Bookend Homeschoolers: Recent Episodes
Mindy Brouse and Rachel Cole
Two homeschoolers bring you real help for right now! Mindy and Rachel represent both ends of the homeschooling bookends! Mindy Brouse brings over twenty years of homeschooling having graduated three and educating four at home still and Rachel Cole brings two years of enthusiasm to the show while she homeschools her four children.
Every episode will bring you homeschooling moments, a topic to consider, ways to apply the topic to you, and an encouragement to put to use as soon as you are done listening!
Join the bookends and boost your homeschooling to a new level! Welcome to Bookend Homeschooling!
We enjoyed every episode of Bookend Homeschoolers. Sharing with you, discussing subjects, and tackling topics that we face as homeschoolers, from the Near and Far Bookend views has been a delight. In our podcast finale, we bring you some special thoughts to end our show.
1:40 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel (Sam’s improvement with therapy and excitement for reading)
2:57 HSMotW: Mindy (Paul Louis and the mug warmer resurrection)
5:39 Best part of being a Near Bookend: Rachel
7:30 Best part of being a Far Bookend: Mindy
9:40 Our Adoption Stories
9:55 What I wish every Near Bookend Knew: Rachel
11:07 What I wish every Far Bookend Knew: Mindy
13:05 My favorite parts of doing the podcast: Rachel
14:47 My favorite parts of doing the podcast: Mindy
16:00 Which episodes I wish everyone would listen to: Rachel
16:58 All guest episodes :)
16:34 S1E2 Choose Your Method(s)
17:47 S2E22 Homeschooling in the Kitchen
18:50 Which episodes I wish everyone would listen to: Mindy
18:54 every single episode :)
19:14 S2E3 Cultivating Inclusive Friendships
19:47 S2E36 with Adam Brooks Bullying, Building Confident Kids, and Bridging the Communication Gap
20:36 S2E37 C’mon, Audiobooks Don’t Count as Reading, Right?
21:25 S1E21 Evaluating Our Curriculum for Diversity with Kaytee Cobb
21:30 S2E2 Keeping (or Getting) a Sense of Humor with Betsy Jenkins
22:26 S2E5 Embracing Our Kids for Who They Are
23:51 S2E14 Being the Bad Guy
Listen to all of the episodes
25:18 Memorable Moments: Rachel
28:00 Memorable Moments: Mindy
28:30 S2E34 Hanging Our Hat on How Our Kids Turn Out HSMotW
29:13 Bonus Episode Our Adoption Stories
29:34 Including YA in Our Homeschooling with Jeff Zentner
32:50 What I haven’t gotten to say: Rachel
33:17 What I haven’t gotten to say: Mindy
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
This episode we answered questions sent in by listeners. A wide variety of topics here for you today… behavior, curriculum, guilt, storage, and interference. We were honored to chat about your requests!
1:37 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Mindy (PL getting the Tender Heart Award)
3:05 HSMotW: Rachel (Zeke and his map skills)
4:56 Question 1: How and when would we step in with another teacher with our kids?
7:15 S2E36 with Adam Brooks
11:30 Question 2: What do we keep?
16:46 Question 3: How do we keep kids from fighting all day and how can we homeschool if our kids can’t get along?
24:52 Question 4: When do I start looking for a different curriculum?
25:57 S1E15 Evaluating the First Semester
25:03 S1E31 Prepping for Next Year
29:17 Question 5: How do we handle guilt if we can’t make homeschooling work?
30:09 S1E1 Know Your Why
30:28 S2E2 Having (or Getting) a Sense of Humor with Betsy Jenkins
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Readers around the world debate this topic and homeschoolers are no exception! For our last regular episode for the podcast, we talk audiobooks verses print and ebooks. Where do you fall in the discussion? Hear us out (see what we did there?)!
2:10 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel (puppy food teaching)
4:26 HSMotW: Mindy (Esther and Drawing 1 in dual enrollment)
6:22 Topic Talk: Print vs Audiobooks!
7:10 Benefits of audiobooks
12:56 Andrew Pudewa’s talk: Nurturing Competent Communicators
13:45 Research to support audiobooks
20:56 Recognize our issues in accepting this
25:32 S1E9 Read Alouds: What, Why, and How? (to check out the audiobook apps)
26:41 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (choose an audiobook for the fam and one for you)
28:48 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (if you still aren’t convinced, read the research)
30:14 YA helps reluctant readers S2E31 YA Reading with Jeff Zentner
30:30 Audiobook narration speed chat
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Some of the research for you to peruse:
National Literacy Trust
Tech & Learning
Reading Trust
TIME Heath Research
Book Riot
What an episode we have for you this week! It ended up twice the length because we just couldn’t delete any of the good info Adam brought us, but it’s more than worth it… we promise! Today we have Adam Brooks on the show to share with us about bullying and all that is involved, can lead up to it, how to handle it, how to prepare our kids for it, and more. Seriously, this may be our best episode. Listen to every minute, even if you have to break it up, because you will learn so much and add to your parenting tool bag in many many ways! We have some powerful, humorous, and amazing Homeschooling Moments the Week to start you off.
0:50 Guest: Adam Brooks
1:13 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel (Sam stepping in to defend Gideon)
4:10 HSMotW: Adam (sitting through a 5th grade music concert)
5:12 HSMotW: Mindy (hearing humpback whales under water)
6:17 Adam Brooks: Speaker, Educator, Advocate, & Communication Enthusiast
7:00 Topic Talk: Bullying+
7:15 Wrong mindset that can make bullying unexpected
8:41 Types of bullying
8:55 Terms to clarify: drama, bullying, and harassment
11:52 Problems with zero tolerance policy
13:00 How can parents lessen the risk of bullying, if anything?
17:30 How many times do we need to talk about big topics?
19:00 Compounded conversations are the worst
20:00 A big tip to help our kids talk to us about big topics
22:36 When should you talk about big topics?
25:26 How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims
26:00 Drive-A-Logue Big topic help for family communication
50:31 A problem with us, questions, and kids
33:25 What are signs that our kids are being bullied?
35:00 How to navigate when kids don’t want to talk a change in their behavior?
38:00 What if we are coming to this late in our kids’ bullying experience?
42:00 What can we say/do if the bullying is happening? Cheerleader vs Coach vs Referee
44:35 Also, and! Not Yes, but!
46:00 Group/crowd bullying and instigator(s)
48:30 Unselfie by Dr. Michele Borba
50:25 What should we avoid doing?
54:00 Rachel shares a personal struggle in their home, knowing others may relate: How to handle when one child is provoked by a sibling intentionally to get responses AND cause the other child to be the “bad kid” ?
56:25 Rosalind Wiseman and Cultures of Dignity
Tiny Guides by Cultures of Dignity
FREE Tiny Guides by Cultures of Dignity
57:25 Teaching kids to recognize their cues, triggers, feelings, etc. and what to do to help work stress, anger, frustration out
59:30 Saving Our Sons: A New Path for Raising Healthy and Resilient Boys by Dr. Michael Gurian
59:44 Why we shouldn’t have our sons write down what happened, they felt, etc.
1:01 How oxytocin affects us in being able to rationally talk through something and the only two things that can bring that hormone level down
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Adam Brooks on IG and his site and at Drivalogue
If you work at a school/center/camp/RTC, we humbly suggest you hire Adam for a talk. Or two.
Listener requested episode, part 2! Aubree asked about narration and dictation and we love these tools, so here is a discussion on dictation.
1:30 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Mindy (Paul Louis persevering and succeeding at logic work)
3:18 HSMotW: Rachel (puppy labor and delivery)
7:27 Topic Talk: Dictation
7:33 S2E32 Narration: What, Why, and How
7:45 What is dictation?
9:21 How Mindy has used dictation
12:03 How Rachel has used dictation
21:00 Why it’s ok for a discrepancy between use of grammar and dictation
23:04 Remember what you are focusing on at the time
25:18 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (“test” your older kids by having them try a dictation via dictating a text to them)
26:08 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (start dictation via a grocery list)
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
We had such great conversations with Heather Schwarzen that we had her back for a Q&A from listeners! Hear some GREAT tips, plus some doggie doula, spices, and finicky kid talk!
1:35 S2E27 Homeschooling Kids with Learning Challenges
1:36 S2E28 Homeschooling Kids with Intensive Cognitive Disabilities
1:52 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel (dog in labor and being a doggie doula)
3:00 HSMotW: Heather (reorganizing a kitchen cabinet and the 9yo alphabetizing all the spices)
4:15 HSMotW: Mindy (Jubilee’s pickiness and success with the BambinoLUK)
4:18 MiniLUK Heather shared about in S2E28
6:30 Topic Talk: Q&A on homeschooling kids with learning disabilities
6:33 Q1: How to handle family pressure?
9:00 S1E24 Handling Unsolicited Criticism
13:15 Q2: How to help other kids understand the time needs of the one child?
17:32 Q3: How to help a kid who refuses to sit still and do school?
21:54 Q4: How to get with a private therapist for an evaluation?
24:33 Q5: When do you give up on certain skills?
28:30 Q6: What to do if a (speech) therapist doesn’t like your child?
32:12 Q7: What to do about sleep issues?
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Heather Schwarzen at to sow a seed on IG
Sometimes current events dictate the topic of Bookend Homeschoolers. Mindy & Rachel discuss teaching and talking about war in our history teaching and then about current wars, especially Ukraine and Russia. We DO start with some sweet and funny Homeschooling Moments of the Week, though.
1:11 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel (Sam reading to Grace for the first time)
2:21 HSMotW: Mindy (not PL with an airsoft gun on the balcony; Jubilee asking why)
3:53 Topic Talk: Invasion of Ukraine inspires thinking about how we teach about war
3:56 Talking about war while teaching history
12:58 HSMotW for Mindy and Rachel both involved Ukraine in S2E32
13:11Talking about Ukraine and Russia’s war
32:00 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (google current wars 2022 and discuss the list)
32:50 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (research ways to help Ukraine and involve our kids)
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Another listener requested episode for you this week! Mindy & Rachel think there is one educational tool that brings the biggest bang for your buck and … it’s FREE! Aubree asked for us to delve into narration and we were happy to oblige!
1:45 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Mindy (PL knowing where Ukraine is and discussing current events)
2:00 S2E30 How to Reboot Your Day
3:30 HSMotW: Rachel (learning where Ukraine is having conversations about current events)
4:40 Topic Talk: Narration
5:05 Definition of narration
6:24 Use at any age
6:32 History of use in education
7:15 Why it is useful
8:00 How to do it
9:17 Use in special education, calling it narrative instruction
14:00 Charlotte Mason’s goals
14:11 John Locke’s goals
14:20 Comenius’ goals
15:07 The hardest part of narration for Mindy
15:52 The hardest part of narration for Rachel
16:32 Wild Kratts
19:08 It’s a gateway to conversations
19:22 Ways kids can do their narration
21:00 How to start
23:15 The more you do it, the more you benefit
27:04 Have your kids narrate where you left off in the read aloud before you start
29:03 Make It Personal: Far Bookend (have our high schoolers narrate and get a pass on writing)
29:47 Make It Personal: Near Bookend (make a commitment this week to do it once a day)
30:37 View from the (Near) Bookend: narration journals as a part of family life
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
We are super excited to share this episode with Jeff Zentner with you! Jeff is a YA author with four books in his catalog and two of them best sellers! Those same two made it on to Mindy’s Top 21 of 2021 (she read 189 books, so that’s a big deal to her). Jeff shares what YA brings to the table that other books often don’t. You may be surprised at what you hear and some of it may challenge you. We’d love for you to hear why including YA novels in our homeschooling plans can have long term benefits.
