This will be my daughter Alina's first year at college and my son Ian's sophomore year in high school! I'll be homeschooling Ian solo now 😲 and focusing on Algebra, SAT Prep, Homeopathic Medicine, World History, the Constitution, independent studies, and his passionate interest in cars and robotics. Alina will be attending college part-time, taking Latin, writing, and math alongside her independent studies and working part-time. They will both continue in my Liberty Scholar

My kids have been expected to do a fair amount of chores and household responsibilities on a daily basis since they were around 7-9 years old. I used to spend a lot of time and energy trying to keep my kids on-task and stop them from playing when they were supposed to be working. Mostly, this looked like me nagging and getting annoyed: "Kids, focus!" ... "What are you supposed to be doing?" ... "Stop playing and get your stuff done!" Does this sound familiar to you? Or am I t

Like many others, both of my kids started whining when they were toddlers. It always bothered me when they whined. I tried the usual "ask nicely" response, but over time they still reverted to whining when they were upset or frustrated. I was so ready to be done with whining. When my kids were 4 and 7 years old, I read Nicholeen Peck's book, A House United: Changing Children's Hearts and Behaviors by Teaching Self-Government. This excellent book inspired me to change our ho

Beginning when my kids were around 4 and 7 years old, I implemented techniques from the book A House United: Changing Children's Hearts and Behaviors by Teaching Self-Government, by Nicholeen Peck. These techniques made a profound difference in our household. With the skills and understanding I gained from this book, there was an obvious positive shift in our family dynamics and the contentedness of our day-to-day lives. Begin With the End In-Mind When I first started readin

Here's inspiration for a classics-focused class for high school homeschoolers. Over the last year and a half, I've worked out the kinks and built a successful classics-focused program for local teens called Liberty Scholars. My goal with this program is to help kids be prepared for adulthood, civic duty, and leadership, with a solid foundation in US constitutional principles and classics. Overall, this is what the program looks like: Reading two classic books per month (gene

If I had to sum up our homeschool routine for high school in one word, it would be f.l.e.x.i.b.l.e. With high school comes many scheduled classes and learning opportunities, more time spent with friends, plus changes such as kids driving independently, getting jobs, taking dual credit classes at the university, and more! Our routine has needed to flex every semester, and sometimes even every week, in order to accommodate the plethora of things going on. Our homeschool routi

If you're considering camping with your kids, here's some encouragement to make it happen! I've been camping with my kids 1-2x yearly for the last 9 years, and it has become a cherished tradition for us all. Top 5 Reasons to Camp with Kids Bonding: Spending dedicated time together leads closer relationships, teamwork, and trust-building. Adventure: Camping brings you up close to nature, unpredictable weather, camp fires, "roughing it," and more. Disconnect and Reconnect: We

My daughter Alina has now graduated from high school! She was homeschooled all the way through from K-12 and is now ready for the next phase of her education. What's Next? Alina's long-term goal is to become a fiction author, writing novels. Because she has been doing well in her dual credit classes at New Mexico State University (NMSU) for the last few semesters, Alina was offered a very nice scholarship for $$$ thousands per semester (on top of free tuition, which is alread

Do you homeschool and/or supplement your child's education in the summer? Here are some ideas for fun learning explorations over the summer! Many families find that it works well to homeschool year-round. That has worked great for us, too (especially since implementing Leadership Education into our homeschool, such that my kids want to keep doing school all year). I generally like to make things more relaxed by shifting our homeschool focus in the summer months. This gives m

Here in southern New Mexico, we pass our last frost date near the beginning of May, so it is time to prepare and plant the summer garden. We've been gardening for over 16 years, and in that time we have learned many lessons on what makes gardening successful here. Every location has its own unique challenges, yet there are some basics that every garden needs, including good soil, the right amount of water, and plenty of sunshine. Here is a snapshot of the overall process we u

Homeschool Physics doesn't have to be intimidating or complicated. Here are resources for a high school Physics unit that is engaging and easy-to-do at home. This unit focuses on: Conceptual Physics video lectures + problems Engaging videos to illustrate physics concepts Simple hands-on physics experiments and demonstrations that can be done at home We use a 4-year science rotation in our homeschool, so we have completed two Physics units, first when my kids were 11yo and 14y

Math picture books were an important aspect of our homeschool math studies throughout elementary and middle homeschool. Picture books are an engaging, unpressured way to share the joy of math with my children. I never wanted these books to feel like "assignments," so I purposely did NOT emphasize that these were math books. Instead, we just read and enjoyed the books together. Top 25 Math Picture Books Math Biographies Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci by Joseph D'Agnese Py

Finding a Better Way We started homeschool kindergarten in 2011 using the typical math education methods such as textbooks, workbooks, and flash cards. By halfway through 1st grade, my daughter was dreading math. How could my only-6-year-old daughter be starting to hate math?This led me to an epiphany about the fact that my schooling methods were detrimental to teaching my daughter to love learning. It was time to overhaul what we were doing and find a better way. After try

Parents, are you struggling with screen time issues with your kids? We were, too, but here's what worked for us! Harms From Too Much Screen Time Overuse of screens and screen addiction are harming kids. Too much screen time has been linked to: Behavior problems, delayed developmental milestones, and worse vocabulary skills in preschool children Lower reading and math scores in elementary kids Obesity and depression in children and young people Anxiety, behavior issues, depre

This time of year, many are tiring of school and homeschool. Throw away the worksheets and busywork; instead embrace Life Schooling and have fun learning together! Here are 40 ideas for exploration alongside your kids. Read-aloud in the morning and at bedtime (here are 10 Tips for Read Aloud Success ) Go for a daily walk or scooter rides (sunshine = Vitamin D for boosting the immune system) Play board games and card games for the fun of it (and let the math happen naturally

Homeschoolers often think that if they can just find the *right* curriculum, their homeschooling woes will go away. I had this misunderstanding, too, in the early years of our homeschool. Over time and painful experience, though, I learned that the homeschool environment is more important than the curriculum for long term success, joy, and sustainability. Here's a video for you that talks about this in more-depth. This 23-minute video covers: Why curriculum is less importa

Teaching kids to become independent learners is one of the foundations of our homeschool philosophy . For my two high schoolers, this means that, in addition to our 3x/week all-together schooling time , they also pursue their own studies independently . Here's a snapshot of independent study plans for 18yo Alina's last semester of high school and 15yo Ian's spring semester of his sophomore year. Scholar Contracts for My Teens Each semester, I meet with the kids to develop t

Here's a peek into what is and isn't working well in homeschooling my 18yo and 15yo, plus our new curriculum and areas of focus for the coming semester. Although I do the bulk of our homeschool planning in July , by January it is time for a mid-year review. The intent of our mid-year review is to look at the following with regards to our home school: What has been working well? What needs to be improved? What needs to be removed from our curriculum? Is there anything new to

Homeschool Physics doesn't have to be intimidating or complicated. Here are resources for a middle grades Physics unit that is engaging and easy-to-do at home. This unit focuses on: Exploring the World of Physics book Engaging videos and books for physics concepts Simple hands-on physics experiments and demonstrations We use a 4-year science rotation in our homeschool, so we have completed two Physics units, first when my kids were 11yo and 14yo and again when my kids were

As you roll into the new year, it's an opportune time to take stock of how things are going in your homeschool. Don't let yourself feel locked in to your original plan for the year; if something isn't working, change it! Maybe there is a specific curriculum or resource that *sounded* great but isn't really working out, or one of your kids has gotten into a new interest, or there is a new circumstance that needs to be taken into account. Mid-year planning helps make sure you