Math Curriculum That Is FUN??

Math is a common struggle from home to home. We all want our kids to love it, but so often it is just battle of the wills to get through a lesson. 

On top of teaching struggles, math can also be a TON of work for homeschool parents. First, there’s planning out your lessons for the year and daily introducing new concepts. Then, there’s answering questions throughout the assignment. Next, there’s correcting your child’s work.  After your student makes the needed redos, you re-correct their work. Finally, you mark down their grade in the record book when their work is done.

And if you have more than one student, you’ll repeat that process multiple times.

It’s no wonder math quickly falls out of favor in homeschool- it’s exhausting!

BUT… what if I told you there is a math curriculum that:

✅ engages students with color and sound
✅ provides hints to set students up for success
✅ praises correct answers
✅ encourages students when they make mistakes
✅ teaches the lesson
✅ corrects the lesson
✅ records all your student’s grades


Does it all sound too good to be true? It’s NOT! 

In our latest video I share our favorite math curriculum- Teaching Textbooks 4.0. This curriculum was a game changer for our homeschool experience and I look forward to sharing it with you in this week!

Have a favorite math curriculum? I’d love to hear about it! Let us know your favorites in the comments below!

Keep Doing Life Deliberately!

Trisha

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In the past year, more students have been educating at home than ever before.     
But is school-at-home the same as homeschooling?

Talk to any veteran homeschool family and they will be very quick to tell you that the experience of virtually educating children from home is NOT the same as homeschooling your children.  In today’s video, I help clarify the differences between a genuine homeschool experience and executing online classes from home.

You may find yourself wondering WHY the difference between homeschool and virtual education matters.  Many families have fought hard over the past several decades to increase and maintain parental rights from state to state, specifically in the area of home education.  While government oversight of homeschool varies greatly from state to state, those actively involved in lobbying for increased homeschool freedoms continue to advocate for a strong differentiation and separation between homeschool and virtual learning.  Genuine home education is overseen and guided by parents or guardians to fulfill the specific needs of their children.  Virtual learning is dictated by government regulations and overseen by public or private school teachers.

Watch my latest video to learn more about the distinctions between homeschool and virtual, online learning.

Top 5 Reasons YOU Should Consider Homeschooling Your Kids This Year

Homeschool is NOT for everyone. BUT, there are some great reasons why it deserves some strong consideration. Our latest video will give you some food for thought as you contemplate your educational options for the coming school year.

What questions do YOU have about homeschool? I would love to hear from you! Please leave your questions and comments below and I will answer them as quickly as possible.

AND, if you are completely overwhelmed as you consider homeschooling for the first time OR are currently homeschooling and struggling, let me help. You can contact me HERE for a FREE 15 minute consultation to see how I can assist you.

Keep Doing Life Deliberately,

Trisha🙂

What’s It Like to Be a Homeschool Mom?

Ever wonder what it is like to be a homeschool parent? Today is your chance to follow me through a typical day of homeschooling. We currently have two teenagers and two tweens- homeschool looks vastly different now than it did ten years ago when we were just getting started. Now, our kids are able to work so much more independently than they used to. But some things do not change in homeschool, regardless of your kids’ ages or stages: schoolwork still needs to be checked and corrected, assigments need to be planned out, kids need assistance with difficult subjects and someone to keep them on task. It is a joy to see them grow- accepting responsibility for the work that needs to be done and pursuing learning rather than just trying to complete the work (a virtue we are continually working on)!

What questions do you have regarding homeschool? I would love to hear from you! Please leave your questions in the comments below.

-Trisha

Feeling anxious about homeschooling your kids this year? I’m here to support you every step of the way!

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Homeschooling can be an extremely rewarding experience for the whole family. Learning, growing, exploring, struggling and achieving goals together has the potential to draw families into a closer knit unit than ever before. Due to the fallout of COVID-19, many are contemplating homeschool as a valid option for the first time ever. Regardless of your reasons for homeschooling this year, it can feel very overwhelming to get started! There are so many considerations:

  • state laws
  • homeschool methods
  • multiple age levels and grade levels
  • setting up a school room/study area
  • supplies needed
  • curriculum options
  • scheduling the day
  • tracking progress
  • learning styles
  • keeping infants and toddlers engaged while teaching
  • finding local communities to plug into
  • keeping things fun!

It can be a struggle to know where to begin, but it’s not too late to get started! With the surge in homeschooling over the past decade (61.8% increase according to the US Dept. of Education1), there are more resources available to homeschool families now than ever. It’s merely a matter of learning what you need to know quickly and tapping into those resources.

And that’s where I come in.

