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homeschooling

How to Make Homeschooling Exciting

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

The best part of homeschooling is that it is more relaxed, you can learn in ways that work for your child, not for a classroom. You can do a craft every day if you want. It doesn’t have to take a lot of extra work or time to make homeschooling exciting. You also can make it more exciting for yourself as well as your kids, find ways to keep learning yourself.

How to Make Homeschooling Exciting

Making Homeschool Exciting

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

Topics of Interest

Unit studies are a great way to incorporate what interests your child. This year we are going to be doing unit studies for our history learning about different time periods that my kids are interested in.

Slow Down

You do not have to do every subject every day. Create a schedule that works for you, your child, and your family in general. Some kids want to do everything, all in one day because they are enjoying the topics that they are learning about, but on the other hand, maybe you want to spread out the subjects so you can really dive into a topic. This is where unit studies come in handy too.

How to Make Homeschooling Exciting

Get Out of the House

You are not limited to staying home just because you homeschool. In fact, you need to plan to get out of the house.

Field trips. Yes, things are different right but you can go on virtual field trips to at least give you the illusion of getting out of the house on a field trip.

Go to the library. This is where we go when we start feeling like the walls are closing in.

Read Alouds

I am not a fan of sitting and reading a book, a novel, to my kids. Just not my cup of tea, but, I do like getting audiobooks. These are great for in the house or on the go. We can all listen, I don’t want to bury the book in the backyard instead of reading it, win-win.

My oldest also likes to listen to audiobooks on her own while she draws or colors or builds with Lego.

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Science Experiments & Hands on Learning

Try something new once a week. It doesn’t have to be a science experiment once a week, but try your hand at something. One fun, hands on learning activity we have done as part of a history lesson, was creating Hieroglyphs.

Make Homeschooling Exciting - hieroglyphs-creating

Play Games

There are so. many. board games out there that you can use in your homeschool, and your kids are going to be learning while they play. Make learning fun, and your kids are going to be learning forever. Make homeschooling exciting by bringing out the board games once in awhile.

There are also games on Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers that other homeschoolers and teachers have created for learning.

How to Make Homeschooling Exciting - Board Games for Homeschool

Baking & Cooking

I love seeing my oldest cooking and baking on her own. Do you know how much learning is happening when you cook and bake? You are following a recipe, you are learning from any mistakes that make occur, and how to overcome those mistakes.

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Filed Under: Homeschool, Homeschool Helps Tagged With: homeschooling

How To Homeschool – How We Homeschool

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

Everyone is curious as to what homeschooling looks like for “seasoned” homeschoolers. What homeschool looks like for homeschoolers who were homeschooling before crisis-schooling. There is not a right way to homeschool. Please make sure you are homeschooling legally, and enjoying being with your kids.

How to Homeschool - How We Homeschool

How To Homeschool – How We Homeschool

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

We are relaxed homeschoolers. I am not pushing a schedule on myself or my kids for the most part. We all know what needs to be done each day and we get to work.

Homeschooling has become a way of life here. We try to stick to a traditional school year, but we don’t stop learning through the summer or Christmas vacation. We’re just not doing book work during this time.

How to Homeschool with No Wake Up Calls

We do not start our day with wake up calls. Well, I do, I get up earlier than my kids. But my kids get to sleep as late as they like. They are growing like weeds, and they need their sleep. we are not keeping with a public school schedule where they need to catch the bus at 7:30am to be there for 9am.

Instead my kids get to sleep until 8:30 or 9, which is when they typically get up. They have breakfast, get dressed and all that stuff before starting school. And we’re not rushing through breakfast.

Slow Start to Lessons

We rarely start lessons all at the same time. I have a kid that is up earlier than her siblings. She is finished her math lesson for the day by the time her older sister gets up most days. And she loves it. She’ll get her independent lessons finished for the day, and join us for group lessons like history or science.

CTCMath - child using computer

How to Homeschool with Independent Lessons

This one trips people up. How to do multiple grades for your kids? We use Teaching Textbooks for my older girls, and Gauge, grade 2, will be using CTCMath this year, so that is all independent from each other, and they are all able to do the work on their own.

Language Arts is independent too from siblings, we’re using Grammar Galaxy again. Austin, grade 6 can do this completely on her own. Brookland, grade 4, needs a little help here and there, and Gauge requires my full help. It is easy to juggle that help when they are working on their own, independent studies too.

For Example:

  • While Brookland is working on Math, I am helping Gauge with Language Arts.
  • While Gauge is working on Math, I am available to help Brookland with her language arts.

We do still do Science, Social Studies, History, etc together. This year we are doing unit studies to fit what they are interested in. They will all complete work to their grade level not to the highest or lowest grade.

Wizard's & Wands Curriculum - harry potter book

Time Frame

We are usually finished by lunch time. We might choose to do a science experiment or field trip in the afternoon. We might go to the beach, or the play ground before school is out for the day. Or to the library to grab more and more books.

We do not cover every subject a day. In fact, the only things we do everyday are math and language arts. We are reading everyday, both for language arts and for pleasure, because we are very big readers here.

