My husband, Carl, and I have been married for almost 35 years. After living in St. Louis for seven years, we moved to the small town of Kewanee, Illinois, and have lived here for 27 years. We have been very blessed to have three children. We have also gained a daughter-in-law in 2019. When my kids were babies, I never dreamed I would be homeschooling. It wasn't until my husband joined the Rainbow team in 2001 that I began to understand what home educating was all about.
It has been an indescribable joy for me to witness my children growing intellectually as well as spiritually throughout the homeschooling journey. I feel blessed to have had this time to communicate openly every day and grow close to each of my children. Like any homeschool mother, I have spent hours poring over curriculum to find the ones that best suited each of my children, and talking with other like-minded mothers has been extremely valuable to me.
Although my children are now adults, I continue to find joy in helping other parents with their own homeschooling journeys! I will do my best to share advice from my own homeschooling experiences as well as from working at Rainbow as a curriculum consultant.
We all have choices to make in life. Some of our choices have made us very happy and some have made us wish we could go back in time and change them. As parents, we have the opportunity to invest in our children, teaching them wisdom and good judgment. Here are some good reminders to think about as you go through the busyness of raising your precious flock.
It’s a new year! For many of us, this is when we really try to hit the books hard. The holidays are over, and now is the time to get down to business. But some of us might be feeling a bit of burn-out. So we are continuing on each morning (hopefully with a smile on our face) in hopes to make every day as productive as possible. Today, I would like to send some encouragement your way to spur you on as you joyfully finish out the year and prepare to begin a new one.
The value of teaching kids about thankfulness should never be underestimated. It is a quality in a person that creates peace and inner joy. Instead of relying on external things to decide how we measure our joy, it is best to model gratefulness and discover what a difference it makes within our hearts. With Thanksgiving around the corner, it might be fun to devote some time this month to practicing this attribute. Here are some thoughts to get you started!
With fall soon approaching and a new school year beginning, many of you have great expectations for a wonderful year ahead. After the summer break, some of you may feel a little apprehensive about starting a new year while others are excited and ready to begin! Wherever you stand, one united goal for all of us is to be as organized as possible. Looking back, there are a few things that helped me keep my years running smoothly.
When it comes to homeschooling your children, you might have thoughts such as, “Am I doing enough on a day-to-day basis?” or “How do I juggle teaching older and younger children?” These are valid questions most homeschoolers often ask themselves. The good news is your children are still learning a great deal regardless of your doubts. However, what are some practical things you can do to feel less overwhelmed and more confident in the homeschool year? Here are some ideas!
Social Emotional Learning - I am sure you have heard the phrase. It’s the new buzz word circulating the educational realm. This phrase may be described as 21st century skills, character education, or soft skills. You may wonder, what exactly do these terms mean?
The latest buzz in math nowadays seems to be teaching kids the “why” behind math and emphasizing multiple strategies when working math problems. While there is nothing wrong with these pedagogies and there are huge benefits to these approaches, one must not forget the importance of teaching simple arithmetic. Let's look at ways to approach learning and mastering these basic math skills.
I am amazed daily by what we can learn: all the opportunities for learning and discovery available and accessible to us. This is something to intentionally instill in our children: the importance of looking for those opportunities and looking forward to learning new things. Is it just me, or does...
How time consuming is this curriculum to teach? What is the time investment for each lesson? Does it require advance planning and preparation time, one-on-one instructional segments, or both? These are all important considerations when it comes to making a curriculum decision. We convey this...
It seems that kids these days have it easier when it comes to finding information. Just google it, and bam, there’s the answer! They don’t have to drive over to the library and pull large reference volumes off the shelf just to find the answer to a question or do a quick fact-check. Google is a...
You've bought the perfect writing curriculum and even lined up a tutor, but is your student truly equipped to thrive? In homeschooling, success in writing often hinges less on the program itself and more on the personalized environment, tools, and process that make the subject feel approachable and...
Even if you’ve managed to get into a nice schedule after the holidays, the winter months can seem to drag on, and sometimes winter doldrums set in. Kids are longing to go outside but the weather doesn’t allow it. Why not overcome those winter blues by incorporating games into your homeschool...