Tag Archives: homeschool blog

Aug 11 2023

10 Years of Blogging

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On August 4, 2013 I pushed Publish on my first blog post here at Homeschool Ways. Ten years ago, we started homeschooling our oldest from Kindergarten on up and my sister suggested I document it all in a blog. A blogger herself, she understands the therapeutic power of writing about one’s experience. So thank you, sis, for planting that seed of an idea in my head a decade ago.

Pittsburgh Zoo Photo Op

Photo op at the Pittsburgh Zoo, July 2023

In that sense, this blog has helped me a lot. From the feedback I have received over they years, Homeschool Ways, the blog, has also helped many readers. That was the point, really. As I received help in the beginning of my homeschool career from other moms who have gone before me, I wanted to help others. Continue reading »

Dec 30 2013

Starting to Homeschool – Looking Back at 2013

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Looking back at 2013, I can split the year in three sections, even though homeschooling is woven throughout:

1. January-May: preparing to start homeschooling in the fall, I spent my time reading and gathering curriculum. I taught the children in a gentle and relaxed way, with short lessons. We read a lot and worked our way through “Before Five in a Row.” They were both preschoolers.

My daughter gave herself a radical haircut in February and the incident haunted me for months. It still does, as her hair is still growing into what it used to be. I was running errands in town and my mom was watching my children. My mom forgot to put the scissors up. One can put the scissors up 99 times. It’s the 100th time one doesn’t, that the inevitable happens.

Children looking at a cat

My children at Camp Wesley Woods in Townsend, a few days after she cut her hair. This cat looks just like ours. They could not believe their eyes.

2. June-August: my sister, her husband, and their 14-year-old son spent the summer with us. She is a successful blogger in Romania and provided the much-needed inspiration and push for me to start blogging. Yay for older sisters who help younger sisters take new paths!

Extended family visiting Dollywood

From the left: the four of us, my sister, mom, nephew and brother-in-law. We enjoyed their company for almost three months – Europeans get amazingly long vacations, don’t they?

3. September-December: I started homeschooling my son officially, as he began kindergarten. My daughter is in preschool and I work with her too, according to her desire. She asks to do math every day.

Children being educated at home work on their projects at the dining room table.

My children working on their books in the beginning of the school year.

Homeschooling and blogging about it sure keep me busy. I enjoy it. I keep telling myself my children will grow up in a flash. Then, I will have all the time in the world to do whatever I might feel that I don’t have time for right now.

Looking Back at 2013

Nov 4 2013

Homeschool Blog Awards – I’m a Nominee!

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Update: November 19, 2013. Voting is now closed. Thank you so much for taking the time to vote for me. We will wait for a few days to see the results of your hard work. 🙂

I am thrilled to let you know that this blog has been nominated for the following awards on the Homeschool Blog Award Post:

1. Favorite Homeschool Mom Blog

3. Best Blog Design

4. Best Photos Blog

5. Best Crafts, Plans and Projects Blog

6. Best Family or Group Blog – This does not really apply. I don’t know how I landed in that category. 🙂 Please don’t vote for me under Category 6.

7. Best Encourager

8. Best Current Events, Opinions or Politics Blog – This does not exactly represent my blog, so please don’t vote for my blog in this category.

18. Best NEW Homeschool Blog – please vote for me in this category

Of course, if you have the time and the inclination, you can give me a vote in all the categories I was nominated for (except 6 and 8 because they just don’t apply). But I would prefer to get recognition under Category 18, Best NEW Homeschool Blog, if I can choose. Thank you for the effort. Time is so precious for everybody.

A note about the voting page. If you click on the blog name, it will take you to my site. That’s not a vote. You must click on the small dot to select the blog and then click the vote button at the bottom of the page  – see the diagram below. The screen will look differently on different devices, too. For instance, the dot may be in the middle of the screen and not to the left of the blog.

HSBA Blog Awards How To Vote

So you can vote daily, November 4-18, 2013. It’s all happening on www.hsbapost.com. Please read the rules first. Make sure you don’t vote more than once a day from the same device (desktop, laptop, iPad, smartphone etc.). It’s against the rules. I had some enthusiastic fans vote for me fifteen times in a row in one day before they read the rules. 🙂

But yes, if you can spare a minute a day for this blog, please vote daily through November 18 under Category 18, Best NEW Homeschool Blog.

HSBA_2013-Nominee-120x260

This may look like a competition, but it’s really meant to be fun and friendly. We are simply trying to help raise awareness about great homeschooling blogs you would otherwise not even know existed.

I have personally visited some of these blogs and voted for them in different categories where I was not nominated. I just don’t want to cancel out a fan’s vote on my behalf, you see. 🙂