingual podcast has a wonderful episode on “When Spanish Makes You Anxious: Breaking the Pressure Triangle“.

Our teens are living in a bilingual world. Learning Spanish is an asset when applying to jobs. Knowing Spanish is also helpful for traveling the world, which many teens do on missions trips or studies abroad. When teens know there is a useful life purpose for learning Spanish, they can enjoy the course more deeply and find it more meaningful.

We are used to seeing our teens’ potentials and we focus on their potentials, not our limitations. One of the values Karim has for her classes is the commitment to helping students believe in the potentials, values, and abilities that God has given them. It helps them move forward in their studies and even, in their lives outside their studies.

Learning Spanish can be fun and meaningful for teens and younger homeschoolers. (For more ideas on making learning World Languages fun, check out this post.)

Join Vicki and Karim Marato for tips for making Spanish learning fun.

Thank you Seth Tillman for editing.

The post 5 Tips for Making Spanish Learning Fun with Karim Morato appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

In “Crazy Fun Back to School Celebrations,” Episode #237, Meredith Curtis encourages homeschool families and teens to plan something special for the first day of school. And it doesn’t have to be Mom who plans; teens have great ideas, too. This podcast gives a plethora of ideas from food and nature to silly projects and educational fun. This podcast will make you smile and probably give you some creative ideas of your own.

Bringing Homeschool Joy to Families Everywhere!

Let me take you back in time to 1990. My first & only first-day-of-homeschool photo

Special Breakfasts at Home

Make-Your-Own Breakfast Pizzas

Favorite Restaurant

Nature Fun – picnics, hikes, playgrounds, beach

Creation to Jesus’ Return Timeline

Treasure Hunt to Find Schoolbooks

Plane Trip to Heathrow & Tel Aviv

To kick off our geography co-op, we set up our living room as an airport gate, the dining room as security, and the family room as an airport. We made passports and plane tickets, using them to travel to London and Tel Aviv. It was a blast! (you can read more in Travel God’s World Geography – a yearlong course.)

Turn Christmas Carols into Homeschool Songs

Family Vaudeville Show

Learn more about the vaudeville show in HIS Story of the 20 Century.

School Color Photos

Theme Photos

Crazy Outfit Pictures

Tag me!

Be sure to post them and tag me! 

Sign up for our updates and get your copy of 100 Homeschool Hacks FREE. Sign up here.

Thank You to our Network Sponsor – CTC Math!

The post Crazy Fun Back-to-School Celebrations appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Homeschooling is the right choice, but how do you avoid the homeschool pitfalls that will sabotage your success? In this podcast, veteran homeschool mom Felice Gerwitz shares her thirty-two years of experience with you!

Visit the Media Angels website for books, and bundles, especially the self-paced set, “How-to-Homeschool Blueprint.”

Did you know that I was hesitant to try homeschooling? When I heard a friend mention her hopes of homeschooling, I talked her out of it! This friend was overwhelmed with her four children, didn’t have a set bedtime, and walked around sleep deprived. I explained that homeschooling took some discipline and that having a parent who was awake and attentive was important! When I began homeschooling some time after, this friend was upset with me! And, rightly so.

Your decision to homeschool should be your own, and being persuaded by someone, even someone well-meaning, is not a good thing!

Today homeschooling is the best option for your children. You know the state of the school system. It was bad in the past; today, it is worse. Parental rights are called into question. What the heck is going on in our world?

When I began homeschooling my son while my daughter was in preschool, I looked at it as a way to help my struggling learner. It was a short-term goal. In other words, I was “trying” homeschooling without thinking of making it past six months. This was in 1986-87, and I never looked back. It became a lifestyle for us, and I built relationships with my children that are strong to this day, even as they are adults.

One of the fallacies is making your homeschool ideal or identical to the public or private school. Having said this, there is always an exception to the rule. My sister-in-law homeschooled her two grandkids for a year using the same books as the school because they planned on reintegrating the children into the school system. In this case, it was a good idea, and she was not only highly successful, but she was also able to raise their test scores with the one-on-one attention she gave the girls.

