Inspiration Archives - Simple Homeschool

THE best vs. YOUR best

Jamie C. Martin — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 16:20:00 +0000

The Best vs. YOUR Best ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool

Instead of focusing on giving our children a complete education, or a perfect education (neither of which are necessary or possible), let us strive to awaken in them a love of learning. If we can help them to develop an attitude of lifelong learning, we will have done enough.” ~ Suzie Andres, Homeschooling with Gentleness

There’s a homeschooling mom who lives in my head, and she is simply THE best.

She does all the things and does them well. As a result, her kids progress in a straight, forward-moving line. She is organized, unfazed by emotion, doubt, outward circumstance, or moody children.

She is my hero, though I also despise her.

I am not that woman. Oh every once in a while, I come close. The stars align and the inspiration flows…for a few hours, maybe a day or two. But inevitably real life signals to me from the sidelines: “Remember me?!”, and here we go again…back into the realm of imperfections and inadequacies.

Yet incredibly, even then I’m still on track.

When real life comes along with tough times, it’s not THE best I give to my children, but it’s MY best all the same.

Are you crossing a field or climbing a wall?

Photo by Nicholas_T

My friend Lisa Grace Byrne once described this distinction in a way I could beautifully visualize. She explained that in certain seasons of life it’s like we’re walking through a flat, grassy field. We cover a lot of ground that way, making measurable progress one step at a time.

In other seasons, we reach the borders of the field to find a steep, rock wall towering before us. Turning back isn’t an option, and the only way to continue moving forward is to climb–one slow, shaky grip and foothold after another.

It’s still progress, of course, but it looks nothing like the grassy field.

The best we can offer our families in the meadows of life varies drastically to the best we bring when we’re scaling walls.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been climbing, and I know I’m not the only one.

Your personal best

Photo by Adam Kubalica

God hasn’t called us to be successful, just faithful.” ~ Mother Teresa

Your personal best looks different every day, every hour.

It looks different if you’re facing a chronic health condition or recently had a newborn, if you just started homeschooling and you’re still finding your way, if you have a child with special needs or a teen with an attitude, or if you’re dealing with the loss of someone you love.

We’re not called to give up when things get hard, but we do have to play the cards we’ve been dealt – whatever that looks like in our unique circumstances.

You know inside that what you’re offering really is the best you have to give, however inadequate it may seem. If it is, what else can you do? Why not fall into the arms of grace and rest?

What’s your other choice?

What to remember

When you worry about tomorrow, you are, in effect, saying that today is not worth enjoying. That is not a message I want to send to my children.”
~ Sally Clarkson, Seasons of a Mother’s Heart

In rock wall-climbing seasons, I return to my favorite homeschooling books. I look through where I’ve underlined or written “Wow” in the margins. I feast on truth instead of self-doubt. I’ve scattered a few of those quotes throughout this post, to pay the inspiration forward.

It also helps me to remember, in times like these, that all conscientious parents feel a weight of insecurity and responsibility – no matter where their kids go to school.

One time I wrote out my deepest fears for each of my kid’s educations. Then I wrote out what my fears would likely be if my children were in traditional school. I found it incredibly freeing to realize that doubts and fears would still exist, though the specifics might differ.

Take a moment to remind yourself of all that your personal best, as limited as it is, has already offered to your kids. What are you giving them by homeschooling or by being their parent, that they wouldn’t have without you?

Perhaps you began homeschooling because of bullying, and now your son is safe from daily torments. Perhaps the classroom was overstimulating for your sensitive daughter, now she’s slowly returning to the happy child you remember.

It doesn’t have to be that dramatic, though. Your personal best also includes your natural strengths, the things you’re so good at you no longer count because they seem “normal.”

But normal for you isn’t normal for everyone – don’t disregard those gifts. Instead build your homeschool around them when you can, letting your best stamp personality across your home:

To become peaceful and happy, you’ve got to figure out what’s true about you. What creates an environment in which you can thrive? How can you work with your own innate strengths and weaknesses so that your homeschool will be happy and humming, even if you never construct a sugar cube pyramid or help your kids put together a single diorama?”
~ Sarah Mackenzie, Teaching from Rest

THE best homeschooling writer (who also lives in my head – it’s so crowded in there at times!!) would offer you these words in a few well-organized bullet points, complete with a lovely, colorful printable that she designed herself.

But MY personal best, today, is to send out these scribbles with a prayer for each person who reads them.

When we really consider it, isn’t that what we need most? Not an expert who knows it all, but someone to walk alongside us, to say “it is hard sometimes, you’re right.”

Someone to encourage us to keep right on climbing.

Come to think of it, isn’t that the type of teacher our kids need, too?

And if that’s the case, miraculously our broken best might just be THE best after all.

Then it dawned on me. It wasn’t the meager five loaves and two fish that fed the crowds, but their offering combined with the blessing of Jesus. And Jesus was telling me to give him my five loaves and two fish, my insignificant efforts, and he would bless them, and the needs of my family would be met.”
~ Holly Pierlot, A Mother’s Rule of Life

Read your way to a love of math: 75+ titles for ages 4-12 (UPDATED!)

Jamie C. Martin — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 18:10:58 +0000

Read your way to a love of math (UPDATED!) ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool

I’m currently updating a series I published over ten(!) years ago about math, explaining how our family decided to approach the subject in a non-traditional way, particularly in the early years.

Now you’ll get to hear my perspective looking back as a veteran homeschool mom to see if it matches what my young, naive homeschool self thought!

In these posts, we’ve explored math study from a different perspective, asking two important questions: Why do we do what we do when it comes to this subject? Are there any other valid approaches to consider?

Other updates in this math series:
* A different way to look at math
* Out of the box math inspiration

An alternative to workbook pages in the early years is the simple sharing of a book spread open across your lap. It’s one of the easiest ways to create a blossoming love of numbers and patterns in a child’s heart and mind.

