When My Photo App Helped Me See My Homeschool Truth –
Written by Erin Vincent of Nourishing My Scholar

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

I had been feeling a bit low about our homeschooling for a couple of weeks. You see, things had not gone as planned. Kids had been sick, read-alouds had been few and far between, copywork was hit or miss, and attitudes were not the greatest.

I was beginning to wonder about my capability as a homeschool mom. I have gone through seasons like this before, and it is always difficult to grow through them. Perhaps after all these years, I was failing my children, and we would not find our way back onto the path of homeschool bliss.

Sometimes things just feel hard, and doubt or worry become our biggest enemy.

My Photo App on My Phone

I sat on my bed, dwelling on my doubts and worries when I discovered the For You feature of my Photos App. Suddenly I found myself lost in homeschool memories from years ago.

Beautiful memories of books, poetry, art, science, and togetherness. Photo collections labeled spring, summer, fall, and winter. Even portraits of my kids and memories of when our pets were little.

I looked back at a life we had created with intention and purpose. Teatimes, nature hikes, field trips, and the birth of animals on the farm flooded back to me.

All of these memories, made possible because we chose to homeschool.

My Homeschool Truth

Before I knew it, I was wiping away tears. Not of sadness or defeat, of having witnessed something lovely unfold over years of tiny moments.

Tiny moments that added up to the most precious and humbling of gifts: time and love.

I am so blessed and fortunate to have been able to spend so much time with my children over the years. They are some of my favorite people in the whole world. Even the hard days have something beautiful to behold. That is my homeschool truth.

So if you feel down about how your homeschool may seem this season, remember that homeschooling is a marathon, not a sprint.

Seasons change, and homeschooling gives us the freedom to change or pivot if need be. It also allows us to pour time and love into our kids.

I’m not saying your homeschool journey will be easy or without its bumps. I’m saying that the tiny moments will be worth it in the end.

They’ll add up to something truly profound and beautiful, after all.

So take that first step in the direction you want your homeschool to go. Take lots of pictures of the tiny moments, and watch as your homeschool truth unfolds right before your eyes.

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 Your Teen Doesn’t Have a Plan – by Erin Vincent of Nourishing My Scholar

The summer when my son would be going into 9th grade, I was behind the scenes trying to get my ducks in a row. How do I homeschool high school? It seemed daunting and scary. I looked to veteran homeschool moms in forums and blogs to gain my answers. The consensus was to plan with the end in mind. If my son wanted to go to college, then look to what his choice colleges required. Same for a tech school.

This seemed simple enough.

So, I sat my 15-year-old son down to talk about how to plan his high school homeschool and what his plans for the future might be. What did he want to be when he grew up?

And that’s when everything went sideways. He had no grand plans for college or graduation or anything else. He had no idea what he wanted to do.

This kid still wanted to build legos and get lost in reading books of fantasy. With these questions, he shut down completely. I believe the idea of becoming an adult was overwhelming, and any attempt to reopen the conversation about future careers ended in him shrugging his shoulders and saying, “I dunno.”

This was not how I expected our conversation to go. I was frustrated. I remember being 14 with dreams of going away to college. This was also not what all the forums and blogs said would happen. Our homeschooled kids would have a plan or a deep dive into some interesting subject.

They would do dual enrollment or have their associate’s degree by the time they graduate high school. There was never an “I dunno” from the veteran moms’ kids. What was I supposed to do with that?

When Your Teen Doesn’t Have a Plan

I pivoted. We couldn’t be the only ones with no grand plans. I wanted my son to have a great education, but he wasn’t ready to make life-changing choices yet. That’s OK.

There is plenty of time to be an adult and very little time to be a kid.

I would give him a general college-bound plan just in case, and we’ll see where the rest takes us. We’ll use high school to be prepared for any direction.

I won’t let fear and anxiety over the future claim the joys we have today. Our time together is more important.

