How to Homeschool a Kid Who Hates to Write ~
Written by Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy

For whatever reason, some kids hate to write.

I don’t mean they dislike it, or they’d rather not today, thank you. No, I’m talking about those kids for whom writing “The cat sat on the mat,” requires the physical effort and mental stamina of climbing Pike’s Peak (but probably with a lot more fussing, whining, crying and arguing).

These kids aren’t faking: writing is genuinely difficult for them. (Especially when they’re young, and especially for boys.)

Your challenge as a teacher, a parent, and an academic coach is to keep their disdain for handwriting from turning into a hatred of school, which happens all too often because the thing they hate most (handwriting) permeates every subject.

Thankfully, most writing haters get over it–without intervention–by 4th or 5th grade.

But until then, these tips will help you — and your child — cope.

9 Tips: How to Homeschool a Kid who Hates to Write

1. As far as you can, eliminate the writing in every subject but writing. 

The goal is simply to master the material.

2. Do the work out loud.

Instead of written worksheets, try oral drills for math facts, phonics, translations, fill-in-the-blanks, paragraph summaries, etc. Or, do the worksheet but do it out loud.

3. Use stickers.

If your child is completing a worksheet, try writing the answers on small stickers in advance. Your student can then place the correct sticker in the appropriate spot for his answer. (This has the advantage of feeling like a game.)

4. Make it a matching game.

With a little advance work on your part, your child can match up Spanish nouns with their meanings, coins with their names, states with their capitals, dates with historical facts, and anything else you can think of.

5. Play “secretary” for your student.

They dictate, you record. This lets your creative child get their stories, summaries, or science observations out of their head and onto paper.

6. Get creative with spelling word practice.

To practice “writing” spelling words, let your child “spell” the words with his finger in a shallow container of rice, sand, beans, or water. No paper or pencil required.

7. Consider starting typing early.

We started our pencil-hating kids on a typing program at age seven (at their request!), but kids as young as five can begin typing lessons.

8. When your kid must write, equip them with coping strategies to help them handle it better, or let them find their own.

My writing-haters self-soothed by swinging, spinning and sprinting down the driveway, preferably before and after handwriting time.

9. Make the writing easier:

• Switch to markers or smoothly gliding pens.
• Ditch the paper for a dry erase board.

These tips and tricks require a little extra work on your part to implement.

But if your writing hater still loves school (well, except for handwriting class) I hope you’ll agree with me: it’s worth it.

Do you have (or have you had) a student who hates to write? We need your tips, tricks and coping strategies!

5 (surprising) things you need to know about homeschooling high school ~
Written by Shawna Wingert of Different by Design Learning

For seven years now, I have been sharing our homeschool journey here on Simple Homeschool.

My oldest was eleven at the time. My youngest was eight.

It’s been a wonderful, crazy, joyful, stressful, sometimes devastating, sometimes rewarding, always worthwhile seven years.

Today, I find myself helping one child graduate high school, and the other prepare to begin it. My oldest only has six weeks left in his educational journey with me. My youngest has six weeks plus the next four high school years.

Prefer to listen instead?

I think because my oldest is preparing for life after high school homeschool, I find myself reflecting on what I know now about the high school years (that I never would’ve thought possible back when we started).

The truth is, most of the past four years feel like blur. They went by so much faster than his younger years homeschooling. They went by faster, but they were also, frankly, so much more fun.

Our days have became equally interesting for all of us. Because they are older, their interests more closely resemble my own. Our discussions about current events, history, and art are far more engaging than I thought possible.

It’s hard to think about it coming to an end, at least with one of them.

With this in mind, I wanted to share the things I wish I’d known about homeschooling high school before we were actually homeschooling high school. If I could go back in time to the mom I was seven years ago, this is what I would tell her.

5 Things You Need To Know About Homeschooling High School

1. Homeschooling High School Doesn’t Have To Be Totally Different From The Younger Years.

When we were preparing for my oldest to begin his freshman year, I thought it would be totally different.

I mean, this is high school right? Doesn’t it need to be more rigorous and less, well, fun?

Turns out, my son’s high school years looked a lot like every other year: interest-led, hands-on, project based learning.

At the end of his senior year, I can honestly say that it worked. We had already figured out how he learns best. I am so glad we didn’t change that to fit some idea of how high school is supposed to be!

2. Don’t Be Afraid Of High School Transcripts and Course Credits.

I was terrified of the transcript at first. It felt formal and threatening.