1:00 Jeff Zentner: best selling author of YA novels In the Wild Light and The Serpent King
1:15 Currently Reading Podcast
1:50 Rayne and Delilah’s Midnite Matinee
2:00 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel (puppy birthing needs hay)
3:00 James Herriot Treasury Collection for Children
3:05 PBS Masterpiece on James Herriot
3:34 HSMotW: Mindy (Jubilee pre-writing skills and “writing” stories)
4:20 HMotQ: Jeff (snuggles and reading at home after being away)
5:20 Topic Talk: Including YA in our homeschooling plans
7:25 Writing about living in the South
10:20 How Jeff describes YA to us
11:39 Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Jones
14:00 What does YA have to offer in our homeschooling?
14:13 YA is great for drawing in reluctant readers
15:00 Teens can see themselves reflected in YA books
15:14 YA books are hopeful
17:00 Can YA be for families who are more conservative in their kids’ reading selections?
18:28 Julie Berry
18:38 The Lovely War by Julie Berry
18:44 Caroline George
18:50 Caroline George books
19:00 Rayne and Delilah’s Midnite Matinee
Clean YA books (post by Book Series Recaps)
21:31 The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder is book #1)
21:33 The Selection Series (The Selection is book #1)
21:45 YA can be a gateway to conversations
22:23 YA helps us remember how things actually felt during our teen years
23:55 How Jeff incorporates reading in his family life
25:33 Gary Schmidt books
25:36 Gary Paulsen books
25:40 Jason Reynolds books
25:55 Does Jeff think about topics he wants to address in his books?
27:00 How Jeff feels about and treats teens
29:30 Which of Jeff’s characters is most like him?
29:44 Why Jeff doesn’t write himself on the page
30:44 Benefits of Easter Eggs in novels
32:06 How Jeff is involved with the narrators for his audiobooks
33:06 Angela’s question for Jeff
33:27 Kelly Loy Gilbert
33:29 Jessie Ann Foley
33:45 Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert
33:51 Sorry for your Loss by Jessie Ann Foley
34:07 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (start reading YA)
35:02 MIP: Far Bookends (read a YA with your kid)
33:57 Bookend Homeschoolers Reading Guides: Summer, Japan, Fat Bear
33: 45 Jeff’s novels: In the Wild Light, The Serpent King, Rayne and Delilah’s Midnite Adventure, and Goodbye Days
Clean YA books and tween books (List created by Book Series Recaps)
36: 47 View from the (Far) Bookend: show value to each season of our kids’ lives, including late teenhood
(If you have read The Serpent King, we have a fun bonus at the end of the show)
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Jeff Zentner on IG, on Twitter, and his FB author page
We often find ourselves in the midst of a bad day as homeschoolers. Today, we share ideas on how to reboot those days!
Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel (had to reboot a day, but did so successfully!)
HSMotW: Mindy (Jubilee, “Go home.” “You. go.”)
4:35 S1E22 February Funk
5:00 Topic Talk
5:23 What most often creates the need for a reboot?
7:37 First idea to reboot: talk a walk, literally.
8:55 Frances Nojd, listener in Canada! Check out her family walk photos
9:45 Second idea: dance party of all varieties
10:05 Create playlists!
10:26 We Don’t Talk About Bruno (just in case you’re the last family to not have heard this amazingly addictive song)
11:44 Third idea: switch up locations!
12:44 S1E11 Car Schooling
12:53 Fourth idea: (especially for subject reboot) use a timer and alternate between work and fun
14:42 Fifth idea: designate a new teacher
16:23 Sixth idea: put phones in jail
17:38 Seventh idea: set up a play date/hang out/phone a friend
20:30 Eighth idea: stop, drop, grab a book
21:39 Ninth idea: easy craft of any kind
23:48 Tenth idea: lean into the fine arts of music also
23:56 Handel’s Water Music
24:00 S2E18 Easy Music Appreciation
24:11 Twelfth idea: prevention by thinking what causes need for reboot
27:00 Are we the reason for reboots?
28:54 Help walk our kids through the need for self-regulation
29:38 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (scope our a nature walk to have ready for a reboot)
30:37 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (create a list in Notes on your phone with your preferred reboot ideas)
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Does our homeschooling change from the 1st to the 7th kid? Let’s see! Rachel interviewed Mindy for today’s episode to hear what, why, and how her homeschooling looks like from year one to year twenty-three. We start off with some sickness and Olympics centered HSMotW and have a few funny stories for you also.
1:44 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Mindy (kids caring for Jubilee and Paul with COVID well while she was gone)
2:39 S2E Homeschooling in the Kitchen
2:42 S1E28 Inspiring Kids to be Leaders
3:04 HSMotQ: Rachel (Robby Burns Olympic snow boarder from Mt. Shasta!)
6:97 Topic Talk: Mindy’s 1st vs 7th Homeschooling Edition Interview
6:34 Something you felt was a hill to die on and now don’t?
8:40 What do you wish you had done better as a Near Bookend?
10:04 S1E11 Car Schooling
11:35 Any materials you still use 23 years later?
11:40 Ticonderoga pencils
11:55 Trudy Palmer products (out of print)
16:13 How has Paul’s role changed from the 1st vs 7th?
16:35 Bonus Episode 2 How We Arrived at Homeschooling
22:24 Any yellow school bus day dreams?
26:42 Noah wanting a school themed birthday party
28:00 How has your homeschooling philosophy changed?
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
We have a full-to-the-brim episode for you today, with guest Heather Schwarzen. Heather joined us to share and discuss homeschooling her son Phin, who has FASD. Homeschooling kiddos like Jubilee and Phin bring different challenges and blessing not only to their families, but to their communities. Hear how to be a part of the journey!
1:08 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Mindy (Twister fun with Jubilee)
2:22 HSMotW: Heather (cartography success)
3:08 HSMotW: Rachel (Usborne Search Books)
4:22 Topic Talk: Homeschooling Kids With More Intensive Cognitive Disabilities
4:50 S2E27 Homeschooling Kids with Learning Disabilities
5:00 Introducing Phin
5:55 Flat Affect (definition)
7:33 Phin’s abilities
8:28 Misconceptions Heather had about Phin
11:344 S2E3 Inclusive Friendships for Homeschoolers
13:00 Adding Phin to the homeschooling day
17:25 Successful co-op participation
21:07 Considering other educational placements
22:10 Reframing academics
26:47 S2E5 Embracing Who Are Kids Are
28:38 Typical Schwarzen homeschool day
29:14 Visual Schedules (what are they?)
29:33 MiniLuk materials
Version for younger kids: BambinoLUK
31:43 Art for Kids videos
32:05 Resources Heather recommends
32:15 Simply Classical: A Beautiful Education for Every Child
323:06 MiniLuk sets
33:13 Usborne Maze and Puzzle Books: Train Book
33:37 Timberdoodle
34:00 Fun Schooling Journals
34:20 Fun Schooling Math Journal Phin loves
34:33 Orton-Gillingham approach and materials
35:11 What to say to someone considering homeschooling for the first time?
36:47 Mindy, Paul, and Jubilee preschool story
38:24 What to say to someone considering pulling their kid out of public school?
39:00 Considerations parents with kids with cognitive disabilities face
48:00 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (humble ourselves to remember some parents have to make decisions we never have to make)
49:15 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (follow Heather on Instagram)
50:00 Make It Personal: Homeschool Leaders (make space and welcome families with kids like Phin)
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Far Bookend Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Near Bookend Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Heater Schwarzen on Instagram
Today we welcome a Far Bookend homeschooler of ten , Heather Schwarzen, to talk about homeschooling kiddos with learning struggles and disabilities. Heather isn’t a podcaster, but took time to talk to us from Tennessee.
2:45 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Mindy (Paul Louis and Mock Trial)
4:06 HSMotW: Rachel (Sam making the Homeschooling in the Kitchen episode super real while she and Jake had COVID)
5:10 Topic Talk: Homeschooling Kids with Learning Difficulties with guest Heather Schwartzen
9:15 Orton-Gillingham
11:00 Dyscalculia
11:34 Getting a diagnosis
17:44 Jamie and Knox… Greenlight! The Popcast
18:04 Benefits for Neurotypical Kids and the Family
18:26 Synesthesia
21:06 Tried and Didn’t Work
22:50 Go for the “Freebies”
24:00 What is the Hardest Part of Homeschooling a Kid with a Learning Struggle?
28:00 Benefits of Getting a Diagnosis
30:00 This Opens Doors for All of Us
31:16 What Heather Says to Parents Want to Consider Homeschooling a Child with a Learning Difficulty?
33:26 Make It Personal: Parents Who Have Kiddos with Learning Difficulties (Get the diagnosis)
34:48 Make It Personal: Parents Who Don’t Have Kids with Learning Difficulties (Get your kids around kids who are different)
36:10 S2E3 Cultivating Inclusive Friendships
37:54 View from the (Far) Bookend: Asking for help is leading with humility and by example
The podcast on IG Bookend Homeschoolers
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Heather Schwarzen at to_sow_a_seed on IG
Our Zazzle store!
Raise your hand if you feel like you’ve been here before! Yup, us too. Rachel & Mindy bring some reminders and tips for this season of pandemic homeschooling or remote schooling or shut down schooling that feels familiar but also unwanted. We have two great Homeschooling Moments of the Week to kick off, two really wonderful ways to make this topic personal, and a View from the Near Bookend.
1:20 Yes! Rate and review us! It helps!
2:00 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel (a fun book on tall tales)
2:17 American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborn
3:15 HSMotW: Mindy (Jubilee with donut, donut face, and books)
4:35 Topic Talk: Deja Vu Times for Homeschooling and Parenting in General
7:27 S1E27 Remote Schooling Tips and Tricks with Meredith Monday Schwartz
9:00 Take a mental health sick day
9:39 S2E11 Two Types of Field Trips
10:20 Our kids feel the stress too
11:33 What do we need this week… not the entire next six months
11:55 Lean into the arts:helps emotionally
12:00 S2E4 Easy Art Appreciation
12:03 S218 Easy Music Appreciation
12:09 Let’s Make Art: Kids Water Color FREE!
13:07 S2E8 Why Do Something Hilarious?
14:11 Brouses’ fave family Bob’s Burgers episode: Christmas in the Truck
14:22 S2E3 Keeping (or Getting a Sense of Humor) with guest Betsy Jenkins
15:09 Cole Kids’ Costume-fest
16:46 How the Brouse Spa came to be
20:00 S2E1 Transitioning Into (or Out of) Homeschooling
20:21 COVID Homeschooling = Unlikely Unschoolers?
21:00 S1E20 Slightly Unusual Ways to Socialize
21:21 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (our kids pick up on how we feel so maybe self assess info intake)
23:31 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (set aside a family mental health evaluation day)
25:49 View from the (Near) Bookend: This will end and we can do it (again)
The podcast on IG Bookend Homeschoolers
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Our Zazzle store!
