homeschooljoy Archives - Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

10 days-Planning Homeschool High School Graduation: Senior Portraits (Day 2)

April 4, 2017 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

updated

Homeschool Senior Portraits Matter Most!

Though many details were floating around in my mind, one thing I figured out quite early was that I could go ahead and get Mr. Senior 2013’s official portraits done and purchase his cap and gown as we hashed out the other details on venue and menu. Homeschool senior portraits were important.

Too right away, we had to determine if he wanted a senior ring or not. Breaking with tradition and because he didn’t really want one, I knew a regular, but no ordinary ring would be worn by him longer. Grandma and grandpa wanted to make that purchase for their gift to him. So that was one long term project done.

Overflowing Inspiration

Loving the details about planning, earlier in the year I had put together some color boards so we could decide what colors he best liked. In my mind, we could then go from there to choosing a cap and gown. That approach made sense to me or so I thought at the time.

{Picture Source: The Craft Begins)

We spent wasted hours poring over color schemes. Being the boy that he is the color scheme above is close to what he ended up liking best, or he thought so too at the moment. Of course with less peach and more terra cotta color at the party is what he thought he wanted.

All I could think of was a green cake when I saw that color scheme. All Mr. Senior 2013 could think of was an ivory wedding cake and a wedding theme which he wanted to be sure to steer clear of.

We both approached this planning the wrong way. We backed up and started with what was easiest to pick out first and that was his favorite color for his cap and gown. He knew right away he wanted royal blue.

(Picture: Graduation Source)

There it was. Our inspiration for our color scheme and party just got easier.

We ended up going with Graduation Source because it was a big company, had some great reviews and it was fast and pretty painless to deal with. Also, I went ahead and ordered only the diploma cover because guess who was going to make his diploma too?

All of it was at our home fairly quickly and all I had to decide now on was how to get official senior portraits. As I figured out, the color scheme could wait a bit longer because I needed to focus on senior portraits. I knew I wanted other pictures too of him showing things he loved.

After looking at a lot of senior packages from photographers, I knew I wanted more control input into the pictures and how many we got.

So I ended up getting my girlfriend who has a DSLR camera and is not an expert and knows less about her new camera than I do about photography. I coordinated the photo shoot because I knew what type of settings and expressions on my son’s face that I wanted to be sure to capture.

Let me tell you the extent of my knowledge of photography. I know one very important thing and that is that light is everything. I know the prime time to take pictures is either close to sundown like between 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. or shortly after sunrise. That’s it! That is the extent of what I know to make pictures beautiful.

On the evening of the photo shoot, my girlfriend came to my house first because working with that amount of time, you need to work fast. I wanted some inside pictures too.

Creating Events To Remember

I picked out 3 outfits ahead of time for my son to change into as we went along so I was sure to have a variety to select from.

I wanted to capture moments that he was proud of like his music or piano at our house and his car.

So we were able to snap several pictures and ended up with these that we liked the most.

Unforgettable Outdoor Photos

After that, I grabbed his change of outfits, his cap and gown and we headed to a local historical park.

Another important thing to me was getting some pictures outside in a natural setting that would have a background that inspired our Texas heritage. When it comes down to it, I am a simple girl and like simple country charm with a hint of formal. This park is close to our home and the perfect setting for our outdoor pictures.

If all possible, I encourage you to have one photography setting outside. You would be surprised at the places that make great photo shoots and I will list some for you in a minute.

Look at my list though of what I brought for our outside pictures after choosing a location.

I brought three different outfits for my son to change into.
I brought a step ladder because I wanted some pictures of the photographer looking down at him.
I brought my point and shoot camera too.
I brought a chair so we had a place to lay some of the clothes on.
If you have a girl think about bringing makeup to touch up her face or to wipe any sweet, but shiny oily faces.
I brought some cotton pads for my son’s face to wipe away shiny spots too and of course hairspray and hair brush.
I also brought some flip flops or sandals because we took some photos of him barefooted and so he could put those on his feet as we walked to another part of the park.

As you can tell we got a variety of poses and pictures to choose from.

Do not leave the decisions for the poses and positions you want to see your child in up to a photographer, even a good one. Though most professional ones will consult with you prior to the shoot so that they can understand your child’s personality, you are the only one who knows them the best. A photographer will love you for having a list or better yet pictures from the internet if you found some.

I came up with all the poses either by finding poses online close to what I liked or understanding what my son liked best. He is not an over the top person when it comes to taking pictures either so we knew we didn’t want glamorous. Girls like that kind of stuff better.

When thinking of an outside place for a portrait think outside the box.

