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Free Math Number of the Day Printables

Yes Please!!

Filed Under: blog

Life Changing Books Every Homeschool Parent MUST Read

This is a collection of the best homeschool books for parents collected from hundreds of moms and dads online! These book recommendations are from Homeschoolers in the trenches.

Is your favorite on the list?

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Filed Under: blog, popular

10 Ways to Homeschool with JUNK MAIL!

Let’s cut the strings of traditional curriculum and lean into the love of leanring!

When those magazines and catalogs come in the mail, turn them in to homeschooling GOLD.

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Filed Under: blog, popular

Many Homeschoolers are Delayed Readers Too

Inside: Ways to inspire your late reader. {Plus free cheatsheet}

All FIVE of our sons were delayed Learners

#1 Son

  • Didn’t talk until he was four
  • Couldn’t read until he was six
  • Wouldn’t drive until he turned 19…

    Read More »

Filed Under: blog, popular, sticky Tagged With: reading, reading and writing, reading late, reluctant reader, Uncategorized

Creativity and Boredom

Inside: Free boredom Buster Ideas {Printable}
My dad always said creativity and imagination lived just on the other side of boredom.

I used to think that was so stupid.

Sorry, dad.

Then I grew up.

collage of kids being creative, kid in sheet fort reading, kids hands with paper crafts, girl in fort using telescope

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Filed Under: blog, popular Tagged With: boredom, creativity and imagination in kids, video

How to Homeschool When that First homeschool Year is a Flop

Sifting through my emails over coffee reading through questions form homeschool moms.

  • How do you get kids to read?
  • How do I teach kids respect for others and themselves?
  • How do teach a child to write?

And then my heart sunk. This one wasn’t a question, but an exhale of defeat from a mom who just began my free Homeschooling with confidence class.

 

 “My homeschool year was a flop”.

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Filed Under: Blog, popular, sticky Tagged With: homeschool, homeschool mom

How to Turn Homeschool Frustration into Joy and Learning

Dear homeschool mom,

Don’t homeschool. I’m not kidding.

Yes,  kids need to read and write and solve basic math problems, but they don’t need school at home.

They need to have plenty of time to run, jump, slide, swing, lay, laugh, build, and rest.

Related: building toys

Give them time to be bored, time to think, time to day dream.

Don’t give them workbooks, worksheets, and hours of assignments.

Instead, give them LESS.

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Filed Under: blog, Homeschool Hacks, popular, Ready to go Resources

Advent Calendar Ornaments

Keep Christ as the center of Christmas with these easy-to-create, simple paper Names of Christ Ornaments that will look beautiful displayed on your wall, strung across the mantle, or as unique tree ornaments.

Included in this download are files for printing 4-inch Star Ornaments.

Professional printing is recommended, but not necessary.

Such a simple, fun, and engaging way to help your kids enjoy Christmas!

Get your set here

Filed Under: blog, slider Tagged With: paper projects for kids

You Don’t Need to Apologize for Raising Kids In a Greenhouse

It’s not fair.


When you dedicate your life to raising your kids and personally stay at home to make sure their needs are met, you are like a master gardener inside a greenhouse.


Greenhouses are safe and controlled environments which provide optimum conditions for seeds to grow.

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Filed Under: blog, Mom Solutions, popular, slider, sticky

Homeschool Math: Grab your Roadmap to Success

BEFORE you spend a moment worrying about math curriculum, let me share a secret.

I didn’t understand where I was supposed to go until I’d been on the road almost 20 years.

It’s crazy that it’s taken me almost two decades to truly understand this thing we call MATH.

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Filed Under: blog, K-8th Grade, slider, sticky, Teens and High school Tagged With: homeschool math, math, math curriculum

Verb Craft and Activity Printables

Verb Craft and Activity BUNDLE

Hands on Verb Craft and Activities for Kids.

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Filed Under: blog, sticky Tagged With: verb craft

Easy Kitchen Chemistry Experiments

Science in the kitchen is a sure fire combination to draw your kids right into the depths of science.

It’s kind of like cheating!

Fizzics Brings so many fun Chemistry Experiments right into your kitchen

Create a growing carbon sugar snake with simple ingredients. A science activity for the adults to try that demonstrates combustion & chemistry for kids.

