Friday Favorites: Favorite Homeschooling Essentials {5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement}

If you talk to any homeschooler about their homeschooling experience, they will always have their FAVORITES to rave about. It may be a favorite curriculum, favorite website, or favorite school supply. So it’s my turn! Today I am going to give you three of my favorites in each of those categories—will one of YOUR favorites be on the list? Join me as I share with you some of my Favorite Homeschooling Essentials for Friday Favorites as we conclude our 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop this week!

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Favorite Curriculum

This is the one that I am asked about ALLLLLLLL the time. I have soooo many favorites, but I will share three of the ones that I bring up time and time again in curriculum discussions.

Thankful Thursday: Blessings of Rural Homeschooling {5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop}

There are lovely benefits to homeschooling in the city. You have access to culture and resources at your fingertips. So much of our nation's history resides in large cities. Museums, zoos, aquariums, parks, historical structures, large co-ops, sports leagues, large libraries, and so much more. These are all things that rural homeschoolers (especially extremely rural) typically do not have access too. It can be frustrating at times being isolated in the country when you are homeschooling, but there are also some incredible blessings. Today, I'd like to mention some of the Blessings of Rural Homeschooling as part of Thankful Thursday of the 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop.

I have put together a list of my five key blessings of rural homeschooling and at the end, I've included quotes from other rural homeschoolers about what they are thankful for as rural homeschoolers!

Work It In Wednesday: Two Hacks for a Smoother Homeschool Week {5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop}

I am not quite ready to start planning for the 2018-2019 school year out yet--we won't start until the beginning of September and not full until after we attend the Feast of Tabernacles at the end of September. But even though I haven't started the actual planning, there are two things that I know will be included in our plans--our 4 1/2 day school week and our Mandatory Monday Morning basket. It's taken us a few years, but I've come to learn the value of both of these Hacks for a Smoother Homeschool Week, and I'm going to share them with you today as part of Work It In Wednesday of the 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop.

The links on this blog and in the posts may be affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details and thank you for your support!

Why A Mandatory Monday Morning Basket?

I know that I am not alone in dealing with reluctant learners every single Monday morning. I think it's the same whether your child is in public school or homeschool! Monday rolls around and school is the last thing they want to do. But school needs to get done. Our Monday's are even more crazy,

Take-a-Look Tuesday: Exploring Benefits of Multi-Age Curriculum {5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement}

If you have multiple children that you are homeschooling, you may find yourself going crazy creating schedules for everyone. Most families use customized curriculum for each student to make sure they get what they need for grade level work. While this is a great path and one that I've been taking for a few years, I have decided to try a different route this year. Even though my boys are 4 years apart (grades 3 and 7 this year), we are going to be using the SAME curriculum for both boys. Yes, we are going to be working with curriculum meant for multi-ages this year! I am hoping that this will actually make our days LESS stressed and flow much easier. Are you curious how this is going to work with an elementary student and middle school student? Read on my friend as I discuss the Benefits of Multi-age Curriculum in today's Take-A-Look Tuesday edition for the 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop!

Motivational Monday: 5 Things to Help Me Get-Up-And-Go {5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement}

Today’s theme is Motivational Monday. When I think of Motivation, I think of what makes you “get up and go”. As a homeschool mom as well as a wife, I must admit, my get-up-and-go most mornings is…gone. So what do I do on those mornings when I open my eyes and just want to close them again and pull the covers up over my head? The mornings when I need to do school, but my body or mind says “I don’t wanna!”? The mornings where it seems everyone woke up on the wrong side of the bed? How do I make the day end up being a productive day when I just want to crawl back in the bed and pull the covers over my head? Let me share with you Five Things to Help You Get-Up-And-Go to get things done!