There is a day of the week where we cover a different subject. We don’t want to burn out on school so that it becomes something we hate.

  • Monday might be science.
  • Tuesday, History.
  • Thursday might be foreign language.
How We Homeschool - life skills

Life Skills

You will be amazed at the skills your kids pick up because they are at home and am to take a more relaxed approach to learning and doing things they enjoy. My 11 year old LOVES Lego. Putting together a dog kennel, which became our turkey run, was a breeze for her. She is used to following Lego instructions so this was just a larger set to put together.

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Deciding to Homeschool. Now What?

Filed Under: Homeschool, Homeschool Helps Tagged With: homeschooling

Deciding to Homeschool. Now What?

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

Welcome to the wonderful, sometimes crazy, and often scary world of deciding to homeschool. Taking that big step to homeschool is scary for a lot of people, it was terrifying for me.

You have Decided to Homeschool.

Deciding to Homeschool Your Kids

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

The hardest part of homeschooling is deciding to homeschool your kids. You know in your heart that this is the right choice for your child right now. The hardest part is making the decision that your gut is screaming at you to make.

Research what you need to do, legally, to homeschool in your province/state and then do that. Send the letter, fill out the forms.

Once You You have Decided to Homeschool: Take time to Deschool

If your child went to a brick and mortar school, take time to decompress from that. Deschooling is the adjustment period a child goes through when leaving school and beginning homeschooling.

The general rule of thumb is one month of deschooling for each year that your child was in school.

Try to limit your recreation of school at home. Homeschooling is an educational lifestyle, not school at home with a strict schedule.

Deciding to Homeschool

Don’t Buy all the Curriculum

There is this thing called shiny-new-curriculum syndrome. As you can guess it’s seeing new curriculum and wanting all the new curriculum. But when you are first starting out you don’t know exactly what is going to work for you and your kids.

Questions to Ask Before Buying Curriculum

Secular Homeschool Curriculum – How to Choose One

Boxed Curriculum Isn’t for You If…

Best Places to Find Curriculum

Our Homeschool Curriculum Picks: Grades K, 2, and 4

Accept Change, and Accept Change to Happen Again

You will second guess yourself all the time, especially during the first year. This is normal. Every aspect of your homeschool can and most likely will change, repeatedly through your homeschool journey.

Your reason – your why for homeschooling.

Curriculum – this could change repeatedly through a year as you learn what works for you and your children.

Find Your People

Look for people like you, find a community to support you, and to support. You can use Facebook to search for groups in your local area, this has been the easiest way in my experience to find groups of like minded individuals.

These people can provide you with support when you are feeling down and stressed about homeschooling. They can help by giving you tips, and sharing their experience with curriculum, and homeschooling in general.

If you can’t find local homeschoolers, think about creating a group at some point. Not right away, but make it a goal.

Homeschool Curriculum Facebook Group Header

Accept that You are going to Freak Out

Accept that at some point or other, especially in the first year, you are going to freak out and feel like you aren’t doing enough, or aren’t doing the right thing. Or one of many other things.

You are going to feel like you don’t know enough to teach your child – but you can learn along with them.

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Filed Under: Homeschool, Homeschool Helps Tagged With: homeschooling

Doing School at Home

by Ashley Mullen 1 Comment

There are a lot of “homeschoolers” right now what with school being closed across Canada and the United States. There is a lot of information out there about how to schedule the day, how to re-create school at home. School at home is going to look a lot different than actual public school.

Doing School at Home

Doing School at Home

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

School at home is going to look differently than public school. To start, you have a very small amount of kids in your school, and in your classroom, especially if you have multiple grades.

Let’s Take A Breath

You are stressed about working from home or being off work, and now you are stressing about how to teach your kids. Relax, take a breath and let me tell you about deschooling.

Deschooling is a period of adjustment that child goes through when leaving school and begins homeschooling. The child has he chance to decompress and disconnect from “school” being the default and “school ways” being the standard expectation. But this only happens through a lack of strict scheduling, and maybe even a complete lack of “school”.

How to do School at Home

This is where most of you are. You are now home with your child you are trying to figure out when to get school work done, and then school work is finished super early in the day. What you are suppose to do with the rest of the day, because doesn’t school take 8 hours a day?

School at home doesn’t take all day because your child is working at their pace and not working on someone else (or a classroom of someone else’s), and are able to get their work done faster… assuming they work and aren’t getting distracted by the fact that they are home.

Suddenly Doing school at Home

School at Home & Screen Time

You can use screen time. At this point, throw out the rules on limited screen time. Maybe your school has classes online, maybe you’re kids are super interested in learning more about graphic design or coding right now. You know where they are going to learn about those things: online, on the computer, screen time. Just go with it. We LOVE Teaching Textbooks which is online.

There are a lot of places that are doing live videos on Facebook showing and teaching new things as well as this goes on. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden for example is one that we have been enjoying each day. We just love seeing and learning about animals from them.

