On a Journey for Homeschool Encouragement

Waking up late, finding the living room a mess from toys that the younger children have been playing with this morning, and needing to clean up everything before we can even start homeschooling... Oh, and I didn't get a chance to pull out all the work that our teen needs for his homeschooling week this weekend because it was a non-stop weekend of errands and events. What will we do?

This was the world of a few years ago as I was homeschooling three children. Materials and resources everywhere, six people living in our small house, and handling my mom's illness and all the tasks that accompanied it. It would be so easy to give up, wouldn't it? 

One Step At a Time

I could have let everything overwhelm me. There were multiple possible outcomes. Give up for the day and say no school. Or we could delay our homeschooling plans and take it one step at a time. 

We decided to start homeschooling our kindergartener and second grader later that day. Our teen did not get a chance to start his homeschooling work until at least lunchtime. But the beauty of homeschooling is that we have flexibility. And almost everything can be turned into a lesson. By pushing forward on the journey, I was able to teach our children about perseverance and encourage them too. 

Our younger children playing together with their toys encourages teamwork and cooperation. Or perhaps conflict resolution as they argue over character choices and decisions. Our teen learned that things do not always happen according to plan. He can also adapt and work during non-normal school hours. Changes and distractions don't have to be roadblocks to our homeschool lifestyle. 

What Brings Me Encouragement?

At times, when things seem overwhelming, such as the years after my mom moved in with us and was diagnosed with dementia, it is easy to take a woe-is-me attitude. But there is so much encouragement to be found. Whether I seek that homeschool encouragement from fellow homeschool moms online or in person or I look to God, there are so many ways to make the journey a positive one. 

Sometimes, encouragement comes from our younger son. A few years ago, when he was in second grade, he handed me back a book in which I asked him to read two chapters and said, "I finished it by mistake because I was enjoying it so much." I love seeing when the light bulb turns on for our children. What a wonderful homeschool mistake to make! 

Being able to look back and reflect upon our homeschool journey also brings encouragement. That day I shared earlier in this post? That day was not a normal homeschooling day for us even when we had to switch things up regularly. Even when the days became very difficult while taking care of my mom and then after her death, our children were still learning. They were seeing kindness and grace in action through my husband and I caring for my mom. They learned about how we find encouragement from the Bible as we moved through the year after her death. And our younger two, who are still homeschooling, are still thriving as we continue to homeschool. 

Everyone seeks and finds encouragement in different ways and places. Perhaps you attend conventions to listen to homeschooling speakers. Or maybe listening to homeschooling podcasts is your jam. I like to look to my God, my family, and my network of homeschooling friends. Where do you go for encouragement? 

An Out-of-this-World Homeschool Opportunity

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When you think about homeschooling, what comes to mind? What are your concerns? Whether you have been homeschooling for years or you are new to the journey, you may have questions about curriculum, field trips, co-ops, and more. With different social media platforms and numerous websites, you are never far away from connecting with homeschoolers or finding answers to your questions. But what are those questions? And how can we provide our children with an out-of-the-world homeschool experience? 

Common Questions Asked by Homeschoolers 

1. What about socialization?

2. What is the best curriculum? 

3. How do you grade assignments or courses? 

4. How do you teach multiple grades? 

Socialization and Making Friends 

When people find out someone is homeschooling, they often want to know about socialization. How will the children make friends? But when you really think about it, when schools force children to be together in one classroom for the majority of the day, do they really get to socialize? Didn't we all have that one teacher who said, "You aren't here to socialize?" After all, school is supposed to be a place of learning, not talking and having fun.

If school is not for socialization, where do children make friends? Well, there are many places for children to find others with similar interests. There are sports teams that are not connected to public schools, homeschool co-ops, clubs through the library, and activities at church and with neighbors and family. Our homeschooled children can find friends in many places. And they will find friends of different ages and those that have lived different lives, since they are not only choosing from 30 kids in their classroom.

We can provide our homeschooled children with many out-of-the-box opportunities to allow them to meet new people and experience the world around them. They will gain the skills they need to interact with people of different ages, beliefs, ethnicities, etc., just by participating in daily life. What a beautiful way to introduce them to God's world! 

Curriculum 

What curriculum you choose will depend greatly upon your worldview, your children, your teaching methods, and your budget. There is a multitude of curriculum providers, from those who sell everything in one neat package to those who provide individual subjects, classes, or materials. Some families find it easier to purchase everything – math, language arts, history, science, etc. – from one company, while other families prefer to shop from among a variety of companies. 

Over the past several years, we have found numerous curriculum companies and providers whose products work well for our children. We want to teach our children with a Biblical worldview, but I am not opposed to materials that are secular as long as they do not teach anything that goes against our faith.

Some of our favorite curricula or providers include: 

• My Father's World: Studying God's Creation from A to Z: A Review of My Father's World Kindergarten Curriculum
• SchoolhouseTeachers.com
• Home School in the Woods 
• CTCMath 
• Memoria Press 

Grading Opportunities 

Depending upon which state you live in, your grading needs may be different from mine or someone else reading this post. You may need to keep graded assignments for each course, starting with elementary all the way through high school, or you may not need to worry about grades until you start recording them for a high school transcript. 

