Slices of Life

So here is post number 11:  (originally posted August 19th) Socializing Those Homeschoolers   It's funny that even though homeschooling is growing by leaps and bounds, even though there are literally hundreds of homeschool blogs and they all talk about all the activities their kids are involved in we all still get the dreaded socialization question: "Aren't you worried about their socialization?"   NO!!    My kids are way more social now than when they were in school.  At school they often got in trouble for socializing or else their friends ended up in a different classroom and they didn't have anyone that they really "clicked" with in their classroom for that particular year.  They had a limited number of children to pick from for the most part and heaven forbid if they had different interests from the "norm."  Don't get me wrong they made friends but there were only a few kids they saw outside the school day as well....

With 2015 coming to and end and looking forward to 2016, I thought I'd count down the 15 most popular posts of 2015 (not counting our Weekly Wrap- Ups, which always get a lot of pageviews thanks to linky parties!). So here is post number 12:  (originally posted Sept. 10) Too Much Work!     Our plans for today fell through due to the weather and so we FINALLY had a day at home to get some real school work done.  I pulled out a few subjects for each boy to work on independently so, of course, they complained it was too much.  Yep, we're so overworked over here.  I get asked a lot by other homeschooling families if I have a hard time getting my kids to complete their work.  It seems like all homeschooling families have this problem of motivating our kids to do their work.  You'd think since we do very little of what looks like traditional schoolwork that our kids would be more willing to complete what we ask of them but that's not ...

With 2015 coming to and end and looking forward to 2016, I thought I'd count down the 15 most popular posts of 2015 (not counting our Weekly Wrap- Ups, which always get a lot of pageviews thanks to linky parties!). So here is post number 13:  (originally posted July 30) Say Yes! More Often I'm making a concerted effort to say "Yes!" to my kids more often.  I find that usually I'm just saying no out of habit or convenience but s aying yes has opened up opportunities for us to connect as a family, for my boys to grow and show me what they're capable of, for me to embrace my children's passions and interests.   Allowing them to do more and to see that their wants, needs and desires matter  helps them feel confident, important and more grown up. I know the teen years are fast approaching and I'm determined not to get pulled into all the angst that we assume is normal and necessary in those teen years.  I'm learning from lots of home...

With 2015 coming to and end and looking forward to 2016, I thought I'd count down the 15 most popular posts of 2015 (not counting our Weekly Wrap- Ups, which always get a lot of pageviews thanks to linky parties!). So here is post number 14:  (originally posted on October 22) Goop, Slime, Play dough & Sensory Play Recipes My kids love playing with play dough, slime, goop, and making new types of dough.  There was a time we were making something new just about every week.   There's something about watching two or three ingredients combine that just fascinated them.  Sometimes our dough "experiments" failed but usually we had something new to play with and the joy lasted for several hours or days.   Now that the kids are older we don't make dough as often but we still enjoy making something when we're bored and looking for something out of the ordinary to do.  Most of the time I didn't measure or really follow a "recipe" ...

With 2015 coming to and end and looking forward to 2016, I thought I'd count down the 15 most popular posts of 2015 (not counting our Weekly Wrap- Ups, which always get a lot of pageviews thanks to linky parties!). So here is post number 15:  (originally posted June 10, 2015) An Open Letter to Myself of Three Years Ago: A New Homeschooling Mom Almost exactly three years ago I was at that jumping off point to homeschool: I had already spent months reading books about homeschooling.   I had talked to a few homeschoolers.   I had Attended a  new homeschooler question and answer session at a local library where I met some homeschoolers and their kids.   By this point in my decision I had even started telling people "I'm thinking of homeschooling in the fall"; tentatively at first and then with more confidence as no one shrieked "Are you crazy?"    I was at that point where I was straddling the fence; ready to jump off but entirel...