Homeschoolers gotta eat and homeschooling parents usually gotta make that happen. Today, Mindy and Rachel talk about ways to get in and out of the kitchen quickly so you can get back to homeschooling… In-N-Out. Season 2 Episode 25 starts with Homeschooling Moments of the Week that will make you smile. We have a book and a suggestion for ways to Make It Personal and Rachel shares a thoughtful View from the Near End. Enjoy!
1:25 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Mindy (different kind of muffin cups)
1:35 S2E3 Keeping (or Getting) a Sense of Humor While Homeschooling with guest Betsy Jenkins
3:04 HSMotW: Rachel (Sam doing the dishes at midnight)
5:20 Topic Talk: In-N-Out Homeschooling
24:22 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi)
25:44 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (The Decide Once Lunch! TM)
25:52 View from the Near Bookend: adjust the plan so the perspective is too
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Our Zazzle store!
Today’s topic is a heart focused one that hits homeschoolers right in the kisser. Join us as we discuss how to avoid Hanging Our Hats on How Our Kids Turn Out. We start with an absolutely hilarious Homeschooling Moment of the Week from Rachel that may have you blushing while laughing. Let’s do this!
00:58 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel (omg… dog breeding…ahem)
4:07 HSMotW: Mindy (PL joining her at the table)
5:15 Topic Talk
23:20 Stop using this phrase!
23:25 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (focus on relationship building)
25:33 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (make a list of those you need to mentally or actually apologize to)
26:26 View from the Far Bookend (Camille from Parenthood)
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Our Zazzle store!
Join us today as we discuss reasons homeschoolers may choose faith based and/or secular curriculum. So many valid reasons for both. We start with our adorable and physical Homeschooling Moments of the Week, give you ways to make the Topic Talk personal, and this week we end with a View from the Far End.
1:10 Homeschooling Moments of the Week: Rachel (Jiu Jitsu as a family)
2:55 HSMotW: Mindy (Jubilee shopping for books)
4:16 Topic Talk
4:30 Kaytee Cobb of Currently Reading Podcast and fellow homeschooler
6:12 Reasons for Choosing Faith Based Curriculum
14:24 Reasons for Choosing a Secular Curriculum
23:13 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (be gracious and don’t feel obligated to defend yourself)
23:47 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (check out faith based and/or secular based curriculum)
24:42 View from the Far Bookend
26:02 Rachel’s hilarious physics text story
NOTE: Mindy wants to apologize for naming a specific denomination. We have worked hard to not do to. Also, when she said “narrow view” she meant a small slice of faith, so to speak, not narrow minded.
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Our Zazzle store!
Homeschoolers are in the kitchen all day, ok not really, but it sure feels like it. One way to make the most of that is to do some homeschooling when we are there! Hear Rachel share some great ways she does this and how Mindy has in the past. We start today’s episode with some sweet bookish Homeschooling Moments of the Week and give two easy ways to Make It Personal. Lastly, we end with our new segment: View From the (Far)Bookend. Listen now!
1:22 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Mindy (Jubilee reading to stuffies)
2:03 HSMotW:Rachel (snuggles and books)
3:00 Topic Talk: Homeschooling in the Kitchen
4:40 How we feel about cooking?
4:50 S2E21 Our Homeschooling Influencers
4:53 Carol Barnier
6:15 Why is it beneficial to have the kids in the kitchen?
6:26 How we feel about people in the kitchen with us
12:45 Tips & Tricks for Homeschooling in the Kitchen
13:40 One at a time
14:35 Start with the menial
15:20 Right height stools
17:30 Assign “official” roles
18:16 Do it while their academic load is lighter
18:30 Do day meals together
19:05 Use smaller measurements to math more or be on their math level better
20:17 One kid per ingredient
20:52 Have extra tools
21:55 Kid’s safe knife
22:30 Practice zone
24:10 Converter cheat sheet
25:00 Repeat recipes fairly often
25:42 Make treat recipes
26:27 Ask a kid having a “bad day” to make “their” lunch
27:45 Grace and space to do this as often is best for YOU
29:00 Clean up is a part of the process
30:20 Handel’s Water Music to calm the brains
30:20 S2E18 Easy Music Appreciation
30:30 Italian cooking music
31:00 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (ask your kids about a signature dish)
32:10 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (officially make a plan)
32:38 View from the (Far) Bookend: Take the opportunities while they are young
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Our Zazzle store!
Today, Mindy and Rachel share the top influencers on their homeschooling journey. Our lists may surprise you. Who are your influencers? Give this episode a listen to see if our Topic Talk prompts you to remember someone. We start like usual with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week ( , provide ways for you to Make It Personal, and end this episode with a hack and a tip!
2:22 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Mindy (Paul Louis and Jurassic Park reading during a test)
3:26 HSMotW: Rachel (visual therapy success for Sam)
5:11 Topic Talk: Our Influencers
5:50 Mindy #1: Lorna (friend who was also a ps teacher; let Mindy go watch)
7:30 Rachel #1: Her mom (first person she knew to hs kids)
8:41 Mindy #2: Tammy Brown (first to open wide the hs door)
10:09 S1E2 Choose Your Method
11:00 Rachel #2: girls at Indian Hills Camp (first hs peer friends)
13:35 Mindy #3: Gatrel (biggest and longest influence; embraced Mindy and kids)
15:40 Rachel #3: Jen (fellow foster adoptive and Type B mom who took Rachel in)
17:26 Mindy #4: Sonlight Forums (online coffee shop for Mindy to hang out with hs moms)
18:49 Rachel #4: Shawna (mentor to hs friend)
20:29 Mindy #5: unnamed negative influencer (friend to shunner)
24:22 Rachel #5: Charlotte Mason (yes, THE Charlotte Mason)
26:39 Mindy #6: Kerrville Homeschool Co-op (most influential hs community for Mindy)
28:00 Mindy #7: Carol Barnier (brought Mindy truth and freedom)
30:29 Thoughts on who is a real influencer… you!
32:16 Make It Personal: Both Ends… we “assigned” the same thing
33:48 Take This With You: Mindy (fake present hack)
34:46 Take This With You: Rachel (gift tip ofhomemade playdough)
See you January 2nd!!
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Our Zazzle store!
Mindy gets to ask Near Bookend Rachel ten questions about being homeschooled and her answers may surprise you! We start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, give you ways to Make It Personal, and end with some encouragement (reminders and a surprise about billions of dollars)!
1:33 Homeschooling Moments of the Week: Rachel (fun music appreciation moments)
3:41 HSMotW: Mindy (driver’s ed outsourcing miracle)
5:13 Topic Talk: Q&A for Rachel About Being a Homeschooled Student
6:22 Q1: What was the BEST aspect of being a homeschooler?
7:00 Q2: What was your schedule like?
8:39 Q3: What was the most DIFFICULT aspect of being a homeschooler?10:
10:05 Q4: What is a “homeschool weirdo” moment? (She gives us TWO!)
13:28 Q5: What is one of your funniest homeschooling memories?
15:15 Q6: What was your favorite perk for homeschooling? (She gives us TWO from then and one she realizes NOW!)
17:17 Top Ten: Things We are Thankful for in Our Homeschooling Journeys
17:22 Q7: What would you say you made difficult for your homeschooling teacher?
19:36 Q8: Who did you admire?
22:10 Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DeCaprio and Claire Danes
22:33 Q9: What would you differently now as a homeschooled student?
25:10 Q10: How is your view of homeschooling different now than it was then?
26:15 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (remember your students aren’t fully formed yet and hug your homeschooler)
27:07 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (interview your homeschoolers; download our PDF)
27:31 Take This With You: Rachel (reminder to do the handprint/footprint crafts)
29:00 Take This With You: Mindy (you are saving billions!!)
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Our Zazzle store!
Season 2, Episode 19
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
You know we just LOVE read alouds, so why not offer you some suggestions for the most wonderful time of the year!?! This episode if full of books we think make for terrific reading as a family! We start with picture books, then move to middle grade and up. We even give some suggestions for the teacher(s)! Enjoy, friends!
2:10 Homeschooling Moments of the Week: Rachel (new vision therapy)
4:00 HSMotW: Mindy (Jubilee’s presentation)
5:23 S1E14 (Some of) Our Favorite Read Alouds
5:24 S1E34 Round 2 of (Some of) Our Favorite Read Alouds
5:45 Topic Talk: Christmas Read Alouds
5:50 How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess
5: 53 A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schultz
6:05 Picture Books Shared by Rachel:
6:10 The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
7:19 Mr. Willoughby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
8:00 The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco
8:30 Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco
9:24 An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco
10:03 The All-I’ll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll by Patricia C. McKissack
11:15 Apple Tree Christmas by Trinka Hankes Nobel
11:47 The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski
13:07 Jotham’s Journey by Arnold Ytreeide
Christmas Chapter Books Shared by Mindy:
16:24 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
17:15 The True Gift by Patricia MacMachlan
18:27 How Winston Delivered Christmas by Alex T. Smith
19: 48 The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig
21:05 The Paperbag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne
21:57 A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig
23:08 Letters from Father Christmas by JRR Tolkien
24:44 The Toymaker’s Apprentice by Sherri L. Smith
27:01 The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries Edited by Otto Penzler
28:53 Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan
28:56 Currently Reading Podcast
30:40 Comments on need for Middle Grade Christmas books by POC authors
31:17 Refer back to this moment when 4 authors Mindy reached out to publish some ;)
Teacher Books shared by Mindy:
31:45 The Treasury of African-American Christmas Stories by Bettye Collier-Thomas
32:32 The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
22:25 The Deal of a Lifetime by Frederick Backman
34:15 Make It Personal for Near and Far Bookends: Share your fave Christmas read alouds on our IG post
34:Take This With You: Make S2E18 Easy Music Appreciation and Read Alouds the biggest part of your homeschooling this month… relax and read together!
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Our Zazzle store!
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
One of the easiest subjects to add to our homeschool is music appreciation! Hear (see what we did there?) why and how and tips! Mindy asks Rachel some ways she incorporates music appreciation into her homeschooling for this episode and listens intentionally (again, see what we did there?). We have two ?? Homeschooling Moments of the Week, easy ways to Make It Personal, and ? to end the episode out. Enjoy this in your ears (one more time)!
1:24 Homeschooling Moments of the Week: Rachel (yay, being off & requesting math!)
2:15 HSMOT: Mindy (DJ Paulie in the car)
3:58 S2E4 Easy Art Appreciation
4:04 Topic Talk: Easy Music Appreciation
4:20 Rachel’s musical background
5:33 Mindy’s musical background
6:53 Benefits of including this
11:47 Tips for adding this to your homeschool
16:22 Yo-Yo Ma
16:23 Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach’s Cello Suite No.1
16:28 The Piano Guys playing Bach’s Cello Suite No.1
17:31 Some women classical composers
Institute for Composer Diversity!
18:50 Two Cellos
19:02 Two Cellos “Sweet Child of Mine” (Mindy is now smitten with this!!)
19:03 Two Cellos “Thunderstruck”
19:21 Pandora Station The Piano Guys
20:05 Vivaldi
24:14 S1E13 Homeschooling During the Holidays
25:56 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (play music)
26:18 Bluetooth speakers we love for our homeschool-
Rachel’s fave
Mindy’s fave
27:10 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (modern composer… Alex Lacamoire, Mindy and Chloe’s BFF- see photo on site. Yes, we are super proud!)
