The Homeschool Solutions Show

I always feel pulled in two different directions in February. One on hand, the Fun Mom in me wants to live large. She wants to shake up the daily routine, toss out the boring old schoolbooks, and spend February setting the kids' enthusiasm afire with fascinating hands-on projects from Pinterest. But on the other hand, the Responsible Mom in me would really like to get the math book done by the end of May. (And she's not so sure she can pull off that watermelon clipper ship.) Fortunately, you can be the Fun Mom and still make progress in the math book with these eight ways to shake up your math routine. Listen or read more at https://pambarnhill.com/8-ways-make-math-fun/

Ask any veteran homeschool mom whose kids have already graduated from high school, and she will reassure you: She had the same fears you have now. She realizes now how pointless most of those fears were. What a difference 10-15 years of hindsight makes! But you don't have to wait that long. Let's look right now at ten of the biggest and most common homeschool fears so you can face—and more importantly, conquer—them. Listen or read more at https://www.bookshark.com/blog/homeschool-fears/

I hear it all the time. We're having self-editing issues. For some reason, my children believe they are perfect writers! They can never find any spelling or grammar mistakes. Surprise, surprise! Most children simply don't get the whole editing thing. They like what they wrote and can't understand why you want them to—gasp!—look for ways to improve it. Listen or read more at https://writeshop.com/why-self-editing-is-hard-make-it-easier/

Do you ever have bad attitudes in your homeschool? I love homeschooling and my children usually do, too. But, sometimes the homeschooling attitudes in our house just stink. Have you ever wanted to wring the necks of grumpy kids who whine about every single task set before them. Or dole out about a hundred chores every time you run up against obstinate behavior? Me, too. Listen or read more at https://ourjourneywestward.com/bad-attitudes-in-your-homeschool/

In my earliest days of homeschooling, I had ideas about what our homeschool would actually look like. You know what I mean… right? And then we actually started homeschooling. And it just never looked quite like that initial vision. Listen or read more at https://readaloudrevival.com/jbwc/

About five years ago the days in our homeschool were simply learning math facts, phonics, and letter formation. Yawn. Sure we read a picture book or two, but I had a two-year-old who sapped all the energy I used to have for putting together elaborate unit studies. In addition my kids had informed me in no uncertain terms that they wanted nothing to do with making another lapbook thank.you.very.much. Listen or read more at https://ihomeschoolnetwork.com/homeschool-morning-time-2/

I am not a morning person. My kids are not morning people. Unfortunately, my husband IS a morning person. This became very apparent when we all went on a week-long homeschool field trip. My husband would wake early, run to the gym, and return to the hotel very chipper — and talkative (ugg!). Listen or read more at https://www.hidethechocolate.com/homeschool-morning-meeting/

Long before I was asked to speak at the Great Homeschool Conventions I was an attendee. In fact, convention time each year made me rather giddy. I almost always went with friends. We would make a road trip and a weekend of it. I would plot my speaker schedule like a general manages an attack, walk every single aisle of the vendor hall just to make sure I didn't miss anything, and I still have my rolling cart which held everything from water bottles to emergency snacks. And I just learned so much and felt renewed and refreshed every single year. This year I imagine my experience at the convention will be much more, um, nerve-wracking to say the least, but I cannot wait to meet all of you there. In order to make the most of your convention experience I have made a little Plan Your Year Convention Planning Pack that you can get here for FREE. It contains the forms you need to plan your best convention experience. Read more and find the free handouts at https://pambarnhill.com/homeschool-convention-planning/

When my daughter was two years old she had the cutest habit of picking up her toy cell phone, holding it to her ear, and making a noise somewhere between a growl and disgusted sigh. "Look," we would laugh. "Where did she learn that?" Until one day I was driving down a stretch of rural highway we often traveled and my phone dropped a call yet again. The noise of disgust was barely out of my mouth when I realized exactly where Olivia picked up that little habit. Whoops. Listen or read more at https://pambarnhill.com/homeschool-mistake/

"Everyone was up late and needs just a quiet day." "We've been working so hard, a day off is just what we need. " "We missed lessons yesterday, I'm not motivated today." Do any of these sound familiar to you? They used to be all-too-familiar to me. Not only that, some of them are still tempting from time to time. But now I know a truth: schooling consistency breeds consistency. Listen or read more at https://pambarnhill.com/benefits-homeschool-consistency/