High school is a critical period in a young person’s life, where they develop academic knowledge, social skills, and the foundation for future success. However, beyond traditional subjects like math, science, and literature, there are essential high school life skills that every student should learn to navigate adulthood with confidence. For homeschooling families, there is a unique advantage—flexibility. Homeschooling allows parents to integrate practical life skills into daily lessons, ensuring their children graduate with both academic knowledge and real-world competencies. These essential skills help teens develop independence, problem-solving abilities, and the confidence to handle adulthood effectively. Below is a list of ten fundamental high school life skills that every student should master before entering adulthood. Financial LiteracyOne of the most valuable skills a student out of high school should have is financial literacy. Understanding how to manage money ensures young adults make wise financial choices, avoid debt, and build a stable future. Key financial topics include:
Suggested Activities: Have your teen create a mock budget based on a monthly allowance or part-time job income. Encourage them to track their spending for a week to identify areas for improvement. Time ManagementEffective time management is crucial for success in both academic and personal life. It is one of the grown up skills everyone should learn in high school. Poor time management often leads to stress, procrastination, and missed deadlines Helpful techniques include:
Suggested Activities: Have your teen plan their weekly schedule, incorporating schoolwork, chores, and personal activities. This will help them balance responsibilities and leisure effectively. Communication SkillsStrong communication skills are essential for personal and professional success. Whether in college, the workplace, or social settings, the ability to articulate thoughts clearly makes a lasting impression. It should be added to the life skills curriculum for students. Key areas to focus on include:
Suggested Activities: Conduct a mock job interview or have your teen write a formal email to practice professional communication. Check out this guide on how to write a professional email for students. For a structured approach to developing strong writing and communication skills, explore our Wordsmith Curriculum, a literature-based program designed to help students express themselves clearly and confidently. Cooking and Meal PlanningCooking is one of the fundamental life skills for teens that promotes self-sufficiency and a healthier lifestyle. Understanding nutrition and meal planning can also help teens make better dietary choices. Essential skills include:
Suggested Activities: Assign a “family dinner night” where your teen is responsible for planning, shopping, and preparing a meal. Basic Home MaintenanceKnowing how to take care of a home prevents minor issues from becoming major problems. Every teen should understand how to handle simple repairs and maintenance tasks. Key maintenance life skills include:
Suggested Activities: Assign your teen a DIY home repair project, such as fixing a loose cabinet handle or assembling furniture. Check out this article on 5 Home Maintenance Skills Every Teen Should Learn for inspiration. Critical Thinking and Problem-SolvingCritical thinking helps students analyze situations, make informed decisions, and navigate challenges effectively. These skills are crucial for everything from academic success to real-world decision-making. Here’s how to foster critical thinking with these life skill activities for high school students:
Suggested Activities: Present a real-life scenario—such as planning a budget for a vacation—and have your teen find a solution based on set constraints. Personal Hygiene and Self-CareDeveloping good hygiene and self-care habits is essential for both physical and mental well-being. Teaching teens to take responsibility for their personal health fosters discipline and self-respect. Key areas include:
Suggested Activities: Have your teen create a personal hygiene and self-care checklist to follow daily. Check out this guide to hygiene tips and healthy habits for teens. Conflict ResolutionThe ability to resolve conflicts effectively is a key component of building strong relationships, both personally and professionally. These life skills for young adults are essential to handle disagreements constructively. Important strategies include:
Suggested Activities: Role-play common conflict scenarios, such as disagreements with siblings or friends, and practice resolving them using different techniques. Career and College ReadinessPreparing for life after high school is essential, whether students choose college, a trade, or the workforce. Career readiness skills help teens navigate job searches and higher education applications. Key areas to focus on:
Suggested Activities: Have your teen draft a resume based on their extracurricular activities, skills, and work experience. Conduct a mock interview to help them practice answering questions confidently. Digital Literacy and Online SafetyIn today’s technology-driven world, digital literacy is a must. Teens need to know how to navigate the internet safely and use technology effectively. Important topics include:
Suggested Activities: Teach your teen about cybersecurity by discussing common online scams and how to protect personal information. Assign a research project where they must use only credible online sources. ConclusionMastering these ten essential high school life skills can help students transition into adulthood with confidence. From managing finances to cooking, time management, and communication, each skill plays a role in shaping responsible, independent individuals. At Common Sense Press, we believe education should be engaging, practical, and rooted in real-world application. Our literature-based curriculum helps homeschooling families cultivate essential skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication—all foundational for lifelong success. With the right tools and resources, parents can ensure their teens are well-prepared not just for academics, but for life beyond the classroom. Frequently Asked QuestionsShould Homeschooling Include Everyday Life Skills?
Yes, you should teach your kids everyday high school life skills alongside academic subjects to better prepare students for adulthood. While traditional education focuses on math, science, and literature, essential life skills like financial literacy, time management, communication, and basic home maintenance are just as important. These high school life skills help students navigate real-world responsibilities, such as budgeting, cooking, and resolving conflicts. Do Life Skills Matter in a Homeschool Curriculum?
