For my little family of five, travel is a family legacy: It’s a priceless inheritance that’s been passed on from one generation to the next. My husband’s family history is filled […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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When Tough Circumstances Create Doubt: Should I Continue to Homeschool?
I have been homeschooling for 10 years now, and I’ve never really questioned our decision to homeschool. I have always enjoyed teaching my kids and being there for the “lightbulb” moments on […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Finding Encouragement & Fellowship at Homeschool Moms Winter Summit
I’ll be completely honest: This past year has been a season of real brokenness for me, and I have mostly been in hiding. But when a friend asked me to attend the Oklahoma Homeschool Moms’ Winter […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Mother & Teacher: How Do You Wear Both Hats?
When I first started homeschooling my two middle-school-aged daughters more than 10 years ago, I remember really struggling with the mother vs. teacher dynamic right off the bat. I thought that homeschooling […]
NextGen Perspectives
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New Name, Old Game: Is Talent Pipeline a New School to Work — And What’s Next?
When I was in college taking American Government in the early 1990s, I wrote a research paper on the then-new School To Work Opportunities Act of 1994. It was legislation written […]
NextGen Perspectives
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Homeschool Graduates: The Next Chapter
Many readers know that our two daughters are homeschool graduates: They both graduated from our homeschool when they were 16. Now that several years have passed, I thought it would be a good […]
NextGen Perspectives
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Three Generations at Teach Them Diligently
This was my third year attending a Teach Them Diligently Convention. The biggest blessing of the conference this year was being able to attend with three generations of my family: My […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Tools to Help You Bloom as a Homeschool Mama
Although I’m a NextGen homeschooler and had a positive personal experience with homeschooling, I struggled with many of the same doubts and fears — the “big fat lies” — that […]
Homeschool How-To
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Why a Daily Homeschool Routine Works for Us
As a former editorial manager who juggled a team of writers, editors and varying project deadlines on a wall-sized white board and spreadsheet, I didn’t expect to run into challenges […]
Faith & Family / Homeschool Encouragement
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Find Freedom From Your Homeschooling Fears
Fear often holds us back in our homeschooling journey and robs us of the joy God has in store for us as we teach our children and create deeper relationships with […]
Homeschool Encouragement / Real-Life Homeschooling
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Learning Continues Despite Life’s Distractions
Even after 10 years of homeschooling, my biggest challenge is still consistency. Because of our lifestyle — owning two busy donut shops — my plans are interrupted on an almost daily […]
Homeschool How-To
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Take the Complexity out of Homeschool Co-Ops
Today we wrapped up a semester of Botany with our informal homeschool co-op by taking a scavenger hunt hike with three families who have children close in age to ours. This concept of sharing educational […]
Hands-On Homeschool
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Travel is… the Ultimate Educational Adventure!
This month NextGen Homeschool is joining 30 other family bloggers for the “Travel is…” Family Travel Blogging Series at Word Traveling, where we’ll be providing practical and personal insights into what travel means to us […]
Homeschool How-To
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Give Your Homeschool New Life: Take it Outside!
Today while my eldest daughter was at the park with me, she noticed a picnic table in a secluded area with trees around it and said, “Look mom — that would […]
NextGen Perspectives
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Being Frugal Without Being a Cheapskate
Are homeschoolers cheap? Hopefully, we are frugal — not cheapskates! There’s a difference between being a good financial steward and avoiding paying a fair share of costs or expenses. As homeschoolers, […]
NextGen Perspectives
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Can Public Schools Learn from Homeschools?
Recently I was sitting at a stop light staring up at a fancy billboard ad encouraging people in my district to vote “yes” for a $41 million school bond, and […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Spring Dilemma: Must We Finish Curriculum?
With the joy and sunshine of spring comes this very familiar reader question each year: “I feel like the end of this school year is coming much faster that I want […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Finding Relief for Homeschool Burnout
There are many reasons why homeschooling parents can experience burnout during the school year. It could be seasonal (a long winter), topical (curriculum feels stale), or more personal (family crisis, […]
Faith & Family
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Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: Fear
Fear often holds us back in our homeschooling journey and robs us of the joy God has in store for us as we teach our children and create deeper relationships with […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: Not Qualified
One of the top reasons for not homeschooling that I hear from parents is that they don’t feel qualified to teach their children. They believe that if they don’t know Chemistry or Calculus, or whatever […]
NextGen Perspectives
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Homeschool Veterans: Pay it Forward!
It is time — past time, really — for me to pay it forward in the homeschool community. I have always liked to help people, but I mostly do it on a […]
Faith & Family
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Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: Being Overprotective
There seems to be an epidemic of helicopter parenting in our country today… Or maybe it’s just in my suburban neighborhood. But I also notice it a lot in the homeschooling community. In […]
Real-Life Homeschooling
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Real-Life Homeschooling: A Day in Our Life
Last week I got to thinking about how our homeschool days have been flowing… all over the house. So I decided to take a few pictures of where we “did school” throughout the day to give […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: Sensitivity
When I first started homeschooling more than 10 years ago, I felt a lot of pressure and judgment — not only from outsiders, but also family members and even my own children. […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: The Schedule
I am one of those list-making/calendar-posting/digital-app-updating Type A mamas who thought I would have no trouble keeping it all together once we started homeschooling. After all, I’m a former editorial manager who steered multiple magazine sections like a […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: Perfect House
If you are expecting to have the same clean, picture-perfect house you had (or imagined you would have) when your kids left the house for six hours a day to […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: Scope & Sequence
I have written before about my love for lists and all things organizational, and with that came a love of scope and sequences. I love being able to check off a […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: “School”
You might already be asking yourself: What do you mean let go of school? Isn’t homeschooling all about school at home? Yes and no — and the longer I homeschool, the more I […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: Writing Plans in Pen
I am a planner. I love homeschool planners, lists, outlines, organizing things, file folders, three ring binders — the whole nine yards. I would much rather shop at an office supply store than any […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Ten Things to Let Go of This Year: Comparison
I love going to homeschool conventions. I have written about them here several times. In fact, this year I am helping to plan the OCHEC Tulsa Convention. Last year, though, […]