If your curriculum comes with an answer key, then you are all set. You can use that to make corrections and then ensure your child understands the corrections. They should be able to fix their mistakes and apply the corrections to their next assignment. You don't want to just grade something and then file it away. Your child should use those graded assignments to study and make corrections in their own learning. You can also use them to help guide your lessons. If they don't understand the 4 times table, don't move on to the next math lesson until they do.

If there is no answer key, you will need to do more work as a parent with your child. What if they are writing an essay or research paper? You may have a rubric to help you grade the essay, but you may not be familiar with the subject material. So you may need to do some studying yourself or seek help from someone who knows the subject matter. Keep in mind that sometimes teachers assign topics that they are not super familiar with, and they still grade your children's papers. They are usually looking for a strong thesis, well-written paragraphs, and details that support their thesis. You can do the same!

Multiple Grades 

The usual approach to schooling is to put children of certain ages together in grades. They get separated out based on their age, not on their ability. We don't need to do that as we homeschool. We can provide our children with an out-of-this-world learning opportunity. We can teach all our children at the same time. Their individual assignments may look different. They may be reading different books independently or working on a variety of math problems, but we can spend time learning together. 

Our younger children are close in age and grade level, so we spend a lot of time learning together. In fact, we use our daughter's curriculum as our spine and then add in what we need for each of them. Since we sit together at the dining room table, they both listen in to each other's lessons at times and pick up new things even if they aren't studying that particular subject or topic. For example, our daughter has been introduced to multiplication as her brother studies it. She hasn't had official lessons on multiplication yet, but she will have a general understanding when we do start those lessons. 

The easiest way to teach multiple grades together is to spend time reading aloud. You can read aloud history books, living fiction, science books, textbooks, the Bible, and more. Your children can work on independent work, color, draw, or play with quiet toys while you read aloud. Reading aloud gives you the opportunity to discuss what you are reading and share special time together as a family. Our read-aloud times are some of my favorite homeschooling times. 

What Questions Do You Still Have? 

We've looked at a few questions today that are common among new homeschoolers. What questions do you still have? Please ask in the comments. 

How Do I Teach in My Homeschool?

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New and seasoned homeschoolers are always interested in how others homeschool. Whether they want to know because they are starting on the homeschool journey themselves or they want to see if there is a better way to homeschool, the goings on in other homeschool households are always fun to read about! And as we modify and adapt our homeschool lessons and days as our children grow, we might need some new tips and tools, too. 

How I Teach a High Schooler 

I was a high school history teacher for several years, so homeschooling a high schooler should be easy, right? Well, the skills and methods needed to teach a classroom of teenagers are a bit different from those required to teach one high schooler who happens to be your stepson. The differences between teaching in a public school setting and a homeschool setting make almost all of the skills I acquired as a high school teacher unnecessary.

When you are homeschooling your high schooler, you have a relationship with that child already. Whether or not you homeschooled them from their first days of school or started at some point along the way, your bond with your child is stronger than any bond you will form with a student. Parents will also find that a lot of the problems of the high school classroom are not there in the same way. There will be distractions but not necessarily from other high schoolers. It is easier to discuss the common things that pop up when teaching high schoolers. From body odor to relationships, you have more authority as a parent, so you can more easily address these delicate topics. 

So how did I teach our high schooler? We used SchoolhouseTeachers.com as our primary curriculum for 10th-12th grades. Our oldest joined his younger siblings in the homeschooling journey after he had attended public school from preschool to ninth grade. Since SchoolhouseTeachers.com is an online curriculum, our son and I utilized email and shared documents as a way of sharing lesson plans, materials, assignments, and more. 

Takeaways from homeschooling a high schooler: 

• High schoolers are pretty self-sufficient. 
• Even though they can do things on their own, you still should check in with them. Whether that is through reminders sent or daily chats, you can easily find their struggles and missing assignments through communication. 
• Communication is key. 
• Allow them to participate in course selection when possible. 
• Don't be afraid to change things if you need to during the homeschool year. 

If you want to read more about how we picked courses, set up a schedule, and more, I have shared several posts over the years: 

Day in the Life of a Homeschooled 11th Grader

Day in the Life of a Homeschooled 12th Grader

Homeschooling During the High School Years

How I Teach an Elementary-Aged Child 

Currently, on our homeschool journey, I have taught preschool through fourth grade and tenth through twelfth grade. Each grade brings different joys, challenges, and requirements. When homeschooling younger elementary-aged children, a variety of resources and curriculum has been important for our son, but a box curriculum has been the key to homeschooling our daughter. 

For our daughter, we were fortunate enough to review the kindergarten level of My Father's World, God's Creation from A to Z in 2020. This curriculum was a great fit, so we have been using it ever since for her. This year we are including her older brother (who is in fourth grade) in some of the lessons, too. Having everything laid out in a teacher's manual makes homeschooling our daughter so easy. 

