In Part 4, we look at scheduling your homeschool: daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. Personally, I love organizing and planning, so this is probably my favorite part of the week.
Homeschooling Made Simple | Part 4 of 7 – Smart Scheduling
As in the rest of the Homeschooling Made Simple Series, we help you set up three planning session: morning, afternoon, and evening. At 30 minutes each, these extra quick tasks should not interrupt your existing schedule too much. Continue reading
In Part 3 of 7, we go beyond the books. Just like in a regular school program, your children will want to take art, music, sports, etc. They could also join a chess club, 4-H, scout troops, etc. Part 3 covers the extracurricular activities homeschoolers could get involved in and how you can prepare for and/or research them.
Homeschooling Made Easy Part 3
I know from experience how busy homeschool moms are, so I keep the videos short. I also keep the tasks short and to the point, with clear, actionable steps. Do it now, do it fast, and move on – kind of thing. Continue reading
In Part 2 of 7 about how to organize your homeschool in 7 days, we cover planning your academics. Above all else, your homeschool will be judged by others in terms of how well prepared your children are for school subjects. So yeah, this is a biggie.
Homeschooling Mady Easy
The only other aspect of homeschooling which might get more attention than academics is socialization. Homeschool detractors like to point out the S word: what about socialization? Well, we answer them in a future video. This Part 2 is about academics. Continue reading
Last month I started a YouTube channel about homeschooling. I have been blogging about and documenting my experience on this journey called homeschooling since we started officially, 2013. Right here, on this blog, you can go back all the way to August 2013 and find our every phase.
Simplifying Homeschooling has never been easier – please subscribe to my YouTube channel and to this blog for tried and true tips.
However, as of late, people have alerted me to the power of video training. YouTube provides a perfect opportunity for me to share my experience with the world, for free, in different time zones, just like this blog, but… through video. It took me a bit to accept that many people prefer to learn from a video, not from reading a blog. Then it took me another bit to get over myself, my fears, my lack of video editing skills etc. Continue reading
Our first Facebook Live event just happened today. You can watch it below or on our Facebook page. The topic was Story of the World, the history curriculum for elementary students. In 10 minutes, I explain what this curriculum consists of and how to use it twice – once with grades 1-4, then with grades 5-8.
Orthodontist visit – field trip on the first day of school
The beauty of live video is that things can go wrong. When I heard a cat meowing, I thought our two cats were fighting, so I went to ask one of the kids to separate them. It turns out, they were not fighting. One of them was outside. The other one was meowing at my daughter’s bedroom door, asking her to open it. Epic. Continue reading
It occurs to me that it is almost the end of September and I have not finished the two books I told myself I would publish before the end of the year. So I will slow down the blog posts and focus on writing. One book is the second volume in the Izzy Adventures Series (bilingual books) and the other one is the fourth volume in my How To Homeschool Series, i.e. 101 Tips for Second Grade Homeschooling.
English-Russian cover of Kitten in the Storm
At this point, just in case you are wondering, I should probably mention that, through it all, I am not motivated by money. Here’s a financial tip: if you want to get rich quick, do not take up blogging or writing. I am doing both simply because I enjoy myself in the process. I have the publishing bug, what can I say? Continue reading
I know, I know. Blanket statements do not stand the test of real life. Let me explain my title. “Homeschooling is parenting” means one cannot homeschool without being really good at parenting. You don’t have to be a certified teacher to teach your own children at home, but you do need to be a good parent to homeschool. Academics, believe it or not, are not as important in homeschooling as parenting skills.
My daughter in The Village, downtown Gatlinburg
That does not mean your child will suffer academically if they are homeschooled. On the contrary, most homeschoolers score higher on standardized tests than their peers who attend public or private schools. But it does mean that unless you have some parenting skills, you will never even get to the table to teach junior how to read. Continue reading
The other day I took the kids to the pool and an acquaintance asked if they start school soon. I knew that question implied that she thought they attend the local public school system. So I replied, “We homeschool, so we start whenever we want. But yes, we started Monday.”
Our son starts third grade.
She said, “Oh, cool. You homeschool. Is this your first year?” I said, “No, it is our fourth.” She said something positive about it again. Continue reading
A few weeks ago, on the bleachers next to a soccer field in Tennessee, parents were chatting about this new experience. Most of them had a child in kindergarten. Most of them were there for the very first soccer practice in the life of their kindergarten student. I felt like a veteran, as this was my third year on those bleachers.
They knew each other because their children attended this private school. They did not know me.
I homeschool and bring my children to the soccer practice at this private school because the coach welcomes homeschoolers. Plus it works out with the rest of the things we do in Knoxville, one hour away from home, on a particular day of the week. My husband, as the principal of our homeschool, had asked me to look around for an opportunity for our children to be involved in a team sport. This was the perfect fit for us.
So these parents who knew each other turned toward me and asked if I had a child on the field. I told them I had two, one in second grade and the other in kindergarten. Oh, they wanted to know, “Which kindergarten class is your child in?” “We homeschool.” They were very positive in their responses. They thought homeschooling was admirable. Continue reading
It’s finally here! 101 Tips for Kindergarten at Home, the second volume in my How to Homeschool series, is available now on Amazon, on Kindle and in paperback. During this season of giving, I am making it available for free. Please read on.
101 Tips for Kindergarten at Home welcomes parents into the official world of homeschooling their children.
Ten chapters share ten tips each. The eleventh chapter shares tip #101. It’s an easy-to-read format, quick and to the point. Who has time to read hundreds of pages while taking care of children and keeping house? Continue reading