My brother recently got stationed at Wright Patterson Airforce base near Dayton, Ohio. While we were there visiting him last Fall, we made a trip to the museum located at the base. We had so many of us going, that we had to take several vehicles. To my daughters’ enthusiasm and delight, we got to […]
I think that one of the biggest strengths to homeschooling is that my children get to learn the things that interest them. Because it is self-directed, they often learn faster and retain the information longer. They make connections and learn how to think for themselves instead of just memorizing facts that they will later forget. […]
The children wanted to do something special a while ago. I told them the only way we’d be able to go was if we got all the soap unmolded and cut before we had to leave. They were so motivated, they decided to get up early and get it done. Children: “Mom, do we have […]
Part of our homeschool is the time and tools to be creative. The children always rise to the occassion to impress me. Recently, the boys built their own see-saw. Pretty impressive, don’t you think?
For Jim’s 40th birthday, I took everyone on a surprise vacation to the Red River Gorge area in Kentucky. We rented a house and spent our days hiking, studying nature, playing, and enjoying the family. On our very first hike, Jim pointed out some moss to Indigo. Indi quickly became fascinated with moss and noticed […]
While we were in New Hampshire, there was a LOT of snow. There were also lots of trees. So when Emery got bored, he decided to use both! He built it right by the sledding path so that everyone could see it as they went down the hill. He liked it so much, that he […]
Whether spoken or unspoken, everyone lives by a set of rules. I’ve found that when running a large family, it helps to have those rules spelled out and posted for everyone to see. We have a cork board in our dining room (where we spend a lot of time). Our house rules are posted there […]
When we travel places, we always try to visit something in the area where we can learn something new. It’s the homeschoolers in us. On our trip to Pennsylvania, we had intended to take the children to tour the Hershey chocolate factory. Unfortunately, we were so sick, all we wanted to do was get home […]
The entire Jonas family is currently in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania selling soap at the Pennsylvania Christmas Show. This is our first time here and we are all working very hard to share our soap with as many people as possible. I say “we” but I really mean “they” because I’m not actually selling any soap. The reason??? […]
The best part of homeschooling (to me) is that my children have time to explore their imaginations and be creative: I personally feel this is so much more important in their early years than sitting at a desk and learning to repeat facts. Creativity leads to problem solving and problem solvers will always be needed. […]
As a family, we try to do squats at breakfast, pushups at lunch, and jumping jacks at dinner. Hewitt, Indigo, and Jade have trouble doing jumping jacks. They mostly just jump up and down and wave their arms around. Hewitt can actually move his feet like jumping jacks, but not his arms at the same […]
I got Brett a sewing machine* for Christmas. We kept trying to sit down together and go over some sewing basics. But things kept interfering. So Brett took matters into her own hands. For her first ever sewing project, she made Indigo a nightgown: Gotta love homeschooled kids and their initiative. Pretty impressive, don’t you […]
I’m not very good at identifying airplanes, so I asked Jim to help. Also be prepared for something of a homeschool lesson with this post. The first plane is the F-4 Phantom*. It is a twin engine, all weather, tactical fighter-bomber. The F-4 Phantom II could carry twice the normal load of a World War […]
During the air show, one of my nephews got upset about something (I think it was a quarrel over the soccer ball). He decided to walk off. I sent Greyden after him to go check on him. A little while later Emery joined them and I stopped paying attention. When I looked back over there […]
As homeschooling parents, we try very hard to teach our children things that will be useful for their future. Things that show how talented they are. Things that when other people see them, they say, “Wow, you are such amazing parents and your children are incredible!” In order to be successful teachers, it is very […]