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Welcome - I'm so glad you're here. Happy Strong Home is a place for homeschool parents who want to guide their child's writing with confidence, using approaches that fit your student and build real skills. My Approach to Teaching Writing I believe parents can guide their children's writing confidently when they understand the process and...
The history books we love and how we created book lists to match our curriculum.
If you're feeling a loss of that cozy atmosphere lately, you are not imagining things! It's the nature of changing seasons. Here's how you can keep homeschool cozy while still allowing for growth. Come September over the past nine years, the boys and I have cuddled up on the couch, surrounded by a mound of...
Need a back to school sign set for your kids? I've got you covered - download available at the end of this post! My kids don't really care about the latest trend in lunchbox motifs, school uniform policies don't affect them, and they can pretty much just keep using that same nature journal year after...
Is your homeschool schedule for this year already on the back burner? That's May for you in the life of a homeschool mom! Truth: I've already started planning for the next school year. And I know I'm not alone! Most homeschool families I know are ready for a fresh start by this time of year....
You don't need to be a master of patience to be successful at homeschooling. Here's the basics to improve patience as a homeschool mom. When people find out I homeschool my kids, they'll often say: "I wish I could homeschool, but I don't have the patience." I get it. I also don't have the patience. I do not...
This is an ongoing work-in-progress! I will add to this list as I personally experience and write about new curriculum products and resources! Some items may be listed in multiple categories, depending on what you are searching for. I will list them the same, so you'll know if you've already read that one. Please keep...
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Many parents make the decision to homeschool their children for a variety of good reasons, but starting off homeschooling might not be smooth-sailing for everyone. That's why I've written this Beginner's Guide to Homeschooling - just for you! Homeschooling allows you to tailor an education to your child's individual needs, something often lacking in public...
A relaxed backyard birds homeschool unit is just the thing to break up your winter - these lesson plans and printables make it easy! It all started one winter when the boys kept getting distracted by the birds gathering at our suction-cup window feeder. The colorful flutter of feathers on the windowpane, the comical upside-down...
This 300 Brick Challenge printable is a homeschool habit and goal tracker designed to help kids build consistent study routines, practice memory work, and stay motivated throughout the year using a visual progress chart. I have several goals for my children this school year. One of them is to develop consistent habits, especially with their...
For our classical morning menu, I put morning time materials (printable) into a plastic menu folder and use them to guide our homeschooling day.
If you missed the LIVE chat this weekend about how to add poetry into your homeschool, then you're in luck, because I'm posting the replay here! My friend Tracey and I had a sweet and simple conversation about why it's hard to add poetry into homeschool life. Plus we talked about some easy ways to...
Are you having a "homeschool moment"? You know those times when life is changing quickly, and your homeschool plan isn't keeping up? Everyone has their moments, their seasons. In seasons of change, learn how to transform your homeschool and roll with the punches. This post shares the highlights from my LIVE chat with Kelli Turner,...
I've seen a lot of questions lately about how to work in extracurriculars, how often to include them, and what to use. We LOVE exploring extracurricular activities in our homeschool. Often it's the overwhelm of choices that is the main difficulty. So I wanted to write a series of posts to discuss our extracurricular activities...
As your family grows, so does your homeschool. So how do parents juggle homeschooling multiple kids that span a range of ages and stages? Now I have two boys, so I seesaw between the two back and forth. Having just two kids does make my homeschool a little bit easier. So, last weekend I interviewed...
Here's a common question I get asked about homeschooling. "What curriculum should I pick!? It's so overwhelming!" So, I want to talk about how to avoid the homeschool overwhelm of "all the things" when it comes to picking a curriculum and other resources for your homeschool. Avoid Homeschool Overwhelm of Choosing Curriculums First a spoiler....
Hello you amazing and inspiring mompreneurs! Welcome to my little corner! I am so delighted you've stopped by! Here is where I store a few goodies for my homeschool moms to get started! Read this Holistic Homeschool Book List These are just a few of the books that have inspired me with their concepts and...
One aspect I adore about homeschooling my kids is the ability to share my hobbies and passions with them. Or to pursue new hobbies as a family! So when Wendy Speake asked to interview me for the Homeschool Solutions podcast about how we homeschool our hobbies, I was all in! Here's how to homeschool your...
When I first saw morning menus popping up on Instagram, my first thought (like when I discovered Pinterest!) was: "THAT IS FOR ME!" And it was, and is. I immediately set about creating a morning menu to fit our family's morning time routines. Since we do Classical Conversations as well, I wanted our morning menu...
When homeschool moms prep and plan our homeschool year, we are surrounded by so many wonderful products and programs. That's why I love to feature the ones we love and use in our home, to give you information to help your decision making. ChalkPastel.com has quality lessons in art for homeschool families. Letting kids learn...
Planning field trips for my kids is possibly the best part of homeschooling! I love travel, so I love the opportunity to plan trips that either go along with our yearly topics, or just allow us to explore places, ideas, and learning! One of our favorite annual experiences is a homeschool field trip to The...
Hate teaching writing? Scared of it, in fact? Don't feel bad. I'm going to let you in on a secret: as a former Language Arts teacher, many a fellow English teacher confessed teaching writing was not their favorite (they preferred teaching reading). For my part, I love teaching writing, but it can be a challenge...