Like I mentioned an old historic building makes wonderful outdoor pictures. When we there taking our pictures a girl that was graduating too came in a beautiful formal dress. I can just imagine what her pictures looked like with a touch of class and a touch of simple.
Think of old downtown
Think of an arboretum
Think of a park or place along a river or pond
Think of the beach
Think of the area around a museum
Think of a state park
Think of all the cool, out of the ordinary places you have been on a field trip to because they make great photo shoot locations
Here in Texas, we have the river walk in San Antonio if you wanted to take them at several different venues and start early by visiting other cities.

By using one photographer, my girlfriend, for these pictures and a professional photographer at the party, we saved a bundle already. I knew at the party I would be tied up with details for our guests, but my mind could be less stressed because I knew I had pictures already that were important to me.

Take inspiration from something simple and capture pictures way ahead of time because without one, it is hard to determine the color scheme for the party or for invitations.

No rest for the excited, because right after that, I had to determine details for the invitation. Next post I will share the details on invitation and venue.

Read 10 days-Planning Homeschool High School Graduation: Start the Planning (Day 1), Ten Best Tech Gifts for Teen Boys, Fun and (maybe Frugal) Homeschool High School Electives and How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment).

Hugs and love ya,

10 days-Planning Homeschool High School Graduation: Start the Planning (Day 1)

April 2, 2017 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

updated – A lot has happened since I wrote this so I wanted to update this series.

How do I put all my plans, fears, successes, failures and momentary lapses of insanity in one blog post? I can’t. Instead, I will share 10 days of planning a homeschool high school graduation so that not IF, but when your turn comes, you will have a place to start.

Planning the BEST Homeschool High School Graduation Celebration!

Right away I will ask for your forgiveness during this series too because sharing our homeschool journey has never been so scary for me as it has been over the last few years.

Much of life and school was up, up and down, down. I have had feelings of overwhelming happiness at the same time sadness, feelings of joy yet fear wondering if I did enough with Mr. Senior 2013.

I can’t help but have tears as I reflect back as I’ve savored every mommy moment with him and think how vulnerable I felt when I held him in my arms as I taught him to read.

A tear or two may run down my cheek as I type this because that has not been the only feelings I experienced as we celebrated the next chapter of Mr. Senior 2013’s life.

You know I tend to be private about hubby’s health, but it impacted our homeschool significantly these past two years. So, the blessing of graduating our first son was special in more ways than one because my husband was around to celebrate it with us.

It may sound a bit dramatic, but for us it was also celebrating life.

So although we weren’t able to have the graduation at the time I planned because we were with the Mr. at the hospital, the day was filled with more meaning when we finally did. Nothing mattered more on ending Mr. Senior 2013’s journey than being with the ones who were there from the beginning and matter the most. Even at the end, he was still learning valuable life lessons.

Moving on to what matters, the beginning of planning a meaningful homeschool graduation starts with long term planning.

Celebration Countdown

Here are some things to think about and that will affect what type of homeschool graduation you plan.

Do you want to be part of a larger homeschool group or not? Most large groups I know plan a whole year out and hire speakers and usually hold the graduation in a large auditorium. If you do, you need to notify a group right away.
What type of personality does your young adult have? Yes, he is forever your child, he’s now just not a child. This is real important because what you might vision for the day and what he or she might vision may be two completely different things. It is their celebration too. It is hard for us capable mamas to remember that at this point because we have been so strong in nurturing and leading them, but surrender to it because our young adults are capable now.
Does your teen vision a late night out on the town and a small gathering?
Does your teen vision a formal night complete with catering and closer to a wedding than a graduation?
Does your teen vision a family trip like a cruise with many of his or her friends and their parents?

Check that List Twice

I will be sharing some printables on this too, but I want to list some things that you need to brainstorm way ahead of time.

date, time (beginning AND ending times), location
type of dress
do you want a meal, just snacks, no meal or cake/punch only
how many people to invite
how many parties to have (yes, I was going to have two. One with our church friends and one with our homeschool group. Two small gatherings keeps each manageable. I ended up having one because of our circumstances.)
how to present the diploma
cap, gown, and ring can all be ordered ahead of time as long your teen doesn’t change their mind about colors he or she likes
what type of decorations do you want

The beginning is about brainstorming and including your young adult. In the end we both realized we had some ideas that ended up being too much work or that really were not that important to us.

Next post, I will share some of the details and plans we reached early in our planning and share with you a few time and budget saving tips I found along the way.

I will try hard to not have too many sniffles on this series, but no promises okay?

