Newsletters

I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas Break with your family and friends. I’m obsessed with our new board game, Ticket to Ride, and I don’t want the holidays to end. But there are things to do and things to learn. I hope 2024 will be your best year yet!

The children are getting pretty excited about the Christmas season approaching! I love that homeschooling gives us more time to plan and prepare for the holidays together.

The cooler weather is here! We’ve already enjoyed a few cozy reading sessions by the fireplace and eagerly await the ski resort openings. There are a number of new activities and events listed in this newsletter, so have a good look through it all.

I have just returned from the National Home Education Conference in Calgary with a renewed appreciation for how blessed we are to be able to homeschool our children. I’m so thankful for this lifestyle that fosters closer family relations and gives our children a customized, quality education.

The 2023-24 homeschool year has begun. The summer seems to have flown by, but for me that’s because it’s been an enjoyable one. It doesn’t quite feel like September has begun, with these incredibly warm days, but I know that soon my brain will catch up to the calendar and we’ll be back in the school routine.

This will be the final monthly newsletter for the 2022-2023 school year. I wish you all a lovely summer!

The homeschool year is in the final stretch as we eagerly await the arrival of warmer weather. As your children are finishing up their books, now is a great time to start planning for next year. This year marks 25 years that I’ve been homeschooling our ten children. This month, I’ve written about some of the reasons I’m so glad we chose this journey.

Homeschool Conference season is upon us! As our children are getting closer to the end of their current homeschool books, I’ve started thinking on what we shall do next, and what materials we’ll be needing soon. Having a plan makes everything run a little smoother.

Spring is just around the corner–although winter does seem to be keeping a good grip on things lately! Two things I always look forward to in the spring is the Barrie New & Used Book and Curriculum Sale, and the OCHEC Homeschool Conference. In this newsletter, you’ll find an article about language learning in the homeschool.

It’ll be a chilly one tomorrow—perfect for a good book by the fireplace! It took me a bit longer to finish this newsletter, because there were so many new things to add! A big shout-out to everyone who helps organize these things—our homeschool community wouldn’t be the same without you!

Happy new year! I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas break with your family and friends. Although I’ve enjoyed the more relaxed pace, my mind is on getting back into the swing of things.

The holiday season is almost upon us! In this month’s article, I’ve come up with a list of alternative ways to learn over the holiday. Learning can still continue even when the lesson books are closed for a while.

Greetings from the UK! I’ve been enjoying a 2-week holiday with family. I love the flexibility that homeschooling offers to take a break when we need it, and knuckle down in the books when it suits us best. Have a happy November snuggled up in blankets reading good books!

I love the autumn! I love the fall colours, I love the crisp cool air, I love my red plaid flannel shirt, and I love a cozy evening by the fireplace. When the garden is in and the pantry stocked up, we have more time for reading great books, taking some field trips, and establishing a good routine.

The 2022/23 homeschool year is beginning! A number of you are homeschooling for the first time this year. I hope you find guiding your children’s educations to be very rewarding and fun. Our homeschool community is awesome because of dedicated people who organize groups and activities throughout the school year. This month, I’ve written an article that I hope inspires even more people to get out of their comfort zone and organize a group or activity they’ve always wanted to participate in. We can’t thank you enough!

This will be the final newsletter until September. Many of you are finishing up your homeschool year this month, and others will be homeschooling for part or all of the summer. Isn’t it great that we have the flexibility to do what works best for our families?

Homeschool conference and book sale season is here! As the traditional school year is winding down, it’s an opportunity for educating parents to refresh and prepare for next year. This month’s newsletter has a guide for choosing homeschool curriculum.

Along with warmer temperatures, we welcome the homeschool conference season! Spring is the perfect time to be refreshed and start planning for next year.

Spring is just around the corner, and the lifting of Covid restrictions also brings the feeling that a long winter is gradually coming to an end. In this month’s newsletter, you’ll find that a few homeschool activities are already starting up again.

