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Painless artist study image with photo of art supplies on a purple background.

Painless Artist Study

(This post contains affiliate links.) Cheating Just a Little Okay, so my Charlotte Mason friends may raise their eyebrows to this post.  I can get overwhelmed with all the “stuff” that’s out there to teach.  Good stuff like artists, composers, Latin….  Things that just seem to slip by the wayside sometimes when the phonics and…

Toy Jail

Our toys are in jail.  They have visitation rights, but very limited.  You see, since I couldn’t lock the messy children up, the toys had to be the ones to suffer. They’ve been in jail for almost a month now and the time apart from the children seems to be doing everyone well. We took…

Spelling Ideas

A friend from Singapore asked this question recently: I have a 6y+ son who just started public school in Singapore. He can read pretty well but he can’t spell. He has simple spelling list from school which he has problems learning. Do you have any advice? Many children need hands-on or movement-based lessons when they…

Overcoming Homeschool Burnout

Yep, the season for burnout is upon us.  Better days are ahead for those who hang in there.  I’m hoping this is one blog you can disregard because everything is joyful and sweet in your homeschool.  If not, I hope some of these ideas will perk up your blahs. Symptoms of Burnout fatigue impatience lack…

4-H Lap Robes

Have you ever heard of Warm Fuzzies for Cancer Patients?  I hadn’t either, but our 4-H extension agent did some research and found this wonderful program for us to take part.  Groups (or individuals) make fleece lap blankets and donate them to cancer centers.   So, that’s what our 4-H group did this week.  Our blankets…

The Peace Place

A peace place.  A place for my children (or myself) to go when we are not being peaceful.  A time-out of sorts, but focused on God and His desires for us.  A quiet and comfortable place for us to reflect on why we haven’t been peaceful and to ask forgiveness.  A place to rid ourselves of frustration,…

Living math blog post image with orange, green, red, and blue blocks

Living Math

(This post contains affiliate links and links to my business website, Shining Dawn Books.) I hated math when I wad a kid. Hated it.  It didn’t make much sense to me, I had a hard time memorizing facts, and my teacher’s didn’t spend much time helping me to understand. I remember my poor dad spending…

Kentucky unity study blog image with a Kentucky state map on it

Plans For A Kentucky Unit

I’m straying from the typical sort of unit study we do around here. This Kentucky unit will be mostly worksheet-based, with final projects being research-based.  Why?  Well first, I want the unit to be fairly quick.  Second, Mahayla has covered this topic before at co-op, so it just made more sense to provide them each…

Keepers Christmas Party

I know I gush often about our Keepers At Home Group, but it really is a wonderful thing!  Yesterday we took a break from “practical” stuff to party! Each of the girls was asked to prepare a dish and bring the recipe.  (We’re putting the recipes together in a little booklet for them.)  After reading…