Turtle Shell Rabbit Trail

Last week… we ran across a hexagonal turtle shell pattern while looking at an art book… which led to looking at pictures of turtle shells to see if they’re ever truly hexagonal (sort of, just not symmetrical)… which led to our attempt to re-create the original, mythical, symmetrical, hexagonal turtle shell. It doesn’t take much to entertain us… or to send us on a rabbit trail. Reference books that made this rabbit... Read More

A Better Explanation

Note: My views on creation vs. evolution have changed since this post. In fact, my views about the Bible have drastically changed. My connection to community has drastically changed… After digging deeply into the Old Testament, I’m convinced that God carefully crafted every word to be deeply meaningful. Creation is now a treasured story to me, although not in a strictly scientific way. I hope to post about this soon. But I’ll leave... Read More

The Things Kids Say: Bible Memory Verses

Scroll to the bottom of this post to view the list of verses, or printable PDF of the verses we’re using (plus how they fit with our school topics), click here. If you do use these, please double-check the verses for accuracy, in the Bible version you like to use. Some of the verses are only partial; older children could memorize the entire Bible verse. Also, several verses are repeated through the year. I’d rather they really understand... Read More

A Marathon Field Trip

I had a another post planned for today, but I’m out of steam. There seem to be plenty of people I know who are out of steam lately. Can we just take a break today? Want to leave the house and worries behind and come with us on a field trip?! This is a virtual field trip, so we can visit the zoo, the gardens, and the aquarium all in one day! We can also skip the blowouts, the meltdowns, and the sore feet. Virtual field trips are awesome. By the... Read More

Of Felines and Phonics: Teaching Preschoolers to Read

My older daughter is enamored with cats lately. Here she is, below, with Aunt Annie’s remarkably patient cat: This is more than just a brief, passing phase. In the house, she crawls around looking for bowls of milk. When she takes a bath, she’s a catfish. When she gets hurt, she cries, “MeOW!” This is serious. I wasn’t worried until one day when she was “reading” her Bible to her little sister. She announced... Read More

A Homeschool Preschool Schedule

I think that if I never had children, I might have flown through life by the seat of my pants, accomplishing things in bursts of energy followed by down times. God apparently thought it was a good idea to give me a child who is different from me. My oldest girl thrives on schedules. She stretches me as I try to serve her. We don’t follow a schedule every day. But even doing some of it every few days brings smiles to faces around here. I don’t... Read More

Gearing Up for A One-Year Homeschooling Trial

Most endeavors – even the most fun ones – hit a lull at some point. I hit one recently with my section of the blog. I can’t describe how much I’ve loved “meeting” with friends and family each week to talk photography, kid antics, and even the occasional identity crisis. 🙂 This has brought some positive things to our home, and I’m thankful for that. I hit a lull because I’m deciding what direction... Read More

The List: A "Typical" Homeschool Morning

Each morning, I hand each of my kids a clipboard with a list attached to it. This list, folks, is a pipe-dream, a wild hope that they can manage to get through all of their assignments before 4:00. It rarely happens. But, after seven years of homeschooling, I still hope. And, after most-of-their-lives of homeschooling, they still react with shock and dismay to The List. Our days start quietly. Each child operates according to his or her own... Read More

Homeschool Books and Materials: Singapore Math to Memoria Press

I opened the door to my daughter’s room Friday morning, camera in hand, to tell her that she needed to help me get some pictures for my blog, and this is what I saw, just inside her door: We’re not taking dowry offers yet, so don’t even ask. Anyway, my idea was to use the blog to answer the question that I so often am asked, “What do you use for homeschool books and materials?” I told the kids to gather up their main... Read More