Hey all! Father's Day is coming up soon, and I wanted to share some Catholic Dad Gift Sets we've put together for you guys, along with some free printables and our family favorite movies for the day. You'll find those at the bottom of the post. Note: Since drafting...
Hey all! It's September, the month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, and the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is coming up on September 15. And while "The Seven Sorrows" might not sound like a lot of fun . . . I'm here to try to convince you that it's a devotion worth...
The Month of the Holy Rosary is coming up in October. I've written before here on the blog about saying the rosary (and made a video about it), so today I figure you're already convinced about saying it, and maybe you'd like to make one yourself! Below you'll find...
The ranks of the homeschooling have grown exponentially in the last, well, yesterday. Maybe you find yourself making a face like Saint Anne here 😒. As an accidental homeschooler myself (for the past twelve years) I figured I’d share a few tips on how we manage...
I currently have four kids in "regular" school, three in homeschool (and three not-yet-school-age), so I often get asked why we transition our kids out of homeschooling, and how we make the decision when to do that. This post is my answer to that question. <note:...
The secret part is step number four, which involves understanding that not all kids start reading as early as you've been led to believe. But since there are five steps that I've followed to get my kids reading, I figure we should probably start with number one. 1....
If you are like many people who follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you are wondering what is up with my kids wearing uniforms for homeschool. I know. I know. It seems somehow un-homeschoolish, doesn't it? Maybe not wanting to stress about if you and your kids are...
The school year is upon us! I figured it might be nice to have all the schooling-type posts in one place, and I made some new schooling-type printables, and now there's a way for you to get a custom printable . . . made just for you. Yay! :: The Homeschool Posts ::...
It's the last installment of homeschool week on the blog. For earlier posts see here and here and here. Today we'll be looking at some obstacles to homeschooling, and how to overcome them, if you feel like homeschooling is something you'd like to try. The question: Hi...
It's still homeschool week on the blog. For earlier posts see here and here, and come back Monday for one last installment. Today, I'm answering another mailbag question, and sharing how I handle six kids preschool through middle school all at once, plus a toddler and...
All this week, I'm sharing questions I've received from readers about homeschooling, and my answers to those questions. Just in case they might help you decide if homeschooling is right for your family. See the first installment here. Today's question is all about...
So . . . it's spring, and that means decision time for a lot of folks on how to school the kids next year. Of course, you can always change your mind. We did. Our oldest son went to our parish school for a couple of months, before we decided to give homeschooling a...
Mailbag time! As school winds down for the year for many of us, homeschoolers and traditional schoolers alike, many of us are looking for ways we can make the summer an educational time for our kids, but without trying to keep up the same rhythm of the school year. ....
It's a blog hop, y'all. The lovely Micaela of California to Korea and Theresa of Ordinary Lovely have invited me to share a homeschooling day in photos . . . only. No lengthy descriptions, no captions. It nearly killed me. But here it is. I took these photos last...
I've written before about why and how we homeschool. But, recently, as we go about our daily routine, I keep noticing odd little things that I really like about homeschooling. I don't think any of these would be a very good reason to have decided to start...
More from the mailbag! This time it's a homeschooling faith vs reason question I received on the Catholic All Year Facebook page from reader Karen. Question: We are new to homeschooling and love your blog! We are starting our journey through the history of the world ....
MAILBAG TIME! Question: My oldest is now approaching Kindergarten age and, honestly, I am getting cold feet about the whole homeschooling thing. Sending him to a Catholic school nearby is oh-so-tempting. Even though I'm drawn to it, the whole homeschool thing is very...
Continuing my mailbag week, another thing I get asked about sometimes is: Books. I didn't want to say "Homeschooling Books" specifically, because even though WE use them for homeschooling, I think any or all of these books could be used by all types of families,...
I'm over at California to Korea today, where my friend Micaela interviewed me about my homeschooling style as part of her How I Homeschool series. So, head on over there to find out my answers to questions about my one sentence Homeschool Philosophy, the ONE Mother of...
a grandfather clock built by . . . my grandfather (is your mind blown?) Okay, you asked for it. Here it is. You have no one to blame but yourselves. My days start at about 11 pm, since that's when I can usually put Lulu down for an hour or two and attempt to...
I'm pretty sure you're going to want to thank me for these awesome links, so: --- 1 --- I wasn't surprised when my Open Letter to Breaking Bad and Flannery O'Connor inspired other posts, but now I'm going to go ahead and take credit for the existence of a whole new...
Monica from Equipping Catholic Families was one of the first friends I made in the blog world. We've got lots in common, including Catholic faith, general craftiness (but she's got me beat), and youngest sons sent by God to ensure our humility! If you were around for...
Here's another installment in my occasional series of answering Caitlin's questions! It's our goal to allow our kids, even though there are a lot of them, to have enough access to extra-curricular activities to experience the fun and exercise and enrichment and...
In the comments of a kind of random post about some Latin quizzes I made, Tamar and Caitlin asked me how I manage a homeschool day with four different grades, a preschooler, a toddler, and one in the oven. I guess the real answer is: Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't....
My third trimester nest-iness is manifesting itself in manic attempts to hyper-organize our homeschool stuff. With four kids in four different grades, plus two littles, plus me needing an afternoon nap (NEED the nap) I often find it hard to find the time to give the...
Unless you were homeschooled yourself (which I wasn't) the decision to homeschool your own kids can feel overwhelming in a thousand different ways. It's easy to look at a really easy-going homeschooling Mom and say, "I couldn't live like that, I need order and...
My kids are homeschooled. The reasons I began homeschooling are various and ignoble and you can read more about them here. But not a year goes by when I don't find another big reason to like it. The most recent came as I was administering the Terra Nova...
Hey, summer re-runs aren't just for network TV right? If you saw this post, you'll know that I'm planning to run some of my earliest blog posts over the summer while I try to accomplish some other things. So in case you missed it, here's a post from...
I have lost track of the number of people who have asked me about what kind of homeschool preschool curriculum they should be using with their kids. Dozens anyway. And me being, well, me... I have actually looked into it for them (especially since some of them were...
Hey all, while we're out of town for Easter Break, I'm cleaning out my drafts folder. So if this sounds like it was written a while ago, it probably was. I'll still be checking comments, so feel free to have an opinion. And a very happy...