• Top Ways You Can Adapt Trail Guide to Learning to Fit Your Family

    0 comments / Posted by Elyce Tate

    One of the strengths of Trail Guide to Learning is the fact that it is so well laid-out and organized—everything is basically done for you!  With that being said, no curriculum will be a perfect fit and we should never be slaves to a curriculum.

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  • How to Survive a Homeschool Convention Without Losing Your Mind

    1 comment / Posted by Geography Matters

    How to Survive a Homeschool Convention Without Losing Your Mind. Tips for making the most of your homeschool convention experience.

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  • Can I Really Tutor My Child?

    0 comments / Posted by Gina Glenn

    Tutoring is a framework for teaching that is based in relationship. It's a beautiful way to not only teach what you want your child to know, but to learn what your child would like to know. It doesn't have to be perfect, you just have to start. Homeschooling works. 

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  • Homeschooling Through High School

    0 comments / Posted by Geography Matters

    My children's high school years of homeschooling were truly a delight. I was grateful to be such an involved part of their lives, and honored to be considered such good friend material! We charted a path, with Ruth Beechick's help, that allowed us to stay the course of using the unit study approach that had always been so successful for us. We integrated language arts into everything, decreasing the time spent working on isolated subjects, and became skilled observers and recorders of all that we did.While many around us felt they had no recourse but to use textbooks, or prepared courses, we took steps that were truly bold for us. We used the course outlines from our state's educational website, which we kept in a notebook. I would mark off objectives as they were covered, writing the date next to the goal. I kept a folder for each course we claimed credit for, which included lists of materials used, reports, projects, and perhaps photos of field trips or related activities and a summary of what was completed.

    Once the course objectives were broken down like this, we were free to use the library or other resources we already had, and to deal with the topics from our family's viewpoint. People became valuable resources as we learned from those who had expertise or experience in the topic area, equipping the children with the ability to come up with a plan to learn just about anything. It also allowed us to customize to fit their particular bends.

    When young people become confident learners, where they learn won't matter. They will be successful. Don't be too quick to send your children to learn from others, even in the high school years. There will be plenty of time for that. Cherish the relationships and blessings that come from your time together.

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  • Homeschool Organization

    0 comments / Posted by Geography Matters

    Are you organized?

    This is one of those questions that can bring an otherwise confident homeschool parent to their knees. I must start this article with a confession. I have never been as organized as I wanted to be. (You can read it aloud and consider it your confession as well!) I have also never been as organized as the people who write or speak about organization. Some of their ideas have helped me, but it was difficult to put into practice those helpful nuggets if I was busy trying to revamp my life and the personality that God gave me into someone more organized! Then there was also trying to bypass the guilt that inevitably followed a conversation with an organized person...

    Here's the good news. My children grew up anyway. They finished high school, received scholarships, and got jobs. My lack of organization did not permanently impair them, largely due, I believe, to the mercy of God, which I must gratefully point out is new every morning. So, from that lengthy disclaimer, let me tell you what I think is my best organizational tip—do whatever works for you!

    Here's one thing that helped us. The children each had a crate where they kept all their school stuff. About once a month, or every other month if life was crazy, we would clean out the crates, putting finished papers we wanted to keep in an accordian file with a slot for each month. This helped us when we ended our school year, and provided a dandy review of learning. I knew enough about myself to know that I needed their help to do this organizing, so we included these days as part of our schoolwork, rather than it being a mom-only activity.

    Find what works for you. Don't come under the idea that you have to become someone else to organize successfully. Find ways for the children to help you. Tell them what you need and then ask them how they would do it. Take school time to accomplish this task, letting your children know that everyone can help do what is needed. You may be pleasantly surprised. There just may be a budding engineer or event coordinator in the house, who can't wait to help you organize! That may just be part of His mercy to you as well.

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