Author: Cindy

I'm a homeschooling mom of three wonderful children living on a cattle farm in Central KY with my college sweetheart hubby. We're a Charlotte Mason family with bits and pieces of Classical education thrown in for good measure. We love unit studies, lapbooking, notebooking and lots of living literature! I personally enjoy encouraging and inspiring other homeschoolers.
2013-24 curriculum blog post with a shelf of books

2013-14 Curriculum

(This post contains affiliate links.) I love homeschooling!  Even as we dive deeper into high school, I can honestly say that it only gets better and better.  Real learning, subjects that inspire my children’s passions and pointing the way to the One all make homeschooling precious. What do 11th, 8th and 1st look like at…

Black and white butterfly perched on a white flower with green leaves.

Win a Back-To-School Toolkit!

This post contains affiliate links and links to my business website, Shining Dawn Books. Are you thinking about back-to-homeschool yet? How would you like to win a Shining Dawn Books creative learning e-book bundle with a bonus $5.00 gift certificate to CurrClick? Here’s your chance to win! The Shining Dawn Books back-to-school toolkit includes: Incredible…

Wet brown boot as a photo for for a blog post about nature study at the pond.

Pond Nature Study

What could we possibly find during one simple walk around a small pond?  Enough to keep us busy for over an hour! My big kids were busy with other commitments not too long ago, so hubby and I set off on a nature walk with our 6 year old, Eli.  I love taking nature walks…

Kids dissecting a worm. For a blog post about Homeschooling high school science

Homeschooling High School Science

(This post contains affiliate links and links to my business, Shining Dawn Books.) Is Homeschooling High School Science Intimidating? Yes, it can be.  I’ve found so many wonderful resources to make it easier, though! Apologia We now have two years under our belt using Exploring Creation with Biology and Exploring Creation With Chemistry from Apologia. …

On My Heart and Mind…Hope

  Suicide. Rape. Drugs. Alcohol. Beatings. Sex trafficking. Demon/Ghost Hunting. We’ve walked beside teens and families dealing with each of these in the last few months. Why would God peel so many layers from our naive eyes in such a short time?  I’m not sure yet. It hasn’t been easy talking with our children (16,…

Imperfect Homeschooling

Homeschooling Imperfection at my house?  Yes.  Oh, yes. I love homeschooling.  Love it.  But let me tell you, some moments aren’t warm and fuzzy.  Homeschooling is life.  Real life.  And real life can be tough. A messy house, piles of laundry and dishes, not knowing what we’ll eat for supper…at suppertime, a lawn begging to…

Project-Based Learning: Posters

I’ve been telling you forever about the difference project-based learning has made in our homeschool.  It’s made such a difference, I even included an entire chapter on the subject in Homeschooling Gifted and Advanced Learners! I’ve given you project ideas in the past, but I thought it was high time to dive a little deeper…

Project-Based Learning: Real Life

Our kids eventually have to function in real life without our daily direction and help, right? To make the transition easier, allow your children to be involved in real life projects that involve situations to solve real life problems. The life preparation is fantastic, but I’ve found the motivation to actually complete such projects just as rewarding….