The Sensible Homeschool – Practical Help & Encouragement for Your Homeschool

A Tour of Our Homeschool: School Room

March 27, 2020March 28, 2020

Asking what a homeschool room should look like is like asking what someone’s backyard should look like. That is, there’s no one right answer. It totally depends on the needs, desires, resources and situation of each unique family.

So far, in this Tour of Our Homeschool series, I’ve shared about the desks and tables we use for homeschooling all over our house. Now I’d like to focus in on the corner of our lower level that we call our “school room”.

How to Survive School at Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic – Tips From a Homeschool Mom

March 16, 2020March 24, 2020

How to Survive School at Home - Tips from a Homeschool Mom

You never imagined yourself homeschooling. Or maybe you did, but not yet… and definitely not because schools closed suddenly during a pandemic! You don’t have the luxury of researching and planning over the summer months – this is happening NOW!

But for now – right now – you want to make the most of this. For the next three weeks or three months or however long it lasts, you want to take the lemons and make lemonade.

A Tour of Our Homeschool: Desks and Tables

March 13, 2020March 17, 2020

A Tour of Our Homeschool - Desks & Tables

Over the years, I’ve spoken to many people who are considering homeschooling or just starting out. At some point, almost all of them have asked some variation of the following question:

What does homeschooling actually look like?

And they don’t mean it in some vague, theoretical way. They mean: What does it literally look like?

They want to know things like… How is my school-room setup? Do I even have a dedicated school space? What shelves do I use? How and where do I store my homeschool curricula? Do my kids have binders or cubbies or how do they keep their work organized? Do they each have their own desk?

So, in this series of posts, I’ll be giving you a detailed look into the physical set-up of our homeschool.

Why Homeschooling Works – A 5th Grade Example

February 28, 2020March 23, 2020

In this series we’ve taken a look at reasons homeschooling works for preschoolers and for early elementary students.

But when kids get older and their academic work becomes more “serious” can homeschooling really work for them?

Definitely YES!

Why Homeschooling Works – A 2nd Grade Example

February 14, 2020March 2, 2020

In this series, I’m hoping to give you a glimpse into why homeschooling is so effective for kids of all ages.

In the previous post, I showed just how much preschoolers are learning all the time. Homeschooling is incredibly effective for young kids since there’s time to answer more of their bazillion daily questions and let life and learning flow together naturally.

As kids get into their early elementary years, their brains are still like sponges. They’re constantly soaking in information and now they’re old enough to make more sense of it.

Why Homeschooling Works – A Preschool Example

January 31, 2020February 17, 2020

I was asked again recently if homeschooling really works.

For some reason, I’m always caught off guard when I hear this. After all, I see home education work everyday!

My own kids… my homeschooling friends’ kids… students I see at our co-op… they’re all growing and learning and turning into capable young people.

Does it work? Of course it works! It’s been working in one form or another for millennia! Homeschooling is an amazing way to learn!

But only ten short years ago I actually asked the very same question.

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, 2020February 1, 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 (2018), 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!