Hugs and love ya,

7 Homeschool Lies I Want to Tell My Younger Self

October 11, 2016 | 9 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Having the courage to chase away secret homeschool fears is not easy to do when you’re a new homeschooler. You’re worried about doing everything right and I was no different when I was new to homeschooling.

Learning that my fear was one of the biggest obstacles to overcoming homeschooling and if I could turn back time, I would share these 7 homeschool lies to my younger self.

When the Biggest Obstacle to Overcoming Homeschooling is YOU

ONE/ “Tina, don’t fall for it a bit. Your three year old won’t be behind by the time you get to high school.”

Focusing less on what if my children are going to get behind instead of delighting where they were at would have helped me to teach and savor the here and now moment.

**TWO/ “Tina, girl, you know you love Star Wars, so remember what Yoda said. There is no try. Do or do not.”**

Even coming from a family where my mom homeschooled my youngest sister, I wished my thinking was less of I’m going to try it for a year and more of what an important life changing decision my family had made.

If I had viewed beginning to homeschool like my commitment to having a child, being a new mom, having a new marriage or making big move to a place where you can’t go back, I would have stressed less.

Realizing more time should have been spent on making homeschool a lifestyle change would have been a better use of my time.

THREE/ “Tina, why didn’t you let the boys watch TV more even when school was finished?”

Instead of focusing on extreme rules for our house like not having a tv and no video games, I should have worked more on finding a balance instead of creating extreme schedules for my little kids.

Realizing that some homeschoolers don’t have a tv in their home by choice is good for their family but not ours. My family likes tv, video games and techie play things and a balance would have been so much better for us.

FOUR/ “Why didn’t you go out during school hours, Tina? What were you afraid of?

I wished I would have changed my school schedule earlier than I did instead of thinking that during the day I couldn’t go out because it was school hours.

Little did I know that even though I lived in Bodunk, U.S.A., homeschoolers are oozing by the thousands. Most people have heard of it before. I was the new one, not homeschooling.

FIVE/ “Girl, you’re stressing way too much by prepping Mr. Senior 2013 for visits by grandma. Why do you feel the need to prove to others that you are exactly what your sons need when it comes to teaching them?”

I wish I would have worried less about proving my homeschool success to my in-laws, outlaws and any other family relationship that I may not have wanted to claim kinship to and focused more on the how-tos of teaching.

SIX/ “Leave the house Tina. It’s okay. Learning is not just taking place within the four walls of your school room. You can actually skip lessons plans. Throw them away if you need to.”

Understanding that field trips, homeschool conventions and open houses are not always in my back yard or even my side of the county, I would have attended more conventions, open houses and gatherings for homeschoolers.

SEVEN/ “Don’t worry about all that homeschool curriculum you’re buying. You’ll be an expert before you know it and if you need it while you’re learning how to teach, then use it. Don’t worry when other people tell you when they say you won’t use something.”

I wished I would have found this quote about the piles of curriculum I had bought and may not get to in a lifetime by Sally Clarkson out of her book Educating the WholeHearted Child, “It is nearly a rite of passage for new homeschooling families to buy curricula that ends up gathering dust on the shelf. Usually, it turns out to require more preparation and involvement than they are willing to invest, or it doesn’t fit their lifestyle. It becomes an investment in experience.What we all learn, though, is that any curriculum is only a tool — it doesn’t really “teach” anything. The attitude and commitment of the teacher is far more important than the tool. So if it doesn’t work, don’t worry. Put your unused used curriculum on the table with everyone else’s and buy real books next time. You’re experienced now.”

Beginning to homeschool doesn’t mean you have to give up the educational tools you learned in public school. Through the years Tina, I’ve learned that changing my expectations opens up the way for a whole new way to learn and that is powerful.

Homeschool fearlessly Tina and rock on!

Also, look here at From Struggling Homeschooler to Empowered Educator and 31 Day Free Homeschool Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers.

Also, check out my New Bee Homeschooler Program!

New Bee Homeschooler Boot Camp – Digital Download
$29.00 Add to cart

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Linking up @ these awesome places:

Why My Homeschooled Kids Are Not Given the Choice to Go to Public School

August 12, 2016 | 10 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Extreme homeschooling has never been my style, but I do strive for being a balanced parent, which I feel is much more challenging than setting up fast and hard rules.

What does that have to do with why my kids are not given the choice to go to public school?

Let me back up and explain first how your childhood affects your current parenting and homeschooling style.

Without being aware of that, the decision to take away some things from my sons may seem dictator-like.