Create fireworks in a glass! This colorful science activity is highly popular with kids and can be used look at buoyancy, density and surface tension.

A simple color change in the kitchen! Simply grab a lemon and a mug of tea to explore kitchen chemistry that you can drink afterwards 🙂

The gummy bear osmosis experiment is perfect for variable testing! Learn how to design a simple kitchen chemistry activity that explores how water moves.

The Chemistry of Pizza, by my son

This was such a great project! Not only did he learn about all the chemical reactions taking place while making pizza, he taught me how to make my famous pizza dough even better!

Get Creative in the Kitchen!

Buy now

America’s Test Kitchen Kids brings delicious science to your kitchen! Over 75 kid-tested, kid-approved recipes and experiments teach young chefs about the fun and fascinating science of food. This is the fourth book in the New York Times bestselling cookbook series for Young Chefs.

collage view of kitchen chemistry books for kids
So many amazing picks!!

Filed Under: blog, popular

150 Educational Gift Ideas Kids will Love

Inside: Over 150 recommendations for educational gifts and a free printable gift list!!

First words out of hubby’s mouth this morning. 
“If the kids don’t get on their Christmas lists, they’re gonna get cans of corn for Christmas.”

Me: “And they’d be blessed!”

Get yours free

Christmas is always a zoo at the Sayler home.

A big happy zoo full of my own personal band of monkeys.

The boys pull names out of a hat and then they are responsible for the three gifts that land under the tree for that person.
This year?

Back in the early days of homeschooling, I took FULL advantage of Christmas sales to stock up on goodies for school.

Pencils, erasers, paper, books, great games, and even a good microscope  were always on the list.

But experiences always made the biggest splash.

This year, I expect the holidays to be crazier than usual.

So I am refining our Gift Ideas.

Clutter-Free Gift Ideas!

Get your copy here

Over 150 Education Gift Ideas Your Kids will LOVE

Top Game Pick

best educational gifts
Ticket to Ride Board Game!!

Related: Yes, they may still play with the box, but they’ll love what’s inside as well!

Your free Cardboard CONQUEST Kit

Just don’t tell them they’re educational toys! If you’re looking for recommendations for fine motor skills, gross motor development, STEM, games, outdoor activities, and of course, books, you’re in the right place!

PRINTABLE: Free Educational Gift Organizer printable {download here}

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Filed Under: blog, Homeschool Hacks, sticky Tagged With: educational toys, gift guide

40 Creative Writing Projects for Kids who Hate Pencils

Inside: 3 Writer’s Skills that Students should learn long before heading to college.

He sat slumped in a chair glaring at the blank page; his freedom held captive by the writing assignment taunting him.

The instructions read, “write a paragraph describing the weather.”

He snorts. 

“Who cares about the weather, I just want to see if I can get to the next level on my new video game.

In the old days, we’d call this a polaroid- a simple snapshot of a moment in time.

The image is so typical- child sits at table with a stomach ache, a headache, a bad attitude or their 14th broken pencil.

All because a stupid writing prompt is giving them the evil eye.

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We want to raise up writers, not kids who mangle the English language- but how?

Right now two of our five sons are chopping wood with their dad.

They were driven to a dark scary piece of land with a borrowed trailer attached to our SUV. Once far off the beaten path they were directed to the freshly cut giant. My husband enthusiastically wielded a chainsaw and cut the trunk into manageable 500 pound pieces.

Maybe, they were lighter.

I couldn’t tell you for sure.

I was delegated to watch the boys “hump the logs” out of the wood.
(That’s men talk)
 

Those very heavy logs were carefully brought home.

Enter my hero: My husband.

He takes the boys to the hardware store and buys a couple of axes. While my husband looked the other way, each son looked at me with pleading eyes. “Save me mommy.”

I said nothing.

I trust that my husband- a manly man- is much more equipped to teach boys how to be men than I am.

Plus, I had a cup of coffee to enjoy with my bon-bons.

 
An hour later, the door bursts open and my wood-chopping sons walk in with a very distinct swagger.
Lumberjacks in training.
 
