This simple question shows up constantly in our online homeschool community. New moms join our group or Blue Manor Academy and immediately wonder if their efforts measure up. When they ask, other moms rush in with reassurance, “Yes, you’re doing great. Yes, it’s enough.”

Although encouragement matters, so does honesty. The truth is, sometimes you are doing enough, sometimes you’re doing too much, and sometimes you’re not doing enough of the right things. This post explains all three.

Are You Doing Enough in Your Homeschool?

1. If “enough” means competing with public schools, rest easy.

I’ll tell you the comforting part about your homeschool first. If your goal is to do better than the public school system, then you’re already succeeding. Even doing nothing academically for a short season puts your child ahead in many ways because:

• Public schools teach distorted science and politicized history
• Abstract math that no one will use is emphasized, while essential math like budgeting, mortgages, and taxes are ignored
• They replace great literature with ideological “woke” texts
• Confuse students about basic biological reality
• Totally neglect wisdom, virtue, and character formation

You’re not missing out by avoiding that system. You’re protecting your children from it, and the data backs it up! Homeschoolers consistently outperform public school students across almost every measurable category.

So if your fear is, “Did I ruin my child by pulling them out?”, the answer is, absolutely not. You’ve rescued them.

2. The real danger for homeschool moms isn’t doing too little. It’s doing too much.

This is the part most parents don’t expect.

Although homeschool moms rarely under-educate their kids, they often overwater them. Just like a succulent doesn’t need daily soaking, your children don’t need every subject, every curriculum, every club, and every activity thrown at them in an attempt to “do enough.”

Here are the things many homeschool moms over-do:

• Teach every subject the public schools teach
• Add dozens of supplements “just in case”
• Sign up for too many clubs, sports, choirs, field trips, Scouts, co-ops, homesteading groups
• Try every spelling bee, Bible bowl, geography bee
• Join every church activity
• Try to win every competition

The result? Homeschools with exhausted moms, overwhelmed kids, and burnout for the entire family.

For example, one mom recently joined our group and said, “I’m exhausted.” When homeschooling becomes a burden instead of a blessing, something has gone wrong. This is not because the mission is too hard, but because the load is too heavy. Overwatering stunts growth. Overscheduling stunts learning.

Besides, kids who are constantly fed information lose the ability to process any of it. Just like a body that overeats becomes sluggish, sometimes you teach more by teaching less. Not less meaningfully, but with less noise so the meaningful things can take root.

If you need more clarity on this, make sure you check out the video below to learn more about whether you are doing enough in your homeschool!

Ask These Questions About Your Homeschool Instead

3. What does “doing enough” really mean?

Doing enough in your homeschool means focusing on the things that actually build greatness, not endless worksheets, busywork, or recreating public school at home.

Instead ask, “Is this feeding my child’s mind, body, and spirit or drowning them?”

Greatness requires:

• Sharp minds, not oversaturated ones
• Strong spirits, not stressed ones
• Disciplined bodies, not exhausted ones

Education is not about stuffing children with content! It’s about forming character, courage, clarity, and purpose. When you strip away the unnecessary, homeschooling becomes simple, peaceful, and powerful.

4. So…back to the question: Am I doing enough in my homeschool?

If “enough” means avoiding the public-school disaster? Yes, you’re doing more than enough.

If “enough” means checking every box and recreating a full schedule? You’re probably doing too much.

If “enough” means raising wise, disciplined, joyful, Christ-centered children prepared for greatness? That’s when the question changes.

It becomes:

• Am I focusing on the right things?
• Is this giving my children clarity or clutter?
• Will this help raise world-changers or overworked students?

Your children don’t need MORE, they need what is meaningful.

The Peaceful Way Forward in Your Homeschool

Once you remove the pressure to imitate public schools, and let go of the fear that “more = better,” you can finally build the kind of home education God designed for families!

Focused.
Purposeful.
Joyful.
Rooted in character, discipline, wisdom, and truth.

Finally, you don’t need to prove anything to the world. You just need to steward the children God gave you with confidence, clarity, and calm. That is more than enough.

Share this homeschool post!

The post Are You Doing Enough as a Homeschool Parent? Ask These Questions Instead first appeared on True Aim.

Make sure you check out the giveaway at the end of this post!

Start your school bedtime routine early.