Back in the day when I was an insecure homeschool mom, I would have loved a list of well-chosen math titles, recommended by someone I trusted.

I’ve tried to provide that for you here, highlighting the resources we found most enjoyable in our own family – as well as including an updated list of other popular books you may want to check out.

Enjoy the journey as you read your way to a love of math!

Read your way to a love of math: 75+ titles for ages 4-12

Bedtime Math

Who is it for? Ages 4-12

What a fun addition (get it?!) this resource is for your math-learning littles.

Check out their website or app for easy access to a daily math question, or check out one of their three published Bedtime Math books(afflinks) for an offline option.

The beauty of bedtime math is that there are questions geared to a variety of learning-levels, making it something you can use for your preschoolers all the way to your pre-teens!

Life of Fred

Who is it for? Ages 6 – High School

Since I first wrote this series, I’ve been asked the same question several times: “I’d like to approach math differently, but what can I do if I have to provide documentation for my state and/or my kids have to take a standardized test?”

My top recommendation for those in the above situation would be to explore Life of Fred Math, a curriculum that goes from early elementary all the way through high school – but in a very different way to the norm!

Used in a structured or formal way, you’d be able to approach math creatively but still be able to provide the documentation you need to meet your local requirements.

Like any resource, Life of Fred isn’t for everyone. But my kids loved it, and I loved that I could read math aloud at the lunch table!

Mathemagic

Who is it for? Ages 4-12

Mathemagic is Volume 13 of a kids’ encyclopedia series that used to be produced by Childcraft and is now out of print.

It is full of inspiring math stories, clever puzzles, riddles, and games – perfect for reading aloud or putting on the shelf for your kiddos to flip through.

Math study aside, we have always had a used set of several Childcraft volumes on our shelves, and still do!

I can’t get of rid them, because hardly a homeschool day went by in our house that I didn’t see a child with one of these tucked under their arm. Keeping them for the grandchildren, perhaps one day?!

No longer in print, check for them on Amazon or Ebay.

Mathematicians Are People, Too

Who is it for? Ages 8-12

This is a fascinating collection of short stories about the lives of the great mathematicians throughout history – often including the details about how they developed their groundbreaking theories and discoveries.

A perfect way to show our kids what passion for math looks like, this series contains two volumes.

Sir Cumference Series

Who is it for? Ages 7-11 (give or take)

The Sir Cumference books introduce foundational geometry concepts through adventurous stories – radius and diameter, data collection, perimeter, area, and pi all make an appearance in this series of 12 titles.

*****

Other titles to explore for ages 4-8 (Updated!)

Other titles to explore for ages 8-12 (Updated!)

“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty.”
~ Bertrand Russell

Do you know of any more inspiring titles to help read your way to a love of math?

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

This post contains affiliate links.

Waste Your Time

Sarah Mackenzie — Sat, 07 Jun 2025 19:55:37 +0000

Waste Your Time ~
Written by Sarah Mackenzie of Read-Aloud Revival

I have something of an obsession with being productive and efficient. It’s a good trait when it comes to tackling my to-do list, but it’s a big problem when it comes to homeschooling my kids.

See, homeschooling is all about relationships, and relationships just aren’t efficient.

By definition, to be efficient is to achieve maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense. But relationships don’t flourish or grow that way.

Relationships need time, spent lavishly. This can be a real struggle for those of us who homeschool.

We have so much to get to: the laundry, meal planning and preparation, housework, errands, running children hither and yon, making time and space for other daily efforts like exercise, our spouses, and our personal development.

We want to be good stewards of our time, but maybe that time is best spent carelessly when it comes to people.

My own bad habit is that I default toward efficiency. I want to squeeze everything possible out of every minute of my day — it’s probably a personality thing.

If I know the soup won’t be ready for 10 minutes, I try to squeeze in a reading lesson with one child while telling another to set the table. Dinner ready, table set, reading lesson done!

But there is no prize for the mama who checks the most boxes on her to-do list. Darn it anyway. (I would win!)

We’ve all heard of folks at the end of their lives, looking back and wishing they had spent more time with the people they loved. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard someone wish they had spent more time getting things done.

Let’s shrink that down to a smaller scale. How about at the end of the day?

When you sneak into your child’s bedroom to drop one more kiss on her cheek as she sleeps, will you wish you had gotten to a few more loads of laundry?

Decluttered one more closet? Run a few more errands?

Or will you wish you had stopped to stare into her eyes? To pull her onto your lap and talk about something she’s thinking about.

Will you wish you had wasted a perfectly good five minutes listening to her ramble on about what she found under a rock while she was playing outside?

These things take time. These things cannot be done efficiently. These days, that feel as though they’ll last forever, will in fact be gone soon.

What if, instead of trying to make the most of our time, we worked harder at wasting it?

What if we were more intentional about frivolously using it on something we can’t check off our list?

* Click here for more of Sarah’s inspirational writing.

What do you think? Are you ready to waste your time?

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

Out of the box math inspiration (Updated!)

Jamie C. Martin — Tue, 20 May 2025 18:00:40 +0000

Out of the Box Math Inspiration ~
Written and updated by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool

I’m currently updating a series I published several years ago about math, explaining how our family decided to approach the subject in a non-traditional way.

Now you’ll get to hear my perspective looking back as a veteran homeschool mom to see if it matches what my young, naive homeschool self thought!

If you missed the first update in this series, I’d recommend reading it here before continuing this one!

Let me continue by serving up more math inspiration for you to consider.

Several “out of the box” math inspiration examples follow, which I hope will help you develop your own thoughts and discern what may be best given your family’s current situation.

Many of these examples fueled my personal decision on when and how to teach math in our homeschool.