27:50 Hamilton
28:16 Take This With You: Mindy (Handel’s Water Music for our brains)
30:43 Take This With You: Rachel (As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride)
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Our Zazzle store!
This episode finds Near Bookend and Far Bookend thankful lists! Homeschooling is hard, tiring, and work. It is also amazing and gives us quite a bit. Hear a bit more of Rachel and Mindy’s journeys at they share their Top Ten on this topic! Hear two great Homeschooling Moments of the Week, two easy ways to Make It Personal, and encouragement!
Please note that some products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
1:32 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel
2:51 Frog and Toad Books
3:00 HSMotW: Mindy
4:48 Topic Talk: What We Are Thankful for in our Homeschool Journeys
5:17 Rachel #1 Breva Expresso Machine
6:20 Mindy #1: Read aloud memories
6:45 Rachel #2: Good books
7:17 Mindy #2: Curriculum that brought her really great books
7:49 Rachel #3: Large laminated maps
9:46 Mindy #3: Supportive Mom and Dad (Papalou)
10:23 Rachel #4: Really supportive family
11:18 Mindy #4: Vacations at discounted times
12:16 Rachel #5: Being in the trenches together
13:24 Mindy #5: Homeschooling friends for weekly get togethers
14:02 Rachel #6: Three amazing friends
15:33 Mindy #6: Co-ops at the right time and place
16:14 Rachel #7: Great tip right off the bat
17:39 Mindy #7: Found the right fit curric right off the bat
18:43: Rachel #8: Homeschooling in the internet age
20:38 Mindy #8: Homeschooling friendly states
21:26 Rachel #9: Specialists
22:49 Mindy #9: Evenings free of school stress
23:21 Rachel #10: Family time in abundance
23:43 Mindy #10: 23 years!!!
24: 22 Paul Brouse’s IG and email pbrouse@hotmail.com :) Help a sistah out!
24:50 Make It Personal: Near Bookends (write it down!)
25:33 Make It Personal: Far Bookends (have your kids write it down)
26:13 Take This With You: Rachel (enjoy the holidays as a homeschooler)
26:38 Dec 5th will be our Christmas Read Aloud episode!
26:54 S1E13 Homeschooling During the Holidays
27:38 Take This With You: Mindy (Homeschooling = the Thanksgiving table)
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Our Zazzle store!
Today we continue our discussion on burn out. We shared last week things we should not do, so today we bring you things to do to help start recovering from burn out. We care. Mindy has been there. We also start with two great Homeschooling Moments of the Week, provide ways to Make It Personal, and end with two tips this week! Enjoy S2E16 now!
1:30 Homeschooling Moments of the Week: Mindy (family reading time)
2:25 HSMotW: Rachel (Halloween homeschooling Amelia Earhart awesomeness)
3:52 Topic Talk: Burn Out- What to Do
4:01 S2E15 Burn Out: What Not to Do
5:22 Talk to Someone (spouse, counselor, friend)
8:05 Thing about what’s NOT working?
8:27 S2E14 Being the “Bad Guy”
10:30 S1E2 Choose Your Method
11:11 S1E1 Know Your Why
14:37 Consider this could be hormonal or depression?
15:34 Lean into relationships
16:21 Go back to homeschooling loves
17:03 Truly address the changes in our lives due to this season of history
19:26 Find our people
20:37 Consider a big yearly schedule change
22:04 Take care of yourself (for real)
24:3 0 Evaluate our social media usage
28:37 Look into outsourcing
30:33 S2E9 But Are You REALLY a Homeschooler?
31:21 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
32:00 Make It Personal: Far Bookends
33:15 Take This With You: Mindy (artichoke casserole tip)
34:0 9 Take This With You: Rachel (marshmallow hack)
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Our Zazzle store!
Artichoke Casserole
2 cans (drain and save water) artichoke hearts
1 c Italian shredded cheese, 1c Italian bread crumbs, 2T minced garlic, 1 tsp Italian seasoning. Mix.
Spread artichoke in a baking dish.
Spread mixture on top.
Lightly pour the artichoke water on top and allow to soak in. I poke the crumb mixture with a toothpick before pouring the water.
After water soaks in, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
Bake at 350 covered until bubbly, then uncovered to lightly brown.
Share. IF you want.
It’s time for a tough topic: burn out and homeschooling. It’s for sure a real and difficult thing. Hear our hearts as we dive into this topic, but first hear some fun homeschooling moments. We end with encouragement and a tip this week!
1:38 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel
4:28 HSMotW: Mindy
4:55 The Jam on Jerry’s Rock
6:45 Topic Talk: Burn Out and what NOT to do
7:22 Love you, Darcy!
7:38 What is burn out?
10:43 Symptoms of burn out
12:16 Please seek help if you are depressed
12:30 Find a counselor near you
12:30 Suicide Hotline: 800-273-8255
14:22 Some things NOT to do for burn out
15:25 S2E2 Keeping (or Getting) a Sense of Humor with guest Betsy Jenkins
27:34 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
29:44 Make It Personal: Far Bookends
30:15 Take This With You: Rachel
31:28 Take This With You: Mindy
Come back next week for Burn Out: What To Do
Our Zazzle Store
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Have you ever felt like the “Bad Guy” in your homeschool? It’s a common feeling, unfortunately. Mindy and Rachel bemoan this and share some remedies and prevention tactics. As usual, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week (two really special ones!), give you ways to Make It Personal (yeah, homework), and end with some encouragements or hacks (a great product and an easy hack this week!). Enjoy Season 2 Episode 14!
1:45 Homeschooling Moments of the Week: Mindy’s (Jubilee to first class setting)
2:50 HSMotW: Rachel’s (Moonlight Sonata recognition!)
4:36 Topic Talk: Being the Bad Guy
11:44 How Do I Get My Child to Actually Do This? S1E7
16:40 Smile to Frown idea from Mindy
21:32 Two Types of Field Trips S2E11
21:3 Doing Something Hilarious S2E8
21:39 Embracing Our Kids for Who They Are S2E5
23:35 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
25:51 Make It Personal : Far Bookends
26:50 Take This With You: Mindy (homeschooling parent bestie product: Smart Warm Coaster)
27:32 Meredith Monday-Schwartz Remote Schooling S1E27
27:37 Currently Reading Podcast
29:00 Take This With You: Rachel (cup assignment idea)
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Our Zazzle store!
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
Oh, y’all! We are super pumped about this episode. Reading is near and dear to us, but book clubs make reading even better! Join us as we chat with Amy Allen Clark about book clubs and the benefits for moms, working, homeschooling, or anything! You’ll get some tips and suggestions along with some Homeschooling Moments of the Week, ways to make the topic personal, and encouragement. You may also hear Project Hail Mary a few times! Enjoy Season 2, Episode 13 now.
Amy Allen Clark of MomAdvice.com
1:43 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
3:45 Betsy Jenkins guest Bookend Homeschoolers S2E2
4:07 Bookmans in Flagstaff
4:13 Jurassic Park
5:08 Topic Talk: Book Clubs for us?
5:42 Amy on Bookstagram
Book Gang on MomAdvice
8:08 Mom Advice Book Club
10:13 Benefits of being in a book club
11:45 Tips to being in a book club
14:22 Hamnet Spotify Playlist (yeah, yeah… Amy didn’t mention a specific one, but I couldn’t pass this chance up!)
22:06 Leave the World Behind
23:58 The Midnight Library
24:01Project Hail Mary
26:00 A Cup of Joe blog
26:04 Article club idea!
28:00 Hamnet (Hi, Liz! My precious Hamnet Pusher)
28:01 Harry’s Trees
28:44 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
30:04 The high bar set by Rachel’s first book club
30:36 What Rachel walked away with from being a part of her first book chat
33:05 Make it Personal: Far Bookends
33:37 Take This With You: Mindy (benefits of daily reading time)
34:16 Take This With You: Rachel (personal pizzas)
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Amy Allen Clark on IG momadvice
and at Mom Advice.com
Our Zazzle store!
Rachel asks Mindy about the difference in parenting the 1st versus the 7th in today’s episode! Rachel got to ask ANYTHING, so there are confessions and hilarity. We don’t talk homeschooling issues in this episode, but that is coming in a few weeks! Bedtime, TV, gaming, books, and more for how Mindy did it 24 years ago and how she’s doing it now. As usual, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, then dive into our topic, suggest a Make It Personal, and end with someone lovely.
Our Zazzle store!
3:15 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
6:40 Topic Talk: Ask Mindy anything for 1st vs 7th kid
13:36 Nintendo Wii (feel free to buy big items through our links! ;) )
15:49 Harry Potter series
20:20 The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi
23:33 Call out lies! Bookend Homeschoolers S2E2 Keeping a Sense of Humor with Betsy Jenkins
25:47 Boy undies!! YAY!
27:48 Geronimo Stilton books
28:00 Common Sense Media
28: 13 The Martian
28:20 Mandie books
28:24 Anne of Green Gables
28:29 Project Hail Mary
28:38 Make It Personal: Both Bookends
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram - go comment: 1st vs (current caboose)
29:51 Take This With You: Mindy (laugh!)
30:05 Ted Lasso
Take This With You: Rachel (see a friend)
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Our Zazzle store!
*Please note that all products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!*
We love field trips as homeschoolers! Right? Mindy & Rachel talk about two types of field trips and how to make the most of them as homeschoolers. Which kind do you lean towards? How can you up your field trip game? As usual, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, dive into Topic Talk, provide ways to Make It Personal, and end with a couple of hacks!
2:20 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
4:20 Topic Talk: Two Types of Field Trips and How to Make the Most of Them!
5:33 Car Schooling S1 Ep11 Bookend Homeschoolers
6:00 Two types of field trips: explanation
8:22 Lesson field trips
10:40 Japan Guide S1 E39 Bookend Homechoolers
10:43 Fat Bear Week Guide S2 E8 Bookend Homeschoolers
17:44 Experience field trips
24:55 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
25:57 Make It Personal: Far Bookends
26:43 Take This With You: Rachel (two kits to keep in the car!)
27:00 Mindy’s Diaper Hack for Spills in the Take This With You in S2Ep9 at the 26:31 mark
30:00 Take This With You: Mindy (what to keep in the car also)
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Homeschooling happens … at home. And that means life messes. How do we handle chores and homeschooling? Hear Mindy and Rachel share different dos and don’ts. As usual, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week (you know Fat Bears will be involved this week, right?), provide ways to make it personal, and end with something positive!
2:00 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
2:06 Fat Bear Week on explore.org
2:16 Fat Bear Week Mini-unit and S2 Ep Why Take the Time to Do Something Hilarious?
5:12 Topic Talk: How to Incorporate Chores Into Homeschooling
7:06 Remote Schooling with Meredith Monday-Schwartz S1 E27 Bookend Homeschoolers
8:16 Charlotte Mason in Choose Your Method S1 E2 Bookend Homeschoolers
25:56 Make it Personal: Far Bookends
26:32 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
29:00 Take This With You: Mindy (s’mores hack)
Sorta Awesome Show
kellygordonmn on Instagram
30:16 Take This With You: Rachel (suggestion) Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Alrighty… Mindy and Rachel have a bee or three in their bonnets… and they want to say a few things about who really counts as a homeschooler. Get ready! Per every episode, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week (very Near and Far Bookend-ish this time!), give you ways to Make It Personal (one is sweet and one is … less sweet), and today we close with two hacks!