To get back into the swing of things – going to bed earlier and waking up earlier – we start getting into the hang of our school bedtime routine about two weeks before school. This slowly helps our bodies readjust.

Get back into the habit of eating breakfast every morning.

In the summer, we very rarely eat breakfast. Throughout the school year, we try to eat breakfast every morning. This prevents snacking during school time. You can also make a quick smoothie to drink during school.

Go back to school shopping.

Going back to school shopping for new colorful pencils, notebooks, and glue is always a fun way to get in the back to school spirit.

Create a daily schedule for each child.

I have began creating a daily checklist for myself. If it’s not on the checklist, it’s most likely forgot about. Creating a basic family spreadsheet with chores, daily subjects, and outside-of-the-house classes makes a back-to-homeschool routine less stressful. Will you all do Bible as a family, and then math individually? Do you know one student who might finish a subject faster than another? What subjects will you do everyday, and which ones only on certain days? Sort out your thoughts, and then make a final “master” spreadsheet to hang on the fridge for the first few weeks.

Our schedule basically went like this:

Monday – Math, English, Spelling, Science

Tuesday – Math, English, History

Wednesday – Math, English, Science

Thursday – Math, English, Piano lessons, catch up History/Science

Friday – Math, English, and any catching up or tests

Order curriculum.

Figure out what curriculum you need for which child. Making a spreadsheet, on Microsoft Excel or on paper, always helps me. Mark your children’s names across the top. Down below, write what subjects you are covering. And in the boxes, list each curriculum, if you need to buy/rent textbooks, if you already have them, or if you’re totally creating your own curriculum.

Here is a sample.

Homeschool Classifieds, Slugbooks, Amazon, eBay, and Facebook groups are great ways to find homeschool curriculum for cheap.

Start reviewing last year’s material.

Although we keep the traditional August-June school schedule, we do learn year round. (I’m addicted to history.) To get back into the school mentality, we recap the past year’s studies. There are so many fun, textbook-free ways to learn and memorize. Instead of hitting the books hard the first day, slowly begin reviewing last year’s material, briefing over old curriculum, and specifically your weak points.

Get organized.

Getting organized always puts me in a more productive mood.

1. Sell or give away old textbooks. (Facebook, Amazon, eBay, etc.)
2. Go through school papers, and purge the unnecessary.
3. Throw away unusable school supplies, and figure out what you need to start the new school year.
4. Sort through books, and get rid of what you don’t need.
5. Invest in a bookshelf or bins, and sort curriculum, supplies, and crafts.
6. Make a list of all the curriculum and supplies you need to buy.
7. If you’re creating your own history/science curriculum, buy a year-at-a-glance calendar, and loosely sort out your Pinterest and blog findings.

Buy a planner

Buying a planner (and using it until it falls apart) can easily organize day-to-day plans. Or get a FREE online one!

What are some of your favorite ways to plan for the new school year?

Back to homeschool giveaway!

Another homeschool year is right around the corner! Many homeschool moms are busy preparing, planning, and finalizing curriculum choices for the upcoming school year. And many are trying to squeeze every last penny out of their homeschool budget, hoping to afford all the books and resources they will need.

Whether you’re living on one income or are buying curriculum for multiple kids, homeschooling can put financial strain and stress on a family. So I’ve gotten together with a great group of homeschool bloggers to give you a chance to win a gift card to a major online homeschool retailer. Our hope is that we can bless a few homeschool families (although we wish we could bless many more) so they can decrease that burden and buy the curriculum and supplies they need.

Three people will win a $250 gift card to either Rainbow Resource Center or Christianbook.com – two great places to shop for homeschool curriculum and resources, with the best prices around!!

To enter for your chance to win, simply use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. Now I know this is quite a few entries, but each of these bloggers has generously chipped in their own money to make this giveaway possible, so I hope you will take the time to do all of the entries. And hey, the more entries you do, the better your odds are of winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway ends July 19, 2024 at 11:59pm. Must be at least 18 years of age. Must be a resident of the U.S. or Canada to enter. Selected winners will have 48 hours to respond to email notification to claim their prizes or another winner will be drawn. By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating bloggers (see the Terms & Conditions on the Rafflecopter form).

The post Planning a Back to Homeschool Routine – Giveaway! first appeared on True Aim.