Out of the Box Math Inspiration

1. Just Do the Math by David Albert

David Albert shares the story of 9-12 year-olds who learned all K-6 math in just 20 hours of study. He also shares his belief that an average teen who is actually motivated to learn math, and wasn’t held back by math anxiety, could learn all the K-12 math that he hasn’t naturally picked up in life in approximately eight weeks of study.

“So, do the math. If you figure the actual math time at 30 hours a year for 8 years (accounting for the wasted time in the early years), it totals 240 hours. Lo and behold – if, at age 15 or so, you wanted to learn all the math K-12, weren’t inhibited by math anxiety, and were willing to spend 30 hours a week at it, it would take you…8 weeks!”

2. A Mathematician’s Lament by Paul Lockhart

In his book, research mathematician Paul Lockhart (afflinks) makes the case that math is an art form, and that the way we currently study it prevents kids from falling in love with and seeing it through the lens of imagination that other arts inspire.

“If I had to design a mechanism for the express purpose of destroying a child’s natural curiosity and love of pattern-making, I couldn’t possibly do as good a job as is currently being done – I simply wouldn’t have the imagination to come up with the kind of senseless, soul-crushing ideas that constitute contemporary mathematics education.

“You want to train them to calculate 427 plus 389? It’s just not a question that many eight-year-olds are asking. For that matter, most adults don’t fully understand decimal place-value arithmetic, and you expect third graders to have a clear conception? Or do you not care if they understand it? It is simply too early for that kind of technical training. Of course it can be done, but I think it ultimately does more harm than good. Much better to wait until their own natural curiosity about numbers kicks in.”

3. Research on the Teaching of Math at Trivium Pursuit

This article shares (in thorough detail) how math has been taught historically through the ages – a fascinating study! The author then suggests waiting until around age ten to begin formal math lessons.

“So to wait until age ten to teach arithmetic is actually, from an historical perspective, to advocate an early start. It is only from a decidedly modern perspective that waiting until age ten would appear to be a late start.

“Depending upon the child, upon the method, and upon the subject matter covered, there exists the potential for developmental harm from the formal teaching of arithmetic before age ten.

“Small children cannot understand many arithmetic concepts at an early age. We can teach them to perform the process, but we cannot make them understand the concepts. The child learns to hate learning. The child’s understanding develops along the wrong lines. He may actually develop mental blocks to arithmetic – actual physiological blocks in the brain.”

But how can someone actually begin the formal teaching of math at age ten? Laurie Bluedorn suggested one possibility in a follow up to the above:

“At age ten we start the child in formal math with a 6th grade math textbook. I give the child two math grids, and they are allowed to use them when doing their math lessons.

At age eleven I take away the addition/subtraction grid. The child should have the addition/subtraction facts memorized by then. If I think that he doesn’t have them memorized then we would drill on them till he does have them memorized. At age twelve I take away the multiplication/division grid.”

4. Louis P. Benezet’s Study…as told in Free-Range Learning

In 1929 Louis P. Benezet, the Superintendent of Manchester, New Hampshire schools, tried an experiment within his system. He trialed having some of his classes wait until seventh grade to introduce formal math study. Before then he encouraged naturally occurring math learning, but had teachers make reading, writing, and reasoning the focus in the early years.

“I feel that it is all nonsense to take eight years to get children through the ordinary arithmetic assignment of the elementary schools. What possible need has a ten-year-old child for knowledge of long division? The whole subject of arithmetic could be postponed until the seventh year of school, and it could be mastered in two years’ study by any typical child.

“Due to pressure from some school principals, children were started on a math book in the second half of sixth grade. All sixth-grade children were tested. By spring of that year, all the classes tested equally. In other words, those children exposed to traditional math curricula for part of the sixth-grade year had mastered the same skills as those who had spent years on drills, times tables, and exams.”

Adorable Elijah (age 9) – now 20!

5. What I thought (and wrote) then – 10 years ago:

In some ways it’s difficult to explain exactly what we do in our family – because it is, has been, and no doubt will continue to be completely different for each child. There’s no formula, but we have followed the advice mentioned above about waiting to introduce formal math.

This decision comes from our deep belief in the importance of our young children having a full and thorough Core Phase, which does not include a focus on early academics.

Two of my three children are now in the second phase of learning, Love of Learning, and recently math emphasis has crept into our lives more regularly. But it is still highly individualized and based on each child’s needs and strengths.

I have one who is naturally gifted with numbers, who has played with them over the years and by doing so has picked up quite a lot. I have two children who learn very differently to the traditional classroom style and who appear to have their geniuses (at this stage) in other areas.

Of course this doesn’t mean that math won’t be a part of their lives, but it means that I introduce concepts when I believe maturity and readiness are present so I can set them up for success.

6. What I think now – 10 years later:

When I look back on teaching math, I marvel at how God in his wisdom directed our paths to what our children would need for their future. At the time I first wrote this, I didn’t have full clarity of my daughter Trishna’s and my son Elijah’s special-needs (both on the autism spectrum, with several other diagnoses).

Yet this individualized approach ended up suiting all three of my kids and what mattered most for each of them.

I would have experienced so much wasted time and frustration if I had tried to push structured math onto my special needs children earlier. It would have negatively affected their self-concepts, and my self-confidence as a teacher.

One of them reached about eighth grade level of math before graduating, and that fits perfectly with their needs. The other struggles greatly with math concepts, and is around first grade level, even after several years of diligent focus and lessons in their teens. This child is learning workarounds to help them function in this area for what they’ll need in life.

My son Jonathan used Teaching Textbooks for math and finished through Algebra II, enough for him to get into the colleges of his choice. His job as a Lighting Director and Designer uses a lot of math and it’s been interesting to see how proficient he’s become in that on-the-job setting.

So see? It all worked out!

I do want to honestly mention that at times it was challenging for our younger kids in certain social situations when math tasks came up that they had not mastered yet. This could be mitigated by mastering addition/subtraction earlier but waiting for the rest.

