Category: Homeschool (page 1 of 4)

Kid For Sale: Free to Good Home (OBO)

Once upon a time this mother was riding with her daughter, and the daughter – who shall remain nameless but rhymes with Banana – is in charge of the musical playlist, which is quite diverse and hasn’t changed much since she was three years old:

  • Broadway mixed with 80s
  • Off-Broadway mixed with oldies
  • … and the good stuff: 90s country

When she was but a wee one she would act out Phantom of the Opera with her Barbie and Ken dolls.

She’s good stuff, is what I’m trying to relate to you. Fruit of my looms.

But then a song comes on and daughter excitedly says this:

“Oh, Mom, these guys are really good! You’d like them! They’re called You Too, but it’s spelled like this,” proceeds to write in the air with her finger (which should be at ten and two since she’s driving) the letter U followed by the number 2.

A shocked and appalled century goes by as I sit in silence and contemplate:

A. throwing myself out of the car into the nearest ditch and dying there quietly as I deserve, or

B. taking the next left and not stopping until I reach Mexico, where I can take up a new life and identity.

Friends and family, I have tried, but I have failed.

I wore out U2 CDs her entire childhood. Her childhood’s theme music would indeed be U2, peppered with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, and Veggie Tales. But so much U2.

The B Sides? Started skipping with overuse back in 2015.

The Joshua Tree? Literally disintegrated.

Rattle and Hum? Not sure I played anything else throughout the 2000s.

This is the end of me. I have failed at this thing called parenting.

(No, really: Read it here.)

Once I regained my strength enough to write my will, leaving my music collection to ANOTHER OFFSPRING, ANY OFFSPRING, she asked,

“So this ISN’T a little known Indie band I just discovered that no one else knows about?”

Goodbye, world.

Perhaps if I am reincarnated and can become a mother again, I will do better.

Until then, I have a 19 year old for sale. Free to good home.

How and Why to Use Unit Studies for Home Schooling

Let’s talk about unit studies.

(And I’ll give you a free one. Read on.)

As a homeschool mom, you want to know what works best to educate and engage your little rugrats, and how to do it most efficiently and easily.

Having homeschooled and been homeschooled (hi, Mom!) for many moons now, I can attest to what works for myself, my brain, and my heart.

Uh, and my kids (oh yeah, them, too).

One method I always liked best – and continually found myself going back to – is unit studies.

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Homeschool Room Pro Tip: Don’t. Use Caddies Instead.

Homeschooling can be daunting enough, but when you start searching Pinterest for Homeschool Rooms, you might get so overwhelmed with Perfect Mom Envy that you consider dropping your rugrats off at the nearest public institution posthaste.

Never fear, mama bear!

(Hmm. That rhymed better in my head.)

There’s this idea that is prevalent which says you have to have a dedicated Homeschool Room.

But that’s bogus.

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47 Educational Movies for Homeschool So You Can, Um, Educate. Or Take a Shower.

Educational movies are just the thing when you’re homeschooling (by choice or because of, you know, a pandemic or something).

We all aspire to be those kinds of parents who would never let their offspring be babysat by the television for even a minute, but hey. We’ve all been there.

It’s been a long week, nose-deep in dry, boring textbooks, the baby is cranky, the spouse is out-of-town, the kids are lethargic, it’s raining for the upteenth day in a row, and when was the last time you showered?

For those times when decompressing is a must, here are 47 films that aren’t only entertaining, they’re downright educational. Watch em with your tykes, or go run a bubble bath while they watch.

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The Time This Homeschool Mom Ran Away From Home

Do you ever feel ignored and inconsequential by your offspring?

Do you find yourself muttering under your breath,

Hello? Why do I bother talking at all?

Do you find yourself wondering if perhaps you are Bruce Willis’ character in The Sixth Sense and have been dead for a while now, and just haven’t accepted the fact?

Do I have a plan for you! Not really, no. But you can try what I tried one day…

I ran away.

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Is Your Homeschool Failing? (Or are you just worried it is…)

Let’s talk about homeschool failure.

Homeschool parents are quick to put up a front of niceties, rainbows and roses, smiling faces, and rapid-fire assurances that everything is great.

It may be leftover defensiveness from our earlier days of explaining to negative critics (sometimes in our own families), or it may be that old river in Egypt, but let me tell it to you straight, sister,

Not everything is always great in anyone’s homeschool.

You may not always see it on Pinterest, or scroll by it on Facegram, but there are mamas who are struggling big time over this monumental decision to homeschool their little babies.

And since you’re here? Well, maybe that mama is you.

I’ve been there, she’s been there, you’ve been there. So let’s be honest with one another and help each other pull up our big girl panties.

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How to Become a Ballerina (When You Grow Up)

Growing up homeschooled in the eighties and nineties gave my little sister and me the time, focus, dedication, drive, and commitment that it took to fulfill (almost) every little girl’s dream: becoming ballerinas.

Of course there are little girls who scoff at tutus and tiaras and dream instead of cowgirl boots and mud pies (like a certain someone I gave birth to) but “When I grow up I want to be a ballerina” is a common wistful sigh on the lips of plenty of feminine youngsters.

So, little one, how do you become a ballerina?

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