Our younger son seems to thrive on variety. We use a mix of curriculum resources for him, including the history and Bible components of his sister's box curriculum. We are currently using materials from Memoria Press for Latin, penmanship, science, and some additional history, as well as mathematics from both CTCMath and Math Mammoth. And we have two books from The Critical Thinking Co.™ that have helped build his language arts and critical thinking skills. And finally, we are finishing up a study guide from Progeny Press for The Cricket in Times Square (please note we did not read the edited version). 

I write out the tasks for each day in our children's agenda books. All the materials that they can complete independently, I put in a pile with their agenda. They can get started working right after breakfast by themselves or wait until I start working with them. I try to save the assignments they both do together to serve as breaks in between difficult work. That way we can have our read-aloud time or work on our memory verse as a break. 

Takeaways from homeschooling an elementary-aged child: 

• Be prepared to change things if they are not working. 
• Allow for time for siblings to work together and work independently. (Or if you belong to a co-op, make sure you have some courses that you do alone at home.) 
•  School when your children are ready. You do not have to start at 7 am or be finished by 3 pm. You can school after dinner if you want or need to. 

How I Teach a Preschooler 

Preschoolers do not need a lot of formal education. Play is the most important thing for homeschooling a preschooler. But what do you do when they want to school because they have older siblings who are homeschooling? Well, that all depends on the child. 

Both our younger son and daughter enjoyed coloring, painting, and playing with Play Doh and educational toys to different degrees. They went through phases where they wanted worksheets to complete because their older brother was homeschooling with worksheets. Or they wanted to use scissors to cut but not practice cutting using the fancy book we bought for them. 

Takeaways from homeschooling a preschooler: 

• Preschoolers are never predictable. 
• Keep things simple with games, toys, etc., that you already own. 
• If you want to use a curriculum, you can! 

Typical Day 

What is a typical day? There really isn't one. We homeschool year-round so that we can take off days or weeks when we need to. And even though we start the new year in September, we keep moving along with our curriculum from the previous 'year' if it is not completed and I see value in finishing it. We do not have to follow the tradition of the public school and try to cover the curriculum by a certain time. We can finish books, lessons, and more because we have the time and freedom to do so. 

How do you teach in your homeschool? Do you have a typical day? 

Gifts for the Homeschooling Mom

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What Items Would Be Perfect for the Homeschooling Mom?

Am I the only mom who uses gift cards to purchase items to use in the homeschool or items for her children or family? While I may purchase one item that I want, I often end up using most of the gift card – especially if it is a gift card for Amazon – to purchase items I want to use with our children or something I think my husband might like off his own wishlist. So how can you ensure you get a gift for the homeschooling mom herself? Well, you could buy her her preferred brand of tea, coffee, or wine. There might be a new book published by her favorite author, or perhaps you heard her gushing over a sweater or scarf while shopping with her, but she didn't pick it up. But what if you wish to help her school her children? Then there are so many options that I can share with you! 

Subscriptions to Curriculum Sites 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com – This is one of our favorite sites as it offers access to over 400 courses for Preschool to Twelfth Grade for your entire family for one price. As a member of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you will also receive access to a variety of videos, holiday-themed activities and lessons, monthly menu ideas, and more! 

My Teaching Library – This is a wonderful resource for the homeschool mom. There is a Facebook group and a newsletter available for subscribers and non-subscribers. One year's subscription is $60 for a year as of 2023. This will give you access to hundreds of resources, from language arts unit studies to algebra. You can also see a sample of products when you visit the website. 

Super Teacher Worksheets – This is another resource perfect for the homeschool mom looking for ready-made worksheets on various subjects for her elementary-aged homeschool children. Thousands of worksheets are available for math, reading comprehension, spelling, social studies, history, science, and more! Plus, you can make your own worksheets for your homeschool lessons. If you want to learn more about Super Teacher Worksheets, please visit my review here: Printables for your Homeschool Classroom. 

Reading Material 

Many homeschooling moms are always looking for reading material. They love reading alongside their children to model a love of reading. Depending upon their particular homeschooling style (DO I HAVE A WEBSITE ON THIS), you may find one of these books might suit them better than another. Or you could also subscribe your children to a favorite magazine.

   

Helping to Bring Learning to Life 

Homeschool families love going on field trips. While many libraries offer museum and zoo passes, there may still be locations that homeschool moms would like to visit that the library cannot provide. When gifting a membership to a local museum, historic site, or zoo, it would be best to ask which would the homeschool mom would prefer. 

Another way that you can help a homeschool mom bring learning to life is by gifting her family science kits, history kits, and (OTHER IDEA/IDEAS). While many curriculum packages offer hands-on learning opportunities, there may be something extra that might be fun to include. Perhaps she wants to raise butterflies with her children or have their family try their hand at a new handy-craft like glass blowing or soap carving. So, kits or classes would make for a wonderful gift for homeschool moms.

   

My Favorites 

There are so many great resources that I would love to add to our homeschool lessons. There probably isn't enough time in the day! Over the years, I've added art history lessons from ARTistic Pursuits, stargazing with a free astronomy app, and history-themed projects from Sonlight.  

