My 9-year-old learns art techniques & origami by practicing them over and over and over. When I was new to the world of homeschooling, and pedagogy in general, I heard about the term "teaching to mastery," and it perplexed me. The idea is that you teach something until the student understands and retains it. You test as you go along, but if the student doesn't score highly on any given test, you adjust your teaching style and go over it again. What perplexed me was that there were teachers not using this technique. It makes sense in a homeschool situation. Or, in other words, the rev ..read more

Have you seen the pandemic-schooling schedule floating around?  (To give proper credit, it's from Jessica McHale, and I'm not posting this to call her out because I know what I'm talking about here is a common parenting mindset.) There are joke versions crafted on this template that replace every slot with screen time or Frozen 2 or fighting over toys. That's all good and fun. But I'll direct you to the last two slots marked Bedtime: Any kids who follow the daily schedule and don't fight are entitled to an extra hour before bed. When I showed this to Alrik, he had the same rea ..read more

Astronaut Rotating with no axis, unfurled tether keeping you in place. The atmosphere around you unbreathable, so air comes to you. Extraterrestrial glow illuminating the dimness As you spin and twirl, no upside down or right side up, Weightless, waiting, your hand before your face Waving to Earth. Unexpected Tricky boy, you sneaked in behind the midwife's back, fooling me into believing I wasn't pushing, that you wouldn't be arriving till morning at least, that we had time, long, monstrous hours to fill, instead of intense, rapturous, terrible minutes. You slipped out to our surprise ..read more

If you've been staring at bare paper-products aisles in distress, I have some suggestions to brighten your day. You can cut down or cut out your use of toilet paper while maintaining your comfort and convenience. I recommend a mix of family cloth, a bidet attachment, and, optionally, a much smaller quantity of toilet paper or wet wipes as needed, such as for guests -- in the future, when guests are a thing again. You might remember I first tried family cloth, or reusable cloth toilet paper, several years ago after a lot of debate and skepticism. I'm glad to report I've kept using it, b ..read more

Well. We're in a global pandemic. All over social media are posts encouraging you to make the most of this time your children are off of school. There are many tips on how best to continue schooling while you're isolated at home as well as memes to let off steam about how much teachers should earn, how cooped up everyone's feeling, and how no one's taught to carry the one anymore. (Is this true? I'm too old to have realized this.) As a parent who's been homeschooling for my children's full schooling years so far, I want to offer my take on how best to homeschool right now for those of y ..read more

Alrik has discovered the joys of Google Slides (PowerPoint-like presentations). It all started when he made me watch multiple inane YouTube videos that were quizzes purporting to help you discern things like what color you should dye your hair, but then all the questions would be things like, "What kind of flowers would you grow in a garden?" and "If you could be any type of animal, which would you be? Now choose from these three options." To celebrate the nonsense, I made my own quiz that I forced my family to complete: Feel free to total up your numbers, and do let me know which ..read more

I've been finding myself sharing posts on my Facebook page about how big kids are sweethearts, too. About how we often attribute malice or disinterest to the gangly tweens and teens with the earbuds in and the cool scowl on their faces, and we don't look further to see the tender, thoughtful souls beneath. Living with a sweetheart of a 12-year-old who's now wearing men's shoes and is about to outgrow his aunt by height, I know firsthand that appearances can be deceiving and that the warmest hearts can beat beneath the pulled-up hoodies of adolescence. Leading up to Christmas Eve, Mikko ..read more

Wishing you and your family all the best this year and always! Thanks for subscribing to Hobo Mama. Please feel free to comment on the post & share it with friends ..read more

In the category of Things No One Asked Me For, I bring you a family Mad Lib to act out. Wondering what family activity to settle into on Christmas Eve? Trying to head off political arguments when relatives are over? Break out this little giggle starter. I was inspired by Jimmy Fallon's Mad Lib Theater and thought: We definitely all need this in our very own living rooms. Because this is not just any Mad Libs. This is a DRAMA. Stand up! Emote! Bellow to the back of the theater! Print the doc out from this link. Assign each participant a role. I have them labeled generically as Mom, Da ..read more

It's just a couple days before Christmas. Want a last-minute craft for the holidays? Here's a simple and meaningful keepsake that's so easy and inexpensive to make that you can keep one for you and send a bunch off to loved ones. Start with blank ornaments. You can use whatever you have around, or you can find some at craft stores or online.  Round ones work, but I preferred the ease of use of these flat wooden ones I found here. Next you need at least three colors of paint. Easy peasy! I went with tempera because that's what I had. Red, yellow, and green are nice and brigh ..read more