We Can’t Just WANT Our Children to Make Good Decisions – Model It

Because my childhood was not one full of abusive parenting, I bring that know-how to my homeschooling.

Oh sure, my parents made their fair share of parenting mistakes, like any parent will, but extreme, dictatorship-like decisions based on my parents’ personal whims was not one of them.

Sound solid reasons behind my parents’ decision, whether I and my siblings agreed or not was their pattern in making decisions. Communicating lovingly to me and often of why I couldn’t do something was foremost always.

Switching back to present day and helping many new homeschoolers through my workshops, I noticed a common trait among lax parents, which is wanting to get their child’s approval in some way for homeschooling.

I learned homeschool parents bring negative patterns of their parents’ parenting or lack of it to their current homeschool.

What very well may have been abusive for a homeschooler as a child is something he or she as a parent does not want to repeat. No parent would.

Because balance is harder to achieve than laying down arbitrary rule making, I hope by sharing sound reasons behind why my homeschooled kids are not given the choice to go to public school will help you also to avoid the return to public school.

Look at some of the common mindsets that I have avoided or adopted because I set our homeschool up for success.

ONE// I don’t feel a homeschooler is called to homeschooling, but I do feel that homeschooling is THE BEST choice for ANY child.

Besides the obvious low teacher ratio, homeschooling is about a choice of schedule, choice of academics, real life experiences and an overflowing amount of enriching activities.

Which family doesn’t deserve to have a shot at that?

However, just because homeschooling is the best method for every child to learn, it doesn’t mean everybody has the circumstance to. That is why I don’t believe we are called to homeschooling.

Good is not wished just upon some and others not.

The bottom line has been that because each year I had the circumstances to homeschool and knew it was the best option for any child, a life changing decision was not given into the hands of a child who may thinks he misses a friend or two. More on that in a minute.

TWO// Homeschooling can be similar to the mindset needed in marriage IF you value the homeschool lifestyle.

Marriage calls for a heavy commitment up front when you don’t really know your future husband until you start living with him no matter how long you dated.

Jumping into marriage without trying to find out as much as you can about your husband is not wise by any stretch of the imagination.

Making a marriage work is hard, but thinking in the back of your mind that divorce is an option or a way out makes the effort put forth in the beginning meager and utterly defeating.

My 27 year wonderful marriage is worth it and so is my 19 year commitment to homeschooling.

Hold on though because I don’t want you to think that these things were just ‘handed to me’. Both of those commitments require HARD WORK and success just doesn’t happen.

Homeschooling is similar to that type of commitment in marriage. Focusing more on how to make homeschool work than dwelling on returning to public school requires a resolute determination, a belief in the homeschool approach, knowledge (which is gained) and focused energy.

Decision-Making Ability is a Gradual Process

THREE// Let’s talk teens, rebellious years and even single mom homeschooling.

And absolutely yes, it works best for each of those times. It’s easy to assume that all of our homeschool years are going to be sunshine and rainbows, but you and I both know that is a lie.

Like most teens, all of my boys have gone through times when they too buck the decisions my husband and I make.

Our process to help them has always been the same and we did this by:

Listening to our boys without interrupting them or telling them they can’t feel that way. They should have their own opinions and our decision for them to not have the choice to go to public school doesn’t deprive them of how to gradually start the decision-making process. It is a clear cut boundary.
Explaining the reasons why they don’t have a choice to go to public school. Your reasons may vary, but a few of our reasons usually went like this; this is a superior education, society has changed and we want our influence on you, your course load in high school can be lighter or heavier, you have more time for a social life instead of caged, you can have a job earlier, enjoy an apprenticeship, be free of bullying, be free of the atmosphere of drugs and savor freedom.
Acknowledging that we are capable of mistakes and all decisions are made out of giving our children the best.
Finding the solution or fixing the problem. For example, if one of my boys felt like he was missing out on friends, then I MUST fill that need. And you know that unless you decide to homeschool under a rock, activities are endless for kids. Matter of fact, finding other boys their age was a problem in our homeschool and I created a thriving co-op. Out of that co-op, my boys have lifelong friends. They also wanted to be with other homeschooled teens more, so they took art lessons, and ballroom dancing. I didn’t stop there, I planned movie trips and outings for boys and I planned for 2 or 3 field trips per month instead of our usual one. Yes, who is afraid of work anyway.

Single mom homeschooling is also more prevalent today and because homeschooling can be flexible to a mom’s work schedule, many single parents are lapping up that freedom.

When we give our kids the option to return to homeschool a mindset can set in where they think that something better exists, when in fact we are giving them the very best.

