10 Years of Homeschooling

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Our summer break starts today. This concludes our tenth year of homeschooling. Our son finished 9th grade. According to the law, he started out with Kindergarten (or Year 0 as it is known in some countries). Hence, 10 years of homeschooling.

Girl playing violin

I am holding her book as she warms up before her violin recital.

Words do not come easy to describe the last decade. My husband and I are happy we went this route – let us start there. Then, we can say that we plan to continue on this road until high school graduation for both. Continue reading »


Summer Break Goals

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Our summer break goes on for 12 weeks or exactly three months: from mid-May through mid-August. We will take it easy, but we don’t just idle around. Besides camps and camping, we have some academic goals to accomplish. Rule number 1: write your goals down. If it is not in writing, it doesn’t exist. Or, as the Romans used to say, “Verba volant, scripta manent.”

Rollerblading

One of her goals is to learn rollerblading.

Here are some things on our list of goals: Continue reading »


The Last Week of School

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It’s here, folks! The last week of school has finally arrived. As usual, I have mixed feelings. Homeschooling is my passion, so the end of the school year leaves me thinking, “What am I going to do with myself for the next three months?” On the other hand, I have been at this for nine years, so I know summer schedules can be even busier than the school year.

Mom and daughter holding hands

My daughter still wants to hold my hand while we hike. It’s sweet.

We have not finished all our textbooks, either. So this leaves us with a few things to wrap up here and there throughout the next 12 weeks. Actually, it is more like nine weeks, because three weeks will be spent in summer camps at different times. Continue reading »


Summer Break

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We have been on summer break for a month now. Every day, we do what we want to do, but we also have certain goals to reach this summer. Many homeschoolers use their summer break to finish up a history book that they did not finish, for instance. We are doing the same thing.

Andrews Bald

Andrews Bald picnic with friends

Do you have academic goals for the summer, in order to avoid the summer slide? You probably should. Many libraries have a Summer Reading Program going, with workshops and activities, prizes and craft projects. I am finding out quickly that tweens and teens are not interested in those programs though. Continue reading »


Time Warp Trio Books

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When the National Spelling Bee recommends a book, I take it seriously. They know good vocabulary and plots. Therefore, I want to be right there with my children, learning, learning, learning. So when the Bee people said, “Read these three historical fiction titles,” I paid attention.

Time Warp Trio Books

Eight of the 13 books we read in this series

Amazingly, my local library actually owned one of the three titles, “See You Later, Gladiator.” We read it, laughed a lot, and realized this is a part of a book series called The Time Warp Trio. Three middle school students, all boys, travel through time and space, encountering different adventures. Continue reading »


“Math Island” – Book Review

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Math Island is a book written by John Koller and Gillian Singler for children of all ages. It helps if they are past third grade though, in my opinion. That way, they get more of the math content. The book has two main characters, Lily and Tad, who are siblings. A host of supporting characters joins them from chapter to chapter.

Reading Math Island

Our son reading “Math Island”

Together, Lily and Tad discover – by chance – that they can travel to a magical location called Math Island. A crab named Carl functions as their guide, while other animals also help explain math concepts to the visitors. Continue reading »