Turns out, it wasn’t really that hard. In fact, after I figured out how I wanted to do it, I actually looked forward to completing his transcript each semester. It felt like an observable measure of progress (something that can be really hard to come by as a homeschool mom!).

This post by Kara, really helped me relax about my son’s transcript.

3. Your Role Will Change Over The Four Years (and that’s OK).

I was a little taken aback by how quickly my role began to change as my son progressed through the high school years.

I went from being the one in charge of all of things to the one who needs to buy all the things and drive him to all the things. It was a little disconcerting at first, but it was exactly what needed to happen. My son developed a sense of engagement in his learning and independence that we had never seen before.

It’s worth being the accountant and the driver, instead of the teacher sometimes.

4. Your Child Will Have More Opinions (and that’s OK).

Of course it’s okay, right?

I know this to be true in my heart, but I can tell you that when my son had a very strong opinion about applying to four year colleges (he wanted to, I thought it was not a great fit for him) – I missed the years of him pretty much learning the way I thought he should learn.

Homeschooling high school is also just parenting a high schooler. It includes letting go when it’s time (cue tears).

5. The Memories Are Irreplaceable.

Oh my goodness, this one also makes me tear up a little, but it’s true.

The memories we have created together, especially as my son has become more and more of an adult, are precious to me in a way that is quite different from the younger years.

I am not sure I can put it all into words, but this is what I know – these high school years are when homeschooling and being with my kids all the time really started to get good.

I wouldn’t trade the memories we’ve made these past four years for anything.

There is so much more I could share.

I could tell you how impressed I was with my son’s college essays. I could tell you how worried I am about the giant step he is taking in heading off to college in the fall.

But I won’t. What I want to tell you is this – homeschooling high school has been one of the greatest experiences of my life and I am so grateful to be able to do it all over again with my youngest.

Maybe check back in four years. I will let you know how it goes.

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!

Are homeschooled kids weird?
~ Written by Sarah Small

Admit it. Somewhere deep in your heart, you’ve wondered, especially if you’ve ever heard someone say, “I know a homeschooling family at my church. Those kids are weird!”

Prefer to listen instead? Look for Episode 86 of the podcast!

Haven’t we all asked ourselves: Are homeschooled kids weird? Will my kids be weird?

Weird. Normal. We all have our own definitions. You might say, “I don’t want my kids to be ‘normal’ by today’s standards!” And you might also say, “I don’t want my kid to be labeled as a weirdo!”

But here’s the thing:

All kids are weird.

That’s normal. I mean, when I was a kid—in the privacy of my own home—I stuck black olives on all my fingers and ate them off, one by one. That’s weird, right? Of course I didn’t eat black olives at public school, but if I had, I would not have eaten them off my fingers one by one.

I would have known that was weird because some kid would have announced to the entire cafeteria: “THAT GIRL IS EATING OLIVES OFF HER FINGERS LIKE A WEIRDO!” Even those kids that had a secret desire to emulate me would have shriveled and mocked me. I would have been forever known as Olive Girl.

Here’s what’s different about homeschoolers. At my homeschooling co-op, if one kid were eating black olives off his fingers, I can guarantee that the rest of them would be doing it within seconds. Because weird is good. Weird is normal.

I eat black olives like a “normal” person now, although my husband would argue that no “normal” person even eats olives. But you know what? Without any coaching from me, I swear, my youngest son does this.

Because 99.9% of kids (totally made-up statistic) are innately weird, creative, silly, funny, uninhibited, and terribly clever—if they are allowed to be.

I remember distinctly a day when my firstborn son was in kindergarten in public school. He wanted to wear his kilt and sheepskin vest to school. “Sweetie, you can’t wear a kilt to school,” I told him. I hated to tell him why, but I had to.

“You can only wear your kilt at home. Kids don’t wear kilts to school.”

I squashed his weirdness. I had to, for his sake.

Fast forward several years, when this same kid was 13 and had been homeschooled since we pulled him out of public school after first grade. One day we found, stuffed in the back of a closet, a llama-hair poncho that my husband once brought back from South America.

My son was ecstatic! For months he wore that poncho everywhere, including our homeschooling co-op. He also wore John Lennon-type sunglasses and t-shirts with ties.

And yep, I’m sure the kids thought he was weird. But they didn’t care because they were weird, too.

