Get your reluctant middle schooler writing with some really gross language arts lessons! It’s no secret that middle schoolers have a “unique” sense of humor. They love all things gross. Even the sound of the words they like to joke about are… well, “eewww.” Why not capitalize on their fascination with all things yuck? Designed especially for the reluctant writer—or any middle schooler who wants the freedom to write about the things that interest them the most—these language arts lessons from the Hifalutin Homeschooler may just be what you are looking for. Why Be So Gross-ish? If you’ve ever h ..read more

Family devotions give you the chance to have conversations about faith and life with your kids—simple, intentional time to talk about what you believe. It’s a question a lot of parents have: How do we pass our faith along to our kids? And there are many answers to that question. Read the Bible Choose a curriculum and make it a part of your homeschool Have a family devotion each night Study apologetics and church history and… None of these are bad suggestions, but there is one thing we can be sure about when it comes to sharing our faith and beliefs with our children. It should be a natural p ..read more

Take advantage of each season’s learning opportunities. Discover how you can make learning fun for your kids with hands-on activities, lessons, and projects. You’ll love these seasonal homeschool ideas! The leaves of our front yard oak tree turn brown each winter, but they still cling to the branches, shivering in the cold winds. It’s as if it wears a brown coat until the first breaths of spring. In the early months of spring my children and I would watch as our tree slowly shed it’s coat, then began to put on its spring attire. Small buds appeared with a wiggly green looking “worm leaf” as we ..read more

Learning doesn’t happen in neat little boxes! Find out how to incorporate geography across the subjects you teach for more connected learning. For many of us who grew up in the public school system, we went to separate classes like language arts, science, social studies, and art. Learning was compartmentalized into neat little boxes. It might have worked great for organizing students in a school, but there’s a major flaw in the effectiveness of this approach educationally. All of these different subjects are connected. Life and learning simply don’t fit into neat little boxes. No More Boxes S ..read more

Why do so many homeschool mom’s experience burnout? Often it’s because we don’t take care of ourselves… we don’t rest. Find out what your need to know about rest and how to incorporate more of it into your life. Dear mom, are you tired? Tired of the noise, of being asked a million questions, of playing referee? Are you weary of having a child constantly following you everywhere? Tired of doing tasks you have to turn around and do again—making meals, washing and drying and folding those never-ending loads of laundry? Cleaning a house that immediately gets messy again? Yes, we love our husb ..read more

Discover how knowing your children’s learning styles can help you build a solid foundation for their education. My oldest son took Biology through a co-op class during his freshman year of high school. For the tests they were required to know at least twenty definitions per unit, so I told him to study the words and I would quiz him. Unfortunately, when I quizzed him he didn’t remember very many. It was as if he hadn’t even seen the words before. So we tried something else. I said the definition to him and he repeated it back to me—back and forth we went until he had them down. Why couldn’t he ..read more

We dream of the perfect homeschool, but often reality looks different. Find out the 3 things you can do when your dreams and reality don’t quite match up. ‘Twas the night before homeschool. . . ‘Twas the night before homeschool, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; New books and curriculum had been chosen with care, In hopes that Harvard scholarships were sure to be theirs; The children were nestled all snug in their beds; While visions of perfection danced in mom’s head. Visions of The Perfect Homeschool Ah yes, the night before the first day of homeschoo ..read more

Are you exhausted, unmotivated, or thinking about putting your kids in public school because you just can’t do it anymore? Maybe the problem isn’t homeschooling.To care for your kids, you have to make self care a priority—but maybe not in the ways you’ve heard before. Self-care isn’t about getting manicures or going on a retreat. There isn’t anything wrong with those things, of course, but they are not what will sustain you in this homeschooling journey. You have to learn what it means to take care of yourself in the day-to-day—the sometimes hard, routine, and wonderful moments of life. 10 Thi ..read more

The Olympics are a great opportunity to teach kids about a variety of subjects. We’re sharing the best resources and ideas to make the summer games a fun, memorable, and educational event for your entire family! So jump in with our step-by-step guide. It will help your kids get the most out of watching the Summer Games! Simply follow each step in this post and be sure to get your FREE resources! Step 1: Start with Questions One of the best ways to begin learning about any topic is to start with the questions your students already have about it. Brainstorm questions together. Write them on ..read more

Writing for teens should go beyond just writing essays and research papers. Teach your middle school and high school students to write for the real world.  For me, high school writing focused on the five-paragraph essay and research papers. Why do I remember them? Because we did them over and over and over. Yes, learning these writing forms helped me to write well in college—or at least get good grades—but it came at a cost. I decided I really disliked writing. Writing was another assignment to get through. Later, when I was teaching my sons how to write, I discov ..read more