For the homeschooling family, these objectives are not always seen as necessary. Instead, most families opt-in for natural learning. So, the question now becomes – how important is it to teach the facts in your homeschool?

Below, you’ll find four tips for embracing natural learning and how they can have more of an impact and long-term positive effect (versus simply learning the facts).

What is natural learning?

In a nutshell, the natural learning approach can be seen through a Charlotte Mason lens. Charlotte Mason’s approach is one that is rooted in observing children, then taking what is shown and filtering it through what is taught. This approach allows you to help your child develop a love of learning while teaching important skills and concepts.

Observe your children.

Observation is one of the key ways to find out what your child already knows and areas they may be lacking in. Often times, parents overlook this vital step in their child’s education because of the to-do list of facts that need to be learned per some website.

The key here is to set the pre-made learning objectives aside and focus on your child’s current skills and abilities. From this observation, you can then do the next tip.

Create your own objectives.

Once you’ve observed your child and noted several things about their skills and abilities, you can now turn those into practical learning objectives that fit your child. This may seem hard to do, but in essence, it is quite easy.

There are many ways and resources to provide your child with learning experiences that foster the objectives you have set up for them. For example, if your child is learning how to write, you could try providing them with copy work. If they don’t seem interested, consider incorporating a subject they enjoy (like dinosaurs or superheroes).

The key to this tip is to not get caught up in a pre-made list of objectives and feeling comfortable in creating your own based on your child’s unique needs.

Consider combining to build a connection.

This is something else that usually feels weird to homeschooling parents. At first, you probably believe that each subject needs to be taught separately with their own lesson plan and time of day to be completed. While this works for some… for most, they find it harder to build connections between what is being taught.

This can have a negative impact on the way a child is taught to process information; thus, making it difficult for them to understand the point in what they are learning. Unit studies are a great way to use one topic to teach across multiple subjects, all while homeschooling multiples ages/grades as well. These also offer the child to have a say in what they’d like to learn – another win!

Recognize the whole child.

The natural approach to learning takes education from learning nothing but facts to recognizing that the whole child is a part of the process. Focusing on more than just the facts opens the doors to nurturing the physical, emotional, and social side of learning.

Instead of focusing on simply learning how to read, embrace what is being read, and expand on it. Perhaps it could be a story that helps with a social skill like being kind to others or dealing with bullies. This takes learning to another level.

Learning facts definitely has its place in the world of education; however, the long-term effects aren’t nearly as good as if a child is able to naturally learn. What is taught and learned naturally seem to have a bigger impact in a child’s life, leading them to remember more and actually apply it in real life.

CHIME IN: What are some ways you incorporate natural learning and learning facts in your homeschool? Let us know in the comments below!

The post How Important Is It to Teach the Facts in Your Homeschool first appeared on True Aim.

Something to keep in mind is that learning takes place in many environments. There are many ways to enhance their desire and ability to learn. Keep reading for 4 ways to motivate your children to learn.

4 Ways to Motivate Your Children to Learn

Focus on Your Child’s Interests

Interest-led learning is taking the lead in being one of the most used homeschooling methods today. Why? Simply put, parents are beginning to see their children flourish when they are learning about things that interest them.

When your child is able to help choose what they want to learn, not only does it give them a voice, but it also sparks their motivation to learn. Parents are also finding it easy to use their child’s interest to study a wide variety of subjects, topics, and concepts.

If you can motivate your child because of their love for dinosaurs, you may just be surprised at how you can use that topic for reading, language arts, science, geography, and history! That’s several subjects crossed using one topic, all while keeping your child motivated and engaged in the process.

Focus On Your Child’s Strengths

It’s so easy to point out the bad, and work incredibly hard to strengthen that area. However, what if you focused more on what they are doing right? Same as adults, it adds to their motivation tank. You may think that ignoring their weaknesses won’t help, but it most certainly can.

In some cases, a child’s weaknesses are gradually worked on through their strengths. Intertwined in this is also acknowledging and celebrating their achievements. This not only motivates them to continue working hard, but also builds their academic and emotional development.

There are times when weaknesses need to be worked on; however, they don’t have to become the center of their education. Finding that balance is key.

