Little House Learning Co. — Scheduling

It's spring, and for me that means planning for a new school year!  This coming school year, 2025-2026, I will have a 5th grader, 3rd grader and 1st grader, so I wanted to detail how I plan a homeschool year with Ambleside Online. (And let me forewarn you that this is going to be a very detailed post!) We have used AO now for 5 years and every year I use it, it gets easier to plan. I feel sad at times that the disorganization of their website and the poor SEO of their forum discourage people from using the...

Maybe you want to read more but you're thinking your life is too busy to read. I promise you, you do have the time. You know how I know? I thought the same thing before I challenged myself to read more four years ago. Now that reading is a habit of mine, I can't believe how much space I actually have in my life for reading, even though my life has gotten busier since then. Why Should You Read More?  You don't have to read one hundred books a year to be a "reader". How much you read isn’t really...

One of the biggest challenges and gifts with homeschooling is time with our children. Managing time, especially finding time to yourself, to be alone, can be tricky.  I need alone time. It's, in fact, one of the things that makes me the most jealous about moms who stay at home and have their kids in school. What I couldn't get done in 5-7 hours by myself, right? Alone time allows me to care for myself and recharge. And when my kids are home all day homeschooling, alone time is a luxury item. The Secret to Finding Alone Time as a Homeschool Mom In different seasons,...

What is a Quiet Rest Time? For the last 6 years we've practiced this rhythm of rest time. For 60-90 minutes a day each of us goes into a separate room of the house to be alone and rest. Sometimes we nap, but most of the time we just play or work on our own things. Since we're together so much of the day with homeschooling, this rhythm is recharging for my introverted children and it allows for quiet processing of all the information we've learned in the morning together. Why Summer is the Best Time to Begin a Quiet Rest...

When I first sat down and googled homeschooling I was confused. I read one article that told me how to homeschool but the very next thing I read said the complete opposite. Between all of the product promotion, strong opinions and the sheer amount of information on blogs, podcasts, youtube videos, instagram, facebook and homeschool curriculum websites, it was very overwhelming! I spent the next four years researching everything I could get my hands on. I spent well over 1,000 hours trying to fully understand the world of homeschooling and all the methods, curricula, and approaches.  And I now I have compiled everything...