We will continue to read fantasy books and build legos for as long as that season is upon us. We will also plan and explore new things, Italian and History, because they interest him. Now, at 16 years old, he still doesn’t know what he wants to do, but that’s okay. I’m keeping the lines of communication open.

Homeschooling is a gift of relationships, time, education, and beauty.

If you’ve got a teen who knows exactly what they want to do and how they are going to achieve it, then that’s awesome, and I’m cheering you and them on from the sidelines! But if you are like me and have a reluctant teen who has no idea, that’s okay, too! I’m still cheering from the sidelines!

Remember, many 18-year-olds don’t know what they want to do for a career.

Don’t feel the need to rush. Seek their input about subjects and classes they may enjoy and choose the rest for them if you need to. Goals and interests evolve over time. Continue to pivot when needed.

Pray daily for guidance. Trust your intuition and trust your kiddo to mature and develop as they age.

Do what works best for your family. Have every faith that it will turn out right in the end.

How do you handle it in your homeschool when your teen doesn’t have a plan? I’d love to hear!

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!

Planning a High School Homeschool Year for a Teen with Learning Differences – by Erin Vincent of Nourishing My Scholar

Summer is in full swing, meaning ice cream cones, s’mores, campfires, sleeping under the stars, and planning for the upcoming school year. It seems like we finished our school year only last week, but I am, diligently plodding through curriculum ideas, books, and videos. Jotting down notes and objectives.

I actually enjoy the planning stages of homeschooling high school. As new books and planners arrive, things always seem fresh and full of unique purpose. There’s nothing I love more than getting new books! Unless, of course, it’s used books!

So, how am I planning high school for a kiddo with learning differences such as ADHD, Dysgraphia, and slow processing speed, to name a few? A teen with learning challenges sometimes requires a different approach to school.

Planning a High School Homeschool Year

I start by looking at what has worked in the past. Eleven years ago, we started homeschooling, and I had no idea what worked. But now I’ve got some inclinations.

I get my son in on the planning process. After all, it’s his education. He’s requested more books this year and to study Ancient History.

Think about how your children learn best. For my upcoming sophomore, that means books, videos, audiobooks, and hands-on activities.

What didn’t work? Writing is the bane of his existence. What assistive technology can be used to help?

Consider all these thoughts and others more specific to your teen’s needs as you plan your next school year and make it what you and your teen want it to be.

Setting Goals and Priorities

Next, set the goals and priorities based on what may or may not be required by your state or umbrella school, or maybe you have no regulations, and mom gets to decide what everything looks like.

We are planning my son’s high school year and are looking at the credits needed to graduate per our umbrella school.

Here’s what that looks like so far for my out-of-the-box sophomore:

• English II with a selection of books he and I have decided on, along with WriteShop I & II. We spent one day reading the synopsis of over 30 books to help us narrow down to 10 we felt were a good fit.
• Geometry with Denison Success Geometry because Denison Success Algebra worked so well for him last year. This kid struggles with attention and math, so the Success version works best for him.
• Italian I with a tutor on Outschool, helping craft an Italian course specific to my son’s needs, along with short videos and Duolingo as a supplement. This Outschool tutor has previously offered Italian courses, and my son adored them. I reached out to her and told her about what we needed. She recommends the Ciao Italian book (afflink) to go along with his tutoring with her.
• Biology with a standard Holt biology textbook, four living science books on audible, Crash Course videos, teachers pay teachers worksheets to coincide with the Crash Course videos, and Kristin Moon’s self-paced biology lab videos. We will also incorporate hands-on activities as needed.
• History with a collection of prehistory and ancient history encyclopedias, living books, plus hands-on activities.
• Home Economics – My son wants to learn more about cooking, sewing a button onto his shirt, mending a sock, etc. So, we are going to explore all things home ec this year!
• P.E. with Taekwondo five nights per week. He’s been taking Taekwondo for two years and only has one year left before he tests for his blackbelt!

Don’t forget as you start planning your homeschool year to use what you already have on hand when possible!