I hope you’re all staying warm. We’ve had some chilly days lately–perfect for snuggling up by the fireplace with a book! During the recent lockdown, when students weren’t able to attend school, I received more inquiries about homeschooling. Realizing that many of our readers might still be fairly new to home-schooling, I thought it might be time for a more nuts ’n bolts article. I’ve written about planning and record keeping, including some of the advantages and challenges, some of the many ways it can be done, and a step-by-step approach.

Last month I wrote an article about all the great reasons we homeschool our children. As I see the public-schooled children experiencing another disruption to their learning, I’m even more thankful our children have consistency in their education. Homeschooled children have more opportunity than ever to shine with a great educational foundation–may this be your best year yet!

Soon many of us will enjoy a little break from homeschooling through the Christmas holidays. I hope this year is a special one for all of you. Sometimes it’s helpful to just remember the reasons we chose this path for our children, to look at the big picture and what the long-term and overall benefits are. This month, I’ve come up with 101 possible reasons why you may be homeschooling your precious children.

What a glorious autumn we’ve had! I saw about 2 minutes of the white stuff falling this morning though, so I’m reminded that this nice weather won’t last forever. For homeschoolers, the chilly weather just means more time snuggling by the fireplace with great books!

Now we’re a month into the 2021/22 homeschool year. How’s it going? After having a summer break, as many people do, it can be a struggle to get back into the homeschooling routine. A number of you are homeschooling for the first time this year too, so figuring out how this homeschool stuff will work best for your family can take some time. Be patient—it doesn’t get easier all at once, and when it does get more routine, then those students go and grow up a bit more and need something new or different, but you can do this.

The 2021/22 homeschool year is beginning! A number of you are homeschooling for the first time this year. I hope you find guiding your children’s educations to be very rewarding and fun.

As we anticipate a re-opening in the next several weeks, I imagine many of us are looking forward to doing whatever we can to make this a most fun and enjoyable summer. After the summer, I’m looking forward to our homeschool activities getting back into full swing again.

At last we are getting some more of that mild weather we’ve been looking forward to. Many of you are in the home stretch for finishing up your homeschool year.

This weekend, many of us will be celebrating Christ’s resurrection, and the extra long weekend is no doubt welcomed by all. Spring is gaining momentum and winter’s efforts to hang on a little longer are getting weaker. Thankfully, homeschooling can carry on steadily regardless of changing public safety restrictions.

Today is a blustery winter day, but lately we’ve seen some hopeful signs that spring is just around the corner. With indoor activities so limited during the continuing lockdown, I’m sure many of you are looking forward to warmer days when we can at least enjoy the great outdoors some more.

Lockdown continues and all children continue to learn at home. I’m grateful for the experience I already have with homeschooling as I watch many others struggling with the virtual learning the public schools are offering. For those who have recently taken the education of their kids into their own hands, I’m glad there are so many resources available to help them learn the ropes from he experience of others.

The past two weeks have given us a much needed rest here. There were a lot of board games and card games, a little too much eating, some extra sleep, daily video chats with extended family, some relaxing movie nights, long walks, a fireworks display through our kitchen window, and some snowman creations. But now I’m trying to convince myself that the break is over and it’s time to get back into the swing of things.

Are you ready for a little homeschool break? Are the kids getting excited about the holidays? Are the winter boots, coats, mitts and snow pants strewn all over the floor right now? Because very few people will be travelling this year, I expect a lot of people are making plans for an extra-special holiday at home instead.

This year, many new homeschoolers have joined our group. Some have decided to homeschool because they don’t want to send their kids to public school during the CV-19 pandemic. For some, they want to keep their children and loved ones protected from contracting the virus. For others, they aren’t confident that public school online learning will work for their family or they want to ensure their children’s education will be smooth and uninterrupted this year. Whatever the reason is that you’ve decided to homeschool this year, I welcome you and want to help your year go as smoothly as possible.

