It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Yes, it is Christmastime! And in our homeschool that means a more relaxed schedule with more fun and freedom. It also means it is planning time for me! Since we homeschool year-round and have a January start, this is the time of year I get all our new books ordered and figure out what our new school year is going to look like. I already got my first shipment on new-to-us classics, and I was so excited! This year I decided to be a little more proactive and plan out more of…
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“Memory, hither come, And tune your merry notes; And, while upon the wind Your music floats, I’ll pore upon the stream, Where sighing lovers dream And fish for fancies as they pass Within the watery glass.” ~William Blake When I first began homeschooling, we were using a popular neoclassical curriculum that involved a lot of rote memorization of facts and lists. At first we had fun with chants and songs and games to help us both remember these random tidbits of information. I was told that all these names and dates were pegs on which my son would later be…
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Has God ever invited you to undergo spiritual surgery? Maybe you were listening to a sermon on an average Sunday morning, when a certain word or phrase the pastor spoke struck you. Then later on you read something in a book or on a blog that addressed the same idea and kept you thinking about it the rest of the day. A few days later, you were driving around listening to a favorite podcast, when the guest mentioned dealing with the same thing that you have been mulling over all week. I am sure I am not the only one…
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Last week marked a big milestone in our homeschool, but it passed by pretty quietly and uneventfully. We finished our Ambleside Online Year One work, closing the books and bidding farewell (for now) to beloved friends such as Jenny Wren and Peter Rabbit, King Harald Halfdanson, and Paddle-to-the-Sea. In less than two short months, we will pick back up where we left off with some of these characters, and add new acquaintances and adventures to our happy little homeschool bookshelf! I am already quite excited about the books we will be reading in Year Two. But before I get too…
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Happy Almost Thanksgiving, readers! I am excited to be entering into this holiday season in a new place this year! My parents and my brother and sister-in-law will be coming in for Thanksgiving, and we are looking forward to their visit. In light of the beginning of a busy season for most families, I thought I had better go ahead and get this month’s Reading Report written up so that it isn’t lost in the holiday shuffle. Besides, as promised last time, this edition is chalk full of favorite picture books, all of which would make great gifts for the…