Eek, I know; the new curriculum sounds so much better and is so pretty. But there is something to be said for using books and curriculum that you already have. I have several encyclopedias on ancient history that we’ll re-use. There are several others I would like, but this saves me time and money.

Remember to be flexible and pivot when need be. Even as he ages, a multisensory approach has been critical for my teen.

Yes, he did create a Lego model of an animal cell last week. I find that various options for each subject work better than having a single curriculum straight out of the box.

When it comes to planning a high school homeschool year, learning differences are not a one size fits all, and neither are the ways in which we should approach them.

Do what works best for your family and your out-of-the-box teen. Get them in on the planning process and watch as you both come together to create a dynamic team and a memorable homeschool year!

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!

3 Tips for a Successful Poetry Teatime – Written by Erin Vincent of Nourishing My Scholar

“Mama, can we have poetry teatime?”

My 10-year-old asked me this simple question, and I thought, why not? There was no reason to say no to such a delightful request.

She proceeded to set the table while I gathered our poetry books. She requested her favorite poem, “Tyger”, by William Blake. We discovered some sugar cookies in the fridge that needed to be baked and a box of snack cakes in the cupboard.

I asked my 15-year-old if he’d like to join us, and he agreed, though he did request some Edgar Allen Poe. I put the kettle on to boil and got out our musical teapot. We spent the next 45 minutes taking turns reading poetry.

The wafts of freshly baked cookies filled the air, and our teapot trilled a little tune every time we picked it up. That was our most recent poetry teatime, and I call that a homeschool win.

We’ve enjoyed the simplicity of poetry teatime for over ten years. Since then, we’ve discovered our favorite poetry books, snacks, and tea. There are no hard rules for poetry teatime.

However, you may find a few of these tips helpful.

3 Tips for a Successful Poetry Teatime

1. Treats

While poetry is beautiful and speaks to my soul on many levels, it’s not what initially hooked my kids. Nope. What got my kids loving poetry at first was the treats!

Whether it was a homemade dessert or a little Debbie cake out of the package, my kids love treats. Of course, my son was only five years old when we started having poetry teatime, so yummy snacks were an absolute must. Find what your kids love and present that along with the poetry.

I read poetry, or we take turns reading until the treats and tea run out. Simple as that.

2. Tea

Then there is the tea. There is a wide range of tea, and experimenting with different types was fun. We discovered some we hated and others that we adored.

My son’s favorite is Bengal Spice with a splash of milk, while my daughter loves fruity teas. Sometimes we wouldn’t have tea at all, but hot chocolate or cider instead. How about a lemonade poetry teatime on a hot, sunny summer day?

Also, I never went out and bought a fancy tea set. Rather we’ve collected tea cups and teapots over the years from yard sales, thrift shops, etc.

3. Poetry

We’ve gathered poetry books from bookstores, thrift stores, library sales, and many other places. If we see a new one at the library, we’ll check it out too. Many poetry books have crossed our threshold and made appearances at our teatimes, and we are better for them.

They have taught us much in the way of nature, seasons, love, and the human spirit. Not to mention imagery, patterns, and rhyming.

Poetry teatime doesn’t have to be planned. It can be as simple or as extravagant as you want to make it. Add a vase of flowers, a fancy table cloth or candles if you like.

Do it on a whim, when your children ask, or every Tuesday of the week. Whatever works for you is the best way. That’s the beauty in the freedom that homeschooling provides.

You can do whatever works for your family. Poetry teatime is coming together over a lovely table with tea, treats, and poetry, which helps bring a love of words and rhymes in a gentle way. Make it look and feel how you want it to look and feel, even poetry teatime.

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 when Distracted ~
Written by Erin Vincent

I was waiting for my package to arrive.

I tracked its long and arduous journey across four states. Several times daily, I would check my email and click the track package hyperlink to see if it was any closer to arriving. I was excited, folks!

And that’s when it happened.

Like a good homeschool mom, my mind was focused elsewhere when I gave my son his chapter 13 Algebra test. This test will live in infamy in our household from henceforth.