They were all wearing sawdust covered jeans, work boots and flannel shirts.
 
You could taste the testosterone in the air.
 
“Mom, that was AWESOME!”
 
Funny how being taught to do something challenging and dangerous leaves a “lovely glow” on the face of a growing boy.
 
Our young men need to swing axes.
 
Even if it’s metaphorically speaking.
 

I wish it were that same for basic writing skills.

Writing is one of those skills that many of us have been forced into against our wills.
 
But we need to STOP grouping writing into the same category as forcing our 11-year old sons to shower daily.
 
(I swear my kid believes that water will melt his manliness.)
 
After 25-years of teaching and homeschooling, I’ve found the secret sauce to teaching kids to write.
 

The 3 Know Knows of Writing

 

 

Believe in yourself. You can teach your kids to write.

Believe in your kids. They have it in their hearts to become excellent writers.

Believe in fairies.  Because fairies make life magical.

So what is the trick to teaching kids to write?

Take their pencils away.

  • Send them into the woods to chop wood with their dad. 
  • Read a book together and them buy a HUGE tub of popcorn and go see the movie version at the theater and watch them discover there is a BIG difference.
  • Read funny product labels at the grocery store.
  • Watch them do something they love and create questions to ask them later about the activity.
  • Collect jokes, riddles, and hilarious and nonsensical songs to share at random and unexpected times in the day.
  • Read aloud to them daily and leave them hanging in the story– begging for you to read “one more chapter”.

Collect memories, experiences, and opportunities for excitement.

Teach them to brainstorm.

When my sons came back to the school table after chopping wood, we filled up our white board with all the words and phrases about chopping trees and wielding axes TOGETHER  on our 4 x 6 whiteboard.

I held the marker and drew an axe in the hand of a stick figure. 

The axe was 2x larger than the man, and then I wrote “The day I almost died” on the board.

The boys laughed and then I asked them to describe their day in detail.

“Slow down,” I can’t write that fast!

The following day, we sat in front of the white board and I whipped out my 40 types of writing list and had the boys each choose how they would capture their day in the woods on paper.

40+ Types of Writing to Teach Your Kids

  1. Text messaging
  2. Facebook posts
  3. Twitter tweets
  4. Instagram Descriptions
  5. Linked in Profile
  6. emails
  7. Friendly letters
  8. Grocery lists
  9. Birthday cards
  10. Comics strips
  11. Write to a prompt
  12. Letters to their Future Self
  13. Recipes
  14. Directions to the zoo
  15. Instructions for making the perfect cup of coffee
  16. Review a play
  17. Word webs
  18. Speech Writing
  19. Book Report Alternatives
  20. Cornell notes
  21. Outlines
  22. Essays
  23. Research Papers
  24. Poetry
  25. Music lyrics
  26. Mentor Sentences
  27. Newsletter
  28. Books
  29. Short stories
  30. Journal entries
  31. Captions  for pictures
  32. Resumes
  33. Job applications
  34. Cover letters
  35. Paraphrasing
  36. MLA citation
  37. Works Cited pages
  38. Blog
  39. Script writing
  40. Autobiography
  41. Comparison Chart
  42. Scattergories!

Teach writing without pencils

Experience first!

Kids need to touch, taste, see, smell, fear, hear, and experience something first.

Then, they need to practice brainstorming everything they can think of about that topic.

  • What did it feel like? 
  • Smell like?
  • Sound like?

You hold the pencil.

The most important part of writing is brainstorming wrapped in a real life experience.

Now, Go give your kids an axe.


These also make great additions to your emergency file.

(Also known as “mom is sick and needs you to work independently today”)

  • Download your 44 Writing Ideas {Printable}
  • Download your guide to teaching Kids to NOT be thieves (MLA Citation)
  • Grab your “Friendly Letters to Me” Pack
  • Thanksgiving Writing Prompts worthy of making their way to the “keep me” pile.
 

A Writing Lesson without Pencils?

Me: Everyday, we should choose a new creative word to describe the water.

Without hesitation, my 18-year old said, “serene”.

Driving to college, I repeated for the 113th time,🧐 “always comment, always notice, always see the little things; because life is made up of little things.

