Top Living History Museums and Tips for Visiting

Written by Chelsea Gonzales.

I adore visiting museums. It's a fabulous way to introduce new concepts and an even better way to dive deeper into a child's interests.

As a history nerd, living history museums are definitely my top pick when it comes to choosing an educational attraction, and my son and husband both quite enjoy them as well.

Unlike regular history museums which have traditional tour guides and only display artifacts and photographs, living history museums are interactive, have actors wearing costumes and reenacting the lives and livelihoods of the past, and usually focus on one particular place or event in history. While at a living history museum, you don't just look at and learn about the past, you actually step back into it.

The One Simple List that Will Fix Your Underwhelming Launch

I'd like to tell you that I always come fully-prepared into every homeschool year--that I have my plans solidified and written in stone; that I have all my curriculum ordered and in order; that I have tugged on all the kinks and have straightened them out.

But I don't.

I've been at this now for eleven years. Twelve, if you count preschool. And I still waver. My school year never launches quite a smoothly as I always hope it will. This year was no exception.

When the First Month of Homeschool Feels Like a Loss

Written by Jessica.

A few years ago, we had a tough first day back to homeschooling. I no longer remember the details, but I do remember that no one wanted to do school. There was lots of complaining, many bad attitudes, and at least one big meltdown. That day, I truly felt like a failure as a teacher and a mama. Later, I remember sitting sniffling at my laptop, searching for the magic wand that I could wave to put everything right. Impulsively, I ordered an elaborate and overpriced “virtues” program, complete with posters, charts, coloring pages, and a teacher’s guide.

A Quick-fix for a Messy Morning Routine

Written by Krista Smith.

“Babe, get your laundry picked up, please.

Sweetheart, your laundry.

Darlin’…this is getting silly. Pick up your laundry. Like, NOW!”

How many of our mornings as homeschool moms start off this way? Then hit repeat for the next task in line.

Maybe not all of your kiddos struggle to stay on target, but I’d be willing to bet at least one of them, at least once a week needs a good, determined, poke in the right direction. It is certainly true at my house and with my kids, anyway.

So what is a mama to do?

What We're Reading in September 2018

Admittedly, the wheels completely fell off of our reading wagon this past summer. What can I say? We were busy summering. (Summering. Is that a word? My spell check seems to think it's not. But I disagree.)

Now that we've officially launched into a new school year, we're back to our regularly scheduled programs. We've got routine. We've got cadence to our days. So reading is happening. For my kids. For me. For all of us.