My son has graduated college now. I asked him recently what some of the best aspects about homeschooling were. One of the things he said was this:

“I had the chance to be a quirky, weird, and creative kid without intense ridicule. I was then able to develop that all into socially acceptable quirkiness as a college student.”

“Socially acceptable quirkiness” usually translates to “outside-the-box” thinking. What is one of the top qualities that employers in most fields look for in employees? Innovation and creativity—outside-the-box thinkers.

Childhood weirdos.

Homeschooling allows kids to be weird when it’s okay to be weird.

As your kids get older, chances are they will learn to corral their quirks and develop into creative young adults who refuse to accept mediocrity and challenge the status quo.

I think we need more weirdos in our world.

So ‘fess up. Have you ever wondered it, too: Are homeschooled kids weird? Do you harbor a secret fear that people will think your kids are weird?

* Read more of Sarah’s homeschooling tips and stories from over the years

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!

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!)

• 12 Ways to Get to 11
• Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream (multiplication)
• Anno’s Counting Book
• Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar
• The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos
• Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes  (3D shapes)
• Count on Me
• Do Not Open This Math Book  (addition/subtraction)
• The Doorbell Rang (division)
• Double Puppy Trouble  (doubling)
• Each Orange Had 8 Slices
• Even Steven and Odd Todd
• Fannie in the Kitchen (measurements)
• Full House: An Invitation to Fractions
• Give Me Half!  (fractions)
• The Greedy Triangle
• How Much is a Million?
• I Love You 100  (counting to 100)
• Inchworm and a Half  (fractions)
• Just Enough Carrots  (comparison)
• Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money
• Math Fables: Lessons That Count
• Math For All Seasons: Mind-Stretching Math Riddles
• Measuring Penny
• Missing Math: A Number Mystery
• Missing Mittens  (odd/even)
• More or Less  (comparison)
• Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin
• Mummy Math: An Adventure in Geometry
• One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale  (doubling)
• One Hundred Hungry Ants
• Pebbles and the Biggest Number
• Pigs Will Be Pigs (money)
• A Place for Zero
• The Rabbit Problem
• The Reindeer Remainders  (division)
• Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!
• Tally O’Malley  (tallying)
• Ten Black Dots
• What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras?  (geometry)
• Where is Sheep 100?  (skip counting)
• Zero the Hero

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

• 5 Minute Math Problem of the Day
• The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat
• Annika Riz, Math Whiz
• The Best of Times (multiplication)
• Betcha! (estimating)
• Counting on Frank
• CSI Math Mystery for Kids
• Danica McKeller’s Math Series (Ages 12+; Perfect for adults looking to freshen up, too!)
• Daphne Draws Data: A Storytelling with Data Adventure
• Divide and Ride  (division)
• Earth Day – Hooray!  (place value)
• Eat Your Math Homework
• Fractions in Disguise (fractions)
• Game Time  (time)
• G is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book
• The Grapes of Math
• The Librarian Who Measured the Earth
• The Man Who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures
• Math Curse
• The Math Inspectors (Chapter book series – 6 titles)
• Math Mysteries: The Triple Threat
• Math Potatoes: Mind-Stretching Brain Food
• Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem Solving
• The Multiplying Menace Divides  (division)
• The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure
• The Penny Pot  (coins)
• The Phantom Tollbooth
• Pythagoras and the Ratios  (ratios)
• Shark Swimathon  (subtraction)
• The Times Machine!  (multiplication/division)
• Too Many Kangaroo Things to Do!  (multiplication)

“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. 

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 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.

* Read more of Jamie’s popular posts on Simple Homeschool 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!

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

Sarah’s homeschool day in the life ~
Written by Sarah Mackenzie of Read-Aloud Revival

A note from Jamie: Did all of you out there homeschooling littles think I forgot about you? Never! Even though many of our contributing writers currently have older kids, I wanted to reshare a post from our day in the life archives that might help some of you in the trenches with littles.

Enjoy this snapshot from Sarah Mackenzie’s homeschool – did you know Sarah was a contributing writer on SH for three years? Find all her posts here.

*****

This year we’ve got quite the crew:

• 14-year-old (8th grade) girl
• 12-year-old (6th grade) girl
• 10-year-old (5th grade) boy
• 3-year-old girl
• 2-year-old twin tornado boys … or as I’ve seen referenced elsewhere: twinados

5:38 am

My two little identical alarms run into my bedroom and wake me up. I miss the days of rising before my crew and having just a few minutes to myself, but this is not the season for it. The twins keep me running hard and long most days, so I sleep until they wake me.

