The Downsides of Homeschooling ~
Written by Jessica Waldock of The Waldock Way

Homeschooling, just like any educational choice, comes with pros and cons to consider. We often talk about the advantages of homeschooling. 

Bu let’s talk today about the elephant in the room: the downsides of homeschooling that often go unmentioned. 

From second breakfast to learning gaps, there are certainly some cons to homeschooling. How can you overcome them? Keep reading to discover some of my favorite resources to help!

The Downsides of Homeschooling

Let’s talk about each downside to homeschooling and how you can overcome the challenges with some tips we’ve learned over the years.

Learning Gaps and Getting Behind

It’s easy to fall into the trap of worrying about learning gaps and “getting behind.”  There’s no way we can teach our kids everything they’ll ever need to know by the time they turn 18. Instead, we can teach them to pursue learning throughout their lives.

We can help our kids fall in love with learning and understand that it’s a lifelong endeavor, not something we cease to do when we become adults.

Then, when they miss out on something, they’ll know how to fill in the learning gap. Every child is exactly where he or she needs to be on their learning journey. 

As for gaps, the good news is that we get to decide where the gaps are in our child’s education when we’re homeschooling. We can decide what we’re comfortable leaving out. For example, diagramming sentences might not feel important.

Difficulty Finding Time for Yourself

Homeschooling is as unique and wonderful as your kiddo, but it’s full of challenges you might not anticipate. Homeschooling comes with extra one-on-one time and opportunities for field trips, art projects, and science experiments. If you’re homeschooling an only child, this is more true. 

The downside to homeschooling an only child is that you’re the only person they get to play, talk, or even argue with daily. After a while, it can become truly overwhelming to fulfill that role for your child each day.

As a homeschooling mom, I have to get creative to find ways for my child to build relationships with other kids and be creative about finding time for myself as well.

Nobody Talks About the Food

Nobody talks about the most expensive part of homeschooling: the food! If you’re finding lunch to be the most difficult part of the day, you’re not alone. All the jokes about “second breakfast” are true! 

Planning ahead has helped me make healthier choices for myself and our daughter. It also saves time and cuts down on decision fatigue in the middle of a busy homeschool day. When everything is planned and prepared, I don’t have to put homeschooling on hold for lunch or snacks. 

If you’re unsure how to get started discover some of my easy homeschool snack ideas your child will love.

The Incredible Advantages Of Homeschooling

It’s true, there are some downsides to homeschooling, but here are also some incredible advantages. 

Flexibility

One big advantage of homeschooling is the flexibility. This educational choice provides flexibility for kids and parents in a way that traditional school settings cannot. Families can follow their routines and schedules, tailored to their specific needs and preferences.

For us, following our unique schedule looks like sleeping in and embracing our “night owl” personalities with strewing, family movie nights, and a relaxed approach to homeschooling.

It also includes being able to take time off for travel together as a family, carschooling on days when we have lots of errands, and adopting a year-round schedule for learning.

Another big advantage of flexibility is that kids can learn at their own pace. We can follow a relaxed interest-led learning approach that reduces stress and protects our connection.

Connection

Another incredible advantage to homeschooling is the unique opportunity to build a deeper connection with your child. Homeschooling gives you a chance to strengthen your relationship by taking an active role in your child’s education. 

The daily interaction and collaboration needed to homeschool will give you a chance to get to know your child and understand their unique strengths and weaknesses. As homeschooling parents, we get a front-row seat to Emily’s interests and passions. Then, we can tailor lessons to match her interests, her learning style, and her abilities.

While homeschooling, we’re sharing experiences, going on adventures together, having heartfelt discussions, discovering new things together, and making lasting memories! 

Interest-Led Learning

Interest-led learning is driven by your child’s passions, curiosity, and interests.  Kids are naturally motivated and engaged in the lesson when the topic is something they find interesting. Along the way, kids fall in love with learning and begin to explore independently, developing critical thinking skills.

It’s a fantastic way to empower students to take ownership of their education and become lifelong learners.

Resources To Help You Homeschool 

There are downsides and incredible advantages to homeschooling. You can overcome the downsides and embrace the amazing advantages with helpful resources and community. If you’re looking for resources to help you homeschool, you’re in the right place!

Over the years, we have fallen in love with homeschooling and the incredible community of families learning together. We’ve also pulled together some helpful resources to help you on your homeschooling journey. 

A note from Jamie: I’ve been so grateful to have Jessica as a contributing writer here on Simple Homeschool for three years now! She is stepping back to focus on other lovely pursuits and priorities. If you want to revisit any of her posts, you can find them all here! Thank you, Jessica and God bless xo

(This post contains affiliate links, which means Simple Homeschool receives a small commission from some of the links on this page.)

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!