I've been looking at the Greek language resources from Memoria Press for our daughter (although she wants to learn French), as well as their literature and poetry sets. And I have my eyes on several history curriculums from Notgrass History, including America the Beautiful and From Adam to Us. 

And, of course, as a homeschool mom, I love gel pens, notebooks, sticky notes, and notecards! These are all tools that help me homeschool and are also fun to use.

Printables for your Homeschool Classroom

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Resources that help us review, refresh, and expand upon our homeschooling subjects are wonderful additions to our homeschool classroom. We have been blessed with a one-year membership to Super Teacher Worksheets, which has a variety of printables for elementary students. Since it is the summertime, we are mostly using the printables to help review and expand right now, but I have plans to use several of their grade-level-specific resources during the entire year.

What are Super Teacher Worksheets? 

Super Teacher Worksheets is an online site that provides its members with over 20,000 printable PDF resources for children in Kindergarten through 5th grade. You can download as many worksheets as you need during your one-year membership. These 20,000+ printables are distributed among the following subject areas: 

• Mathematics 
• Reading
• Writing
• Phonics
• Spelling 
• Social Studies 
• Science 
• Holidays/Seasonal Activities 

And if you can't find the worksheet you are looking for...check back or create your own! 

Super Teacher Worksheets adds new resources on a regular basis, so don't forget to check back often during your membership. While many of their worksheets are Common Core-aligned, I haven't found that to make much of a difference other than the information is available for those who want it. 

If you want to make your own worksheets based on your curriculum, you can use their worksheet generator. I decided to create a crossword puzzle for our Roman history lesson to help our son remember the facts to know and the vocabulary from his first lesson. 

And many of their printables are also available with Spanish translations. 

Using Printables from Super Teacher Worksheets 

One of the first things I did when my membership to Super Teacher Worksheets was renewed was to check out the seasonal printables. I love finding mathematic sheets that will help reinforce our current studies that are themed. And Super Teacher Worksheets sometimes has coloring pages or crafts that we can do with our children. 

After I perused the Holiday printables, I began looking for worksheets that would help our children in areas where they were currently struggling. One of the topics in mathematics that our son needs help with is angles, so I found the various printables relating to identifying and measuring angles and printed those out for us to work on together. 

I decided to focus on grammar and spelling with our first grader in addition to the coloring sheets I printed for her. I found the Fix the Sentences collection for grades 1 through 4, where children correct the mistakes on the printable PDF worksheets. While we are using them daily, you could also use them all together rather than over the course of the week. I really like that there are different levels, so we can progress through them if our daughter is successful at the first grade level. 

Our Thoughts on the Printables from Super Teacher Worksheets 

One of the great features of Super Teacher Worksheets is that you have access to all the levels of worksheets at one time. You do not need to sign up for a specific grade level. So if your third-grade child is a wiz at mathematics but needs more help spelling, you could pick fourth grade math worksheets but second grade spelling worksheets. 

The worksheet generator was quite easy to use. I only needed to put in the names and facts to create our crossword puzzle. I also discovered they have a generator for classroom newsletters. This would be a neat thing to use with your homeschooled children, so they can create a newsletter for family and friends. I also like that I create as many math worksheets as I need so our children can practice addition, subtraction, and multiplication. You can make division worksheets, too. We just haven't reached that point yet in our curriculum.

Another neat feature that I didn't really use was the filing cabinet. You can create folders to save your favorite worksheets, and the worksheets you generate and save will be housed in your filing cabinet. I think this is a great feature if you travel and need your favorite worksheets accessible on different computers. 

While we have only been using Super Teacher Worksheets to supplement our current studies, there are some subjects where you could easily put together a semester or full-year curriculum from the printables on their site. I feel the most intuitive ones to use for a full-year curriculum would be spelling, reading comprehension, and perhaps science if you worked your way through the available printables.

I would recommend Super Teacher Worksheets to homeschooling families who are looking to supplement their curriculum. The printables make it very easy to help your children succeed in areas where they may be struggling. Review, refresh, and reinforce important skills with Super Teacher Worksheets.  

Please be sure to visit the Homeschool Review Crew to see how the other members of the Crew have used Super Teacher Worksheets in their homeschool classroom. 

Changing Our Homeschool Path

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Our homeschooling journey took a weird turn when my mom moved in with us in May of 2019. In the beginning, I requested her assistance in homeschooling our younger children as she loved spending time with her grandchildren. Unfortunately, these plans – of having her help one of our children while I worked with the other – never came to fruition. Shortly after she moved in with us, we began noticing there were changes in her memory and personality.

My mom did a really good job of hiding all the problems that she was having with her memory and physical health. It wasn’t until I began writing things down – her getting lost on the way back to our house, arguing with us about items that she thought were hers but were in fact our property, etc. – that we were able to convince her to visit the general care practitioner. In October 2020, the doctor saw her and recommended she have additional tests and see a neurologist. With the events of the world, it was difficult to get the necessary appointments. So, the next step wouldn’t take place until January 2021. When we returned to the neurologist after additional tests, the doctor confirmed our fears – my mom was suffering from Alzheimer’s.

