Shopping for boys in the 9–12 age range can be a little tricky! They're growing out of some of the toys they've loved for years, but they're certainly not too old to enjoy playing, building, creating, and exploring. And if your boys are anything like mine, their interests can change about as quickly as their shoe sizes. Ha!

With two boys in this age range, I've spent quite a bit of time looking for gifts that they'll genuinely enjoy AND that won't end up forgotten in a closet by February. (I’m writing this review in time for Christmas shopping, but these ideas are great for birthdays or other gifts as well!)

I'm so glad you're here! I was just thinking about my last post where I shared our plans for the upcoming school year. Several people had questions about our participation in Classical Conversations and also, "How will you do all of that?" lol.

I wanted to address those questions because I think the answers may be helpful. When you see someone's homeschool plans written out, it's easy to miss all of the context behind how those plans actually fit into a family's week. So, here's a little more context about ours.

We are officially gearing up for another homeschool year! Honestly, in full transparency, I'm not super excited about it. I think it's because we've had such a busy summer that I don't feel like it's REAL that it's already August. But alas, here we are, whether I like it or not.

I'm being a total slacker on actually getting ready, but I have completed all of my planning, so I thought you might like to see what we have on our plate for the 2026–2027 school year for 4th and 5th grade boys :). I think talking about it will get my heart moving in that direction.

Here's our plan!

I mentioned the other day that I was working on a talk about joy—or more specifically, joyful early learning. Praise God, I finished it! Now I'm rehearsing it over and over again (lol). As tedious as that can be, the reason I wanted to give this talk is because… well… I need it, or at least parts of it.

Honestly, based on the emails I receive from time to time, I have a feeling some of you might need it too. About 97.5% of the "struggle" emails I receive are emails I absolutely could have written myself at some point, so there is ZERO shade here. BTDT, for real.

Many of the emails I receive that are related to behavioral and attitude struggles in children are also reflected in the emotional dysregulation the parent is displaying in the email. Sometimes, their language makes it clear that they are genuinely on the struggle bus with keeping it together, feeling overwhelmed, and overstimulated. Even more often, they simply admit it themselves. Whether it's an issue with self-control, anger, or diligence, it's usually confessed before they begin expressing their frustration over their child's struggles with… you guessed it… self-control, anger, or diligence.

One of my biggest parenting and education regrets?

It’s not that I wish I had been more rigorous. It’s that I wish I had been more diligent.

Diligence, self-control, and consistency were not virtues that were well developed when I entered motherhood. In fact, because I did not have Christ, I think I barely had any virtue at all. There’s not much that pains my heart more than remembering how unfaithful I often was with my sweet girls.

Praise God that He captured my heart and began a great work in me. Because of that—and because of home education—I began to grow in virtue alongside my daughters. Part of that growth was realizing the wisdom of diligence in home education. There is no growth without consistency.

I’ve now seen both sides of the coin: the struggle that came from delaying academics and leaning too heavily into child-led learning, and the fruit that comes from a diligent, consistent education. They are incomparable.

Lately, I’ve noticed another word making the rounds in homeschooling circles: rigor. I think it’s worth slowing down to ask whether that’s really what we’re looking for.

Education is about formation, not just information.

If your educational experience was anything like mine (public schoolers, raise your hand!), when you picture “education,” you primarily think “information.”

From a traditional schooling perspective, the daily goals look a lot like:

• facts to learn

• chapters to finish

• standards to cover

• tests to pass

And if we're honest, these expectations follow many of us into homeschooling. We assume our job is to deliver as much knowledge as possible, as efficiently as possible. Then, we probably need to do a test of some sort so we can SEE that our kids learned and maybe also show others that they're learning too.