Homeschooling Middle School: What’s The Same vs. What’s Different ~
Written by Jessica Waldock of The Waldock Way

At first, homeschooling middle school feels like a big challenge. Suddenly, you’re facing new emotions and a new level of independence. Most of the things your child used to think were fun are “boring” and “lame” now.

Fortunately, there’s a lot about homeschooling during the middle school years that stays the same. Middle school kids still want to have fun and have a strong connection with you, even if they think your jokes aren’t funny anymore. 

Keep reading to get the scoop on what’s the same and what’s different about homeschooling middle school. Plus, get some tips from a mom who’s made the transition to help you face the challenges of homeschooling middle school this year. 

Transitioning To Middle School In Your Homeschool

In a lot of small ways, homeschooling has changed, but there are lots of ways it’s still the same too. It’s crazy to think about how much older Emily is getting and what that means for our homeschool. At first, I thought transitioning to middle school would be a challenge and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to meet it. 

Gradually, I’ve come to discover that we can keep doing the same things with just a bit of revision. 

Homeschooling Middle School: What Has Changed

Homeschooling in middle school can be intimidating. I won’t say that it’s the same because a lot has changed since we started diving into the middle school years. We still play lots of games, prioritize our family connection, and focus on Emily’s passions and interests. 

However, there’s a lot that has changed in our homeschool too! 

It’s Harder to Have Fun

Homeschooling middle school sometimes means that having fun is a bit more challenging. Remember kindergarten when a game of Candy Land and writing letters in the sandbox was a great homeschool day? Well, middle school is different. 

Sometimes middle schoolers feel stuck between trying to be cool and still enjoying the things they did when they were little. Even if they’d still like to play Candy Land, they’ll never admit it. That means homeschooling parents may have to get creative with school assignments and curriculum choices.

There aren’t always fun activities and games built into every middle school curriculum. I have to put forth extra effort to keep things fun while meeting our middle school learning goals. Fortunately, with a little extra effort, having fun while homeschooling middle school is still possible.

New Emotions

Middle schoolers come with all kinds of new emotions that can throw a curve ball in your homeschool plans. They’re dealing with lots of big changes. Sometimes we get blindsided by big emotions or emotional outbursts we weren’t expecting. 

Sometimes these new emotions mean we have to switch up our plans for the day or that academics need to take a backseat. I stay focused on prioritizing a strong connection with Emily and teaching her that emotional health is important. Teaching our middle schoolers skills, like how to have a growth mindset and how to use mindfulness tools can be just as important as learning about algebra or history.

New Independence

Another thing that’s changed about homeschooling middle school is Emily’s level of independence. She’s able to complete lessons and face academic challenges without my help. That’s a bittersweet change for me. 

Suddenly, she’s capable of doing so much on her own and wants to do it alone too. It is challenging to step back after years of being a very hands-on homeschool parent! 

At the same time, middle schoolers are caught between that newfound independence and their dependence on us. That means we have to make challenging decisions about what they’re ready for and what they might not be able to do independently right now. 

Sometimes, your middle schooler might even surprise you by asking for your help with something you know they can do on their own. It’s okay to say yes sometimes when that happens. After all, fostering connection is still important for homeschooling middle school.

Homeschooling Middle School: Most Is The Same!

Fortunately, homeschooling middle school is mostly the same. We kept the same priorities: interest-led learning, strengthening our family relationships, and having fun homeschooling.

Strewing

We’re still doing many of the things that worked well last year in our homeschool For example, strewing. Strewing has been an important part of our homeschool routine for years. 

Now that we’re in the middle school years, strewing is often about books, games, and tech resources as opposed to crafts and building materials. We are big fans of strewing single-player games too.

Morning Baskets

We are still enjoying our morning basket time together while homeschooling middle school. Morning baskets for middle schoolers can still have lots of fun activities and opportunities for connection. The challenge is that the materials are often very different from what used to be in our morning baskets.

Now, morning baskets begin our day with themed poetry, stories, and games. They have also become an easy way for me to squeeze in subjects like poetry or foreign languages that sometimes fall through the cracks.

Homeschooling middle school can be a challenge in the beginning, but I think you’ll find that not everything has changed. Even though some things are different, it’s a good difference.

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!

Jessica’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with an 11-year-old only child) ~
Written by Jessica Waldock of The Waldock Way

Join me on a day in our lives as an interest-led homeschooling family! I’ll share our daily routine and give you a glimpse into the resources and activities we love most right now plus tips on what works best for us…and what drives me crazy. 

Our main goal is to protect and foster a deeper family connection in our homeschool. We’re all about making time for everyone to pursue their interests and cultivate a culture of lifelong learning.

We don’t follow a strict schedule, and we move through a relaxed routine where there’s no such thing as being “behind.”

Ready to see what a day in the life of our homeschool looks like? Keep reading to find out!

Jessica’s Homeschool Day in the Life

The start of our homeschool day has changed in the last few years. Now I wake up at 8:00 and workout. Making this time for myself has been an important part of staying healthy physically and mentally. While I’m working out, Emily is busy exploring whatever I strew for her. 