The 3-year-old is not usually too far behind them. They pile on the couch under blankets and we do the early-morning-snuggle routine before getting started with first breakfast.

7:00
It’s time to wake the big kids. They have breakfast, and the toddlers settle in for second  breakfast. Then I sneak off to shower while bigs entertain littles.

Big kids get ready for the day and do a morning job each (like emptying the dishwasher or taking out the trash), and I try to kinda-sorta tidy the kitchen in preparation for the day ahead.

Sarah’s homeschool day in the life (with twin 2-year-olds & a 3-, 10-, 12-, & 14-year old)

9:00
Time for school! I used to start our school day at 8. I’ve found my stress level has decreased significantly since I took the pressure off myself to start that early.

It seemed we could start 8 if (and only if) I was a drill sergeant, so now we start at 9 and I try not to bark orders.

We begin our day with morning time. In many ways, it’s the bread and butter of our school day. It’s where I immerse my kids in truth, goodness, and beauty. We all sit together to read literature, memorize scripture, and take a dip in the liberal arts – Shakespeare, composer study, picture study, or something of that nature.

This isn’t a picture from today, but lest you think our morning time is quiet, tame and orderly — well, I can’t have that. This is what morning time looks like at our house most days.

We read, memorize, and discuss, and the toddlers cause general ruckus and mayhem. Morning time is short, important, slightly stressful, and the best part of everyone’s day.

9:45

Twenty to thirty minutes later, we move into the next chunk of our day- something we call Morning Rotations.

Getting one-on-one time with each of my school-age kids can be tricky with so many toddlers mucking about. Morning rotations are how I make sure to get some good quality time with each child every day.

Each term, I choose a subject that my kids need focused 1-on-1 time for, and we do it during this time block (right now it’s writing for all three of my school-agers).

I simply take the child I’m working with into a separate room and we close the door. One of the remaining big kids is left to supervise and entertain the twins; the other reads and does preschooly things with the 3 year old. Every 30-45 minutes for the rest of the morning, we rotate.

One big kid works with me while the others watch the littles.

It’s a great system, if I do say so myself.

By noon, we’ve completed morning time and each big kid has had 30-45 minutes with me 1-on-1. #win!

12:00
Lunch. Then the big kids clean the kitchen, and I take the littles up for rest time. Naptime boycotts are in full force, so there’s not usually any real sleeping being done these days.

Regardless, the toddlers have to stay in their bedroom to play (and make a huge mess) to give the rest of us some peace to relax and read.

1:30
What happens now depends on which day it is. Most days, it’s time set aside for the big kids to work on their spiral notebooks.

The kids more or less do the work listed in their spiral notebooks on their own. These are co-op homework assignments and anything else they can do on their own, like practicing piano or typing, listening to their history audio book, or completing a notebooking page for science. 

Basically, if it’s not part of our morning time and we aren’t doing it during our 1-on-1 time, it gets listed in the spiral notebook.

Two days each week, our math tutor comes during this time and teaches the kids their new lessons.  

This has been a tremendous help as I am, quite frankly, not a great math teacher. He assigns their work for the rest of the week while he’s here.

On Tuesdays, friends come over to do a socratic-style history and humanities class. My brilliant friend Angela teaches this, and it is easily one of the best parts of our homeschool curriculum. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

(They’re having tea and conversation about the Boston Tea Party in this picture).

3:00-ish

Late afternoons afford the kids a bit of free time. They almost always spend it reading, though I do try to convince them that there are other worthy pursuits … like listening to audio books.

Actually, when the weather is nicer, I’ll often kick them outdoors, or load them all into the 12-passenger van and head to a nearby park. If it’s a day our friends come over for humanities class, we just hang out and play with them.

4:00

Around 4, it’s time to rally. The house is usually a disaster zone by now, so we start tackling it together, and then I pair toddlers up with big kids to play while I make dinner.

5:00
My husband comes home, and we eat early. Big kids have assigned after-dinner chores, my husband takes over the whole crew, and I head to my corner bedroom office to work.

I run a podcast and community for parents who want their kids to fall in love with books. It’s nearly a full-time job, and I do most of that work during evenings and weekends.

I’m always a bit giddy to get started.