Let my twelve years of home education experience serve you by giving your homeschool journey a jumpstart! Through my consultation services, I can accelerate your homeschool start-up by pointing you to all the resources you need. My homeschool start-up consultation includes:

  • a 30 minute phone or video call where I get to know you and your family’s personalities, needs, learning preferences, goals for the year, etc.
  • a personalized homeschool report, which will include homeschool laws specific to your state, homeschool methods, curriculum options and recommended assessments
  • a detailed checklist of items to consider as you prepare and plan for your homeschool, such as supplies, schedule and schoolroom setup
  • a final 30 minute phone call where we will review the document together, giving you an opportunity to ask any questions you have

And for those who want to ensure that their homeschool experience remains productive and positive, I offer ongoing consultating services throughout the year to keep you on track. I will

  • meet with you for 30 minutes via video or phone, followed by an email with notes from our time together
  • discuss curriculum challenges, troubleshoot learning difficulties, classroom dynamics, and suggest additional resources needed
  • provide reviews of curriculum
  • supply tips on how to incorporate the arts and physical education into homeschooling
  • offer ideas for active learning through field trips and various hands-on resources

My consulting services combined with my free weekly newsletter and Facebook homeschool support group, are sure to get your homeschool journey off to a great start this year. If you would like to learn more, click HERE to visit my Homeschool Consultaton page. I look forward to partnering with you in this adventure of life-long learning as a family!

YOUR TURN: In the comments below, share your biggest concerns about homeschooling this year. What homeschool topics would you like to hear more about on my blog or weekly newsletter?

1https://redtri.com/why-homeschooling-in-the-digital-age-makes-more-sense

Our TOP 5 Pros & Cons of RV Living

RV Living full time has its highs and lows! Trisha and the kids share their TOP FIVE Pros and Cons of full time RV living in this video! Our fun family is keeping it real (with lots of laughter) about the good and the bad of full time RV living. (Stay tuned to the end for some fun bloopers!😉)

Roadschoolers Can’t Get Weighed Down by Books

Izzy on KindleJoe and I LOVE books. If there is anything I am tempted to hoard, it’s books. I love getting lost in a good story and learning new things from the experience of others. I even love the smell of books- I’m a NERD that way.   And no one can dispute the value of books from a learning standpoint.  As we have learned about our nation’s founding fathers, a common thread among their stories was how much they treasured the wealth of knowledge found in books and regularly sought out ways to borrow, purchase and acquire them.

Unfortunately, when you live in an RV, van, skoolie, or travel trailer, books are not really your friend.  A plethora of volumes will quickly weigh a rig down and make driving conditions unsafe. This is particularly a challenge for roadschoolers using book-based curriculums. Multiply that by our FOUR kids, and you can imagine what a dilemma that poses for our family.  You can imagine the inner struggle I have: I want to have books. I want my kids to LOVE books. But we really can’t afford to have the weight of books in our traveling tiny home.

So what do we do???

We have had to come up with some creative solutions to our book problem:

  • We enjoy stopping at Half Price books and other used book stores to browse books. At theses stores, we can return used books (for a teeny, tiny commission/credit) and buy new books. So far, we still have more books on hand than we should (weight-wise), but this helps keep “real” books in the hands of the kids so that they are not on screens all. the. time.
  • Libraries tend to have a “Friends of the Library” section where they fundraise by selling older books for very cheap. All of us enjoy browsing through these sections as we visit libraries to do our schoolwork.
  • A lot of campgrounds and neighborhoods have “take one, leave one” libraries. This is a great way to off-load old books that others can enjoy, while giving us an opportunity to scope out new reading possibilities.
  • Each of our kids has their own Kindle Fire on which they can read books. We like Kindles because they have great parental controls (monitoring time spent on the device and the content they can access) and a free reading app that is accessible on virtually every device.  Not only do the kids have access to great books they can read and listen to, but they can also play games and download movies to watch. If you’d like access to kid-friendly games and activities (especially great for entertainment while traveling!), you can enjoy an Amazon FreeTime Unlimited free 30 day trial by clicking the link below.  If you choose to continue once the trial period ends, it costs only $3 a month for one individual plan.

Amazon FreeTime Unlimited Free Trial

  • Kindle offers many free books which the kids can enjoy. There are SO MANY classics accessible to the kids to download for free!!  (Did I mention FREE?) Kindle also offers an “unlimitied” program, which allows you to read as many books as you want for one low monthly price.  You can click the link to learn more.

Kindle Unlimited Membership Plans

  • We listen to books on Audible. Again, I have one account that is accessible to all of the kids. We enjoy listening to books together as a family when we are driving. Or if the kids like, they can attach their headphones and listen on their own device to the book of their choosing.  Audible is running a special right now that gives you an opportunity to try it out for your next roadtrip FREE!!

Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks

  • We can check out books through our public library’s ebook lending library. 3MCloud, Overdrive and Hoopla are popular apps that libraries use to disperse eBooks to their patrons. The kids have these apps downloaded onto their Kindles and can check out new books for free.  Check with your home library to see what apps they employ.

IMG_0771The good news: whether you love the idea of eBooks and audio books, or prefer the joy of holding a bound volume in your hand, there are options!  All it takes is a little creativity.

If you would like to check out Kindles for yourself, I’ve provided clickable links below to see some of the different Kindle options available.  Amazon is currently offering some great deals on Kindle packages for Valentines Day!

Fire Tablet 3-Packs: Starting at $109.97

2-Pack Kids Edition Tablets: Starting at $149.98

And if you already own a Kindle Fire, but find it is outdated and not working as well as it should, Amazon is offering a great “upgrade” deal (click the link below):

Fire Tablets: 25% off Trade-in + Amazon Gift Card

How does your family approach the conundrum of books and nomadic life? If you have other ideas/options, PLEASE, share them in the comments below!