Strewing has been an important part of our homeschool routine for years. Now that we’re in the middle school years, strewing is often about books, games, and tech resources as opposed to crafts and building materials.

Lately, we’ve been big fans of strewing single-player games. Strewing single-player games is perfect when you’re homeschooling an only child because she can play all by herself while I’m doing other things. Single-player games are often filled with opportunities to practice critical thinking and build logic skills.

I don’t require Emily to interact with any of the things I strew, but I do ask that she give me my time in the mornings. So if she doesn’t interact with what I’ve left out she has to find another way to entertain herself.

Morning Basket Time

After my workout, we shower and have breakfast. Then it’s time for our morning basket, which we do together as a family. These baskets are usually themed to match Emily’s interests or an upcoming holiday. 

Morning baskets foster connection and learning during our homeschool mornings. We have come to love beginning our day with these themed poetry, stories, and games. Plus it’s a great way for me to squeeze in subjects like poetry or foreign language that sometimes fall through the cracks.

These days, Emily plans many of our morning baskets herself with a little guidance. Morning baskets for middle schoolers look a bit different than they did in the early years, but they’re still filled with great books to read aloud, games, and our beloved Mad Libs. 

Table Time

Next we move on to table work. These are more structured or challenging subjects. Math and writing are usually table time assignments and this is also when we work on our current unit study.

We use unit studies to explore subjects Emily is curious about or topics she truly loves. Integrating subjects like history, geography, and language arts into a unit study about her favorite things is guaranteed to increase engagement and retention. Plus it’s fun!

In the past, we have also built unit studies around great books. We are big Harry Potter fans, so we created a unit study called Wizards & Wands that’s all about learning with magic. 

Learning Lunches

This is a concept that’s amazing for homeschool families teaching an only child. It’s easy to get overwhelmed homeschooling an only child because you’re “on” all day.

Learning lunches have saved the day for us many times. During lunch time, Emily watches an educational show or listens to a podcast while she eats. I get to recharge my batteries in whatever way I need while she keeps learning independently. 

We usually have our lunch around 1:00 and I get time to make a phone call, read a book, or whatever appeals to me. Mostly, it’s time that I can take a deep breath and reset for the afternoon.

Afternoon Projects

In the afternoon we have project time. This is time for Emily to dive deep into science experiments and art projects. We often save our subscription boxes for this time in our homeschool day. 

We love subscription boxes. They always feel like a special prize or gift when they arrive!

Subscription boxes extend the lessons we are already doing at home and give Emily lots of hands-on enrichment. Some of our favorites include Hands-On History and MEL Kids boxes.

Free Play

After the afternoon project, Emily gets to spend time outside to play and explore. Kids of all ages benefit immensely from free time outdoors. 

This free play time stimulates creativity and nurtures a child’s natural curiosity. Outdoor play is important for encouraging motor skills, nature study, and imagination too. 

Family Dinner & Game Time

We have dinner together as a family at 6:00. I’m working on involving Emily in helping me choose recipes and cook. Cooking together is a fun way to spend more time connecting, and it’s filled with learning opportunities too.

After dinner, we like to play games together. It’s one more opportunity to learn and a fantastic way to foster connection as we laugh and have fun before bedtime.

Thanks for joining me in this peek into our current homeschool days. They are busy and full, but I wouldn’t change a thing!

My, how the days have changed:

• 2022: Jessica’s homeschool day in the life (with a 9-year-old)
• 2023: Jessica’s homeschool day (with a 10-year-old)

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!

Hygge Homeschooling Through The Holidays ~
Written by Jessica Waldock of The Waldock Way

Have you tried hygge homeschooling? Hygge is all about creating an inviting atmosphere where you can enjoy life in a cozy way. It’s pretty close to perfect for homeschool families searching for a slower pace with more connection and deeper learning during the holiday season. 

Yes, you can practice hygge homeschooling through the holidays. It’s all about slowing down, cozying up with your kids, and enjoying experiences together. That’s how we ensure homeschooling through the holiday season can be fun and relaxing for everyone.

Want to learn more about how we adopted hygge homeschooling through the holidays? Keep reading to discover some of my favorite tips for fostering a warm connection on your learning journey and enjoying life together as a family this holiday season.

The Concept of Hygge

“In essence, hygge means creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people. The warm glow of candlelight is hygge. Cozying up with a loved one for a movie – that’s hygge, too.” – Visit Denmark

Hygge is all about fostering a warm and cozy environment where everyone can thrive. Focusing on the really good stuff and building a deeper connection is what hygge is all about.

What feels hygge can be different for each homeschool family, but here are a few things that definitely say hygge for my family:

• Reading together 
• The warm glow of candles or campfire
• Cozying up to watch a movie together
• Soft fuzzy blankets and feather pillows
• Hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows

What says hygge to you? Are you ready for more hygge vibes in your homeschool? The holidays are the perfect time to take a break from the daily grind and focus on hygge homeschooling through the season instead.

