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Unit Study: American Girl

We all probably know one girl in our lives (our own daughters and their friends or another relative) who has an American Girl dollIn our homeschool, we’ve done a lot with the American Girl dolls (from the Pleasant Company). My daughter has quite a collection and she still loves them as much as ever at eleven years old....

An Open Letter to New Homeschoolers

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I want to share some tips I’ve learned along the way so that hopefully you can learn from them too. 1) Remember, slow and steady wins this race- your kids don’t have to know everything today or even this year so refrain from turning on the fire hose of information. A corollary to this is don’t worry about keeping up with...

Planners: Sometimes Simpler is Better

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Well, it’s that time of year, isn’t it? When the new planners arrive and we begin to put things together for whenever schooling will begin again. Independent of whether people school year round or not, somehow, the excitement is in the air. I’m all about the planning. It’s one of the things I do best....

Coaching the Writing Process

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I think it’s fair to say we all want our kids to be good writers. Some children are natural writers and some are not. They will do anything to get out of writing even one sentence. Have you ever given much thought as to why we want our kids to write well? Is it because our jobs will be easier as homeschooling parents? Is it...

Emergent Readers to Super Readers

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We hope that when our children learn to read they will be on fire for reading and will devour books left and right. But, how do you get there? How do you move from early reading to consistent independent reading? Before I answer this question, I want to make the disclaimer that I am not a reading specialist nor do I have...

Getting to Know Heather

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Your family is… joyful and imaginative Name 5 homeschool products you cannot live without. Five in a Row (all of it), Uncle Josh’s Maps CD, Draw Write Now, Math on the Level, Reading Made Easy! What was your favorite toy as a child? My Fisher Price Little People and my blocks What is your favorite toy as a grown-up? My...

Organizing Your Homeschool Library

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Photo courtesy Marsha from Other Such Happenings I bet I’m not the only one who has a home overflowing with books. Sometimes it’s just really nice to have a book on-hand rather than going to the library all the time- especially when you have a small library and have to order in like we do. But how do you store and organize...

The Read Aloud: Like Sunshine for the Soul

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Or a cool drink on a hot day! Nothing soothes the grumpies at our house like a read aloud. Nothing. I’ve been a long time advocate of reading aloud to your kids. Not just the bed time kind of reading, but the kind that can start at any time and last for hours. So, I thought it would be a good idea to give some pointers on...

Unit Study: The Sewing Machine

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A few months ago I took my daughter to a local craft fair sponsored by her sewing school where she could sell a few things she’d made. While we were there for the afternoon, I had the pleasure of watching the coordinator of the school sell the refurbished machines that were waiting for new owners. There were about 12 machines...

Lessons in Writing: A Note of Thanks

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It’s a new year and with it comes the determination for new focus and crisp goals. One such goal for us this year is to make sure we show gratitude to those who make us smile through gifts or kind gestures. Now that the gifts have all been opened and purchases or plans have been made for holiday gift monies, it’s time to...