Yes, high school life skills should be taught because academic knowledge alone isn’t enough to prepare students for adulthood. Skills like financial literacy, communication, time management, and problem-solving are essential for success in everyday life. Teaching high school life skills alongside traditional subjects helps students develop independence, confidence, and the ability to navigate real-world challenges.
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Although Disney Land is often called “the happiest place on earth,” there is another place that many would argue deserves that title. A place where hours have been spent experiencing new places, people, and ideas. It’s easy to get to and doesn’t cost a dime. It is known as the Public Library. Get to know your local public library this National Library Lovers’ Month. Celebrating National Library Lovers’ MonthFebruary is National Library Lovers’ Month. It's a time to recognize and celebrate the invaluable role libraries play in our communities. More than just places to borrow books, libraries are hubs for learning, creativity, and connection. They offer free access to countless resources, including digital materials, educational programs, and community events. Whether you're seeking a quiet corner to read, tools to research a new topic, or simply a welcoming space to unwind, libraries provide a world of discovery. As technology evolves, public libraries continue to adapt, offering innovative ways to engage with literature, knowledge, and culture. From e-book lending services to creative workshops and access to specialized databases, there's something for everyone to explore. This February, celebrate National Library Lovers’ Month by visiting your local public library. Discover new books, attend events, and uncover all the hidden gems your library has to offer. Explore The Four Main Library SectionsThis National Library Lovers’ Month there are four main sections you can find at your local library. Each has a different way to navigate and search for information. Fiction Section: This section is creative and usually narrative work. Fiction is arranged alphabetically by the author's last name from A to Z. Nonfiction Section: This section contains factual writing, such as biographies and historical accounts, based on real people and events. Nonfiction is arranged by the numbers of the Dewey Decimal System. The Dewey Decimal System is a library classification system that organizes information into ten broad categories, each assigned one hundred numbers and then by the author's last name. Download the chart below and take it with you when you go to the library to teach your child how to use and find information using the Dewey Decimal System. Reference Section: A library's reference section is a collection of resources for basic research and quick fact checks. It often includes encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlas, bibliographies. Often these tools may not be checked out of the library, but they are easy to use if you visit. Periodical Section: This section contains periodicals which are publications released regularly, containing a variety of articles. Magazines, newspapers, and journals are all periodicals. A regular schedule dictates the release of new issues, each packed with new articles, and arranged alphabetically. These releases can be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. National Library Lovers’ Library Scavenger HuntCelebrate National Library Lovers’ Month with a fun and educational library scavenger hunt! This engaging activity encourages participants to explore the four key sections of the library: fiction, nonfiction, reference, and periodicals. Hunt for authors, discover hidden treasures in nonfiction topics, locate essential facts in the reference section, and browse the latest magazines and journals in periodicals. Along the way, you'll learn about the vast resources libraries offer while gaining a deeper appreciation for how each section can spark imagination, curiosity, and knowledge. Whether you're a library enthusiast or a newcomer, this interactive adventure is a great way to connect with your local library in a whole new way. Download this Library Scavenger Hunt to play during your next visit to the library. Interview a Librarian for National Library Lovers’ MonthOlder students can learn more about the library by interviewing a librarian. Make an appointment and take notes. After the interview, write a report about what you have learned. If possible, present your report to family, friends, or classmates. Sample questions: How did you get to be a librarian? What do you like best about your job? What do you like least about your job? What process is used in choosing new books to add to the library? What do I do if the library doesn’t have a book that I want? What happens to old books and magazines when they are no longer needed? How are libraries funded? What kinds of events does the library hold? What kinds of jobs do library volunteers do? Remember Library EtiquetteEven though National Library Lovers’ Day is exciting, it’s still important to practice proper library etiquette. Remind your child to use their library manners when they visit the library.
Other Services To Explore During National Library Lovers’ MonthBesides checking out books, the library provides many other services for you and your child to explore as you learn about the library. Information and Reference Services: Librarians are trained to help you find information through books, databases, and the internet. Librarians are so available to help you understand how to use library resources. Internet and Computer Access: Libraries offer free access to computers and the internet. These are especially helpful to those who do not have a home computer. They also provide printing, copying, and scanning services. Educational Programs: Libraries offer diverse educational programs, such as story times for children, homework help for students, and adult education classes. Community Spaces: Most libraries serve the community by providing space for club meetings, social gatherings, and other special events. Specialized Services: Some libraries offer specialized services like adult literacy, genealogy assistance, English as a second language classes, and business classes for entrepreneurs. Digital Resources: Libraries provide access to e-books, audiobooks, movies, and music. InterLibrary Loan (ILL): Libraries are able to borrow materials from other libraries if the books you want are not in your local library system. Love Your LibraryIn a world where learning can happen anytime and anywhere, libraries remain a cornerstone for both traditional and home-based education. They provide access to endless resources, from research materials and curated literature to educational workshops and digital tools that support every stage of learning. As we celebrate National Library Lovers’ Month, it’s the perfect time to recognize the immense value libraries bring to homeschooling families and lifelong learners alike. Whether you're seeking curriculum support, research help, or simply a cozy corner to spark inspiration, your local library is a treasure trove waiting to be explored. Visit today and unlock new pathways to learning and discovery! National Library Lovers’ Month FAQsWhat is library lovers month?
