Heart of the Matter Online

Homeschool Makeover: School Books on the Mantel

Sometimes rearranging refreshes learning. Sometimes it also helps remedy the winter blahs. Me? I like to rearrange furniture. Especially in the dead of winter. But this idea took me a while. It took giving myself permission. See,...

Let’s Finish Well

You know it’s coming. March, April and May are nearly here. Which means the end of the school year is nearly here. Don’t feel bad for being excited about that, by the way. You had years of practice anticipating the end of...

Spatial Learners

See this girl right here? She is a natural born artist. Constantly doodling on her papers, is drawn to colors, can SEE more than just green, yellow, blue, and red, she loves pictures! When she was little and we would read books...

Just Be Still

I must have been crazy to drive from Atlanta to western Kansas with two boys under three years of age. But, I did it because I wanted to spend some time with my grandparents and wanted them to get to know my boys. John couldn’t...

This Week on Heart of the Matter

It’s been a wonderful week at Heart of the Matter! Just in case you missed some of this week’s writers and the wisdom and encouragement they shared, we thought we would put all the links to this week’s...

Getting Back To Your Roots

One of my New Year’s resolutions last calendar year was to explore my roots. I signed up with Ancestry.com, gathered formerly published genealogy books from family members, and set to work. It’s been a year, and I...

Around The Web

How to Make Monday Mornings Successful (http://www.hsclassroom.net/2012/01/how-to-make-monday-mornings-successful/) The Homeschool Classroom – If your Monday mornings look like some of ours, you could probably use some of these...

Teaching Them Along The Way: Life Skills

One of the things that I love about homeschooling my boys is that we get to spend a lot of time together as a family. It’s time that if I were working outside of the home we would not get. It’s not easy, especially as a...

Poetry To Enliven Prose

Holding up a red box adorned with a red satin bow I remind my writing workshop students, “Great writing is a gift.” I’ve discovered that the Japanese form of poetry, haiku, is a perfect way to teach students that practicing...

Spring Is Coming!

Hang on homeschool momma! Spring is coming! This is the tail end of what can be a very hard time for the homeschooling family. The cold weather and shorter days of winter makes for a little cabin fever for everyone. The warmer...