What I Learned When I Quit Homeschooling

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What I Learned When I Quit Homeschooling

Just over 3 years ago, I was 4-5 months pregnant with my very welcomed but highly surprising 4th child. At that time, my 3rd was still shy of his FIRST birthday, and I had a daughter going into junior high and one struggling greatly due to dyslexia and dyscalculia.

As a new school year loomed large, I was overwhelmed. As a matter of fact, I was CERTAIN that I could NOT do it. I could NOT successfully homeschool my two girls with any sort of excellence while wrangling a newborn and tiny toddler. I went to the Lord with my great overwhelm. Shockingly, to us and everyone around us, my husband and I felt completely led to put our two girls in the local public school.

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Kindergarten Morning Binder Sample

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Kindergarten Morning Binder Sample

I’ve been exceedingly shocked by the enthusiasm and reactions from the very-popular Preschool Morning Binder. And of course, as my own little kiddos get older, I knew we would need a slightly more advanced version of this great tool. Beyond that, since Level 2 of The Gentle + Classical Preschool is for ages 4-6 years and is a full Kindergarten program, I knew that most of us would want a morning activity binder perfect for our kiddos who are 5-7 years old.

So what is a Kindergarten Morning Binder?

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Think You Have a Strong-Willed Child? (Maybe not…)

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Think You Have a Strong-Willed Child? (Maybe not…)

For years and years, I would have called a couple of my children (and myself) "very strong-willed." I'd read book after book about these children who are like little attorneys. Children who must learn everything "the hard way, " and who are so determined and set in their ways that it's an act of war to have them ever obey or submit to authority. 

Defiant.

Hard-headed.

Stubborn.

Big personality.

Strong-willed.

If you have a child who could give a Harvard law grad a run for their money... You aren't alone. I have two such children, and I've been told, I am that person too.

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Homeschool Scheduling with Teens to Toddlers (Mom of 4)

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Homeschool Scheduling with Teens to Toddlers (Mom of 4)

I do really love to chat homeschool scheduling! I believe our schedules are and should be just as unique as our families and our homeschools are. But also, we are always looking for ways to improve- maybe to streamline, reduce overwhelm, or just enjoy our day better. So, I’m happy to share our general flow, both as it kind of went this year, and also as I plan for it to continue into the fall.

We do school year round. We take June off, and July is very casual with a long reading list and math only. So, this schedule applies to our more typical school year, August-May.

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Our Curriculum Choices (10th, 7th, K4)

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Our Curriculum Choices (10th, 7th, K4)

I did what I think no other homeschool blogger has ever done- I failed to write a “curriculum pick” post for last year. Eeek. Honestly, in hindsight, I’m thankful. I was full excited about a few programs over last summer, but when it came down to it, they weren’t a good fit and we swapped to new programs after a few weeks.

I’m thankful for the experience, as it was an incredible learning opportunity to me. It also shows that no matter how amazing a program seems, once you get into it, it just might not be a good fit! Suffice it to say, that after an initial “fail” of one program in the fall, we found our way to a program that I now am certain we will use for many years (as certain as an easily distracted homeschool mama can be!).

So, what are our choices for this year? Many of them are simply a continuation of last year…

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Printing Digital Products Affordably

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Printing Digital Products Affordably

In this 2-part series, I'll discuss my process for decision making on digital products as well as share my favorite resources for making printing affordable! You can read the digital discussion HERE and the printing help below. 

Edit 8/4/19- I have found another (new) homeschool printing company that I love! FamilyNestPrinting.com has exceptional prices AND they offer a 20% discount to Life, Abundantly readers. Use code Erin20 at checkout to save!

How can I afford to print this all? I get that question ALL the time! Whether it's the stuff from my Gentle + Classical Nature Bundle or my Preschool Bundle, the BYB Annual Sale, you may LOVE what you see, know that you would definitely use it and get great value from it... but you can't figure out how to make the printing feasible. I hope what I share today will help.

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Do Digital Products Really Save?

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Do Digital Products Really Save?

In this 2-part series, I'll discuss my process for decision making on digital products as well as share my favorite resources for making printing affordable! You can read the digital discussion here and the printing help HERE. 

It's not an uncommon message for me to receive-

  • How many pages is this document?

  • Will I need to print ALL of it? I'm trying to figure out how much it's going to cost all together?

  • Where do you get your stuff printed?

  • How can you afford to have so much printed?

  • How are digital products a saving when printing is SO expensive? 

I 100% get it, my friend! Every single one of us is on a fixed homeschool budget, and even if the budget is generous, we want to stretch every penny because- books, right? So I wanted to develop a "guide" for choosing and printing digital products because opportunities abound for these in the homeschool world, and it can get overwhelming! 

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Moral Imagination? Poetic Knowledge? What the What?

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Moral Imagination? Poetic Knowledge? What the What?

I’ve been on an educational and spiritual adventure that God is gently (forcibly) leading me through as I quake in overwhelm at the idea of penning GC Preschool 2. I’ve never felt such incredible weight and responsibility, but I’ve also never felt God so tangibly pulling me in a particular direction. I recently updated the overview page of The Gentel + Classical Preschool 2 (HERE) and removed the study of history from the framework. I give a brief overview of why on that page and mention words like “moral imagination” and “poetic knowledge.” If you are anything like I was just a few short months ago, you have no idea what those words mean. (I feel you.)

I won’t pretend to be an expert…

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Headed to the Zoo anytime soon? (FREEBIE!)

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Headed to the Zoo anytime soon? (FREEBIE!)

We are annual zoo members and have been for years. Our kids have always treasured days at the zoo, and when the weather isn’t sweltering, I always have too. I feel like it’s an excellent opportunity to get out of the house and do a little roamschooling.

I wanted to create a tool for us (and for you!) that would serve our whole family. I have babies from 2 up to high school freshman, so it’s not often we do anything or learn anythign that EVERYONE can enjoy and benefit from. However, the zoo is definitely an excpetion to that. Furthermore, with this zoo explorers pack, that’s even more true than ever.

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