Dear Scared, Worried (Overwhelmed) New Homeschool Mom

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Dear Scared, Worried (Overwhelmed) New Homeschool Mom

I received a text from a sweet friend last night — one who is in the thick of her first year or two of homeschooling. As she’s been spending many sleepless nights cradling and nursing her newborn infant recently, thoughts and concerns have flooded her mind over the progress of her 6-year-old daughter’s reading.

Anyone who has been in the thick of homeschooling for one year or ten remembers those days well. Not one of us is impervious to fears, second-guessing, unmet expectations, and the torture of comparison.

What follows is a version of my response to her concerns — words she and I agreed should be shared with you as well. These words were once offered to me, small doses at a time, from the women ahead of me, speaking Truth into the midst of my fears. Some of these words are things I never heard but my heart desperately yearned for. And many of them are the result of hours, weeks, and years of pouring my aching heart out to a Father who understood and cared about it all.

Dear Scared, Worried, New Homeschool Mama,

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All About Reading: Level 4 Color Edition Review

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All About Reading: Level 4 Color Edition Review

I was so excited when Erin told me that All About Learning Press was releasing a NEW COLOR EDITION of their All About Reading program! I have used AAR with three of my children, and it has been such a blessing to our family. This program has helped me gain both confidence and skills in teaching my children to read. I’ve written before about how we use AAR in our home, but today I want to share more about the new color editions—and why I have changed my mind about Level 4.

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Cultivating the "Perfect" Homeschool

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Cultivating the "Perfect" Homeschool

If you saw that title and clicked to read, it’s likely that one of two things brought you here: You thought, “What in the world? This girl thinks she’s got it all figured out. I have to see who this chick thinks she is.” OR, you thought, “Sheeesh, I’m struggling. I need a dose of whatever she’s got going on.”

Those are extremes, obviously, but for most homeschool mamas, we tend to vacillate between these throughout days and seasons. We either think we have “it” finally figured out (only to have “it” blow up in our face the very next day) OR we think we are never going to get “it” figured out, and our kids would probably be better off spending their days in school.

Since long days, learning challenges, chaotic toddlers, willful attitudes, and mismatched learning and teaching styles can leave any of us questioning our sanity (and looking for a better way), I thought I’d share how I have “it” together (FINALLY!) and how you can too! It turns out you can have an amazing homeschool experience and choose the perfect curriculum for your family.

How? There are really two incredibly important steps in coming to a place where you truly walk in confidence in homeschooling.

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Beautiful Feet Books Geography Through Literature Review

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Beautiful Feet Books Geography Through Literature Review

As my blog has grown, I’ve had the opportunity to do a few reviews. I’ve learned that it’s important to me that I really LOVE anything that I review. I don’t want to hand out a negative review, but I’m also going to be 100% honest. I’m thankful my caution has paid off, and I’ve received a product for my honest review that I can say I HONESTLY love.

Beautiful Feet Books is known for it’s simple, easy-to-implement, open-and-go curriculum guides combined with exceptional literature. When the books are this perfect, you don’t have to add much to it, especially in the grammar stage.

I chose to use Beautiful Feet Books Geography Through Literature program with both my 6th and 9th grader girls. My oldest daughter already has much geography included in her Tapestry of Grace core curriculum, but I thought it would be wonderful to have an additional “fun” thing to do with her as well. So, aside from our “Lunch Basket” (what we call morning basket), this is the only thing we do all together.

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All About Reading: How it Works for Our Family {a detailed review}

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All About Reading: How it Works for Our Family {a detailed review}

When I first began homeschooling, the responsibility that intimidated me more than any other was teaching my own children to read. I have always been an avid reader, and I desperately wanted to instill a love of reading in my kids. I realized very quickly, however, that my love of reading did not automatically qualify me to teach someone else HOW to read. Because I had no background in teaching reading, I knew I needed to find a program that could walk ME through the process as well as my child. We tried several different programs in the beginning, but they either bored my child to tears or proceeding so quickly that she felt overwhelmed, and I felt lost without a map. 

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The Beauty of Tapestry of Grace in the Rhetoric Years (a very detailed review)

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The Beauty of Tapestry of Grace in the Rhetoric Years (a very detailed review)

Homeschooling high school was always something that I looked ahead to with both excitement and fear. When my children were in elementary grades, I felt confident teaching according to a classical model, but as they grew into the middle and high school years, I felt intimidated by the challenging literature and history and by my own lack of knowledge in these areas.

I was excited to learn alongside my kids, but also afraid that I would not be qualified to teach upper level courses. I knew I would need a curriculum that could guide me as I redeemed my own education.

A dear friend had been telling me for a few years how much her family loved Tapestry of Grace, and I could see the results in her son. He was able to carry on deep discussions about topics in history, literature, philosophy, and government with such thoughtfulness and a depth of understanding that I wanted for my children and myself. I had looked at so many other classical courses for high school, but I kept feeling called back to Tapestry of Grace.

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When Your Homeschooled Child Can't Read Yet

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When Your Homeschooled Child Can't Read Yet

If you're reading this, you are probably in the midst of teaching one of your little ones to read OR you have that endeavor looming ahead of you in the near future... amiright? The singular biggest fear of every single homeschool mom I've ever spoken to is failing to teach her child to read well... and especially failing to teach them "on time".

In most of our minds, we envision that our homeschooled child would be reading well in advance of their public school counterparts (or at least at the same time). Simultaneously, in our little hearts, one reason we homeschool is to give our children the time and space to grow and develop on their own timeline. Sometimes these desires and expectations clash and can create monster homeschool mom anxiety. I know many mamas who have quit homeschooling (or never even began) because they were overwhelmed at the idea of failing in this important task. 

I want to share some actual evidence with you today that helped put me at ease when my own homeschool student just wasn't progressing like I felt she "should." 

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When You Want to Quit Homeschooling (Part 4 of 5)

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When You Want to Quit Homeschooling (Part 4 of 5)

Here we are! We are almost finished! This has been a long series, but rightfully so. The idea of drastically altering how you approach education for your children is no small matter. We are now on the final "question" of this series, question 3. There are worksheets (FREE) in the Practical Joy Resource library to add significant depth to this exploration. You definitely, definitely want those. Grab the workbook from the Resource Library here. 

Question 3: Should I just take a break from homeschooling? Will that fix whatever the problem is? 

I want to explore a few different aspects of this question, but I want to assert up front that there is not a right or wrong answer. As has been the case in every portion of this series, what's right for YOU and your family, your season, your child, will not be the right answer for everyone else. This is a journey of finding YOUR place in homeschooling and being certain that it truly is best for everyone involved. 

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Math-U-See {Even through High School!}

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Math-U-See {Even through High School!}

I’m so excited to share this review with you! This is the ONE curriculum that I have never once been tempted to stop using! I tend to get my head turned by shiny, new homeschool curriculum. It’s so much fun to try new things, and there are always new products coming out that I can’t wait to check out. But not when it comes to math.

When I first started homeschooling, one of my mentors gave me some great advice. I was sharing with her how I worried that I wouldn’t be able to give my kids a strong math education because I had struggled so much with math in school. Her advice was to find a program that had a good reputation, that suited my teaching style, and that my kids didn’t hate, and then stick with it all the way through. Her reasoning was that the best way to avoid gaps in math knowledge is to use one program from beginning to end...

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