No Sweat Home Schooling - The Low Stress Way To Teach Your Kids

I was a homeschooling mom for over a decade. During that time I learned a lot along the way, made lots of mistakes, eventually did things right and have written many articles on the subject of schooling from home for top sites such as Suite101, Families, Yahoo, and more. In my book No-Sweat Home Schooling: The Low Stress Way To Teach Your Kids I share some of these articles (expanded and updated), and a bit about myself and my background as a homeschooling single mother. 

I cover topics such as whole curriculum subjects, frugal field trips, record keeping, fun activities, pitfalls, stress busters and more. I also include a lot of quality online resources.

The decision to home school your kids is one you’ll never regret, though the path can often be confusing, frustrating and lonely. It’s my goal to be honest and open with my worries and fears and ultimate victories so you can see you aren’t alone. There are days when you’ll be absolutely certain you made the worst decision of your life, and days when you feel like you‘ve finally gotten the hang of it and know you‘d done the right thing. Being able to teach your own children in accordance with your personal morals, values, goals, and ideals is a wonderful thing!

Within these pages I’ll offer some of my opinions and experiences and hope you’ll run with them and create your own home school curriculum and routine. This isn’t a step-by-step guide to follow, but is instead a low stress way to teach your kids and be certain they’re actually retaining what they learn. Consider this short book an appetizer to whet your appetite regarding homeschooling. Something to get your own creative juices flowing so you can try out some of these ideas and add plenty of your own to create the type of education you want for your children.

I truly believe that homeschooling should be as much fun for you as it is for them. After all, you’ll be spending many hours each week together learning new things. Why make it bland and boring? Instead, with a bit of ingenuity you can turn even the smallest everyday task into a learning opportunity that sticks with your children for years to come. 

Available in paperback and ebook through Amazon.

Also available on iBooks

And Barnes and Noble 

Home Schooling Teens - Unschooling Your Kids

Dear Kelly,

I just read your ebook and I wanted to say thank you. It was full of great information and a pleasure to read. I decided to HS my 15 year old son. He is really all over place academically and I don't know how to figure out a curriculum for him. He hates to read and is really not happy about our decision to HS him. I am at my wits end and really need some sort of checklist to get started. Any suggestions?

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I'm so glad you enjoyed No Sweat Home Schooling. When my girls got to be teenagers, home schooling was a real chore! It was a lot more fun when they were little. But, don't let that scare you off or have you throwing in the towel. You know you made the right decision.

One of my daughters was constantly all over the place as well. The way I handled it was to follow an unschooling approach. I talk about that in my book and am sure you've read it. What you do is help your son find something he's interested in then let him immerse himself in it. For example, say he's very much into drawing. Have him draw what interests him, read up on famous artists who have similar styles (biographies of the authors, what work they've done, etc.), have him write or type up some information that you can read so he can share his passion with you and ask a lot of questions so you can see that he's truly learning about it.

Let this go on for a few weeks or so then talk to him about something else he might be interested in learning and have him pursue that, along with the first subject. Or, if he's grown tired of the first subject, pursue the new interest instead.

You'll be surprised at how much kids learn this way and the freedom they feel. We've been taught for so long that you must learn this or that in exactly a certain way or your education is lacking. But when kids are allowed to pursue what excites them, the information sticks, they're eager to try new things, and it doesn't feel like school.

By studying just one subject he can actually learn many subjects at once. An "across the curriculum" education.

As a parent, you want him to have a full education, so perhaps unschooling with one subject doesn't make you feel he's learning enough. I can understand that. In this case, see if you can get him to read. What types of books does he like? I know you said he hates to read, but most kids love to read once they find something that excites them. It doesn't have to be classics or dry text books. One of my daughters only likes graphic novels, those comics that have a long story line. At first I wasn't happy with this, but she wouldn't read otherwise so I allowed her to read these comics. 

A funny thing happened when she had this freedom: Her spelling improved, she was more interested in other subjects, and learned about the author of the series she was reading which led her to enjoy other subjects. We also found out that a local museum was having a showing of some of the authors work and she wanted to go, which led her to see other works of art and become interested in them, etc. Unschooling is like a big ball of string you keep pulling on. One thing leads to another and another.

Math is always a tough subject. My kids really enjoyed http://www.coolmath-games.com/ The site goes from preschool, all the way to algebra and pre-calculus. It's free and keeps kids interested.

The bottom line is, you want him to see that home schooling isn't torture, but can actually be fun and interesting. You can allow him to have freedom he would never have in a traditional class setting. It's all about seeing each and every thing he enjoys as a potential learning lesson.

I hope I've answered your questions and that you and your son find what works for the both of you when it comes to home schooling!

Available in paperback and ebook through Amazon.

Also available on iBooks

And Barnes and Noble