My mom 

During the entire time she was living with us, our daily lives changed progressively. During late 2019, things remained mostly the same with the exception of a few details. I had extra housework as we had added an additional person to our home. We worried about another person as my mom would often be out past the time we expected her home, and she would not call us or message us. And we lost space as we tried to accommodate her and the items she was slowly moving from her home – my childhood home – to our house.

Little by little, things changed even more for us after the diagnosis. My mom got angry and suspicious. She would often accuse us of taking things, which did not happen. I hardly went into her bedroom, even though it provided access to our attic space and housed our children’s clothing dressers. I wanted to give her privacy.

I found, sadly, that giving her privacy meant that we didn’t see all the problems she was having until it was too late in a lot of ways. She destroyed many family photographs, pictures she colored (as well as those she colored with our daughter), and books. She took to cutting them up, writing all over them, and doing other things that caused them to be damaged or destroyed. I didn’t discover this until the last year of her life.

How did this impact our homeschooling? 

My husband and I needed to step in to directly take care of my mom in more and more ways. She stopped remembering to eat, so we needed to feed her. I had to help her with her daily hygiene needs and eventually, I needed my husband to help me do these tasks, too. With these additional tasks, our time was consumed with taking care of my mom. So in between these tasks, I set out what our children could do on their own or with the help of their older brother. And we homeschooled after dinner on many evenings. We had to be flexible in how and when we homeschooled.

My mom died on April 14, 2022. While we are struggling with our grief, we are slowly moving back into a normal homeschool routine. During the past difficult year of taking care of my mom, we continued to study math, language arts, science, and history. Some weeks, we were able to fit in foreign languages (such as our son’s studying of Latin and spelling. Now, I can see us moving back into an even more regular routine. I look forward to finishing some of our curriculum – we are almost done studying Mammals with Memoria Press – and adding back into some of the materials our son and daughter have been missing.

What Did I Learn from Our Journey?

It is very important to offer yourself grace. There were many days when I thought we weren’t getting any homeschooling done, but my children were still learning. They were learning how to cooperate and help each other. They were learning how to take care of those we love, even when it is difficult. They were getting more time to read and re-read books that they loved. They invented many games together – working out rules, scoring, and more. They learned the importance of love.

Getting Ready to Homeschool: Last Minute Tips

Whether you are new to homeschooling or not, getting ready for a new homeschool year can bring many emotions and thoughts. There is the excitement of seeing your children learn alongside you, the worry that you will not do enough to teach your children, and the questions you ask as to whether or not the curriculum will work for each of your children. Through all the eagerness to get started and the anxiety that bubbles up, I want to remind you can homeschool your children. No matter if you need to use three math programs and two different foreign languages, you will be able to homeschool your children.

Finding a Curriculum That Works for You and Your Children 

There are so many options that finding curriculum can feel overwhelming. Perhaps you found what you thought was the perfect fit, but then you started using it. You read lots of reviews, watched numerous vlogs that showed you an inside look, but the curriculum just doesn't work for your family. 

Do not be afraid to put the curriculum aside. This could mean that you resell it, throw it out, or never log in again. Yes, this might hurt to do if you spent a lot of money on the curriculum. I like to pinch pennies and use what I have – especially if I paid a pretty penny for it – but nothing is worth the aggravation and stress an ill-fitting curriculum will give you. 

As a reviewer, there have been several products that are wonderful but not for us. There was even one where I could see my son learning typing and spelling skills, but he did not like it. He stalled having to complete the tasks every day. The fact that it was online and timed was causing him stress. I reevaluated and, after the review period, we took a step back for a few months. We went back to it once before our subscription expired but even after the hiatus it still did not work for him. So, we did not use it again for our son. And I would make the same choice even if I had paid for the subscription. Nothing is worth causing friction in my relationship with my son. 

In the past, I have shared several posts looking at specific curriculum for different subject areas, so I won't go into great detail on all your options in this post. I will recommend you remember even if you purchased something that is not working for you, seek out assistance from the company. They may have advice to offer you. And try not to spread your dissatisfaction across social media. Constructive criticism is one thing, but complaining just to complain doesn't help anyone. It is okay to say this did not work for us while remembering it can work for someone else.

Homeschooling Resources: Mathematics 

Homeschooling Resources: Language Arts

Homeschooling with Curriculum: Creating a Connection

How Do You Pick a History Curriculum? 

Ask for Help 

Don't forget to ask for help if you are struggling - even early in the homeschool year. There is a multitude of places where you can go for encouragement, from small blogs like mine to curriculum companies. You could reach out to members at your church or find a local homeschool co-op. On our homeschooling journey, one of the things I learned early on was that homeschoolers love to help other homeschoolers. 

Give Yourself Grace 

One homeschool tip to remember all year round is that you should give yourself grace. You and your children will make mistakes. That is okay. Even if you are a veteran homeschooler, you might need to find a new groove as your life circumstances change. If you are new, every day may seem like a challenge. I encourage you to take a day (or week) off if you need to. And if you need to track hours in your state or country for homeschooling, look at what constitutes life skills. I guarantee you there are many hours each day where you are homeschooling life skills. 