Why, may you ask?

Because if I had been paying attention to the parent Algebra manual instead of thinking about my impending package, I would have noticed that there was no chapter 13 Algebra test.

My son’s math curriculum skipped from chapter 13 to chapter 14 without a chapter test.

What I had given my son was the chapter 14 Algebra test. He stared at it blankly and proceeded to give it his best shot. After an hour or so, he came to me to inform me that he had never seen problems like this before and didn’t know how to do them.

Without checking on the here and now, I told him that he would have to re-watch his math videos because surely the curriculum went over similar problems and explained how to do them…

Yeah, homeschool mom of the year award over here!

At least I told him he could wait until the next day to re-watch the videos. He assured me that his curriculum had never addressed problems like these.

Then I thought maybe I should double-check the parent’s manual and the tests. You know, to cover all our bases.

That’s when I realized what had happened. My son had never seen math equations like this before! I immediately apologized to my son for my oversight, and now we have a running joke in our home about never before seeing quadratic equations.

Homeschooling When Distracted

How did I let this happen?

I was hyper-focused on something other than homeschooling my teenager. I was distracted, and that caused the mistake.

This was not homeschooling on auto-pilot. Distracted homeschooling is what I’d accomplished.

Homeschooling on auto-pilot has its place and time, such as during an illness, a new baby, or major life changes. It can be a great way to help you through tough times because you are focused on the bare essentials of homeschooling.

Homeschooling distracted, on the other hand, was my unintentional error.

But I’m not letting it get me down. It’s easy to get distracted by various things, such as incoming packages, impending holidays, home renovations, surprise guests, children all vying for your attention, etc. What about that time our herd of goats escaped into the road? Some people call that chaos.

I call it a normal Tuesday. The point is that distractions happen all the time.

Most of the time, I’m really good about dealing with these challenges while maintaining our rhythm. But that one little package got me this time.

The important thing is to learn from my mistake and to have a sense of humor about the whole thing.

I’m determined to be more focused while providing grace for myself because I will inevitably mess up again. I am only human.

I hope this encourages you when you homeschool while distracted and sometimes make mistakes.

Don’t be too hard on yourself, friend. You can do this.

Are you a GOOD or BAD homeschool mom? Take Jamie’s NEW QUIZ now to find out!

Erin’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 10- and 15-year-old) ~
 Written by Erin Vincent of Nourishing My Scholar

7:30 am – I am up and groggily swap out my pajamas for real clothes and winter boots. I have no little kids to wake me up in the mornings anymore, but I have a 115-pound Great Pyrenees dog to take for a walk before anything else. It’s a cold winter morning here in the mountains of east Tennessee; cold and wet.

I won’t see the kids for a few more hours. They are not morning people. Though my 15-year-old does manage to get up early on the days he goes to his part-time job without prompting from me.

So I take the mornings for self-care. After beating breast cancer last year, I now prioritize my health.

8 am – I scroll Facebook and Instagram for a few minutes while I make my coffee. I decide to make pancakes for breakfast.

8:30 am – After finishing the pancakes, I change into workout attire and head for the treadmill.

9 am – I finish walking on the treadmill, shower, and change.

9:30 am – I do some light yoga stretches while I wait for the children to wake up. I’ve found stretching helps with both my mobility and reduces my anxiety.

10 am – My 10-year-old daughter Jade wakes up and wants to snuggle. We like to watch funny cat videos while she sits on my lap.

10:15 am – My daughter eats the pancake breakfast I made while listening to The Land of Stories audiobook. (afflinks) She’ll listen to audiobooks all day long if I let her, and most of the time, I do!

Getting Started with Our Homeschool Day

10:45 am – While we have a very eclectic and unschooly homeschool, a few “must-do’s” are required nearly daily. Those “must-do’s” include math and reading. My daughter starts her Kitten Math workbook while I start the dishes.

