Carnival of Homeschooling, Week 16

Practical Solutions for Homeschool Struggles

Welcome to week 16 of the Carnival of Homeschooling. The focus this week is "Practical Solutions for Homeschool Struggles." My hope is that you will be able to glean from these blog posts, "take something home" and put it into action in your own families.

Relaxing the Structure

• Rebecca declares freedom from the kitchen table in My kitchen table is under-used (and I think I'm OK with that). Learning to adjust teaching methods to meet the learning styles of our children is sometimes a hard adjustment to make. Maybe you can relate to Rebecca's experience.


• In Home Education, Looking back, Sue contemplates whether her sons have received a balanced education or not. "Five years ago this bothered me, but now I can see that they learn what they need to know for the paths they want to follow."


• Not only do we need to relax the structure of our homeschooling at times, but we also need to let go of our sons and give them room to grow into manhood. Christa takes a hard look at Growing our boys to become men… and seeks your ideas and thoughts as well.

Bringing Order to a Chaotic Household

• Oh dear, not the house. Well, okay, here we go. Frankie gives practical, hands-on suggestions to eliminate chaos in the house with harmony and teamwork. Check out the suggestions she makes in Household mediocrity revisited. Maybe it's time for a family meeting at your house.

It's Just One of Those Days

• "There are days when one or more of the kids is out of sorts, and there are days when the teacher is out of sorts." In Tami's 5th part of Mercy and Grace - Overcoming Obstacles, she talks about being sensitive to her kids' needs and showing mercy and grace in their schedule for the day.

Overcoming Perfectionism

• In The Pressure to perform, Spunky looks at the pressure to look and be "perfect." She reveals how a burp set her free from perfectionism and comparing herself to others.

Making Room for Laughter - Cultivating a Sense of Humor

• Over at Dewey's Treehouse, Mama Squirrel suggests that kids not only need academic knowledge, but also another kind of knowledge...an understanding of laughter and nonsense. In Stuff and nonsense, she says "they need to let their brains learn to play and dance and jump around with all the wonderful connections that a sense of nonsense allows."


• MitezvelSmile wrote a funny homeschool take on the old 70's trucker song Convoy - Conroy - Homeschool Parody of Convoy.

Reaching out - Educating the Public

• The Thinking Mother writes about one way that a homeschool support group can do an outreach event for the public about homeschooling.


• In The struggle to be a homeschooler has been going on a long time, Henry reminds us that parents need to continue to be involved and informed in protecting the right for parents to education their children.


• The NEA's article blasting homeschooling misrepresents their competition, saying homeschoolers are gullible amateurs who have no interest in socialization. In Setting the NEA Straight On Homeschooling, Steve does a good job at setting the record straight and probing the NEA's own motives for publishing lies.

Developing Writing Skills

• Writer's Workshop, Defining Purpose is the first in a series on developing the skill of writing in children. The purpose of this series by Dana at Principled Discovery is to assist in improving writing by starting with its foundations.


• In Fib Foolery, Becky at Farm School is having fun during National Poetry Month with a new, recently developed form of poetry - similar to haiku - called a Fib, named for the Fibonacci sequence that inspired it. This Fib foolery began on April 1st by GottaBook and has spread like wildfire.

Focusing on Literacy

• "The more we know, the more we are able to know, because knowledge is related to other knowledge in marvelous ways." DeputyHeadmistress discusses the importance of a broad knowledge base to increasing literacy.


• Read Loving Books and Teaching Reading Part II to find out how Melissa at Home Sweet Home taught reading in their home. She says, "I love books and a number one priority for me was to teach my children to read, followed by doing my best to instill in them a love of reading and an understanding that if they can read, they can learn anything they want to know."


• Rereading one of her favorite kids’ books with her own daughter inspires Homeschool Mami to examine her personal educational philosophy in From the Mixed Up Files of Homeschool Mami.

Mastering Math

• Maria at Homeschool Math has created a Clock Worksheet Generator to help children learn to tell time.

Space Science

• What is the only planet whose English name does not derive from Greek/Roman mythology? Find out by exploring the solar system with these Solar System Printables - worksheets and coloring pages. For the super adventurous, check out “Cheap rides into space make great homeschool science projects” by Masten Space Systems.

Don't forget the Art!

• In Art! Another Reason to Homeschool, Wisteria discusses the importance of art in her home and offers her experiences with the programs she has purchased to help others make informed choices.

If you enjoyed this week's Carnival of Homeschooling, spread the word!

Next week, the carnival will be held at The Common Room. Join the fun, submit your post.