Libraries are in the spotlight this February during Library Lovers’ Month. Now is the time to acknowledge and honor libraries' essential contributions to our communities, celebrating their impact on our lives. How to celebrate library lovers month?
Celebrate library lovers month by losing yourself in a good book, crafting your own stories, or sharing favorite tales. Help your child discover the joy of reading and visit your local public library. What do the following questions have in common? What Shakespearean play is known as “the cursed play?” What detective series focuses on two brothers, Frank and Joe? Where is Starfleet Headquarters located in the original Star Trek series? What are the names of Cinderella’s two wicked stepsisters? Who finds the first Golden Ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? (answers below) These are all trivia questions. What is Trivia?Trivia is bits of unimportant information and it can be used as a powerful tool for your child’s learning by using classroom trivia games. In the 1960’s and 70’s trivia nights sprang up on college campuses in the US, while pub quizzes became popular in the United Kingdom. In 1966, The Great Midwest Trivia Contest began at Lawrence University in Wisconsin. The first question was “Who is Superman’s father?” (answer – Jor-El) In 1979, this love for obscure facts launched one of the world’s most famous board games, Trivial Pursuit. This popular game quizzed players in six categories: geography, entertainment, sports and leisure, history, arts and literature, and science and nature. Trivial Pursuit was inducted into the “Games Hall of Fame” in 1993. By 2014, over 100 million games had been sold. Celebrating National Trivia DayOne of the first holidays of the new year is National Trivia Day which falls on January 4. Without even realizing it, our brains are constantly storing information. Recalling this information has become an entertaining pastime. How to Make a Trivia GameTelevision embraced the trivia mania in 1964 when the game show Jeopardy debuted. Today, you can easily play classroom trivia games like jeopardy online by going to https://jeopardylabs.com/ where you can find jeopardy games on any subject or create your own games by using the jeopardy generator. The game board can be projected onto a large screen just like the one found on the tv program. You can create classroom trivia questions about history, science, movies, literature, etc. It’s fun and easy to create a game that fits your group’s or family’s interests. Here’s a free download from one of our family’s get-togethers. You can see that we love sci-fi, literature, movies, and Christmas! Answers:
Macbeth The Hardy Boys San Francisco Drizella and Anastasia Augustus Gloop Homeschool planning usually begins with listing out the subjects that you want to cover with your children. After deciding on your math, science, and language arts programs, you are now faced with the question of how to integrate the study of history with the rest of your choices. Let’s examine the many different factors of choosing the best homeschool history curriculum for your family. Homeschool History Curriculum Overview and Different TypesThe traditional approach to learning history is to sit down, crack open a textbook, and read an account of dates, names and facts. It is no wonder that many children find this approach boring. Memorizing numbers and dry facts about the past seems irrelevant and unrelatable to many of us. So how can you bring history alive for your students and inspire an interest in the people and events that came before us? There are many choices that you will have to make on the path to choosing the right homeschool history curriculum. Do you want a Christian curriculum or a secular curriculum? Choosing a homeschool history curriculum can be difficult because not all authors will share your worldview. This doesn’t mean that you should avoid exposing your children to opinions with which you disagree. It can be good practice for them to face opposing worldviews while you are there to guide them. It simply means you should do your homework. Do you want to study history in chronological order or a thematic order? Some people choose to study history on a timeline. A chronological study of world history would begin in ancient times, move on to medieval times, and end in modern times. American history would likely start in colonial times and move forward from there. For a thematic study, you would choose a single event or topic and do a deep dive into it. For example, you could do a study of the major wars that have happened around the world. Do you want to learn about history through a textbook or through living stories? Every child has their own learning style, but it is the opinion of us here at Common Sense Press that the best way to learn history is through stories. I may not always remember the exact dates of the Revolutionary War, but I will always remember riding alongside Peaceable Sherwood as he mobilized the British loyalists under the nose of Richard Grahame in The Sherwood Ring. Aside from the feeling that I lived that period of time, I also gained an interest in writing secret messages in code, researching family trees, and maneuvering your way out of tricky situations. Realizing that the people in history had personalities, dreams, struggles, and relationships, just like we do now, goes a long way in connecting students with the past. When kids are connected, and engaged, the study of history becomes a whole lot easier and more meaningful. Why choose a family-style homeschool history curriculum? Certain subjects can be taught family-style, like geography, science, and art. History is one of those subjects. Family-style learning is when students of multiple grade levels work through a curriculum together. Everyone learns about the topic, but the older students dive deeper into the subject matter, while the younger students are simply introduced to the basic concepts. Our Learning American History Through Literature book is one example of a family-style homeschool history curriculum. In the lesson on the colonial period, you (the teacher) will read the introduction to the time