What should I do if I find classical education in the middle of the cycle?

So, you have just stumble upon this wonderful method for homeschooling called classical education. Maybe you found it when a friend handed you her copy of The Well-Trained Mind. Maybe you stumbled upon the classical science series on this blog and fell in love. But no matter how you found it, you want to start using this method in your homeschool. The only problem is that your oldest is … [Read more...]

A Day in the Life a Newly Independent Learner

A few weeks ago I shared some tips for working towards independent learning in your homeschool. I wanted to revisit this topic by sharing what a day in the life of a newly independent learner looks like. My daughter, who is 11 years old, is relatively new at the full-time independent learning gig. She has been doing her own reading and math homework for quite awhile, but it wasn't until last … [Read more...]

Working towards Independence in your Homeschool

One of the key skills that we as homeschoolers can impart our students is to teach them how to learn independently. This is a gradual process, but today I want to share with you three steps for getting your students started on the road to independent learning. What is independent learning? Independent learning is a style of education that focuses on independent study under the guidance of a … [Read more...]

Science Corner: How To Write a Research Paper

Several months ago I shared with you the differences between a report and a research paper.  In a nutshell, the student writing a report does some research and churns out facts, while the student writing the research paper analyzes a topic and does some research before forming an opinion and writing a paper on a subject. In today's Science Corner, I want to share with you more about how to … [Read more...]

Perfect Curriculum Panic

It's Friday. You are set to begin school on Monday. You read on the forum, or on your favorite blog, about such and such curriculum and you begin to sweat. Your heart rate and breathing increase. Panic sets in. All the while the question races through your mind, "Is that the perfect curriculum?" I have been there friends! As homeschooling moms, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves … [Read more...]

The Index Card System

In high school, one of my teachers taught me a method for using index cards in the research phase of writing reports.  Through my college years, it developed into what I now affectionately refer to as the index card system. In a nutshell, this method uses index cards for recording facts, and then organizes these cards into a straightforward outline that the students can draw from when writing … [Read more...]