Why unnecessarily place defeat in front of you or your children?

Here are some don’ts:

Don’t use the return to public school as a threat. It may give your kids the wrong impression of people who have had to use public school. Besides threats and intimidation is not a way to parent.
Don’t keep asking your children if they miss school. They are only going to tell you what their limited experience has been and they surely do not have the ability to make life changing decisions.
For sure don’t ask a homeschooled teen if he thinks he should return to public school. Problems will not get better when he is away from you, they only go below the surface for a while to reappear.
Don’t think a child has to experience bad or experience public school to appreciate good. If that seems to be the case, focus on how to help them appreciate what they have. Appreciate means to hold in high value. Attitudes and actions prove appreciation or lack of it. A return to public school doesn’t build that in children.

Leave behind rigid and unbending rules, but set your homeschooling up for success by creating boundaries for it.

Also, look at: Homeschool Quitters, Dropouts and Wimps (Want to Join Me?) and When Homeschooling is Not an Overnight Success (Is it Worth the Risk?).

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

The Problem Choosing Between Homeschool Mom and Homeschool Teacher

April 17, 2016 | 8 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Do we really need to choose between homeschool mom or homeschool teacher? Do our kids benefit when we separate the two roles?

My first few years of homeschooling, I hardly recognized myself.

Sounding more like a drill sergeant when we started our day than a caring loving educator, whose first concern should be the emotional well-being of my children, something had to change.

I didn’t like myself and my kids for sure didn’t like me. Like any new or seasoned homeschool educator, I too was concerned that my kids wouldn’t learn how to develop study skills, self-motivation and an intrinsic love of learning. It’s flat out hard to find a balance. More on that in a minute.

Fast forward to now after graduating two of my sons, I learned that I didn’t need to separate the two roles.

Instead of using energy draining formal teacher tactics, my focus should have been on valuing the many future opportunities that I was going to have of bringing meaning to learning and naturally teaching my boys.

Unlocking the Natural Teacher Within You

Learning to unlock the natural teacher within you is more about appreciating that you shouldn’t choose between homeschool mom and homeschool teacher, but it’s a fuse of the two.

First, it’s important to remember when you homeschool that mom is your first calling.

When you have a child, you know the role of mom is important because the emotional stability, health, safety, personality, spiritual and educational well-being of your child is a serious responsibility.

What I am saying is that I learned educating my child was just another facet of motherhood and not something separate from it.

Furthermore, like me, you are probably the first person, who taught your baby his first word and he started to learn his mother tongue. All the pieces started to fall into place as I pondered what I had done right up to the age before “formal” schooling.

Realizing that I had to leave behind the public school mentality, I didn’t have to learn how to be a teacher. To successfully homeschool, I needed to learn how to be the best mother I could be.

That huge revelation brought homeschooling into something that not only could I achieve successfully, but to treasure, love passionately and stick to because it is as natural as mothering.

When the switch flipped to a new thinking, my focus was on teaching my sons all those things I worried about like any other homeschool mom.

Letting Every Day Life Teach Meaningful Lessons

Energy could now be focused on identifying my son’s weakness.

For example, when I was teaching my sons to write, a homeschool room was a must-have for us. I didn’t have to be concerned with a seasoned homeschool mom tell me when I started homeschooling that I would never use a homeschool room. We did and it proved exactly perfect for my family. Look at my article, Dedicated Homeschool Room or Dining Room Homeschooler.

I trusted my mother instinct, not my teacher instinct. Too, workbooks and books are only part of learning and rigorous standards are important to me and I know too for other homeschoolers.

But we have a huge advantage when we learn outside of four walls and that is we allow every day life to teach our children meaningful lessons. They do happen.

Taking homeschool co-op classes outside of the home and taking instruction from another teacher gave my boys a sense of working with others. Again, as a mother I am concerned with my sons’ lasting happiness. That means I want them to learn to accept others and learn how to communicate with them.

Did I mention they learned to take notes and manage deadlines, which are valuable study skills that I wanted my boys to learn?

Do We Really Need to Prove our Homeschool Worthiness?

All of this and more happened because naturally as we lived life, I seized moments to teach them.

Yes, I think as homeschool moms we tend to try to over achieve and feel we may have to turn every moment into something learning because we may feel the weight of our lifestyle choice hanging around us.

Shedding that let-me-prove-it-to-you mindset allows you to homeschool more freely without feeling you have to prove something to friends and to the world. Can you relate? Look at my article, Homeschooling for the Love of Learning – Does It Really Work.