I posted this picture last week on Instagram right after working for a couple of hours. You know what I’ve discovered this last year? That as an extrovert, working outside of my homeschool is a really, really important way to take care of myself and feed my joy- it gives me so much energy!

I used to feel guilty about that, but I’m learning not to.

On evenings like this one, I head upstairs until about 9 p.m. On the day I’m documenting this post, I spent my work time preparing talks for the four conferences I’m speaking at this year. Those’ll be here before I know it, and I want to be ready!

Usually when I’m working, I’m recording podcasts, creating master classes and resources, and working with my team to line up award-winning authors like David Macaulay and Avi for our membership families to meet at live online events.

That’s John Erickson of Hank the Cowdog fame at one of our Live Author Access events, answering the kids’ questions from the chatbox. How could I not love work like this?

It can be a real challenge to juggle the demands of a career with homeschooling, homemaking, and raising my passel of peeps, but I’ve found so much energy and joy in making it happen.

9:00
Before making some tea and grabbing a book, I’ll try to look over spiral notebooks one last time, draft the kids’ school lists for the next day, and then spend some time hanging out with Andy.

It’s very likely I’ll stay up too late.

And then it’s another day.

How the days have changed:

• 2015: Sarah’s homeschool day in the life (with twin 1-year-olds & a 2-, 9-, 11- and 13-year-old)

Debbie’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 14- and 15-year-old) ~
Written by Debbie Douse of An Adventurous Education

A note from Jamie: Debbie, I have always admired the heartfelt way you pour yourself into your children as a homeschool mum. I feel so blessed to have gotten to meet you three in person – a gift I’ll always treasure! Thank you for sharing one final day in the life with us as we wrap up this series.
xo, Jamie

Morning

I wake to the sounds of the birds singing and sunlight peeping through the cracks in the curtains. It’s 7:45am, late for me. I’m still recovering from a bad chest infection so I’m gifting myself the grace of sleep.

Normally, I’d be up at 6:30 and out running or heading off to an early CrossFit class – my latest obsession!

Instead, I opt for a slow morning of prayer, writing down my morning thoughts, and a chance to chat to my husband with hands wrapped around a hot cup of tea. Neither teen will be up for a while. I’m eternally grateful that homeschooling provides this flexibility to shift our entire day to suit their new adolescent need to sleep in.

By 9am, they’re both up and after a quick brekkie and shower, they’re ready to go by 9:30.

Debbie’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 14- and 15-year-old)

To Work…

Harry and I start with his economics. He’s planning on taking an exam (a GCSE) in this subject, along with maths, in the summer. This week, he’s studying globalisation and multinationals.

Initially, we work through a Kenyan case study. He answers questions and we discuss the companies mentioned, such as Unilever, and the brands they own. Today, I can relate his work to a real-life situation as my husband James’ company has just bought part of a French data company in order to enter the French market.

After a while, I leave Harry to read and summarise the next section.

Meanwhile Rosie has started on her English, as this summer she’ll sit exams in both Literature and Language. Today, she’s working through a practice Language exam paper, but with no time pressure. Before she tackles each longer question, we read the extracts together and discuss her approach, weaving in the techniques she’s learned over the last few months.

By 10:30am, I have space to focus on prepping lunch, our main meal of the day. Today though, my heart sinks as I realise that I’d optimistically planned beef stew. This takes 3 hours to simmer, and the meat is frozen.

This infection has knocked me off my game! So, I make a quick dash to the supermarket to get ingredients for a speedy chicken stir fry.

The next part of my morning is somewhat frenetic as I juggle cooking and helping the children.

Stirring the wok with one hand, my other searches for the economics answers on my phone so I can work through another case study with Harry. Briefly we’re interrupted by Rosie asking a question and in the corner, James is getting cross with the printer!

Please tell me you can relate to the chaos…?!

Lunch

By 12:15 though, we’re all lunching, and peace is momentarily restored. I love this part of our day where it’s just the four of us chatting. Today we share fun facts and my favourite is that it’s illegal to own just one guinea pig in Switzerland as they’re social animals and would get lonely!

After lunch, as it’s such a beautiful spring day, we go for a walk around the village. We chat about our upcoming trip to India. I explain how the 1947 Partition caused the greatest forced human migration in history.

Millions of Hindus fled to Delhi – one of the cities we’ll visit. Muslims in turn left the city for safety in newly created Pakistan.