She’s doing a combo of her Kitten Math workbook and Teaching Textbooks for her math. She loves the fun factor of Kitten Math, and I love that we are filling any holes in learning with her Teaching Textbooks.

As I do the dishes, I listen to the Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast on when a child has a diagnosis. It is so good. I highly recommend this podcast if you have children that are gifted or have learning disabilities, or both.

11:15 am – My daughter watches the show MythBusters while I clean the kitchen.

11:45 am – After an episode of MythBusters, my daughter settles in to read a chapter of Inkheart. This is a well-loved and well-worn book. I take the dog out again.

12:oo pm – My son Gabriel wakes up and eats what’s left of the pancakes while my daughter eats lunch.

12:15 pm – After he clears his place at the table, he gets started on his chores; empty the trash, sweep the kitchen, and give the chickens and goats fresh water.

12:45 pm – My daughter takes it upon herself to write a story based on a forest game she plays in the evenings. Her story is about a mama bear and her three cubs. I love her creativity and encourage her to write and expand her love of gaming with writing.

She has several different games that simulate animals in different environments. She loves coming up with new and unique stories about the different animals in their different biomes. Tomorrow we’ll go over the grammar and punctuation of her story.

A Homeschooling Afternoon

1:00 pm – The doorbell rings. It’s the little girl next door that is also homeschooled. She comes over nearly every day at 1 pm.

She and my daughter love to create stories and do art with pencils and watercolors together. They will spend the rest of the afternoon playing together, either inside or outside on the swing set.

2:00 pm – Now that my son’s chores are done, he starts on his Wondrium/Great Courses videos on psychology. He loves these courses, and they are perfect for an audio/visual learner like him.

3:00 pm – My son has a guitar lesson with Gentle Guitar. He’s been taking lessons for over four years. He and his teacher like to take music from his favorite video games and compose them specifically for the guitar.

It’s awesome to witness. Today they are working on a music composition from the game Ark.

3:30 pm – Now that the guitar lesson is over, it’s time for math. Math is not his favorite subject, but my son is doing well with Denison Success Algebra.

4:00 pm – My son starts another Wondrium/Great Courses video on World War II as part of a modern history course. I take the dog out again.

5:00 pm – I start to make dinner.

5:30 pm – The neighbor girl is called home for dinner, and my daughter starts to play Minecraft until our dinner is ready.

A Homeschool Evening

6:00 pm – My son and I go over his Brave Writer Boomerang for the book he’s been reading, Divergent.

6:30 pm – Dinner is ready, and my husband comes home. He’s only home long enough to change, and then he and my son head off for their Tae Kwon Do class.

7:00 pm – My daughter and I settle in to watch more MythBusters until bedtime. We usually watch some educational shows in the evenings while my husband and son are at Tae Kwon Do.

9:00 pm – I take the dog out one last time. My husband and son returned from their martial arts class. They fill me in on new techniques and sparring that happened.

They only have another year and three months before they become black belts!

10:00 pm – Bedtime for me and my daughter! I’m exhausted. But my husband and son will stay up and either play a game or watch a show together. It’s part of their guy time, as I call it.

Not all days look the same with our unschooly/eclectic approach to homeschooling. Some days are filled with more games, movies, or books.  We are always learning and growing in a way that works best for each kid and for us as a family.

Thanks for following along!

My, how the days have changed:

• 2022: Erin’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 9-, and 14-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!

3 Simple Christmas Activities for Your Homeschool ~ Written by  Erin Vincent

It’s been a tumultuous year, folks. This was the year I received a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, all in a few months. I am blessed beyond measure to be able to say I am now cancer free.

But a diagnosis like that leaves its mark. You realize more than ever the essential things in your life; faith, family, and friends. But I also realize how it’s not just the importance of these things but the time we impart to each one.

I’m not trying to fill our holidays with endless activities; I want simple. I’ve had enough hectic and hurrying to last the rest of the year. I want to lean into this season intentionally while maintaining peace and a sense of tranquility.

