For years, our homeschool mornings have begun on a note of family time. Those mornings gathered around the table at the start of each day have been such a blessing. And…as some of my children are moving out of our homeschool as of late, the memories I have of all of us gathered joyfully together…
If you asked me to name a few things that have made THE most impact in our homeschool over the years, one of the answers I would give without hesitation is living literature. Many precious hours have been spent together around books. Those moments have built strong bonds between us, created warm memories, and sparked…
As I sat down to plan what to write about this coming year here at Our Journey Westward, I took a peek to see what your favorite posts of 2016 were. As you’ll see below, it’s pretty clear you like living literature and creative teaching ideas. And, since I love those things, too, I’m happy…
Do you have a rough and tumble son? Me, too. Two of them, in fact. It’s always been hard on this momma to watch them “do what boys do” without cringing. While I certainly would rather keep them perfectly safe, my husband has convinced me that boys really do need to “be boys” so they…
It’s time for another post in my series about using picture books to teach writing to middle and high school students! Today’s topic is using picture books to teach text structure. What is text structure? It’s how the information written in a text is organized. Learning to identify text structure as a reader can significantly improve…
Homeschooling works. It just doesn’t always look the same from one child to the next. Sometimes even the best intended plans fail and adjustments need to be made. Our latest major adjustments were made in the subject of science and I’ve shared our success story here in hopes that you will be encouraged not to give…
My children don’t typically jump for joy when given a writing assignment. Do yours? I’ve found several ways over the years to take writing from dreaded to enjoyable in our home, though. One of the most beloved of those ideas is writing newsletters. Several years ago, I wrote the monthly newsletter for our church. I…
Wait. If nature study is science, does that mean we could do nature study instead of science textbooks? Does that mean I could (and maybe should) view nature study as more than just an extra in our homeschool schedule? Are you sure our time spent outdoors in nature can really count towards real science instruction?…
Does your child seem to have, um, selective hearing? You tell him (or her) to do this or that and you’re very lucky if one little smidgen of it gets done? Yeah, that can be infuriating to a momma. Ask me how I know. It turns out that there can be an honest-to-goodness reason and maybe,…
You know how near and dear brain training is to my heart, right? It’s been such a game-changer in our homeschool that I take it very seriously. We do some sort of brain training every. single. school. day. One day might find us playing a quick card game to building working memory. Another day might…
What do you get when you mix historical fiction with lots of adventure then add daily devotionals for Advent? The Jotham’s Journey series of books! These books are simply NOT to be missed. This post contains affiliate links. Wow. That’s the best word I can think of to describe these page-turning, spine-tingling adventure stories meant…
Homeschooling in December can be rough. We all need a bit of a break from the monotony of the regular homeschooling schedule, don’t we? Some people choose to take the entire month off to focus on the preparations of Christmas and turning the hearts of their children toward the One that Christmas is all about….