Thrift Schooling

  Teaching geography in our homeschool can seem like an elective, but it shouldn't. Knowing where we are, who we are, and what we are in relation to the rest of the world is foundational. Children are often taught about other countries and places with a disconnect, rather than with purpose. Let's make sure that we define the purpose for teaching our children geography while they are young.  Having traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East—all before I was thirty helped me realize how narrow-minded I was before ever crossing the pond. I then learned the importance of changing. Exposure to other countries, cultures, and ways of life is one of the best gifts you can give to your child of any age.  How Can We Incorporate Free Geography Lessons in Our Homeschool? 1. Free Resources from Trusted Homeschoolers Use resources created for homeschoolers, by homeschoolers. Most likely, these types of resources were created to meet a need for a specific homeschool and are n...

  It's a new school year! Instead of loading your teen with piles of bookwork or online classes, consider adding hands-on problem-solving activities to help sharpen her mind this year. In the younger years, it is easy to remember to add breaks and games into the school day—but what about with our teens? The IQ Circle from Timberdoodle is a perfect way to keep your teen learning while breaking up the monotony of the school day.  With so much amount of time and energy dedicated to ACT/SAT and career prep throughout these pivotal years, we cannot forget about the importance of including opportunities to develop critical thinking skills. Having these skills developed will prove useful in real-life situations, even while still in high school: Driving Tests Job Interviews Volunteering Ministry  Household Chores Study Habits All of these situations require our teens to think on their feet and to use problem-solving skills in a practical ...

Letting our kids loose to learn and explore on their own sounds scary. Are they actually going to learn anything? When left to their own devices, what will happen? Psalm 119:45 says, "I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts." This is a beautiful reminder that there is more freedom than restriction when we are truly seeking after the Lord. When we first understand his precepts.  How does this play out in our homeschooling? Building a biblical foundation in our homeschool helps us to make God-centered decisions rather than decisions based on the fear of man.  How many workbooks have we purchased, or resources have we bought simply because we feared what a non-supportive distant family member might think if Johnny isn't reading at grade level at the next family gathering? Our aim is not to please man, but to please God, and when we do it wholeheartedly, God will teach us how to teach Johnny to read—on His timetable, not Aunt Sally's.  Once we un...

Hands-on homeschooling just got real with  iBrick STEM kits for kids ages 9–12! Have you ever attempted to begin your homeschool day and, instead of finding your kids throwing spitballs at you like you would see in a classroom, you see that your kids snuck bricks into their pockets to play with while you read history? Maybe you eventually gave in and let them play with them while you read (sheepishly raising a hand over here). Now homeschoolers don't need to feel guilty for their desire to build during homeschooling . What better way to teach discipline than to incorporate it into their schooling? Rather than attempting to set aside a certain time of day to play with bricks, or using them as an incentive for completing school—it now is school! The discipline comes with teaching them how to use them productively.  When my 10-year-old opened his iBrick kit for the first time, he could not believe that it was for school. He still can't, and he has completed dozens of models over ...

Radiant Mobile is America’s first Christian wireless carrier, built around one idea: Parents decide . Same nationwide 5G. Same unlimited talk, text, and data. With one difference—parental authority over content, enforced at the network.  Taking Back the Internet Radiant Mobile is filtering at the network level. Schools do it. Libraries do it. Now your carrier can, too . This is not simply an app that your child can delete. This puts your mind at ease, knowing that your child cannot stumble upon inappropriate content, which we all know is out there.  I still remember the late 90s when the Internet began entering our homes, schools, and libraries. My school got it. My friends had it. Our home computer? Nothing. My parents were hesitant. They had heard the horror stories. So there I sat, playing Digger and Pong on my DOS. No Internet. No AIM. No email. Did that last long? No. It quickly became clear that the Internet was here to stay—not just a fad like Atari or mall arcades. No...

  "Oh, that's right. I TOTALLY forgot about that!" "I've seen the village, and I don't want it socializing my children." "YOU don't go to school, how do YOU socialize?" "We socialize our dogs. We educate our children." "We don't need socialization. We have each other." "Socialization is overrated." If you have been homeschooling for any length of time, you may have had a veteran homeschooler come alongside you, offering some of these (among many others) responses that homeschoolers can use to ward off naysayers. Yes, I've heard all of these responses quoted at one time or another. Usually by one homeschooling mom trying to encourage another homeschooling mom. Only on rare occasions do I hear someone actually use them in real-life situations because, let's face it, the responses are a little risky.  Are they warranted? Usually.  When we feel attacked for our choice to homeschool, we want to be able ...