Make Learning Fun

There are a number of ways to make learning fun. From using platforms like YouTube and Netflix to games and toys – learning doesn’t always have to come from a textbook. This also goes hand-in-hand with keeping your child’s interests in mind.

Perhaps your child is the outdoorsy type. Use that to his/her advantage. Have them do activities outside. Take nature walks. Or even let them choose. If they like video games, consider using them for certain subjects. The possibilities are endless. If your child is more creative, here are some good tips to inspire creativity in your children.

Try Different Learning Styles

While there are different types of learning styles, rarely will you find a child who learns one certain way. Some children learn best doing something one way for awhile, then switch as they get older. Your child may also show different learning styles for different subjects.

For example, your child may like to use notebooking for Science and Geography, and worksheets for Language Arts. I recommend going with that instead of trying to force one method all across the board.

Overall, motivating your child to learn can look many ways. The idea is to get them to love learning without it feeling like a huge mundane task. The earlier they can understand the purpose of learning, the better.

Our best advice is to not limit your child to one set way of learning. Give them a voice by listening to what interests them. And when all else seems to fail, go where your child’s needs lead.

CHIME IN: What are some ways you motive your children to learn? Share with us in the comments below. Your response could give someone else ideas!

The post 4 Ways to Motivate Your Children to Learn first appeared on True Aim.

Lessontrek is an online lesson planning tool. That’s right! It’s a tool, so you can customize it and use it to make your own printable lesson plans! You can also just use it online like I do to save space and ink. You can see more of my posts about Lessontrek Here.

We’re sorry! The Freemium version of Lessontrek was only available for the first 10,000 members! However, Lessontrek is still amazingly affordable and you can try it out for FREE for 14 days! 

Learn about what an online lesson planner can do for you here. Or, learn how to make easy lesson plans here. Maybe you need some great time management tips here?

Lessontrek can help you do all that and more! New features, like subject sharing, a gradebook and more, have been added! It’s now the most comprehensive and easy to use tool for lesson planning! 

Online Lesson Planner Freemium

Whether you’re using it at home or in the classroom, or even for yourself, Lessontrek can help you create your whole year of plans in minutes! Just try it out for free! First, go to the Lessontrek Website and click on the 14 Day Trial Option. 

Don’t wait! Try it out and then lock in your low price while you still can! 

The post Lessontrek Freemium – Online Lesson Planner first appeared on True Aim.

Any parent with more than one child knows that they are all unique individuals with different strengths and weaknesses.  However, there are some traits which are more prevalent in boys than in girls.  And once we’re aware of these typical characteristics, we can use them while teaching our children. Unfortunately, most school systems are currently set up in ways that benefit girls.  They require them to sit still, to read lots of textbooks, and to complete lots of worksheets.

Homeschools in most states aren’t obligated to teach kids the same way that they do in schools.  But because most of us homeschool moms were educated in traditional schools, however, it comes naturally for us to teach our kids in the same ways that we ourselves were taught.

And those teaching methods can be detrimental to our sons.

The good news is that with a little bit of research and effort, we can change our ways and make learning much more appealing for our boys.

Teaching Boys: 7 Ways to Help Boys Love to Learn:

1 – Mix it Up

Most boys don’t like to sit still and read for hours on end. And even boys who enjoy reading, don’t necessarily want to read Shakespeare or Charlotte Bronte. Choose books which are interesting to your son. Try to vary the activities in your homeschool between sedentary ones and those that allow more movement. Make sure your son has ways to burn off extra energy.

2 – Include Food

Remember the saying that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?!? That goes for our sons as well.  If you can keep your son’s belly full, you’ll be more likely to keep his attention on his lessons. Allow him to eat snacks while you’re reading books aloud. Feed him plenty of protein.  If he says he’s hungry, be willing to pause so that he can get something to eat. There’s no sense continuing on with lessons if your son’s mind is distracted by his hunger.

3 – Include Interests

If someone told you to read a book about the best ways to lubricate the motor inside a refrigerator, or listen to a lesson about the digestive system of a dung beetle, or have a hands-on lesson in sumo wrestling, you might be less than enthused.  (At least I would be.)

When we ask our sons to diagram sentences, read girlie books, or learn about algebraic equations, they also have a tendency to be unenthusiastic. The traditional school topics don’t always interest our children. We can’t ditch everything but we can be intentional about including subjects which DO interest our boys.