1:15 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Rachel
2:07 Homeschooling Moment of the Week: Mindy
3:49 Topic Talk: But are You Really a Homeschooler?
4:27 Our definitions of homeschoolers/homeschooling
6:00 Why it’s not helpful to be exclusive with our definitions
6:28 Bookend Homeschoolers S1 Ep1 Know Your Why
7:55 Bookend Homeschoolers S1 Ep 2 Choose Your Method
8:45 Have you felt like people didn’t count you as a homeschooler?
11:21 Negative impacts of being exclusive
13:00 Bookend Homeschoolers S2 Ep7 Community with Meg Tietz
18:45 Positive impacts of being inclusive
21:07 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
22:50 Make It Personal: Far Bookends
24:38 Take This With You: Rachel (nerf math)
26:31 Take This With You: Mindy (liquid spill hack)
Don’t forget to download allll our FREE goodies for Fat Bear Week!
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
We are super duper excited about this week’s episode! We bring you the challenge to consider doing hilarious and fun educational theme school moments, days, or weeks! Why? Let us share! We even provide help for you!! It’s Mindy’s favorite theme week of the year and we are here for it! AND we want you to be too! As usual, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, have some Topic Talk, then suggest ways for you to Make It Personal. We end this week with some (awkward, but wonderful) encouragement and a hack (recipe). Join us for Season 2, Episode 8! Fatten up!!!
1:30 Homeschooling Moments of Week
3:03 S1 E11 Car Schooling
5:25 Topic Talk: Why Take the Time to Do Something Hilarious?
12:28 S1 E39 Summer Reading Guide: Japan Olympics Theme
17:30 Fat Bear Week site
17:33 Fat Bear Week Katmai site
18:42 Katmai Bear Cams
19:20 Online Fat Bear Week Chats with Explore.org
19:22 Online Fat Bear Week Chats with Katmai Rangers
21:35 Fat Bear Week Explore.org Lesson Plans on Brown Bears of Katmai
21:36 Fat Bear Week In the Classroom
20:04 Fat Bear Junior
22:47 Download our Fat Bear Week Homeschool Guide and 9 other download sheets on our site!
24:25 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
26:06 Make It Personal: Far Bookends
27:00 Take This With You: Mindy
28:53 Take This With You: Rachel (recipe!)
Cole Mac&Cheese
Bag of pasta into the IP, add 2c water. Cook 4mins. Drain. Add “a bit of milk, a bit of butter, and some cheese”. Cover for 4mins. Have a child stir for exercise. Enjoy on Mac&Cheese Monday!
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
We are soooo excited to have guest Meg Tietz of Sorta Awesome! Join us awe we chat about why friendships for just you, the homeschooling parent, are so important. There is a lot here to glean and take to heart. As always, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week and after our Topic Talk, we give you ways to Make It Personal. We close out with homeschooling hacks, advice, or … a gross recipe?
1:10 Meg Tietz of the Sorta Awesome Show
3:22 Homeschooling Moments of the Week (HSMotW)
3:25 HSMotW Rachel
433 Rachel and her inflatable globe
4:40 HSMotW Meg
Link for you about eels recommended by Meg and her boys
5:57 HSMotW Mindy
7:00 Topic Talk: Friendship and Community for YOU
7:18 Ep 5 Embracing Our Kids for Who They Are
7:28 Sorta Awesome Community
7:47 Meg’s Book???
9:14 Why is this important?
9:24 Sorta Awesome Ep 285: The Friendship Advice We All Need Right Now
9:31 Friend Forward Podcast
11:52 Benefits to having our own friendships?
12:33 Voxer app
19:24 What are the hurdles?
21:49 Doritos, Ding Dongs, and Cheese Whiz
22:37 Tips for homeschoolers with littles only?
25:03 Marco Polo app
30:18 What will Meg have to do differently now?
32:00 Bookend Homeschoolers S2 Ep 1 Transitioning Into or Out of Homeschooling
33:10 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
35:04 Make It Personal: Far Bookends
36:10 Take This With You: Meg (best social anxiety tip ever)
37:09 Take This With You: Rachel
38:25 Take This With You: Mindy (unusual cake)
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Meg Tietz on IG
Sorta Awesome Show on IG
Paul’s Grandma’s Pistachio Cake which he calls:
The Best Ever Pistachio Cake
Mix the following: 1 box white or yellow cake mix, 1 box pistachio instant pudding, 3 eggs, 1 c club soda, 1 c oil, 1/2 c nuts. Beat all ingredients for 2 mins at medium speed. Do not overbeat. Bake in a bunt pan for 50mins. While cake is baking, make the following icing/filling using 3 c milk, 2 pkg Dream Whip, 2 box of pistachio instant pudding. Whip in a bowl for 5 mins until thick and chill. When cake is cook, cut into 3 layers. Put filling in between layers and ice the top and sides. Paul Brouse says, “You’re welcome.”
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
An often requested topic that can be polarizing, but doesn’t have to be: Homeschooling preschool! Join us as we discuss preschool from a far bookend and a near bookend point of view! As usual, we provide ideas for making it personal, share our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, and end with a hack or encouragement!
1:36 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
4:07 Topic Talk: Homeschooling Preschool?
13:28 Rachel being a neuroscientist on the podcast
19:08 Physical development matters
19:33 Slingerland Institute for Literacy
20:00 Curriculum?
20:46 Counting Bears
20:54 Trudy Palmer’s The Gift of Reading
21:47 In One Ear (and Hopefully) Not Out the Other
22: 58 There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly
23:10 Caps for Sale
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
23:16 Honey for a Child’s Heart
23:28 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
23:31 The Read Aloud Family
24:00 Learn From Mindy’s Mistakes
26:43 Beads to string
29:09 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
30:06 Make It Personal: Far Bookends
31:36 Take This With You: Mindy (birthday hack)
32:07 Birthday hat
33:00 Take This With You: Rachel (encouragement)
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
We love our kids. Do we truly embrace who they are though? Season 2, Episode 5 finds Mindy & Rachel discussing the ways we can give the wrong message to our children and be inconsistent with our goals. Hear how to embrace your child for who they are! Of course, we start with Homeschooling Moments of the Week and provide ways to Make It Personal after our Topic Talk.
1:31 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
1:40 S2 Ep 4 Bookend Homeschoolers: Easy Art Appreciation
4:49 Topic Talk: Embracing Our Kids For Who They Are
16:30 How can we see that we are not doing this? Qs to ask ourselves
17:05 S2 Ep 3 Cultivating Inclusive Friendships
17:33 Ep 41 Mistakes We’ve Made
17:49 S2 Ep2 Keeping (or Getting) a Sense of Humor with Betsy Jenkins @homeschooling_withtheclassics (say and laugh at lies!)
19:50 Confusing moral vs preferred
22:30 Ways to keep this in check
28:06 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
30:42 Make It Personal: Far Bookends
33:12 Take This With You: Rachel (reminder)
34:20 Take This With You: Mindy (tip)
#cookingwithMindy on IG
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Far Bookend Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Near Bookend Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
Today’s episode sounds like a difficult or lofty topic, but it’s not! We promise! Trust us. Hear some easy ways to enjoy the many benefits of art appreciation in our homeschools. As usual, we start you off with some Homeschooling Moments of the Week (no gross ones this week!) before we dive into our topic. After we provide suggestions to Make It Personal, we share a tip (Mindy’s sounds like a bad idea, but it’s not) and an enco uragement.
1:26 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
4:00 Topic Talk: Art Appreciation
Amazon Artist Calendars: Impressionists Calendar, Monet, Picasso, Matisse, etc… look on eBay too!
Some Master Artist project videos from Mindy (less than 30min lessons)
24:24 What Mindy Wishes She Had Done
27:20 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
28:12 Make It Personal: Far Bookends
30:10 Take This With You: Mindy (Can you even believe she suggests this?!)
31:55 Take This With You: Rachel
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
Today’s episode is near and dear to our hearts and it’s also a convicting discussion! Join us as Mindy shares how inclusive friendships matter and how the lack of effort hurts. We dive into the Whys, Whos, and Hows of this important topic for homeschoolers!
If you listened to Mindy on the Sorta Awesome show, know that there is a tiny bit of overlap, but that we hit some points not discussed there as well as hone in on homeschooling issues for this topic. It’s a different episode and a great flight!
1:28 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
2:35 Impossible Rubik’s Cube
4:20 Topic Talk: Cultivating Inclusive Friendships
4:40 Meg Tietz and Mindy on Sorta Awesome: Inclusive Play for All
5:30 Bookend Homeschoolers Bonus Ep 1: Our Adoption Stories (if you want to know who Daniel is)
9:53 Bookend Homeschoolers: Keeping (or Getting) a Sense of Humor with Betsy Jenkins of homeschooling_theclassics
12:00 Homeschooling kiddos with disabilities stats article
16: 16 Bookend Homeschoolers Ep9: What, Why, and How of Read Alouds
29:25 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
Special Books by Special Kids
33:15 Make It Personal Far Bookends
31:57 Take This With You: Mindy (tip)
32:45 Take This With You: Rachel (tip)
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Could we be more excited about this episode?! NO! We could not. We are thrilled to have Betsy Jenkins, creator of homeschooling_withtheclassics, join us to share why keeping a sense of humor while homeschooling is so important. She made us laugh, but she also brought tears to our eyes as she reminded us of how our hearts can hurt if we can’t laugh at ourselves and homeschooling. Join us for a fabulous episode!
1:30 Betsy Jenkins from homeschooling_withtheclassics
2:30 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
6:44 How Betsy arrived at homeschooling_withtheclassics
9:50 Topic Talk: Keeping (or Getting) a Sense of Humor
13:27 Episode 41 Bookend Homeschoolers: Mistakes We Have Made
21:58 Important Note: If you are struggling with depression or anxiety, please talk to someone to get support. We care.
23:07 Make It Personal: From Betsy
25:47 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
29:20 Make It Personal: Far Bookends
30:23 Take This With You: Mindy (hack)
31:13 Take This With You: Betsy (epic one liner)
32:10 Take This With You: Rachel (little known show rec)
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Betsy at homeschooling_withtheclassics
Boring Betsy at talltimbers_willowlake
Welcome back to Bookend Homeschoolers! We couldn’t be more excited to start season 2! Many people are making transitions in their educational settings and we want to help! Listen to our ideas on how to make the switch into homeschooling or out of homeschooling smooth! Just like last season, we are also starting each episode with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week and sharing ways to Make It Personal!
1:42 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
4:17 Topic Talk: Transitioning into or out of homeschooling
Ep 27 Season 1 with guest Meredith Monday-Schwartz
14:41 S1E1 Bookend Homeschoolers: Know Your Why
14:47 S1E2 Bookend Homeschoolers: Choose Your Method(s)
20:03 S1E4 Bookend Homeschoolers: To Schedule or Not to Schedule?
20:54 S1E7 Bookend Homeschoolers: How Do I Get My Kids to Actually Do This?