Learning through travel is a key part of our homeschool and understanding the history of a place before you visit makes the experience that much more impactful.

Afternoon

Once home, Harry switches to maths, working on circle theorems, pretty much independently, for the rest of the afternoon. Every so often he takes little breaks, for example to try to fix the old ride-on-lawnmower, tinkering away with the engine – sadly to no avail!

Rosie meanwhile puts her writing skills into practice. She starts to craft a letter to her local Member of Parliament (MP) about an issue close to our hearts. There’s a new schools bill currently being debated in parliament.

If passed, it would substantially affect the freedom of home education in the UK.

For example, the new law means that a child with any form of special educational needs would not automatically be permitted to home educate. Instead, special permission would be required, in essence discriminating against these children.

We’ve read so many books about the oppression of minority groups and courageous individuals prepared to push back. This is Rosie’s chance to stand up and be one of the brave young voices fighting for the rights of the UK homeschool community. It’s a hard task though.

She has to park the emotion sufficiently to write a persuasive letter to her MP about her homeschool journey, how it has benefitted her, the impact of the new bill and how it could be amended. It takes her the rest of the afternoon, but it’s one of the most important tasks she’s ever done!

By 4:30 pm, they’re both done with their work for the day.

Passions

Harry and I head straight out to his evening cricket session from 5-8pm, listening to the excellent podcast – No Such Thing as A Fish – en route.

We’re a passion-led homeschool, so any opportunities to develop their passions are prioritised above all else. Harry’s dream is to be a fast-bowling cricketer for England.

He’s just signed his first contract with Kent Cricket Club, to be part of their Emerging Players Pathway, the very first rung on the ladder to playing professional cricket (but there’s a very long way to go!).

This evening, he has individual sessions to practise his bowling, batting and fielding skills. It’s followed by a specialised programme in the gym.

Back home and Rosie is following her own passion: acting. She’s joined a Zoom call with the writer of the National Connections play she’s currently rehearsing, called No Regrets.

The author talks to them about his journey in becoming a playwright and performer, offering advice for their own careers and a chance to ask questions about the play.

Evening

Later, she grabs a quick dinner and jumps on another fun call with her best friend, to chat, play games and write poetry together. James collects Harry from cricket, which leaves me with a free evening for once. I take advantage with a hot bath and my new brilliant book: City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi. Bliss! (afflink)

Once the boys are home, Harry showers and eats. He then nips off to paint his Lord of the Rings figures for the Middle Earth Strategy Battle game with which he’s currently obsessed!

By 9:30pm, we’re all exhausted, and head up to bed for a reading wind down!

It’s a full-on life this homeschool world of ours, but I’m conscious it’s partly coming to an end, with Rosie possibly going to school in September.

I’m trying – in amongst the chaos – to savour every moment with these precious children.

My, how the days have changed:

• Debbie’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 13- 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 type needs most!

Jamie’s (FINAL) homeschool day in the life (with a 17-, 18-, & 19-year-old) ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin in 2023, published in 2025

A note from Jamie: In January 2023 I wrote this draft, but never published it. That’s because my son Jonathan and I also recorded a homeschool day in the life podcast episode at the same time, and I didn’t have time to finish both.

Now, as a retired homeschool mom, I do! So enjoy this never-before-seen time capsule of Martin family homeschool history, a snapshot of our final year of official homeschool life from two years ago and my final homeschool day in the life post here on SH, having joined in all 15 years! xo, Jamie

Jamie’s FINAL homeschool day in the life (with a 17-, 18-, & 19-year-old)

My how the days have changed. Yet some things stay the same.

I can’t believe that I have two homeschool graduates and my “official” days of homeschooling are nearing their end. (2025 update: Um, they ended! )

I have found that having three kids so close in age brings a different pressure to this phase of life.

It comes from helping kids launch into their next season, even as I try to figure out what my next season might be. (2025 update: Still figuring that out lol!)

Our Current Morning Rhythm

In the morning, we gather around the breakfast table with whoever happens to be home.

Instead of reading Little House or Narnia, as we once did, I now read from a devotional or Guideposts magazine, which features short, inspirational stories.

We pray together, then whoever is at home has chores to do. Next I often find myself in the van driving someone to a part-time job or volunteer opportunity. (Our two special needs teens are unable to drive.)

Finding ways to create a meaningful life for all of us is my priority for this next phase. And in that regard, it’s not all that different from our homeschool days five or 10 years ago.