Holiday Hygge Homeschooling

The holidays are busy! This time of year can be so stressful and it’s easy to get overwhelmed, overscheduled and over-tired quickly. But these days are filled with quintessential hygge moments too. 

Why not take full advantage of the season to foster connection and warmth while spending time enjoying life together as a family? Here are just a few ways we find hygge moments and learning opportunities in our homeschool throughout the holiday season:

• Reading aloud
• Baking together
• Playing holiday games
• Learning about other families’ hygge traditions
• Crafting ornaments and holiday decorations
• Writing Christmas cards
• Enjoying holiday light displays
• Wrapping gifts

Homeschooling Through The Holidays Can Be Relaxing and Fun

Homeschooling through the holidays can be relaxing and fun, it doesn’t have to be difficult. Let go of the usual expectations this season brings and adopt a hygge mentality in your homeschool. 

Resist the urge to participate in every single fun holiday activity in town. Put away the holiday bucket list and try not to compare your family to those you see on social media. Instead, settle in with those you love and embrace a slower, more thoughtful, and definitely more hygge holiday homeschool journey. 

Homeschooling through the holidays can be an amazing time to learn and grow together as a family. We can embrace unscheduled days that revolve around cozy hygge moments together if we are intentional about it. 

Are you planning to adopt a hygge approach to homeschooling through the holidays too?

I hope this inspires you to give it a try this holiday season.  I would love to hear what hygge homeschooling means to you, please share in the comments!

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!

The Best Tips For Successful Homeschool Field Trips ~
Written by Jessica Waldock of The Waldock Way

Field trips are the best way to learn! We love the real-world learning experience a field trip can provide. Over the years, we’ve discovered lots of little tips and tricks to get the most out of our homeschool field trips.

A great homeschool field trip can really bring the lesson to life! There are so many amazing opportunities to learn with hands-on activities and experiences via museums, parks, zoos, and more. Follow my best tips for successful homeschool field trips to make the most of your adventures this year.

Plus, discover some of my best resources for planning and executing great field trips in your homeschool this year. There’s a whole big world out there to explore. Let’s make the most of our field trips and see a little more of the world this year.

Field Trips Bring Learning To Life

We love learning through field trips! Field trips are a fantastic way to bring any subject to life in your homeschool. There are many wonderful field trips you can enjoy together as a family. 

Field trips extend the lessons you’re teaching at home with real-world experiences and hands-on learning opportunities. These outings also give us a chance to build relationships with other homeschool families in our area. It’s the best way to socialize with other homeschoolers while teaching an only child too.

My Best Tips For Successful Homeschool Field Trips

Field trips are great, but there are some things we do to help make them as successful as possible. Want tips on how to make your homeschool field trips more successful too? Keep reading to discover my top three successful field trip hacks for homeschool moms.

1. Don’t Rush, Take Your Time

My number one tip for successful field trips is to take your time. Don’t try to plan too many things in one day. Instead, go at a pace that works for your family, giving everyone time to experience new things and learn without any pressure to follow an itinerary. 

Trying to see and do everything in one field trip can be really overwhelming. Instead, consider taking multiple trips to the same location. You might be surprised to find that you learn something new each time you go!

If you only experience a fraction of what’s available on your first field trip, it’s the perfect excuse to plan another trip! Plus, your kids will get the chance to deep dive into the exhibits, places, or things they are most curious about and that’s a win for everyone.

2. Take Lots of Pictures

Moms love taking pictures! We want to capture everything. Plus, field trip photos are perfect for those homeschool portfolios. 

I’m not going to tell you pictures of your field trip will keep it from being a success, but what if instead of you taking the pictures your homeschoolers took them? Give your kids the camera and enjoy seeing the field trip from their perspective. You’re likely to enjoy some unique pictures of moments you might not have thought to photograph. 

Letting kids take the photos is a great way to get them involved. You can encourage reluctant kiddos with a photo scavenger hunt that requires them to find various things on your field trip and photograph them. Besides, if your kids are taking the pictures, you’ll actually get to be in them! 

3. Don’t Force School

We all want to get as much out of our field trip experiences as we can. It’s tempting to pack more printables and bookwork into our field trip adventures to get more “school” from the experience. Instead, I want to encourage you to make your field trip the most successful it can be by NOT making it “school.”

Learning will happen on your field trip, whether you bring the books and printables or leave them at home. Instead of walking through the park, museum, or zoo with a clipboard, put those papers aside and get engaged.

Enjoy it all together and have a chat about the experience when you get home.

Resources For Field Trips In Your Homeschool

Looking for more resources to help you get the most out of field trips in your homeschool this year? I’ve got lots of field trip tips and tricks you won’t want to miss! Discover how we make the most of field trips below.