And it’s those little things that matter.”

We drive by this water’s edge every single day on our way to the college, and every single day the face of the water is different.

And we comment.Gorgeous, calm, glassy, row-able, turbulent, choppy, moving, rushing, flowing, and today… SERENE.

Because we want to raise our kids to cherish the little things. But I also cheat.

Don’t miss what’s happening (and for the love of Pete, don’t tell my kids what I’m doing)‼️

Vocabulary building on the road!!!((Insert high 5 here))🖐

We want our kids to notice the water every single day.

Because it’s gorgeous: True.

If you don’t have a water view, exchange it for something you see everyday and now take for granted too: a mountain view, an endless sky, a majestic tree, open range, or whatever is in your backyard.

Teach your kids to notice, by doing your noticing out loud. Daily.

Stretch their vocabulary, tell related clean jokes, invent an imaginary creature who lives in the scene, challenge them to a new word a day contest.

Because at the end of our homeschool journey, we want kids that says things like, “Lord, You’re just showing off today with those colors in the sky!” or”I love how serene the water looks when it’s slack tide.”

Today, embrace the beauty and give it a label.

Because it’s the little things that matter!!

How to Build vocabulary from everyday sights

1. Today: Brainstorm as many words as you can to describe water with your kids. Challenge them to come up with 50 before revealing the truth. (you hold the pencil and write word they call out to you)

2. Tomorrow: Peek at the 1000 words to describe water: https://describingwords.io/for/water

3. Then give them a prompt and challenge everyone to write the rest of the story.

4. When you’re done, have a readers theater where everyone reads their ending!

Prompt with the picture: The day started serene. The water playfully reflecting the homes along its shoreline.A cheerful seagull bobbed up and down on the gentle current enjoying the break of a new day.No one would have guessed what happened next…


The GOAL of all writing is clear communication. Here are some of my go-to creations to help your kids embrace their writing journey.

teaching kids to write
scattergories
Fun writing prompts for High School
amazing handwriting worksheets
winter writing promtps

Filed Under: blog, Teens and High school Tagged With: homeschool high school, MLA citations, paraphrasing, Plagiarism, reading and writing, teaching kids to write, video, writing, writing prompts, writing styles

97+ Amazing Ways to Make Math Fun for Our Kids

Inside: A master list of simple, inexpensive, and fun ways to teach all the basic math principles your kids need to thrive. PLUS- Free Math Roadmap

Most homeschoolers overcomplicate math with fancy curriculum, worksheets, quizzes, stop-watches and tests. We choose to be different!

Before you scroll, get your free gift

Stripping math back to its basic foundational core, we can set our kids up for success in life by giving them a solid foundation with allows them to add, subtract, multiply, divide, count, measure, weigh, and estimate.

Pickin’ Cute!!!
…

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Filed Under: blog, Homeschool Hacks, popular, Ready to go Resources, sticky Tagged With: Fine Motor Skills, math, Math art, Math facts, Patterning and sorting, teach addition and subtraction

Successful Homeschooling: What if…

What if by the time you finish teaching your kids…

    • They are kind.
    • They are confident.
    • They look people in the eye when spoken to.
    • They befriend the new kids.
What if:
    • They put down their phone when others are in the room.
    • They are strong and hard working.
    • They know how to cook, chop wood and change the oil on a car.
    • They are compassionate and caring.
    • They LOVE to read and devour the written word.
    • They never text and drive
…

Read More »

Filed Under: Blog, popular, sticky Tagged With: a better way to homeschool, curriculum, free email class, homeschool, homeschool freebies, how to homeschool, popular, teaching

10 of the BEST Homeschool Subscription Boxes for your Kids

Inside: Top picks for homeschool subscription boxes by moms like you. These subscriptions will spice up your homeschool

Travel to the future with me, and let’s give each other a virtual high five today.

Ready?

best subscription boxes for kids
HIGH FIVE

There are two boxes and an envelope on the kitchen table for your child.

YOU are so excited, you can’t contain yourself.

Related: Learning by Surprise Enhances Memory

You close your eyes and think to yourself:

  • “Don’t say they’re for school!”
  • “Don’t say they’re educational!”
  • “Don’t say they’ll be fun learning lessons!”