I also want to say that it is possible to teach math as a structured homeschool subject if that’s best for your family’s needs. This out of the box math inspiration and approach is not the only “right” option!

If you approach it with flexibility and the understanding that there is more than one way, you can make regular curricula work for you as opposed to you working for it.

Keep in mind the long-term perspective: Not every child needs to love math, but it would be nice if so many didn’t hate it!

So if you decide to get out of the box when it comes to math, what can you do in the early years to prepare and play with numbers instead? I’m glad you asked!

Come back soon for the next update in this series. I’ll have a list of specific resources so you can create your own math playground.

“Mathematics should be taught as art for art’s sake. These mundane “useful” aspects would follow naturally as a trivial by product. Beethoven could easily write an advertising jingle, but his motivation for learning music was to create something beautiful.” ~ Paul Lockhart

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

A different way to look at math (Updated!)

Jamie C. Martin — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 13:25:33 +0000

A Different Way to Look at Math ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool

Like many of us, I have a complicated relationship with math.

I like math.

But I don’t always like how it’s taught.

I naturally excelled at math in school. The subject made me feel powerful, and eventually I was offered the chance to skip 7th grade math (which I ended up declining – those 8th graders looked so scary!).

You’d think since I had a “positive” experience with math in school, I would have been eager to replicate that in our home.

But my heart (and my children) steered me in a different direction.

I see now that the main skill that led to my math success wasn’t understanding math; it was the ability to memorize. From an early age I used that skill to people-please my way into my teachers’ hearts, to form an identity for myself, and to cover up deep-rooted feelings of insecurity.

(See?! I told you it was complicated!)

And as the years passed, I had that familiar sense so many of us identify with when it comes to this subject: Boredom.

Nagging questions rang through my head: “What’s the point of all this?” and “When am I ever going to use it?”

I wanted something different for my kids.

I saw the value of studying numbers, patterns, and shapes – because God built those into our world. Therefore they must be interesting, useful, and worth learning about!

Yet I dared to imagine a different timeline for this subject. Because when I looked at the math scope and sequence, especially for elementary school kids, one thing appeared drastically lacking:

The principle of relevancy.

A Different Way to Look at Math

Children naturally want to learn and conquer things that are relevant to their lives.

I saw this with my own as littles when it came to a love of and interest in words. In our home my children were surrounded by reading and writing–therefore they showed interest in both (still on their own unique timeline, mind you.)

With math, the process felt different.

Some parts were relevant – the ones that appeared in our daily lives.

This included writing numbers, counting, basic adding and subtracting, temperature, fractions as related to cooking, telling time, measuring, the concepts of multiplication and division (but not complicated calculations with them early on), decimals as related to money, etc.

But math that didn’t naturally arise in our daily lives didn’t get our focus early on because it requires a different process: Abstract thought.

The ability to reason and think abstractly doesn’t come in the early elementary years–it develops closer to the age of puberty.

“Piagetian experiments have shown repeatedly that cognitive maturity may not come until close to age 12. Interestingly, the ancient Orthodox Jews, known over the world for their brilliance, provided little or no formal schooling until after age twelve for girls and thirteen for boys when children were considered able to accept full responsibility for their actions.”
~ Dr. Raymond Moore, The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook, pg. 44

The traditional approach to math study, whether done at school or at home, creates a hate of math in many kids. It makes plenty feel stupid at a young age – an internal lesson hard to unlearn later. Others (like I did) begin to measure themselves by their positive performance instead of their inner value.

All of the above is the opposite of what I wanted for my own children. Instead of making my kids fit the system, I created a new system to fit my kids.

It included a different way to look at math.

I will not for a second suggest that this was always simple to do. But in some ways, it was easy. I lightened my load considerably by allowing the principle of relevancy to guide our math learning.

My own mental battles ended up being the hard part when it came to choosing something so counter-cultural – and sticking with that decision in the face of opposition. When I started to panic (and you should know I did many times), those mental battles were usually the reason why.

We had to step way outside the grade level box to follow our family’s personal convictions in this area, and that took courage. But believing we were doing what was right for our children made the choice worth it.

If you feel at peace in your homeschool choices when it comes to math, please keep on keeping on! As always, there are a million ways of creating a successful homeschool, and zero ways to create a perfect one.

My method here isn’t “right” and others “wrong,” it’s all about discovering what works for your family and your kids.

But if you’ve hit a wall in your study of numbers, if you or your students have or are experiencing math burnout, or if you’ve ever wondered “Is this the only way?” – then know that you’re not alone.

Perhaps you just need a different way to look at math.

Over the next month or so I hope to bring a little thought-provoking inspiration across your path in this series on looking at math differently from my perspective as a now retired homeschool mom of three. Stay tuned!

“The tantalizing and compelling pursuit of mathematical problems offers mental absorption, peace of mind amid endless challenges, repose in activity, battle without conflict, “refuge from the goading urgency of contingent happenings,” and the sort of beauty changeless mountains present to sense tried by the present-day kaleidoscope of events.”
~Morris Kline, Mathematics in Western Culture

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

Simple Homeschooling 101: What to Teach, When to Teach It (UPDATED!)

Jamie C. Martin — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 17:45:41 +0000

Simple Homeschooling 101: What to Teach and When to Teach It ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool

More than once during my 15 years of homeschooling, I wished I could find a resource that would simply list the basic subjects we needed to cover as well as give me ideas for how and when to prioritize them.

I found plenty of conflicting and over-complicated descriptions, but here, in the name of “Simple” Homeschool and as a veteran/retired homeschooler, I have created for all of you what I once wanted and needed.

Prefer to listen instead? Look for episode 62 of the SH podcast!

To begin Simple Homeschooling 101, here is a list of the four basic subjects:

Language Arts: Includes reading, writing (handwriting/spelling/grammar/composition), and literature
Math
Science
History

Then depending on your child’s age/grade, you might add in things like:

PE/Health, Foreign Language, and electives, centered around your kids’ interests, future goals, and your family’s priorities

Below, I’ll share how our family covered these subjects in an outside-the-box way through the years.

