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 right now. Because of some changes in our business, I […]
Real-Life Homeschooling
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When Back-to-School Isn’t Picture Perfect
What do you remember most about the back-to-school season of your youth? The smell of freshly sharpened pencils, perfectly tipped crayons and a clean backpack? Picking out a cooler lunchbox? Laying out your first day’s wardrobe, complete with scuff-free school shoes & […]
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 upcoming rotation of history last year, I was struggling with […]
Homeschool How-To
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Homeschooling in a Dual-Purpose Room
Welcome to our family front room slash dining room slash daily homeschool area! We have been homeschooling in a dual-purpose room for the past four years, and I have reorganized this room every summer to better combine its many functions. For starters, it’s […]
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 grade), Leif (almost 4 and loves to be included), and […]
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 a personal relationship with Him, and to live their lives […]
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! However, it took me a while to process everything I learned at […]
Real-Life Homeschooling
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Preparing our Homeschool for a New Year
I love starting a new year. I am a big fan of resolutions, goals and dreams as well. For me, the new year feels like a chance at a new beginning. By December, my world has gotten somewhat out of […]
Hands-On Homeschool / Real-Life Homeschooling
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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 Diana Waring Presents: Romans, Reformers, and Revolutionaries. The plan is […]
Hands-On Homeschool
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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 her older students. She kept preschool busy boxes with special […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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An Open Letter to the Doubting Mama
Unlike most homeschooling mamas today, I had opinions — and concerns — about homeschooling years before I became a mother. I was homeschooled in high school, so the idea of homeschooling was always in the back of my mind when […]
Real-Life Homeschooling
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First Day of Homeschool at Guardian Academy
In our homeschool this week… Today was officially our first day of homeschool here at Guardian Academy, as well as our first little co-op day, when my sister Elizabeth’s family comes over and we do school together. We got a […]
Homeschool Encouragement
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Starting a Homeschool Co-Op: Getting into the Groove
Last month I wrote a post about starting my own homeschool co-op for the first time — a tween-age Girls Book Club — after my sisters and I addressed the question of co-op schooling in our “Ask a NextGen Homeschooler” […]
Hands-On Homeschool
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Starting a Homeschool Co-Op: Girls Book Club
A couple of weeks ago, my sisters and I addressed the question of cooperative schooling — aka “co-ops” — in an “Ask a NextGen Homeschooler” post. Since that time, the homeschool co-op I talked about starting this year (a tween […]
Real-Life Homeschooling
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Lessons from the meeting my schedule forgot
Gotcher Family Homeschool — Day 13 — September 18, 2012 We’ve been “back to school” for several weeks now — we did schoolwork three days a week those last two weeks in August as a warm-up and review for the […]