Aloha!! Well, May is flying by and though we may not be out of quarantine yet, most of us are starting to see the FINISH LINE for our school year...And that is a good feeling! To help us get to the finish line, today I have Robert Bortins, the CEO of Classical Conversations, on with me to share 27 Tips for ending the school year strong. I love this list and know that a lot of you will be encouraged by it as well! In the past couple of months I have been asked more than
Home School
You Have What it Takes to Homeschool {Episode 048 with September McCarthy}
Finally, and episode on Homeschooling!! For many months now I've had countless requests for a podcast episode about homeschooling. And now, more than ever, families are scrambling to find some order to the potential chaos of having kids at home all day. Whether they are "homeschooling", or just trying to survive doing school at home, I've heard the message: Please help! Hopefully this episode will be a lot of help! September McCarthy is a homeschooling
Gap Year, SAT tests, and the Journey to College {Episode 47 with my son, Jonah}
Hey Friends! Today my 18 year-old son, Jonah is with me to talk about his journey through the college preparation, application, and acceptance process. Many people have asked for updates on Jonah's process and especially have questions about the scholarship contest we traveled to California for back in February. I'm so excited to share this conversation between Jonah and I. Note: While I considered dedicating an episode to the topic of the Coronavirus, I am
Where the Magic Happens. {Raising Kids of Character}
We all want to find the magic solution for raising character-rich kids. Here's what I know. There is no doubt, my early parenting years were challenging. But when I look back on the first years homeschooling my older boys, I have mostly fond memories. I have often described the first three boys as being "eager to please", "self-directed" learners, and so on. Fast forward a few years and Levi...Levi has not exactly been the "eager-to-please" homeschool student. He
Raising Boys to Value Learning and Discover Passions {Podcast Episode 016 with Amber Lia}
Aloha Friends! I'm super excited to share today's podcast episode with you. We are spring-boarding off of chapter 9 of Boy Mom as we talk about Inspiring Young Minds: Boys: learning, and discovering passions. This is such a fun topic!!! I invited my friend Amber Lia on for today's episode because she's a four-boy momma who has a background in education, and she's a lot of fun to chat with! I knew she'd have a lot of great ideas on this topic. And I was
A Few Thoughts after 12 Years of Homeschooling.
Homeschooling thoughts this year...(I usually do one homeschool post per year. Here it is. :) ) --also a note on ads in the PS at the bottom.... Recently someone asked me how long I've been homeschooling, and I calculated that this is my 12th year. Wow! That makes me feel tired crazy (so many things, but mostly) grateful. In case you don't know my story, I'll begin by saying that I never dreamt of being a homeschool mom -- even up to the year that we
Swanson Boys: Homeschool Updates, and Books they’ve been Loving
I don't know about you, but my boys go back to school tomorrow. (Tomorrow!!) I hope you enjoyed the last post about Homeschooling High School. (I remember being so nervous about the idea of homeschooling high school, but it has turned out to be a blast!) As promised, I am back today to give some quick updates on the homeschool curriculum my boys are using this year, and also to share some of the books they've been enjoying. ^^My 4, yesterday -- at a Hawaiian Rodeo! :) I'm
On Homeschooling High School
Homeschooling High School.... I am so happy to be sharing an awesome post by Jen McDonald today. I've been meaning to put some words together to share a homeschool post for a while now, and when I came across this post I was like "She said it better than I could!" I wanted to highlight all over my computer screen. :) I think you'll enjoy this! Quick note -- Curriculum updates? Every year I do try to do a curriculum update for my family, (though I don't think I got to that last