When studying history, be sure to include information about the battles, the weapons, the intrigue. When studying science, throw in a few gross facts about the animals you’re discussing. If your son absolutely loves designing video games, be sure he has ample time to design video games. This is an integral part of helping our boys love to learn!

4 – Give Him Some Control

Men love being in charge and our sons are men in training. They love to have at least some control in their day. Allow them to choose what time they start their lessons, or the order of their subjects, or different ways that they will learn. Ask him what he enjoys the most about school and listen to what he says. When you find things he dislikes about learning, try to come up with alternative ways to learn that information.

Consider changing curriculum, reading a different book, watching a movie or listening to an audio book rather than requiring him to read the textbook.

5 – Use Humor

Boys love the unexpected. They find humor in the strangest topics, such as bodily functions.  When your son comes up with a goofy joke, be sure to laugh. Try to surprise him with humorous information from time to time.

When my boys were younger, I remember asking them to answer some questions about their lesson. And if they got the answer right, I threw one of those candy circus peanuts into their mouths. They were totally surprised and it made the whole process fun.

6 – Let Them Sleep

Our kids NEED their sleep. Most of them need much more sleep than they’re getting.  Rather than waking them up at the crack of dawn, consider allowing them to sleep in a bit longer.

Delay starting homeschool lessons until they’ve had a chance to wake up. And some boys also appreciate having some time to exercise or do something more physical before having to sit down and concentrate.

7 – Accommodate Learning Style

We often think that reading, writing, and arithmetic are the most important parts of our child’s education. But what makes reading information more valuable than hearing it, seeing it, or discussing it? What makes writing what you child has learned more important than giving a speech about it, creating a video about it, designing a Minecraft world which gives an example of it, drawing an illustration of it, snapping a photo of it, creating a blog about it, etc?

There are MANY ways our kids can learn the same information. Rather than sticking with teaching techniques which are emphasized in most school settings, consider adding in some less traditional methods. Try a variety of activities and see how your child responds.

It isn’t always easy to go off the beaten path to explore different ways of presenting information to our kids. But it’s certainly worth it. With a few small tweaks, we can help in teaching boys how to love to learn. And once their curiosity has been peaked, they are much more likely to find what they’re passionate about and to eventually pursue it.

The post 7 Ways to Help Boys Love to Learn first appeared on True Aim.

Homeschools run the gamut from unschooling to classical schooling – from eclectic to using a big box curriculum – from roadschoolers to stay-at-homers.  But there is one thing we all have in common.  We ALL want our homeschool to be a success and for our children to enjoy learning.

Here are 6 Secrets for Starting the Homeschool Year Successfully:

1 – Celebrate

Some homeschoolers get together and have large Not Back to School celebrations on the first day of public school in their area.  Others intentionally do something that doesn’t involve bookwork on their first day back to school.  Our family always takes our family vacation the first week that everyone in our area is back in school.  Try to come up with some sort of special celebration that first week so that your kids will look forward to being back in school.

2 – Be Selective

Don’t feel that you have to start every subject that first week.  It’s often much better to ease your kids back into school than to shock them with a pile of work right from the get go.  Consider starting with some of their favorite subjects. After a few days, you can add in a few more subjects until you’ve gotten your kids up to speed.

3 – Make it Pleasant

Make your home a sanctuary so that you and your children will enjoy spending the majority of your time there.  Hang up beautiful art on the walls.  Have soft classical music playing in the background.  Diffuse essential oils near wherever your kids are doing their schoolwork.  And attempt to use a pleasant and engaging voice when talking to your kids.  Be inspiring!

4 – Take it Outside

If the weather in your area is conducive for it, consider letting your kids take their schoolwork outside.  Allow them to run around and play some games between subjects.  Or come up with some kind of cool project that your family can do outside together.  Make it fun!

5 – Mix it Up

Try to mix more active subjects in and around the more sedentary ones.  After a long, lazy summer it can be difficult for kids if we suddenly expect them to sit still for hours with a pencil in their hand.  Even older kids do well if we allow them to get up and move around between their lessons.

