Debra | Heart of the Matter

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Lessons from Martial Arts

My boys were destined to study martial arts. Their father is a black belt in one karate style, went so far as brown belt in Aikido, and is currently a brown belt in a second karate style. Watching their father practice and test has always been a part of my son’s childhood. I, however, grew up in a certain church tradition...

Finding Homeschooling Mentors

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photo courtesy Darcy at My 3 Boybarians Sometimes you need some help and encouragement. Other times you wish you had someone to challenge you or help refine your vision. If you’re willing to make a change, see a new angle, step outside your box, or just get started then you’re probably in a good spot to seek the aid of a...

On Being Yourself

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I have the opportunity to let someone else teach my children on Fridays. They gather with other home-educated children and take classes in art, computers, karate, and language arts. When I drop them off I do so with the peace of knowing that they will be themselves for a few hours and I will spend some time being me. And we...

When the Day Takes All of You

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Imagine staying up with the moon preparing the pieces and pages for the next day’s lesson. Love and duty equally motivate the morning and teaching happens and children engage. Some respond well, even with excitement. But one doesn’t understand. He has struggled, and now he fights and melts and the tantrum...

You Spent How Much on That?

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At this time of year you might be trying to pay off credit card bills for the curriculum you bought at the summer conventions. Or you might be stretched because you somehow eeked it out of your grocery money or your date-night budget and have been spreading everything a little thinly for a few months. I’ve been there. We...

The Blessing in the Trial

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I went to a conference this weekend and heard a homeschooling mother talk about her family’s ongoing health issues and her children’s special needs. She talked about a time when she continued their schooling while she, herself, was bedridden. And then she said something amazing. She said, “Homeschooling is the...

Creating School Scrapbooks

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Getting our family photo albums caught up to date is my annual summer project. I have far more scrapbooks than I ever intended, but some of the ones I’m most grateful for are the school albums I’ve created for each of my boys. When my first son and I began doing intentional learning activities at home, I snapped some...

Softening the Summer Schedule

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I am always excited for summer to start. Because I’m not a year-round homeschooler, I not only look forward to a change in our schedule but I love all the opportunities my sons have to engage in new experiences. In a typical summer I sign them up for everything I can afford: day camps, swim lessons, VBS, martial arts and...

How Unusual Days Make for Intelligently Unusual Kids

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Our normal day includes reading aloud, math concepts, vocabulary exercises, a little writing, a little Bible discussion, science experiments, notebook pages and a big whiteboard checklist that guides us through everything in a day. Recently we’ve had opportunities for some unusual days; days when we learned in other ways...

Getting to Know Debra

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Your family is… one amazing pastor husband, his wife who wants to do more writing, three boys Energy (11), Compassion (8) and Playful (3). No pets. My quiver is full. Name 6 homeschool products you cannot live without … 1. The Weaver Volumes from Alpha Omega (it’s all in there and I can wing it on my own if...