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My Homeschool Journal – August 2017

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In My Life This Month The Transformation Summer of 2017 is drawing to a close. If you remember from last month, we have been doing extensive work on our home. We were also updating all the printables and planners in my shop. We're mostly done with the house and it looks fantastic. David is finishing up a few last little things and then in October he will rip out and tile our master tub/shower and turn it into a walk-in shower (no tub). My printables are all updated so I don't have to cringe again when someone buys something that hasn't been updated in a few years. All of this (as well as editing and laying out the new WriteShop Book F) gave us a lot of opportunities to talk about … [Read more...] about My Homeschool Journal – August 2017

Back to School 2017 Shopping Spree Giveaway!

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It's time for the Back to School Giveaway that I participate in each year with other bloggers from the iHomeschool Network (iHN). My prize this year is a shopping spree! One person will win a $25 Amazon Gift Card and a $25 shopping spree in my learning shop! (Physical shopping cart is not included. That's Caroline's!) There are lots of helpful products in my printables shop you could win! Do you need a planner? Editable Homeschool Planner – 2017-2018 Academic Year – Aqua and YellowEditable Homeschool Planner – 2017-2018 Academic Year – Pink RosesEditable Homeschool Planner – 2017-2018 Academic Year – Pink Vintage FlowersEditable Homeschool Planner – 2017-2018 Academic Year – … [Read more...] about Back to School 2017 Shopping Spree Giveaway!

Encouraging Children to Write a Handwritten Letter

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I received this product for free and am being compensated for my time to write this post. I was not required to write a positive review. I remember the thrill of hearing "You've got mail!" when email was just taking off. Now I'm much more about the thrill of receiving a handwritten note or letter in the mailbox. Something written by hand on pretty stationery is more personal and almost as valuable as gold today. I'm trying to encourage Caroline to take the time to send a personal note to people who are important to her, especially now that handwriting is no longer an issue for her. For that reason, I was very interested when I learned of Basic Invite and had the opportunity to order some … [Read more...] about Encouraging Children to Write a Handwritten Letter

When the Valedictorian with an Education Degree Embraces Unschooling

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If you are on Facebook, you've probably seen the article from TIME about how valedictorians generally aren't overwhelmingly successful in life. In Wondering What Happened to Your Class Valedictorian? Not Much, Research Shows, Eric Barker writes that valedictorians rarely "go on to change the world, run the world, or impress the world." He does allow that they "are reliable, consistent, and well-adjusted, and by all measures the majority have good lives." One could write an entire post that quibbles with his definitions of success, but that's not the point of this post so I'll let it go. I was co-valedictorian of my high school class of 150. I had a 4.0 GPA back when they were rare before … [Read more...] about When the Valedictorian with an Education Degree Embraces Unschooling

My Homeschool Journal – July 2017

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In My Life This Month The past several weeks I have been weary, if I am going to be totally honest. The summer heat and humidity always wear me out. Upheaval in my home always wears on me. And I've been drowning in the minutia of updating 250+ printable products and then updating them on three sites where I sell them (mine, TPT, and Educents) instead of thinking and writing new posts and creating new products. I'm an INFJ so I don't do extended minutia well. And between home renovations and printables, I'm swimming in the minutia of choices, changes, uploads, and details every day. I'm incredibly grateful we are doing all this. I've named this Transformation Summer 2017 because we're … [Read more...] about My Homeschool Journal – July 2017

Online Math for Relaxed Homeschoolers

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We've been relaxed homeschoolers bordering on unschoolers for most of Caroline's elementary years. We've done some math with worksheets, workbooks, and play websites, but it has been more "living math" in terms of doing math when it matters in real life. That said, I knew there were holes in Caroline's math education to this point in terms of traditionally where a child her age "should be" in math. I also knew that she wouldn't understand some terminology used in standardized tests or, for example, when we had her gifted testing done. There would be terms and ideas very familiar to kids who did formal math work that would be completely foreign to her. I admit I've always felt a bit … [Read more...] about Online Math for Relaxed Homeschoolers

My Homeschool Journal – June 2017

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In My Life This Month Isn't the release into the freedom of summer one of the most wonderful feelings in the world? We have very little that is scheduled regularly during the school year, but there is something about that feeling of no commitments, no schedules, and very few expectations that makes me very happy. This month we are concentrating on finishing up most of painting and redecorating in our home. We've lived here six years and we are finally making it "ours." We did finish up Caroline's room a few weeks ago which I linked to below. It turned out very well. But I'm so excited to have everything be freshly painted and with new carpet and wood laminate in the house. My dust … [Read more...] about My Homeschool Journal – June 2017

Chalkboard Walls in a Kid’s Room and Chalk Allergy

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When we redecorated Caroline's bedroom, we decided to include a chalkboard wall. She's creative and we knew she would have lots of fun with it. Well, this decision to put a chalkboard wall in a kid's bedroom took a few twists and turns we did not expect. I didn't anticipate I would be writing an entire post about this or I would have taken more photos and so on. But what we learned is really important and I want this post out there for other parents to find and learn from our experience. Hence two posts - a post about decorating a tween girl's bedroom and a post about chalkboard walls. Painting a Chalkboard Wall We selected a wall that would be large enough for Caroline to enjoy using as a … [Read more...] about Chalkboard Walls in a Kid’s Room and Chalk Allergy

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