6 – Get their Feedback

As homeschoolers, our goal should be to give our kids a great education without killing their love of learning.  One way to ensure that this happens is to ask them how they feel homeschooling is going.  If they say that they don’t want to learn how to read, that isn’t something that you can implement.  But if you know that they dislike reading, you might want to try to incorporate more audio books or read alouds.  Do what you can to accommodate your child’s learning style.  And work with them on areas in which they struggle.  The more you listen to your kids’ feedback, the more they will take ownership of their own education.

If you want your kids to enjoy learning and for your homeschooling experience to be a pleasant one, try to incorporate as many of the above secrets for success as you can this year.  Not only will your kids appreciate your efforts but you will also benefit from starting your homeschooling year off on the right foot.

The post 6 Secrets for Starting the Homeschool Year Successfully first appeared on True Aim.

Here are 3 Summertime Tasks to Make Next Year a Success!:

1 – Recordkeeping

Before you completely clear out last year’s books, you need to record what each of your children has completed during that year.  Some states require specific levels of recordkeeping.  Even if your state doesn’t require this, it’s good to keep at least some level of information about the work your kids have done.

Fortunately, keeping homeschool records doesn’t have to be painful.  I’ve been homeschooling for 13 years and I’ve found some simple ways to keep track of what my kids study each year that I’m happy to share with you.

Elementary and Middle School – When kids are at this age, record keeping is very straightforward. You might want to keep a binder for each child with their records in it.  Keep any forms which your state requires, such as a letter of intent to homeschool.  Write down which classes your children have taken for each subject.  Create a book list of every book that they have read themselves as well as everything you have read to them.  You might also want to keep track of any extracurricular activities they have participated in as well as any volunteer hours they have accrued.  By the way, volunteering at church counts for this one!

If you’d like to organize this information into an official looking document for each year, you can do so by downloading this FREE Microsoft Word Template.

FREE Printable – Student Record Template

High School – Once your kids reach high school, recordkeeping rises to a whole new level.  Now, it’s not only important to keep records for yourself or for your state but also to help your kids gain a better chance at college entry and to earn scholarships.  When they get to this age, you should also consider creating course descriptions for each of your child’s classes as well as a transcript and book lists.

This sounds extremely difficult but it doesn’t have to be.  High school record keeping is do-able as long as you keep on top of it.  Lee Binz at TheHomeScholar.com has some wonderful resources that you should check out.  Her FREE sample course descriptions and transcripts are very helpful!

2 – Evaluate Last Year 

Homeschooling is an amazing educational choice because each year can be different.  There is no need to pick a curriculum and stick with it.  If you’ve found something that works well for your family, by all means, continue using it.  But, if there are aspects of your school year that just didn’t work for you or for your kids, then you have the freedom and flexibility to change that up for next year.  Here are the best ways to evaluate your school year:

• Talk to your kids – Find out what your kids enjoyed about schoolwork last year and about what they didn’t enjoy.  What are their favorite subjects?  What are their least favorite?  Do they have any suggestions for ways to make schooling better?  Are they getting everything they need from you?  Be sure to get your kids’ feedback, especially as they get older.  Remember, this is their education and the more input kids have, the more engaged they will be throughout the year.
• Talk to your spouse – Even though moms generally do the lion’s share of homeschooling, dads also have a lot of wisdom we need to tap into.  Ask them what areas they feel are going well with their children’s education.  Ask what they think you should be concentrating on at this stage of schooling.  Do your best to come to an agreement on how things have gone in the past as well as anything that might need to change for next year.
• Talk to God – Hopefully, you are doing this throughout your school year.  God is the one who knows exactly what our kids need and the best way to get them there.  He has a unique plan for each of our kids!  And he has said that he will give us wisdom if we ask.  James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.“

3 – Plan for Next Year

Planning for next year can be super simple. If you’re using a big box curriculum, the lessons will be planned out for you.  If you’re using textbooks, look at the Table of Contents to see how many lessons each book contains.  Divide the number of lessons by the number of weeks you plan to homeschool and this will tell you how many lessons you need to teach each week for that subject.

If you’re going to be using textbooks, look at the Table of Contents to see how many lessons each book contains.  Divide the number of lessons by the number of weeks you plan to homeschool and this will tell you how many lessons you need to teach each week for that subject.

If you plan to have your child read books and do hands-on activities or other delight-directed learning for a subject, then there are a few more steps involved.