Remember: Personalization is the goal, and your homeschool doesn’t have to look like “school” to inspire real learning.

This is not at all a “Homeschooling 101” formula to follow, as you don’t need that! There are a million ways to run a “successful” homeschool, and zero ways to run a perfect one.

Don’t seek to follow my plan or anyone else’s – adapt everything (yes, even that official looking curriculum!) to suit your family’s needs.

I originally divided this article into the traditional categories of elementary, middle, and high school, only to realize that most of my recommendations for middle and high were the same, so I’ve switched to two categories instead: one covering ages 5-12, and one for teens.

Simple Homeschooling 101: What to Teach and When to Teach It (Updated!)

Early Schooling (ages 5-12)

Our family’s main goal during this time was to have our children make tiny, incremental progress in core subjects, while maintaining their love of learning. The traditional system tends to overemphasize a child’s progress while often doing away with the love.

A child’s brain is wired to learn best through play during this time, so keep that in mind as you think about the subjects that you hope to cover. This is especially true for ages 5-9, with slowly increasing maturity as they hit double digits.

Learning to Read – We only did this officially when we felt like each child was interested and ready, and not all children need formal reading instruction – some teach themselves!

If you do need or want to introduce this, I would recommend All About Reading, Reading Eggs, or simply a BrainQuest workbook (afflinks), and start out small – five minute lessons with lots of praise (and/or bribery) as needed.

Learning to Write – When you feel they’re ready, teach your child to form capital and lowercase letters (any basic workbook can help with this, or you may not even need one).

Once they have mastered them, begin doing copywork – copying a few words or a sentence each day. Use their name, inspiring quotes, or passages from their favorite book!

This sets the foundation for spelling and grammar later on.

If you want to add in formal spelling, I recommend All About Spelling – but remember those super-short, high-motivation lessons are key! 5-15 minutes is plenty, and only as a formal practice after your child has a beginner’s grasp on reading.

For grammar, we used Mad Libs, not diving into anything more formal until the tween/teen years.

Literature – We read, read, and read aloud some more during this range, enjoying the natural conversations that would arise through that time together, not trying to force “narration” or anything too schooly. Substitute audiobooks if reading aloud isn’t enjoyable for you.

What should you read? Use a guide to help you discover classics, like my own book (for a global lens) Give Your Child the World, Honey for A Child’s Heart, or The Read-Aloud Family, as well as adding in books that interest you and yours!

We also used audio stories from Sparkle Stories a lot at this age as a “slow media” alternative to excess screentime – they gave us a break and occupied many car rides, too!

Math – We read math books in the early years and enjoyed Bedtime Math, mixed with a little gameschooling for good measure. Later we introduced an online curriculum when it seemed like the kids were ready for more, allowing them to dip in and out as they wanted.

Science – We enjoyed informal nature study, read-alouds, and an outdoor wilderness program for science, not doing any formal curriculum until the teen years, but just what interested each child when it came to this subject. (Long-time readers will remember my son’s intense meteorology phase.)

History – Likewise we covered this mainly through read-alouds and videos during this age range, and it worked so well that my kids fell in love with history and wanted to study it more deeply as teens.

If you want to take it further, begin a history timeline. And if you feel memory work is important in this subject or any other, look for play-based resources (songs, etc) to help you accomplish that.

Interests – Everything Else! This is where we dove into my own interests, family priorities like Bible, and the interests of the children. This is what we emphasized the most during this age range.

Teen Schooling (ages 13+)

Don’t be afraid of homeschooling middle or high school! Generally speaking, 120 hours spent on a subject (including a student’s personal reading, documentaries, online courses, and formal work) or 75% of a textbook completed equals one credit.

Once you get familiar with the process, it’s not scary, and sites like FastTranscripts.com make it a breeze to quantify your teen’s learning in a way that colleges can understand.

Our family’s homeschooling goal during the teen years has always been to meet the minimum requirements for graduation, and then allow tons of extra time to pursue areas of interest and passion!

Language Arts – Here are some of the resources that worked well for us, which we adapted to each child’s interest level and ability:

Sonlight (literature/history/Bible)
TJEd High (online mentoring in literature and leadership)
Wordsmith Craftsman (after searching for AGES, this thin guide contains everything your high schooler needs in order to write well!)
All About Spelling – We only taught spelling after age 10+, when I could tell whether or not my children were natural spellers. At older ages they progressed quickly and were motivated, too.
Grammar: Both Fix It Grammar and Life of Fred Language Arts worked well for us!

Math – Using online resources for math allowed me to outsource this subject, which I loved! We mainly used Teaching Textbooks as a key component in our homeschooling 101.

Science – We tried a variety of higher level science options, but the best fit for us ended up being the courses from All in One High School. (Bonus: They’re FREE!!!) We loved it because it was self-sufficient for my child to complete on his own, and was just right for a student who needs a solid overview of the subject but isn’t planning to go into a science-related field.

If your student might want to explore a STEM-related field in their future, the online classes from My Fun Science are highly reputable and recommended!

PE/Health – Our outdoor wilderness school, C25K and Calm apps, and a basic health textbook

Foreign Language – A combination of Duolingo, All in One Spanish, and private tutoring worked perfectly for us!

History – Sonlight, lots of reading (both fiction and non-fiction), Big Fat Notebooks, and the occasional workbook

Current Events – Watching and discussing CNN10 and The World from A to Z led to incredible discussions over the years (sometimes we still watch and discuss these together!)

Electives: This is where teens can focus on areas of interest – it’s where homeschoolers can thrive in ways that teens in traditional school just don’t have the hours for!