• Carschooling: How to Homeschool on the Go
• Top Tips for Your Homeschool Field Trip to SeaWorld
• Homeschooling at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Learning at Disney: How to Cover Every Subject and Have a Blast

I hope that these tips and resources allow for you and your family to enjoy more successful homeschool field trips! 

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!

I’m sure you’ve heard some of the popular homeschool myths. The truth is that homeschooling is never what we think it will be when we begin the journey. 

We learn together as a family about what we are passionate about, what is challenging, and how to help. We can make changes and do what works best for our own unique individual families. Everyone begins homeschooling with a picture in mind.

Homeschooling is messy, beautiful, and different from what we thought it would be when we began.

Maybe gameschooling isn’t something we ever thought we would be doing, but we love it.

Embracing these new learning methods has helped us to protect our most important goal: fostering connection.

8 Homeschool Myths That Make Me Smile

1. Homeschoolers Lack Socialization

Socialization is the biggest myth buzzword there is when it comes to homeschooling. Someone will always bring up socialization and fears about homeschooled kids lacking socialization skills and opportunities. Since we homeschool just one child, we have discovered that we do need to make some effort in the socialization department.

If you already participate in activities outside the home, there’s no need to worry about socialization at all. Some of our favorite ways to get out and socialize include participating in co-ops, library activities, online classes, homeschool days, scouts, and community sports.

2. Parents Aren’t Qualified Teachers

If you’re a homeschool parent, you’ve probably heard the myth that parents aren’t qualified to teach their kids. This myth inspires doubt and fear in parents beginning the homeschooling journey, but I just smile when I hear it now because it’s definitely been debunked. 

Parents are their children’s first teachers. We teach them from the time they are babies until they are school-age. We know them better than any other teacher ever could and we can tailor their homeschool education to align with their interests, needs, and unique learning style.  

3. Only Religious People Homeschool

Have you heard the myth that only religious people homeschool? The truth is that homeschoolers come from many different faith backgrounds. There are also many secular homeschooling families who aren’t religious at all.

4. Only Wealthy People Homeschool

Sometimes families think they can’t homeschool because it costs too much money, but that just isn’t true! Homeschooling on a budget is entirely possible.

Many homeschooling families operate on just one income and make sacrifices in order to homeschool. There are homeschooling families with two working parents and families with single parents that still homeschool. All kinds of families homeschool, not just the wealthy.

5. Large Families Homeschool

Another homeschooling myth is that all homeschool families are large families. I’m homeschooling an only child, so we definitely aren’t a large family. The truth is that homeschooling families come in all shapes and sizes. 

Some families homeschool some of their children while other children attend public or private schools. There’s no reason you can’t homeschool with just one child. If you’re new to homeschooling, get support and tips for homeschooling an only child to help you get started.

6. Homeschoolers Are Always At Home

Sometimes parents choose not to homeschool because they don’t want their kids to be stuck at home all the time.  One of our favorite things about being a homeschool family is the freedom it gives us to travel often. Field trips are the best!

We travel to state parks, museums, and all kinds of amazing places throughout the year. There’s no need to wait for a break from school to grab our suitcases and get on the road. 

7. You Can’t Homeschool High School

Many parents are concerned about creating transcripts, preparing for college, and even worried about their homeschoolers missing out on high school traditions (see the next myth). I want to encourage you because yes, you can homeschool high school.

8. Homeschoolers Miss Out

Finally, there’s a myth that homeschoolers miss out.  Homeschoolers do miss out on some things, but they usually aren’t the things we worry about. Homeschoolers don’t have to miss out on prom, field trips, book fairs, sports, arts, science fairs, or any of those traditional school experiences.

There are lots of opportunities for homeschoolers to experience these activities through local groups and online learning sites. 

Homeschooling Resources For You

I hope that debunking these myths encourage your homeschooling journey! If you’re new to homeschooling or  looking for more inspiration, check out some of my free resources for your homeschool this coming year:

• Guide to Homeschooling Without a Curriculum
• Guide to Using Unit Studies in Your Homeschool
• Guide to Using Games Your Homeschool
• Guide to Using Screens in Your Homeschool

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!

Tips and Tricks For Learning While Traveling ~
Written by Jessica Waldock of The Waldock Way

One of the best things about homeschooling is the freedom we have. We like to take advantage of our homeschooling freedom to plan our schedules by traveling together whenever we can. There are so many places to see and explore!

Learning while traveling happens naturally. Kids are curious and there’s a lot to discover and learn about in a real-world setting when you travel. But how can you make the best use of all that time in the car?

Travel In Our Homeschool

We love to travel in our homeschool! Visiting new places, exciting field trips, and exploring the national parks are some of our favorite things to do together as a family. Homeschooling while traveling is a great way to give Emily all kinds of unique and amazing learning experiences she wouldn’t be able to have at home.

