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 you a glimpse of what real-life homeschooling looks like for our family. On this particular day, I was late getting…
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. For those first few years, I was very sensitive and defensive of our choice to homeschool. I also had a tendency…
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 tight ship, with an assignments timeline whiteboard up in my office leading the way and a project management spreadsheet keeping all my…
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 skill my child learns — especially when it is earlier than they are “supposed” to know something. However, the flip side…
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 understand the “no” side. Let me explain… When we started homeschooling, I thought I was being pretty out of the…
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 clothing store. I have been known to spend much of our summer break planning and preparing for the next school year.…
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, I discovered something else about myself during my convention experience. You see, I had a pretty rough spring semester and had…
I love the idea of traditions just as much as the next person, and the warm and fuzzy feelings that word evokes in my heart. However, I’ll admit that, try as I might to establish and keep traditions, I’ve really struggled over the years with consistency. Which is a problem…
Can you believe Thanksgiving is less than one week away? Ready or not, the retail rush into the holidays has been in full force for weeks now, with Christmas displays up at some stores in my town even before Halloween! And I’ve been inundated with email ads from businesses that can’t even wait for Black…
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 development of newly purchased property while trying to sell our existing home. My well-laid homeschool plans have had to be…
As a NextGen Homeschooler, I am thankful for my own homeschooling experience as well as the opportunity to homeschool my own daughters now. Homeschooling has come a long way since the mid-80s when my mom started homeschooling: From more curriculum options and enrichment programs to public funding for homeschooling co-ops. Homeschooling is…
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 as students have helped shape many of our best systems and strategies today. In the next 31 days, we’ll be…