It is hard to give ourselves grace, but it is important. Our family is working through a unique set of circumstances. My mother moved in with us, and then she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. This causes daily disruptions, scheduled and unscheduled, as I take care of her. I have had to change how I homeschool our younger children. So, they have a bit more independent work. I have also had to look at when we homeschool. Some nights, our son and I work on his language arts after dinner.

There are days when I feel like I am not doing everything that needs to be done while homeschooling them, but then I remember (or I am reminded) to give myself grace. They are clothed, fed, and clean. They can read, write, and do arithmetic. They enjoy learning new things. They have compassion. From book learning to learning how to care for others, their days are filled with valuable lessons. 

I pray you have a successful homeschool year. Remember, your year may look different from everyone else's, and that is perfectly fine!

Finding Homeschool Encouragement

There are many places and people to whom you can turn when seeking encouragement on your homeschool journey. Videos on YouTube, blogs, Instagram influencers, and more abound on the Internet. Perhaps you are fortunate enough to belong to a homeschool support group or co-op or a church with many homeschooling members. But what if you feel like you are alone on your homeschool journey? Where can you find encouragement? 

The Psalms 

Even though I have a strong online homeschool support network through my work and my blog, there are times when I feel very much alone. We don't belong to any local or state groups, nor do we know anyone at church who homeschools (there are some, but they remain a mystery to me). 

So what do I do? Looking to books is one way I can gain encouragement and insight as a homeschool mom. I have reviewed several here at A Mom's Quest to Teach, and others still sit on my to-read pile. But what is really the ultimate source for encouragement? The Bible. It might seem a cliché but it is true. There is so much wisdom and encouragement to be gleaned from the Bible for homeschoolers. I want to share one Psalm in particular that struck a chord with me tonight. 

Psalm 121 

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night. 

The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore.

 

My Thoughts 

I need to always remember to lift up my eyes to the Lord. He is my steadfast helper. He knows my heart – my anguish – and can preserve me from evil. When all seems to be going wrong, I need to take a long at the big picture. God will triumph in the end. He will preserve my soul – my children's souls. 

These verses and thoughts are difficult to remember on those hard days. Those days

• When every online educational program is not working.
• When every task takes forever. 
• When your children will not listen.
• When your homeschool day is interrupted over and over. 
• When the printer runs out of ink. 

These days are difficult. 

But remember, God is always working. His word is always available to read. 

God is forever. He will stand by you and your children as they procrastinate. 

God is listening. And so are your children. They just may not be listening to what you think is important. But they are always observing us and listening to what we are saying. 

God will interrupt you for His plan.

God's word can be printed on your heart. 

Seek the Lord on these difficult homeschool days. Find encouragement in His Word. Wait for the Lord. Cry out to Him. He will provide you with encouragement.

How to Plan a Homeschool Day

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Have you decided to homeschool? There are so many wonderful options for homeschooling, from online curriculum for specific subjects like CTCMath to print materials you can order to teach history. If you are looking for curriculum-in-a-box, perhaps you want to check out Timberdoodle (we have reviewed many of their products including Zig Zag Puzzler, which is part of their 2020 9th grade Curriculum Kit, and Gobblet Gobblers, which is part of their 2020 Kindergarten Curriculum Kit) or SchoolhouseTeachers.com. In order to plan out your days, there are some important questions to ask to help you get started. 

Top Five Questions to Ask When Planning 

Your Homeschool Day 

What time of day would you like to start homeschooling? 

When is your family the busiest already? Do you go to work or work from home? Do your children participate in outside activities? You can easily divide up your day into different sections such as 

• Early Morning 
• Mid-Morning 
• Lunchtime 
• Afternoon 
• Evening 

All are equally good times to start your homeschool day based upon what is best for your homeschooling family. There are times we start early in our day, and then some days we start homeschooling in the late afternoon and evening because of other obligations. The beauty of homeschooling is that we can plan our day for our family. And so can you! 

How many subjects would you like to cover each day? 

Will you study each subject - Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, etc. - each day with your homeschooling children? Will you pick one or two to be completed each day while you rotate through the other subjects every other day or weekly? All this might depend upon the age of your children and what they are studying at the time. 

For our teen, we allow him to decide what subjects he will complete on which day. I prepare a weekly plan of lessons he needs to complete, starting on Monday of the week, and then I allow him to arrange his daily lessons. There are times when we need to review his tasks, and we assist him with his time management. 

My Father's World kindergarten curriculum forms the core for our daughter. Each day she completes some math and language arts activities based upon the lesson plans in the Teacher's Guide. I will then supplement with materials from My Teaching Library, SchoolhouseTeachers.com, and Focus on Fives curriculum. 

Will you study any subjects together as a family? 

Many homeschooling families enjoy learning multiple subjects together as a family. While mom or dad reads from a work of fiction or non-fiction, younger children may color while older children take notes or complete activities. Many subjects are easy to combine, depending upon the age of your children. Science experiments can be conducted together, and you can watch history documentaries and movies together and then discuss what you have learned.

How will you fit in field trips, documentaries, co-op opportunities, outside classes? 

