It’s been called the summer brain-drain – that two-month period of time in which kids seem to magically forget everything they ever learned in school. How bad is it? In most schools, teachers need to spend the first month re-teaching material that the students forgot over the summer! As a homeschooling parent, you don’t want your children forgetting everything they’ve learned and losing those good study habits they (and you) have spent so long building. How can you keep the kids learning this summer?

Homeschool Students and College Admissions

So often I hear homeschoolers ask, “But what about college?” as they consider the option of homeschooling their high school students.  “Will they get in?”, “Can they get scholarships?” and “What do I do to get them ready?”

Do you have a homeschooler who hates math?  Or perhaps you have a math whiz who needs a challenge!

Math contests can provide that extra challenge for your gifted math student or that extra motivation for that student who struggles with math.

If you’ve read my blog in the past, you know that I am passionate about writing.  I believe that with the right motivation and the right approach, any child can learn to write and write well.

The ability to convey ideas in writing has become even more essential with the advancements of technology.  An individual who can communicate well, earns respect.  And with email becoming the communication tool of choice, we must ensure that our children have the tools to write well.

I couldn’t keep myself from sharing this awesome advice from veteran homeschooler and Bridgeway Homeschool Academy Advisor, Annette Faust.

Do you sometimes feel that there are just not enough hours in the day?  Do you roll out of bed at the crack of dawn, fall back into bed long after the entire neighborhood has gone off to sleep and still feel like you need a few more hours to get everything accomplished that you set out to do? Read More. 

“Hard Work Beats Talent”

These words of wisdom were delivered to my daughters’ soccer team by their soccer coach this weekend just before they headed out on the field to their championship game.

The Power of Dictation

I had a conversation with a homeschooling friend this week whose sixth grade daughter is struggling with writing. “She is so unfocused when it comes to writing elements of our homeschooling that we end up stretching out our day into the evening or weekend just to get it done.”

Our Homeschool Road Trip was a mix of fun, learning, and the beauty of God’s creation.  Many of my readers have asked how we filled the drive time.  Well, for some of the time, we worked on specific subjects but for most of the time we found ways to take the basics and turn them into a game.  This not only helped to pass the time, but brought out the creativity in all of us.

When to be a teacher and when to be a coach is sometimes a challenging decision.

Often we are sure we can speed up the learning process if we just impart our wisdom and academic expertise to our children through a “lesson.”  So, we set aside time to go over whatever it is we are sure they need to know next, we prepare what we want to say, and we conduct our “class.” Okay, okay, most of the time we don’t go through quite the formal process explained above, but you get the point.

Every year our local homeschool groups host three major events:

• A homeschool Science fair
• A homeschool Social Studies fair
• A homeschool International fair

The science fair is a terrific way to encourage students to enjoy science and to dig deep into an aspect of science that interests them.