Thrift Schooling

  Being a Christian in our world today is just as relevant now as it was during the book of Acts. Many Christians at that time had seen Jesus at one point in their lives or had possibly heard stories of those who had yet it was still difficult to be a servant of Christ. Fast forward to the present day and we now live in a time when Christians have lived their entire lives from beginning to end without physically seeing the Lord yet served Him in faith. Do you ever wonder what life was like for them? Maybe they lived during the time of a fiery preacher like Jonathan Edwards or Charles Finney. Maybe they were moved by the teachings of Martin Luther or experienced the direct effects of the Latter Rain movement  ( which I do not endorse ). Maybe they simply had a Bible in a cabin out on the homestead, living miles away from any church and waited for the circuit pastor to make his rounds and bring encouragement and comfort to the family once a year.  Here we are, serving the L...

  As a new homeschool mom I saw the ad for a homeschool convention in my state and was over-the-moon excited. I wrangled my kids and husband and was planning for weeks, no months, ahead of time for this long-needed getaway. I had marked down several speakers I wanted to hear and my husband promised to watch the kids for me during those sessions. I even agreed to watch the kids while he attended a few sessions exclusively for dads. Not only that, tons of kid-friendly activities were available. Some were paid options and some free. Once my son was signed up for the chess tournament and his younger brother for the children's program, I began looking for something for my daughter. I perused the convention website, probably dozens of times, and subscribed to some of the vendor websites that intrigued me.  One stressful homeschool morning, instead of pulling out my hair when my two youngest refused to do their schoolwork, I put on a YouTube video and went to my room to get myself to...

  Changing homeschooling courses up mid-year is one of the top perks of homeschooling. Although, in this case, beginning a new high school biology course mid-year was not a last minute decision—though some were. For my elementary boys, we breezed through their US history . The course I had planned includes two large books and I had planned to complete them in two years. The good news is, we completed them in one and a half. Now, I have time to focus on unit studies until the end of the semester. I love when that happens! As for my daughter who is in her first year of high school, I was in search of a high quality high school biology course that can effectively prepare her for her current desire to prepare for veterinary studies. After much research and consideration, I landed on  Red Wagon Biology for High School  which is available with a  SchoolhouseTeachers.com  membership. We focused on food science in the fall with the plan to hit the ground running to...

  The reason New Year’s Resolutions don’t work is because we set our sights too high. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in discipline and self-control and finishing what I’ve set out to do but oftentimes we get so down on ourselves this time of year, we feel like we need a change, and we try to do too much at once!  Take reading the Bible for instance. Read more at Our Homeschool Forum . Stop by again next Monday for another  Thrift Schooling Monday Memory  where I share my published content on other websites created to encourage, equip, and edify homeschooling families.

  Are you in search of homeschool curriculum that will transform your kids' minds about how they think about the world? If so, then you've come to the right place. At Compass Classroom , they believe that education should be enjoyable and meaningful. The engaging curriculum will challenge and inspire your children and help them develop a Christian worldview that will serve them for a lifetime. Head over to Compass Classroom to shop for your online courses and curriculum in History, Worldview & Philosophy, Music, Economics, Latin, Vocabulary, Creative Writing, Grammar, Science, Logic, and more!  They even have Facilitated Classes! What are Compass Classroom's most popular courses? American History Visual Latin Economics for Everybody Grammar for Writers Modernity Your students will ask to do these homeschool courses . . . “ We have never experienced a curriculum that our children loved, enjoyed, and learned from as much as this one. Each morning my children were literal...

  I am so excited to talk to you today about  Exploring World Geography by Notgrass History. You would think homeschooling two high schoolers would be easy—pretty hands-off. For the most part, spelling is really the only subject in which we are completely engaged with each other. The only other hands-on aspects are grading math tests and English papers and explaining (or trying to find a related YouTube video to explain) a difficult concept. Yet the most challenging part of homeschooling high schoolers, other than ensuring they are keeping up with their work and doing it to the best of their abilities, is finding the perfect courses for each student. Someone asked me recently which curriculum I use, and I gave the same canned answer. I started with Abeka, and now I pick and choose different curricula for each kid and each subject based on their needs. Most homeschoolers do it that way. Some find a boxed curriculum that works from preschool through high school, but most find t...

  I wouldn’t call it a New Year’s resolution per say, just a new way of approaching the school year. Since the homeschooling laws in my state are quite lax, I am able to school my children in a way that works for my family. After giving it a tremendous amount of prayer, thought and discussion with my husband we decided to begin our school year in January and have each child finish up the “grade” they are in by the end of November. This gives us the freedom to take plenty of breaks throughout the year whether it is because of a new baby, a family missions trip or to entertain expected (or unexpected) houseguests. (We had a man who was unicycling around the world unexpectedly stay with us this past year. True story!) This type of scheduling has worked well for us the past three years so this January will be our fourth year of year-round schooling . . .   read more on Our Homeschool Forum .  Stop by again next Monday for another  Thrift Schooling Monday Memory  whe...