Most Recent Goodies
{FREE} Printables
Free Printable: Fun with Forest Facts Pack
Springtime tends to make people think of flowers, bunnies, and Easter eggs, but many forget that there are also forests that revitalize themselves each spring. Here is some learning fun for grades 2 – 4 that centers around forests and their importance to us. In this Fun with Forest Facts pack you will find forest themed activities to do both at home and at your local library. Download the free Fun With Forest Facts Pack . Clip art used in this printable {Read More}
Free Printable Pack: All About My Homeschooling Family
At various times and in a multitude of different ways throughout elementary school curriculums you will find that your children are asked to create an “All About Me” in a learning pack, activity, or a craft. Have you ever noticed that most of the packs around this subject have pages that you are pulling out since it does not apply to your homeschooling child? I know that I have, which is why I have created this All About My Homeschooling {Read More}
Speaking Life Into Your Homeschool {Day 3}
Speaking Life Into Your Homeschool {Day 3} Yesterday we talked about the importance of identifying that you have a problem with the words that you are speaking into your homeschool. If you are anything like me, this will be a lifelong journey as we seek to honor God with our mouths! Today we are going to talk about the importance of meditating on His Word {the Bible}, to help change our thoughts and heart. This important step will help us {Read More}
The Benefit of Using a Running Curriculum List {With FREE Printable}
I want to share with you a tactic that has blessed our homeschool since it’s inception in 2003. It is what I call a “Running Curriculum List“. This way of thinking has saved our family THOUSANDS of dollars on homeschool curriculum over the last 9+ years. Who can’t use a few extra dollars in their pocket year round? I know I can! How does this work? The basic gist of it is to write down EVERYTHING you are wanting for {Read More}
Monthly Meal Plan
May FREE Monthly Meal Plan
Hi, guys! I hope you enjoyed the April meal plan. Did you find any new recipes that your family absolutely loved or any recipes that you family did not love so much? I would love to hear your feedback!! Summer is quickly approaching and May is BBQ month and salad month, so during this month, you’ll find BBQ and salad ideas alternating on Wednesdays. It is time to get those grills fired up!! Without further ado, here is your May {Read More}
April Free Monthly Meal Plan
I am so excited to be sharing my meal plans with you guys here at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler! Each month, I will be posting a printable pdf meal plan. I am beginning by only posting dinner ideas, but will consider also including breakfast and lunch ideas in the future. Many of the meals include hyperlinks to the actual recipes. Simply click the link and you will be either provided with a pdf of the recipe or taken {Read More}
eMeals Review {& Giveaway}
eMeals Review {& Giveaway} eMeals is a wonderful company that was founded by two sisters who are also devoted wives and mothers who were on a quest to make meal time more effective for their families. Together with a team of experienced meal planners and chefs, they have created a wonderful product that is sure to please most any family. My husband and I have been on a quest for the past decade to continually find economical ways to feed {Read More}
Current Articles
How I Fit It All In
I’m not going to close down my Facebook account. I’ve been kicking it around. In fact, I even did that two-week thing where you can shut it down–but not quite all the way–and then bring it back up within two weeks if you change your mind. I almost made it the two weeks! One thing keeps calling me back. People. “Well, duh,” you say, “that’s what Facebook is all about.” It’s not that I’m afraid I’m going to lose connections or {Read More}
Incorporating Poetry into Friday “Tea Time”
Tea Time in our house wouldn’t be complete without adding in a little poetry pizzazz. Aside from the enjoyment of artist and composer studies, learning about manners, and being exposed to different refreshments and flavors of tea on Fridays, we also add in a few poetry readings every week. My daughter is six years old, and not only does she enjoy listening to me read aloud, but she likes having the spotlight on her as she reads poetry aloud. Why incorporate poetry? Poetry {Read More}
Let It Go
I’m a list maker. I think it started sometime between my late teens and early twenties. For many years, it was just a way to get all the jumble out of my head. The need increased during the pregnancy of our second child when I began to suffer from serious “pregnancy brain.” (Incidentally, I also turned 30 at that time, so I’m not sure which was to blame.) It never went away, and the dependency on my lists increased exponentially {Read More}
The Center of It All in Managing Your Home
Drop clothes in the washer… pick up the shoes from the living room floor… unload the dishwasher… vacuum the hallway. Mop the floors… switch the clothes from washer to dryer… start another load. Pick up the shoes from the living room floor AGAIN as well as the toys that have somehow migrated. Wipe off the table crumbs from breakfast and load the dishwasher with the just used dishes. (Repeat.) Does this sound familiar? Home management can be relentlessly mundane and {Read More}
Finding Your Homeschooling Path
Four years ago I took my two school-aged children from public school and began homeschooling. We signed up under a state charter school, and I had romanticized my role as my children’s educator. I had wall calendars, alphabets, space posters, and presidential bios posted on our walls. It was my first day homeschooling and it took exactly one hour to realize this was not matching what I had envisioned. Eight hours later, the night ended with a to-do list and {Read More}
3D Hand Art
A couple of weeks ago at our homeschool co-op art class, we did a 3D art project. We all used our hands, but really it can be done with any design you decide to stencil. It’s so much fun to play with all of the different color combinations and shapes. For this project, you’ll need: a ruler a black marker paint, coloured pencils, or markers in your choice of colors a white piece of paper Here’s how you do {Read More}
Homeschooling While in College
Another question that I get often is, “How do you go to college and homeschool?” Let me tell you what, it is not the easiest at times but we make it work. I want my kids to want to strive for more than what I did. I graduated high school a semester early since I had all of the credits needed. I could have continued the last semester and done some college classes in high school that would have helped {Read More}
