Foods 
Oh, Sugar…we have a sweet, sweet love affair with you. You’re in so much of our food—you taste so good, you make us feel good, and we constantly seek you out. If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad. Right? Wrong. Here's the truth: giving up sugar is one surefire way you can positively impact your health and the health of your whole family. Sugar has no nutritional value—there is nothing that your body needs found in sugar. There are no vitamins, minerals, or enzymes that can benefit your body in any way. Furthermore, sugar can wreak havoc on your body in many, many ways. The consumption of sugar has ...Read More
Homeschooling Homeschooling 5th Grade: Curriculum Guide
Our second-born, Cameron, finishes 5th grade this year, and we are happy to say so much of our work educating him has given way to a healthy independence. Much of his schooling this year was hands-off for us because he's grown into a self-motivated kiddo with enough foundational knowledge, he can really pursue his own education. Not that he teaches himself everything. Far from it. Rather we've been able to steer him with the help of some great curricula. Curriculum Guide for 5th Grade Math Just like the past several years with Cameron, this year we used CLE (Christian Light Education) math. This year he ...Read More
Homeschool Success: Transitioning from the Child to Teen Years
What if I told you that as a homeschool parent as your child gets older — especially once they enter their teen years — your primary job is not to pass along information. Nor is your job price-comparing the best textbooks. Your job: look for the inspiration. (Stick with me. I'll explain.) The Metamorphosis of Education Education needs to grow and morph just as our kids do. There was a time—in the elementary years—when education was like a caterpillar. You crawled along as your kids memorized times tables and painstakingly sounded out c-a-t. You watched as your kids molted one curriculum after another—new ...Read More
7 Popular Homeschool Freebies You Don’t Want to Miss
When we were new homeschool parents, even though we were excited about all the freedom and flexibility homeschooling would give us, we quietly lamented the additional cost. If we were sending our kids to the local public school, at least our tax dollars would essentially cover their education. But not so with homeschooling. The good news is there are some great freebies you can take advantage of as a homeschooler. They'll help keep your kids engaged and looking forward to what comes next! Homeschool Freebies 1. Teachers Pay Teachers This website is a treasure trove for homeschool parents. Here you’ll find over ...Read More
“Did God make them gay?” (And other tough questions Christian kids ask)
"Did God make them gay?" What a whopper of a question. I groaned a little bit inside as my inquisitive 13-year-old asked me this. He was peering over my shoulder at the computer screen. I was looking at pictures on Facebook of recent wedding pictures—two women holding hands in brides dresses. "That's an interesting question," I replied. "What do you think?" This prompted a discussion—as you can imagine, a little more than I had bargained for—about same-sex attraction. Here are my thoughts on handling the question "Did God make them gay?" So, are they born gay? Did God make them gay? Our children ...Read More
Homeschool Planning 101: Setting Realistic Goals
Moms have drastically different feelings about planning their homeschool semester or year. Do you shake and tremble, then hide in the closet at the thought of planning out the whole year? Or gleefully grab the sticky notes, pen, highlighter, and calendar? If you approach planning for the year with a sense of doubt and dread, maybe it's because you have a looming sense of fear that you aren't planning things out the right way and you'll somehow screw your child's education up forever, or maybe you're filled with boredom as you sift through everything. Or maybe you're a mom like me. We love to plan the school year. ...Read More
Stop the Homeschool Chaos: Practical Strategies for Independent Learning
If you have more than one child, you probably have come to the realization that sitting next to your child and directing their learning every single step of the way is not feasible (who has that many hours in the day?). Not only is it not feasible, you wouldn't want to do it even if you could. It is not an exaggeration to say the #1 goal of homeschooling is fostering independent learners. Of course, in one sense, there are much higher goals in education: godliness, intelligence, character, creativity, wisdom, etc. Indeed, these are goals of life—and since education is a lifelong process, they are big goals of education ...Read More
Merry Christmas! (Plus Two BIG Announcements)
This week, 101 years ago, the Great War (WWI) was ripping the world apart. By the end of the war in 1918, more than 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians would lose their lives, becoming one of the deadliest conflicts in the history of the world. But something unique happened during Christmastime in 1914... Along the Western Front, there was an unofficial ceasefire between British and German troops. On Christmas Eve, the Germans decorated their trenches in a holiday fashion and began singing carols. The British responded by singing carols of their own, and all night long they shouted Christmas greetings to ...Read More