You don't have to teach it all! There are so many wonderful opportunities to allow your children to learn from others. Many zoos, museums, and historic sites not only offer tours but often host workshops or homeschool specific classes or days. If you don't feel like an expert on a topic, you can easily look online to find out who is an expert and view interviews or documentaries or share books and articles with your children.

What learning style or homeschool methods do you want to use? 

There are a variety of popular homeschooling methods or approaches that you can research and apply. Many individuals often end up taking an eclectic approach because they borrow from multiple methods tailored to fit their own children's needs, learning styles, and interests.

The names of some of the methods are (the links below will share some information on these methods): 

• Classical 
• Charlotte Mason 
• Montessori 
• Unschooling 
• School-at-Home 
• Unit Studies 
• Eclectic 

A fellow homeschooling blogger at Homeschool on the Range shared a video that discusses many of the homeschool styles: Exploring Homeschool Styles.

Which method or style do you think you would like to use in your homeschool? Personally, our family takes a Classical approach in some ways, enjoys using unit studies, and combines curriculum and materials that help our children learn based upon their individual learning styles.

Wonderful Blessings of God

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How has the Lord blessed you? I often find that God has blessed me in so many ways when I start counting blessings. I recently discovered an old 2017 calendar upon which I kept track of one thing for which I was grateful each day during the year. As the end of 2020 is approaching, I thought it would be nice to do something similar for 2021. The only change is I want to try to focus upon ways in which God has blessed me each day. It might go without saying that I will be grateful for those blessings, but I like taking a different approach this coming year. 

What were some of the things I was grateful for in 2017? 

In 2017, we had two little toddlers and a teen. It would be the year we received a new washer and dryer (after more than two years without a working washer in the house) and my Aunt (who turned 90 that year) and Uncle helped us by giving us food several times a year. While we were struggling, we still had days when we made crafts, played in the snow, enjoyed homemade cookies, and celebrated birthdays. 

What were some of the things that I wrote down? 

• Breakfast food for dinner 
• Hot chocolate
• My daughter's laughter 
• My husband helping me clean the television/gaming system wires 
• Walking with my son to the library 
• A teen who can mow the lawn 
• Naps 
• Old hockey equipment fitting our older son 
• Children who eat their dinner 
• Time to read
• A good night's sleep 
• A warm house  

How did God bless me in 2020? 

We have had a lot of struggles this year – from needing to replace our refrigerator (we are still waiting for this because there are some key measurements that make getting a new one difficult and there is low stock due to the closure of factories earlier in 2020) to having to replace our furnace. These are both huge financial hurdles to running a smooth household but when I think about it I am blessed that we have a somewhat working fridge and were able to purchase a smaller fridge for the basement.

We have also been struggling with family stress and issues. My mom has been living with us for a while now and things are not easy. She has had declining health problems which impact the rest of the family. We are trying to show her the love that we have for her by taking care of her. We want to demonstrate and share with her the love that God has for her. Even with all the problems that are creeping up because of her failing health, she is a daughter of God. God loves her. I love her. 

I reviewed a wonderful book of prayers – Warfare Prayers for Women – in which there are several prayers that I have been trying to read on a regular basis. As in prayer, "For a Parent with Dementia," there are days when I feel like I don't know my mom anymore. She does things that seem odd to me and she can't explain why she is doing what she is doing. I regularly ask God to: 

"Show us how to deal with her situation and keep her safe. Lord, we need a solution. Please guide us to a doctor or social worker who can convince her of what is best for her remaining years. I love her dearly and am saddened by her regression." (144) 

I am blessed because even though my husband lost his job (more financial strains), he has been home to help alleviate family stress. He has been a tremendous support to me while we are homeschooling our three children. I can almost always count on him to help with a science experiment from our son's astronomy course. 

A science experiment where our children would spin the bottle with the
water in it and then flip it to see an example of a hurricane-like storm.

Homeschooling our three children has been a wonderful blessing. I have seen our younger two children grow and our oldest expand his knowledge. The other night at dinner, our oldest was explaining that his younger brother is learning things he never learned in public school. This was after he remarked that he was dumb and I said jokingly, "I am glad that I am only responsible for three years of your education." I am glad that we are able to homeschool all three our children now so that they can receive the best education for them. While it is not possible to close all the gaps that our oldest feels he has in terms of his public schooling, I can share with him the tools and places where he can find the information he needs. That he recognizes the gaps says a lot about him and his self-awareness.

God's Love 

I am so blessed that even through all of our adversity I can still remember that God's love is always there for me. I could compare it to the waters of Earth. The oceans cover the entire globe and they are so vast. God's love covers everyone and He is more vast than those beautiful oceans.

Favorite Homeschool Curriculum and Resources of 2020

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We had the privilege of reviewing many different homeschool curriculum and resources during this past year while being members of the Homeschool Review Crew. One of the traditions of the Homeschool Review Crew is to select their favorites and award them a Blue Ribbon for such topics as favorite math curriculum, favorite science resource, or favorite elective. While our family has not reviewed every product and vendor that was reviewed by Crew members this year, we did review quite a few and selected our favorites. 