• First, pick which books you will want your child to read.
• Next, you can either decide how many chapters you can reasonably expect him to read per week or count up all of the chapters in each of the books and divide them by the number of weeks you’ll be homeschooling so you’ll know how many he or she needs to read each week to complete them all in one year.
• Then, you can sprinkle in hands-on projects, field trips, and other relevant learning activities to go along with your child’s reading.

Once you’ve wrapped up last year’s recordkeeping, evaluated your year, and gotten your planning done for next year, there are two more things every homeschool mom should do:  relax and enjoy those kiddos.

Sometimes the days and weeks feel extremely long but the months and years really do fly by.  Enjoy this downtime that you have with your kids!  Be sure take the time you need to recharge so that when it’s time to start homeschooling again, you’ll be energized and ready to dive in and make learning fun!

The post 3 Summertime Tasks to Make Next Year a Success! first appeared on True Aim.

May can be a make or break month for our school year.  Because it’s the last month of rigorous studies for awhile, it can leave us with a satisfied feeling… or a bad taste in our mouths.  With a little bit of effort, we can wrap up this homeschool year and put our best foot forward for next year at the same time.

Here are 6 Tips for Ending The Homeschool Year Well:

1. Persevere – We are SO CLOSE to the finish line… but we’re not quite there yet.  Press on toward the goal.  No matter how tired you might be feeling, try to continue on until you reach whatever date you decided would be your last day of homeschooling.  If you give up and quit early, you will be upset with yourself later – and this doesn’t leave a good impression with the kids, either.  Feel free to throw in some more field trips, add some extra audiobooks or movies, or add in lots of outdoor learning.  But try to finish this year well.
2. Celebrate – Once you hit your target, it’s time to celebrate.  Your kids have worked hard and so have you.  Try to do something fun to commemorate the end of your homeschool year.  Have a grandparent day, where your kids can show off their work.  Throw a party.  Have a backyard barbecue with other friends who homeschool.  Invite over a bunch of your kids’ friends and let them have a big bash.
3. Evaluate – This is a great time to evaluate your year while the lessons are still fresh in your mind.  Would you like to continue using the same curriculum?  What skills do your kids need to focus on next year?  What interests has your child uncovered that they might want to pursue further?  Be sure to get input from your children as well – especially the older ones.  The more you listen to your kids, the better you’ll be able to craft a unique education for them.
4. Recharge – Let’s face it – by May, most homeschool moms are pretty tired and are ready for a break.  Summer is a great season for you to take some time for yourself and recharge.  There’s no shame in pampering yourself every now and again.  It’s not always easy to find the time to get away when you have young children at home.  There are ways around this, however.  If you have relatives living nearby, see if they’d be willing to watch your children for an afternoon.  Or ask around at church.  There are usually quite a few kind souls who would enjoy the opportunity to spend a few hours with children again.  It’s important for you to recharge so that you will have something left to give to your family – and so that you don’t become completely burned out.  Remember, homeschooling is a marathon and not a sprint!
5. Make Decisions about Summer – Do you plan to completely take the summer off from lessons?  Or would you like to continue certain subjects such as reading or math?  Now is the time to make these decisions.  There’s no right or wrong way to handle learning over the summer.  When my boys were little, we continued with the majority of their lessons.  The days were long and we had plenty of free time even after doing our schoolwork.  As my boys have gotten older, however, we’ve been taking more of a traditional summer break.  Their schedules are busy and they spend lots of time at camp, with grandparents, and doing various other activities.  On the days when they are home, however, I do expect them to do a few things such as reading and chores.
6. Plan for Next Year – Summer is the perfect time to finalize your plans for next year.  Be sure you’ve had some time to clear your head first, though.  This is where the previous step of evaluation will come in handy.  Come up with your plans, order whatever curriculum or books you will need, and then let it go.  It’s time to kick back, relax, and enjoy summer with your kiddos.

Summer goes by quickly, so it’s important to be intentional about how we spend these precious days.  Make some memories with your children.  After a long year of homeschooling, you’ve all earned a few moments to simply enjoy life with your family.

Question:  How many weeks do you have left this school year?  Do you have any amazing summer plans in store for your family?  I’d love to hear about them.  Please leave a comment below.

The post 6 Tips for Ending The Homeschool Year Well first appeared on True Aim.

