Over the past four years our homeschool daily schedule and curriculum choices have morphed and shifted quite a bit. Every family, child, and season is different. Currently I homeschool a 3rd grader, 1st grader, and a pre-schooler who is old enough to do Kindergarten work. With the addition of a third child to our formal school, I was not able to use a single teacher’s guide with our original curriculum any more. (We had been using Heart of Dakota, which was a simple, low-key choice and I do recommend it). Because I wanted to simplify things and make them more fluid with multiple learners, I c ..read more

Several readers have asked me recently to share more about our simple homeschool. In the face of Covid-19, some families are considering homeschool long term. I love homeschooling, and I want to be an encouragement and a resource to those who are weighing this out. I decided to break down my thoughts into a multipart part series. In this post I outline why we homeschool and how it fits in with the pursuit of a simpler life. If you’re here, this is likely a metric you care about. The “why” is the critical first step in any homeschool journey. Trust me, you can figure out the “how” onc ..read more

On May 22nd, 2019 the unlikely happened. Our home was destroyed by a tornado. It was just after 11 pm. My husband Mitch and my four children were already in bed. I was sipping coffee at my desk doing some work when my phone buzzed. It was a generic tornado warning alert. I went to the window, opened it, and listened carefully. I could faintly hear sirens  in the distance. My husband was still awake, so we quickly conferred and decided together to wake the children and bring them into our master bathroom. Although there’s not a true interior room in our brick home (even the bathroom has an exte ..read more

Guest post by Jennifer Hayes Yates at jenniferhyates.com. Startled by the alarm near my bed, I push the snooze and snuggle back down into the warm chenille blanket. Just between drooling sleep and stark awareness, the fragrance of coffee meets my senses, and I am reminded of the reason for the alarm. It’s time for morning with the Master. Ok, I just made that up, but I like the name, don’t you?  There’s nothing quite like the peace and stillness that come from spending some time each morning at the feet of Jesus. It didn’t used to be that way for me, though. I used to go about my day with a f ..read more

Guest post by Laura Bailey at Let Me Tell Ya Somethin’ Our family morning routine involves a prayer, a Bible verse, and a few songs while eating breakfast. The other day we sang a song that many of us equate with juice boxes and butter cookies. It says, “Read your Bible, pray every day if you want to grow.” My eldest daughter abruptly stopped singing and asked, “What does reading your Bible have to do with growing?” To this, I replied, “Well, it is not our physical bodies that we want to grow, it is our hearts.” “But what if our hearts grow too big? Won’t they jump out of our bodies,” she res ..read more

Life feels easily overwhelming for me right now. With baby number four on the way, homeschooling, trying to keep the house in order, and navigating the seas of being a self-employed family, there is no shortage of things to keep me wound up tightly. The responsibility feels consuming. And thus, peace and rest become long forgotten in favor of late night work and anxious striving. I think that’s why The Soul at Rest by Tricia McCary Rhodes ministered to me so much. This is a 40 day journey designed to lead the reader into deeper connection with God through prayer and awareness of His presence i ..read more

On May 22nd, 2019 the unlikely happened. Our home was destroyed by a tornado. It was just after 11 pm. My husband Mitch and my four children were already in bed. I was sipping coffee at my desk doing some work when my phone buzzed. It was a generic tornado warning alert. I went to the window, opened it, and listened carefully. I could faintly hear sirens  in the distance. My husband was still awake, so we quickly conferred and decided together to wake the children and bring them into our master bathroom. Although there’s not a true interior room in our brick home (even the bathroom has an exte ..read more

Guest post by Jennifer Hayes Yates at jenniferhyates.com. Startled by the alarm near my bed, I push the snooze and snuggle back down into the warm chenille blanket. Just between drooling sleep and stark awareness, the fragrance of coffee meets my senses, and I am reminded of the reason for the alarm. It’s time for morning with the Master. Ok, I just made that up, but I like the name, don’t you?  There’s nothing quite like the peace and stillness that come from spending some time each morning at the feet of Jesus. It didn’t used to be that way for me, though. I used to go about my day with a f ..read more