Homeschool Hacks - Homeschool Compass
Whether you need strategies for survival or ideas for infusing new life into your learning, check out these great tips from homeschool parents who have walked the walk.
40+ Horse Books & Gifts Your Young Equestrian Will Love
Whether you’re starting a unit study on horses, or your child is a horse lover or rider, this list is for you. Check out these horse-related homeschooling resources, gift ideas, activities, and more. Fiction Books About Horses Informational Horse Books Coloring & Activity Books Horse DVDs Horse Gifts Horse Toys […]
My homeschooling journey has changed a lot over the past sixteen years. My favorite memories are of having all four of our children at home, spread out over the kitchen and living room. Now, with only one left studying at home, my days look a lot different. My middle schooler […]
When people think of careers where they have the opportunity to work with animals, they might think of a zookeeper, veterinarian, marine biologist, or farmer. I had no interest in those careers because I wanted to be a teacher, but I still wanted to work with animals. I was able […]
Do you work from home and also have to supervise your children’s school work? Are you a homeschooler who also works part-time from home? Have you experienced the double whammy of switching to remote work at the same time your children have been sent home full- or part-time? Whether formally […]
Games are a great way to reinforce basic math skills. Your kids probably won’t even realize how much they’re learning. These are some fun math games you can play with just a few dice and some playing cards. Make 100 Players: 1 or more Object: To be the first to […]
4 Things You Can Do Right Now to Have a Smoother Homeschool Day
We’re delighted to welcome Emily Copeland to the Homeschool Compass today. Emily is a Christ follower, minister’s wife, church planter, and homeschool mom of two. She offers help and hope for the homeschool journey at Table Life Blog. There you’ll find practical ideas for home education and encouragement to help […]
We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Kristin Moon of Kristin Moon Science back to the Homeschool Compass. If you’ve seen Dr. Moon’s previous article, you know that prioritizing time in the outdoors offers many benefits for us and for our kids. Sometimes we’re just not sure what to do when we get outside. After we’ve gone to all the trouble of getting our kids outdoors, what can we do to keep them excited and learning once they’re there? Dr. Moon has some great advice for us. Enjoying the outdoors as a family doesn’t need […]
Creative Ways to Keep Kids Connected to Grandparents During Social Distancing
During this time of COVID-19 quarantine, we are asked to practice social distancing, but I agree with those who suggest that physical distancing may be a better term. It is critical for us to remain socially connected, but also to practice safe physical distancing, especially for the sake of our […]
Beyond the Dining Room Table: The Amazing Benefits of Online Learning
Correspondence courses have existed since the 1840s, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that online schools were born. Even then, the homeschool community didn’t embrace the idea of virtual learning immediately. When I began exploring it around 2008, some programs existed but were not yet popular. Ten years later, online […]
10 Ways to Incorporate Travel Into Your Homeschooling Adventure
Our family loves to travel. We’ve driven almost coast to coast, in Canada, and can’t wait to see what the future holds. Homeschooling offers the flexibility to trek out on our own schedule with our own curriculum goals in mind. If you are thinking about traveling with your gang, spend […]
It’s Not All About Money: Pros and Cons of Parents Who Work While Homeschooling
By the time I began homeschooling in 2005, I was already working part-time as a bookseller. In fact, except for postpartum breaks, I had always worked at least a little. Money was tight, so every dollar counted. For all eight homeschool years, I continued to work – first as a […]
A few years ago, I was a 25-year-old homeschool grad without a bachelor’s degree. But I didn’t think I needed one either—after all, I worked in the editorial department of a Christian publishing company and loved it. All of a sudden, though, God gave me a thirst for something different. […]
5 Ways Your Family Can Supplement the Household Income
We can devise a thousand honest ways of making a livelihood. —Agnes Grey, by Anne Bronte The Bronte sisters knew firsthand the value of frugality and infused their fictitious characters with the strength and ingenuity to overcome scarcity. Much like Anne Bronte’s Agnes Grey, our family has enjoyed “practicing the […]
“Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” —1 Peter 2:17 Much has been written regarding the importance of teaching children manners and respect. A web search produces a plethora of resources such as books, podcasts, video series, parenting classes, etiquette classes, and blog articles. It can […]
“Are you done with your Christmas shopping yet?” “Ugh. No. I’m still trying to find the perfect gift.” Can you relate to this conversation? I can, too. But all that is changing this year. Let’s redefine the “perfect” gift. (Send it to the recycle bin, along with trying to find […]
15 Games to Add to Your Homeschool
Games are the perfect way to infuse some delight and wonder into your homeschool. Did you know some homeschoolers build their entire curriculum around games? Even if you don’t go that far, we all know that learning happens best when kids are engaged and having fun. Adding one of these […]
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. – 2 Cor. 5:17-18 Homeschooling offers many benefits — flexibility of schedule, […]
Few challenges have any more ability to erode a home educator’s sense of confidence than the responsibility to assign accurate grades. Most parents feel like they are “standing in spaghetti” when it comes to evaluating their children’s academic work, and many attest to an overwhelming impression that their best efforts […]
Living with intellectually gifted children and preteens can feel as if some alien creature is sucking the very life out of you! They need more, more, and MORE: discussions, challenges, limits, opportunities, and time. They are brain-draining black holes bursting with questions, bottomless pits needing input, input, INPUT. They are […]
Fall is an excellent time to take a field trip as a family or with a homeschool group. The weather is pleasant, and there are plenty of local events and activities available. With a little planning, homeschoolers can take advantage of discounts, making it easier to enjoy these activities on […]
An exciting aspect of homeschooling is the opportunity to take your children on field trips to enhance the lessons they are learning. The possibilities of places to visit are nearly endless, yet going to museums, zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums, science centers, planetariums—most anywhere—comes with a price tag. If you’re educating […]
Multi-Level Teaching: Tips and Perks
How to teach your kids all together, otherwise known as multi-level teaching, can be boiled down to these few words: use hands-on activities in units … it is that simple! Hands-on activities are the great levelers, because everyone is doing the same activity regardless of age or grade level and […]
Homeschooling and Working: How We Do It
One of the myths about homeschooling is that the mother has to be a full-time, stay-at-home mother. I am here to say that is not true. For most of my children’s lives, my husband and I have both worked outside the home. I have also homeschooled. How are the two […]
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the Homeschool Compass by shopping through our page! As parents we’re often excited to jump right into a new school year and immerse our kids in all the learning we have planned. But our kids may benefit from a gentle start […]
We homeschool year round, but September marks the start of a fresh school year for us. This means August is all about getting my brain and my home ready to tackle the challenges of a new season of homeschooling. Here are some of the ways I try to get us […]
Build a Reader, Build Her Library
As a kid, I had a lot of books . . . for a kid. We lived on an island, and it was easier for my parents to buy me books than to try to find a library. One of the most calamitous events of my short life occurred when […]
Have you wanted to explore nature journaling with your kids, but you’re not sure how to start? Never fear! We’ve got your back. In this article we’ll answer all the nature journaling questions you’ve been dying to ask. What’s the deal with nature journaling anyway? It seems like nature journaling […]
Flexibility and freedom to follow your passions are great perks of homeschooling. There’s no better way to capitalize on that freedom than through field trips and learning adventures. With the stress of planning, prepping and keeping everyone happy over the course of a long day, sometimes it feels easier to […]
Are you working hard every day, but can’t figure out why you never seem to be able accomplish every task? Feeling frazzled and wondering if you’ll ever be able to get on top of all that you manage? Well, you are not alone! At some point all home educators feel […]
At the end of each school year, are you finding yourself swimming through mounds of worksheets, quizzes, tests, and half-finished workbooks wondering just what to do with it all? Where does the organization begin? What do you keep? Where will you keep it? How much should you, dare I say, […]