Little House Learning Co. — Scheduling

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...

What is Ambleside Online?  From their website, amblesideonline.org "AmblesideOnline is a free homeschool curriculum that uses Charlotte Mason's classically-based principles to prepare children for a life of rich relationships with everything around them: God, humanity, and the natural world." Ambleside Online is essentially a free book list and schedule for each year of formal education, starting at age 6, for history, literature, poetry, geography, and science. They also include information about artist study, composer study, folk songs, and hymn study. You have to pick a separate curriculum for math and foreign language.  The tricky thing about AO is that you...

I am someone who tends to over complicate things. When it comes to our homeschool day, I've found a comfortable rhythm separating our day into three parts. Having the day divided into three parts helps me fit in all of our subjects and helps the day stay on track without a timed schedule.  Our Homeschool Day in Three Parts Part 1: Morning Time Our morning time starts after breakfast and after everyone is dressed and completed their morning chores. In the past we've done morning time during breakfast, but now that my kids are getting older they are often finished with breakfast...