27:00 Make it Personal: Far Bookends
27:51 Make It Personal: Near Bookends
29:43 Take This With You
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
We can’t believe it and are so thrilled to find us wrapping up our first reason of Bookend Homeschoolers! Celebrate with us and hear some messages from listeners, take aways from the year, teasers for season 2, and more!
(note: We will take a show break July 25 and return for Season 2 Aug 1!)
1:30 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
4:48 Ep 41: Homeschooling Mistakes We’ve Made
7:14 Mindy’s Memorable Moment #1 (from Ep 38: Summer Reading Guide #1)
8:37 Rachel’s Memorable Moment #2 (from Ep 8: How Do I Get Myself to Actually Do This?)
9:34 Listener call in: Juliann Krusting
10:50 Mindy’s Memorable Moment #2 (from Ep 40: Hosting Kids’ Book Clubs)
12:03 Rachel’s Memorable Moment #2 (from Ep 19: Homeschooling Extroverts)
13:19 Listener call in: Carlee Marlow
13:54 Rachel’s Memorable Moment #3
14:35 Mindy’s Memorable Moment #3 (from Ep 11: Car Schooling)
12:27 Heidi Jackson (westmorelandpodcast)
17:00 Rachel’s Memorable Moment #4 (from Ep 41: Homeschooling Mistakes We’ve Made)
18:11 Mindy’s Memorable Moment #4 (from Ep 27: Remote Schooling Tips and Tricks)
19:05 Listener call in: Megan Goodell
21:00 Insider Info on Season 1 and starting the show!
23:12 Rachel’s Take Aways
24:46 Mindy’s Take Aways
26:46 Teasers for Season 2
27:40 Make It Personal
28:24 Take This With You
29:44 Thank you, Meredith & Katyee at Currently Reading! <3
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
Our second to last episode for Season 1 has us being vulnerable with you, listeners! We share small and big mistakes we have made in homeschooling. Do any of these resonate? If so, understanding hugs from us. If not, learn from us. As usual, we start the show off with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, dive into our topic, and then give you ways to Make It Personal!
2:00 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
5:20 Topic Talk: Homeschooling Mistakes We’ve Made
27:15 Near Bookends: Make It Personal
28:50 Far Bookends: Make It Personal
29:40 Take This With You
29:49 Adam’s Peanut Butter
30:17 Earbuds Mindy Recommends and Has Bought Twice: SoundPeats
30: 50Earbuds Mindy Uses: Airpods (oh, the irony… Mindy lost these two days before this episode dropped! Sad face.)
31:09 Rachel’s Sound Cancelling Earbuds: Airpods Pro
(note: we will have a show break on July 25th and start Season 2 Aug 1st!)
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Happy July 4th! Today, we have a bonus episode for you! Get to know your hosts, Mindy & Rachel, a bit better and hear their journey to becoming homeschooling parents. You might be surprised! One of them was!
1:00 Intro to the Episode
1:43 Rachel’s Story
10:10 Bonus Ep 1 Our Adoption Stories
15:00 Mindy’s Story
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
Want a way to deepen your love for a book and make memories with your child and their friends? Hear how to host a kids’ book club! Rachel asks Mindy lots of questions on how she successfully had Boys’ Book Club with some eleven year old boys! As usual, enjoy homeschooling moments of the week, ways to make this topic personal, and then end with something fun!
2:23 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
5:30 Topic Talk: Kids’ Book Clubs
6:10 Currently Reading Podcast
10:40 The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
13:20 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
20:00 Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend
24:21 Mindy on Currently Reading Podcast talking about Kids’ Book Clubs with Kaytee S2E24
24:33 Make It Personal (MIP)
24:41 MIP: Near Bookends
26:36 (MIP) Far Bookends
Mindy on Instagram to follow for Zoom Book Chats
27:30 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
27:52 Wrap Up
Send us your video files: Your Questions for a Q&A episode AND How Bookend Homeschoolers Helped You This year!…. email to bookendhomeschoolers@gmail.com
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
(Paul Louis’ Boys’ Book Club Reads: The Lightning Thief, Hatchet, Nevermoor, The Book Scavenger, Eagle of the Ninth, The Track Series, Artemis Fowl, The Hobbit)
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
We could hardly wait to release Part 2 of our Summer Reading Guide! This one has a theme! Why? Because we are homeschoolers. Ha! With the Olympics starting at the end of July, we have a special Summer Guide to suit the summer!
1:14 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Ep 38 Summer Reading Guide Pt 1
4:45 Topic Talk: Summer Reading Guide Pt 2
Middle Grade
6:00 The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth
6:46 The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata
8:30 The Big Wave by Pearl S Buck
8:56 All the Ways Home by Elsie Chapman
10:26 Cool Japan Guide by Abby Densen
11:34 Both
11:51 10 Best Manga for Beginners article
12:30 Yotsuba&! (Vol #1) by Kiyohiko Azuma
13:52 The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw
16:40 High School
16:45 Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World by Matt Alt
18:30 I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn
20: 30 They Called Us Enemy by George Takei (we rec reading this with your MG too, but side by side)
24:17 Ink and Ashes by Valynn E Maetani
26:00 Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean
27:24 Make It Personal
Far Bookends
Mindy liked a lot, but not what we wanted on the Guide:
28:27 The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
28:32 The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
Made it to the Guide:
28:46 The Wild Goose by Ogai Mori (FREE on Kindle!)
30:15 Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
31:31 Shogun by James Clavell
33:25 Near Bookends
34:35 National Geographic Kids’ Japanese Fast Facts
34:50 Japanese Pod 101 YouTube Channel
35:07 Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (free on YouTube)
35:36 Japanese Soul Cooking by Tadashi Ono
35:50 Picture books (see below)
35:57 Bookend Homeschoolers Japan BINGO CARD!
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Don’t forget to download your Summer Reading Guide Pt 2 AND your Bookend Homeschoolers BINGO Card!
(Did you listen to Summer Guide Pt 1 and download the PDF?)
Other Links:
Learn about Haiku
Learn about Japanese Culture in 30 minutes
Picture Books:
I Live in Tokyo by Mari Takabayashi
Time for Bed, Miyuki (series) by Roxane Marie Galliez
Suki's Kimono by Chieri Uegaki available kindle kids
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
How excited are we? Pretty dang excited! Today, Mindy & Rachel present the first Bookend Homeschoolers Summer Reading Guide! We have so many fantastic books for you: Middle Grade and Young Adult! As usual, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week… this week has a gross one to lead off. You’ve been warned. In our Make It Personal section, we give the teachers their summer books! Episode 38 ends with some encouragement and a hack! Don’t forget to download your Summer Reading Guide Part 1 PDF!
1:19 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
3:38 (skip Rachel’s gross HSMotW)
5:12 Topic Talk: Summer Reading Guide (Part 1)
Middle Grade
6:05 Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
7: 10 Warrior Cats #1 Into the Wild by Erin Hunter
8:08 Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfeld
8:58 Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
9:15 Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
11:25 Hand in Hand by Katie Proctor
12: 40 Book Scavenger by Jennifer Bertram
14: 27 High School/Young Adult
14:31 Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald
15:46 Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham
17:21 Cinder by Marissa Meyer
18:56 Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
19:23 Wizard for Hire by Obert Skye
20:38 The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
24:10 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
25: 20 Synopsis of Project Hail Mary… we think you should skip this, but… your call
25:46 Back to Project Hail Mary raving
26:02 Make It Personal
26:13 Near Bookends
26:28 Marley and Me by John Grogan
26: 56 The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
28:19 Far Bookends
28:39 The Chosen by Chaim Potek
30:25 What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
32:00 Part 2… of our Summer Reading Guide in Ep 39!
32:20 Take This With You
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool
Get your PDF Bookend Homeschoolers site
Come back for Episode 39 for our Part 2 Summer Reading Guide!
(Amazon links are affiliate links to help cover the cost of producing the show. We are grateful for EVERY click!)
Mindy answers Rachel’s questions about a fun summer get together idea that can both help fellow homeschoolers AND provide some fun encouragement: a curric chat! Or a personal curriculum fair! Hear how this could benefit you and your friends by listening to episode 37 now. We start like always with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, then after our Topic Talk, we provide ways to Make It Personal. This episode has us ending with a homeschooling hack and some encouragement!
1:32 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
5:18 Topic Talk: Hosting a Curric Chat/Fair
9:42 Ep 2 Bookend Homeschoolers: ChooseYour Method
20:24 Make It Personal
22:30 Homeschool Hack & Encouragement
Carol Barnier
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
We mentioned before how having our kids do presentations as a “class” can really benefit them long term. Today, Mindy and Rachel dive into this topic! Our #nearbookend, Rachel, asks Mindy, our #farbookend, questions to flesh this out. We have some great info for you! As always, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, then discuss our topic. Afterwards, we suggest real life ways to make the topic personal and end with something positive for you to Take This With You: Encouragement, Homeschool Hack, or learn from Mindy’s Mistakes.
1: 42Homeschooling Moments of the Week
Ep 35 Bookend Homeschoolers Cultivating & Inspiring Our Kids to Follow Well
Ep 34 Bookend Homeschoolers Round 2 of (Some of) Our Favorite Read Alouds
The Martian (the book… best!!)
The Martian (the movie, super fun!)
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
4:53 Topic Talk
23:08 Make it Personal
25: 06 Take This With You
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
{Book links are affiliate, to help cover the cost of the show. We’d be grateful for any shopping via the links!}
Often, we forget to encourage our children to be great team players and followers. We admire leadership and obedience, but can overlook teaching that learning to follow well is just as important. No one wants a person on their team who doesn’t follow the leader with grace and integrity. Hear Mindy and Rachel share ideas on how to cultivate this in our kids. As always, we start with our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, then after our Topic Talk, we give you ways to Make it Personal. We wend with something fun: Take This With You!
1:30 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
Ep 28 of Bookend Homeschoolers Inspiring and Providing Opportunities for Leadership
5:00 Topic Talk
22: 33 Make It Personal
24:40 Take This With You
#cookingwithmindy
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
We LOVE talking books and especially read alouds!! They are our favorite part of homeschooling, so…. here is our second episode with (some of) our favorites and recommendations. As usual, we also share our homeschooling moments of the week, suggestions on how to apply the topic IRL, and end with some encouragement! How many of these have you read to your kiddos/students?
1:11 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
4:54 Topic Talk
Ep 14 of Bookend Homeschoolers (Some of) Our Favorite Read Alouds
Illustrated Books
6:26 The Giraffe That Walked to Paris
7: 30 The Paper Bag Princess
The Paddington books on audio
8:06 The Paddington Treasury
8: 55 Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear?
