Testing is a big part of traditional school A big part of every school child’s academic years is taking tests and quizzes. We brag about those report card grades and test scores too. And now we have those big standardized assessments featuring so heavily in the news. As homeschooling parents,…
How can you teach what you don’t know? Teaching children those subjects that we weren’t good at, weren’t interested in or aren’t experienced in can be difficult. Some things, like higher maths (calculus or trigonometry, anyone?), physics or chemistry can be accomplished with a good virtual course. Or maybe you’ll…
What do I teach my child?? How do you know what to teach your child? You need a plan, and it’s called a scope-and-sequence. It can get pretty confusing when you think of math facts and grammar and novel studies and science labs. When do they need to learn addition…
What is educationalese? Educationalese is a term I coined for the jargon that child development and education professionals use. They create lesson plans, learning objectives, activities and therapies in this academic language that seems off-putting and official-sounding. It’s intimidating to those who haven’t spent half a decade in classes using…
How long does it take? How long do you do “school” every day? Do you even do “school” daily? Do you follow a public school calendar? Should we do every subject every day? How long should math take? Or spelling? What is a typical homeschool schedule anyway? These are common…
Going to a conference Homeschool conventions are great places to go no matter what stage of homeschooling you’re at. The information and workshops, the support and networking and the chance to check out curriculum options are invaluable. Veteran homeschoolers will love the ability to catch up with old friends, and…
Shopping paradise One of my favorite parts of a homeschool convention is the exhibit or vendor hall. The shiny new tools and toys, the shelves upon shelves of new and fascinating books just waiting to be read — it’s a homeschooler’s shopping paradise. But the sheer volume of things to…
It’s homeschool convention season! March to June isn’t just spring here in North America, but its also homeschool convention season. If you’ve never gone to one, it can be a bit overwhelming. And if it’s been a while, this post will refresh your memory. Here’s a quick guide on what…
A sign of spring for homeschoolers: conventions Tis the season of homeschool conventions and conferences. If you’re active on social media at all, you’ve probably gotten emails about conventions. You’ve probably seen posts on Facebook. And you may have received event invitations or reminders about your local, state or national…
Keeping Track of Everything If you’ve been homeschooling for any length of time, you pretty quickly realize that you need some way to keep track of everything you and your children are doing. Thankfully, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. There are several options for us homeschooling parents,…