It is not fun; all fun and games. A good friend of mine used to say homeschooling is not fun, yet she homeschooled her boys K-12, and they not only learned several foreign languages but were proficient in fencing. How is that not fun?

I am going to go through a list of pitfalls in two parts. The first deals with hearsay about homeschooling, and the second is in regard to the act of homeschooling. Please join our Facebook group if you have questions about homeschooling or want to connect. Homeschool Podcast Network Family

Homeschooling is what you make it. If your children are unruly, the focus needs to be getting the kids under control. Teaching cause and effect is amazingly successful. I have several podcasts in a collection I call “Just For Kids” (search for that term, and you will find them). These are geared toward children, and they are highly effective.

Kids want to be heard and appreciated, just like us! Listen to their needs and focus on the entire child, not just academics. I know you can do it, and don’t forget to join our Facebook group – Homeschool Podcast Network Family on Facebook or share your concerns in this post on the website.

The post Homeschool Pitfalls: Summer Replay appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

We explore why every homeschool family should consider developing an AI policy—and how to do it.

As AI tools become more prevalent, it’s no longer a question of if teens are using them, but how. Meryl explains how teens often approach AI differently than adults and why it’s important to proactively teach them how to use these tools responsibly and effectively.

Topics covered include:

Why teens may misuse AI—and how to guide them

What makes a good AI policy for your homeschool

Specific tools parents can use to monitor and support responsible use

The importance of balancing creativity, critical thinking, and AI assistance

Tips for encouraging teens to be transparent and reflective about their AI use

Two upcoming FREE events hosted by podcast sponsor FundaFunda Academy:

Summer-Themed Live Teen Trivia Night – Free to participate. Multiple choice questions, no special knowledge required, with prizes!

Scholarship Webinar – Free to join. Learn how to find and win external scholarships, hosted by Meryl herself.

Resources mentioned:

University of Rochester article on teen brain development

FundaFunda’s AI Unit Study for families

FundaFunda’s half-credit AI class for grades 7–12

Tools mentioned: ChatGPT, Gemini, MagicSchool.ai, Class Companion, Brisk Teaching

Take a look at show sponsor, FundaFunda Academy to see what they offer for online classes and web-based unit studies.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode

The post Creating an AI policy for your homeschool appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Why does music matter in home education? Is it just so we can have junior show off for grandparents at recitals? Is it just a nice elective to fill out the kids’ transcript? Or is it an underappreciated medium for the development of multiple skills? That’s what I’ll discuss with my guest Adrian Edward.

Visit our sponsor: Now Programs, Neuro Development of Words

I met Adrian the way I meet many of my podcast guests and eventual friends—at a Great Homeschool Convention. One of the first things I noticed about Adrian and his wife Maria was how much friends who greeted them at their booth loved them. Like adored them. After seeing him at five conventions, I’ve realized it’s because that’s how much they love other people. They have both made me feel special. But that’s not all they have going for them. Their Color Me Mozart materials are ingenious and professional. I can’t wait to use them with future grandchildren.

Adrian is a music educator, but it was during his work at The Guild for Exceptional Children in Brooklyn that he saw just how powerful music could be—especially for children with special needs. But he also noticed a troubling truth: in many early education programs, music was treated as an afterthought. Adrian set out to change that.

Through innovative teaching methods and a deep belief that music should be accessible to every child, Adrian has helped families and educators bring joy, connection, and growth into their homes and classrooms—whether their children are neurotypical or have special needs.

We discuss:

How preschoolers can learn real music—even if you aren’t musical The brain science behind music as a language The surprising reason most music curriculums fail young learners

https://colormemozart.com

https://www.instagram.com/colormemozartmusic

https://www.facebook.com/ColormeMozartMusic

Have a happy homeschool week!

The post The Importance Of Music In Child Development appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: ASVAB and Homeschool High Schoolers with Natalie Mack.

