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Home | homeschool | “No-Pencil” Day

“No-Pencil” Day

homeschool, Homeschool Methods

Here we are. It’s the beginning of Februrary. Christmas and New Year are over. It’s cold outside. And your homeschool is back in session. You’ve got great plans and ideas. But either you or the kids (or maybe all of you) have the blahs. Maybe you have cabin fever. It’s getting hard to focus on math drills and science textbooks.

Maybe you need something crazy to liven up your school routine for a bit? Imagine leaving the books on the shelf, the pencils in their places, and the worksheets out of sight. Imagine creating a fun learning environment that shakes up your school day…just for today, or maybe once a week!

You’ve probably heard some great advice for days like this.

“Let the kids build Legos.”

“Watch an educational video.”

“Go to the park.”

And my favorite: “Just catch up on housework.”

Thee are all great and I’ve definitely used them. But with a tiny bit of planning, you can go beyond Legos and laundry, and keep the kids learning while taking a fun break. I call it “No-Pencil Day.” In 18 years of homeschooling my five kids, I’ve learned a few tricks, and this one is one of my favorites.

I’m excited to be joining Tiffany at Outmatched Mama for her 31-day Conquer the Homeschool Slump blog party. There are 31 homeschool bloggers sharing their inspiration for getting through the winter slump, or the blahs, or cabin fever, or whatever has hit your house! Head on over to read my full post, packed with ideas for all ages and all subjects, and links to many great how-tos.

 

After-Holiday-Homeschool-Slump-14

So, put away the pencils and prepare to think outside the box for a day. Click over to Outmatched Mama to read my post, and see all the other great blog posts while you’re there! There’s even a Facebook Group for this great blog party, so what are you waiting for?

 

Nicki Truesdell is a 2nd-generation homeschooler and mother to 5. She is a homemaker at heart, and loves books, freedom, history and quilts, and blogs about all of these at nickitruesdell.com. She believes that homeschooling can be relaxed and that history is fun, and both can be done with minimal cost or stress, no matter your family’s circumstances. Nicki is a member of the Texas Home Educators Advisory Board. She also teaches ESL online from home. You can follow her on  Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  

 

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February 4, 2018 · Leave a Comment

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Our culture has become saturated in all forms of rebellion against God, not the least of which is the LGBT movement. No matter how you raise your children, they will be exposed. Children’s toys, cookies, candy, cereal, clothing lines, and cartoons have all become mouthpieces for sexual perversion. You would literally have to live in a bubble to keep your children from it, especially in June. We settle in for a comfortable 1  1/2 to 2 hours of reading to begin our school day. (See my previous post.) Sometimes it’s at 9:00, sometimes it’s as late as 11:00. Snacks are allowed (see the iced coffees?) because food makes kids happy. And I let them do a variety of quiet activities while I read. On this day, they chose mazes and intricate coloring. Oklahoma! Summer learning. https://www.instagram.com/p/CsbPJAwLQNd/ I spend all day with my kids. But I’m not a super mom or gifted with infinite patience. I don’t have it all together. I usually don’t even have some of it together. Here’s our morning routine right now: When our society moved children away from the home and into the schools, they had to recreate much of home life in an artificial fashion. April 1, 1853:

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