More from The Busy Mom

Planning Your Homeschool Year –  A list of resources for you here that will help you with ALL aspects of planning your homeschool year!

A Little Homeschool Truth from a Veteran Homeschool Mom – “And so here we are.  School has started and reality has set in.  Homeschooling sure looks different mid-summer while absolutely no school is being done and we’re casually reading colorful catalogues detailing curriculum that will practically teach your kids themselves.  Ah, yes, peaceful, sunny July afternoons spent at the beach with memories of crumby floors and crabby attitudes far behind.  Sitting here across from my joyful – yet painfully slow – second grader caused me to dig deep into my reserves of homeschool truth to bring myself to remain calm and committed…”

What I’ve Learned as a Rookie Homeschooler – “15 math lessons. 13 reading lessons.  I can hardly believe it.  We’re almost done!  If we go with the sports language, I have almost completed my rookie season of homeschooling.  Rookie year is a wild ride folks.  At least it has been for me.  In September of last year, I sat down one Monday morning with my little people at our awesome little desks in the corner of our living room, with some pretty awesome plans for our year.  I was gonna rock this.  We did some preschool, and I mean, all my sisters homeschool, so it’s not like I haven’t seen it done.  Piece of cake, right?  Ha!  Just like almost every other area of being a momma, this new role of mine has brought me to my knees an awful lot this year…”

5 Things I wish I’d known Before I Started Homeschooling – “Homeschooling is the best decision we have ever made with regard to how we would educate our children. But I won’t lie to you—those first few years were especially challenging. If I could start again, I would do a few things differently.  But even so, God has a way of working all things together for good as we trust him. Here are just a few of the many things he’s taught me over the past fifteen years…”

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Daylight – Do you need encouragement and fresh ideas for your homeschool day? Help is on the way!

Tick Tock, Tick Tock…

Can you hear it? Are you “burning daylight?” If you have ever experienced a series of days, weeks or even months when you felt like you just could NOT get on top of all you had to do, you are not alone. Juggling homeschooling and homemaking can be challenging—or so we’ve heard!

Whether you’re struggling with managing your day, or simply looking for encouragement and fresh ideas for tackling your list of things to do, you will enjoy hearing from the heart of busy homeschool mom of seven, wife and author, Heidi St. John.
You’ll laugh out loud, learn some of Heidi’s favorite tips on everything from home organization to meal preparation, and discover how you can homeschool in freedom and joy.

Are you ready to be encouraged? Then join Heidi in discovering that real moms sometimes serve cereal for dinner—and live to write about it!

Don’t miss a podcast!
Subscribe on iTunes Here

Hear Heidi speak in Indianapolis this October! Register for 2015 “Fearless” today!

Related Blog Posts by The Busy Mom:

Planning Your Homeschool Year

Homeschool 101: Choosing Curriculum the Simple Way

Finding Your Child’s Learning Style (So you can choose an appropriate Curriculum)

Notebooking: How we do it

Curriculum referenced in podcast:

Five in a Row – A literature based unit study program designed to initiate a love for learning.  FIAR covers science, social studies, applied math, language arts, geography and art!

Bob Books – Bob Books® were specifically designed to facilitate that ah-ha moment, when letters first turn into words. By slowly introducing new letter sounds, using consistency and repetition, and stories that fit short attention spans, your child will quickly find his or her own ah-ha moment.

Teach your child to read in 100 EZ Lessons – A complete, step-by-step program that shows patents simply and clearly how to teach their children to read. Twenty minutes a day is all you need, and within 100 teaching days your child will be reading on a solid second-grade reading level. It’s a sensible, easy-to-follow, and enjoyable way to help your child gain the essential skills of reading. Everything you need is here — no paste, no scissors, no flash cards, no complicated directions — just you and your child learning together. One hundred lessons, fully illustrated and color-coded for clarity, give your child the basic and more advanced skills needed to become a good reader.

Life of Fred – No other textbooks are like these. Each text is written in the style of a novel with a humorous story line. Each section tells part of the life of Fred Gauss and how, in the course of his life, he encounters the need for the math and then learns the methods. Tons of solved examples. Each hardcover textbook contains ALL of the material – more than most instructors cover in traditional classroom settings.  Written by Dr. Stanley Schmidt with the intent to make math come alive with lots of humour, clear explanations, and silly illustrations that stick in the mind. The student will learn to think mathematically.

