Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.  Is it the most important?  I don’t know, but it’s the coziest and it has the coffee.  Hot, un-rushed family breakfasts are by far my favorite perk of a homeschooling day.  I hope our family will always […]

Welcome to my Christmas home tour! Even though I’m calling it a home tour, the only places that are really decorated are our living room, dining room, and entry.  (Decorating isn’t cheap and it takes time to build a collection!) If you’re thinking my house […]

I once heard an organization and productivity expert say that before she starts her work for the day, she first makes sure that her machines and systems are running.  Brilliant, isn’t it?  It made me think about what kinds of things I could have doing […]

Throughout most of my time as a mother, laundry has always loomed in the background of my life.  I dreaded gathering it from four corners of the house.  I procrastinated sorting it. As for folding and putting it away, I chased the ever-elusive mirage of […]

This is a tour of my girls’ room and bath in our rental home in the Kansas City suburbs. There was a time when I decorated their rooms with many sweet and precious things like wooden dollhouses and vintage alphabet posters.  (You can see some […]

Homeschooling is unique in that we don’t conduct learning in a separate, sterile environment.  It happens in our homes, right in the middle of laundry piles, phone calls and babies who are not on our day time schedules yet.  When you add in rabbit trails […]

While you’re doing your homeschool planning this year, may I recommend putting a dinner plan in there?  Whatever style of homeschool you do, one thing is for sure: you will be feeding people all the day long.  Let’s not pretend that food isn’t a significant […]

The first year that we started homeschool, I spent hour upon laborious and hour planning my year.  I gathered books, researched websites and made checklists of my own checklists. Field trips, flash cards, cinnamon play dough and perfectly scheduled Christmas breaks had to fit in […]

What in the world is unschooling?  For me it used to conjure up images of unruly minors being raised by wolves and iPads!  Sounds rebellious doesn’t it? Well I’m sorry to disappoint all you rebels out there, but unschooling is actually just a fancy word […]

Ahhh, writing this post each year has become so therapeutic; like tying up the loose ends of our messy, real-life school year into a neat, pretty bow! If you’re new here, this was our fifth year homeschooling and our children are ten, eight, six and […]

If you’re looking to bring in a little magic to your summer routines, picture book read alouds are the perfect way to begin.  Today I’m sharing ten of our very favorite, nostalgic picture books for summer!  Step into a world of summer storms, beach days, […]

You’re in a great routine and then hits you out of nowhere: your two-year old stops taking naps. They are awake crying in their crib or simply refusing to fall asleep to your normal nap routine. No amount of books, rocking or cuddling will coax […]

Some people love their chore charts.  Can I be honest?  My house seems to be the place where chore charts go to die.  I wish I was a chore chart mom, but I’m not. In the last few years we’ve adopted a chart-free chore system […]

Our homeschool runs on audio books, especially in the summer months (they’re my secret assistant..shhh).  Not only do they provide scaffolding for young readers, but they are also a fantastic substitute for screen time when a rest is needed. (Rest time is one of our daily […]

Does the idea of painting with kids sound overwhelming or intimidating?  Let’s fix that.  It’s time to bring out Fun Art Mom and thrill your kids with an easy win paint project.  Fun Art Mom lets kids do paint projects, but she’s also smart about […]

Do you ever look around at your homeschool and wonder where it all went wrong? We stand in our kitchen stumped because we know we did this right.  We have classical books, hand-lettered planning sheets, tea times, nature hikes and co-op days all slated out. […]

One of my favorite ways to introduce classic literature is to read aloud books that have movies we can watch after.  Not only is it fun, but it gives us a goal to work towards together.  (Oh, and we learn important things like the book […]

Salt dough maps are a classic homeschool project that have become a staple for us as we studied world history this year.  They are a creative and hands-on way to explore geography, but they are also incredibly simple to make with things you already have […]

March was a great reading month.  I tried to read some novels but the non-fiction section at the library got me again!  Here’s what I read: A Year of No Sugar by Eve O. Schaub In the throes of a six-week sugar fast I happened […]

Do you want to get started gardening with children but aren’t sure what to plant? When we’re not homeschooling during the year, we love to be in the garden.  (Checking the garden and saying goodnight to our neighbors is our after-bath ritual! Take a bath […]

Oh, hello almost-April!  We had a great month because light.  Lots went on in the kitchen and I seem to have gotten a fresh wind for homeschool after dragging myself through January and February. Narnia’s melting and we had some excitement around these parts when […]

I was just talking to a friend on Marco Polo who reads this blog.  We got into a conversation about one of the major dynamics of being a mom at home with little kids: Doing One Thing at A Time (While Everything Else Unravels.) Did […]

Do you have a big, messy pile of kid’s artwork or school work?  I did! I always planned on having an organized collection of my children’s homeschool and artwork that I would give them one day, but I never could seem to get there because […]

You know what doesn’t get talked about enough in the homeschooling world?  Taking a housekeeping day…or week! I take a housekeeping week whenever I feel overwhelmed with details and to-do’s.  It’s my secret to staying energized about homeschooling for the long haul.  Remember, effective homeschooling […]

With the change of season and all of the unsettling events of this year, I’m just craving some solace and a little something to soothe my heart.  There’s nothing that comforts and brings perspective like a great book. This list is designed to contain something […]

When it comes to homeschooling and being with kids all day long, I have to do what I can to limit the amount of extra thinking in my day.  Second grade math is about my limit, is that normal?  (Don’t answer.) Since I can’t skip […]

Hey friends! Before I pack up all of our homeschooling supplies for the big move,  I wanted to give you a little homeschool recap for our year!    Well as you all know we had a baby last spring (some about that here), so along […]

Have you seen this charming, old-fashioned popcorn and cranberry garland floating around Instagram and Pinterest? It’s one of our favorites and today I’m going to share how we do this craft with little hands. We like this craft because it’s a simple, versatile decoration that […]

This post may contain affiliate links. Taking charge of our children’s education can be both empowering and daunting.  Many of us turned down this road looking for options in education but found ourselves wading through cluttered websites, confusing curriculum spreadsheets, and state standards. While there […]

Hey friends, it’s countdown to baby time over here, but I really wanted to get this post up before things get too crunched! It’s fun to look back on the year and see how much things have grown and changed in our homeschooling life. And […]