Memorization: When to move on?

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Memorization: When to move on?

My child is learning this memory work really quickly... Should I move faster, add to it, or go to a different level? This question lands in my lap quite often, so I want to explore things a little bit further with you. Always remember, this is my personal perspective, so trust your gut and your prayers, Mama!

My child is learning this memory work really quickly... Should I move faster, add to it, or go to a different level? This question lands in my lap quite often, so I want to explore things a little bit further with you. Always remember, this is my personal perspective, so trust your gut and your prayers, Mama!

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Saint Patrick’s Day Free Printables

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Saint Patrick’s Day Free Printables

St. Patrick left an amazing legacy on the isle of Ireland that hasn’t been quickly forgotten by the Irish in over one thousand years! Each year, we celebrate his gift of Christian mercy, love, and compassion on March 17th.

After researching and learning about Ireland over the past 2 months for this issue of On Mission, I can see why St. Patrick loved it so. Even after escaping from captivity as a slave there, his heart could not be separated from the land or the people. God called him back- to HIS CAPTIVES- to preach the Good News.

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How to Create a Memory Statement Board (The Gentle + Classical Preschool)

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How to Create a Memory Statement Board (The Gentle + Classical Preschool)

During my years as a homeschool mom, I’ve found I’m not alone in always looking for a more efficient way to walk through our days, plan ahead, and keep moving without getting bogged down and distracted. One of the most effective tools I’ve found to stay on track—especially with younger learners—is the addition of a homeschool memory work board or memory statement display in our home.
Over the past year, I’ve received email after email from families using The Gentle + Classical Preschool or Gentle + Classical Nature echoing the same message: they felt lost and unfocused in their school days—until they created a memory work board.

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Incorporating Geography & Culture into Your Homeschool

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Incorporating Geography & Culture into Your Homeschool

We all have basic subjects that we know are foundational for a full feast for our children: math, science, history, Bible, foreign language, and even the riches like art and music study. But, I think that it's not necessarily unique to me that we can often overlook subjects that DO deserve a presence in our homeschooling portfolio. 

Traditionally, history is the "core" for a classical education- one of the four "cycles" as we have come to know them. I want to reference a post I wrote a while back in developing The Gentle + Classical Preschool Level 2: 

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Why Work WORKS as Discipline

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Why Work WORKS as Discipline

As parents of 4 children, spanning 15 years, we've essentially tried every single form of discipline there is. Spanking, time-outs, removing electronic privileges, missed play dates, loss of toys—you name it, and we've tried it. I've also gone a positive discipline route and hugged through meltdowns (which is usually the right thing to do with children under 6) and tried to "overlook offenses" under my own misperception of “grace.”

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Holding the Space Between Grace and Law in Parenting

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Holding the Space Between Grace and Law in Parenting

If you love this topic, I GREATLY encourage a thorough reading of Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson. This book + many others of my favorites can be found on a FREE book list offered at the bottom of this post.

I'll openly admit that on the spectrum of parenting, my style tends toward the more authoritarian side, but with a nice dash of "wishy-washy" at times. I'll also admit to much confusion over the years in approaches, philosophies, and methods in parenting extremely different personalities while trying to "keep it simple" to avoid overwhelm.

Through my parenting journey, I've learned a couple of profound lessons that continue to mold my approach. The greatest lesson I've learned is that there is no guide to parenting worthy of standing upon outside of scripture.

My own greatest struggle has been the balance between authoritarian "obey the first time, immediately, or else" type parenting vs parenting from a place of misunderstood and misapplied grace that left my strong-willed (or rather weak-willed) children without clear boundaries or consistent consequences. I’ve slowly come to the realization that there is a proper Biblical balance between the law and grace.

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20+ Books for the Jesus-Loving Homeschooling Mama (+ How to find time to read...)

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20+ Books for the Jesus-Loving Homeschooling Mama (+ How to find time to read...)

“Do not let the endless succession of small things crowd great ideals out of sight and out of mind.” -Charlotte Mason

I have no idea how many books I’ve read in my life, but I can promise you that they have shaped who I am and the way I live—drastically. The way I speak to my husband, the way I teach or discipline my children, the way I pray and seek the Lord—have all been shaped by books.

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How do we make Godly decisions? (About homeschool, money, relationships...life?)

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How do we make Godly decisions? (About homeschool, money, relationships...life?)

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. -1 Corinthians 3:10-14

We get to choose. We have this free gift of a solid, unshakeable, eternal, faithful foundation that can never be moved, and then we get to choose.

Whether it's who we marry, how we educate, how we parent and discipline, how we speak and serve and love, how we spend and earn our incomes--we have agency. And this freedom can be both liberating and simultaneously terrifying.

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Thriving in Your Home (Instead of simply surviving...)

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Thriving in Your Home (Instead of simply surviving...)

This is a guest post from my friend Jana! I love to read her practical encouragement and actionable wisdom. I hope it will bless you too!

The monotony of life at home can lull us into simply existing. We’ve all been there. But it doesn’t have to be so. Mama, you can thrive at home!

Here are three strategies: make it beautiful, provide gracious order, and be a consistent presence.

MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL

Do you feel an internal tug for beauty? Perhaps you love an orange sunset or pink peonies. God created this world beautiful as a reflection of Himself, so I believe an innate pull to beauty is why we desire to create beautiful spaces in our homes. Beautiful spaces bring a deep sense of thriving.

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Maintaining a "One Room Schoolhouse" with Teens in the Mix

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Maintaining a "One Room Schoolhouse" with Teens in the Mix

This is a guest post from Kelly Hellmuth! I’m absolutely delighted to have a “peak behind the curtain” into Kelly’s home. Find more from Kelly at the bottom of this post.

“Maybe it’s the influence of the Little House on the Prairie, but I find the history of the one-room schoolhouse a little romantic.” - Denise M. Colby

Don’t we all? Most of us here are pursuing an educational path either with Charlotte Mason or Classical influences (or both!), and we know the value of educating our children together. There is an ease and even a necessity to discuss subjects such as history and science and fine arts as a family.

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