Soon Homeschool Hacks will relaunch under the amazing Blissfully Domestic Publishing umbrella headed by our very own Allison Worthington a.k.a. Mrs. Fussypants.

Homeschool Hacks will remain the fabulous repository of information you have come to expect, but we are going to focus more on our mission. Our goal is to provide you with the tips, tricks, ideas, and solutions to your everyday homeschooling problems in a fast and fun format that will keep pace with you and your busy lives.

We are currently seeking contributors! Please send all your great tips, tricks, & ideas to us (we'll give you all the credit!) at the email link at the top right. We also want to know what you're struggling with, what challenges you are facing as a homeschooling family. Send us your homeschooling questions and we'll track down the hacks to make it all better.

Blessings,

Katie

It comes as no surprise to me that several of the Olympic Athletes are homeschoolers.  It takes a great deal of time and devotion to master a sport to Olympic perfection. 

Beverly Hernandez, Homeschooling editor at  About.com interviewed homeschooled Olympic hopefuls earlier in the year.

You can have your own Olympics at home, by following the instructions of Sherri Osborne, About.com's family crafts editor.

And finally, visit the website of the United States Olympic Committee for free downloadable educational materials for all grade levels.  Learning about the Games is timely and fun.  If only all the worlds problems could be solved through good sportsmanship.  Either way, you'll enjoy the Unit studies on the Olympic Website.  They don't call them Unit studies, they are classroom geared, but they're csorr-curricular.

Hey, everyone. I'm the new home schooling mom here at Homeschool Hacks, so I best be neighborly and introduce myself.

I'm Monica, mom of four - Susan, 10, Peter, 8, Edmund, 6, and Lucy, 3. (If you recognize where I ripped those names, you and I will get along just fine.) We home school. Or to be completely truthful: I force my school-age children to memorize math facts and Latin flash cards.

In the summer time.

Yup, I'm that hard core.

Now that I've introduced myself, and we're getting to be friends, I want to share my All-Time Favorite Home Schooling Link. Get ready to take notes, home schooling moms, cause this one is for you.

This is a link for all of us who aspire to be more than "just a home schooling mom."

Susan Wise Bauer. We classical home schoolers know her from her popular book The Well-Trained Mind. Dig a little deeper and you learn more. She's still writing home schooling books. She's a pastor's wife, a college professor. And she home schools too. Is there anything she can't do?

Why is Bauer the subject of my favorite link for home schoolers? Because as a home schooling mom I want to teach my kids and still do other things that interest me. And I consistently beat myself up when I can't be the Super Home School Mom I want to be.

So how does Susan do it all? Want to know? Read this interview - pay close attention to the middle when the interviewer asks, "How do you get it all done?" I love the answer. I hope you find this link as encouraging as I do. 

How many times have you found out about a great contest, meme, blog, or site a little too late? Well hopefully no more! Stop by Homeschool Hacks every Friday morning for a round up of some of the best of the web.

Homeschooling on Alltop - If you haven't heard of it yet Alltop is a site that compiles the best of the best blogs in each category for your perusal. Just recently a few homeschooling mamas managed to get a special category added just for them. Check out the great blogs that have made it to the top.

Where Do I Start? - As we get into August you can almost see moms stressing out with each tick of the clock. I love this post by Dr. Mommy because it makes  things very short and to the point. The rest of the blog is great for exploring as well!

Fathers and Homeschooling - Moms are usually the ones getting all the focus, it's time for dad to get a little action too.  One dad shares his thoughts on  being an active part of homeschooling too.

Bringing Up Learners - Tips, advice, and even free resources this site has it all.

Homeschool Group Activities - While you're out on the web be sure to swing by the Homeschool Hacks forum and share your ideas with Shannon. She wants to know what great, and not-so-great, activities has your homeschool group done.

People, I need some advice. I come to you this evening, not giving a hack, but asking for a hack.

How in the hack do you stay organized???

(Get it? How the hack? Like 'how the heck' ... Nevermind. It was funny in my head. Sorry about that.)

Seriously! I'm not exactly Little Mrs Type A over here, as anyone who has ever visited my site can very quickly see. So how do you keep track of who is doing what in school, and what year they did it in, and if you'll use it again, and all that fun stuff.

