Learning the Heart of Homeschooling

  The Heart of Homeschooling As the school year is coming to a close, many of use are thankful for the rest.  Homeschool years are active years and often leads to exhaustion.  Sadly for many it leads to frustration.  But as we get the time to rest, let’s reflect on the true heart of homeschooling. Homeschooling is a lifestyle–not an institution. It is led by the heart while holding the hand of a loving God for guidance. Keep your eyes focused on your calling to educate your children academically, emotionally and spiritually. Children should feel like your greatest joy and … Continue reading

Online Safety in the Home

I read a disheartening statistic today. A recent study showed that children are only three clicks away from viewing adult content on youtube. Since we don’t have cable in our home, we often turn to youtube to watch some of my son’s favorite shows together. He knows how to navigate the site well enough to get to the shows he wants, but now I’m not so sure that’s a good thing. The study showed that while watching Dora children were only four clicks away from a music video featuring swearing and nudity. While watching Sesame Street they were a mere … Continue reading

Baby Born with Heart Outside Her Body Goes Home

Audrina Cardenas was born with ectopia cordis. Her heart was located outside of her body. She survived the surgery to put her heart back where it should be. Now, she is able to go home from the hospital and be with her family. Ectopia cordis is a congenital condition. This means it is “present from birth”. It means that the baby’s heart was not in the right place. Instead, it was located outside of the chest wall (and outside of the body). It is a very rare condition. Only 8 babies out of every million are born with it. The … Continue reading

Homeschool Blog Focus: Brighton Park

  Brighton Park is a 2012 Circle of Moms Top 25 Homeschool blog, a Siemens Top 50 Farm Blog, and was recently featured in the Jan/Dec 2013 issue of Hobby Farm Home Magazine. Meet Katie Katie is the face behind Brighton Park.   Katie is a pediatric speech language pathologist.  Her homeschool curriculum is a hybrid of Catholic/Waldorf, or as her kids call it “Crafty Catholic”. She is a mom of five beautiful children, including twins with special needs. In addition, she is a yoga teacher, crafter, gardener, decorator, and backyard chicken keeper.  She loves inspired homeschooling and artful homemaking. You … Continue reading

Will 2013 be the Year That You Start a Home Based Business?

If you feel strongly that 2013 will be the year that you start a home – based business, good for you. You are in good company here on the home – based business blog, where we wholeheartedly encourage anyone and everyone to consider whether working from home will work for them. If you have all of the drive and desire to start your business but you are not sure what type of business to start, here are a few suggestions. Even if one of them does not appeal to you, this list may be enough to get you thinking about … Continue reading

Frugal and Free Homeschooling {part 1}

Many have pushed aside the idea of homeschooling due to a lack of finances.  Many make the decision to stop homeschooling because of a difficult financial time.  Hearts that feel the impact of failing make decisions that cause them to retreat and not go forward. You are not a failure.  If you are experiencing a hard time or you feel you can not afford to homeschool, do not feel shame.  Many more struggle behind those happy Facebook status updates and expensive looking science experiments on blogs. A few years ago, I was in a financial situation that I feared would … Continue reading

Toddler Goes Home After 850 Days in Hospital

Imagine what it would be like to have spent your entire life in a hospital. This is the reality for a toddler in Texas. She was born with her intestines outside of her body. After many surgeries, the little girl is finally able to go home and spend Christmas with her family. Adalynn Willett is a two year old who has spent her entire young life in Cook Children’s Medical Center, in Fort Worth, Texas. She was born with a condition called omphalocele. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is a birth defect of the abdominal … Continue reading

Holiday Gifts from the Heart

The holiday season is an ideal time to teach kids about the importance of giving.  This year, though, consider doing one better by giving your children the opportunity to take a hands-on approach to gift-giving. There’s no need to break the bank purchasing expensive holiday presents for loved ones when you can use your creativity and other talents to craft a slew of special treats.  Show kids that by putting their heart into making a personal present for a loved one they will be giving a giving a gift you can’t put a price tag on. Some simple ideas include: … Continue reading

Can Your Homeschool Blog Earn Money? {Part 1}

The homeschool cup runneth over with homeschool blogs.  Many frazzled homeschool moms and those at a loss for inspiration have found restoration in many of the amazing homeschool blogs on the net today.    My experiences blogging about homeschooling has opened up a world that I may have otherwise missed; both as a homeschooling mom and as one who profits from blogging.  Many homeschool moms have also discovered this opportunity and desire to learn more about profiting from their blogs. Since most homeschool homes balance on the tip of one income this potential source of support or business is becoming more … Continue reading

Baby Born With Heart Outside Her Body Survives

A five week old baby was born with her heart outside her body. This condition is one what frequently results in death. This time, doctors were able to preform surgery and save little Audrina Cardenas. It is unknown what her long term prognosis will be, but right now, she is doing well. The technical name for the condition that Audrina was born with is Ectopia cordis. It is a congenital condition, which means that it is “present from birth” (or before birth). It means that the baby’s heart was not in the place where it was supposed to be located. … Continue reading