Language Arts-Related Favorites 

There were many awesome language arts resources reviewed by Crew members this year that we also count as our favorites, including: 

Reading Eggs – Both our younger children love working through the various parts of Reading Eggs such as Math Seeds and Reading Eggspress. They have enjoyed the addition of Fast Phonics, as well. Even though we did not write a review of Reading Eggs this year, it is no surprise that it was chosen for more than one Blue Ribbon by Crew members. 

The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set – With reviewing this early reader set perfect for younger children – we were introduced to the Boxcar Children series. We have since purchased one set of the books and checked out several more from our library to read. I love that the stories are simple and easy to read aloud. 

Mathematics-Related Favorites 

It was very easy for our two younger children to pick their favorite math curriculum/resource. They both agree that they love CTCMath. In fact, our daughter asks to work on her CTCMath on a daily basis (although she does add in an extra TC to the name). In addition to the complete online math curriculum of CTCMath, our youngest also said that she loved working on the materials from Page A Day Math,    which made me very happy as practicing math facts to work on math fluency is important. 

One of the projects from Let's Go Geography

History-Related Favorites 

As a history major and former history teacher, I love it when the Crew reviews history-related curriculum and resources. We started the year off reviewing SchoolhouseTeachers.com and then reviewing Let's Go Geography, which was a wonderful addition to our homeschool year. Then, we spent time reading about C.S. Lewis and his place in history, learning about elections, then the American Civil War with Home School in the Woods, and finally spending time with a family favorite – Drive Thru History®. 

Let's Go Geography – While our second grader has spent the majority of the time completing the lessons of Let's Go Geography, his sister was able to join in all of the different fun crafts. I really like the fact that both our children can work together on this geography homeschool curriculum. 

Home School in the Woods – We have used a number of resources from this great company over the years. I love how they truly bring history to life for those using these homeschooling resources. For example, they provide period crafts and recipes in addition to readings and projects to complete. 

General Homeschool Resources 

There were also a number of wonderful resources that were reviewed by Crew members that I found to be valuable additions to our own homeschool this year. About the time that I joined the Crew Admin team, we received a subscription to Super Teacher Worksheets and then My Teaching Library. I have been incorporating materials from both these sites into our younger children's homeschool day on a regular basis ever since. 

Super Teachers Worksheets – From seasonal worksheets to grammar and mathematics, there are so many useful resources for our homeschool at Super Teachers Worksheets. We have incorporated mostly grammar into our second grader's homeschool day along with some fun coloring sheets for our kindergartner. I love the ability to search for items easily with their menus. 

My Teaching Library – I have been able to find so many great resources to use with all three of our children, from a study on Beowulf, which our senior read at the beginning of this year, to monthly skills workbooks that I am using with our two younger children. I love that I can find seasonal worksheets to include in their homeschool day. It makes our weeks fun and exciting. 

A few of the worksheets from My Teaching Library

Complete Curriculum 

There were several products that really stood out for our family in terms of complete curriculum. We were chosen to review My Father's World: God's Creation from A to Z  as well as Focus on Fives from BJU Press Homeschool with our kindergartner. Both these curriculum have really helped our daughter blossom and develop a love of learning. And for our younger son, I have been using materials from Homeschool Easy for grammar and mathematics, but they have a complete curriculum for grades 1 to 5 with reading, social studies, science, and writing. 

God's Creation from A to Z – We were blessed with being able to review the complete kindergarten curriculum from My Father's World. This meant we added a great number of children's books to our homeschool library, as well as were able to incorporate important religious instruction into our homeschool day. I am eagerly awaiting starting the Christmas unit after Thanksgiving – it looks like so much fun! 

Focus on Fives – This has been such a fun curriculum to use in our homeschool. I love how we have been able to incorporate the holiday-themed lessons from the last Teachers' Guide – such as the one on Easter and now Thanksgiving – into our homeschool day. And our daughter loves her 'bunny homeschooling.' 

Other Favorites 

There were several other family favorites that I must simply mention. From fun games to learning a new language, we have added a lot of cool resources into our homeschool day. 

Geography and mathematics have been studied in our homeschool, courtesy of two fun games from Byron's Games. Our entire family has enjoyed playing both Continent Race and Math Sprint this year. I love that we have two more board games that we can play – and they are educational, too!

Memoria Press – I have been circling the Prima Latina in the Memoria Press catalog ever since we started homeschooling. I really wanted to learn Latin alongside our younger children (our oldest took French in high school, like I did). So, I was very excited when we were given the chance to review the complete set! I love the organization of Prima Latina. It has been an excellent addition to our homeschool journey. 

A Fun Homeschool Year 

With all the bumps of 2020, we have been blessed with many great homeschool products to review in our home. The companies have been very gracious to share their wonderful resources with the Homeschool Review Crew, so we could review them and share our thoughts and opinions with you. I know that over the course of the past two years of being a Crew member, I have found several companies that I will be patronizing in the years to come. 

If you are curious about who was awarded Blue Ribbons by the Homeschool Review Crew, I urge you to visit their post. While you are there, don't forget to check out the other Crew's posts as they share their personal favorites from this homeschool year.