So, while we put the textbooks away and the children memorize their lines for the upcoming nativity play, I have a couple of simple activities we’ll be doing in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

3 Simple Christmas Activities for Your Homeschool

If you’re looking for simple activities to help you celebrate Christmas with your children, then you can’t go wrong with cooking, art, and music!

1. Cooking

Whether making your family’s favorite holiday dishes or popping open a can of Pillsbury sugar cookies, you can’t go wrong with getting into the kitchen with your kiddos this holiday season. 

Christmas Around the World with Cookies is a fun unit study you can incorporate that takes you through 32 countries and their Christmas traditions, all while making cookies. We’ve enjoyed these fun and tasty treats that span the globe.

The recipes have been simple so far and delicious to boot.

We also like to put orange slices in the oven for a few minutes to create dried orange slices for decoration. Take a few fresh end pieces, add a cinnamon stick and some cloves to a small pot of boiling water, and suddenly the house smells like Christmas time!

2. Art

Chalk pastels are another super simple Christmas activity you can incorporate into your holiday homeschool. There are many festive Christmas chalk pastel art lessons for kids and parents alike.

A You ARE An Artist Clubhouse membership offers 800+ video art lessons, including the Grinch, the Nutcracker, Nativity themes, and much more.

It’s so fun to set the table for a chalk pastel teatime with our favorite treats and beverages, a pack of construction paper, and the Christmas-themed video art lessons. I’ve also been known to add a string of Christmas lights or two to the table for that warm holiday glow.

3. Music

Finally, did you know that your family can study the Christmas carols you’re already listening to on the radio and in the grocery store? That’s right, a Christmas carol study with SQUILT is a perfect way to enjoy Christmas school with a bit of music appreciation thrown in for good measure.

You and your children don’t need to know how to play an instrument to learn about the music we hear during the holidays.

Our holiday homeschool will incorporate more faith, family, and friends this Christmas. And to make it simpler, we’ll focus more on cooking, art, and music as we count down to one of the most precious days of the year.

I hope this inspires you to make your Christmas more simple and enjoyable this year, too!

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!

3 Steps to Tame the Beast of Homeschool Anxiety ~
Written By Erin Vincent of Nourishing My Scholar

My homeschool anxiety has hit an all-time high recently. Suddenly I’m anxious and overthinking:

Am I teaching my kids everything they need to succeed? Will I fail them in the long run? Are they getting enough socialization? What about high school electives? Are we doing too much? Maybe we’re not doing enough!

Why is my brain acting like a runaway train with thoughts and ideas that feel overwhelming? Guess what? Sometimes homeschool parents get anxious.

I’m a chronic over-thinker. Sometimes it turns into a full-blown anxiety attack! We can’t always explain why our brains do the things they do.

Here are three proactive steps we can take to calm the fear and worry when they rear their ugly heads.

Taming the Beast of Homeschool Anxiety

1. Breathe.

Deep breath. It’s normal to get a little anxious from time to time. Deep breaths can help as can prayer/meditation.

Sometimes there is no “real” reason for my anxiety. Suddenly my brain just starts opening browser tabs of worry and doesn’t want to stop. When I’m in the midst of a full-blown anxiety attack, I focus on taking slow, deep breaths and the 5-4-3-2-1 method.

• 5 things I can see
• 4 things I can hear
• 3 things I can touch
• 2 things I can smell
• 1 thing I can taste

Once my anxiety passes I focus on the next steps.

2. Are there any “real” areas of concern? If so, take action!

Are there any “real” concerns? Many times, for me, there isn’t. My mind was just going off the rails of worry.

But I always take inventory of my thoughts and prayerfully ask if there is an area of concern I need to truly be worried about.

When I felt like I might be failing my son because I suspected a learning disability, I made sure to tailor his education to his unique needs.

When I felt that still wasn’t making enough of a difference and I wanted clearer answers my husband and I took him for a complete neuropsych evaluation. They discovered that he had ADHD as well as Dysgraphia.