Keep Doing Life Deliberately,

Trisha

***This post contains affiliate links, and we will be compensated should you choose to make a purchase by clicking through our links.  This does not cost you, the consumer, anything extra and helps us to continue bringing you quality content.  Thank you for your support!😊

Winning at Time Management in Homeschool/Roadschool

 

Approaching home education with purpose and meaning is a challenge.  There are so many choices to be made: curriculum, time management, extra curricular activities, education methods, field trips, social activities and the list goes on and on….  One of the most important decisions that parents will make in their approach to homeschool/roadschool is how to govern their time.

img_0152Roadschool comes with its own unique set of predicaments.  Chief among those difficulties: keeping school moving in a forward progression with an irregular schedule.  When your home is constantly being torn down, relocated and set up again, how does anyone conduct a “normal” schedule?

Well, we’ve only been doing this roadschool thing for about 8 months.  But, I have come to the realization that keeping a roadschool schedule is not that different than the homeschool schedule we have employed for the last few years (with a few necessary tweaks).

Before I create a schedule for our family, my first item of business is to identify our priorities.  I do this by asking questions like:

  • What activities are most important to our family life? (ex. family devotions, youth group or clubs, exercise, etc.)
  • What areas are we weak and  need to grow in? (ex. needing to eat healthier means leaving time to prepare healthy meals)
  • What areas have been neglected that we need to carve out time for? (ex. making sure the kids are bathing regularly- just keeping it real, peeps.)

Next, I consider family needs:

  • Are there regular activities that we need to carve out time for? (example: naps for babies, laundry, or piano lessons)
  • Are their shared items that require a rotating schedule for the kids? (example: do they share books, a computer or a piano for music lessons?)
  • Do mom and dad have shared resources that will require adjustments in the schedule? (example: do mom and dad share a vehicle that will require dropping one parent off at work or only allow for activities on certain days?)

Then, I make a time grid, either on notebook paper or on a computer spreadsheet and begin filling in the priorities, followed by specific needs.  Here’s how my/our schedule shaped up for this year:

Kid’s Daily Schedule
7AM wake up- get dressed, make bed, clean up bunk house
7:30AM breakfast/family devotions
8AM family work out (hike/bike/circuit train/etc.)
10AM go to school destination (library/Chick-fil-a), eat a snack
10:30AM all kids do MATH, 
11:30AM All kids work on Monarch assignments
12:30PM LUNCH
1PM Continue Monarch Assignments
3PM Mom meeting (H-Mon, S- Tues, G- Wed., I- Fri)
4PM Make corrections in Monarch & Teaching Textbooks, Complete Projects
5PM Leisure Screen Time (IF schoolwork is done & room is clean)
6PM Dinner
6:30PM Clean up/dishes
7PM  Showers (H- Mon & Fri, S- Tues & Sat., G- Mon & Fri, I- Tues & Sat)
 & pack school bags for next day
8:30PM Get dressed for bed & brush teeth
8:50PM into bed
9PM  lights out Gideon and Izzy
9:30 PM lights out Sarah
10PM lights out Hannah

You may notice that I have allowed two and a half hours each school day for a family workout.  This was my way of addressing our need to excercise AND allowing time to explore varying destinations as we travel.  Yes, we still have time on the weekend to spend a day or two exploring as a family, but this gives us daily chunks of time to take a bike ride, go for a hike, etc. (If you would like to see a glimpse of our first year of roadschooling, click here to watch our video, “Dear Kids: an Open Letter About Our First Year of Full Time RVing”)

Some people will look at this and feel it is hyperscheduling the day.  I have actually made much more detailed schedules in the past (when you are teaching 4 different kids, in 4 different grades, in multiple subjects, it can get complicated FAST)!  But my kids have responded REALLY well to having structure.  They know what is expected of them and when it is expected.  A couple of them have even thanked me for making a schedule for them (and that’s a big deal coming from kids 14 and under)!

Whenever I create a new schedule, I try to hold us to it for a 2-3 weeks before we lax and deviate.  It takes a while for everyone to adapt to a new way of doing things, so it can take some time to discern if the schedule is working for us, or if we are working for the schedule.  Sometimes, I can tell right away that we need to make adjustments.  But once in a while, it takes time to recognize a bad day versus a problem with the schedule.

Whether we choose to homeschool year round or subscribe to a traditional calendar school year (we have done both), our family typically does school 4 days a week and uses one day as a “catch up” day.  Now that we are traveling full time, we are using that “catch-up” day as our travel day.  Ideally, we only travel one day a week, since it is time consuming to tear down, travel and set up again.  The kids will have to do homework on the weekend if they are unable to complete their assignments on the regular school days or our travel day.

I hope that my method for scheduling homeschool/roadschool can be helpful to your family! If it is, please like this post by clicking the “like” button below and sharing it with your friends.  If you have any questions or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you!  Please leave them in the comments below and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

Keep Doing Life Deliberately!

Trisha