And where do you put everything? Do you have one school area? Do you store your currently-unused curriculum in the attic? The basement? The closet under the stairs? The dog house? Your husband's closet? (That's where mine is, and I don't think he's even noticed yet!)

Do you use tracking software, or are you an old school super mom who puts things in a notebook ... and doesn't lose the notebook?!?! (Of you are that mom, I am in awe of you. So far, this summer, I've only lost about 5 notebooks. I'm really improving over here!)

So what do you do? How do you keep your life from descending into complete and utter chaos every day of the week? Please help me, all you moms who know what you're doing!! Help this messy, crazy, willing to try just about anything once homeschoolin' mama!

My son’s school work is stored in binders. At the end of each year, his revelations are bound with thick rubber bands and placed in the garage closet. Five years worth of notes, pictures, and maps hidden away. Not anymore.

Photo: BurningQuestion 

I planned to start school on Monday. And we did, sort of. After eating the Deckard’s famous waffles, we sang, read a Scripture, and prayed. Craft time followed, because bookmarks save time, and our stash vanished. While coloring, my youngest informed me making bookmarks is not school. “You have to go to school,” she insisted. She’s only three, so there is time to persuade her. Her own pink binder helped a bit.

Then I needed to decide what to do with my son’s notebooks. Relinquishing them to the garage, yet again, seemed to obscure the purpose. I want my children to have a record of their learning, to delight in reviewing their discoveries. That doesn’t happen if their work is stuffed out of sight.

I mulled over the idea of combining five years worth of notebooks and building on the foundation already laid. The stacks intimidated, but the reward waited.

I separated each subject for various grades and removed math and spelling worksheets. First year drawings brought smiles of remembrance. Growing understanding is demonstrated as the pages progress. Every year we discuss the what and why of each subject, so I threw away duplicates. A few subjects like geography, math, and literature were easy to weave together; others are in portfolios separated by grade. My son has his own reference library, a reminder of what he accomplished.

However, the rewards of my labor aren’t shelves full of handwritten books. They are only tools. The true prize is in the heart of my child. When he applies what he learns to life. When he knows how to find wisdom. When he experiences the calm peace of industriousness. When he remembers the reasons for integrity.

More than records on paper, may truth be written on his heart, where it can never be erased or tossed aside.

Renae has been homeschooling for five years. Her goal is to give her three children a Life Nurturing Education.

For three nights last week, I had no children. John's mom had our two older kids, and my mom had the little one. I had all these projects I was going to do, all this wonderful stuff I was going to accomplish. Notsomuch. I watched a lot of Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel. I played on the internet. I talked to friends on the phone. I went to the Farmers' Market with my husband. It was actually pretty great.

One thing we did accomplish, though, was planning the upcoming school year. Yay!! This is something we've been trying to get done for quite a while, but never managed to carve out the time. My dear friend Kristie came over a few months ago, and brought most of her school stuff with her. I love this woman. She's the one who introduced me to Charlotte Mason and Elisabeth Elliot. Anyway, Kristie had made a list of things that she's used, things she wished she had used, and things she used but didn't like.

By the way, have I ever mentioned how valuable a resource your homeschooling friends with older children can be?

So. If you want to see our schedule for what we're doing in the upcoming year, here it goes. We'll be doing school four days a week (my older ones will be 5 and 6 by the time we start in September), with a slightly different schedule on different days.

Days 1 and 3
8-8:30: read aloud during breakfast
8:30-9: brush teeth, get dressed, make beds, clean kitchen, get table ready for school
9-9:15 Grapevine Studies (a chronological Bible course)
9:15-9:30: copy work and writing (using the Grapevine lesson as the writing lesson)
9:30-10: math (I love the Kumon workbooks!)
10-11: break (chores, plan evening's supper, play outside, etc)
11-11:30: science (Eagle's Wings Considering God's Creation, using Nature Journals we've made)
11:30-1: break (lunch, cleanup, free time)
1-1:30: music
1:30-2:30: break (work outside, laundry, older kids spend time with David, etc)
2:30-3: sign language (Signs for His Glory); David takes his nap

Days 2 and 4
8-8:30: read aloud during breakfast
8:30-9: brush teeth, get dressed, make beds, clean kitchen, get table ready for school
9-9:15: Pictures from Proverbs
9:15-9:30: copy work and writing (using the Proverbs lesson as the writing lesson)
9:30-10: math (I love the Kumon workbooks!)
10-11: break (chores, plan evening's supper, play outside, etc)
11-11:30: The Mystery of History*
11:30-1: break (lunch, cleanup, free time)
1-1:30: art
1:30-2:30: break (work outside, laundry, older kids spend time with David, etc)
2:30-3: geography (complimenting the history lesson); David takes his nap