Also use electives to focus on your family priorities, like Bible Study, Life Skills, etc. Some of the specialized courses we created for my high schoolers included Drawing, Music Theory, Film Studies, Animation, Lighting Design Technology, and more.

We have seen this interest-led approach go on to serve the children well as they continue to slowly enter their post-homeschooling phase of life. When Jonathan applied to colleges for Lighting Design, he was told that his current level of skill was already similar to that of a college graduate in the field, so they weren’t sure he would “fit in.”

He appreciated their candor and opted out! (Though he did get in to both places he applied.)

Instead of college, he ended up getting hired by a variety of A-list celebrities within a year of high school graduation, and is currently touring worldwide with various artists.

This was never our intention, plan, or goal when we let him pursue his interest through high school, but it is remarkable to see that what one does for love and interest can go on to translate into a satisfying work life!

I hope this list has served as a helpful Simple Homeschooling 101 for you – simplifying your thinking about what to teach and when to teach it!

When we lean into the freedom and flexibility homeschooling has to offer, we can craft a beautiful and highly individualized education that suits each child best, and sets them up well for wherever life may take them.

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

This post contains affiliate links, which means my family receives a commission off certain links.

8 things I’ve learned about education in my 20 years of motherhood (UPDATED!)

Jamie C. Martin — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 16:35:13 +0000

8 things I’ve learned about education in my 8(20!) years of motherhood (UPDATED) ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin – find updates in blue

Education wasn’t exactly my top concern when I first became a mother. Unless it was my own education–I had a multitude of lessons to learn, mistakes to make, and love to give.

The learning curve continued dramatically when I began considering homeschooling.

Now I look back shocked to see that ~~eight~~ twenty whole years have passed. (Um, #howdidthishappen)

I have plenty of new questions I need answers to (still true!), but I’m also far enough down the road, of both motherhood and homeschooling, to feel like I’ve gathered a few lessons under my belt.

I feel far more secure and confident now – in myself, in my mothering, in our choice to homeschool. (No regrets, 20 years later!)

Here are eight things I’ve learned about education in my ~~eight~~ twenty years of motherhood.

I thought about updating this article to 20 things I’ve learned in 20 years…but I don’t have the energy for that LOL, and you probably don’t have the energy to read something that long.

8 things I’ve learned about education in my 8 (20!) years of motherhood

1. It’s not rocket science.

The idea of homeschooling absolutely petrified me at first. Education seemed like some obscure, foggy, unattainable concept. A topic so complex and complicated that only experts could figure it out.

20 years later, I still agree that learning doesn’t have to be rocket science when relationships are at the center. And by that I don’t mean that relationships are always rosy, far far from it!

I mean that pursuing wholeness in all forms (not solely academics) gave my children an (eventual) foundation of safety that allowed their minds to open to learning, according to their unique strengths and weaknesses.

2. Children are born with a natural curiosity and desire to learn.

2004 – Oh, baby Jonathan, my heart melts to look at you (2024: I still miss that baby version of my boy/man!)

I am far from sending my kids out the door to graduation (um actually, I blinked and we finished homeschooling!), but having seen all three of my little people (currently ages ~~9, 8, & 7,~~ make that 21, 20, & 19) through the infant/toddler/preschool phase of life I can adamantly say that they each entered the world with a deep desire to learn.

Kids start off naturally curious – and they remain that way unless burnout kicks in.

Burnout can have many causes, not just stress, anxiety, and overwork but also trauma, abuse, and neglect. We have dealt with that our entire homeschool life (and still do) because of what my oldest and youngest went through before they joined our family via adoption.

If you have a child who is no longer curious, it doesn’t mean that it’s your fault or it can never be remedied. Just explore paths to reconnect them with that curiosity and to heal what is at the root of the burnout. This will be a gift for the rest of their lives, and is definitely a long-term project.

3. An absolute wealth of homeschooling and educational resources exist to choose from. (#understatement)

Gone are the days of home learning in isolation. Homeschool groups and co-ops currently multiply like wildfire across the United States, not to mention the vast selection of curricula available as well as incredible, high-quality online educational programs like Khan Academy, TED talks, and so much more.

Check out Simple Homeschool posts about co-ops here.

I have no doubt that this trend will continue (#overwhelm), but:

4. You don’t need much to homeschool successfully. A growing home library of well-chosen books works best. (And it’s so fun to have an excuse to buy books! )

I tend to look for complex formulas or strategies to implement because lofty plans give me a temporary feeling of security. But as is often the case, simple is often the best. And the easiest. (Yes, still agree! And yet, simple can feel awfully challenging in a society that tends to complicate things.)

I want my children to think of books as friends. Because a child who loves reading is primed for a lifetime of learning.

Sept 2024 with my now 19-yr-old Elijah

While I still believe this, not every child is going to have the same type of relationship with books that we tend to think of as “loving reading.” And that relationship with books is going to change as they become adults and start lives of their own, and as screens naturally become a part of that life.

While I consistently encourage you to follow your children’s interests in learning, I do want to mention the difference between off-screen interests and on-screen ones. There are a myriad of healthy ways to handle screens. Please be intentional about it, however, as the addictive quality of screens and their impact on the brain can dampen the natural in-built curiosity that leads to learning.

Use screens, for sure. They are an amazing tool, and a horrible master! Don’t be afraid to set limits and boundaries. For ideas, you can see what we have done here.

5. My children give clues when they are ready for something new.

Jonathan did it as an infant by weaning himself from breastfeeding. He clued me in by his continued lack of interest in nursing. In spite of all my efforts, at nine months he was ready for something new.

My kids still provide these clues: By a new interest in a subject, by asking to learn something, by their enthusiasm, or even by physical changes like losing teeth.

If I pay attention, I can work with these clues instead of against them.

Yes! And following those clues makes your job as homeschool parent so much easier.

6. Waiting until they’re ready saves a ton of time – and tears (theirs & mine).

Summer 2012

Each child has his own timetable of development–his own repertoire of strengths and weaknesses to consider.

