Last night my local homeschool group dedicated a portion of our monthly meeting to a “resources swap.” Similar to a curriculum/book swap or clothing swap, the idea was for moms […]
Friday Flashback: Sunshine, golf & gladiators
In my life this week… The past few days have been gorgeous here in Northeast Oklahoma. Today it is in the mid 70s and sunny. My husband came home from […]
Identifying the learning styles of your children
When I first started homeschooling eight years ago, I didn’t really know much about learning styles. I also didn’t consider the differences in my girls learning styles when choosing our […]
Friday Flashback: A week of surprises
My theme for this week is… Surprise! In my life this week… My husband had to take a last-minute trip to Dallas for work, leaving Sunday afternoon. I found out […]
Tuesday’s Tip: Survival skills for solo parent days
In last week’s Friday Flashback post, I shared some of the ways that I juggle homeschooling, working from home, and solo parenting when my husband is traveling for work. Although […]
Friday Flashback: My solo parent juggling act
In my life this week… It was time for another round of the “solo parent juggling act” — when hubby’s out of town for work and some of his contributions […]
What’s Working: The Story of the World
When my two eldest girls were in high school, we used and loved Diana Waring’s History Alive unit studies. I fully intended to continue to use the same curriculum this […]
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: Group presentation days
Back when my mom began homeschooling, I was the eldest child and a junior in high school with lots of prior experience in public speaking. I was in drama club […]
Tuesday’s Tip: Find bargain curriculum, tools
I live in the homeschool-rich state of Oklahoma. There are an abundance of homeschoolers here because the freedom to homeschool is written into our state constitution. Therefore there is an […]
How we manage working while homeschooling
Recently the writers at NextGen Homeschool addressed the question “Can you work and homeschool?” in an “Ask a NextGen Homeschooler” post. If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you’ll know […]
When in doubt, seek support!
One of the most common feelings expressed to me by other homeschooling moms is self-doubt. Am I doing enough? Am I doing it right? Am I organized enough? Am I […]
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 […]
Learning goes on when life interrupts schooling
I used to feel guilty when life got in the way of our school lessons. When I homeschooled the girls, we would sometimes have days or even weeks when our […]
Friday Flashback: A week of highs and lows
This week was an exhausting rollercoaster ride for my family, complete with exhilarating highs, unexpected turns, and stomach-dropping lows. I debated whether I was still motivated to write today, but […]
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, […]
Ask a NextGen Homeschooler: Can you work while homeschooling?
Welcome to “Ask a NextGen Homeschooler…” It’s your turn to ask the authors of NextGen Homeschool — four formerly homeschooled moms who are now homeschooling our children — to weigh […]
Friday Flashback: Reading spark from Captain Underpants
This has been a very busy week for us, but great educational steps took place in spite of my crazy schedule. With my husband traveling and my best friend visiting […]
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 […]
Friday Flashback: A new year, a spa day, a snow day?
This week was the absolute best first week back to school after an extended vacation. The fact that I spent most of Monday at the local day spa utilizing my […]
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 […]
Fresh Take on the New Year of Homeschooling
Like most homeschooling mamas at this time of year, I have been busy preparing for the new year: From lesson planning and making necessary tweaks and changes to our school […]
Moms grappling with grief
This week, it hardly seemed appropriate to begin sharing our stories of NextGen Homeschool family Christmas traditions and how we homeschool during the Christmas season. Our hearts are heavy and […]
Gotcher Family Thanksgiving
By Rosanna Ward I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday. This year for Thanksgiving, the Gotcher family gathered in force at my home in Oklahoma. Mom and Dad […]
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 […]