*The Mystery of History is a really neat history course. It is divided (so far) into three courses or volumes. Each volume can be used on different age levels. For example, Volume 1 covers Creation to the Resurrection. So, we'll use this volume this year for Sam and Evie. In four years, when we come back around to it, Sam and Evie (then ages 10 and 9) will be learning on the second level, David (then 6) will be on the first level, and the baby (then 3) will listen along as read aloud. Since it's not required to have learned each volume before moving on to the next, we'll probably just pick up with 'real' lessons when each younger child turns 5 or 6. We'll also be supplementing the history lessons with lots of read alouds, like Henty's books.

Sam will be starting piano lessons this year, and Evie will be doing voice lessons. We also have a short read aloud after nap/rest time each day, and we read before bed each evening. I'll try to keep everyone updated about the books we're currently on, and what we think of each one.

This schedule might seem a little ambitious (and maybe it is!), but if you add up all the times, we'll only be doing about 2.5 hours of actual school each day. I set up the schedule the way I did so that David (he'll be 2 in October) can be with us for most of the school day. He'll probably have playtime in his room while we do math, but other than that, he'll be at the table (or couch) when we are, learning along side his older siblings. We're officially starting at the beginning of September, but we're beginning a modified schedule this week to get into the swing of things. And to keep me from having to strangle my kids because they have nothing better to do than get into trouble and break things. Ahem. Sorry.

This will probably be our schedule through the beginning of February, when the next baby is due. I hope that maybe this can give you a jumping point for your schedule, if this is your first year. Any tips from moms who have been there?

(Also, to said moms: What phonics program did you like? Please help!)

Get Other Families Involved
Pick four favorite families for a grand total of five families involved in your day camp.  Five families= five weekdays.  It's an important connection that allows you to get 3 or 4 "days off."

Have a Planning Meeting
Start the Planning with a Meeting.  Group decisions can be tricky, so the goal of this meeting is really just to chat over coffee and declare that each family must be wholly responsible for one day.   Your schedule might look like this;

Monday- Jones Family
Tuesday- Kennedy Family
Wednesday- Adams family
Thursday- Simmons Family
Friday- Osborne Family

Planning Activities
The planning of activities should be kept as simple as possible.  The best way to do that is to have each family do their planning independently of each other.  So what if activities are repeated over the week?  There can be no agenda in the name of summer fun.  You'd have to change the name to Summer School if you wanted to plan something like that. 

Gathering Supplies
Each family is also responsible for the gathering of supplies for their designated day.  See how easy this is?  Even for food.  If you plan to serve pizza on your day then you pay the delivery boy.  Similarly, if Mrs Jones (she always pulls stunts like this) wants to have the kids hand-toss their pizza she can pay to have the pizzeria send a chef to teach the kids how to do it. Who gave her Monday?

Additional Help
Let's assume Mrs Adams only has two children and all of the other families has three or more.  Mrs Adams could get overwhelmed at the prospect of being responsible for 18 or more children.   You can decide, at your planning meeting, to have each family choose a "helping day" so that your schedule looks more like this;

Monday- Jones house, Osborne helping
Tuesday- Kennedy house, Jones helping
Wednesday- Adams house, Kennedy helping
Thursday- Simmons house, Adams helping
Friday- Osborne house, Simmons helping

Bonus Freebies
Did you notice that each family "worked" two days in a row (Except for the Osbornes, 2 days in a row would just be too much to ask)  That means that the other days were completely "Off"  If you're the one setting up the camp I'd recommend a strategic positioning of your days off and book a day at the spa or schedule a long nap.  For heaven's sake, don't use this time to clean the house.

End-Of-Camp BBQ
Try to plan a family BBQ for everyone involved.  To make it easier, have the Osbornes host it on Friday (since the kids will be there anyway) and have everyone else bring the Potluck foods.  The end-of-camp party is great fun and gives Dads a chance to mingle (because we know men love that, right?)  If Friday doesn't work, perhaps a Saturday pool party or even overnight camp-out somewhere local.