Learning while traveling also gives us a chance to learn from real-world experiences and interactions instead of solely gathering information from books and videos. It’s a wonderful way to deepen our family’s connections with one another. 

Ready to explore homeschooling while traveling with your kids? Keep reading to discover my favorite tips and tricks for learning while traveling. 

Tips and Tricks For Learning While Traveling

Learning on the road is a lot of fun! It’s also very different from learning at home in lots of ways. For example, you’ll need to choose curriculum and materials that will travel easily without taking up a lot of space.

You’ll want to find tips and tricks for learning while you’re in the car so all that time spent in vehicles doesn’t feel wasted. Some of our favorite essentials for carschooling include activity books, reusable sticker books, drawing tools, paint with water activities (using a brush with its own reservoir), and single player games. Another favorite of ours are trivia decks and quiz books which let Kevin and I in on the fun while we drive. 

Here are some ideas for your next adventure.

Audiobooks

We really love listening to audiobooks on the road. Services like Libby through our public library and Audible make it easy to listen to our favorite audiobooks using our devices no matter where we are traveling. Checking out audiobooks from the local library is another great option for listening to stories while you’re on the go.

A good set of headphones for your child will go a long way too! With a pair of headphones, Emily can listen to her own audiobooks, apps, or videos without bothering the rest of us while we travel. 

Podcasts

Educational and kid-friendly podcasts are another go-to when we’re learning while traveling. There are some really silly podcasts we can listen to as a family, story podcasts, and lots of educational options too. Check out my list of 35+ Podcasts for Learning to get some ideas for your family’s next road trip. 

The Barefoot Books podcast and Story Pirates podcast are some of our favorites for listening to great stories on the road. For science we love the Wow in the World podcast and Brains On! When it comes to history our favorites include Greeking Out, Whose Amazing Life?, and The Past and the Curious. 

Car Organizer

Having a great car organizer makes it easier to learn while traveling too. I can fill our car organizer with books, activities, and supplies Emily can use while we’re on the road. Then, swap it out every month to keep things new and exciting for everyone.

Here are some of the things in our car organizer right now: single player games, car bingo, art supplies, some of our favorite printable unit studies. 

An Easy Option For Homeschooling Away From Home

If you’re looking for an easy option to homeschool away from home this year, check out my unit studies. These interest-led unit studies focus on topics your kids can get excited about. For example, my Traveling the States unit study is perfect for your next road trip out of state!

Then, check out Traveling the World for a special journey that includes 30 countries and cultures for your homeschoolers to explore. Finally, learn on the go with Traveling the Parks all about our National Parks. All of these unit studies are easy to take along when you travel and filled with hands-on learning opportunities you can take advantage of no matter where you’re traveling.

These are the tips and tricks we use for successful learning while traveling. Making the journey both educational and enjoyable allows for great memories and connection. 

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!

Homeschooling Without Textbooks: How We Make It Work ~
Written by Jessica Waldock of The Waldock Way

I think homeschooling without textbooks sounds amazing. Teaching without textbooks isn’t just possible, it’s how we homeschool and we love it! 

If you’re interested in following an interest-led homeschooling approach, you’ll definitely want to keep reading to see how we make this work in our homeschool.

I’ve got tons of resources to help you get started and show you how it works for us. Plus, I’ll share how we keep track of progress and homeschooling records while following our child’s interests, passions, and natural curiosity.

Homeschooling Without Textbooks Really Works

You can homeschool math, language arts, science, and even history without following a textbook. 

When we first began our homeschooling journey, choosing curriculum felt overwhelming. There’s so much to choose from and that made it difficult to make a decision. While looking for homeschool curriculum, I realized that what’s perfect for one homeschool family did not meet our unique homeschool.

Thankfully, I realized it’s possible to homeschool without a fancy boxed curriculum.

Gameschooling, field trips, strewing, and morning baskets are all fun methods you can use in your homeschool to cultivate a love of learning and build a strong connection without the workbooks.

Gameschooling

Gameschooling is all about using games in an intentional way in your homeschool lessons and culture. Once you begin to explore incorporating games into your learning, you’ll see the amazing benefits of gameschooling.

Get my Guide to Gameschooling for tips on how you can use games to teach anything. Practicing math skills, grammar skills, and even learning about art history with games is a lot of fun! Plus, it’s a great way to increase retention.

Strewing in Your Homeschool

Strewing is the act of exposing our kids to opportunities for learning by inviting them to engage with a variety of items and resources. Strewing is about placing carefully chosen items in the path of your child for them to discover, explore, and spark their interests and passions.

To practice strewing, you’ll place things around your home that encourage your children to interact with and learn from them.

Typically people choose items like blocks, magnets, rocks, and seashells to strew. Strewing is perfect for encouraging independent learning, imagination, and curiosity in your homeschooler.

