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A Day in Our Homeschooling Life

A Day in Our Homeschooling Life

I recently found this never-published post of mine from four years ago. In the Covid blur of early 2020, it got lost in the shuffle. But, better late than never, right? 

My three homeschooled kids are currently in 9th, 6th, and 2nd grade. It’s been fun to look back at this glimpse into our lives four years ago when Oldest was in 5th grade, Middle was in 2nd grade, and Youngest was still a preschooler! 

I’ve always loved “Day in the Life” posts – especially when I was a new homeschooler trying to figure out what those crazy homeschool people do all day. 

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A Tale of Two Subjects: Why Homeschooling Parents Succeed (Even If They Aren’t Experts)

Why Homeschooling Parents Succeed Even If They Aren't Experts - A Tale of Two Subjects

(There may be affiliate links in this post – click here to learn more. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Have you ever questioned your ability to educate your own kids? Are you scared to teach math or science (or any other subject) because you barely made it through those subjects yourself?

Or, have you wondered how homeschooling parents can teach their own kids when they aren’t certified teachers?

The “parents-can’t-homeschool-since-they-aren’t-certified-teachers” criticism is (unfortunately) still a common homeschool myth. I debunk it pretty thoroughly in my book, Think About Homeschooling: What It Is, What It Isn’t, & Why It Works, so you can check that out and put that myth to rest in your mind. 

But, for now, I’d like to address those of you who are genuinely concerned that you won’t be able to teach your kids _______ (fill in the blank with your weakest subject). 

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How to Plan Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) Curriculum

How to Plan BFSU curriculum

(There may be affiliate links in this post – click here to learn more. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

If you’ve read my review of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) science curriculum, you’ll know it’s no secret that I love it!  

The content is awesome, it’s organized logically, and it encourages students to observe, question, and think their way through the lessons (rather than just memorizing science jargon that’s thrown at them). 

Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of my BFSU review to learn more about the curriculum and how it works. 

But, even though I love BFSU, there was a steep learning curve for me as I tried to actually implement it. The thing is, I was creating work and frustration for myself that could’ve been avoided! The steep learning curve was my own fault!

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Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) Review – Part 2

This is Part 2 of my review of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) – the K-8 science curriculum my family has been using for years in our homeschool. In Part 1, I covered the basics – the overall approach and layout of BFSU. In this post, I’ll get into the more detailed pros and cons and share some bonus information to help you on your BFSU journey. 

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Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU) Review – Part 1

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding BFSU Review Part 1

(There may be affiliate links in this post – click here to learn more. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

I’m so excited! I’ve been waiting years to write this review and the time has finally come! We started using this three volume science curriculum eight years ago when my oldest son was in kindergarten. He’s in 7th grade now and we’re using the final volume this year.

I don’t recall how I first found out about Dr. Nebel’s science series, Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU for short), but I’m so glad I did!

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Homeschool Teaching Tip #5: Be Interesting

Homeschool Teaching Tip 5 Be Interesting with balloon image

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!

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Homeschool Teaching Tip #3: Find a Hook

Homeschool Teaching Tip #3: Find a Hook

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. There may be affiliate links in this post – click here to learn more. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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. 

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Homeschool Teaching Tip #2: Know Your Objective

Homeschool Teaching Tip #2: Know Your Objective

This post is part of a series of helpful teaching tips for homeschoolers. Check out the first post here. 

If you look up “how to create a lesson plan,” the first thing that most resources will tell you is to “Know Your Objective.”  That is, know what the main point of the lesson is. For example, “after this lesson, the student will be able to name the four largest moons of Jupiter.” 

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Homeschool Teaching Tip #1: Know Your Child

Homeschool Teaching Tip #1: Know Your Child

When I started homeschooling, one of the first things I did was to check out a stack of “how-to-teach” books from the library. I was hoping to find the secrets to successful homeschool teaching.

I found about 30% of the information to be really helpful. The other 70% was geared toward navigating the public school system. They covered things like managing classes of 20+ students, working with parents and school administration, and decorating classroom bulletin boards. 

Don’t get me wrong. A lot of it was good information. But it just wasn’t relevant for me as a new homeschool mom.

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