Be creative.  Have Fun.  And most of all, relax and enjoy the summer.

by Lisa
DIY Cheap Summer Camp Co-op

(cross posted from my site because I think it's important)

Yeah- I am not the one climbing a mountain, although I absolutely love hiking.  However, the image of climbing a mountain can bring about all sorts of deep thoughts about the value of laboring for a goal and taking small steps and having faith that there is a top to the mountain and bla bla bla whatever- I am sure mountain climbing is  an analogy you're familiar with on all sorts of levels.  (did you know in early pregnancy, you burn more calories per hour when you're sound asleep than a mountain climber does... climbing)

Anyhow, so last night I'm listening to a speech from Writer and History Curriculum developer Diana Waring about the upcoming WATCH Conference when she starts a story about an insight she had while huffing and puffing up a hiking trail climbing a mountain. And it had nothing do do with a mountain, except in a deep metaphorical sense.

Imagine a little child sitting at the table, saying "Mom, I'm hungry" and his mother says "Would you like a steak?" And the child says "Oh yummy- I love steak" and his mother says "And would you like some corn with that?" and the little boy says "Oh yes, please- I love corn" and his mother says "And how about some baked potatoes?" And of course, the little boys says "YES- I love baked potatoes."

So the mother, goes into the kitchen and brings out a platter with a huge 50 ounce steak on it, 12 ears of corn and ten pounds of baked potatoes and sits it down in front of the little boy. 

Then, she says "You're not getting up until you're finished."

Do you think that little boy will ever want another steak in his life?  Don't you think his stomach will wretch at the sight of an ear of corn or a potato for maybe just the rest of his life.  She has completely ruined Steak and potatoes for him.  Not that it's a nutritious meal anyways, but still.  The point is, by over-indulging him and forcing him to digest it all at once, she has ruined his inclination to enjoy that particular meal.

Imagine instead, if she had placed 2-3 ounces of steak, 1/2 a baked potato and half a cob of corn on his plate.  Just the right amount of food for a little boy (as if I know anything about boys)  and not so much that he gets sick at the idea of having that meal again.  His immediate hunger is quenched.  Next time he sees a steak, he'll have a pleasant reaction, his mouth will water.

Isn't learning similar?  I can't even think of how many times I have told my children "You're not getting up until your math is done."  With my oldest child, when I was more of an unschooler, I'd peek at the lesson at hand and organically demonstrate the principles of it in real life.  So she's learning the topic in a way that's relevant, and led by her interests.  That's not so hard to do.  In fact, if a topic is worthy of study then by default, it should be easy to blend it into life. 

As obsessed as I've been with math in my house for the past year, I know I've stolen the passion from at least one of my kids.  She's still small enough to reclaim it, though.  And I'm making that my goal today.  She loves graphing and measuring gardening and cooking.  So today, we're putting the math books on a shelf and measuring volume, temperature and displacement of mass baking cookies.  When we serve them at our tea party, we'll cut them into fractions bite sized pieces.  We'll make a scaled diagram drawing of our flowerbeds to go into our little "scrapbook of home" that's easing the moving stress from the littler ones (and me)

How Diana was able to divine that steak analogy while hiking amuses me, though.  I can relate completely; when my body is fully engaged in hiking or lawn mowing, my brain seems to go into deep thought mode, and there's always some sort of epiphany that comes from just letting the wheels turn aimlessly.  Perhaps that's why playing is so important for children.  That's another entry entirely, though and I, for one, have a tea party to attend to.  Toodle-doo

I just have to confess.  My girls and I were innocently looking for instructional ballroom dancing videos on YouTube when we stumbled across some hip-hop dance videos.  Instructional hip hop dance videos.  I could shake it when I was younger, and it was fun but now that I'm 33ish there's a whole lot more of me to shake.  Who says P.E. is just for kids?  Did you even know they had dance instruction videos on YouTube?  It's quite a fun experience, hanging out with my 14 and 11 year old daughters in this way.   Here are some things we've discovered:

1. Stretch out first, warm up those muscles. 
2. Wear comfortable clothing
3. Make sure you have room to dance.  Your office might not work if that's where your computer is.  We use the laptop in the living room, so we won't be bumping into each other
4. Don't let your kids film it or you'll wake up with nightmares that your denim-jumper-wearing friends  from the co-op found it on YouTube