Learning to cross stitch showed me how scary and fun it is to be a beginner again. It taught me that kids need to find joy in learning, just like I did. Diving into something new helps us get how kids learn and makes us better teachers. Here’s what I learned…

Discover when it's okay to call the elementary school year complete, and the answer is NOT to finish every page.

Discover why humor and play are powerful tools for learning! In this article, I explore how laughter, storytelling, music, and creative memory techniques help kids retain information and stay engaged. Drawing from personal experiences, research, and insights from Dr. Peter Gray’s Free to Learn, I share practical strategies to bring joy back into education and make learning truly stick.

We are absolutely harder on ourselves than we ever are on anyone else. Can anybody relate to that? So, here is a really simple way to help fight that MOM GUILT…

When I began planning my first homeschool year back in 2021, I was overwhelmed. My background in education (B.A. and M.Ed.) should have ensured that I was a pro at this. Right? So, why did it feel so hard?

Learn the simple steps to calculate final grades for your students with this comprehensive guide. Understand how to weight categories, find category averages, and determine final grades using clear examples and straightforward math. Perfect for teachers keeping track of grades manually, this article breaks down the process into manageable steps.

Deciding to homeschool and need help organizing records? Or want some ideas to help you close out the homeschool year? This guide offers practical tips on keeping essential documents and choosing the best system for maintaining your homeschool records. Simplify your homeschooling journey with these organizational suggestions!

From challenging traditional schooling to embracing outdoor learning, each episode in this list offers practical insights and inspiration for homeschooling parents or wannabes. These seven videos from The Spillover with Alex Clark provide hours of fascinating encouragement to help you homeschool your kids confidently.

Simply put you can find homeschool curriculum in tons of places. But, in reality, when you are starting your homeschool journey, the number of decisions to make and things to “figure out” can be overwhelming. And, curriculum is just one of those many things. First, take a deep breath. You WILL get this. Check out this comprehensive guide to finding curriculum.

If I can turn it into a checklist I will. Have you ever written down something (or several things) you have already accomplished in the day just so you can have the joy of checking them off and seeing your progress? That’s me! And if that’s you AND you homeschool your children, keep reading…

There are YouTube channels for all styles of homeschoolers out there. Classical, Charlotte Mason, Unschooler, Eclectic, Traditional? You name it, you’ll find someone who jives with your style. Some channels focus on curriculum or resources, others have more of a day-in-the-life style, and often the channels have some combination of all the above.

After using All About Reading (AAR) for several years, I have picked up a few tips that I hope might help someone else just starting out….Check the front of each workbook…Prep the student workbook…Make the fluency review fun…

I am a huge fan of the All About Reading (AAR) series from All About Learning Press.…Many parents online mention that AAR is not a complete Language Arts curriculum. And, I agree. It is predominantly a PHONICS curriculum -- and in my opinion, an excellent one. But, in order to round out our kids' education, most parents want to include a few other components to this…here are my recommendations...

If you are looking for a podcast to help fill some hours of washing dishes, doing laundry, while encouraging you in your homeschool endeavors, check out this fantastic resource. Bex has so many episode interviews full of amazing resources, suggestions, and research.

In Dr. Ruth Beechick’s book, “The Three R’s,” she lays out a very gentle, or “natural” learning method. It has helped me to continue breaking from the mold of the classroom teacher I was used to into a more flexible and child-centered approach for my homeschooling.

Looking for some books to help you as you plan curriculum and homeschool your children? Check out these 5 great reads for your homeschool parent library!

Access our FREE homeschool lesson planner template in Google Sheets. Copy to your files and then adjust for yourself and your family.

Whether you want to make a worksheet with a font that your young elementary student can easily read or help your child trace his name, check out this list of FREE fonts on Canva that are perfect for teachers and tutors!

Rather than waiting until children struggle, every child should receive systematic phonics instruction from the start. This is why I chose a dyslexic curriculum for my neurotypical child. Moving beyond the whole language approach, phonics focuses on understanding the sounds and rules of English. In this article, I explain the differences between these approaches, share my teaching experiences, and recommend valuable resources for effective reading instruction.

Soggy little pieces of cardboard mush lay waste around my daughter’s crib as I reach in to pick her up. The remnants of her naptime snack lies in shreds between blankets, pacis, and stuffed animals. No I don’t let my babies eat in their crib. They just often decide that a book would be a nice treat.