What do I wish someone had told me when we first began homeschooling? There are no do-overs and this time with your children is not a dress rehearsal.

Homeschool Days Are Long, But The Years Are Short

The days will absolutely fly by, as hard as that is to believe sometimes. Take this day and run with it. Savor the moments, do the necessary, and make the time to do what’s important, kid-wise.

When they ask about tadpoles, take the time to explain and explore. If you can’t answer their questions at the moment of asking, keep a special little notepad or list on your phone of their questions. Make a big deal of recording their questions, and later, make an even bigger deal of helping them find answers.

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.

—Rachel Carson

Making Every Homeschool Day Count

This moment will never come again.

Listen to your children. Ask questions about their thoughts on things—faith, their Sunday school class, their baseball coach, the dance instructor. Make sure that you encourage their ideas and efforts when they happen, before they get lost in the chaos of family life.

A Picture Each Day

During the year ahead, take a picture a day of your children—just a simple photo each day or week.

At the end of the year, create a photo collage to show how much they’ve grown and changed.

Race across the park with them, or simply stroll around the block with them. Take a break from your planned routine and let them make a plan for the day or week ahead. Step back from studies they struggle with and launch into something that captures their interest.

Whether cookies or oceans, the land down under or backyard bugs—whatever captures their curiosity, take time to fan the sparks of their interests.

Encourage them like there is no tomorrow.

You do not know what tomorrow holds, but you have been given this day, this moment, to build them up and prepare them for their future.

Blessings,

Amanda B.

Make memories with this Christmas candy cane cookies recipe! A sweet and simple activity sure to bring joy this season!

Thank you Laura Clark, for sharing this family favorite with us!

Candy Cane Cookies

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 2½ cups flour
• ½ cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• Red food coloring
• 1 egg

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and shortening with an electric mixer. Add confectioners sugar and blend. Add egg, almond extract, and vanilla and mix until well blended. Measure the flour in a separate bowl and mix in salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Divide the dough in half in 2 bowls. Add a few drops of red food coloring to one half of the dough. Mix in the food coloring until well blended and the color you desire. Cover both bowls with plastic wrap and allow the dough to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Here is the part our children like the best, since it’s like rolling play dough: For each cookie, make a rope of plain dough and a rope of red dough; twist the two ropes together and shape into a candy cane.

Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 9 minutes until lightly brown. Allow the cookies to cool on a cooling rack. Sprinkle with red sugar or confectioners sugar.

Unit Studies For Crunchy Cookies (and more kitchen science!)

Be sure to stop by and take a peak at our Crunchy Cookies and other Kitchen Science unit studies!
Kitchen science provides a fun way to capture a child’s interest, and this set of Download N Go™ studies is interactive and ready to use right now with your K-4th grade students!

You might also like:

• Homeschool Science in the Kitchen (and Amanda’s favorite cookie recipe)
• Bountiful Bread
• Chocolate Challenge
• Nana’s Favorite Sugar Cookies Recipe

Be Encouraged in Your Homeschool!

• Helping Your Homeschooled Children Pursue Their Dreams
• What is a Unit Study?
• Unit Studies with Multiple Ages
• How Does this Method Compare to Others?
• Take the Tour: Learn About Unit Studies

Explore Unit Studies Now!

Happy homeschooling,

As homeschool parents, we carry so much on our shoulders. Lesson plans, field trips, daily routines, and all the big decisions that come with guiding our children’s education – it’s easy to worry that we are missing something .

The Moments That Matter Most In Your Homeschool

There are several moments in your life as a homeschooling parent that will stand out in clear focus  as your children grow up.

One of those moments came for me at the high school graduation of our oldest child, and it came in the form of a repeated sentiment during graduation ceremony when parents stood at the podium to express their feelings to their graduating child.

The repeated sentiment was one of regret that they had never made the time to build a tree fort with their child. 

Build The Tree Fort!

As I stood there waiting for our turn to speak, I couldn’t help but reflect on what that might say about our efforts as homeschooling parents. Perhaps we get so wrapped up in covering all of the academics that we lose sight of some of the fun and amazing things—things like building tree forts, counting shooting stars, and hiking and camping with our kids.  

More Homeschool Encouragement

• The Importance of Family Traditions
• Celebrating Progress in Your Homeschool
• Helping Your Children Pursue Their Dreams

I pray that you aren’t one of the parents standing at graduation with regrets about the fun and amazing things that you didn’t do with your child. Create time for the delightful moments of discovery and adventure that are there for the taking when the kids are young. Trust me, the time flies all too quickly, so don’t wait. Get out there and go exploring!

Blessings,
Amanda B.

“Hey Mom, don’t forget that we’re going out for pizza after this last game of the season.
It’s a tradition, remember?”

“Dad, when are you going to get the bales of hay and pumpkins for your autumn masterpiece?
Can I go, too? It’s a tradition, you know!”

One of the sweetest gifts of homeschooling is the chance to weave family traditions into everyday learning.

Why Family Traditions Are So Important

Tradition…

Just the word sometimes sounds old and from past generations, doesn’t it? Yet family traditions have helped many a family stay together and strong over the past years, and probably for generations to come.

Traditions are so important in families. The sense of security and love that is felt when observing traditions as a family will stay with our children for the rest of their lives.

Homeschooling Family Traditions

As homeschooling families, we have a unique opportunity in today’s society to enjoy a wide variety of traditions for all kinds of events and observances and integrate them into our learning lifestyle. These traditions are woven into the fabric of our family, making it stronger and more memorable for everyone.

As a child, I grew up in a family filled with love, children, and plenty of traditions. My parents worked to build the strength of our family with some traditions that were simple and yet special. We lived far away from any relatives, so our traditions had to be based on our immediate family, and what a blessing those traditions were. My parents didn’t realize that these traditions would get us through some very tough times and keep our family close through thick and thin over many years and generations yet to come.

