helping you make Torah the heart of your home
It’s that time of year again! It’s time to figure out what we are doing for school this year. I have a bit of eclectic approach leaning towards Charlotte Mason when it comes to homeschooling. This means that each year may look a bit different. I’ve kept some constants, which
We all enjoy those lovely days when everyone gets up well rested with a smile on their face. We are surrounded by teachable moments and the children just can’t wait to learn another amazing fact. But, let’s face it. Sometimes, everyone is screaming. Mom is exhausted. The house is a
One of the hardest things to figure out as a homeschooler is whether or not we’ve done enough. I hope the questions in my last post helped you to evaluate the environment you are providing and the subjects you are covering. But what happens if I know it’s a worthy
We can all agree that we want to be successful as homeschool families. We want to know that our investment in our children’s lives has paid off. We want to know that we are on the right track in our endeavor to prepare our children for adulthood. While success will
When my husband and I left our church back in 2007, we suddenly realized that we were responsible to teach our children spiritual things. There would be no Sunday school. It was all on us. That can be a very overwhelming feeling, but it doesn’t have to be. There are
I’m always on the lookout for ways to make Torah practical and real for my children. I don’t want them to see the Bible as a bunch of antiquated stories that are fun to listen to but don’t really mean anything. Today I stumbled upon an idea that I hope
We don’t use 100% Charlotte Mason methods, but our homeschool has been heavily influenced by her ideas. Copywork is a fundamental of her approach to language skills. So, today I’d like to talk a bit about copywork, how to approach it, what it accomplishes, and how to best make use
I have been spending some time working on homeschool materials for Sadie this week. She is a smart girl, but there are some areas where I want to spend some time. Aspergers is not a “disability” in my view, but she does need to be taught some things on purpose,
Torah I went over to Restoration of Torah Mimistries and downloaded the children’s parsha study. This week, we have been studying Rebekah at the well. I love this story. It was the theme of the sermon at our wedding. The study is laid out very nicely. It tells you which
I like when things work. I like when my children succeed. This week, I was able to enjoy some small successes. Perhaps the world would not bother to take notice, but I did, and chose to celebrate in my heart. This week we will be exploring the wonderful world of
This week I would like to write about spontaneity. Homeschooling is a beautiful thing, because it allows for spontaneity. We are commanded to teach our children when they rise up, when they lie down, when they walk in the way. Torah is what we are to teach, but as I
We are back from two weeks vacation for feasts. It was a rather average week, but I’m learning that there is something to learn and something to share even during the average weeks. Here are some things we did on the homeschool front this week. Geography We have been learning
Wow, we have already finished a month of school! I hope you are enjoying these posts. It has been very good for me to write them, for several reasons. I have to have something to write about, so I don’t get lazy. I take pics. I usually have to have
We had a shorter week to allow time for Feast of Trumpets.It was a week of learning to be flexible and a week of learning to be strict. I learned to be flexible in science class. We moved to the couch so everyone could cuddle and see the pictures. I
It was nice to get back to a relatively normal school routine this week. Last week, I felt like I was up to my ears in hot dogs and jerky. Nearly 50 lbs later, the butchering is all done. Toddler Highlight The little people in our house get to be
This has been a very interesting week. We had to get through our bookwork by lunch every day, because the afternoons were full of other jobs that needed to be done. You saw last week that we slaughtered a sheep. Normally, we would do this on a Sunday, work hard
Isn’t that an awful title? I’ll try to be more creative next time. So we had our first week of school this week. I could say it went well, or I could say it didn’t go so well. I think mostly it was about learning to work with life in
If someone asked me what curriculum I use to homeschool my kids, I might be tempted to answer “PDF.” I admit, I use alot of resources I find online. I have dialup, so that rules out video, but it still leaves a whole lot of PDF. So how do I
How do I know if my child is ready to learn to read? Is three too young? Is six too late? I tortured myself over this with my first and have since learned ways to watch an individual child to see if they can handle learning to read. I would
First, I must admit that I did spend some time in public school. But when my mom found out that homeschooling was legal, those years became a distant memory. She went to a homeschool conference and came home with our books on order. She sent a letter to the superintendent