You are squirming with excitement, because you know your child is holding the future in their hands and waiting with anticipation for the go ahead to peek inside.

Yes!!

They hold up one of the boxes.

“This one?”

YOU: Not, yet.

They try to hide disappointment, and hold the the other box.

“This one?”

best subscription boxes for kids
What’s inside?!?!?

YOU: Maybe you should open the envelope first.
((Insert wink.))

They tear open the paper and read, “You are about to get a glimpse of the future. Something that will some to you every month for the rest of next year!!!”

At this point, tell them to pause while you get another cup of tea or coffee and ask them to guess what’s inside.

YOU: What do you think it could be?

((Insert virtual high-five here))

They are so excited, they can barely contain themselves.

What is in the boxes?

💛 Excitement
💛 Curiosity
💛 Fine motor Development
💛 FUN

How is this possible?

best subscription boxes for kids
Something for everyone

Related: Learning by Surprise Enhances Memory

I polled hundreds of homeschool moms and compiled their favorites list of kits into a list for you.

My own 15-year old gets the Kiwi Co Tinker Crate each month. When it arrives, he places it on the ottoman and waits for the end of the day.

That evening, he opens the box with great fanfare, making sure his DAD sees and is equally impressed. Then he gets building.

  • Careful reading of instructions
  • Fine motor development
  • Engineering and design
  • Problem solving and math skills

Those are the words we HIDE AWAY from his ears and replace them with

  • WOW!
  • FUN!
  • Let me see.

MAGIC.

You have time to make this happen. Most kits take a few weeks to get to you and there is one for almost every kind of child and passion.

Just be stealthy and I promise…

…I won’t spoil the surprise.


Food for thought: These make GREAT gifts for people in nursing homes too!!

Quick Links to the top Homeschool Subscription Boxes

  • Green Kid Crafts
  • KiwiCo
  • Mel Science
  • Bitsbox
  • Ivy Kids
  • Young Woodworkers
  • Let’s Make Art
  • Rock By Rock
  • Raddish
  • Letter from Afar
  • Highlights
  • Little Passports
  • Think Outside
  • Craftsman Crate
  • Sensory Therapy Play Box
  • BarkBox
  • DIY Preschool Earth Box Plan
  • DIY ABCs of God Plan
Free Science for three months from Mel Science? Here’s how you register!

When you really want to know what’s best you ask the experts, right?Kids LOVE getting stuff in the mail! Surprise them with a special gift – A subscription box just for THEM! Perfect for birthdays, holidays and more!

But, if you’re like me you’re wondering which are the BEST Subscription Boxes for kids.

So I asked all the moms On our Facebook page:

I’m looking for subscription box and membership ideas for homeschoolers.

Most subscription boxes are chosen to meet a specific need, want, or interest. Throw in the fact that you don’t need to look for duct tape, buttons, or instructions for how to whip together something cool and BOOM. Your kids will think you’re the coolest mom on the planet.

Not sure which boxes will best fit your family? That’s exactly why I asked a few dozen of my homeschooling friends.

Check out all the AMAZING subscription boxes other Homeschool Moms love.


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Filed Under: blog, popular, Ready to go Resources, slider, sticky

The Carl Angel 5 Pencil Sharpener- My Top Pick

Worth every single dollar.

Bonus points if you can name the movie he’s quoting!

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Filed Under: blog, Homeschool Must Haves, popular, sticky Tagged With: pencil sharpener

Inspire Kids to Read by Hanging Them

My son is terrified of needles.
           And swarms of bees.
                         And sour cream.

Strange boy.

But I am not exaggerating when I say nothing makes that boy of mine run faster than presenting him with a book that he needs to read.

You see this is a problem.

…

Read More »

Filed Under: blog, Homeschool Hacks Tagged With: Brian Jacques, reading and writing, Redwall, teaching kids to read

Attentiveness

Yes, PLEASE

Only a handful of my readers are seeing this page. YAY!!!

As I begin this new series, I wanted to make sure you were able to try them for almost nothing.

Your kids will love the activities and you will smile knowing they are listening carefully to the Word of God.

Buy Now

Filed Under: blog

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