period, then the younger students can choose a short, age-appropriate book from the provided reading list, while the older students choose a chapter book. Then, a more advanced student might decide to write a research paper on the Mayflower Compact, while the younger kids make a corn husk doll. Together, they can make Johnny Cakes and play games played by children of that period. Customizing Homeschool History CurriculumThe beauty of homeschooling is that you are able to customize any curriculum that you choose so that it fits your family’s needs. Every child has a different learning style, and every parent has their own teaching style. Find a homeschool history curriculum that works well with both styles. Our Learning American History Through Literature program is presented as a “buffet” of activities. In each lesson, there are reading lists, crafts, games, and recipes that you can choose from to create a history lesson that is engaging for your child specifically. Some people may like a more structured approach and opt to go with a textbook-style history curriculum. There are also video programs for kids who learn well by watching and listening. The subject of history is not an island. Your history program will inevitably overlap with other subjects that you are working on. Take advantage of this by matching your homeschool history curriculum with your literature studies, your Bible program, or even your science experiments! If you are studying American Literature with your student, that may be a great time to study American History. The literature study will reinforce the information being learned in the history study, and vice versa. Interactive History Activities![]() If history seems dry and boring to your students, there are plenty of educational activities that will shake things up a bit. While studying the civil war, sign up for a civil war reenactment. When you’re working through the medieval period, enjoy a day at a Renaissance Fair. Spend the week beforehand putting together period-appropriate outfits. As a family of cosplayers, we’ve learned that events are more fun when you dress for the theme! Not only will the hands-on activities deepen understanding and engage your children, it is also a great way to get involved in the community. You can also utilize technology in your history lessons, as it allows us to experience history in a unique way, right from the comfort of our homes. You can take a virtual tour of many museums and landmarks for free. Whatever you are studying, take to the internet and search for ways to put a visual to the words on the page! For instance, while learning about Leonardo da Vinci, search for “Louvre Virtual Tours” and show your children where the Mona Lisa resides. While we don’t recommend that any child be allowed to browse YouTube on their own, with supervision, the website can be an incredible tool for learning. Simply type in the search bar what you are studying and look for documentaries or short videos that people have made about the subject. Best Ways To Learn History At Home![]() 1. Find a curriculum that works for you: Do your research! There are so many great history programs out there for high school and middle school students. Read reviews, watch walkthroughs, and take advantage of sample lessons. Find a program that works for your family and don’t be afraid to switch it up or customize the program. 2. Make it stick with stories: I can’t emphasize this enough. The best way to learn about history is through stories. History should never be just a list of facts and numbers. History is made up of people, like you and me, whose lives are full of fascinating stories. Historical fiction books will be your best friend in making history come alive for your kids. Pair these books up with a quick overview of the time period. 3. Help history hop off the page: Along with reading stories, do activities. Make a quill pen and use it to write a message in a secret code. Play Blind Man’s Bluff and make Mock Apple Pie. Learn how to sew while making an outfit to wear to the Renaissance Fair. These activities are fun and will help to deepen the understanding of the lives of those who came before us. 4. Use documentaries and films: Most of us love watching TV. You can use this to your advantage! There are a lot of historical documentaries out there that you can stream or check out from the library. Learning can also happen while watching fictional movies and TV shows that are set in the time period you are studying. While learning about the Westward Expansion, watch The Little House TV series together as a family. In Learning American History Through Literature, every lesson has a list of period-specific movie suggestions. The Bottom LineThere are so many great choices for a homeschool history curriculum. Take some time to research them and find one that matches both your kid’s learning style and your teaching style. It also needs to fit your schedule. If you only plan to do history twice a week, you’ll need a program that supports that. Don’t get overwhelmed! The study of history in your homeschool curriculum can be as simple or as in-depth as you want it to be. If you don’t know where to begin, a structured history curriculum may be perfect for you. As you get more comfortable, you can start to add in activities that will help to create a meaningful and impactful history education experience for your kids. If you are interested in a flexible history program that teaches through stories and hands-on activities, I encourage you to take a look at Learning American History Through Literature. Homeschool History Curriculum FAQsWhen should kids start learning history?
Your kids can start learning about history as early as possible. When you are first starting out, use children’s story books about real people and events. As they get older, read aloud historical fiction novels as a family and talk about important issues. Later on they can circle back and engage in a more in-depth study of history. Remember, history is a subject that can be learned together as a family, which can be a huge time saver and bonding experience! How to choose a homeschool history curriculum that aligns with your beliefs?
