The Charlotte Mason Method in a Single Parent Home

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The Charlotte Mason Method in a Single Parent Home

This article is a guest post by Tia McArthur. You can learn more about Tia and find her online via the information at the end of this post. I hope you’ll find Tia’s words a comfort and encouragement!

As a single mom with a small business that is a full-time ministry, homeschooling looks a lot different in our home than many others.  Finding balance to implement the feast that is a Charlotte Mason (CM) education while also providing our sole source of income is the most rewarding challenge of my life.  Like family dinners, this feast is often messy and loud and one of us often wants to take our favorite dish/book off to a corner somewhere. But this time spent together is weaving a fabric of memories for us both to treasure for a lifetime, just like those family dinners from my childhood.

I would have loved to have met Charlotte Mason.  From her writings, she seems so wise yet approachable. However, I cannot now sit down with her to chat over a cup of coffee, so, instead, I sit down by myself or with like-minded mamas with a cup of coffee and her six volumes.  This nineteenth century educator has completely revolutionized the way I envisioned homeschooling my son, and thusly, both of our lives in the process.  

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When 2 Minutes of Waiting Gets on Your Nerves... {Becoming an Unhurried Wife}

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When 2 Minutes of Waiting Gets on Your Nerves... {Becoming an Unhurried Wife}

This guest post was contributed by the delightful and talented Carly Wilson. See the bio at the bottom to find more of Carly’s work. We are delighted to have her!

My husband just stands there, doing nothing. I can’t tolerate it! He pours the coffee into the mug, pops it into the microwave, hits start, and then…nothing. He just lounges against the counter while it heats up.

He should be putting the time to good use.

He should be wiping up the counter, putting away the milk, or closing the drawer.

“Don’t you need to do something?” I asked him. “Aren’t you bored just standing there?”

“Not at all,” he answered. “It’s actually kind of nice to do nothing.”

For some reason, this annoys me!

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Dear Mama- Don't Be Scared of the Teen Years

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Dear Mama- Don't Be Scared of the Teen Years

Like any sane parent, I've dreaded the teen years. Drama, backtalk, rebellion, unrepentant anger, zits, relationships, driving... I have kind of had a low-grade terror about the whole deal.

But now I'm in it. I'm dealing with boyfriends and periods and friend betrayals and acne and anger, and I'm here to tell you: This is the BEST. It does NOT have to be a nightmare.

NOTE: I write this to you with a bit of trembling and timidity because I'm not done yet. I'm not all the way through the teen years and only half my children are there. But I also say what I'm saying with boldness because the word of God confirms it's truth, and I'm witnessing it not only in my own life, but in the lives of friends and their teens as well.

So, I repeat: The teenager years don't have to be a nightmare.

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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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