Do you celebrate all of the holidays on the calendar?  Or do you and your family celebrate a handful faithfully?

We've changed our homeschool curriculum a bit since the beginning of fourth and sixth grades. 

The past few weeks have been a little more difficult than previous weeks.  I spent an entire week plus a few additional days under the weather, and when I finally started feeling better I was hit with a very heavy spirit because of all the things that are happening around me (not in my home, but in the world).  When a not so great week happens, it can't help but to effect our learning environment in some shape or form whether placing us "behind" schedule or arousing too many emotions at once.  Although I still have work to do with setting the tone in our home, here are three ways I try to keep our home a peaceful environment.

The task of being a home educating mother can be lonely especially if you do not have a support system.  The desire to stop is real especially when you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Burn out among homeschool moms does happen particularly when we aren't gentle with ourselves, allow ourselves to be vulnerable, or get breaks when needed.  Today I encourage you to seek out encouragement in a way that speaks to you whether it's reading a blog, making a friend with one of the moms you've met at a co-op or library, or finding the right forum for you. 

When we started our new school year, I began it with a very simple planner.  A place for me to write down the lessons for each subject we are studying, but I quickly found myself trying to fill in ALL of the boxes.  More than half of the planner wasn't being used because we don't have a lot of filler work, and this made me feel like we weren't doing enough although the amount of time we spent doing lessons was more than enough.  The boxes were playing a trick on me.

I met Teresa about five years ago.  She was just beginning her journey as a homeschool mom and from the start I admired her dedication to her family.