October 14, 2019

What I Learned When I Quit Homeschooling

October 14, 2019/ Erin Cox

Just over 3 years ago, I was 4-5 months pregnant with my very welcomed but highly surprising 4th child. At that time, my 3rd was still shy of his FIRST birthday, and I had a daughter going into junior high and one struggling greatly due to dyslexia and dyscalculia.

As a new school year loomed large, I was overwhelmed. As a matter of fact, I was CERTAIN that I could NOT do it. I could NOT successfully homeschool my two girls with any sort of excellence while wrangling a newborn and tiny toddler. I went to the Lord with my great overwhelm. Shockingly, to us and everyone around us, my husband and I felt completely led to put our two girls in the local public school.

August 23, 2019

Think You Have a Strong-Willed Child? (Maybe not…)

August 23, 2019/ Erin Cox

For years and years, I would have called a couple of my children (and myself) "very strong-willed." I'd read book after book about these children who are like little attorneys. Children who must learn everything "the hard way, " and who are so determined and set in their ways that it's an act of war to have them ever obey or submit to authority.

Defiant.

Hard-headed.

Stubborn.

Big personality.

Strong-willed.

If you have a child who could give a Harvard law grad a run for their money... You aren't alone. I have two such children, and I've been told, I am that person too.

July 23, 2019

Dash into Reading Review- Why I love it soooo much!

July 23, 2019/ Erin Cox

We’ve used Bob Books for years. For me, they were a great, level-appropriate complement to All About Reading that gave us additional fluency practice. I always appreciated how simple the reading was… but let’s be honest—my kids were never exactly enthusiastic to read about Bob and all his weird, pointless shenanigans.

So when I first stumbled across Dash into Reading on Instagram, I was intrigued. What held me back initially was the idea that it’s designed to be used as a full phonics program (which it absolutely can be!). But once I reached out to Amelia (the author), she assured me that many families were using them alongside All About Reading. Since my experience with AAR has been so solid, I wasn’t really looking for a replacement—but as a companion? That had my attention.

Amelia sweetly sent me Set 1 for an honest review, and we were thrilled. Here’s what stood out most:

May 29, 2019

Homeschool Scheduling with Teens to Toddlers (Mom of 4)

May 29, 2019/ Erin Cox

I do really love to chat about homeschool scheduling! I believe our schedules are and should be just as unique as our families and our homeschools are. But also, we are always looking for ways to improve—maybe to streamline, reduce overwhelm, or just enjoy our day better. So, I’m happy to share our general flow, both as it kind of went this year, and also as I plan for it to continue into the fall.We do school year round. We take June off, and July is very casual with a long reading list and math only. So, this schedule applies to our more typical school year, August-May.

May 17, 2019

Our Curriculum Choices (10th, 7th, K4)

May 17, 2019/ Erin Cox

I did what I think no other homeschool blogger has ever done- I failed to write a “curriculum pick” post for last year. Eeek. Honestly, in hindsight, I’m thankful. I was full excited about a few programs over last summer, but when it came down to it, they weren’t a good fit and we swapped to new programs after a few weeks.

I’m thankful for the experience, as it was an incredible learning opportunity to me. It also shows that no matter how amazing a program seems, once you get into it, it just might not be a good fit! Suffice it to say, that after an initial “fail” of one program in the fall, we found our way to a program that I now am certain we will use for many years (as certain as an easily distracted homeschool mama can be!).

So, what are our choices for this year? Many of them are simply a continuation of last year…

May 01, 2019

Moral Imagination? Poetic Knowledge? What the What?

May 01, 2019/ Erin Cox

Our little ones are often big thinkers with big fears and big questions. Their experience of walking alongside Pinocchio as he develops his own moral conscience helps them to understand that we can all fail and be redeemed. Their experience of the complete evil depravity of Cinderella’s stepsisters helps them see how horrible the downfall truly is for those who worship self and selfish ambition. Their experience of Snow White gives them a comforting picture of a wise, loving father (in the REAL dwarves) and cautions against disobedience, with a redemptive ending of LIFE (a picture of the Gospel).

Through stories that present a VERY CLEAR distinction of right and wrong, good versus evil, our children practice making decisions, facing “dragons,” and overcoming loss alongside the characters they are journeying with. I love this quote from Chesterton:

February 17, 2019

Headed to the Zoo anytime soon? (FREEBIE!)

February 17, 2019/ Erin Cox

We are annual zoo members and have been for years. Our kids have always treasured days at the zoo, and when the weather isn’t sweltering, I always have too. I feel like it’s an excellent opportunity to get out of the house and do a little roamschooling.

I wanted to create a tool for us (and for you!) that would serve our whole family. I have babies from 2 up to high school freshman, so it’s not often we do anything or learn anythign that EVERYONE can enjoy and benefit from. However, the zoo is definitely an excpetion to that. Furthermore, with this zoo explorers pack, that’s even more true than ever.

February 14, 2019

Review of Foundational Phonics Program

February 14, 2019/ Erin Cox

ou may have noticed—if you’ve browsed this blog much—that I’m an enthusiastic supporter of All About Reading. So, it may come as a surprise that I’m sharing a review for a different phonics curriculum.

When the author of Foundational Phonics, Ariel Gunther, reached out to me with her gentle phonics program, I was more than intrigued. As we worked for years to get my dyslexic daughter reading on grade level, we tried more than a handful of programs. That process—along with the success my friend Hayley has also had with AAR—left me looking through Foundational Phonics with a discerning eye. So it’s only natural that as I share all I love (or might not) about Foundational Phonics, I’ll be making a few references to All About Reading as well.
What Is Foundational Phonics?

February 14, 2019

Redeeming Suffering Through Action

February 14, 2019/ Erin Cox

Things I find unacceptable about the last 15 months of my life:

My mom was killed instantly in a car accident- the day before my 36th birthday.
Thirty days later, my best friend moved 15 hours away.
The following several months held sickness, anxiety, and yet another autoimmune diagnosis for myself.

I lost my mom.

I felt like I lost my best friend.

I rapidly began to lose my health.

You want to talk about some raw, lonely, abandoned feelings?

February 06, 2019

Be Interruptible: The Tension Between Mary and Martha

February 06, 2019/ Erin Cox

The mist from the prior evening’s rain was frozen solid in the shade at the Toledo Museum of Art in December. As my best friend and I skated every-so-gracefully out of the shadows of the parking garage into the sunshine, we’d just wrapped up an intriguing chat about those famous sisters—Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38–42).

Scripture + my bestie + art? This may have been my best day ever.

As a self-proclaimed Martha, I’ve revisited this Scripture again and again. One question has always plagued me—and I chatted about it that day with my self-proclaimed “Mary” friend: Wasn’t there stuff that needed to get done?