As you are looking for a homeschool history curriculum, keep in mind the worldviews of the people who created the curriculum, as it will change the way the information is presented. If sample lesson plans are provided, they can be extremely helpful as they allow you to take a look inside the program. You can also reach out to the company that publishes the curriculum and chat with them about specific concerns you have. It may be difficult to find a program that aligns totally with your religious and political beliefs, so be prepared to discuss and analyze ideas with your children. How is history taught in homeschooling?
How history is taught in homeschooling is going to look different for each family. For some, it might look like mom reading Ivanhoe while the kids color on the floor in a medieval themed coloring book. For others, it may look like reading from a textbook and taking quizzes. You may find yourself eating out of a tin can at a reenactment camp or watching Little Women. The reality is that the study of history will probably be a mixture of all of the above: reading, crafting, baking, playing, and doing. Are you new to homeschooling? Here’s some encouragement and great advice on how to homeschool your child! In this blog, we’re going to take a look at the biggest question homeschooling parents have when learning how to homeschool: How do I do this? Well, I can tell you right now, when I totally figure that out, I’ll let you know! You are never going to sit back and say, “Wow, I’ve totally got this. Everything is going like clockwork.” Or at least, you’re never going to say that for more than 30 seconds it takes before something happens to throw your day out of whack. I had a friend once who bemoaned the sad fact that we all want to be Maria, dancing through the Alps, playing the guitar, with our eager little learners following behind, soaking up all the information we teach them with joyful glee. Sorry, but this is your reality check. It won’t be happening. What is it actually like teaching kids at home?Now that we’re back in the world of grumpy kids, crashed computers, dropped WiFi, missing textbooks, and pencils that for some reason never, ever stay on the table, let’s uncover how to homeschool, or more specifically, how does homeschooling work? (As an aside, does anyone else have trouble with gravity in your schoolroom? I am not joking when I say that my littles regularly fall out of their chair multiple times a day, and their pencils are always flying off the table to roll into the corner. Anyone else? We should run a science experiment on how the laws of gravity change when a child sits at a desk.) What is homeschooling?That’s easier to answer than how to homeschool. Homeschooling is learning at home, at the beach, at the zoo, at the park… In short, instead of sending your child to sit in a classroom for 7 straight hours with their peers, you are teaching them yourself, or monitoring their learning through books, the internet, videos, and hands-on experiences. Homeschooling is going to look different for each family and maybe for each child. You have the option to choose any learning styles that work best for you and your child. For some families, it might mean a structured start to the day, sitting at desks and working in a textbook. For others, it might be helping the local farrier shoe a horse at the barn while learning about equine health, followed by reading about horses at the library. The beauty of homeschooling is its flexibility—it allows families to tailor education to their unique lifestyle and needs. What are the benefits of homeschooling?![]() The benefits of homeschooling are endless. You, as the teacher, get to choose a program tailor-made for your child, designed to maximize their interests and abilities. Agreed, that’s a lot of pressure. But the rewards are worth it! As my mom likes to say, no one in the world cares more about your child’s education than you, and thankfully, we live in the age where all kinds of amazing homeschooling resources are available at your fingertips. Learn valuable homeschooling information from Ruth Beechick’s You Can Teach Your Child Successfully, which was foundational for the start of Learning Language Arts Through Literature. One of the best things you can do to boost your home school activities is reading! Did you know that right here on the Common Sense Press website, you can access countless free book study guides, designed to get your kid reading, thinking, and writing? They also come with great hands-on ideas to dive even deeper into the story. Here at CSP, we are firm believers that if you can grow a love of reading, well then, the world’s your oyster! If you have a love for reading, spelling, and writing, everything becomes easier. Want to give your kid the best head start? Give them the world through books! You will find a huge world of homeschooling out there, full of tips, ideas, and support. We’re going to try to dive in deeper here to share some of our family’s experiences, successes, failures, and fun throughout our many years of homeschooling. Homeschooling tip ![]() My top tip at the moment is this: find a veteran homeschooler and pick their brain! You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You don’t have to go it alone. While each family will look different how they homeschool, there will be a lot of similarities as well. I hope to share with you what has worked for me over the years and also hear from others on what they’ve learned, since we know you’re never done learning! Planning and organizing, staying motivated when you don’t want to leave your bed, sticking to a schedule, or picking the best homeschool curriculum for your family—these are all challenges that every family will face. Hearing from people who have walked this path before and are still alive (and perhaps even sane!) will hopefully encourage us all as we invest in the most important and formative years of our children’s lives! If you find yourself wondering about alternative options to conventional schooling but you’re overwhelmed, follow the Common Sense Press blog. We will answer all your questions about how to homeschool your child. You can also contact us directly with any questions you may have. You’ve got this! We’ve got this together! Homeschool FAQsHow do I homeschool my kids?
That’s a million-dollar question with no right answer. It changes based on children's grade levels. For younger kids, they need to know how to read and write and do math. For older kids, you’re preparing them for either college or a job. Where do they need to be when they graduate? What skills, knowledge, etc. do they need? If they’re heading towards a career as a neurosurgeon, those science classes are going to be super important. If they’re leaning towards book editing, or graphic design, you’ll be focusing on different subjects. How to plan homeschooling?
