Dear February – Why do you sneak up on me and then drag out your days until eternity despite being the shortest month of the year? Why do you keep cramping my homeschooling style? Sorry, February, not this year. Nope. I’m taking February homeschooling by (snow?) storm and I’m going to encourage my friends to do the same. Can we be friends, February? Can we partner together to thrive and not just survive homeschooling in the longest shortest month of the year? Continue reading »
Vanessa Wright
Vanessa is a homeschooling mama to three inquisitive, creative and often loud kids ages 13, 11, and 11. She is married to Jason and they live in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. Vanessa is a self-professed eco-beauty junkie, avid reader, yogi-wannabe, tea drinker and chocolate snob. You can find her on Instagram at @Wrightathomeschool and on Facebook at Wright at Homeschool where she’s keeping the REAL in homeschool reality.
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Do You Need Patience to Homeschool?
by Vanessa Wright
We’ve been homeschooling for awhile and we’re asked lots of questions, have endured so many opinions from people we don’t know (and some we do), and have received both resounding support and eye-rolls and sighs. The most common thing we hear is, “You must have so much patience to homeschool. You really need to have patience to homeschool.” Continue reading »
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Yes, You Can Homeschool Without a Homeschool Room!
by Vanessa Wright
Do you ever scroll through Instagram or Pinterest and see perfectly perfect homeschool rooms? The huge farm tables, the meticulous supplies (color coordinated, of course), built in book shelves with alphabetized books, a delightful desk for planning and a lovely set of double doors to close off everything at the end of the day. Sigh. Perhaps you’re new to homeschooling or maybe you’ve been at this life for a few years. You see the images of lovely homeschool room ideas, and you feel frustrated because you don’t have a dedicated space just for homeschooling. You’re not alone! Continue reading »
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Are You a Type B Homeschooler?
by Vanessa Wright
I don’t particularly love labels—they can be too general or cause assumptions and are likely not 100% accurate. That said, labels can be helpful when you’re searching for information on various topics. Google is better when you’re using key words, which is how I heard of Type B homeschooling a few years ago. A good old Google search brought me to a few articles, which I read and breathed a sigh of relief. I felt like I discovered a secret society of homeschoolers. I was not alone. Fast forward to this past summer, when a good friend and I were chatting, and we both realized we were talking about the same thing. Type B Homeschooling. Continue reading »
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Make the Most of Holiday Homeschooling with Tweens and Teens (with Activity Ideas)
by Vanessa Wright
Does the holiday season bring a sense of excitement? Or does it make your head spin with all the amazing possibilities for homeschooling piled on top of all the holiday festivities, food, and fun? The holidays can be a double-edge sword for homeschoolers. We have the freedom to schedule our days how we please or not please. We can sip hot cocoa and read, decorate the house, and take time for special family celebrations. Continue reading »
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Create an Engaging Homeschool Geography Club
by Vanessa Wright
Geography. It was not my favorite subject growing up in traditional schools, and I wanted to teach homeschool geography differently from the way I learned it in school. Sure, I knew my states, could identify other countries, large bodies of water, various cities, etc. But, the process was lots of memorizing, spitting out facts, and then promptly forgetting everything. I didn’t want that for my kids. When we began homeschooling, I knew I wanted my kids to have a natural curiosity about out our world. I wanted our homeschool geography study to be something that we naturally discussed in fun and hands-on ways, using a variety of resources. Continue reading »
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7 Ways to Embrace Homeschooling Your Polar Opposite Child
by Vanessa Wright
My three kids are very different from me. They are their own people. They have a mix of me and their dad and HUGE dollops of their own uniqueness. However, what happens when one of your kiddos is basically the South to your North? The Oil to your Water? The Day to your Night? As the kids got older, I noticed that I was struggling a bit more with one of my children. They would basically do the exact opposite of whatever I had planned for the day. Or question everything. This was really hard for a rules-following, go-by-the-book, authority respecting, uber-feeler to understand. Continue reading »
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Middle School Mania: How We’re Transitioning to Homeschooling Middle School
by Vanessa Wright
Homeschooling middle school is a new season of life. I prepared by buying a new prepackaged curriculum, and while I loved everything about this curriculum, I had forgotten to take my kids’ learning styles and desires into account. I assumed they would be happy to go along with whatever I put on the table. I had to accept that we were in a new season of homeschooling. I had to acknowledge that my kids were growing up and had developed their own interests. They had their own strengths and weaknesses. They were ready to let go of some anchors in our days that I was clinging to for dear life. Anchors that I thought were required to have a “good” or “productive” homeschool. Continue reading »
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