Fostering Early Literacy
My nephew is six years old and working at the grammar level in homeschooling. If he were in a traditional school, he would be in a kindergarten classroom. He has a love of science and nature, and zoology is his favorite topic of study. The freedom that he experiences in homeschooling allows him to shine as he naturally develops according to his own pace. Sometimes he struggles to recognize certain letters in the alphabet. For example, the letter I is {Read More}
Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
When I was a little girl, making cookies for my children was my “what I wanted to be when I grow up.” I usually lied when people asked me and said “a teacher” or “a veterinarian,” because being a homeschooling housewife wasn’t exactly anyone’s idea of success. However, the truth was, I wanted to be a MOMMY and I wanted to bake cookies for my babies. It’s true. I really do have my dream job! Now that I’m a homeschooling {Read More}
Transcripts for High School (Part Two)–Crediting Unusual Courses and Graduation Ideas
Crediting Unusual Courses Above and beyond the normal academic courses students take lies a myriad of elective classes–limitless for homeschoolers! Do you have a student taking ballet? Drafting? Computer language/batch encoding? Helping to remodel a room/section of your home? Landscaping? Film Making? Writing a blog? Desiring to learn how to provide regular service maintenance on your family vehicle? Interested in photography? Starting his or her own business? ALL of these examples can be given high school credit toward graduation! But {Read More}
For the Family
How I Fit It All In
I’m not going to close down my Facebook account. I’ve been kicking it around. In fact, I even did that two-week thing where you can shut it down–but not quite all the way–and then bring it back up within two weeks if you change your mind. I almost made it the two weeks! One thing keeps calling me back. People. “Well, duh,” you say, “that’s what Facebook is all about.” It’s not that I’m afraid I’m going to lose connections or {Read More}
The Center of It All in Managing Your Home
Drop clothes in the washer… pick up the shoes from the living room floor… unload the dishwasher… vacuum the hallway. Mop the floors… switch the clothes from washer to dryer… start another load. Pick up the shoes from the living room floor AGAIN as well as the toys that have somehow migrated. Wipe off the table crumbs from breakfast and load the dishwasher with the just used dishes. (Repeat.) Does this sound familiar? Home management can be relentlessly mundane and {Read More}
I Was Giving Her Time
I am often reminded that our children want us to invest in their lives. They don’t tell us that in those words but that is what they desire. Our children want to be seen, to be heard, to be loved by their parents. I have two children and a husband that is gone a lot on business. When you are the parent that is staying home to homeschool, to cook meals, to take children to their dance classes, to {Read More}
The ULTIMATE Homemaking eBook Bundle {97 eBooks + Bonuses!}
For 6 days only, more than 75 widely-known bloggers and authors in the homemaking sphere have joined together to offer 97 of their most popular eBooks and eCourses, valued at just over $600, for the incredibly low price of $29.97! More than anything, our goal for this sale was for it to be, well… ultimate! We firmly believe that you will not find a more comprehensive collection of homemaking resources anywhere on the web, and particularly not in this price {Read More}
Introducing Teach Them Diligently Marketplace {Mini Conferences}
Teach Them Diligently Marketplace Did you know that the fabulous Teach Them Diligently conference is now having Marketplace Mini Conferences? Yes, it’s true! What does this mean? It means that Teach Them Diligently will now be accessible to more homeschooling families throughout locations in the US. You will still get the same amazing wisdom and encouragement from the amazing TTD speaker line up (providing advice on biblical parenting and homeschooling) as the larger regional conferences, however just on a smaller {Read More}
40+ Free & Frugal Family Activities
Now that spring is on the horizon, our family activities can be expanded to the great outdoors! I am excited to share with you our family’s personal list of free and frugal family activities that we came up with last week. Of course the ideas can be limitless, but for some of you having a list to work off of will bring out some ideas and the very inspiration you are looking for! Go Bowling. For those of you in {Read More}
Veggie Tales: The Little House That Stood Review (& Giveaway)
Veggie Tales: The Little House That Stood Review I don’t know about your family, but our family has been a huge fan of Veggie Tales for the last 12 years since our firstborn came into the world. From the amazing character lessons to the silly songs, Veggie Tales has been a huge hit in our home with all 3 of our children! So you can imagine that our family was excited when we were able to sit down together and {Read More}
Speaking Life into Your Homeschool {Day 5}
Speaking Life into Your Homeschool {Day 5} To recap on what we’ve examined this week on our journey to speaking life-giving words over our homeschool: Day 1 – we talked about what it even means to speak life. Day 2 – we learned the importance of recognizing we have an issue in this area – and the benefits to identifying the problem. Day 3 – we talked about the important roles that speaking and confessing God’s Word have in changing {Read More}
A Fresh New Look At Esther {A GrapeVine Study Review}
My tween daughter and I recently completed the GrapeVine Study of Esther. I don’t know about you, but it is very important to me to be a good steward with our only daughter’s heart {currently 11}. I am so blessed to be as close as I am to her while allowing her to blossom into the woman God created her to be. We are blessed with open communication and trust {founded in Christ} to be the center and foundation of {Read More}
A {Love} Letter To My Husband
My Precious Michael, On the eve of our 12th wedding anniversary, I find myself alone….again. You, too, are alone….again….as you are fighting a war that is NOT your own, half way around the world. As both of us are in foreign lands, apart, we still have two things that tie us tightly together and that is our LOVE and commitment to one another and more importantly, to Jesus. I want to take the time to tell you exactly how {Read More}