Part of what I love about homeschooling is our ability to travel to the places we study. Since this year we completed Classical Conversations Cycle 3, which covers US History and Geography, we once again planned our spring break vacation around our learning! Here's our homeschool on the road - what to see in Washington...
You know what's been the hardest aspect of homeschooling four year old and a six year old? Juggling. Yes, juggling the fact that they are currently at very different levels in their learning. But this learning station organizer is saving my homeschooling sanity! My oldest reads, and is at an age where he needs to...
Our family always cooks more this time of year, so it's been a great time to change up our pace with a unit study from Homeschool Legacy, a Once-a-Week Micro-Studies on Cooking up History with the Founding Fathers. Here's my review of this unit study! Cooking up History with the Founding Fathers With this unit study,...
I'm pretty much the queen of wasting time scouring the internet for this or that resource for a SINGLE lesson. I get it into my head that I just MUST have a [fill-in-the-blank] coloring sheet to go along with [whatever] lesson I'm teaching. But now, I can STOP wasting time on fruitless search engine queries (that...
This year, a major focus for my boys (grade 1 and pre-K) will be astronomy! So I was excited when Apologia Educational Ministries sent us the Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition to use in our home school and review here for you. Because we are teaching our children from a God-centered world view, it's important...
VeritasBible.com from Veritas Press is a wonderful homeschool Bible curriculum that includes access to three courses for multiple people! Here's my review of theOne Year Family Subscription from VeritasBible.com. Bringing the Bible to Life with VeritasBible.com Now my kids don't get a lot of screen time, so letting them use the computer to study the Bible...
Lesson plans are easy to make with My School Year (Homeschool Record Keeping) from MySchoolYear.com. I was excited to receive an Annual Membership from MyschoolYear.com to review for you! I typically use the summer to plan out the upcoming school year's lessons, and I'm always looking for new ways to organize and track our learning....
Science is a favorite topic of study in our home, because Daddy is a scientist! We've stayed busy learning about science with this new homeschool science curriculum product I received to review: Introductory Science from Science Shepherd. What is the Science Shepherd homeschool science curriculum? I love it when homeschool dads get involved with educating their...
When it comes to writing and handwriting practice, I wanted more than just random words repeated ad infinitum for my little guys. From my educational reading, boys tend to develop their fine motor skills later than girls, and I wanted an engaging program that focused on my children's natural love of color and drawing, while engaging their...
When I was a classroom teacher, I always had a binder handy with three days of sub plans on the ready. That got me to thinking: how do you do homeschooling when you are sick as a parent? You can't exactly call out sick, now, right? We're doing kindergarten and preschool right now. But I...
If you've followed our blog for any length of time, you probably have caught on to the "tech free" and "hands on" play motif. I mean, I DO have a free ebook I offer subscribers called 101 Tech Free Toddler Activities (have you grabbed yours yet!?). And now I'm writing a post on App Schooling for homeschool parents....
As I continue our homeschooling journey, I'm learning more about how to create a tailored curriculum for my children. Thankfully, my first assignment in my new role as a Schoolhouse Review Crew member is reviewing a Yearly Membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com, a product which is helping me build a homeschool curriculum tailored to each of my boys. Yes, I'm...
So this is the year everyone has been asking me... "So your five-year old... is he going to kindergarten this year?" Yes, it's finally happened. I have a kindergartener! He will, indeed, be going to kindergarten this year... at home! To begin, I am SUPER excited that over the summer, we turned our spare bedroom...
This fall begins my second time around homeschooling a preschooler! I am beyond excited about the new curriculum I'm using from The Homegrown Preschooler! When I stumbled into The Homegrown Preschooler's booth at a homeschooling conference last spring, I knew I'd struck gold! Their teaching materials are beautiful, inviting, and engaging, so FIND THEM if you're ever at...
Whenever people-who-don't-homeschool find out I am homeschooling our boys, I usually get one of two responses (and sometimes both): They nod knowingly, and say, "Well, you and your husband are both teachers…" OR They look panicked and say, "I could never do homeschool! I was terrible at school!" For a long time I have been...
Oh. You thought I had the answer to this question, didya now? Well, goodness, if I did, I'd probably be a best-selling author by now! But I have learned a thing or two this past year! When it comes to teaching with a toddler in the room, let's just say, given the choice, I'd much...
This year, I've decided to embark on that journey called: Homeschooling. I am not sure what kind of homeschooling mom I'll be - program-directed or unschooling? Something tells me I'll fall in the middle. Will I homeschool all twelve years? Who knows right now. But we were ever NOT homeschooling? This year, I'm using several...
Easy to use Poem in Your Pocket Day Printable for use in the classroom or homeschool, or for any one celebrating poetry! Yes, I can get pretty geeked out about National Poetry Month. As a middle school teacher, I couldn't wait for April, not because it meant test-season was over (although that too!), but because...
Help your child grow as a writer by being a strong reader. A guide for elementary and middle school readers. How does your child talk about books? Do they love or relate to a specific character? Is it the thrill of the mystery or adventure that pulls them in? Listening to your child talk about...