The psychologist provided a more detailed way of tailoring his education even further to address his learning challenges. This eased my anxiety about if I was doing enough while providing me with a doable plan of action. Doable plans of action are helpful for mommas like me!

3. Remember to find the JOY!

Many things help bring us joy and I like to start by writing in my gratitude journal each day. It helps to solidify in my mind all of my many blessings. It’s a great deal harder to be anxious when you’re overflowing with joy and gratitude.

Getting outside as well as regular exercise helps a ton too! Both aid to increase serotonin which assists in lifting depression and anxiety symptoms.

Maybe that’s why those nature walks are so great for our mental well-being.

Homeschool Anxiety Doesn’t Have to Consume You

We all overthink at times and some of us deal with a very real anxiety monster. But we don’t have to let that beast steal our homeschool joy and contentment.

If anxiety is getting in the way of your day-to-day life, then talk to your doctor. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. We’re all just parents trying to do the best we can.

It’s okay to feel what you’re feeling, and it’s also okay when those worries and fears are too much.

Talk them out with someone you can trust so you can get back to enjoying the gift of homeschooling.

What helps you the most when your homeschool anxiety flares up?

What’s Your Child’s Learning Style? Take Jamie’s new quiz now and set yourself up for homeschooling success by understanding the way they learn best!

4 Reasons Why We Love Using Unit Studies In Our Homeschool ~
Written by Erin of Nourishing My Scholar

My children have always had intriguing interests: dinosaurs, the ocean, national parks, mythical creatures, WWII, frogs, and many more.

Sometimes their interests are fleeting, like when they watch for the spring birds to arrive. Other passions last for years, like my son and his obsession with WWII or how both children have been raising goats for several years.

Most interests fall somewhere in the middle, and many start with a simple book or question that needs answering.

Unit studies are different from traditional homeschooling because kids focus on a single subject, such as birds, gardening, the black plague, or ancient Egypt, to name a few. My children often learn reading, writing, history, and science by studying a single topic!

I like to start by strewing interesting items, books, and hands-on activities. Then I gauge my children’s interests. I don’t go all-in at once, but “feed” them a bit more of a subject as they digest what’s already been served.

Sometimes my children discover new interests all on their own, but the best unit study covers a subject my child is passionate about.

4 Reasons Why We Love Using Unit Studies In Our Homeschool

1. They are all-encompassing

When integrating math, reading, history, science, social studies, geography, and art, you encompass the subject in a real-world learning style.

My children have always learned best this way, and they retain more information the more in-depth their study.

2. Everyone is learning together

Children of all ages and different levels can learn together with unit studies which makes it great for families with varied age ranges. I’ll never forget the time we made a unit study out of getting a Great Pyrenees puppy! 

We learned the history of the Great Pyrenees dog breed, the geography of the breed, the children tracked the growth of our new puppy with charts, and we read great books and watched videos about Great Pyrenees and basic dog training.

3. Unit Studies Allow for Deep Dives

Unit Studies bring out the best in a subject. You never know how deep a dive into a topic you will go or how much fun you’ll have. Follow all the rabbit trails of learning you like when diving into an interest.

Whether my children are interested in geography, science, history, or anything in between, unit studies help us travel paths unknown through their interests.

Unit studies in our homeschool offer a way for dynamic and engaging learning that is curated specially for my kiddo’s unique needs.

4. Our interests, not a rigid curriculum, lead our learning

I talk with my children about their interests, then map out the different subjects I’ll cover with our unit study.

Once I have a topic in mind, then I feed my children’s passions with some of the following:

• Read alouds and books on the subject
• Hands-on activities that include art, origami, puzzles, science experiments, etc.
• Worksheets if and when they suit us
• YouTube videos, movies, and documentaries that fit our theme
• Educational games
• Field trips to zoos, museums, 75th D-Day celebrations, the beach, etc.

It’s simple and inexpensive to steward this process, and we don’t need a curriculum!

