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Why I Embraced “Twaddle” for My Creative, Right-Brained Child

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The explosion of the Charlotte Mason phenomenon in homeschooling brought about the widespread use of the word “twaddle” when referring to less-than-desirable literature for children. There was (and continues to be) much discussion about what Charlotte Mason meant when she wrote about twaddle and how that translates into reading and homeschooling today. The campaign against …

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Can Minecraft Be Educational? Yes, But Not in Our Home

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Minecraft is a powerful learning tool. Although I was highly skeptical of it when my daughter first expressed an interest, our family’s experience with Minecraft completely changed my mind. So can Minecraft be educational? Absolutely. But not in our home. I have, in fact, purposely resisted the temptation to turn Minecraft into an educational activity. …

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Alternatives to College After High School

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I originally discovered Praxis when a blogger I follow on Facebook shared a Praxis post. I started following Praxis for the thought-provoking information and articles that they share. I found the idea of Praxis as an alternative to college after high school an interesting one. So when I was presented with the opportunity to share …

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Daily Life and Priorities in a Creative Family

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One of my homeschool parenting aha moments came when I realized we had the freedom (and responsibility) to fully embrace that we are a creative family. Prior to that moment I had always felt that I needed to structure life and homeschooling responsibilities in such a way as to allow time to be creative as …

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Wholesome Reading for Visual Learners

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Caroline is a visual learner and she is not an avid chapter book reader (yet!). Like most visual learners, she enjoys color, engaging comics, photos, and strong graphics. Those of us who parent children like this often find it challenging to keep them supplied with reading material that is age appropriate, contains quality content, and …

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The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling a Right-Brained Child

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Congratulations! You have a right-brained child! You have one of those wonderfully creative children who learns differently and looks at the world differently. If you are a right-brained person, then you already have some idea of what life is like for your child. If you are left-brained, you may feel completely bewildered about what to …

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Are You Choosing the Wrong Learning Materials for Your Child?

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One of the things I’m passionate about as an educator and curriculum developer is that learning materials for young children should be visually engaging, colorful, well-designed and simple.  Reaching this balance is a challenge, but it can be done. I’m really picky about the aesthetics of any materials I use with Caroline whether it is …

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How We Ended Up Relaxed Homeschoolers and What It Looks Like

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I realized we were relaxed homeschoolers somewhere along the beginning of Caroline’s second grade year (this year). I had kind of wandered in the wilderness of trying to figure out how to answer the question when people would ask what kind of a homeschooler I was. This was mostly due to trying to figure out …

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Caroline’s First Stop Animation Movie

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Caroline (who is seven) has been fascinated by stop animation movies, especially since she found the Basilmentos channel on YouTube. So today she used the camera she received from Grandpa and Grandma S. for Christmas to make her first stop animation movie (with some help from Daddy!). She spent several hours working on this and …

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Relaxed Homeschooling History in Early Elementary

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So we’re on my favorite learning subject – history. So far I’ve done almost no formal history with Caroline because she has been taking those classes at our homeschool co-op. (It’s rather ironic since my Elementary Education degree came with a Social Studies major and I love history.) We’re blessed with a really good Christian …

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Relaxed Homeschooling Science in Early Elementary

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My approach to science in our relaxed homeschooling family has been very relaxed. My philosophy is that all children really need in early elementary is exposure to science topics and to develop a healthy curiosity about the world around them. If a child is curious, she will learn plenty even in an unstructured way. Relaxed …

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Relaxed Homeschooling Math in Early Elementary

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Since I’ve already written at length about how we ended up as relaxed homeschoolers in my series intro and language arts post, I’m going to jump right into explaining our relaxed homeschooling math approach in the early elementary grades. Mathematics versus Arithmetic In The Right Side of Normal: Understanding and Honoring the Natural Learning Path …

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Relaxed Homeschooling Reading and Writing in Early Elementary

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I almost feel like it is dishonest to say how I teach language arts because I sometimes feel like I haven’t. I have facilitated a lot of learning. If there is any area where I feel like I’ve really embraced relaxed homeschooling and can see how well it can work, it is relaxed homeschooling language …

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Relaxed Homeschooling in Early Elementary – A Series

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One of the benefits of observing homeschoolers for many years before I was blessed with a child is that I had the opportunity to read lots of articles and blogs posts written by moms who shared their mistakes. They wrote of the things they wished they could do over, what they would change, their regrets, …

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Must-Haves for Homeschooling a Creative Girl

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My husband and I are blessed with a creative little girl. She has more imagination in her pinky than I have in my entire body. She lives in a world of possibilities where her stuffed animals are her real friends and she’s never met a plot she didn’t want to recreate! So how do you …

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Should Elementary Students Formally Study Mathematics?

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In a 2010 article from Psychology Today, Peter Gray, Ph.D., makes the case that math should not be taught until middle school. He shares a fascinating study from 1929 that has largely disappeared from the nation’s collective radar. But the findings are stunning regarding whether or not elementary students should study math. In When Less …

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Homeschool Curriculum for a Right Brained, Spirited Child

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I’ve been thinking off and on all summer about our right brain homeschool curriculum choices for my spirited child for this coming school year. I’m one of those people who has to investigate, read, and then let it all ruminate in my subconscious before I can make a decision. Now we’re getting to the time …

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Why I Homeschool in the Afternoon and Not the Morning

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Long before I ever had Caroline, I read a book called Homeschooling: A Patchwork of Days: Share a Day With 30 Homeschooling Families. (This was also pre-homeschool blogs for the most part!) The book gave a day-in-the-life story of thirty different homeschool families. The families varied widely in curriculum, size, location, etc. But one thing …

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