Learn Everything You Need To Know To Get Started Strewing In Your Homeschool with my guide to strewing! 

Using Technology for Learning

We love integrating technology into our homeschool lessons. Technology can provide many educational benefits worth exploring in a homeschool setting. Integrating screens can be an engaging multisensory learning experience for the whole family.

Check out How We Use Screens In Our Homeschool and why you shouldn’t be afraid to embrace podcasts, documentaries, and learning apps with your kiddo this year.

Keeping Track Of Progress In Our Homeschool Without Using Textbooks

Finding a way to keep track of your progress when you’re not following a traditional linear method of homeschooling can be a bit challenging at first. If you’re not following the checklist in the book, how will you be able to track your progress? I like using flexible homeschool planners to help me get the job done.

Book logs, game logs, and tracking our time outside are some of the ways I keep track of our progress throughout the homeschool year. When you’re not using textbooks, you need your system to be flexible too.

My homeschool planners help keep me organized and make it easy to track our progress as interest-led homeschoolers. They’re adaptable because life is messy and sometimes homeschooling gets messy too.

In my Homeschool Planners you’ll get lots of different options for record keeping that are customizable for your unique homeschool. Plus, you’ll get the resource logs I use to track books we’re reading, field trips, and games we play. I’ve also included my goals checklist page.

Having goals to check off as we meet them is much more flexible for interest-led homeschooling. I’m not tied to a particular lesson or activity, instead I can check off that we met the goal for our records and then write any of the ways we worked on that goal in my flexible planning pages.

Jump outside the box and pursue real-world learning through games, great books, and lots of adventure with my Guide to Homeschooling Without a Curriculum,which includes easy to implement ideas for homeschooling every subject without using curriculum.

If you’re looking for a change in your homeschool, I hope this helps you homeschooling without textbooks, too!

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Jessica’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 10-year-old only child) ~
Written by Jessica Waldock of The Waldock Way

We have found that a strict homeschooling schedule doesn’t really work for us. Instead, we have a flexible routine we follow. This gives our homeschool days a loose structure without needing to stick to a strict timetable. 

Having a more flexible approach to our homeschool days ensures we don’t feel rushed and anxious about being “behind schedule” either. 

Follow along to see what a day in the life of my homeschool family looks like these days!

Jessica’s homeschool day in the life (with a 10-year-old only child)

Before we get started with the day to day details here is some background on our family: My husband and I both work from home, we are homeschooling an only child, and we are a family of night owls.

Starting Our Homeschool Day Off Right

I am not a morning person. In fact, no one in my house gets up very early. These days we all wake up between 9 and 10 am since we tend to stay up late reading or listening to audiobooks independently. 

The beginning of the day moves slowly with breakfast for everyone. After breakfast, Emily does whatever I strew for her. Strewing items like this allows me to start my day slowly and gives Emily a chance to learn independently through exploration. 

This morning, I set out winter block-building activities for Emily. These activities line up nicely with our winter unit study and encourage her to think creatively before we begin formal lessons. If you’re looking for winter strewing ideas for your homeschool, check out my Winter Strewing Ideas and Printables.

While Emily is busy with strewing items (or doing another activity independently if she’s not interested in what I strew that morning), I’m able to engage in healthy physical activity. This is when I work on lifting weights or doing other exercises. Then we all go for a walk together as a family.

We finish our morning routine with some household chores like making beds, feeding the cat, and doing laundry. This is also when we can get a shower and get ready for the day.

Learning Lunches in Our Homeschool

Once our chores are finished, it’s usually about lunchtime. Lately, Emily has been a big fan of a snack-style lunch. I prep lots of fresh fruits, veggies, and other healthy foods so she can grab food whenever she feels “snacky” throughout the day. 

Prepping healthy snacks like these helps ensure our homeschooler can always grab something to eat when she’s feeling hungry without disrupting the school day.

Then we have our learning lunch. This time is so important for me because it’s a space in the day where I can do things I need to do, take a break, make phone calls, or do something for myself. Meanwhile, Emily continues learning with a great documentary, podcast, or audiobook while she has her lunch.

There are so many great documentaries, podcasts, and audiobooks she can enjoy while she eats. Check out our favorite documentaries and the best podcasts to get ideas for your homeschoolers too.

Our Homeschool Routine

Our homeschool routine is very flexible and interest-led. After lunch, we will get started on lessons including working from whichever unit study we are currently doing together. This Winter, you’ll find us enjoying the read-aloud books and activities in our Wilson Bentley Unit Study all about snowflakes. 

I don’t always know all the activities and lessons we will cover in a day. This is because I try to allow grace for all of us as we homeschool. Keeping it flexible allows us to roll with it and not come unglued when we don’t make it to all the things on the list.

Sometime during the afternoon, Emily engages in a fun STEAM activity or lesson with her dad, Kevin. Today, they’re making artificial snow with a fun chemical reaction science experiment.