It is nothing short of ludicrous to expect each five-, six-, nine-, or twelve-year-old to tackle the same skills judged solely by the date of their birth. My children need an individualized education that matches their readiness so we both avoid frustration.

I still agree! But I’d also add that if there’s something that you feel you must cover at a specific time (either because of regulations or your own anxiety levels!) then find a way to do what’s required while also getting your child to buy in (so you don’t hate your life – cue intentional bribery).

7. Enthusiasm matters in education–especially mine.

If I want to invite joy in learning in my home, I must show that I find joy in learning.

If I want my children to choose learning, they have to see me choose it first. Yes! And the beautiful thing is that this gives you permission to invest in YOU even while you’re inspiring them.

I’d rather inspire them to choose it themselves than use compulsion and force because:

8. Self-education matters most.

September 2012

I agree with educational pioneer Charlotte Mason that “self-education is the only possible education.” A person–no matter what their age–who is internally motivated is unstoppable.

By teaching my kids how to learn for themselves, I’m giving them the freedom to become who they were born to become.

Yes, and my post about redefining success may help you aim in the right direction!

I hope these 8 things I’ve learned about education have given you some encouragement. I’d love to hear some of the lessons you’ve learned if you’d like to share.

* Click here to read more updated posts from Jamie, Then and Now

Now those babies are young adults!

What lessons have you learned about education during your years as a parent?

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your type needs most!

When is my child ready to choose their own path?

Kari Patterson — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 14:49:54 +0000

When is my child ready to choose their own path? ~
Written by Kari Patterson of Sacred Mundane

“We homeschool not so our kids are insulated from the world. We homeschool to make sure the concrete has been hardened before we put heavy loads on it.”

I vividly remember setting foot in my first classroom, 34 years ago. I was 10. I had been homeschooled until halfway through 5th grade.

At that time, my brother (two years older) had started 7th grade at the local public school where my dad taught, in order to play sports. Not loving being the only kid at home anymore, I had asked if I too could go to school.

To my parents’ credit, they carefully considered this, evaluating my character and development, and saw the value of letting me begin to make choices about my life.

Though I didn’t make perfect choices, I’m grateful I got to make them.

Even at 10, my parents had already instilled their values in my heart. I knew who I was, I was secure in their love. And I recognized that while they were my anchor, they weren’t afraid to let me have a pretty long leash.

I could explore and make choices, even fail. I learned that failure wasn’t something to be afraid of, but a normal part of life.

I remember knowing I was loved unconditionally, and that they were physically and emotionally available for me, but that they weren’t afraid to let me make decisions for my life.

**What this communicated to me was that they had confidence in me.**

This gave me confidence and, I believe, actually helped me make good choices. They were convinced I’d do the right thing, so I most certainly didn’t want to prove them wrong!

I was vaguely aware through the years, that perhaps not everyone agreed with my parents’ decision to let us go to school. I’m sure we seemed “worldly” to some onlookers, my parents perhaps appeared to be homeschool sell-outs.

My mom had been very outspoken about her conviction to homeschool, so it probably seemed strange when she then enrolled us in public school and started working at that same school.

But I am so grateful that my mom did not let her own pride, fear, or her own personal preference, keep her from giving my brother and me the freedom to make choices for ourselves.

So how do we know when our children are ready to choose their own path about their education?

If I may mix metaphors for a moment: When the concrete has hardened, it can bear a heavy load.

Of course, we’re never not susceptible to harmful influences. Bad company can corrupt anyone, but as parents we get the honor of discerning when the time is right to begin handing choices and freedom over to our child.

There is a weight to these decisions. To hand them over too early can crush, can leave them tossed to and fro in the storm of this chaotic world. To hold back and refuse them these decisions, even when they’re ready, can create hopelessness, resentment, and anxiety.

I do not pretend to know how to do this perfectly. But here are a few questions that can help us evaluate when to let them choose their own path:

What type of friends does my child gravitate toward? Am I pleased with these choices, or do I need to focus more on teaching them to recognize and seek out healthy influences?
How does my child respond to temptation? Do they easily give in, or do they have a decent dose of self-control developed?
How does my child use their time? Do they constantly dawdle or distract themselves, or are they able to stay on task for an age-appropriate length of time?
Do I see any red-flags related to identity? Does my child seek validation from others or seem susceptible to compromising their values in order to gain approval of others? Are they dishonest?

It’s certainly not an exhaustive list, but it can get us going as we consider. I believe that holding children back from being able to choose their own path for their life is just as detrimental as turning them loose far too early.

But when the time is right, when the concrete has hardened sufficiently, we can set them free to build a beautiful life on the foundation we have laid.

* Find more of Kari’s wisdom here.

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

It’s time to redefine success as homeschoolers

Jamie C. Martin — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 12:56:51 +0000

It’s time to redefine success as homeschoolers ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool and Introverted Moms

It’s time we redefine success as homeschoolers. Time we move away from thinking there’s one correct definition of this word.

That belief often comes from our conditioning in an educational system that judged us not on our ideas and insights, but on our true/false, multiple-choice responses.

Many of us as homeschooling parents feel that success for our kids equals getting them into college. If we do that, we believe, we can feel as though we have not failed them.

We can show the nay-sayers that we have not ruined our kids’ chances or limited their options in life.

Yet that’s also a narrow, conditioned, pressured response from an old, worn-out paradigm. It’s time to think bigger. There’s more than one path to a successful life.

For some of our children, college will make sense and be the best decision. For others, the biggest waste of time, money, and energy.

That’s why my working definition of homeschool success is “helping each child reach their fullest potential.”

Yet how do we know what each child’s potential is?

Here’s an answer the system would tell us is not a valid choice: We don’t.

As the mom of two beloved, special-needs young adults, I know this in an acute way. I feel it in my bones.

