We can do school in our jammies, so it’s only appropriate that we can learn how to homeschool better in our jammies, too.
Today (May 13, 2013) at noon central time, I will be sharing how to get school done–tomorrow! I’d love to have you join me for the free live session here. Click the Listen Live button on the top left.
Can’t make it? You can pick up two recorded sessions I did on homeschooling strong-willed kids and disciplining between the extremes as well as 53 other audios for a bargain price. Hear leading homeschool experts like Andrew Pudewa all year long in the comfort of your home.
Before I was a speaker for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, I was an attendee. I downloaded the incredible sessions to enjoy while I was cleaning, working out, and grocery shopping and came away inspired. Can’t afford to buy the audios? Look for more free live sessions this week!
I hope you’ll join me live today or will pick up the audios so we can connect at another convenient time. God bless your homeschooling this week and in the weeks to come.
Hello, Homeschool Homies. I pray this edition of What’s Hot in Homeschooling finds you well! I have some great articles and ideas for you this week. What I don’t have is a link-up. I think bloggers are better served by choosing well-established link-ups. The good news is that I read these link-ups and will find your great articles no matter what! Please contact me if you’re interested in pinning content to the What’s Hot in Homeschooling Board on Pinterest. Now on to the good stuff!
As the school year comes to a close, it’s easy to panic that your child isn’t done with the 2nd grade book. Or worse yet, he hasn’t even started it! Homeschool Heart and Mind has comfort for your crisis.
I really knew next to nothing about charter homeschools before reading Enchanted Homeschooling Mom’s article. If you need a change in your homeschool, check it out.
Speaking of needing a change, maybe you need to focus on your mission. I’ve read about mission statements before, but this article by Renee Gotcher at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler shares the difference having one can make in your decisions. Homeschoolers can always use help making decisions!
If you’re a subscriber to Psychowith6, you already know my philosophy on meal planning. (Don’t have the book? Click here). Having a once-and-for-all meal plan makes it much easier to include kids in meal preparation. Simply Living for Him takes it one step further to include kids in the shopping, too. I can’t wait to try it!
My children have grown up with mostly contemporary Christian music. That’s why I love teaching them not just the hymns, but the stories behind them. Contented at Home offers freebies for teaching the hymns that you don’t want to miss!
As you may know, I’m big into productivity. Every week I try a new method of managing my time and tasks better. I think you’ll appreciate this article from Under the Golden Apple Tree as I did.
If you’d like to share what’s hot in your homeschool, please comment below. God bless your week!
This week is all about preventing and solving problems. I LOVE the posts my fellow bloggers are linking up. I can’t include them all, so be sure to check them out on the site if you’re reading via email.
If you haven’t been online much the past few weeks, you may not know much about the Common Core. These YouTube videos are a great place to start. But I love this post from 7 Sisters Homeschool that encourages us to keep it in proper perspective.
I’ll admit it. I’ve believed that if I just planned the perfect homeschool schedule, I’d be a perfect homeschool mom. Heather Bowen of Upside Down Homeschooling turns that idea, well upside down!
Speaking of scheduling…when you’re doing any kind of work other than homeschooling, that’s a challenge, isn’t it? Jamerrill Stewart, a gracious and very busy WAHM, shares her story.
All this busyness in our day may lead to forgetting one very important person: our husbands. As a psychologist, I can’t stress the importance of marriage maintenance enough. Women Abiding shares these words of wisdom.
I did my doctoral research by driving to libraries, lugging heavy journals up and down floors, and making hundreds of photocopies. What a blessing that our kids don’t have to research this way. The National Digital Public Library is a new resource that makes studying anything easier.
Now it’s your turn! What’s hot in your homeschool this week? Please use my blog button (bottom right) or link to this post. Visit the link before you if you can and say thanks.