Popular Free Learning Sites for Kids and Adults

Blue Manor Academy – Get free character-building eBooks!

IXL – Dynamic, adaptive learning for grades K-12. Math, language arts, science, and social studies included.

Typing Club – Free typing lessons for kids.

Bible.org – Free Bible lessons, mainly learning towards adults

Learn with Essential Skills Advantage – Frugal lessons for auditory, visual, and tactile learned in K-6

Hoffman Academy – Learn to play the piano for free online!

Google Cultural Institute – Discover exhibits and collections from museums around the world.

Khan Academy – Free math and science videos for grades K-12. They have also began adding videos in other categories such as economics and history.

Livemocha – Learn any foreign language with these free online lessons.

Coursera – Hundreds of online courses for upper-level learning.

Starfall – ABC alphabet and phonetic lessons for kids for each letter of the alphabet.

Reading Bear – Learn to read with these free phonics resources; including 50 presentations and over 1,200 vocabulary items.

The Poached Egg – Free Christian Apologetics

Cool Math 4 Kids – Cool online math games for kids!

Funbrain – Math, reading, and more fun games for kids. I used to love their Math Arcade games!

LibriVox – A collection of free public domain audiobooks.

BBC Bitesize – “Bitesize” BBC news for K-8 school students, including free learning lessons for everything from foreign languages to science.

Code – For ages 8+, learn how to code for free, in these hour lessons.

BBC Skillswise – English, grammar, and math lessons for adults.

NIV Adventure Bible – Free Bible trivia and games online.

Spelling City – Practice spelling and vocabulary for free!

Adventures in Odyssey – Character-building Christian-based radio podcasts, plus videos and games.

Teach Your Monster to Read – Learn letters, sounds, and sentences with these free lessons.

TED – Free inspiring videos and stories.

Oxford Owl – Free math and language videos, plus 250 free eBooks, for ages 3-11.

Project Gutenberg – Free eBooks in the public domain; there are over 50,000 free books!

Xtra Math – Master basic math problems for elementary and middle school.

Storybird – Create artful stories and meet other self-starting artists in a similar genre.

More Free Learning Sites

Nick Jr Games – Free Nick Jr-inspired games for preschoolers. Activities range from educational to general fun, fine-motor skill building games.

Jump Start – Free educational games for K-5.

Sheppard Software – Games and lessons for grades K-12, although focusing mostly on elementary-aged children. Lessons include math, phonics, history, health, and geography.

Cookie – Learning (math, science, and language) lessons for elementary school.

PBS LearningMedia – Social studies, math, science, and language lessons for all ages.

Turtle Diary – Kids educational games in math, language, and science for K-5.

Fact Monster – A free, kid-friendly resource and reference site.

Mind Games – Free online mind games and brain puzzles – Sudoku, puzzles, memory challenges, and word games.

Worksheet Works – Hundreds of free worksheets, from math problems to Sudoku puzzles.

Lesson Pathways – Free curriculum for grades K-5.

Ambleside Online – Free homeschool curriculum designed with Charlotte Mason in mind.

Archive – Free public domain books, movies, software, and music.

Fisher Price – Free online games for toddlers and kindergarteners.

iGame Mom – Free educational apps for kids.

BBC History – History for kids, from Ancient history to WWII history.

MobyMax – Personalized learning curriculum for grades K-8.

Old Fashioned Education – An old fashioned, Christian-based curriculum.

Mensa for Kids – Educational videos for K-12, plus some games.

Discovery K-12 – Online homeschool curriculum that isn’t aligned with Common Core.

CK-12 – Free online textbooks in math and science courses.

Math Games

Fun 4 The Brain – Free math games for kids.

Math Worksheet Wizard – Thousands of free math worksheets for kids, grades K-4.

Kids Math Games – Kids math puzzles and games including Sudoku, counting, and problem solving.

Top Marks – Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division for ages 5-11.

Hooda Math – Games for grades K-12; multiplication, fractions, and more!

Science Games

Execulink – Worksheets, games, and quizzes for high school students.

Anatomy Arcade – Study the different parts of the body with these arcade games.

Birds – Bird lessons and videos for middle and high school students.

Reading and Writing

The post 70+ Free Learning Sites for Kids and Adults first appeared on True Aim.