The Sensible Homeschool – Practical Help & Encouragement for Your Homeschool

3 Useful Discipleship Tools for Christian Parents

January 17, 2020January 18, 2020

Christian parents often feel like they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or, maybe more accurately, we’re standing on the Rock in a hard place. We’re called by the Lord (our “Rock” in Psalm 18:2) to “bring [our children] up in the training and instruction of the Lord” but our “post-truth” culture makes that a seemingly impossible goal.

Traditional, Christian morals and values are eroding in our society at breakneck speed and we’re constantly inundated with messages contrary to Biblical teaching. Once-a-week, Sunday school flannel board lessons may have cut it thirty years ago (arguably), but times have definitely changed.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Mini-Review: Our Experience So Far

January 3, 2020January 20, 2020

Schoolhouse Teachers Mini Review title on watercolor background

(There may be affiliate links in this post – click here to learn more)

I’ve mentioned the SchoolhouseTeachers.com website here and there on this blog in the past. Last year I won a year’s membership to the site and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by it. In fact, I think it will be a staple in our homeschool from now on!

Someday I plan on writing a full, detailed review but, until “someday” comes, I wanted to fill you in on our experience with it so far.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year & Top Posts of 2019!

December 27, 2019January 17, 2020

THANK YOU, readers and subscribers, for joining me as we travel this homeschooling road together! I pray this blog has blessed you in some way!

May the love of Christ fill your hearts and homes this season as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Top 10 Time-Saving Tips for Homeschoolers

December 13, 2019January 17, 2020

Homeschoolers have gained back a lot of time with their kids by keeping them home. But it still seems like it’s never enough! So, in the spirit of not wasting any more of this precious commodity, let’s get right to the tips!

The list below includes the top ten ways I’ve learned to save time in our homeschool. It’s organized from very general to very specific – hopefully there’s an idea for everyone!

How to Unfairly Judge (and Annoy) a Homeschooler

November 29, 2019January 17, 2020

WARNING: Just so we’re all on the same page, the following post is facetious and dripping with sarcasm. Please read it with this in mind.

If you’re looking to anger, alienate or distance yourself from the homeschooling family down the street but just don’t know where to start, look no further! Here are 7 easy ways to judge them unfairly and really annoy them in the process!

A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Family

November 15, 2019January 17, 2020

One of the things that helped me the most in my transition from “What is homeschooling?” to “Let’s homeschool!” was reading about what homeschoolers actually do all day. Reading “a day in the life” blog posts about actual, real-life, home educating families doing actual, real-life homeschool-y things opened my eyes to the limitless variety of ways learning can (and does) happen.

I’ve been wanting to write my own “Day in the Life…” post for a long time and here it finally is!

Kids Are Always Learning (Even on a Sick Day)

November 1, 2019January 17, 2020

I love autumn. The older I get, the more I prefer autumn to my previous favorite season, summer. Apple picking, cider donuts, colorful scenery, veggie garden harvests and cozy sweaters on crisp fall days…. yes, there’s a lot to love about this season!

Except, of course, the inevitable cold or flu that someone catches and brings home to share with the family.

Homeschool Teaching Tip #5: Be Interesting

October 18, 2019January 17, 2020

This post is part of a series of helpful teaching tips for homeschoolers. If you haven’t yet, check out Tip #1, Tip #2, Tip #3 and Tip #4.

I was going to title this post “Don’t Be Boring” but that sounded kind of harsh. Plus, psychologists tell us it’s good to frame things positively if possible. (You know… like when you calmly encourage your toddler to “use the markers on the paper” instead of yelling “DON’T DRAW ON GRANDMA’S FACE WHILE SHE’S SLEEPING!”)

So, whether you think of it as trying NOT to be boring or trying to BE interesting, the point of Tip #5 is to make life and learning fun!

Homeschool Teaching Tip #4: Don’t Spill the Beans

October 4, 2019January 17, 2020

This post is part of a series of helpful teaching tips for homeschoolers. If you haven’t yet, check out Tip #1, Tip #2 and Tip #3.

Of all the teaching tips in this series, this one has probably been the hardest one for me to put into practice.

Over the years I’ve gotten better, but I still tend to spill too many school beans. What are school beans, you might ask? Allow me to explain.

Homeschool Teaching Tip #3: Find a Hook

September 20, 2019January 17, 2020

This post is part of a series of helpful teaching tips for homeschoolers. If you haven’t yet, check out Tip #1 and Tip #2.

Imagine you walk into a classroom and take a seat at your desk. There you find a worksheet with a tree diagram. The teacher announces that you’ll be studying trees today. She lists the vocabulary words you should add to your diagram.

Now imagine instead that you walk into a classroom with a three foot wide slice of tree trunk on a table with a few magnifying glasses scattered next to it. The teacher invites you to study the tree for a few minutes and see what you see.

I’m guessing I’m not the only one who would find the second scenario more interesting.