Institute in Excellence for Writing – Many parents and teachers who have taken this course have expressed, “I wish I had learned this when I was in school!” Whether your students are eager learners or reluctant writers, the award-winning Teaching Writing: Structure and Style video seminar will give you the tools you need to confidently teach your students to write well, think clearly, and express themselves eloquently and persuasively. Teachers of students in grades 2-12 and beyond will learn how to effectively teach their students to Outline and summarize Generate cohesive paragraphs Create stories Produce reports and critiques Develop essays Translate their thoughts and ideas into writing Vary sentence structure Use interesting vocabulary Add literary devices This complete package includes 10 DVDs: Six DVDs with instruction on the nine structural models and multiple stylistic techniques (10 hours total viewing time-may be watched all at once, or viewed one disc at a time throughout the school year) Tips & Tricks for Teaching Through the Nine Units, a two hour supplemental DVD refresher course Three DVDs of sample student workshops at three different grade levels to help you with that first lesson The TWSS Seminar Workbook, which serves as the syllabus for the seminar and contains charts, word lists, sample lesson plans, and more!

Apologia Exploring Creation Series – Our Young Explorers Series combines our conversationally-written instruction, hands on activities, and interactive notebooking with an inquisitiveness into God’s Creation to turn your young learner into a young explorer. From the tiniest microbe to greatest galaxy, all of creation declares His glory (Psalm 19:1), and if we study God’s creation with intent to glorify Him, then we will soon learn to be in awe of Him and the works of His hand. This awe is more easily instilled during the elementary years when a good old-fashioned bug hunt, leaf collection, or field trip to your local zoo can reveal all sorts of wonders.

Bravewriter – Brave Writer is designed to enhance the parent-child relationship through the teaching of writing. It is my contention that writers are grown best when students feel supported and free. Parents feel best when they have strategies they can trust to advance their twin goals: peace and progress in the writing process. Enter Brave Writer’s abundance of programs (both self-teaching guides and online classes with instructors).

YWAM “Missionary Stories” – This best-selling, missionary biography series – Christian Heroes: Then & Now – chronicles the exciting, challenging, and deeply touching true stories of ordinary men and women whose trust in God accomplished extraordinary exploits for His kingdom and glory.

Don’t miss a podcast!
Subscribe on iTunes Here

Hear Heidi speak in Indianapolis this October! Register for 2015 “Fearless” today!

Don’t miss a podcast!
Subscribe on iTunes Here

Hear Heidi speak in Indianapolis this October! Register for 2015 “Fearless” today!

Resources for today’s podcast:

Victory in Spiritual Warfare: Outfitting Yourself for the Battle

Dr. Tony Evans, one of the most respected church leaders in the country, is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, a thriving congregation of 8000. In this timely, unique exploration of spiritual warfare, Dr. Evans unveils a simple yet radical truth: every struggle and conflict faced in the physical realm has its root in the spiritual realm.

With passion and clarity, Dr. Evans demystifies spiritual warfare so that readers can tackle challenges and obstacles with spiritual power―God’s authority!

The Power of a Praying Parent

Stormie Omartian’s bestselling The Power of a Praying(R) series (more than 28 million copies sold) is rereleased with fresh new covers and new material to reach a still-growing market of readers eager to discover the power of prayer for their lives.

Fool’s Gold?: Discerning Truth in an Age of Error edited by Dr. John MacArthur

In an age of open-mindedness, many believers accept too much with too little discernment, resulting in great confusion and compromise. But God’s Word makes it clear that not everything that glitters is gold. False teaching is at every turn, and the temptation to embrace it is great. As God’s people we are called to sift through the overwhelming number of traditions and trends and use the truth of Scripture to determine which are the true treasures-and which are “fool’s gold.”

General editor John MacArthur and the contributors of this uncompromising book define the principles of biblical discernment and use them to address several contemporary Christian issues. They provide straightforward, biblical critiques of some popular but unfortunate Christian trends, such as watered-down preaching and doctrinally questionable best-selling books. Dr. MacArthur ends with a practical plan for cultivating discernment in the Christian life.

It is the duty of every Christian-not just pastors and elders-to follow the biblical command to cling to what is good and to reject what is not. This book will equip you with a foundation for biblical discernment that will enable you to make careful distinctions in your thinking about truth.

Are we growing in our walk with God? Today, we’re talking about a “big” word … sanctification. It’s a big word that means a simple thing: grow.  Grow. As Christians, we’re called to live set apart lives—no matter who’s watching.

Don’t miss a podcast!
Subscribe on iTunes Here

Resources for today’s podcast:

Victory in Spiritual Warfare: Outfitting Yourself for the Battle

Dr. Tony Evans, one of the most respected church leaders in the country, is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, a thriving congregation of 8000. In this timely, unique exploration of spiritual warfare, Dr. Evans unveils a simple yet radical truth: every struggle and conflict faced in the physical realm has its root in the spiritual realm.

With passion and clarity, Dr. Evans demystifies spiritual warfare so that readers can tackle challenges and obstacles with spiritual power―God’s authority!