9: 49 Ruby, Head High
Early Elementary
10: 40 George Washington Carver
11:22 My Life with Chimpanzees
11:51 Winnie the Pooh
12:10 Where the Red Fern Grows
Ep 30 of Bookend Homeschoolers on Writing with Katie Proctor
Middle Grade
Ep 9 of Bookend Homeschoolers What, Why, How, & When of Read Alouds
13:33 Secret of the Andes
14:24 The Witch of Blackbird Pond
15:33 The Great Turkey Walk
16:42 The Watsons Go to Birmingham
17:44 Daughter of the Mountains
Young Adult
19:40 Mara, Daughter of the Nile
20:27 Warriors Don’t Cry
21:49 The Gift of Fear
23:25 The Martian
25:11 The Princess Bride
25:40 Dreamland Burning
27: 10 Make It Personal
29:10 Encouragement
{Book links are affiliate, to help cover the cost of the show. We’d be grateful for any shopping via the links!}
It’s almost summer! Listeners requested this topic and we happily obliged! Those of us who grew up in the traditional school system see summer as the time to take a break and play. Do homeschoolers see it this way too? Listen to episode 33 as Mindy & Rachel discuss what they do and provide ideas for making the most of summer. As usual at Bookend Homeschoolers, we share our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, provide ideas for making the topic personal, and end with ecouragement!
1:17 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
4:47 Topic Talk
23:10 Make It Personal
23:40 Hike It Baby
24:34 Hailstones and Halibut Bones
26:14 Encouragement
Visit Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Find Mindy at gratefulforgrace on Instagram
Find Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on Instagram
Milestones matter and ending the homeschooling year is a big deal… especially this year! We love helping our kids see their victories and finishing a year of academic work is a victory! Mindy & Rachel share reasons for and ideas for celebrating! As usual, you will also hear our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, suggestions on how to make the topic personal, and encouragement.
1:24 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
5:38 Topic Talk
24:10 Make It Personal
25: 45 Encouragement
Bookend Homeschoolers on Instagram
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on Instagram
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on Instagram
Late April finds many of us starting to think about the next academic year! Mindy and Rachel talk about tasks and ideas to help you start prepping for the next homeschooling year. As usual, hear ways to Make it Personal, some Encouragement, and our Homeschooling Moments of the Week!
1:15 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
1:21 Episode 28 Bookend Homeschoolers: Inspiring and Providing Opportunities for Leadership
4:58 Topic Talk
5:50 Ticonderoga pencils
5:58 Episode 6 Bookend Homeschoolers: What to Buy First
11:58 Title Wave Books Revised (can shop through BookShop.org and help this indie bookstore!)
16:54 Episode 25 Bookend Homeschoolers: COVID Homeschooling- To Continue or Not to Continue?
22:51 Make It Personal
26:02 Encouragement
Find us on Instagram at bookendhomeschoolers
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
We are thrilled to have Katie Proctor as our guest for episode 30! Katie is an author of two middle grade books, My Storied Year and Hand in Hand, and is currently homeschooling. Hear some great advice, tips, and insight into teaching reading! As usual, we also bring you Homeschooling Moments of the Week, ways to Make it Personal, and we end with encouragement.
1:29 (Some of) Our Favorite Read Alouds Ep 14 Bookend Homeschoolers
1:46 Sorta Awesome Show
2:05 My Storied Year
2:16 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
2:18 Waffles and Mochi
4:37 Topic Talk: Teaching Writing (from an author and homeschooling mom’s perspective)
8:20 Brave Writer
10:44 Story Cubes
14:15 (See Katie’s draft photo on our site!)
27:27 Hand in Hand
28:00 Make It Personal
29:35 Encouragement
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on Instagram
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on Instagram
Bookend Homeschoolers at bookendhomeschoolers on Instagram
Katie Proctor at katieproctorwritesandreads on Instagram
Sorta Awesome Show at sortaawesomeshow on Instagram
Mindy and Rachel discuss pros and cons of testing our homeschoolers, a common question and topic. Hear benefits, draw backs, and personal experience from our Far Bookend and our New Bookend! As usual, we start with special homeschooling moments and end with encouragement. We also provide an action for you to take after you listen to make the topic personal!
1:08 Homeschool Moments of the Week
4:49 Topic Talk: Testing
HSLDA: State Requirements
HSLDA: Articles on Testing
26: 38 Make it Personal
27: 43 Encouragement
Bookend Homeschoolers site
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
We loved discussing a question from Listener Megan! Can we inspire and provide opportunities for leadership with our kids when there are only a few of them at home, or only them? YES! Listen to Mindy & Rachel share tips and reasons on how and why to do this.
1:00 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
3:58 Topic Talk: Leadership
13:22 Bookend Homeschoolers Episode 20
17:42 Currently Reading S2 Episode 24 with Mindy sharing about kids’ book clubs (start at 31:52 if you want to jump straight to that topic)
23:52 Make it Personal
26:00 Encouragement
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
We have a special guest this week: Meredith Monday Schwartz from Currently Reading podcast! She discusses the benefits she saw and the tricks that helped while remote schooling. Mindy & Rachel learned some things and loved discussing distance learning with Meredith!
2:00 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
5:30 Topic Talk
32:40 Make It Personal
34:20 Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
36:00 Encouragement
Go to our site to get your very own certificate!!
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on Instagram
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on Instagram
Meredith at Currently Reading podcast and meredith.reads on Instagram
Mindy & Rachel bring the real in today's episode. Talking about expectations, wants, and reality to the conversations with our partners about how homeschooling plays out in our families is super important! Hear thoughts and suggestions on how to make this conversation the best and therefore your homeschool the best! As usual, we also share Homeschooling Moments of the Week, give real life actions to make the topic personal, and end with encouragement (or a homeschooling hack!).
2:30 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
3:52 The Nuclear Museum
4:06 The Atomic City Girls
5:06 Topic Talk
20:34 Make It Personal
23:35 Encouragement/Homeschool Hack
Many homeschoolers were pushed into homeschooling due to COVID. Today, Mindy & Rachel talk about ways to evaluate if they should continue and how friends can help. As always, we also share our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, ways to make the topic personal for our Near Bookends and Far Bookends, and end with encouragement.
1:42 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
5:52 Topic Talk
25:30 Make it Personal
28:35 Encouragement
Homeschooling often draws unsolicited criticism from friends, family, and strangers. Mindy & Rachel share ways to handle this as a homeschooler and these tips could apply to any other unsolicited criticism. As usual, we also share our Homeschooling Moments of the Week, provide ways to make the topic personal, and end with encouragement!
1:17 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
1:29 Wild Kratts
5:03 Topic Talk
6:29 Episode 1 of Bookend Homeschoolers “Know Your Why”
16:36 Homeschooling Facts
24:10 Make it Personal
25:31 Encouragement
Mindy & Rachel share tips on homeschooling introverts. Rachel was a homeschooled introvert and brings that experience to the episode!
As usual, come also hear Homeschooling Moments of the Week, ways to make the topic personal, and some encouragement!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 1:40
Topic Talk 5:04
Make it Personal 29:00
Encouragement 30:22
Episode 22 brings Mindy & Rachel talking about the hardest month of homeschooling: February! If you have found yourself in a funk, you aren’t alone! It’s a real thing!
Hear some Dos and Don’ts for February and as usual, encouragement, Homeschooling Moments of the Week, and ways to make this personal!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 1:23
Topic Talk 4:40
Make it Personal 20:45
Encouragement 23:07
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
Mindy & Rachel want to encourage all homeschoolers to take the time to evaluate our curriculum to see if all voices are honored. This Black History Month we wanted to share ways to do that. Our very first guest, Kaytee Cobb, brought some steps and ideas for us all to consider (and lots of books, of course!)!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 2:35
Topic Talk 5:52
Make it Personal 23:28
Encouragement 28:35
Mindy & Rachel share more than a few social activities that can be utilized during these times... or anytime that you want to be connected to someone you can't be with! Homeschooling is always a tad outside the box and sometimes we have to think outside the box for socialization also!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 2:35
Topic Talk 4:58
Make It Personal 25:00
Encouragement 26:30
Homeschooling extroverts brings its own challenges. Mindy, an extrovert, and Rachel, an introvert, share tips and tricks for how to homeschool your extroverted child! As usual, hear ways to make that personal, some encouragement, and homeschooling moments of the week!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 1:00
Topic Talk 4:24
Make it Personal 26:00
Encouragement 28:23
Mindy & Rachel talk about how COVID has affected methods families use and how many are finding themselves unschoolers OR considering unschooling! As usual, we also share homeschooling moments of the week, encouragement, and ways to make the topic personal!
Mindy & Rachel have been asked often about what to do if just starting and subjects for K-3rd! Today's episode addresses that and sparks some great ideas! As usual, we also share ways to make the topic personal for near and far bookends!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week: 1:31
Topic Talk: 4:15
Make is Personal: 26:28
Encouragement: 28:13
Historical events in America led to Mindy & Rachel changing recording plans to include this episode on homeschooling and parenting in a crisis. Of any kind. Hear their hearts and take ideas to make it personal in your family this week or any time a crisis comes your way.
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 1:56
Topic Talk 4:10
Make it Personal 24:00
Encouragement 26:58
Mindy & Rachel discuss the benefits of evaluating our first semester of the homeschooling year! Hear whys and hows. And as usual, be encouraged, listen to ways to apply the topic to yourself, and enjoy our homeschooling moments of the week!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 1:24
Topic Talk 6:10
Make it Personal 22:51
Encouragement 25:12
Mindy and Rachel share their adoption stories in this bonus episode!
Rachel's Story: 2:15
Mindy' Story: 16:50
Adoption Days: 34:34
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
You asked for it, so this episode is brought by our listeners! Mindy and Rachel share (some of) their favorite read alouds. The show would be too long if they shared them all. As usual, we bring suggestions for making the topic personal, encouragement, and homeschooling moments of the week!
1:10 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
5: 17 Topic Talk
Near Bookend Read Alouds
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Paddington Series by Michael Bond
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
James Herriot's Treasury for Children
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Peter Rabbit Collection by Beatrix Potter
Bill Peet Books: Kermit the Hermit, Chester the Worldly Pig, and Herbert's Hair Raising Adventure
Far Bookend: Middle Grade Originals of Mindy's
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Rielly Giff
House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong (obviously… paperback! Ha! Used! Or your library! I had no idea this book had become so valuable, but shows how wonderful it is. I love it and my kids still talk about it!)
The Second Mrs. Giaconda by E.L. Konigsburg
The Wingfather Saga by Andrew Peterson (starts with On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness)
MORE Middle Grade Mindy has added in working to be more diverse in new releases:
Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
The Track Series by Jason Reynolds
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend
My Storied Year by Katie Proctor
Rachel’s throw in!
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Young Adult Books:
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Keily
Most Likely by Sarah Watson
Dumplin by Julie Murphy
Lovely War by Julie Berry
Love from A to Z by SK Ali
25: 56 Make It Personal28: 13 Encouragement
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
It’s holiday time!! Hear some ways to approach homeschooling this month a little differently… whether you are a far bookend or a near bookend! As usual, be encouraged, hear ways to apply the topic, and think about YOUR homeschooling moment of the week!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 1:10
Topic Talk 4:30
Make it Personal 22:28
Encouragement 25:18
Uh, oh! The homeschooling parent is sick! What do you do? Mindy and Rachel share tips and trick on how to handle teacher sick days while homeschooling! As usual, we suggest ways for our far bookends and our near bookends to make it personal and end with encouragement!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 1:54
Topic Talk 5:23
Make it Personal 25:08
Encouragement 28:58
Are you in the car often or consistently as a homeschooler? Well, then it's time for car schooling! Mindy and Rachel share ways to make the most of your time in the car.