Once again, there’s no right answer. Most will break down the material into days and weeks. Grab a planner and figure out when you want to start and wrap up the school year. Try to stay on schedule and get the work done. One day you’ll look back and find you have more days in the year behind you than in front. How much does it cost to homeschool?
The answer is: it depends! You can actually homeschool for free (Assuming you have access to the internet and a good library). I know of people who get all of their curriculum from free websites or even create their own. Granted, it takes a lot of time, but for somepeople, it's the best thing. You can totally save some cash by reusing the same curriculum for each kid as they get older. Homeschooling curriculum swaps and used book sales are great for scoring deals. I personally search Ebay to find used textbooks. Ebooks will also save you quite a bit of money. Some publishers, like Common Sense Press, will have "damaged" books on sale. You just have to write/call and ask. On the other end of the spectrum, you can spend thousands! You can buy a super expensive video program with lists textbooks and workbooks and spend maybe $600 a subject. The choice is yours. I personally started with a super expensive program in my first years of homeschooling because I was scared and thought I needed the structure. Now, I use a mixture of different curriculums to help my homeschool students get the best education. Bottom line: don't let cost scare you off from homeschooling. It doesn’t have to be expensive! Do I need to be trained for homeschooling my child?
No, you don’t! Homeschooling doesn’t require a teaching degree. The best thing about homeschooling is that you don’t need any special training to teach your kids. You can jump right in, learn alongside them, and figure it out as you go. Just check your local laws to make sure you’re following requirements, such as keeping educational records. What I love most about homeschooling is the freedom to choose my child’s lessons. I’m not stuck with a strict curriculum, so I can do what works best for my kids. I don’t know about your home, but in my house, there is only one person who complains more about going back to school than my children do…me! When I’m out and about, I hear parents excited about the day their little ones go back to school. Not so in the homeschooling world! Here, back to school takes on a completely different meaning. It means that, somehow, we’re going from the busy, packed days of summer, to still getting all those activities done while also teaching a full day of school.
Phew! Maybe you’re more on top of things than I am, but I can tell you, in my 14 years of homeschooling, I’ve never greeted the realization that school starting is just around the corner with anything less than dread. Ok, so, maybe I’m a little excited about having a more definite schedule, about my kids not being “bored,” about learning new things together, about crisp new curriculum books with unbent covers, about sharp pencils and new notebooks…it’s just the getting there that’s hard! I know that many of you are just starting out in your homeschooling journey and might be even more intimidated than I am, so I wanted to share with you some (hopefully!) helpful hints to get you facing the coming year with more excitement and less “I feel like a circus juggler with 20 plates in the air and now someone is throwing another 10 at my head.” 1. Take a deep breath! It’s going to work out! - If you’ve already got one or more years of homeschooling under your belt, you know, deep down, that it will all work out. You don’t have to have the perfect plan and the perfect curriculum, you just have to start! Let’s face it, if you did have the perfect plan, it would be in tattered shreds by the end of day one, so embracing flexibility is a must! If this is your first year homeschooling - welcome! You’re going to do great! You’ve got this. No one in the world loves your kid, knows your kid, or cares about your kid’s education more than you do. 2. Now that we’ve relaxed a bit and gotten some encouragement, let’s talk about curriculum. I like to start with the core subjects. Math, Language Arts, History, and Science. I currently have 5 kids I am schooling, so open-and-go/self-directed learning curriculum is critical! I need to be able to set up one kid with a subject, and leave them on their own for a bit while I help someone else. One reason I love LLATL is that I can pretty much set each kid up on Monday for the entire week and not check in on them again until Friday. I try to choose curriculum that either the next kid in line can use next year, or even 2 grades can use together. This year, my 7th grader and my 5th grader will be using CSP Science together. It’s very hands on, you build “lap books,” and they’ll be able to help each other. 3. After picking the core curriculum, I think about the “extras.” I like having my kids take a typing program each year. I tell them that they can stop when they hit 60wpm. Typingclub.com is a free resource with games and activities to help get those words per minute higher. This year I thought adding a computer coding class would be fun, and one kid also wants to learn “computer hacking.” (Maybe we’ve been watching too many spy movies.) In addition to the more traditional types of curriculum, I also like to think about life basics, such as, having a kid take over making dinner once a week etc. Don’t forget that grocery planning, house chores, cooking, yard work, and more are all “home ec” and vitally important life skills! I have 2 in college who tell me horror stories about students who don’t know how to do their own laundry! Yikes! 4. Now you wait for your books to arrive! While waiting, I try to box up all the previous years books, figure out which teacher keys I need to keep out, and create my “portfolio” to save for 2 years to meet Florida homeschooling laws. My portfolio consists of taking every single consumable book they’ve used for the year and putting them in a box with the date on top. Then I throw that box away after 2 years. 