Early on Sunday mornings, my dad would drive to Krispy Kreme to get hot doughnuts for our family while Mom got all of us ready for church. To this day, when I bite into a warm Krispy Kreme doughnut, I remember Sunday mornings and my dad’s smile as he came through the door with those fresh doughnuts. It was a very simple tradition that meant so much then and means even more now. When we are visiting my childhood hometown, we still visit the same shop and share smiles and memories that cross generations.

When I was a young teenager, our family lost my father to cancer when we were from 8 to 15 years old. Yes, it was tragic and it was heart-rending, and we drifted in and out of being convinced that our happy family life had ended. However, my mother worked hard to keep us safe and housed and educated, but she worked even harder through it all to maintain our family traditions, and these added much-needed cement to our family through some very trying times. We still belonged to the family, the family was still strong, and these traditions gave us a sense of security and predictability in a world that had changed very quickly. Traditions became the ties that we needed as we grew and changed, even while some things never changed.

The variety of traditions is infinite, and I’ve heard of some unique family traditions in all of my travels around this great country. But that is one of the things that makes them special—they are YOUR family’s traditions, unique to you all.

Creating Traditions For Your Own Family

Here are some ideas for traditions that your family might enjoy:

With the end of a sports season or a church performance or other special occasion, have an ice cream sundae party at the local ice cream shop. Sometimes a tradition like this can be a “floating” tradition—one of recognition for feats accomplished.

With the birth of each child, plant a special tree, have a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol (contact your congressman to do this), hold a special family celebration to welcome the new family member, and don’t forget to take plenty of pictures.

With the marriage of each child or sibling, have a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol or plant an evergreen tree to mark the occasion.

When having a holiday get-together or family reunion, try to find a ceramic plate that can be autographed with a permanent marker, and have everyone sign the plate. Bring out the plate at future get-togethers for sharing memories and smiles.

One holiday tradition that we have observed for many years is enjoyed around the kitchen table. In the evenings, we gather and paint those small, plaster village houses to create an interesting holiday village. The tradition of gathering around the kitchen table to paint and be creative has brought about some fascinating conversations and treasured insights into each family member, not to mention the “unique” pieces of art that have been created!

Blessings,
Amanda B.

And so begins our search to answer the question of the day for November 11th – “Mom, what is a veteran?”

This generation of children has been unusually protected from much, if any, exposure to war and soldiers and military importance. So, when they see or hear reference to the upcoming Veterans Day holiday, they don’t understand the significance or relevance to their lives. We can use this holiday as the perfect springboard to learning more about our history, our blessings, and the brave men and women who have served to protect us, and all that we hold dear.

Learning About Veterans Day In Your Homeschool

Veterans Day – what does it mean to you?

The history of this holiday may be unknown to many of us, and yet it exists because of the strength and convictions of generations past that we should remember our veterans and their sacrifices for our peace and protection. There was a price paid for the freedom that we enjoy, and this freedom still needs our protection. While we enjoy peace, it is with an understanding that this peace has been bought with the efforts of our veterans, and this holiday can help us express our gratitude for their efforts and beliefs and sacrifices. On this holiday, we honor all of our veterans. Those in the military serve in all kinds of jobs – soldiers, doctors, nurses, pilots, engineers, astronauts, and so much more. They all work hard to protect and defend America, and we should be grateful to them all.

I heard recently that there is a shortage of military buglers to play “Taps” at military funerals – because so many of our military veterans are passing away, particularly those from the World Wars. While our children haven’t really been exposed to a “war” as we think of it, they do need an appreciation for those who have bravely served. Use this holiday to become familiar with veterans – their sacrifice and their courage.

Learn more about the American military system – how it protects us today and what is happening with our defense. Use this opportunity to learn more about the various organizations that help support out veterans – the Veterans Administration (VA), the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and others.

This holiday has special significance to many members of our family as well as our friends. Though often quiet about their service, these people have a wealth of information and experience that they might be willing to share with our students about their service, training, and ideas – if asked. By learning more about the people and their participation, we can carry on the tradition and remembrance with pride.

Applauding Our Veterans

With this holiday, let’s bring out the flag and applaud our veterans. Let us teach these things to our children, so that we never take our freedom and liberty for granted. All of our veterans deserve our appreciation and remembrance. It is now the next generation’s responsibility to protect and defend our country, our God-given rights, and our freedoms.

“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men… It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers in the event.”Samuel Adams, 1771

“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army… We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die…”
George Washington, speech delivered to his army, 1776

“To fight out a war, you must believe something and want something with all your might. So must you do to carry anything else to an end worth reaching. More than that, you must be willing to commit yourself to a course, perhaps a long and hard one, without being able to foresee exactly where you will come out. All that is required of you is that you should go somewhither as hard as ever you can. The rest belongs to fate…:”     Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1884

“There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpation.” James Madison, 1788

Veterans Day Unit Study Available! Also Included in Patriotic Holidays

• Day One: What Is A Veteran?
• Day Two: History Of Veterans Day
• Day Three: Our Armed Forces
• Day Four: Flanders Fields
• Day Five: Sacrificing All For Our Freedom

What is the history of these national holidays? Who were the patriots involved? How can we remember the sacrifices of those who have fought for our freedoms? Show your children why these special days are more than just another barbecue or parade.

• American History Download N Go® set
• Veterans Day Homeschool Activities and Resources
• The Veterans Day Homeschool
• Helping Your Homeschooled Children Pursue Their Dreams
• What is a Unit Study?
• Unit Studies with Multiple Ages
• How Does this Method Compare to Others?
• Take the Tour: Learn About Unit Studies

Happy homeschooling,