One of the most interesting career-oriented tests for young people is the ASVAB. Our friend and Cousin, Natalie Mack, works with the military to offer the ASVAB to local high schoolers. We asked Natalie to share about ASVAB.

Natalie Mack is a homeschool leader, military homeschool mom, Tedx speaker, HSLDA staff member, and more!

Natalie and her husband (a retired Navy chaplain) have five children. The youngest just graduated from homeschooling high school. (Our listeners met Nathaniel Mack when we interviewed him about his inspiring conservation project.) The other four have all finished college.

Natalie is keeping busy with her service to the homeschool community.

ASVAB is the acronym for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. Besides the test itself, ASVAB offers a career exploration program.

There is no cost to the test. Teens can take the test digitally or in the old fashioned, paper and pencil format. The results help teens know what careers in the military might be a good fit for them.

This year, Natalie hosted two ASVABs. Mm-hmm. One with Northern Virginia Community College, the Alexandria Campus (with the help of the Alexandria Recruiting Battalion); the other at Baltimore MEPS.

It is always going be a free opportunity. Most homeschoolers finish in an hour and a half.

Recruiters cannot administer the test. (This is because parents have been concerned that their teen would be targeted or would be constantly hounded by texts or phone calls from recruiters trying to pull them into the service.) However, that is not the way it works.

The goal is to offer free career assessments! You also get real in-person interpretations of your scores. These scores for your student mean they are likely to be good at these type of careers.

Recruiters will come to the testing in case there are homeschoolers who want more information.

Teens can talk to recruiters at the time they take the ASVAB or drop by a recruiting location in their local area.

Natalie likes to remind homeschooling parents that serving our nation in the military is an honorable career. Those who serve are helping fulfill the promises in the United States Constitution of securing the common defense. An in the military there are many, many kinds of jobs. The ASVAB is useful in helping match service member to the best-fit job.

Also, check out these Homeschool Highschool Podcast episodes on:

As Vicki says, Natalie Mack is pervasive. She is involved in so many things around the nation. However, you can find her at:

Join Vicki and Natalie and learn about ASVAB and your homeschoool high schooler.

And check out our many chats with Natalie Mack about all kinds of homeschooling high school topics:

Thanks to Seth Tillman for editing.

The post ASVAB and Homeschool High Schoolers with Natalie Mack appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

When does fall learning start? It starts now. Before long, we will turn over the calendar (or swipe right or up) on a digital device and see that the holidays are approaching. We have a fall, Thanksgiving, and Christmas…three in a row! What is a busy homeschool mom to do? In this episode, Felice shares how she prepares for the active months with an action plan.

Thanks to our ongoing sponsor, CTCMath.com, and their excellent math curriculum for grades K-12

How many of you have planned out your entire year until Christmas? Raise your hand. Okay, so if not, no worries, I will help! First, I recommend you get on our email list and sign up for our latest planners. I have an ongoing series of monthly Organize It Planners for the year. These planners are chock-full of tips you can implement quickly. You will receive a new topic free each month. The upcoming Organize It is for October, with information on preparing your home for the forthcoming holidays.

During the cooler months, planning things that take the children outdoors is nice. If you have younger children, you may want to add seasonal activities, such as fall crafts. You can also jumpstart the fall decorations by making paper chains using fall colors. I have some links to podcasts on the topics.

One of my favorite topics to study was trees and their types of leaves; if you’re blessed to live in the north, you have the full array of fall leaves coming soon! For those of us in the South, it means taking a trip up north or learning about these things via a book or online. Then there are the fall activities such as parties, fairs, cooking contests, and many other things that we, as homeschoolers, want to take advantage of. Often, harvest parties begin in October … then there is Thanksgiving, and around the corner, Christmas. Christmas quickly takes over the entire month of December. Between baking, shopping, and activities, there doesn’t seem to be much time left at school.

So, what is a busy mom to do? Well, the best thing I can advise is to get as much done as possible before the holidays, including school. As homeschoolers, we sometimes fit our household into our homeschool or our homeschool into our family. I’ve received emails from many people who have said when they’ve done an excellent job homeschooling, they’ve done a lousy job managing their homes, and vice versa. Well, you can do both.

