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 / 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 […]
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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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, […]
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: 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: 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, […]
Homeschool Encouragement / Real-Life Homeschooling
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Thankful to Homeschool When Life Happens
I’m going to be honest here: This year has been particularly hard. Life has gotten pretty crazy with major changes for our business, home and family, including the building and […]
Homeschool How-To
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31 Days of Homeschool How-To: With Toddlers
Welcome to our October “31 Days” series at NextGen Homeschool: 31 Days of Homeschool How-To Tips! As NextGen Homeschoolers, we remember what it was like to be homeschooled ourselves, and our experiences […]
Homeschool How-To
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31 Days of Homeschool How-To: Learning Styles
Welcome to our October “31 Days” series at NextGen Homeschool: 31 Days of Homeschool How-To Tips! As NextGen Homeschoolers, we remember what it was like to be homeschooled ourselves, and our experiences […]
Homeschool How-To
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31 Days of Homeschool How-To: Time Blocking
Welcome to our October “31 Days” series at NextGen Homeschool: 31 Days of Homeschool How-To Tips! As NextGen Homeschoolers, we remember what it was like to be homeschooled ourselves, and our […]
Real-Life Homeschooling
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Back to School at Guardian Academy, First Day
If I had to sum up our first day of school here at the Ward house in one word, it would be “hectic.” But hey, that is just my life […]
Hands-On Homeschool / Homeschool How-To
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Planning Our 1800s America Unit Studies
I decided to spend this entire school year immersed in 1800s American history. To say that I am excited about this would be an understatement! When I started planning for this […]
Homeschool How-To / Real-Life Homeschooling
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Guardian Academy Curriculum Plan, Part 1
I love new beginnings! I had started planning for this new school year even before the last one ended. This coming year I will be teaching my son Joel (4th […]
Faith & Family / NextGen Perspectives
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Revisiting Our Homeschool Mission
When we first started homeschooling, I believed I was homeschooling for the right reason… and I was. More than anything else, I wanted my children to love God, to have […]
Faith & Family
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Encouragement From Teach Them Diligently
It’s my turn to share about the encouragement I received from this year’s Teach Them Diligently Convention. I realize this is coming late: Teach Them Diligently Dallas was about a month ago! […]
Faith & Family
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Homeschool Mom on a Mission: Nina Taylor
Welcome to Homeschool Moms on a Mission! We believe that ALL moms have a unique mission to serve the family that God has blessed them with, raising their children diligently […]
NextGen Perspectives
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Thoughts on OCHEC Tulsa Convention 2014
I missed you this past weekend. Seriously, I missed you. There were quite a few people missing this year at the OCHEC Tulsa Convention 2014 — attendees as well as […]
Hands-On Homeschool
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Hands-on Homeschool: Medieval Fair Trip
Last Friday we took the kids to the Medieval Fair in Norman, Oklahoma. We had been studying The Middle Ages earlier this year, so the kids were excited to go. […]