Learning that things happen in life, which give me perfect teaching moments has made homeschooling natural without worrying which hat I am wearing.

Too, not choosing between two hats, but as the person that knows my sons the best, I know when it’s time to be mom and when it’s time to be teacher. Being a home educator is just another role as mom.

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

3 Reasons Why You Should Be Reading Homeschool Magazines

March 9, 2016 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

The homeschool community is tight-knit. Geographical boundaries or cultural differences are transcended when a family mentions they are homeschoolers. For many years, homeschool magazines have played a huge role in helping homeschooling families stick together.

Is Homeschooling Your Hobby?

Today, in sharing 3 reasons why you should be reading homeschool magazines, I want to share about not only why I love homeschool magazines, but why I specifically love Homeschooling Today.

Homeschooling journeys are time specific, but not so with homeschool magazines.

If you have homeschooled for a while and graduated a kid or two like I have, you know how precious short the time is to homeschool and to share personal experiences of your journey through blogs.

Homeschooling magazines don’t necessarily have a short life (that is unless we support them) span. This is a good thing because if you are new, you are encouraged from experiences of the past and are informed about trends of the future.

For example, one year at a booth Kelley and I had, we got to visit with Debbie Strayer, who was one of the original founders of Homeschooling Today and my heart was moved by her passion and love for homeschooling.

We shared some chit chat, but more than that she was willing to share so openly about what kept her going through her homeschool journey for many years.

Sadly, she is gone now, but her daughter keeps the homeschool passion alive through the pages of that magazine. So the homeschooling community moves forward strong as ever as our ideals are passed down to the next generation.

Do not miss precious nuggets of wisdom shared in that magazine from many seasoned homeschoolers from times past. A homeschool magazine, like Homeschooling Today, gives you roots.

Ready to Use Lessons. Love it!

Another perk of Homeschooling Today that I love is that they have ready made lessons.

In the above picture is one ready made lesson you’ll love that just came out in their current magazine.

The lesson is built around beautiful literature and the book in this lesson is about Abe Lincoln. Not only is a book mentioned, but hands-on activities and ideas are given so that you can use them instantly with your kids.

I love the teaching support I have received from them throughout the years. You’ll pine over this section.

Not time specific, but subject specific.

I know you would get hot under the collar if somebody told you that homeschooling is a hobby. It happened to me back when the kids were little and I was shocked and speechless.

Yes, I know hard to imagine me without a word to say, but I realized that a lot of people just don’t understand that homeschooling is a lifestyle.

And because homeschooling is a lifestyle choice, we need help on specific subjects and concerns that might come up in our journey.

Whether we are teaching multiple ages, special needs children or need help on organization, Homeschooling Today gets very specific on teaching tips.

Not all homeschool bloggers can host more experienced homeschoolers or even professionals on their blog, so we need homeschooling magazines, which continue to share very subject specific content.

Get a glimpse of Homeschooling Today by reading some of the up to date articles on their blog.

So not only purchase magazines for your children, but grab some help for yourself too.

I am unabashedly proud to say that homeschool magazines, like Homeschooling Today, not only make me feel like I am part of the global homeschooling community, but revive my homeschooling spirit when I feel it slumping.

Those are just three very short reasons why I love homeschool magazines.

Have you seen Homeschooling Today? You’ll love getting yours in the mail too. (uhmm yes I still love print magazines)

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Homeschool Quitters, Dropouts and Wimps (Want to Join Me?)

January 26, 2016 | 12 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Stress, finances, fatigue and every day life are tough enough to deal with. Add in homeschooling, mix it all around and it can be the perfect quitter’s recipe. Look at my article, What I Gave Up to Homeschool (and what I got in return).

Though I didn’t appreciate when it was happening, (hard to do that when stressed) my first time of stress was also the first test of my homeschool values.

Homeschool Quitters, Dropouts and Wimps

So today, I want to come from a delicate spot and that is my heart.

And you know I try to steer clear from too much over the top drama here when I share with you.

But tears, emotion and drama are the very things needed when you face a homeschool crisis. Look at my article, Go Ahead and Make a Mistake: Homeschool Without Fear.

Before you decide to quit homeschooling, look at two things I learned when several times throughout my homeschooling, I have felt like dropping out.

1. Time to dig deep NOW for your values.

Each family begins homeschooling for various reasons. You have them too.

Whether your reasons are faith based, not schooling for religious reasons at all or schooling for a mix of both Biblical values and academic excellence, they are still dear to you.

At the beginning of homeschooling the reasons are vibrant and so in-your-face. The longer you homeschool, the more grit it calls for because the reasons seem to fade away.