5. Planning - I like to get one teacher planner book per 2 kids. I only plan one week in advance. I find if I try to plan further out that life will make changes necessary and I’ll be erasing and moving things around. I also plan in pencil. I’ll write out which pages and assignments they need to do each day so that I can check them off and make sure things are getting done. It’s a little redundant, since each curriculum often has it’s own teacher’s guide with it, but I like to have it all in one place. 6. Start! - Word to the wise: You’re never going to feel ready. You just have to start. Some years we do more of a soft start than others, but we eventually hit our stride and things go smoother. This year we’ve got a 100th birthday party, a family reunion, and college orientation all happening during the first two weeks I’d planned to start school. I almost pushed off starting, but then realized, even if we only get 5 days of school done during those 2 weeks, that’s 5 days more than we would have done starting 2 weeks later. So, if you’re dreading school starting, if you’re really excited about it, if this is your first year, if this is your 20th year, just know that we’re all in this together! No one is doing it perfectly. There is no one way to home school. We’re all different, our kids are different, and our ways of schooling are going to be different too. You need to find what works for you and for your kids and go with it! Good luck to you all! And I’d love to hear your tips and tricks for starting school! ![]() Life is stressful. Being a parent is stressful. Homeschooling is stressful. Just about anything that we face in life is going to add a bit of stress. Teaching our children is less like the middle of Sound of Music where Maria is skipping through the fields playing a guitar and more like the end of the movie where there’s running and screaming and hiding. At least, that’s the way it is at my house. Lately, my stress levels have been through the roof. Tensions have been high. Family drama and holiday pressure and medical issues have complied until some days I just want to hide under the covers and not get out of bed until next year. I’d like to say that through these trials I have remained cool, calm, and in control. I could say that I’ve graciously dealt with backed up toilets flooding the bathroom and bleeding head wounds and incessantly fighting children. I could say that, but it would be a lie. The truth is, my “go to” response to a stressful situation is to yell at someone. I call it “raising my voice” but hey, someone else might go so far as to call it screaming. Regardless of how I try to rationalize it, a raised voice, a yell, a scream, are not Christ-like. I’m acting like a little child who can’t control herself and lets off pressure by getting louder and louder. School has been particularly frustrating lately. I found out that my son had been skipping quite a few of his math speed drills. Two other kids had been goofing off during history class and just about failed a test. And a third kid has been throwing a huge temper tantrum every time she is asked to do anything. I had been applying my own personal method of dealing with this to little result. My kids would sit there, eyes on the ground, waiting for Mom to quit yelling, and then go and do exactly what it was they had just gotten in trouble for. On top of that they were at each other’s throats. The fighting and the name calling and the “accidental” pushes were way out of hand and my screaming and taking away privileges and threatening to call their father was not helping. I was reading a parenting book one morning and a certain part struck me. It was about how our words can build our children up. Instead of telling them who we don’t want them to be, tell them who they are in Christ. I had a chance to use it the next day. We were getting ready to leave for church on Wednesday night and one of my girls was being super grumpy and resistant to helping clean up. I heard two of her sisters taunting her that she was going to get in big trouble that night at church because there was no way she was going to behave. Now, normally, I agree with them. My daughter’s attitude was so horrible that the chance of her changing and not getting in trouble at church seemed impossible. But I remembered the parenting book. I stopped her sisters and knelt down in from of my child with the bad attitude. I told her that I knew that she was going to be great that night. I said that I knew she was a generous, loving, little girl who was a great help to me around the house and that her teachers had, on occasion, told me how helpful she was in class. I told her I was proud of her and loved her and that I knew that she loved me too and that her heart desire was to please the Lord. Her sisters stood there with mouths hanging open, but my problem child flushed and stared down at her hands. Her eyes welled up with tears and when I finished she gave me a big hug. “I’m going to be on my best behavior tonight,” she promised and went on to help straighten up the house without arguing. Now, it wasn’t a onetime fix. She’s still struggling with her attitude, but at that one moment I didn’t tear her down, or point out her many flaws. I told her who she was in Christ. I used my words to encourage rather than to berate, to build up rather than tear down, to bless rather than to curse. In the book of James it says that the tongue is powerful. Too often I let mine loose like a machine gun indiscriminately blasting everything in sight. How much better our lives would be if we used our words to help our children see themselves as God sees them. Do you ever find yourself yelling at your kids? How have you used your words to build them up instead? I’d love to hear from you! ![]() I’ll be the first to admit, I’m a stay-at-home introvert. I don’t like to go out. I don’t like shepherding children on outings. I don’t enjoy the stress of making sure my kids don’t kill themselves, kill other people, get kidnapped by serial killers, or, worse, make a scene in public. When I had five kids I quit taking them all to the grocery store. It was too much. When I had seven kids I was pretty sure I was never leaving the house again. What with Amazon Prime, Walmart.com, and Walmart Grocery Pickup there was no longer any reason to enter a store. Sports teams? No way. That would require leaving the house with kids in tow for practices and then, horror, early Saturday morning games. Music lessons? Got that covered. Musiah is a virtual AI computer program that is teaching them