Transition from Interest-Led Elementary to Middle School Years (2012 Curriculum Fair)

by on April 30, 2012
in curriculum · 16 Comments

Written by contributor Renee Tougas of FIMBY.

Ages of my children: (almost) 13, 11, and 9
Educational Philosophies I pull from: Leadership Education, Literature-Based, Charlotte Mason, Unschooling

Our family has gone through a lot of change in the past year. We moved to a different country and have lived in three different provinces or states in the past twelve months.

My husband now works at home and our nearly thirteen-year-old daughter is going through her own monumental life change, moving from childhood to young adulthood.

These life transitions naturally affected our homeschool routines and the resources we use.

A couple of significant homeschool changes worth mentioning:

  1. We are English speakers now living in a francophone province. There is very limited English public library service where we live so we access more online resources than ever before.
  2. My husband takes a much more active part in our homeschool since moving. Specifically in the areas of his interests – computer programming, science and technology in general.

I’ve broken down our homeschool curriculum by subject, though in application we don’t live our days studying “subjects” so much as investigating, exploring and diving into our interests.
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Queen for a Day giveaway 2012

by on April 27, 2012
in giveaways ·

This giveaway has ended and the winner will be announced soon!

Welcome to our second annual Queen for a Day giveaway! Today we’ve got six gift baskets full of treats to celebrate the mom in your life, just in time for Mother’s Day on May 13th.

Motherhood is not an easy job, but it is one of the most important ones on the planet. That’s why I never shrink from allowing my family to make a big deal about me each year on Mother’s Day. My work is a big deal! And so is yours. You deserve to be honored for the continual investment you make into your family.

This week, the six blogs in our network (you heard about Simple Design, right?) are celebrating mamas by blessing six of them with a basket full of amazing goodies! All of these items would make excellent Mother’s Day gifts–and most are in the $20-$50 range.

At Simple Living Media, moms are valued! Keep reading to find out what’s included in the Simple Homeschool gift basket.
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Introducing….Simple Design!

by on April 26, 2012
in links ·

Yesterday we were a network of five blogs, but today we’re a network of six!

I wanted to take a chance to invite you to head over to visit the newest member of Simple Living Media–Simple Design!

About Simple Design:

“We want to inspire your everyday, lifting your idea of simple to a new and very pretty place. Our emphasis here is on the beauty in the mundane and the marvelous in every moment.

“We insist that the world is full of artistry and wonder and magic that is truly no-fuss. Let us draw out, satiate and invigorate the creative in you with posts celebrating every corner of the design world: fashion, beauty, home decor, art, film, music, photography and style for kids, too.

We love to thrift, we love a good vintage piece and we love tips and helpful ideas galore. We hope you do, too!”

I’ll meet you over there! AND, I’ll see you back here tomorrow for something extra special!

Trail Guide to Learning (Curriculum Fair 2012)

by on April 25, 2012
in curriculum · 21 Comments

Written by contributor Kris Bales of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Children’s ages: 16, 12, and 10
Educational Philosophy Influences: Classical, Charlotte Mason, Eclectic

I‘m really excited about the 2012-2013 school year! That’s because we’ll be continuing with curriculum that we found this year – curriculum that we love! Trail Guide to Learning. My older daughter will be continuing with Switched on Schoolhouse, which works well for her in this season of her educational life.

We began using Trail Guide to Learning (Paths of Settlement) in January of this year and have thoroughly enjoyed it! Trail Guide, published by the folks at Geography Matters, is an all-inclusive curriculum that covers everything except math.

I never thought I was an all-inclusive curriculum kind of gal, so I was a little skeptical about trying it. However, we were really floundering for a history curriculum that my kids would enjoy and Trail Guide sounded like what I had in mind – heavy on biographies and historical fiction, with lots of hands-on learning.

I was in seventh heaven when the UPS showed up with “the big box.”
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Our words have power. Let’s use them wisely.

by on April 24, 2012
in a mom's education ·

Written by Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool and Steady Mom

I‘m popping in today to let you know about my guest post over at my friend (& contributor here) Jessica’s blog, Life as Mom. My post is called Stop Whining and Start Living: Understanding the Power of our Words.

Here’s an excerpt:

“There was a time when I used my words in a bad, self-defeating way. When my husband arrived home from work, I greeted him with tears and a litany of tales from our two toddler boys’ craziness.

(But oh my goodness – weren’t they cute?!)

I couldn’t believe how hard I worked all. day. long. This motherhood gig wasn’t exactly how I had imagined. I felt I had every justifiable right to discuss, in detail, the challenges from my day.

I didn’t realize that with each negative remark I made life even harder on myself.

In Western culture complaining has become a birthright, a way of life, a habit. So much so that many of us don’t realize how much we speak negatively — about lives that many of our third-world neighbors would eagerly trade places with us for.

What exactly is wrong with complaining and a little venting anyway?”

I’d love for you to join me over there to read the rest.

Resources for interest-led learning (2012 curriculum fair)

by on April 23, 2012
in curriculum · 27 Comments

Written by Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool and Steady Mom

Ages of my children: 8.5, 7.5, and 7
Educational Philosophies I pull from: Leadership Education, Waldorf, Unschooling

The first time I looked at the instructor’s guide of a popular curriculum, it made my head spin.

You mean we have to do all this? And in this order? And what if we need to miss a day or if the kids want to read more than the required number of pages? What if those comprehension questions are just downright boring?

Thankfully, I’ve come a long way since then. Now I understand that I can use resources in a way that fits our family, without feeling like a resource is using me.

Here are a few of the main resources we use often in our home and how I make them work for us.
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