Tuesday, November 15, 2011

My 5 Favorite Homeschool Blogs

To ensure my own sanity, I often peruse other homeschool blogs and articles for fresh ideas, find comfort from identifying with their own horror and success stories, and frankly - to help me not feel so isolated as 'the teacher' in this adventure. When I taught in the classroom and then worked as a staff developer, I was surrounded by incredible professionals; people who I admired and respected deeply, and whose ideas and help I often depended on. At home now, it's still possible to have those conversations, but they're fewer and far between. I miss them. Thus, insert my new addiction to reading other homeschool blogs! Here are a few of my absolute favorites (all also have pages on Facebook): 


Confessions of a Homeschooler - this is my absolute favorite site. The blogger (Erica) even responds to my email questions! I dare you to limit yourself to only 5 minutes on her site (it's impossible). She is literally Wonder Woman in the flesh. UH-MAZ-ING. Writes her own geography and phonics curriculums, teaches 4 kids including a toddler, she loves Jesus, and did I tell you that she responds to my emails? I'm sure she considers me her long lost friend by now. ; )


1+1+1=1 - This mom is incredibly intentional, structured, creative, flexible and resourceful. I can only hope to be such a teacher-mom! And her kids are close to my kids' ages, so her site has been very helpful.


Toddler Approved - This site just flat ministers to me! And Ben. : )

Mama Jenn - I've seriously stolen at least 5 different ideas from her site. Literally!  Because she uses the same History/Bible/Science curriculum we use for each of the girls, and has created supplemental activities and resources for it, I love visiting her site each week to see what fun & crafty things we could do along side our studies. 

Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers - I love the title itself, and her site is very resourceful.

So there you have it! My top 5 homeschool blogs that make me smile. Hurry and go check them out! Even if you don't homeschool ... there's something for everyone on these sites (parenting, cooking/recipes, crafts/art, preschool activities, etc)!


In light of my recent sharing on here about this homeschooling learning curve, I wanted to share this particular blog post I recently read, and the sound wisdom she shared. The article was from Simple Homeschool entitled "3 Things To Do When Things Don't Follow The Plan" (you can read it here). The writer is a former public school teacher, like me, and her perspective is one I can understand! She starts her article with: 

I'm a fairly academically-minded homeschooler. It could be the former public school teacher in me. But I like to know that my kids are making progress through their curriculum. I like to know that they score at or above grade level on standardized tests. I like to know that “the experiement is working” — at least from an academic perspective. But I’m also learning to be a realist: things don’t always go according to plan.


Rather than expecting things to be perfect and always progressing, or just flat know when to be more flexible from moment to moment, she sets three goals for herself: 

  1. Remember what's important. "Make peace the goal. It does our kids no good if they become brilliant, but crabby and unkind people because Mom stressed too much or pushed too hard." 
  2. Remember that no educational system is perfect. No argument here.
  3. Ask yourself, "Is learning happening?"  Rather than marry myself to a curriculum guide or a beautifully designed and structured schedule, ensure that my children are learning, and enjoying that process. 
Now this mindset I can get behind! 

Blessings and love,
Jenn

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing these great websites. I have literally been on them for hours. My favorite is also Confessions of a Homeschooler. Erica is amazing and very helpful.
    Loves to all my favorite North Dakota people. ;)

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