Raising Arrows

Interviews with Homeschooled “Adults” – Margaret

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August 19, 2017comment

Interviews with Homeschooled Adults - Margaret

Usually these interviews are with homeschoolers who have graduated, but after reading 17 year old Margaret’s interview, I thought it would be something all of you would enjoy, and might even encourage you to ask your older children their answers to these questions as well!

Usually these interviews are with homeschooled adults, but I loved reading Margaret's perspective and decided to include it as a way to encourage you to open up dialogue with your own homeschooled teen!

Name & Age
Margaret, 17

How many years were you homeschooled?
I am in 11th grade and I have been homeschooled since kindergarten.

A favorite homeschooling memory.
I have some really good memories of being homeschooled! When my sister and I were in elementary school, we had boys from another homeschool family come over once a week for history lessons. One week, we were studying Genghis Khan, and we decided to stage a fight between the Mongols and the Chinese. The kids built a fortress under the table and fought off my mom, who was dressed as a Mongol with a dish towel wrapped around her head and armed with a dust mop. It was hilarious!
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Our Favorite Homemade Granola Bars

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August 18, 2017comment

It’s been a while since I’ve shared one of our family recipes, but with many of you getting back into the swing of things with school, I thought I’d give you a snack idea that has been a favorite here for many years.

First of all, granola bars you buy in the store are either full of preservatives and cheap or not full of preservatives and not cheap. And if you have a big family like mine, one box of granola bars, cheap or not, doesn’t go far. This recipe I spread out into a large bar pan or jelly roll pan (you know, the kind with a small lip around the edge – approximately 12 x 17 x 1-inch), and we get WAY more out of it – no preservatives, cheap, AND lasts longer than 5 seconds – HURRAY!

Large batch of homemade granola can be made from any granola!

My Laundry Methods – Podcast 020

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August 13, 2017comment

My laundry methods have changed with the houses we've lived and the children we've added to our family. Find out what has worked for us!

Over the years, how I do laundry has changed to accommodate many factors including how many kids I have, where my laundry room is located, and my current life circumstances. This podcast goes through all of the methods I have used along with my current method. Find inspiration and ideas for conquering your own Mt. Washmore! (If you’d rather, you can watch the video!)

Find all of the Raising Arrows Podcast HERE!

Please Subscribe!
iTunes | Stitcher

In this episode:

Why I decided I needed a laundry method.
Why having 2 washers and dryers didn’t work for us.
My shelf & basket system.

Resources mentioned:

Home Management for the Homeschool Mom

Large Family Homeschool eBook Resources | Amy Roberts - RaisingArrows.net Large Family Homeschooling

–> FLYlady

–> Review of our Fisher-Paykel washing machine

–> Large Family Laundry round-up post!
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Homeschooling with Purpose – RAP Podcast 019

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August 7, 201713 Comments

Homeschool Mom Support Group Podcast - RAP Session with Amy from Raising Arrows - Homeschooling with Purpose

It is my passion to provide encouragement for the homeschooling mom, so the first podcast of every month this school year will be a Homeschool Mom Support Group! We’ll call it the RAP session (Raising Arrows Podcast – get it?!), and this is the very first one! Today’s podcast will be all about finding your focus and purpose this year as a homeschooling mother!

Find all of the Raising Arrows Podcast HERE!

Please Subscribe!
iTunes | Stitcher

In this episode:

How I started homeschooling.
The ultimatum my husband gave me when we first started.
The truth about loving your children.
The #1 thing you should do this year!

Mentioned in this podcast:

–> Homeschooling with Purpose ebook – Get 10% off with coupon code: RAP10

Homeschooling with Purpose

–> FREE Cherish Your Children Checklist & “I’ not a homeschool mom” print! CLICK HERE!
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Our Charlotte Mason Nature Bag

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July 31, 20178 Comments

Keep all of your nature study tools in one easy grab-n-go bag! We calls ours a Nature Bag, and this post shares everything we have in ours + more ideas!

While Nature Study isn’t exclusive to the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling, it certainly is a big part of it and something most people associate with that particular method. I’m not a full-on Charlotte Mason homeschooler, but I like a lot of the components of that way of homeschooling – including Nature Study. However, I always tweak everything I do to fit our large family and the individual personalities and preferences therein – including my own! So, when I read in The Homegrown Preschooler about the idea of having a Nature Bag by the back door, I knew that was the perfect nature study tweak for me!

Read my post on our Nature Table to see another favorite CM tweak!

Don’t have time to read the post?
Listen to the Nature Bag podcast here!
or
Need to see more in-depth what’s in the bag?
Watch the Nature Bag video here!
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Our Nature Bag – Podcast 018

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July 31, 2017comment

Put your science all in one bag with a Nature Bag! Find out what is in ours!

No homeschool science curriculum would be complete without learning about God’s creation! Keep your nature study tools all in one place with a Nature Bag!

Watch the video here!
or
Read the full post here!

Find all of the Raising Arrows Podcast HERE!

Please Subscribe!
iTunes | Stitcher

In this episode:

What nature study tools are best to keep in your Nature Bag.
Where to keep your Nature Bag.
How to incorporate unit studies into your Nature Bag.

Resources mentioned:

–> Our Journey Westward NaturExplorers Nature Studies:

Our High School Homeschool Curriculum – 2017

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July 30, 20173 Comments

Find out what curriculum we are using this year and how we incorporate interests and passions into our older kids' school day!

My lone high schooler is 16. She’s highly creative and very passionate. She is NOT a typical kid – never has been. Her high school curriculum reflects these differences while still staying within the parameters of our state’s graduation requirements.

Her Monday starts the same as the other kids – with the PictureSmart Bible. She likes to try different techniques of shading or color in her pictures, and she always puts a lot of thought into her work. The other days she sits in on the story Bible and read-aloud and then heads to her computer to start her academic day.

She starts with Teaching Textbooks Geometry. This will be her last math credit of her high school career. She will need a College Algebra credit for her degree (ASL Interpreting), but we have not decided if she will take concurrent classes at our local college or wait.
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Our Middle School Homeschool Curriculum – 2017

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July 29, 20174 Comments

Our 2017 Middle school homeschool Curriculum choices

I have 2 middle schoolers – a boy and a girl who are 16 months apart in age. My son, who is the younger of the two, was non-verbal until about age 3½, and did not form complete and coherent sentences until much later. While you cannot tell now that he ever had a speech issue, he is not at his grade level because I took things very slow with him in the beginning. That said, I’m not much for grade levels anyway, but felt it might explain some of our curriculum choices for this age.

As I mentioned in the Elementary Curriculum post, we start out week with the PictureSmart Bible and the rest of the days we start with a Bible story and our current read aloud. From there, everyone disperses to do their independent school work.
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