Unit studies in our homeschool have worked well for my family’s learning style. We have reaped so many educational benefits as well as building life skills. What’s not to love about that?!

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!

Homeschooling High School: Taming the Fear in 3 Steps ~
Written by Erin Vincent of Nourishing My Scholar

High school is looming, and I suddenly feel lost and full of fear. This homeschool terrain feels different. There are transcripts, SATs, ACTs, dual enrollment, and colleges to think about; additional requirements come with those.

What about trade school or entrepreneurship? Not every high school path leads to college. But suddenly, our lovely interest-led homeschool feels boxed in.

Prefer to listen instead?

As if these thoughts weren’t enough to stress this mama out, there is the fact that my son has reached the ripe old age of 14-years old! He’s transformed into a hormonal, moody creature who prefers to hoard dishes in his room like a dragon hoards its treasure.

How do I traverse this new era of life? This life with a teenager taller than me who says he isn’t interested in anything except gaming and his friends. He has no idea what he wants to do when he graduates.

Am I the only mom facing this scenario? Am I just overthinking it all?

Maybe, but here are three ideas that are helping me navigate this unfamiliar territory:

Homeschooling High School: Taming the Fear in 3 Steps

1. Know you are not alone.

I recently discovered that I am not the only one facing a similar scenario. In one of the Homeschooling High School Facebook groups I’m in with over 32K members, there was a poll about what your teenager wanted to do when they graduated. While tons of kids know precisely what they want to do, just as many have no clue!

Imagine my relief to see we weren’t the only ones!

I decided to reach out to my mom friends who had already graduated their kiddos about my high school fears. They laughed good-naturedly and talked me out of my hyperventilation. Veteran homeschool moms are a wealth of encouragement and wisdom.

But if you don’t have any of these tremendous friends who have been through the trenches and come out the other side, you may want to read a few helpful posts written by veteran homeschoolers.

These helped calm my nerves too:

• 5 (Surprising) Things You Should Know About Homeschooling High School

• Homeschooling High School Without Driving Yourself and Your Teens Crazy

• 5 High School Truths I Wish I’d Known

• Keeping The Spark Alive In Middle and High School

• Homeschool Through High School? You Really Can!

• Parent’s Guide: Prepping For High School

2. Listen to Your Teenager.

My big takeaway from all of the above was that homeschool is not public school!

I knew that; we’ve been homeschooling for nine years! But somehow, it didn’t feel true.

Sure, your child may need three or four science credits, depending on their possible college route. They may need labs and four math credits. Maybe college isn’t their path of choice and that’s okay too.

It’s not as scary as I was making it out to be. There is still much freedom in our choice to homeschool.

I just had to listen to my son.

My son does have interests outside of friends and gaming. He’s obsessed with J. R. R. Tolkien and Psychology! So I started scouring the internet looking for resources that we could use to build upon those interests and create course credits for English and Social Studies.

My son loves history and has mentioned wanting to study ancient civilizations next year, which would be an additional social studies course.

And math is a no-brainer. We are using Mr. D Algebra 1 next year.

My son wants to continue with his Italian lessons, so I’ll be looking for a few more resources to bulk it up. Now I’m just looking for a good science program.

3. Remember that you’re in this together.

Talk with your teenager about his or her goals and interests. It’s crucial to keep those lines of communication open.

By genuinely listening to what they’re saying and helping to facilitate their educational path, we build better relationships while creating a homeschool as unique as they are.

After a tumultuous week of hormones, research, and tears on my part, I presented a few more ideas to my son. And this was his response to me:

“Mama, I love you.”

I love you too!

“Thank you for everything you’re doing for me.”

Of course, you’re welcome!

“I just felt like it needed to be said.”

My heart wanted to explode with happiness and my fear was tamed. I’m confident now that I can make all of this work for my son. And you can do the same.

You can and will have success in your homeschool with your high schooler! Just remember that you are not alone, to listen to your teen, and that you’re in this together.

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!