Tagged: Learning Lifestyle

Planning is making time for things that matter.

Year-End Review, New Year Planning

December is the month when my planning instinct kicks into overdrive. I flip the calendar page on the first, and it’s as if I’ve opened a new channel in my brain. All the while I’m enjoying holiday preparations and wondering...

How to create learning lifestyle with your children.

How to Create a Learning Lifestyle

Summer is coming soon, and although formal class time may end for some homeschoolers, it’s easy to keep minds active if you create a learning lifestyle. This is a wonderful season to tackle outdoor projects and learn practical skills, as...

Hackschooling with Logan LaPlante at TEDx

13-year-old Logan LaPlante talks about a real-life education model that makes learning relevant. Hackschooling (aka homeschooling) works.

Favorite education quotes for the non-traditional education, especially homeschool families

Great Education Quotes

Here is a collection of favorite quotes on lifelong learning, learning and freedom, unschooling, institutional schooling, homeschooling and general truth about learning by speakers from C.S. Lewis and Charlotte Mason to Aristotle and Mark Twain.

How to Teach Your Child: Charlotte Mason’s Education Manifesto

Charlotte Mason’s Educational Manifesto declared that not only did children have a right to knowledge, but they also had an appetite for such knowledge, and that appetite, if not squelched, would motivate them to learn.

Wintery Mix: The Carnival of Homeschooling

Here is the Wintery Mix Carnival of Homeschooling, with a healthy variety of posts on topics as varied as reading aloud, being on the bottom of the gymnastics stack, and visiting the optometrist. Enjoy!

Learning while Caregiving: Tips for Crisis Homeschooling

Can Learning Go On While Caregiving? Crisis Schooling for Homeschoolers

If you can align your expectations with reality, make adjustments that keep you sane, and focus on priorities and essentials, you’ll be able to homeschool while you’re a caregiver.

Carnival of Homeschooling: The Beach Reading Edition

The Beach Reading Edition of Carnival of Homeschooling is up, and there are great posts on why to homeschool through high school, how to motivate your children, how to teach boys, and much, much more. Enjoy!

Learning Styles: Do they really make a difference? Can they be a roadmap to better teaching?

Learning Styles: Do They Make a Difference?

In the How to Homeschool a Boy series (the three previous posts), I talked about some of the things I learned through the homeschooling years. One of the first things I learned about was learning styles, or preferred ways of...

Hey Mom, Listen to this Great Performance: How to Homeschool a Boy, Part 3

Remember to let your sons be who they are so that they will become the people they were meant to be. This takes time, space, and the freedom to explore varied interests. As a bonus, it’s fun!

Hey Mom, Want to See My Jungle Gym? How to Homeschool a Boy, Part 2

Your sons will teach themselves amazing things if you give the time and space to learn what they can do. It takes a boy with a boy’s interests to find the thread of an idea and follow it through to the creation of a project he really enjoys. The key ingredient is free time and the liberty to explore, try new things, and yes– get hurt occasionally. It takes trusting that if you provide time, tools, and skills, they will use them. It also takes understanding that education is about a whole lot more than doing school.

Momma, Want to See a Snake? How to Homeschool a Boy, Part 1

It was a beautiful spring day, and we spent most of it with doors open, happily going in and out with various tasks and projects. It was mid-afternoon when my youngest son came in. “Momma, do you want to see...

Telephone Rules for Homeschools

One of the best things I ever did for our homeschool and learning lifestyle was to create a telephone policy. By setting a few simple boundaries, I eliminated an enormous source of potential distraction and frustration…

Houseplants, Homeschools and the Mid-Year Blahs

How long does it take to reach that “whose bright idea was this anyway” point in your homeschool year? It’s normal to feel overwhelmed on some days, but here are a few things you can do to get through it all

Carnival of Homeschooling- The NaNoWriMo Edition

Preface Welcome to this hundred-and-umpteenth Carnival of Homeschooling! Because November is National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo or nano), and I’m over 10,000 words into the writing process (and can’t think of anything but writing, writing, and more...

Charlotte Mason on Teaching With Literature

Stories bring knowledge alive and engage emotional memory in a way that makes abstract principles and arcane facts easy to understand and remember. When learning can be joyous and simple, why make it boring and difficult (and pointless because they are unlikely to remember anything) by using tedious worksheets and canned curriculum? It’s never too late to start teaching well. Resolve now to make literature and stories a major part of your educational adventure!

Tips for homeschooling in challenging times.

Homeschooling in Challenging Times

Current events present homeschoolers with useful opportunities for teaching and learning throughout the year, but some seasons just seem to be overachievers! In the fall, there are elections, which can spark a unit study on American government. In some years,...

A learning lifestyle is far more effective than an overstuffed schedule. Plus, it's more fun!

Overstuffed School Schedules vs. The Learning Lifestyle

There’s a new school year coming up, and as you plan it can be tempting to create a school schedule that would stagger a grad student. I know — I’ve been there. I’ve started school years with so many classes...

Charlotte Mason and Oliver DeMille have ideas to help you reduce screen time.

How to Reduce Screen Time

Changing a bad habit isn’t the easiest thing you’ll ever do, but it can be done. Here’s how you can help your family withdraw from the daily media barrage.

Limiting negative media helps create a healthier learning atmosphere.

How to Create a More Positive Learning Atmosphere

There are many good reasons for living a quiet and peaceable life, but it’s particularly important for homeschooling families. Fear and stress short-circuit the learning process, and noise, all by itself, has been proven to increase stress and reduce the ability to think clearly. Here are some thoughts on news and noise in your home.

Reading “Laddie” (and a Happy Birthday Dinner)

Once things settle down after the June convention and workshops, I always take extra time off for reading and projects. June is birthday month for four of us, so we all feel a bit celebratory. This year, my very sweet...