Waiting for life to get back to normal is hard! Gradually more activities are becoming available again, but there are restrictions to this.

To all our members who are new to homeschooling this year, welcome! There are so many benefits to educating children at home that I hope you will quickly discover and enjoy. This month, I’ve written an article explaining some of the reasons that homeschooling is such a great educational model.

At last, the warm weather has arrived! Lego sales have dropped (I sell Lego parts online), and the average steps per day on my iPhone have gone up. Yesterday, we watched the neighbour evict the birds from his laundry room vent for a second time (this time before they had a chance to start and raise a family). Lawnmowers are busy on the weekends. Even though we are a bit cooped up at home, the signs of summer are all around us.

This COVID-19 has rocked our world more than anything has in a long time. In some ways, it’s made life simpler. In some ways, it’s made life more complicated. It’s saved us time and cost us money. We adjust to a new rhythm and carry on.

A lot has changed since the last newsletter, but at least homeschooling can carry on pretty much as usual for most of us. Homeschoolers have a bit less of an adjustment to make because we are already used to having our children learn at home. I’ve had so many questions from parents whose children are suddenly home from school, and it sounds like a real adjustment for a lot of people. I hope you are all managing well and that the cautions our country has made in response to COVID-19 have not been a hardship for you.

This past month, I’ve had the chance to take most of our kids skiing at Snow Valley a couple of times. We had SUCH a great time! It was a first time for all my kids this year. Anneke & Renate still have some ski dates left (homeschool group discounts). Get outside and enjoy the milder temps!

Change is in the air! Tomorrow we find out from Wiarton Willy how long we need to wait for spring. That’s not the change I’m thinking about though, and I doubt a groundhog can predict that anyway.

The Christmas season is behind us, and the new year is upon us. Many of you may have made New Year’s resolutions, or set goals for the remainder of the homeschool year. Setting goals is an excellent way to focus on what’s most important.

The Christmas season is fast approaching! I hope you’re all more prepared at this point than I am. I enjoyed an unplanned visit this week from my Dad and sister as they helped me sort out things for my mom who had a stroke (and is gradually recovering). I feel so blessed that we homeschool and have the flexibility to adapt to whatever life throws at us.

This week, I’ve been appreciating the flexibility that homeschooling offers our family. We can step back from schoolwork for a few days and spend time with my sister and niece who are visiting from the UK.

Fall is my favourite time of the year! I hope you are enjoying the nice weather with your kids. In September, our family was fortunate to enjoy a trip to the Toronto Zoo and also a day trip to Niagara Falls. This newsletter has more ideas to make memories with your family. I appreciate so much that we have many homeschool parents that are organizing activities to help support our homeschool community.

It’s September! I can hardly believe the summer has zoomed by so quickly. As you will see, there are a lot of wonderful people who have been planning activities that support the homeschool community. I hope you all find some fun things to do in this newsletter.

This is the last newsletter for the 2018/2019 school year. I hope you have enjoyed this past year on your homeschool journey. The next homeschool newsletter will be published on August 31st.

The school calendar year is in the homestretch. We are eagerly awaiting some warm weather. Not much has changed in the newsletter from last month, so I’ll just mention what has. Online registration for the Tiffin Centre activity this Friday closes today, so get registered right away. The Simcoe County Museum will be running the Wheels and Tracks event again in June. And Christopher McFadden has space for some violin students.

This month, we have enjoyed a few nice walks around the block after dinner, and we are looking forward to more walking (just not this weekend!) One of our little girls is appreciating these walks especially, because her broken leg has healed up nicely. And spring is still just around the corner!

The season for homeschool book sales and conferences is approaching! You’ll find lots of information about those in this month’s newsletter.

Are you staying warm?! It has been crazy cold outside lately. I sometimes walk our kindergarten-aged grandchild to or from school, so I just have to say… you’ve made a very good decision to homeschool!