The Power of a Praying Parent

Stormie Omartian’s bestselling The Power of a Praying(R) series (more than 28 million copies sold) is rereleased with fresh new covers and new material to reach a still-growing market of readers eager to discover the power of prayer for their lives.

Fool’s Gold?: Discerning Truth in an Age of Error edited by Dr. John MacArthur

In an age of open-mindedness, many believers accept too much with too little discernment, resulting in great confusion and compromise. But God’s Word makes it clear that not everything that glitters is gold. False teaching is at every turn, and the temptation to embrace it is great. As God’s people we are called to sift through the overwhelming number of traditions and trends and use the truth of Scripture to determine which are the true treasures-and which are “fool’s gold.”

General editor John MacArthur and the contributors of this uncompromising book define the principles of biblical discernment and use them to address several contemporary Christian issues. They provide straightforward, biblical critiques of some popular but unfortunate Christian trends, such as watered-down preaching and doctrinally questionable best-selling books. Dr. MacArthur ends with a practical plan for cultivating discernment in the Christian life.

It is the duty of every Christian-not just pastors and elders-to follow the biblical command to cling to what is good and to reject what is not. This book will equip you with a foundation for biblical discernment that will enable you to make careful distinctions in your thinking about truth.

The Spirit of the Lord is doing a mighty work — right now! It’s an exciting time to be a follower of Jesus.

It’s also a time in which we must learn to discern the voice of right teaching from those who would lead God’s people away from the truth. God Himself reminds His people to “test the spirits,” because He knew there would be “teachers” who would divide and scatter the flock. Have you been in your Bible lately? Join us for some encouragement to do just that.

Don’t miss a podcast!
Subscribe on iTunes Here

Resources for today’s podcast:

Victory in Spiritual Warfare: Outfitting Yourself for the Battle

Dr. Tony Evans, one of the most respected church leaders in the country, is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, a thriving congregation of 8000. In this timely, unique exploration of spiritual warfare, Dr. Evans unveils a simple yet radical truth: every struggle and conflict faced in the physical realm has its root in the spiritual realm.

With passion and clarity, Dr. Evans demystifies spiritual warfare so that readers can tackle challenges and obstacles with spiritual power―God’s authority!

The Power of a Praying Parent

Stormie Omartian’s bestselling The Power of a Praying(R) series (more than 28 million copies sold) is rereleased with fresh new covers and new material to reach a still-growing market of readers eager to discover the power of prayer for their lives.

Fool’s Gold?: Discerning Truth in an Age of Error edited by Dr. John MacArthur

In an age of open-mindedness, many believers accept too much with too little discernment, resulting in great confusion and compromise. But God’s Word makes it clear that not everything that glitters is gold. False teaching is at every turn, and the temptation to embrace it is great. As God’s people we are called to sift through the overwhelming number of traditions and trends and use the truth of Scripture to determine which are the true treasures-and which are “fool’s gold.”

General editor John MacArthur and the contributors of this uncompromising book define the principles of biblical discernment and use them to address several contemporary Christian issues. They provide straightforward, biblical critiques of some popular but unfortunate Christian trends, such as watered-down preaching and doctrinally questionable best-selling books. Dr. MacArthur ends with a practical plan for cultivating discernment in the Christian life.

It is the duty of every Christian-not just pastors and elders-to follow the biblical command to cling to what is good and to reject what is not. This book will equip you with a foundation for biblical discernment that will enable you to make careful distinctions in your thinking about truth.

Are you looking for hope? It can be easy for us to feel overwhelmed by the things that seem out of control around us: illness, the loss of a child, crushed dreams, disillusionment with elected leaders—but the Bible tells us that whenever we try to find hope in the world, we will be disappointed. Join Heidi today as she talks with Durenda about why our hope in God is never misplaced.

Don’t miss a podcast!
Subscribe on iTunes Here

Hear Heidi speak in Indianapolis this October! Register for 2015 “Fearless” today!

Resources from today’s podcast:

Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore

Beth’s journey out of the pit has been heart-rending. But from this and the poetic expressions of Psalm 40 has come the reward: a new song for her soul, given by her Savior and offered to you in Get Out of That Pit―friend to friend. This is Beth’s most stirring message yet of the sheer hope, utter deliverance, and complete and glorious freedom of God:

I waited patiently for the Lord

He turned to me and heard my cry

He lifted me out of the slimy pit

He set my feet on a rock

He put a new song in my mouth

It is a story, a song―a salvation―that you can know too.

Scriptures to pray and meditate on:

II Corin. 9:8, II Corin. 1:4, Romans 8:28, Hebrews 6:19,20, Psalm 42:5, Romans 15:13