Happy Hive Homeschooling

Hey Reader, You finish reading a chapter, and one of your children says, “I don’t think Charlotte {the character} should’ve done that.” There it is, a learning opportunity. Your mind immediately jumps to a paragraph, a character chart, or a list of reasons they could write down. That instinct makes sense. You want to help your children think deeply, and you want to recognize the learning happening in front of you. But before you decide what they could produce, there’s something already here...

Hey Reader, I get a lot of crazy pushback on TikTok when I post about using the same topic for all your children. That will never work for us. My kids are 3, 7, and 17. That’s very different. Homeschooling makes your kids weird. After I remind myself that even the Grand Canyon gets one-star reviews, I continue to post what I believe. You can explore the same topic without doing the same lesson. Your children can share an experience without having identical roles in it. Suppose you’re learning...

A classic conversation between parents and kids all over the world: Mom - “What did you do at school today, sweetheart?” Child - Nothing 😂😂😂 Well Reader, as homeschool moms we have the same conversation - but often with our brains! 🧠“What did we do today?.. I mean the dog threw up, Aunt Sally called, and everyone wanted an extra snack. UGG, we didn’t get history done again. We’re getting behind because nothing is getting done!” 🧠 Because the assignments you planned didn’t get finished, your...

Hey Reader! A homeschool mom I worked with recently shared a story that has stuck with me. Her family was at a festival where the kids played with a toy train set while waiting for a ride-on train. After the ride, her four-year-old son went back to the train set and became completely focused on it. Then he started taking part of the track apart. His mom could see what he was doing. He wasn't trying to destroy it. He had an idea 💡 for how the track could work better. But the adults running the...

The finished page doesn’t tell the whole story of your morning. It won’t show that your child finally asked you to explain something they’d been guessing at. It won’t show that they took a break and came back. It won’t show the moment they said they could talk about the answer but were having trouble writing it down. Those moments can disappear when we’re focused on whether the work got finished. But Reader, they’re worth keeping. We want our kids to become lifelong learners who can recognize...

Hey Reader, You’ve explained the directions. The work hasn’t started. You explain them again, a little more slowly. They sigh. You point to the first question. They push the page away. Now you’re talking about listening, and they’re talking about how much they hate this activity. Whatever the lesson was supposed to be about has slipped out of the conversation. You wanted meaningful time with your kids. A homeschool where you could know them well and help them learn. That doesn’t make these...

Hey Reader, The Autumn activity looked simple when you downloaded it. A few supplies. A little cutting. Something to talk about together. But now it’s squeezed between the morning’s lessons and leaving the house. Someone’s looking for shoes. Lunch still needs clearing. You're asking the kids to stop what they’re doing so you can fit in the lovely Autumn activity. Nobody seems particularly delighted. It’s frustrating when something you chose for connection becomes another place you’re trying...

Hey Reader, December is going to be here before two shakes of a reindeer's tail! And, December has a funny way of making homeschool moms feel like they’re supposed to do more. Keep up with the regular lessons.Add the festive activities.Make the memories.Bake the cookies.Do the crafts.Read all the Christmas books. And somehow enjoy the season too. 😉 I’d like to offer a different possibility: You don’t have to squeeze school into December. The learning is already there. That’s the idea behind...

Hey Reader! Imagine this: your kids listen while you read, interrupt to ask about a strange detail, and laugh at the funny part. Then you hand over the page of questions. The pencil gets picked up, put down, rolled across the table, and retrieved from the floor. You remind them to begin. They complain. You remind them again. It’s easy to look at what’s happening and think: “They weren’t interested in any of it.” But they listened, laughed and asked questions - those count! When a learning...