That is the point. They seem to fade away, when in fact probably nothing much has changed.

My first test I remember clearly because I quit. I felt like I wasn’t teaching Mr. Senior 2013 how to read well, I felt weak and caved.

How to Go from Fantasy to Reality?

I sent him to public school for part of Kindergarten.

Half a year later and some standardized testing (because I didn’t trust myself), I learned that he was far ahead of the other kids.

I didn’t value the reasons that brought me to homeschooling. Instead of standing solid at the first test of my values, I dropped out.

However, dropping out is not necessarily permanent in homeschool. I brought Mr. Senior 2013 back home after a short time in public school and he never returned.

Did you notice the mistake? I can clearly articulate it now.

Instead of viewing my family values and reasons for homeschooling as priceless and a treasure, I skipped over the need to cement them in my heart.

I dismissed them every so slightly (okay maybe more liked dropped like a bad habit) and focused only on the academic part of homeschooling. (important for sure)

Instead of understanding that academics is only one reason I was homeschooling, I got off balance.

Nothing really had changed.

I still wanted to be the one there for my sons first time to walk, to read, to learn to write, to share in his love for learning all the way until he graduated.

The Mr. and I wanted to be the ones to influence the spiritual man in each son. That’s not going to happen when they are away from us.

2. Where do you spend your time? Do you have public school or homeschool friends?

The next stressful time in my life was when my sweet sister had to spend a good amount of time in ICU after a huge scare from her not breathing. How would I continue to homeschool?

She not only needed me, but she had two kids also that needed care.

Was this the time to send my kids to public school so that I could take care of her long term?

You know, looking back some things you think about just don’t make sense. Of course, at the time with a tremendous amount of stress, any reasoning seems justified.

And no, life was not done with me yet.

Next, came my husband’s heart attack where he almost lost his life. And it’s easy to think we’re too young to have this happen and especially while I have three kids at home, but then this life is not about being fair.

Was this the time, now that Mr. Senior 2013 was in high school that I should send him to public school and quit homeschooling and focus on my husband in ICU?

From trials comes life lessons.

By this time, I was part of an active homeschool community and had many homeschool friends.

Beyond the Basics of Homeschooling?

How did this affect my determination to homeschool through trials?

It made ALL the difference between quitting and successfully meeting these challenges.

Looked at what I learned.

Because I embraced a homeschooling lifestyle, I was no longer looking for ways to quit, but for ways to stick to our homeschooling life style through trials.
Instead of using the circumstance of taking care of my sister and her family as an excuse to give up, I used it as a way to teach my sons about how to care for other people. We made many trips to the long term care facility, many meals and many trips to see her. Look at what I wrote: All of our children met the challenge of being more independent and helping each other out. They ARE LIVING in the real world and dealing with life as it comes along. My niece who is just 16, same age as my son, ran their family owned business. She answered the phone, dealt with customers and filled orders. She has gone to “work” each day for 26 days in a row, not missing one day of being there from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Mmmm, do you think she has a good grasp of being out on her own now? We are so proud of her and my son. My son ran my house and homeschooled my youngest son, cooked their lunch, cleaned the house and washed clothes. He bought groceries and went right on with the household. All of the children went right on with their routine they learned while homeschooling as I have spent many long days in the hospital by my sister’s side. My homeschooling friends, like family now were valuable in their love, support and suggestions.
When my husband had his heart attack, Mr. Senior 2013 (though still in high school) had to work for a month in our business. This too didn’t involve behind the scenes work, but he went with an installation crew to customer’s homes to install products. He didn’t want to give up our homeschooling lifestyle. And the flexibility in our schedule to slow down and care for my husband would not have been an option if he was in public school. My homeschool friends were the ones that reminded me to take care of what was important now and that homeschooling would wait.

See, I tried in the beginning to keep “friends” from public school, but it gets tough the longer you homeschool because of differences.

We don’t spend much time with public school friends now. Not because we are being snobbish, but because we are looking for ways to stick to our goals.

Friends can make you falter or give you fortitude when life happens.

Homeschooling in real life looks very different from whats planned on paper.

From this I want to encourage each of you to take hold of the homeschooling lifestyle.

Don’t be so easily swayed to let go of something that is precious.

Through struggle comes change and conviction and a fortitude that this IS the best education we can give our children.

We empower our kids to move along with their lives when we are not around to be there prodding them and that cannot be taught in public school or through curriculum.

Also, look at 10 Books That Boost Your Homeschool Zen (When It May Be Sagging).