Get Outside

Just because you are having to stay away from people does not mean that you can’t get outside and get some fresh air. In fact, I recommend it for helping everyone burn off energy, to keep people from climbing the walls in the house.

Going for a walk is a great way to get out of the house without, hopefully, coming into contact with many people, and if you do, remember the 6 foot rule. Walking is a great way to start a nature study, and you don’t need to be formal about it, just talk about what you see and hear.

Arts & Crafts Time

This is a favorite past time for my six year old. He loves to color and draw. One of our favorite YouTube channels is Art for Kids Hub. Step by step drawing of kids favorite characters, animals, and more. I really like this videos for my kids and I to do together.

You don’t need formal art time, just let your kids have free range to crayons, markers, paper, etc.

Doing School at Home

Reading

Any homeschooler will tell you, reading is the best thing ever! You kids can read to themselves, they can read to you, or you can read to them. The answer to many questions lay within a book.

With all the closures libraries are also closed for physical books which is completely horrible but many have access online with OverDrive. There are also online book subscription places that are offering their services for free for a certain amount of time. Scribd is one of these places, Epic offers reading FREE for 30 days , and Amazon is offering children’s books for free on Audible.

You don’t need to make this time stressful and hard on yourself or your kids. Just be together. Read a book out loud. Maybe take some time for yourself in your room away from everything.

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Filed Under: Homeschool, Homeschool Helps Tagged With: homeschool helps, homeschooling, Secular Homeschooling

Homeschool Tips for Beginners

by Ashley Mullen Leave a Comment

Deciding to start homeschooling can be scary, and exciting, and overwhelming, and the list of emotions goes on and on. I have some homeschool tips for beginners to help you out on your incredible journey. I have three main takeaways for you today as you get ready to begin homeschooling. Tips for Moms. Tips the First Year. Organization Tips.

Homeschool Tips for Beginners - 3 tips beginning to homeschool

Homeschool Tips for Beginners

This post contains affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information.

Homeschool Tips for Moms

Moms, or dads, should first head to your provincial or state education website and formalize yourself with the rules and laws for homeschooling in your province.

Each province have very different laws and regulations, and requires something different of you, for example New Brunswick just needs you to fill out a form at the beginning of the school year, very simple.

Another example is Saskatchewan where each school district is different, and you are required to register, provide educational plans, and an end of year report.

Take a deep breathe, grab a cup of tea and some books to read.
Homeschool Books I Recommend for Beginning to Homeschool
Homeschool Books for Homeschool Moms
6 Secular Books for Secular Homeschooling

Do a Facebook search for homeschool groups in your area. This is the first thing I do when we move, I want to join and talk/”meet” other homeschool families right away. This is also a great way to find used curriculum as well.

Homeschool Tips for Beginners - how to start homeschooling

Homeschool Tips – First Year

Things aren’t going to go perfectly the first year. Use the first year, or even the first two or three years, to find out what works best for you and your kids. There are so many different styles of curriculum and learning styles, that for the first year you might not land on what works for your right away, and that’s OK.

My homeschool advice is to not try to create school at home. Sometimes it’s more relaxing and enjoyable to sit on the couch with a read-aloud or even workbooks than at a desk or table. If you are enjoying it, you are more likely to stick with it long term. You can find lap desks to making working on the couch easier, and neater, we have them and use them everywhere including in the vehicle.

Homeschool Organization Tips

I like digital homeschool resources that I can print off as needed and re-use for each of my kids. But digital resources do come with their own unique organizational challenges, one being forgetting what you have, and not remembering where you stored it on your computer. This Guide to Digital Homeschool Organization might be a lifesaver for you.

What about lesson plans?

How are you going to keep track of your lessons, what you want cover each day. Some people, myself included, are paper planner people. I like writing thing out by hand. But some prefer online planner that send you email reminders, which I admit can be so very helpful like the Homeschool Planet planner, you can check out my review of here.

I try to have a very rough idea of what I want to cover for the year for each of my kids. And then break it down into how many months we’ll homeschooling so I know how much of each subject to cover each week.

For example there are 118 lessons + 17 quizzes in Teaching Textbooks Level 3. That means for 9 months of school Brookland should be doing at least 15 lessons/quizzes a month. I now see she’ll be done very soon doing a lesson or two a day because she enjoys doing it.

There are many other options for keeping track of your plans including using Google tools, the calendar app built into your phone or computer. OR maybe you unschool or interest led and just want to keep track of what your kids have done.

FREE DIGITAL PLANNER

I have a Google Slides planner – 2 page layout that you can use and edit in Google Slides to create your own digital planner. CLICK THIS LINK to get a copy of it.

3 Homeschool Tips for Beginners

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Filed Under: Homeschool, Homeschool Helps Tagged With: homeschool curriculum, Homeschool Mom, homeschool Organization, homeschool planning, homeschooling

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A Little About Me

I'm Ashley, a Canadian secular homeschool mom of 3, living in Nova Scotia.

I share our adventures in homeschooling and parenting.

You can usually find us at the library surrounded by books.
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