to play and read music. Ballet? We did try that for one year with only 2 kids, but quickly decided it was not for us. Now, while all this agoraphobia is going on, I am also feeling guilty that my kids are not getting to experience life as much as their peers. And then along comes child number eight. He’s got serious medical issues and requires about as much time and effort as the other seven kids put together, if not more. You’d think that this would drive me even further into hermit-ism. But surprisingly, it has freed me. I’ve realized how insanely easy it is to get seven normally developing kids out of the house! I wish I’d figured this out years ago. And as my adventurous spirit has been born our extracurricular activities have expanded. My kids are no longer lonely housebound prisoners. My older boys take Brazilian Jiujitsu twice a week. Five of my kids are in our church’s AWANA program, while two others volunteer to teach AWANA groups. They do choir and youth group and have friends over to visit. And, wonder of wonders, I’ve found that there is time for me to do things too. I now enjoy taking my two eldest daughters to Comic Conventions dressed up as cosplay characters. They use their creative and technological skills to create music videos of the conventions and practice social skills and maturity by interacting with fellow cosplayers. We’ve had sewing lessons while making costumes and tons of problem solving opportunities while taking a concept from imagination to real life. My homeschooling world has expanded. I wish I had been more flexible years ago, but at least I am getting it now. Homeschooling should give us the freedom to pursue different interests and to have our kids interact with a wide variety of people and ages. I’ll never be interested in sports, but there are so many different extracurricular activities out there where our kids can learn and grow. What kind of extracurricular activities do your kids do and what are they learning from them? ![]() The summer is almost over and I’ve got to admit, I dread the start of school. While other parents are happily counting down the days until their little angels are out of the house for hours on end, I am cringing and working on lesson plans. Every year it is the same feeling. How in the world can I possibly do this? I mean, it’s not like I’m lying around all day eating bon-bons and watching Netflix! My days are full. Between laundry and cooking and changing diapers and cleaning and chauffeuring people around, I hardly have a minute to call my own. Throw in doctor’s visits and four therapy sessions a week plus some writing on the side and I’m tapped out. Don’t even mention church and small groups and AWANA and dog training and jujitsu practice! And none of that will stop with the start of school. School just gets added on top, and has to get done first. No wonder I’m freaking out over here! Usually we only take 2 months off during the summer. In the past, that’s been about as much as I can take before we all go crazy with no schedule. This year, my older two girls are taking some classes from a sort of umbrella school/co-op kind of thing. They take classes on Monday and do homework for the rest of the week. I love it because they can cover the tougher subjects like Algebra and science labs with someone who actually knows what they are talking about. I’ve discovered that my math skills end about half way through 8th grade. As soon as slope integers start I stop. But, taking outside classes means following an outside schedule and I’ve had to adjust to match our school dates a bit better. So this year we’ve had three months off. Three months of no school. Three months of not getting up at 6:30 in the morning and yelling at everyone to get out of bed so that we can start school at 8:30. (Ok, so yes, I’m not being honest. We’ve started school at 8:30 maybe once in the last three years. But it is the goal. Hence the yelling.) Three months of feeling frazzled and stressed and overworked and now thinking that there is no way in the world that there are enough hours in the day to add school to this mess! <Deep Breaths> The good news is that I feel this way Every. Single. Year. And every single year we survive and not only that, I find that I get more done when we’re in school than during the summer. Go figure. I don’t know how. I think it’s the same principle that says that the more classes you take in college the more free time you have. It’s a paradox, but it works and I for one am not going to question it. I just have to believe that it will work again this year. My books are all here (expect for the two that were backordered), my school room is cleaned. We have new pencils and notebooks. I’ve double checked that we can sign into our video classes. I’ve made lesson plans for the first week. I think we’re ready. I hope we’re ready. And this past week my kids have been at each other’s throats so I’m beginning to feel good about the start of school. Less free time for them to fight in. I think this is going to be good. I think we can do this. And what’s more, I think you can do it too! We can all make it! So, here’s to the start of school! Let’s see what new adventures and learning are in store for us! It’s going to be great! There are many, many reasons why I homeschool my children, but the one that people seem to understand the most is this: There is no way in the world that I am getting 7 children out the door to school in the morning. Getting somewhere by 8 am? Not happening. And people understand that. They might not agree with my reasons of giving my kids a better education, or getting to be involved in their lives, or keeping them sheltered from evil in the world, but they totally get the early morning problem. So, after watching the fabulous movie The Greatest Showman, we got the idea to make a spoof video explaining (sort of) why we homeschool. Enjoy! So, let me know, why do you homeschool?
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Whether you are that seasoned homeschool family with the 15-passenger van or a fresh newbie with a million questions, we want to help you succeed. Here you will find encouragement, funny stories and pure honesty about homeschool life. Welcome to our messy, chaotic, wonderful days! Archives
January 2025
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