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

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Finding Joy In Homeschooling When You are Not Really Feeling It

April 9, 2015 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Finding joy in homeschooling when you are not really feeling it is not easy when you don’t know the secret to keeping to it.

First, it really is important to think of the blessings we have received and progress we have made to this point. We need to be thankful for them.

Discontentment is about not appreciating the progress you and your children have made so far.
The overwhelming pressure to keep pushing our children and our self to maxed out limits triggers discontentment.

Fault finding and complaining are close allies of discontentment. Discontentment can rob you of homeschooling joy.
Because we are imperfect we will always have feelings of being inadequate.

Too, we are not immune to this world’s constant bombardment of thinking that more academics and beginning at a very early age equates to homeschooling success. <

Miserable or Merciful Homeschool Mom

Second, as moms if we constantly fault find with our children and keep switching curriculum in the hopes of finding something better, we rob our children of valuable time that could be spent together.

The most rounded out, happy and contented successful homeschooling families have all shared a common thread.

The environment the child learns in and the attitude of joy that was maintained by the whole family was of far more importance than being overly concerned about national test levels.

True, it’s not easy to feel joyful if we are sick, have fallen behind in our goals, have a household of young demanding children, or have very little support from our husbands as far as homeschooling.

However, focusing on the things we do have, can do and the progress made so far are all incentives to fueling up my homeschooling tank again.

Do You Value the High Cost of Homeschooling?

Do you view it as a privilege to homeschool?
When it’s viewed that way we never take it for granted. If joy is missing in your homeschool day, have you spent time reflecting on the positive?

Savor the progress you made this year. Progress is measured in tiny baby steps. If it’s moving forward at a crawl, it’s still progress.

Contentment is of great value in your journey. Do not compare your progress to others.

Journal or record the progress however tiny it was this year.

The secret of joyfully homeschooling for one year, five or even ten years is sweet contentment.

What about you? Have you found the secret to staying the course?

Also, look at 7 Homeschool Lies I Want to Tell My Younger Self, What I Gave Up to Homeschool (and what I got in return), and 6 Things I Won’t Regret After Homeschooling 16+ Years.

Hugs and you know I love ya,

Linking up @ these awesome places:

Homeschool Senior Portraits Matter Most!

Overflowing Inspiration

Creating Events To Remember

Unforgettable Outdoor Photos

Planning the BEST Homeschool High School Graduation Celebration!

Celebration Countdown

Check that List Twice

When the Biggest Obstacle to Overcoming Homeschooling is YOU

ONE/ “Tina, don’t fall for it a bit. Your three year old won’t be behind by the time you get to high school.”

TWO/ “Tina, girl, you know you love Star Wars, so remember what Yoda said. There is no try. Do or do not.”

THREE/ “Tina, why didn’t you let the boys watch TV more even when school was finished?”

FOUR/ “Why didn’t you go out during school hours, Tina? What were you afraid of?

FIVE/ “Girl, you’re stressing way too much by prepping Mr. Senior 2013 for visits by grandma. Why do you feel the need to prove to others that you are exactly what your sons need when it comes to teaching them?”

SIX/ “Leave the house Tina. It’s okay. Learning is not just taking place within the four walls of your school room. You can actually skip lessons plans. Throw them away if you need to.”

SEVEN/ “Don’t worry about all that homeschool curriculum you’re buying. You’ll be an expert before you know it and if you need it while you’re learning how to teach, then use it. Don’t worry when other people tell you when they say you won’t use something.”

New Bee Homeschooler Boot Camp – Digital Download

We Can’t Just WANT Our Children to Make Good Decisions – Model It

Decision-Making Ability is a Gradual Process

Unlocking the Natural Teacher Within You

Letting Every Day Life Teach Meaningful Lessons

Do We Really Need to Prove our Homeschool Worthiness?

Is Homeschooling Your Hobby?

Homeschooling journeys are time specific, but not so with homeschool magazines.

Ready to Use Lessons. Love it!

Not time specific, but subject specific.

Homeschool Quitters, Dropouts and Wimps

1. Time to dig deep NOW for your values.

How to Go from Fantasy to Reality?

2. Where do you spend your time? Do you have public school or homeschool friends?

Beyond the Basics of Homeschooling?

Miserable or Merciful Homeschool Mom

Do You Value the High Cost of Homeschooling?

My Middle & High School Geography Curriculum Luv & Career or College Help! (Oh Yes)

My Middle & High School Language Arts Luv (Because it works!)

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**TWO/ “Tina, girl, you know you love Star Wars, so remember what Yoda said. There is no try. Do or do not.”**