When my mom decided to start homeschooling in 1988, I was just two years away from finishing high school. We had moved too far from my public high school for me to continue attending, so she included me in this sweeping decision, despite my initial resistance. From my questioning teenage […]
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Am I Preparing My Teen for Success After High School?
Whether you are new to homeschooling teens, a few years into your journey with high school on the horizon, or still considering whether to homeschool through the high school years, you are probably struggling with concerns like: What if I’m not qualified to equip my teen for academic success? If […]
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Looking for homeschool community? Start a simple homeschool co-op!
The foundational idea of a homeschool co-op is to “cooperate” with one or more families to share any part of the home education process. Co-ops can be as simple as two families meeting regularly to cover one subject or as complex as a large, organized, fee-based program covering a myriad […]
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Homeschooling With the End in Mind
If you’ve been homeschooling for any amount of time, I’m sure you’ve encountered at least one person who has questioned your decision to do so. I remember when we began homeschooling in 2010, every time I met someone new and introduced myself as a homeschooling mom, the response would be, […]
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Why Multi-Generational Travel Matters
For us, family travel is a legacy: It’s a priceless inheritance that’s been passed on from one generation to the next. From immigrant families that established new roots in the United States to pioneering families who headed west and farming families who settled down across the plains, my husband’s family […]
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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 their educational journeys. Don’t get me wrong: Homeschooling is hard, and I lose my patience and blow it constantly. But […]
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Finding Encouragement & Fellowship at a Homeschool Moms Retreat
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 Summit with her, I felt “seen,” and I thought, “Why not?” I had never even considered attending the summit, but […]
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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 my girls would bring us closer by adding “teacher” to the roles I already played in their lives. […]
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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 to align with Goals 2000, in an effort to transition students from school to the workforce. At the time, my […]
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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 time to update everyone on how they are doing post-graduation. Our First Graduate Our eldest daughter, Hannah, will be 22 next […]
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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 mom, who homeschooled us in the 1980s, my homeschooling sister and sister-in-law, and three of our homeschooled daughters. My mom, […]
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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 various project deadlines on a wall-sized whiteboard and spreadsheet, I didn’t expect to encounter challenges managing our daily homeschool schedule. However, our first two years of homeschooling, it seemed that no matter what fabulous recommended scheduling system […]