So, first things first, how much time do you have?

The age-old question. Well, let’s start with this:

Now that you have an overview and overview of how to plan, let’s get going! What do you want to get done this month? With fall on the horizon or whatever the next big thing is, it is essential to use these pockets of time and focus on learning. At the beginning of each school year, you should look at the books or curriculum you plan to use and decide how long it will take you to complete in one school year. It may take six weeks or more to complete if it is a detailed unit you are studying.

Another thing to consider is using the days the kids are doing well and doubling up on activities. We did this to keep our Fridays free. In this way, we could use Fridays as a catch-up day, or we could use it for field trips or other activities we had planned. Of course, as the children get older and schoolwork piles up, it may not be as easy to have a free day a week once you can look at your priorities, the things you have to accomplish each day and work around those items.

We completed most of our homeschooling before Thanksgiving in late August, September, October, and November. After Thanksgiving, we were lucky to meet for a full two weeks with all the extra activities planned for Christmas. Of course, after Christmas was the New Year, and this was a solid vacation time.

In the new year, most of our schoolwork was in January, February, and March. Do you see a pattern here? We focused on the times between holidays and other significant events for our family. For some of you, Easter may not be a big event, but it is in our home, and we typically take a week off, a week before Easter, and a few days afterward. After Easter, all the kids can see his summer on the horizon. Therefore, working hard on days too hot or cold to go outside is essential. My children naturally do better when there are fewer distractions. I’m sure yours do as well!

I have links in the other podcasts’ show notes with great ideas for fall activities.

Past Episodes on Fall and Activities Kids Can Do:

Celebrate Fall Baking

October Checklist- 

To purchase Checklist Planners, go here.

Thanksgiving Gifts and Crafts

DIY Crafts for Kids

Great Gifts Kids Can Make

For example, fall is an excellent time for baking. We did a lot of bulk baking that we could freeze, and when the holidays came around, we had ready-made sweet bread that we could give away as gifts, cinnamon rolls, and more. There is a baking link here: Celebrate Fall Baking.

If you don’t like to bake, perhaps you like crafts. Before Christmas, we focused on making presents for grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Gifts link here.

As the winter months get closer, use this time to spend reading together as a family. Our favorite times were reading the Little House on the Prairie and other books in front of the fireplace with cups of cocoa. These are memories you can create with your family and get some learning in there as well. We often read books that went along with the themes we were studying.

I would throw in some hands-on experiential activities to round up your fall learning. If you have read any of my books (LINK HERE), you understand my need to involve the children. As a child and even an adult, I love to learn by doing. Sure, reading it in a book and moving on is more accessible, but what about authentic learning, learning things the children will remember?

Encourage your children to set time limits to get things done, especially if you have a child who takes all day to get math done. That usually means there’s nothing else the child wants to do afterward. If we give our children those to get their schoolwork done, more than likely, they will work right along. I also encourage your children to find hobbies or things they want to pursue in our family. Children my three youngest children play sports each day, and they have to spend time practicing. If your child plays a musical instrument and has another hobby, I am sure they also need time to pursue this interest.

We want to instill values that allow our children to do what is right, not just when we’re watching them. Give them opportunities to learn independently, especially if they are old enough, then make sure you check their work each day or at least every couple of days. I remember leaving their schoolwork for a week to check, and then sometimes I would be overwhelmed by all I needed to grade and be frustrated when I saw the work was half done. If I keep up with this, it’s helpful. My husband was willing at times when I was overwhelmed. He would take over the grading, and the children disliked it because he was much stricter than I was

I hope these ideas help you to accomplish and have time for all the fun activities. Be sure to visit me at mediaangels.com. Come check out our podcast family at our Facebook group, which is a homeschooled podcast family; you can look for that or search for it. If you have any questions, contact me on our FB group.

The post Fall Learning Starts Now appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.