So I continue to do now what I did for 15 years as a homeschool mom, for both my neurotypical and neurodivergent children, as well as for myself:

I try to help all of us become a little healthier, a little stronger: mind, body, soul, spirit.

This gradual unfolding, one page at a time, of my children’s life story will continue to be written, long after I’m gone.

I’m not the author or the protagonist, merely a supporting character for a little while.

In the chapters I’m privileged to be a part of we have many undeveloped plotlines. Victories and devastations. What good story doesn’t?

Sometimes I’m desperate to flip ahead to a new chapter; sometimes I wish I could go back and reread one of my favorite parts.

As parents we often pray for a miracle, but perhaps the miracle in motion is that we all continue to slowly grow, change, evolve.

Each of us reaching toward fullness of potential as we go.

Each of us success stories in the making.

* Read more of Jamie’s inspirational writing here.

What’s your working definition of homeschool success? I’d love to hear it!

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

5 magical moments homeschoolers can look forward to this year

Jamie C. Martin — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 15:40:20 +0000

5 magical moments homeschoolers can look forward to this year ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool and Introverted Moms

There’s SO much information online these days for homeschoolers to access. #majorunderstatement

Much of it centers around helping you choose curriculum, set schedules, and create productive routines.

Today, however, I wanted to focus on five JOYS that await you this this back to school season, whether you’re a sudden, unexpected home educator or homeschooling has been your plan all along.

Would you rather listen to this post?

I pray that keeping an eye out for these magical moments will help you through both the good and the bad days that will inevitably come. And even if you’ve been homeschooling a decade or more like I have, you have these to look forward to again this year!

5 magical moments homeschoolers can look forward to this year

1. A magical read-aloud moment

If you’ve researched homeschooling much, you’ve likely read about the importance of reading aloud, and how it can be an incredibly powerful and simple way to help our kids learn.

But if you’ve been trying to integrate reading-aloud into your days, particularly with more than one child, you’ve likely seen for yourself that it isn’t always picture perfect.

A good friend of mine, who uses a literature-based curriculum, jokes about the day years ago when she called her kids to the table for read-aloud time, and one frustratingly replied, “When I grow up I’m never reading another book again!”

This was not exactly the family bonding and love of learning atmosphere she had hoped for!

I can personally remember many read-aloud sessions where sibling torture and vacant stares predominated, where I wondered if any of my three children were even paying attention.

But then suddenly, unexpectedly, magic happens. Everyone is engaged, on the edge of their seat. Everyone begs for one more page or chapter. And it hits you, “This! This is why I do what I do!”

You can never predict when that moment will appear, but eventually, it will. And it’s exhilarating.

2. A magical learning moment

“SLOW – KIDS AT PLAY.”

As we walked around the block one school morning a decade ago, my son Jonathan read those words from a neighborhood sign. He hadn’t had any reading lessons yet, and I had no idea that he could do it.

I was there. I heard every sweet syllable.

Just like watching our kids take their first steps or hearing them say “Mama” for the first time, learning “firsts” are equally magical, and they can happen no matter the age of your child.

You might see your son read for the first time or watch your daughter write her first sentence.

Perhaps there’s an area of struggle that is grueling for both you and your child, and a burst of insight strikes out of nowhere. He gets it, where before he was stuck.

And you? You were the one who helped him. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Or maybe you’ll see a child develop a passion for a subject or topic – one that she never would have had time for if she had been at school. Suddenly she’s investing hours in her own learning, without you having to prompt or give reminders at all.

Slowly, you glimpse her natural love of learning, the one she always had as a curious toddler and preschooler, returning. It makes all the hard work seem worth it.

3. A magical emotional moment

Sometime this year, there will be tears. Yours and theirs. Some of those tears will come on the really hard days that make their way to each of us in this life with its challenges.

But others? Will be healing tears. Because of the extra hours homeschooling gives to families, important internal issues that might have gone unnoticed will rise to the surface sooner.

There’s simply fewer places to hide or stuff them down.

One morning, you might find a child or teen crying. You’ll take a deep breath and summon the patience to listen. That moment will transform into a magical gift.

Your child will open up, and you’ll know it never would have happened if he or she had been away from you all day.

4. A magical moment of protection

At least once this year, you’ll hear about something going on at the school down the street – whichever school your children would be attending if you weren’t home educating.

It could be bullying, an outbreak of COVID, or stress over upcoming standardized tests. It could even be something much more serious, unexpected, and tragic, like the call I received years ago about the devastating school shooting in our neighborhood.

You’ll hang up the phone or log off the computer and look at your child, happily playing with a Lego village on the floor. Safe and oblivious to whatever is going on.

And you’ll give thanks.

5. A magical family moment

When I had three elementary-aged children, they couldn’t seem to spend five minutes in each other’s presence without engaging in some form of sibling squabble.

Very close in age, there inevitably seemed a competition underway to see who could come out on top, who had the most power.

But now and then there would also be magic. One day we returned from a field trip and I left the kids to play outside for a while.

When I looked out the window, I saw this:

I grabbed my camera to go document the magic–all of them playing, kindly, together. Years later, this photo is still one of my heart’s treasures!

This magic can also happen with your extended family (or those who feel like family, whether or not you’re actually related). Homeschooling allows relatives to get involved, to be a part of our kids’ educations.

That day when you watch your mom on Zoom, doing a read aloud or sharing one of her own passions with your children, will be a moment you’ll cherish forever.

Originally published Sept 2021

Homeschooling can be hard, yes. Make no mistake about that.

But you’re also entering a year of adventure!

I pray that each day brings you a little gift, one that reminds you that all you’re doing on behalf of your children deeply matters, and that no one else is equipped to do it quite like you can.

Enjoy the magic!

Do you have a magical moment from your homeschooling days, weeks, months, or years that you’d like to share below? I’d love to hear it!

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!