This great big list of gift ideas for gifted kids will keep your spunky learners busy with satisfying activities for multiple interests. Gifted kids are a wonderful, unique breed. They’re sure to keep you on your toes with their wit, intensity, and just how different they can be. And while no child comes with an…
Art and craft supplies for kids and teens seem pretty standard, but I’m excited to introduce you to some unique ideas that will help your children create in new ways. This post contains affiliate links. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of incorporating art into my homeschool. Artist studies and museum visits, of…
Almost nothing gets a homeschool mom’s heart racing like the sight of a brand-new curriculum, stacked clean and neat, ready for a new year of learning. We’ve done the research, placed the orders, and planned out the next several months, complete with themed weeks, finale projects, and even a few well-timed field trips. The butterflies…
No matter how long you’ve been homeschooling or how old your children are, some days just don’t go as planned. A craft doesn’t work out the way you’d hoped, anxiety sneaks in and sets kiddos on edge, siblings bicker, headaches happen, and fatigue creeps up and whispers for a break. Societal pressure (and our own…
The glorious days of summer are here! We’ve all worked so hard homeschooling for so many months, and now it’s time to rest, relax, and enjoy a few months off from work… right? Maybe if we weren’t homeschool parents. The truth is that while we do get a break from the quizzes, the textbooks, and…
Horses are a lifelong love for my daughter. She has always gasped at the sight of horses grazing in a pasture, cleared the local library’s shelves of all the horse-related books, and covered her walls with posters of wild stallions and prancing ponies. Gift giving occasions have never been great mysteries for anyone who knows…
Do your children love history or do you hit walls every time you try to teach it? I hated history as a child, mostly because the textbooks were horribly boring, the teachers were dry as a crust of day-old bread, and those long lists of dates were entirely frustrating. Given the opportunity to teach homeschool…
We’ve talked a lot about brain training for cognitive skills here at Our Journey Westward. Closely related to cognitive skills are social skills. This article focuses on some easy ways to improve social skills in the homeschool. Don’t get “social skills” confused with “socialization”. One of the biggest thorns in the side of any homeschooler…
After a successful year of history with Ancient Civilizations and the Bible from Diana Waring’s History Revealed series last year, we are back at it with Romans, Reformers, and Revolutionaries. History Revealed works well for our unit study, project-based learning, literature-based loving family. In fact, it’s been a perfect transition for my older kids to…
This post was originally published a few years ago, but I’ve seen a surge of questions and interest in how to plan student-led courses in high school. As you take a peek into the planning process of our high school equine course, I hope to help you cast a vision for developing your own course…
Ah…high school. Why do I love homeschooling high school so much? Mostly because my teens don’t need my constant attention and instruction anymore! Ha! While I’m not kidding about the independent learning thing above, there are other reasons I really enjoy the high school homeschool: Above all, it makes me melt to see the fruit of all the…
During my workshops about creative homeschooling and living math, I often talk about incorporating games into the school schedule. If your family has an established game night, you probably already know how educational many board and card games really are. Math, language, history, science, logic and so much more can be practiced without your kiddos…