How do I make time for Scripture, devotions, and my spiritual life in general if I’m a busy homeschool mom ..read more

For those of you studying modern history and the Cold War, an indispensable film to review is Stanley Kubrick's 1964 dark satire, Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb ..read more

In my last column, I explained why children need fairy tales. But how do you actually introduce these stories to your kids? Which ones do you choose? What’s the best approach to reading them? And what if your child isn’t getting the message being taught? Today, we’ll discuss all these things. Recommendations are listed in a stepwise process below. However, they are merely suggestions. It’s up to you to decide which steps are helpful for you and how to adapt them to your family’s unique needs. Defining Family Values First, before you start reading or even choose which fairy tales to share with ..read more

With so much communication taking place digitally today, is there any point in still teaching children to write by hand? Isn’t handwriting just an increasingly archaic relic of a dying age? While digital media has largely replaced handwriting as the normative means of communication, there is still a strong case to be made for teaching young people to write by hand. In this article, we will explore five reasons for teaching handwriting to your children (while each of these reasons pertains to handwriting in general, a few are more applicable to cursive handwriting in particular). 1. Cognitive a ..read more

Should I add economics to my homeschool curriculum? How do I teach it? When I was in high school in Michigan, everyone was required to take a semester of economics in 11th grade. We really didn’t understand why. It was simply one of those requirements mandated by the state and shoehorned in the year before graduation. The school had the computer teacher running the class, and he didn’t seem very enthused about it. He spent most of the semester reading the newspaper behind his desk while we did handouts for busy work—or just killed time goofing off until the bell. Needless to say I didn’t pick ..read more

Catholic Graphic Novels for Your Homeschool Some time ago, I received review copies of The Adventures of Loupio series from Magnificat, the children’s division of Ignatius Press. It took me a while to get to these books, mainly because I couldn’t pry them out of the hands of my eight-year-old for a few weeks. That in itself really says all that needs to about these lovely books. I hope you enjoyed my review! The Adventures of Loupio Series The Adventures of Loupio is a series of six graphic novels written and illustrated by Jean-Francois Kieffer (the original Loupio books were written in Frenc ..read more

Today I am talking with Homeschool Connections’ own Dr. Kristi Moore. Dr. Moore is an Associate Professor and Program Director for the Applied Psychology program at Angelo State University, but we at Homeschool Connections know her as our instructor for Child Development, College Preparatory Psychology (dual enrollment), and more. What is parentification? Parentification occurs when children are placed in the role of the parent and take on what would normally be considered parental duties. There are two types: instrumental parentification, when children take on parental responsibilities like r ..read more

Have you ever wondered why gymnasts bend their knees when landing from a jump? Why cars with airbags are safer than those without? Why Nike puts “air™” in their running shoes? How to win an egg-toss game at a family picnic? The answer to all of these questions can easily be found with a simple understanding of physics principles! Physics: The Beauty and Complexity Physics explains how God’s creation works physically. It is a beautiful way to come to a deeper understanding of the Mind of God. It builds on one’s understanding of biology & chemistry and can be learned with or without a deep u ..read more

“The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.” G.K. Chesterton Today, I saw an assistant pig keeper defeat an evil king. Yesterday I witnessed four children enter a wardrobe and come out the other side in lands not their own. And the day before that I listened, enraptured, as an unlikely rogue, in want of a hot bath and a soft chair by the hearth, riddled with a dragon. Now, I’ve been told these things never happened, that they aren’t real. And perhaps that’s true. But if I can’t believe in ..read more

Bringing Science to Life Through Living Literature. How to Convey Understanding to Struggling Students. A popular educational paradigm divides people into left-brained and right-brained learners. For instance, left-brained individuals excel in math, science, and technology, while the right-brained excel in literature, art, and the humanities. I don’t know whether there is any scientific merit to this paradigm. Nevertheless, anecdotal experience suggests that children gravitate toward one or the other naturally. When I was in high school, I thrived in the arts and humanities, but I struggled in ..read more