If Elijah (17) is at home, we will sit down to do lessons (reading & math) together. I have been teaching this child to read for ten years now and we have not reached fluency yet. To say this has been discouraging would be an understatement.

Now we’re beginning to focus on assistive technologies to help fill in the gaps, even as we also look into our public school transitions program, which would give him services until age 22. (2025 update: This has been the biggest blessing and best fit for his past two years!)

I continue to be grateful for the holistic view of education homeschooling gave us from the very beginning -even before having a clear picture of my kids’ special needs.

We always emphasized that each child should learn at his or her own pace. That each person has strengths and weaknesses. That life is about developing your potential while leaning on others’ support in areas where you need it.

Because of this approach, I know that all of my children are in a stronger position than they would have been in the traditional school system. Their self concept and their mental/emotional health has been as much a focus as their academic development.

I once assumed that after my kids had graduated, I would have hours of extra time. (Stop laughing!)

But the time I used to devote to homeschooling I now use to help kids research and fill out job applications, prep for interviews, apply to college, and fill out the piles of paperwork that result when you are the main educator of your children.

Time Out for Me

I’m so glad that no matter what stage my kids have been in, I have always taken daily time out to read, reflect, or journal. I’m grateful for the veteran homeschool moms who encouraged me to do this even when my kids were younger.

This often looks like sitting in front of the woodstove in the winter, having to remind a child or two that I want to talk to them…but not right now.

Sometimes, if all else fails, I still can be found closing myself in the bathroom or bedroom for a few moments of quiet. (One of the things that never seems to change!)

Guardian of the Books

I pride myself in being “guardian of the books,” even to my now young adults. I can often be found researching an engaging title while also encouraging them to find inspiring books for themselves.

Jonathan and I still do our Chapter a day Book Club, which gives us a connection point even when he is out of town as he has been on his gap year. He spent ten days solo in Los Angeles working on a lighting project and has another trip lined up.

It thrilled my heart around the Thanksgiving table when he shared that homeschooling has given him a unique perspective and the ability to develop his technical skills to a high level of expertise.

All three of my kids are currently employed! It’s been fun to see them find their way to first jobs that I know they will remember forever and to see them thriving and being challenged in their own unique ways.

It’s a thrill (and also stretching to my heart) to find new ways to support them as they take these steps of independence.

We continue to have expectations for those of us who spend a day at home, including helping around the house, cooking, reading, having some version of Bible/devotional time, as well as getting outside.

Taking walks with my older teens is a regular occurrence and also a lovely time to listen to their thoughts, ask questions, and hear their hearts.

As a family with one biological child, two internationally adopted children with special needs, and four nationalities represented among us, we’re definitely not the typical homeschool family.

Yet that’s part of the reason why we chose it. I am glad that at least so far, all three of the kids remain grateful for their education and feel that homeschooling has been the best fit for them. (2025 update: They still do!)

My only regret looking back: I wish I would not have worried quite so much.

Looking back to that mom I was 10 years ago, I wish I could wrap my arms around her and tell her that even though great challenges lie ahead, it’s going to be okay.

Today, it’s my role to believe that will also be true for the next 10 years.

I know with God’s faithfulness, it will be.

Check out ALL of Jamie’s Homeschool Days:

• 2011: Jamie’s homeschool day in the life with a 5, 6, & 7-year-old (UPDATED in 2024)
• 2012: Jamie’s homeschool day in the life with a 6, 7, & 8-year-old (UPDATED in 2024)
• 2013: Jamie’s homeschool day in the life with a 7, 8, & 9-year-old (UPDATED in 2024)
• 2014: My homeschool day with an 8, 9, & 10-year-old
• 2015: My homeschool day with a 9, 10, & 11-year-old
• 2016: My homeschool day with a 10, 11, & 12-year-old
• 2017: My homeschool day with a 11, 12, & 13-year-old
• 2018: My homeschool day with a 12, 13, & 14-year-old
• 2019: My homeschool day with a 13, 14, & 15-year-old
• 2020: My homeschool day with a 14, 15, & 16-year-old
• 2021: My homeschool day with a 15, 16, & 17-year-old
• 2022: My homeschool day with a 16, 17, & 18-year-old
• 2023: My final homeschool day with a 17, 18, & 19-year-old
• Homeschool Day in the Life podcast episode #103

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 ~
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!