I’ve struggled to find a homeschool record keeping system that works for my family for nine years and I’ve finally found it! I’m sharing it with readers of Blessed Beyond a Doubt today. I hope you enjoy the post and Jill’s fabulous blog, too. Most of all, I hope I can help you make your homeschool record keeping easier. You’ll want to read the post for an explanation, but here’s a direct link to the form you need.
This week I’m very thankful for the Internet. Through it, God enables us to enjoy the immense talents He has given to so many homeschoolers! I’m thankful, too, for the homeschool bloggers who share their creativity with us. If you’re featured this week, please grab the “Featured” button in the right footer. If you’re a blogger, I’d love for you to link up. If you’re a Pinterest person, please pin the great ideas from the What’s Hot in Homeschooling board. If you just want great articles and resources, read on!
Whether daughters that we hope will be homeschooling moms should be educated beyond high school is a hot topic these days. This article from Intoxicated on Life is great encouragement to provide continuing education.
If I could only choose one subject area to teach my children well, it would be language arts. When our kids can read well, they can learn God’s Word and even math well. Only Passionate Curiosity has assembled a great list of free curriculum for teaching these critical skills to 1st through 6th graders.
Speaking of language arts, teaching kids how to write good sentences can be a challenge. The Chaos and the Clutter offers us a simple and fun method for making writing click. Can’t wait to try it with my kids!
So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler points out that many worksheets that ask students to write about their families aren’t appropriate for homeschoolers. So contributor Jill made some and they’re free!
Now it’s your turn. What’s hot in your homeschool this week? Please grab my button from the blog’s right footer or link to this post. Please visit the blog linked before yours and thank them for the hot ideas!
I’m thrilled to introduce you to my new friend, Jennifer Janes. She offers a perspective on an important homeschooling issue that I am often asked about. If you enjoy her guest post (and I know you will!), I hope you will visit her blog.
Some parents know they’re starting the homeschooling journey with a child with special needs. They can prepare themselves for the journey ahead. But what about those who think everything is fine, then find out otherwise?
I knew my daughter had special needs early on. What I didn’t realize as we started her kindergarten year is that she has learning disabilities too, making her special needs even more challenging. It took me until October, when we were on our fourth reading curriculum, to admit that there was a problem. This smart, bubbly little girl was really struggling with academics. I wasn’t prepared for that. I started to panic.
If you find yourself in the same situation I did, there’s hope.
When you realize you’re homeschooling a child with special needs, there are things you can do to take control of the situation.
Take some deep breaths. The situation isn’t as hopeless as it seems. There are a lot of families homeschooling a child with special needs successfully. You can do it too.
Figure out the problem. You have to know what you’re dealing with before you can create a plan. Whether it’s ordering some books from Amazon or seeking a professional evaluation, you need to take steps to identify your child’s specific challenge.
Gather resources. If you haven’t already joined HSLDA, I highly recommend that you do. The legal representatives can help you with the legalities of homeschooling in your state, connect you with special needs consultants who can guide you through finding a curriculum to use with your child, and provide you with regular newsletters to address different aspects of special needs homeschooling.
Find your tribe. There are other families out there who are on a similar path. It helps if you can find some to collaborate with. They can share their research into different resources and teaching strategies and may even have some items you can borrow (to see if they work for your child) before you invest in them. If you don’t know anyone in your community, there are groups for special needs homeschooling online on various forums and social media sites.
Be willing to try something different. Your child may not (probably doesn’t) learn with the same learning style that’s comfortable for you. Learn about different teaching methods and use them with your child until you find what works best.
Relax. Your child will learn, and you will navigate through the issues that seem so daunting now. Give your child permission to learn at a comfortable pace and learn to mark progress, not completion of curriculum at a certain grade-level.
What are your best tips for navigating those first days of homeschooling a child with special needs?
Jennifer lives in Arkansas with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys homeschooling, writing in blue ink, reading, Bible study, and drinking iced tea. You can read more about her faith, family, and homeschooling with special needs on her blog, Jennifer A. Janes.
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
