Intentional Parenting

May is a month for graduations. At the Carman home, we’ll celebrate a homeschool graduation this Saturday. But it’s not our first rodeo. As a matter of fact, this will be our seventh and final ceremony complete with all the fixings: food, dessert, speeches, pictures, dancing, and more. I’ll be sure to take it all...

It’s been more than two years since that day in March 2020 when American schools closed their doors and the word “coronavirus” forced its way into everyone’s vocabulary. Suddenly, the education of millions of children and teens ground to a halt. Most parents, understandably in shock, waited for government schools to provide a workable solution....

Help Your Child Thrive with Homeschool Resources to Support Your Child’s Unique Learning Style We all know that each child is incredibly unique. From one child or sibling to the next, the differences are vast. As a homeschool parent, you become aware of each child’s distinct facial characteristics, mannerisms, interests, preferences, motivators, and learning styles....

The Greek language has two words for “time” — chronos and kairos. Chronos is quantitative, denoting chronological or sequential time — the forward propelling of time that we measure with clocks. On the other hand, kairos is qualitative. It is the right, critical, proper, and opportune time to take action. Kairos means taking advantage of or even creating a perfect moment to deliver a...

Our Summer Vacation Summer vacation – how often did you get this writing assignment as a school-age kid? I personally enjoyed putting pen to paper each September since our family did a fairly good job of making sure a good vacation happened sometime during the summer break. Some years, we went on a camping trip...

The fight for truth is never over. The title of this article is  1776 v. 1619 — an obvious play on two contrasting projects. Learn the difference and teach your kids the truth about history! For years, homeschooling parents had to face the common question, “What about socialization?” But for many families, socialization was actually...

There has been a slow and steady trend of grade inflation, and this is not helping our students. Is there homeschool grading inflation in your homeschool? Let’s take a look at what happens when everyone is super! The Slow and Steady Trend of Grade Inflation I remember being a Teacher’s Assistant when I was in...

Join with the team at Apologia for a homeschooling prayer, or two, or three. We challenge you to pray for homeschooling as it continues to rise across the country. During the summer of 2020, the Apologia team committed to praying every day from June 19 through September 7. Our motivation was the fact that tens...

“When will I ever use Algebra?” I’ve heard that question so many times, from not only students but parents also. Each time I hear it, I am reminded that this is a serious question that needs to be answered. Instead of just giving some overcast, cloudy answer like, “every day,” I am going to answer...

When our first child was born thirty years ago, homeschooling was nowhere on my personal radar screen. Then in 1996, Rachael and I reluctantly began our journey down this path. Four years into it we were sold on the lifestyle and made a personal commitment for the long haul, even with high school looming in...