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Walking Through Grief with Teens
My family is not unfamiliar with grief and sorrow and suffering. We have experienced it first hand. We know what it is to be on the receiving end of condolences and do-gooders. The older I get, the more I realize that grief is but a breath away. Sorrow and suffering linger close. My children experienced walking through the death of their grandfather in December. His health had declined over the course of a couple of years and they watched him struggle. Just last week, a dear friend of ours passed away after a seven year battle with cancer. We have really only known him for the last four years. Our…
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Homeschooling with Wide Margins
When I speak about unschooling, or delight directed learning, I use the phrase “wide margins.” I use it in the sense that, in order to cultivate a love for learning and a lifestyle of homeschool, there has to be space held sacred. It is in those sacred spaces where true learning takes place and passion ignites. Facebook groups, Instagram, Message Boards, Forums, friends, family, aquaintances, the church, the world, your kids… would all like to tell you how to homeschool. All those voices can lead to sensory overload and a ton of mom-guilt. Am I doing this right? Am I failing them? Why don’t my kids look like those kids…
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Our Fieldtrip to the Civil Rights Museum
Sometimes, I do not know how to approach the topic of civil rights and race relations. I am a white woman. I grew up in the South. I grew up in a home where racist jokes were a norm. I had a confederate flag in my room. I would have told you it was about heritage and not hate… I cringe at the very thought of it now. I remember on more than one occassion, after relating an incident that happened at school… like a fight… or once a car accident I was in on the way to school…being asked, “Was he black?” As if that would explain all… was…
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Top Ten Reasons We Love Schoolhouse Teachers [dot] Com
Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you make a purchase from these links. If you’ve been around this blog or know me in person, you know that we are HUGE fans of SchoolhouseTeachers.com. You may remember THIS POST I wrote last year, sharing the top five reasons SchoolhouseTeachers.com works for delight directed homeschooling. Even though we have been using Schoolhouse Teachers for a few years, they are…
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What I’m Reading- Fahrenheit 451
Most of the books I read in highschool have left a seared distaste in my memory… simply because it was part of school. I just had a long, long… very long discussion with my oldest to not discredit the value of something simply because it falls under the banner of “school.” As I was talking to him, I said that a conversation like this would have been lost on fourteen year old me. School was not a good experience for me. I skirted through. I reached out in middle school and asked for help, for tutoring… anything… but was told I just wasn’t applying myself. That if I would just…
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{FREE} Thanksgiving Zentangle Coloring Sheets
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! What is your family doing today? This is the holiday where we stay home. My amazing husband cooks a big feast to share with whomever may be joining our table. This year, we are excited to have a few families joining us. We will watch the parade. We will feast. We will run around outside with marshmallow shooters made from PVC pipe. It’ll be a marvelous day!!! What are your family traditions?? One of my favorites is a table cloth I picked up several years ago. We put it out, along with some sharpies, and have our guests sign it with whatever they are thankful for. We’ve…
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What I am Reading- Death on the Nile
We took a long car trip back in July. It was our bi-annual trip to St. Jude for my daughter’s scans and appointments. She underwent treatment for a malignant brain tumor almost four years ago. We are on a schedule of going to St. Jude every six months to make sure she is still cancer free and see how she is dealing with the side effects of treatment. Sometimes she and I fly out for the appointments, but usually in the summer, we opt to drive so other family members can go with us. This time, we decided to bring the whole family and make a trip out of it.…
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Beach- Schooling
We are so blessed to have access to a condo on St. Simons Island, Georgia. My parents had a great opportunity to get in on the building of one of the resort like places from the beginning. My kids have grown up visiting this island year after year. We don’t know how many more trips we will be able to take as they may have to sell sooner than later… but until that day comes, we will take advantage. We usually like to go down in mid- September, just before the public school fall breaks. The weather is beautiful… warm, but not stifling. The beach is not crowded. This year,…
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Homeschooling with Wide Margins
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My IEW Wishlist
This is our first year using the Institute for Excellence in Writing. I have to admit that I have always been skeptical of IEW. Many of the parents I have talked to in my circles who use the program seemed stressed out and overwhelmed. To listen to them tell about their homeschool day, describing the subjects they were teaching and curriculum they were using was stressful to my delight directed ears. I made an assumption that IEW was busy work, time consuming, and stressful. Thankfully, that assumption was dispelled when I was able to hear the founder, Andrew Pudewa, speak at our state conference, NCHE Thrive, last Spring. I really…
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Our High School Plans 2019-2020
Oh my word… time flies when you are homeschooling four kids with two in soccer while working two part time jobs. I cannot believe that I have not blogged in TWO MONTHS!!! I have so much to catch you all up on! First things first. Apparently, I have a ninth grader. NINTH GRADE! I’m pretty sure that is impossible because yesterday someone told me to treasure his preschool years because I would blink and they would be over. Only… it wasn’t yesterday. It was ten years ago. I’m finding a lot of similarities between starting preschool and starting highschool as far as homeschooling goes. I remember when he was four…