Our Evening Routine

Once Emily finishes her more structured activities, we all sort of go our separate ways. This is a time when Emily can have free time to do what she wants. This is also usually the point in the day when I do my work. 

Then it’s time for dinner. Emily sets the table while we prepare the meal. We all enjoy a family meal together.

After dinner, we start our favorite part of the day: family quality time. This normally looks like us playing games together but can also be watching a show or movie together. When we have a family games night each of us gets to choose a game and we play them all together.

After homeschooling and family time, everyone is ready to wind down for the night. Around 10 we do our final household chores and begin our bedtime routine.

Our Bedtime Routine

Our bedtime routine looks a bit different now than it did when Emily was younger. We have a bedtime basket routine (similar to a morning basket) that we use to wind down and build connections before bed.

To learn more about how to use a bedtime basket in our homeschool and get ideas for your own bedtime basket routine, take a little peek at our bedtime basket.

This routine is shorter because Emily often reads by herself or listens to an audiobook on her own when we finish our bedtime basket. Then Kevin and I spend time together watching a movie or reading books and enjoying our bedtime tea routine. 

Lately, I’m using this time to read for my own enjoyment. It’s one more way I’m engaging in self-care as a homeschool mom.

Our homeschool routine works for our family and we have found that flexibility is the key.

Being flexible about the number of tasks we accomplish each day as well as our start and finish times has been a really important part of making our homeschool sustainable and filled with learning opportunities for our whole family. 

What does your own homeschool routine look like? I’d love to read about a day in your homeschool life too, so don’t forget to share your own homeschooling routines and adventures in the comments.

My, how the days have changed:

• 2022:Jessica’s homeschool day in the life (with a 9-year-old)

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!

Letting Go In Our Homeschool ~
Written by Jessica Waldock

As homeschooling parents, we’re used to being in control. We put lots of time and effort into choosing the right curriculum, planning lessons and field trips, and hours teaching our homeschoolers.

But what if we just let go of the reins?

What if we adopted an interest-led learning approach and let our homeschoolers take the lead? Would it really be so bad? What if we had the courage to let go in our homeschool and something amazing happened?

I’ve been letting go in our homeschool and it’s been amazing!

Keep reading to discover how we homeschooled during the early years, what I learned, and why I’m letting go in our homeschool these days.  

Homeschooling In The Early Years

We had so much fun homeschooling during the preschool years! I realized early on that Emily learned best through play and adopted a play-based approach that led to hours of learning fun and connection for both of us.

I’ll never regret those early years when we focused on learning through playing together and real-world experiences.

As we began our kindergarten year, I changed my approach. I got serious about academics and was mesmerized by all the formal curriculum options. I regret all the bookwork, worksheets, and general “seriousness” of that year. 

When I realized neither of us was enjoying the experience and Emily wasn’t really learning as much as I thought she would, I decided to go back to some of the things that worked for us in the beginning.

If I could give you one bit of advice about homeschooling in the early years, it would be to just let them be little.

Learning About How My Child Learns

After figuring out what didn’t work and discovering how well learning through play worked for us, I began to learn more about how Emily actually learned the best. Discovering how your child learns is a really important part of homeschooling.

Once you know what kind of learner your child is, you can tailor your homeschool lessons and resources to meet their needs.

For example, we discovered that Emily is an auditory learner. Reading books aloud to her really helps her comprehend the information and retain lessons better than she might if I just gave her a paper to read.

We also discovered that our daughter learns best when we can let go and let her lead. Encouraging her to follow her interests and passions always leads to more learning for the whole family. Plus, it’s an important part of fostering the kind of connection we want to have as a family too.

Following her passion for art and science experiments has led to hours of fun lessons and activities for her and Kevin. They have learned so much by creating and exploring together!

Following Emily’s interest in sharks led us to Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium where we saw manatees and dolphins up close on an amazing eco-boat tour we’ll never forget!That trip led us to spend an entire summer diving deep into an amazing ocean unit study too!

Letting Go In Your Homeschool

Letting go of the reins in your homeschool can be really difficult. In fact, I still question myself a lot! Sometimes I go out and buy a curriculum even when I know it won’t really work for us.

However, as time goes on, I’m learning that I really can let Emily guide our homeschool.

As Emily grows and we get further along in our homeschooling journey, I’m discovering that I can trust her more and more to lead the way. I can lean into her interests, passions, and curiosity. When I do let go, I’m always pleased with how it turns out. 

We learn so much together as a family about topics and concepts that I never would have thought to explore. Plus, she’s discovering that learning is a lifelong endeavor and something she can have ownership of throughout her life.

Now that’s a valuable lesson!

If I could encourage you to take one step in your homeschool, it would be to give yourself permission to let go.

Let your student have the reins and see what happens. I promise they’ll surprise you.

Do you have a story of something positive that happened when you began to let go in your homeschool? We’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!