Homeschooling on the iPad with Dew Learning

  What is Dew Learning? Dew Learning is first and only K-12 Christian Curriculum for the iPad and accessible through any internet device.  Exciting news for online learners and even more exciting for iPad owners who can take their entire curriculum with them wherever they go. Non-traditional schooling is just that…non-traditional.  Education takes place on the road, while swinging in the backyard, at the dinner table, library or a restaurant.  Now you never have to leave books behind or break your back trying to carry it all.  Dew Learning comes on the most portable device on the market to give you ultimate … Continue reading

App-Schooling: New Tech Trend in Homeschooling

Computers and other forms of technology are no strangers to homeschooling.  Homeschool moms learned a long time ago that computers can aid the homeschool experience for both the student and the teacher.  If laptops gave our techie homeschool feet than the tablet gave it wings. Homeschool students and moms are finding the value in app-schooling.  App-Schooling is when a student uses a tablet and applications to study, reinforce lessons, or house lessons.  With tablet in hand, a homeschool student can unlock the door to the world one application at a time.  Homeschool moms can record, store, and plan, lessons. Homeschool portfoilos can … Continue reading

Blogging From the Personal Side of Parenting

The internet has a wealth of information about a vast variety of special needs. It is fairly easy to look up medical information or news articles regarding a special need. Sometimes, it can be comforting to read a blog written by a parent about the personal side of parenting a child who has a special need. Here are a few interesting ones to explore. Parents can get online and quickly look up symptoms, recommended diets, help with IEPs, and news about health insurance coverage for their child’s special needs. What about if all you want is some conformation that your … Continue reading

Heading Back to School

Many of us, myself included, are heading back into our homeschool routines tomorrow. Some of us only took time off for the holidays – I’ve been in the Twilight Zone the last month because of a car accident, and so I’m having to reacclimatize myself to the whole thing. Whether you took a week off, two weeks off, or a month off from school, you’ll find the same challenges. 1. Motivation. It’s so easy to let school slide. If you’re tired or don’t feel well, school is one of the first things to go. And after time off, it’s really … Continue reading

Growing Education: Families Are Heading Back to the Farm

What’s green and brown all over? A farm, of course! Every spring, more and more families are heading back to the farm. They don’t necessarily live there, but they’re flocking to farms in ever-greater numbers to connect themselves and their children with their source of food and the farmers who grow it. In our community, urban agriculture is booming. This morning we are going to the grand opening of a small urban farm, one that was born out of the abandoned end of a soccer field. It was relatively unused land, so the city donated it and it is becoming … Continue reading

Getting Back in the Groove

I came down with a really bad case of bronchitis in January, and wasn’t good for much of anything. I could point and grunt, but that was about it. School suffered—at least, the parts that require me to think. And we won’t even discuss how my housework suffered. That’s just too pitiful. After I recovered and we were able to get back into our groove, I noticed a distinct lack of enthusiasm on the part of my twelve-year-old son. It was hard to get him to feel any excitement about resuming our routine, especially when it came to math. Our … Continue reading

A Thomas Jefferson Education

Recently, a method of education was brought to my attention which grabbed my interest. The method is a purposeful approach to education with the goal of creating independent and creative minds. That method is the Thomas Jefferson Education. When I embarked on homeschooling, my goal was to educate my children in an environment that fostered creativity, independence and critical thought. Through the years, I have adopted many different methods to fit different learning styles or phases of my children’s lives. While there is merit in that approach, I have recently discovered a path that transcends the ages and stages of … Continue reading

At Odds: Teachers and Homeschooling Parents

Homeschooling parents and teachers are often pitted against one another either by society or by the individuals themselves. Many teachers take offense that a parent could possibly think she could teach her children better at home. Many homeschoolers take offense that teachers feel they are not qualified to teach their children at home. Let’s cut through the thick fog and put an end to individual homeschooling parents and individual teachers fighting over who has the right to education young minds. Does a degree or the one who gave birth have the right to educate a child? Homeschooling is legal in … Continue reading

Home School Blogger Intro

I started as a home schooling blogger on Families.com about a month ago. My introduction post is a little overdue, but I wanted to share with others a bit about myself and my background as a home schooling single mother. My two oldest daughters went to public school all the way through high school. A move to a rough area of Baltimore had me quickly pulling my three youngest out of school and home schooling them myself. It was a decision I wish I had made with my older girls. Live and learn though, right? For the most part I … Continue reading

Square Foot Field Trip – Backyard Exploring

Home schooling is, in my opinion, the best type of schooling there is. You can be certain your children are learning skills that are important for life such as filling out job applications, balancing checkbooks, cooking, frugal spending, and more. This is in addition to the typical education of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. But staying at home all the time can get boring for kids and parents. Field trips are excellent ways to get out of the house for awhile and incorporate fun with learning. But what if you’re simply too tired to drag the kids to a museum, library, … Continue reading