by Jennifer Tutwiler | These days, the measure of good parenting seems to be how care-free and enjoyable an existence we have enabled for our children. Children are expected to play with their toys, play outside, play with their friends, play sports, play with video games... and yet today’s children are some of the most behaviorally challenged in human history.

Jennifer Tutwiler tried every kind of schedule there is. Her family couldn't settle into a a successful schedule - until she broke free of 5 popular myths.

As homeschooling parents, we often look for the best way to motivate our children in their academics. Professor Brandon Irwin of Harvard Business School has conducted studies regarding motivational style. Although this was done with business organizations in mind, we parents can sometimes learn from such studies and apply the principles to our educational adventure.

Families grapple with discipline in the home. Ginny Seuffert tackles an aspect of it by making etiquette part of and not an obstacle to homeschooling.

Catholic homeschooling is like running a circus! Mary Lou Warren explores 7 things the circus experience shares in common with running a homeschool.

Members of a family know each other too well to be fooled by brother’s daydream to be a millionaire, sister’s fantasy to be a great actress, or grandson’s ambition to be a professional athlete. The family teaches humility, self-knowledge, the art of the possible, and the way things are.

One year ago, one of my daughters was given a gift subscription to American Girl Magazine. When the subscription ran out, I chose not to renew it even though my daughter wanted me to.

Several years ago, I received a phone call from a dear friend who invited me to take a free shopping spree at Costco Wholesale Club. The offer was so tempting since anything and everything I would purchase that day would all be paid for. I was so floored by such a generous offer that I felt like one of those eager contestants who had just won the grand prize in “Supermarket Sweep.”

Government schools have purposefully chosen to ignore God, and that while students may choose to believe in God, this is a belief which students must leave outside the classroom door. Since the government schools and textbooks reflect this denial of the existence of God in what is taught and how it is taught...

Little learners still have to memorize their math facts— addition, and subtraction—and Mom, or in this case Grandma, still has to drill them. Each time I open Math 2 For Young Catholics to one of those long drill pages, I think to myself that it must seem like approaching Mt. Everest to a little kid.

Homeschooling mom Lorraine Espenhain has had bad days, with too much to do, long headaches... Sometimes the only answer is to put life on hold. 'Me time.'

Two great ancient philosophers, Marcus Aurelius in Meditations and Boethius in The Consolation of Philosophy — two works renowned for their great wisdom and moral power — teach the importance of the virtue of self-possession. Both writers observe that no persons can control the outside events that surround them.

In the folk tale, five brothers all choose their profession and perform their work with success and prosperity: a brick maker, a mason, an architect, an innovator, and a critic. However, only the oldest brother unites vocation and avocation, and only his work has effects for the future and for heaven.

In the story the merchant’s son who wasted his money finds himself in desperate circumstances until a friend gives him a magical flying trunk. When he flies with it and descends from the sky, he introduces himself as a Turkish god who has come from above to marry the king’s daughter. Honored with this privilege, the king gladly agrees to the marriage: “Yes, you shall certainly marry our daughter.”

The second principle in living the simple life is: Trusting in God’s providential love. But why is it so difficult for us to trust in Divine Providence? Why is it so easy to surrender all the areas of our lives to God except for the area of finances? Because trusting in the Lord requires the understanding that His divine plan is so much larger than our own.

First, stop insisting that you “went wrong” with your kids. I don’t know exactly how Jesus felt when He was betrayed by Judas. But I do know this: I know that Jesus did not wonder where He went wrong with Judas. Jesus didn’t “go wrong.”

Students should accomplish a substantial amount of academic work in the 10th and 11th grades. They have over-come the adjustment problems they may have encountered in 9th, and have not ...

We recently asked our readers to share homeschooling advice that they have found helpful or that they often share with others. Here are five of the most popular Catholic homeschooling ...

In Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s classic Gift from the Sea the author, using the leisure and recollection of a summer vacation at the ocean, reflects on the art of living a ...

by Jennifer Tutwiler | Homeschoolers tend to be an optimistic group. No matter what trials we faced in the previous school year, we look forward to the next with all the anticipation of a child awaiting Christmas. For some families, though, this optimism can fade as each year becomes a worsening repetition of the previous year’s challenges. Nothing works. Nothing improves. Survival is the only thing left. This was our own experience for three very long years.