We love books, and we love learning through books here. Picture books, chapter books, encyclopedias, anthogies, whatever! But being the perfectionist that I am, I'm often less than enthused by curricula that's designed to tell me what I should be doing with each book we read. It just always seems thin, and sort of forced. … Continue reading How to Create Activities for Any Book
homeschooling
5 Things My Daughter Taught Me About Homeschooling with Dyslexia
This week is the last week I'm Homeschool-Teacher-Mom to my daughter. Next week she starts her semester at the community college for her last two classes of homeschooling...ever. This girl of mine, what can I say? I knew when I was pregnant with her that she would be special. I wasn't sure exactly how that would … Continue reading 5 Things My Daughter Taught Me About Homeschooling with Dyslexia
Bird Watching
Our area recently experienced Winter Storm Jonas (does anyone else think boy band when they hear this?) and by far my favorite part was the bird watching we were able to do. From the comfort of our warm home we threw seed onto the deck and sat back and observed. They were soon joined … Continue reading Bird Watching
Nine Favorite Picture Books About Snow
(this post contains affiliate links ~ please see my disclosure on the sidebar) In honor of the snowstorm blanketing the East Coast right now, I'm sharing our favorite picture books about snow. For us, reading about snow always seems to bring the same sense of calm anticipation that actual snow brings us. It's a loving, … Continue reading Nine Favorite Picture Books About Snow
20 Ways to Use Rory’s Story Cubes
(this post contains affiliate links, please see sidebar for full disclosure) Being the language arts junkie that I am, I bought three different kinds of Rory's Story Cubes. We have the Original, Actions, and Voyages cube sets. My favorite take away from my years as a speech-language pathologist is how to take what you have, and use … Continue reading 20 Ways to Use Rory’s Story Cubes
Did you try turning it off and on again?
My dh is an engineer turned IT guy. At least once a day we talk about the old IT adage, if something isn't working, "Did you try turning it off and on again?" Then we smile and chuckle about it as our children roll their eyes at us. 90% of the time it fixes the … Continue reading Did you try turning it off and on again?
Once Upon a Time Card Game
(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure on the sidebar.) We love games here, but I don't typically buy them except for Christmas and birthdays. So I surprised myself by heading over to Amazon to purchase the Once Upon a Time card game on a whim. I'm so glad I did! I not only bought … Continue reading Once Upon a Time Card Game
Reading Challenge 2016
Are any of my readers doing Modern Mrs. Darcy's Reading Challenge for 2016? For several years I attempted reading challenges and fell woefully behind, typically quitting when I knew there was NO WAY I would ever accomplish the "challenge". I think my problem was I picked challenges like Read 10 Books in Every Genre … Continue reading Reading Challenge 2016
In which the Highly Sensitive Homeschooler goes on a college trip, and decides she’d rather stay in her bed forever.
It was an average day, really. Nothing from the outside that would make it look like I should want to retreat to my bed never to return. Beautiful weather, kind people, peaceful campus. (Wait, that actually sounds better than average...) So what was the problem? My high sensitivity was shifted into super-overdrive. Pun intended. I … Continue reading In which the Highly Sensitive Homeschooler goes on a college trip, and decides she’d rather stay in her bed forever.
Some favorite hands-off homeschooling items
With five children, I tend to get "talked out" fairly quickly - not only their talking to me and to each other, but my own talking as well. I get tired of the sound of my own voice rattling in my ears, and love to have something to hand the children that is educational but … Continue reading Some favorite hands-off homeschooling items