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…
Top Homeschool Posts of 2014: Hands-On
Welcome to NextGen Homeschool’s Top Homeschool Posts of 2014 Series! This week we’ll be sharing the top homeschooling topics — and most viewed posts — of last year based on the…
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…
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.…
Hands-on Homeschool: Garden Prep Field Trip
Last week we took a few days off for a spring garden prep “field trip” at the home of my in-laws in Kansas. Grandpa and Grandma Gotcher are “firstgen” homeschoolers:…
“Freedom Worth Defending” – 29th Annual Oklahoma Homeschool Capitol Day
Our family decided to attend this year’s Oklahoma Homeschool Capitol Day. I took our two daughters to this event seven years ago, when our son Joel was only a year…
Hands-On Homeschool: A Backyard Farm?
Last year I wrote about expanding our backyard garden and involving the girls in every step of the process, from choosing what to grow and starting seeds in the house,…
Top Homeschooling Posts of 2013: Hands-On
Welcome to NextGen Homeschool’s Top Homeschooling Posts of 2013 Series! This week we’ll be sharing the top homeschooling topics — and most viewed posts — of last year based on…
Christmas Sweet Treats to Make With Kids
This month we’re joining a special series at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler called, “A Goodie a Day Until Christmas.” Instead of sharing a specific recipe for this series,…
Homeschooling Through the Holidays: Engaging the Senses
NextGen Homeschool is proud to join 26 fabulous homeschool bloggers for a special Christmas series at UpsideDown Homeschooling called, “The ABCs of Homeschooling Through the Holidays.” Homeschooling during the busy…
Autumn Inspiration: Fall Foliage Hikes
When it comes to Autumn inspiration, the scenic mountains of Colorado and Aspen groves turning into blankets of pure gold never fail to take my breath away. One of my…
Fall Brings Crisp Adventures, Fun Traditions
I love fall! After the summer heat and humidity in Oklahoma, the crisp cool air is a welcome change. This makes fall an ideal time for field trips. We go to…
Real Life Homeschooling in Your Own Backyard
At this point in our back-to-school schedule, we still have a few free afternoons each week. Our weekly homeschool enrichment programs, such as worship dance, PE Plus, AWANA, and our…
Flashback Friday: Guardian Academy’s Unit Study Presentation Day
In our homeschool this year… This year we at Guardian Academy (the little homeschool co-op I’m doing with my sister Elizabeth and her girls) are studying the Middle Ages using…
What’s Working: Preschool Busy Boxes
I was inspired last week by a vlog on Rachael Carman’s blog, HisSunflower.com, where she showed how she kept her younger children busy when she needed to spend time teaching…
How to Plan for Homeschool Travel
Anytime we have the opportunity to travel as a family, we are looking for fun and adventure. However, one of my favorite benefits of homeschooling is the chance to take…
Tuesday’s Tip: Create a Unit Study on the Fly
It took me a couple of years of adjusting to the homeschooling life to realize that homeschooling is about so much more than cracking open curriculum at the dining room…
Hands-on Homeschool: Living History Days
Today my family attended Living History Days hosted by Vision Heirs in Colorado. They are offered twice a year in our state, and I know that similar opportunities take place…
Hands-on Homeschool: How important is it to memorize basic math facts?
I remember that when I was in third grade in public school (way back in 1980), I memorized math facts. My family had moved to Iowa from Oklahoma halfway through…
Hands-On Homeschool: Making corn husk dolls
I recently wrote about how the girls book club co-op I host has chosen to read The Little House Collection by Laura Ingalls Wilder this semester. Another change we made was…
What’s Working: A daily routine vs. schedule
I am one of those list-making/calendar-posting/digital-app-loading recovering perfectionist moms who has tried to keep it all together seven ways ’til Sunday since we started homeschooling. I wouldn’t have expected otherwise…
Tuesday’s Tip: Why you’ll love a laminator
One invaluable tool that I have had on hand for several years is an at-home laminator. I have found so many uses for it when homeschooling, as well as for…
What’s Working: Girls Book Club co-op takes off
I have written in the past about how I started my own homeschool co-op last fall — a tween and young readers girls book club — and I feel very…
Tuesday’s Tip: Must-have electronics kit for kids
By Rosanna Ward My son Joel, age 7, enjoys taking old electronics apart, such as DVD players, cable boxes, and more. My best friend was here a few weeks ago,…
Tuesday’s Tip: Spontaneous projects with Pinterest
I have to admit I am pretty late to the Pinterest bandwagon, but I have finally figured out how to make it work for me instead of becoming just another…
What’s Working: Apps for Kids
Long gone are the days when having one computer in the house was a boon for a homeschooling family like the one I grew up in. Back in the late…
Wildlife Wednesday: Close encounters with mule deer
By Renée Gotcher This week NextGen Homeschool is joining forces with Creation Conversations and Kathy Balman @Kathy’s Cluttered Mind to bring you Wildlife Wednesday — posts about nature with a giveaway and a…
NGHS Students: Deer Poetry
After our recent close encounters with mule deer in our neighborhood, the girls wrote the following poems to express what they learned about deer in our factual research, Biblical study…
Elections night party and the morning after
Another national election has come and gone: The results are in, and today, we move forward. For me, this election was significant not just because I had strong personal convictions…
Up close and personal with the elections
This weekend I came to a better appreciation of living in a swing state: It can be pretty exciting and fun the week before a national election if you stop…