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 1:24
Topic Talk: 4:30
Make it Personal: 18:51
Encouragement: 22:37
Mindy & Rachel dive into the question: What counts as school? Lots of thoughts, excitement, and tips on today’s episode! And as always, we bring our moments of the week, ways to make the topic personal, and some encouragement! enjoy Episode 10!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 2:06
Topic Talk 5:00
Make It Personal 23:53
Encouragement 26:45
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
Episode 9 has Mindy and Rachel sharing, explaining, and giving real help for their favorite part of homeschooling: read alouds!
Lots of great links this week!
1:09 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
Wingfeather Saga 3:58
6:18 Topic Talk
Where the Red Fern Grows 11:45
Audiobook resources-
Audible 17:02
Libby
Hoopla
Overdrive
Scribd (this link is Mindy’s referral link and will give you two free months and her one!)
Libro.fm
Epic! Books
Downpour
Kobo
Pinna
iPod…. (aka: StoryPod) 19:15
Little House Series 19:49
Paddington 19:51
Peter Rabbit Collection 19:53
James Herriot books 21:14
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 22:27
27:07 Make It Personal 27:07
The Wizard of Oz 27:37
Charlotte’s Web 27: 39
Currently Reading S1 Episode 32 28:33
29: 52 Encouragement
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Last week, we shared tips and tricks on how to get your kids to do their homeschooling, but now it's the teacher's turn! How to get yourself to actually do the homeschooling every day is our focus on episode 7.
We still bring the homeschooling moments, encouragement, and ways to make the topic personal, like every episode.
Homeschooling Moments of the Week 1:09
Topic Talk 3:10
Make It Personal 22:29
Encouragement 26:21
The rubber meets the road for homeschooling in getting the kids to do their school work! Mindy and Rachel talk tips and tricks to make that happen. As always, we also share homeschooling moments of the week, ways to make the topic personal, and encouragement.
Homeschooling Moments of the Week: 1:30
Topic Talk: 3:43
Make It Personal: 26:19
Encouragement: 30:33
Please note that many products linked are Amazon affiliate links. Your cost is the same, but a small portion of your purchase will come back to us to help offset the costs of the show. Thanks for your support!
Episode 6
Mindy and Rachel share their thoughts on where to spend your money first when starting to homeschool!
(Amazon links are affiliate links and help us cover the cost of creating the podcast. Thank you for your click love!)
Homeschooling Moments of the Week: 1:24
Topic Talk: 6:10
Ticonderoga Pencils 6:45
Memoria Press First Start Reading 9:51
Memoria Press Early Math 9:51
Saxon Phonics 9:55
The Gift of Reading 10:00
All About Spelling 10:10
All About Reading 10:10
Currently Reading Podcast 10:32
Currently Reading Podcast Episode32 with Mindy as a Guest 15:45
Pilot G2 07 pens (blue wink)
Inkjoy pens (black... wink)
Make It Peronal 24:34
Time Timer 30:30
Encouragement 28:11
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
How can we homeschool multiple ages of kiddos? How can you get anything done with babies, toddlers, or preschoolers in the mix? Rachel and Mindy talk about how homeschool many kids and do it successfully!
We also bring encouragement, ways to make it personal, and homeschooling moments of the week, as usual!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week: 0:57
Topic Talk: 6:14
Make it Personal: 24:10
Encouragement: 28:51
Methods matter in homeschooling and education in general. If you choose a curriculum that doesn’t match the method of your heart, homeschooling will be a disaster. Listen to Mindy & Rachel share about the different methods and then read about them too. Which one hits your heart?
1:13 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
5:26 Topic
Montessori: 6:21
The Montessori method is a structured method that involves prepared environments where students use all their senses to explore, discover, and learn in individual and group activities. The method was developed by Marie Montessori as she scientifically studied children in the early 1900s. Long periods of uninterrupted learning, individualized plans, work centers, interwoven subjects, and portfolios are trademarks of this method.
Curriculum that fits the Montessori method fully: North American Montessori Center, Brilliant Minds Montessori,
Curriculum that incorporates aspects of Montessori: Shiller Math
Further reading: Montessori and Homeschooling: Here to Stay?
Classical: 8:59This method has been around for centuries, though variations of it have developed over the years. It teaches subjects with consideration to three stages of development: grammar, logic, and rhetoric, which build on each other. Emphasis on excellence in subjects is a hallmark. Great books, Latin and Greek, logic, and primary sources are key elements as classical educators strive to help students become critical thinkers. The Socratic method is often used.
Curriculum that fits the Classical Method fully: The Well Trained Mind, Veritas Press, Memoria Press, Easy Classical, Great Books Academy, Covenant Homeschool Curriculum, Trivium Pursuit, Classical Conversations, Schola Classical Tutorials
Curriculum that incorporates a lot or or mostly classical aspects: BiblioPlan, Tapestry of Grace, The Tanglewood School,
Further reading: What is Classical Education
Unit Studies: 11:05
This method involves centering all studies around a central theme so that the subject is learned in depth. Every subject is taught in connection to the specific unit, medieval times or bees for example. The units are often child directed, but not always. A variety of hands on activities are used to engage the student and studying the unit from different aspects is involved. Some unit studies incorporate all subjects but math in the unit.
Many times specific curriculum is not used, but books, videos, field trips, and more are planned around a theme and organized by the parent.
Curriculum that fits the Unit Study method fully: KONOS, Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett, Homeschool in the Woods, Learning Adventures,
Curriculum that incorporates many aspects of Unit Studies: Sonlight, Heart of Dakota, My Father’s World, Greenleaf Press, TRISMS, Five in a Row, BiblioPlan, Tapestry of Grace
Further reading: Homeschooling Styles: Unit Studies
Charlotte Mason: 13:21
This method was created by an educator in England who worked to reform education at the turn of the last century. Aspects of this method center around “Charlotte’s firm belief that the child is a person and we must educate that whole person, not just his mind. So a Charlotte Mason education is three-pronged: in her words, ‘Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.’ ”
Focus on the atmosphere of learning, development of good habits, and “living” thoughts are representative. Narration, dictation, living books, nature study, art, and music are key aspects of the Charlotte Mason method.
Curriculum that fits the Charlotte Mason method fully: Simply Charlotte Mason Guide, Ambleside Online, Queen Homeschooling, Beautiful Feet, Blessed Heritage, Five in a Row, Living Books Curriculum, Elemental Science, Noeo Science, NaturExplorers, Mater Amabilis, The Tanglewood School, Charlotte Mason Help
Curriculum that incorporates a lot of Charlotte Mason aspects: Sonlight, Apologia elementary science (possibly more of Apologia’s elementary curric t00), Mystery of History, Writing with Ease, First Language Lessons, Heart of Dakota, BiblioPlan (at the elementary level), Heart of Wisdom, Heritage History, Illuminations, Tapestry of Grace (at the elementary level), Winter Promise (at the elementary level), An Old Fashioned Education, Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool, Build Your Library
Further reading: Simply Charlotte Mason
Traditional Method: 15:41
This is the most well known method and most popular in the public school system. It involves transfer of skills, facts, and information deemed important by the current generation to the student via reading by the student or lecture, as directed by the teacher. Textbooks, worksheets (online or paper), and tests are mainline. Teachers and/or textbooks are the instruments by which the knowledge is communicated. Also called Back-to-Basics, Conventional Education, or Customary Education.
Curriculum that fits the traditional method fully: ABeka , Alpha Omega (including Switched on Schoolhouse), Bob Jones, Saxon, DIVE, Houghlin Mifflin, Heritage Homeschool Academy, Rod & Staff, Christian Liberty Press, Singapore Math, Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), Time4Learning, Math Mammoth, Teaching Textbooks, Apologia (the high school science), K12
Curriculum that incorporates aspects of the traditional method: Sonlight, Tapestry of Grace, BiblioPlan, MathUSee, RightStart Math… and probably lots more. Almost anything that uses text books/workbooks.
Unschooling: 16:56
This method is directed by student interest and teachable moments. Teaching methods vary as to what works for the student. Unschooling is often confused with not schooling, when actually it strives to make the most of teachable moments and seasons involving intentional teaching and modeling. Subjects are taught when the student requests or is interested in learning the subject. Teachers introduce different ways to glean the information or skill.
Creating an environment of natural learning and study as well as a spirit of independence are key marks of unschooling.
There are variations of unschooling and, just like other methods, some subjects are unschooled while others are handled differently (this is decided by the family). Variations are often called relaxed homeschooling, delight-directed education, or interest-led learning.
Curriculum that fits the Unschooling method fully: No such thing since it is learner dependent.
Curriculum that incorporates aspects of unschooling: Pretty much everything because anything can be used if the student finds it engaging and helpful.
Further reading: Five Steps to Unschooling
Waldorf: 19:26
The Waldorf method focuses on three stages of development and the needs the child has in each, as studied by Rudolf Steiner in the early 1900s, as well as the three components of each individual: spirit, soul, and body. Key aspects are the development of an active imagination and a strong sense of self purpose. All subjects are taught artistically.
Curriculum that fits the Waldorf method fully: Live Education, Christopherus Homeschool Resources, Math By Hand,
Curriculum that incorporates aspects of Waldorf: Oak Meadow, Enki Education, Millennial Child,
Further reading: Why Waldorf Works, Steiner’s Waldorf Philosophy
Eclectic: 21:51
This method is pretty much what the name states: it’s a combination of different methods. Not a purist for any one method, the user picks and chooses a little from a couple, or several, or many. This combining choice could be due to many factors, including parent preference, student preference, or life circumstances that dictate choices.
Curriculum that fits the Eclectic method: Could be any of them since the user picks and chooses.
Curriculum that fits many aspects of the Eclectic method: Again, just about anything.
27:13 Make It Personal
29:00 Encouragement
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
Episode 4: To Schedule or Not to Schedule?
Mindy & Rachel share benefits, tips, and tricks for creating and following a routine or schedule in your homeschool.
2:03 Homeschooling Moments of the Week
5:10 Topic Talk
Post Its + Poster Boards: 11:13
Workboxes: 13:10
Notebooks: 15:10
Binders: 15:30
White Board: 16:04
Visual Schedule: 17:20
Loop System & Block System: 25:37
Other Ideas Not Mentioned:
Pre-made daily schedules by grade
Help plan your week
Daily scheduling
24:44 Make It Personal
27:57 Encouragement
Bookend Homeschoolers on IG
Mindy at gratefulforgrace on IG
Rachel at colemountainhomeschool on IG
The Bookend Homeschoolers talk Whys today!
As always, we start with homeschooling moments and then move into our topic, share some ways to make it personal, and end with encouragement!
Knowing why your homeschool matters to you, your family, your kids, and your motivation.
Let's talk why!
Mindy & Rachel bring ten tasks to do first to start homeschooling. And they might not be what you think!
Homeschooling Moments of the Week: 1:13
Topic Talk: 4:11
HSLDA: 4:29
Episode 2: 12:25
Junior Ranger Badges: 17:21
Make It Personal: 28:02
Encouragement: 30:56
Two homeschoolers bring you a brand new show that is made for the times! They represent both ends of the bookends of homeschooling. Mindy Brouse brings over twenty years of homeschooling experience and Rachel Cole delivers enthusiasm and plenty of questions after two years of homeschooling!
Listen and subscribe to the homeschooling podcast that has something for any and all homeschoolers! Real help for right now!