Life Unboxed Blog

Parenting is hard, but it is also the greatest thing we will ever do. This parent guide is going to walk you through the hardest stage of parenting. No, it isn’t the infant, toddler, or preschool stages. The hardest stage of parenting is launching your teen/young adult kids. 

Yes, I need a parent guide for it. Since it is hard to find, let us share our knowledge and walk each other through the hardest stage of parenting. The launching stage. 

Each stage of parenting comes with its challenges. And I’ve...

Grading. This is the dreaded task. You know the kind of task you need to psyche yourself up for days ahead of time. And grading for 4 kids multiplies this feeling by 4. Teaching multiple grades, figuring out the right curriculum, and keeping grades for school, it can get overwhelming. Keeping grades is not my favorite thing to do, but over the years, through trial and error, I've found a system that works. 

 If you are feeling mom guilt when it comes to keeping grades for school, banish it. You homeschool because you want to tailor curriculum and teaching fo...

Homeschooling high schoolers means you are almost finished homeschooling. Unless, there are younger kids, then it is just the start of a new and exciting chapter in your homeschool journey. 

But homeschooling high schoolers might feel like a giant leap from the elementary years. And you are also planning for after high school, college or not to college, and really preparing your students for the rest of their lives.  

No pressure, right?

Show notes and links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/high-schoolers/

Grab your guide today! The Momtrepreneur's Guide to Homeschool Cu...

Are you wanting to live your impossible dream, but you don't know how to make money from home and homeschool your kids?  

Show notes and links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/how-to-make-money-from-home

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW: 

My Story from Corporate Workhorse to Momtrepreneur
Managing Information
Mug Nerds (Etsy Shop)
Don't Up is the Wrong Advice
How is Success Defined
Mom Boss 2.0 Workbook (Free Download)
The Beginners Guide to Working and Homeschooling
Is Time Blocking the Best Way?
Create a Routine 

Mom Boss 2.0 Course
Rou...

Highschool credits are important regardless of the path your teenager takes. If your homeschooling highschool, then you need to know about highschool credits. 

Understanding homeschool highschool credits is going to help you create a strong homeschool high school transcript, and preparing your teen for life beyond homeschool. If you've ever wondered how many credits your teen needs and how to assign them, you're in the right place.  

Yes, the idea of planning for high school can feel overwhelming at first, but let me help you simplify the process, so you can co...

Homeschooling moms are divided on this issue. We want to homeschool for the freedom to not be tied to our desks. Yet, homeschooling online opens the door for so many opportunities. What's a mom to do? 

There are pros and cons to homeschooling online. There isn't a one-size fits all approach to it. You know your kids, their personalities, and what works and what doesn't. 

Show notes and links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/homeschooling-online 

Find your tribe. Join the online community: Rebel Moms Club for Working Homeschool Mom:  https://www.facebook.com/grou...

 Show notes and resources mentioned in the episode: https://lifeunboxed.blog/self-care/

Self-care is a word that I love to hate. Mainly because the Instagram version of it is in conflict with reality. Is there a better way to self-care than what we see on Instagram? 

Self-care is a trendy buzzword now, and I am fully aware that it can seem inaccessible for work from home and homeschool moms. We are always busy. Always exhausted. Running on coffee and the most convenient snack we can pull out of the pantry.  

B...

It is that time of year, planning for homeschooling! Out with the old curriculum or posted on Ebay, and in with the new. 

Planning for homeschooling can be fun and exciting, but it can also be a bit overwhelming. Whether you are new or a veteran, making sure you haven't missed anything can be stress paralyzing. Let's take the stress out of planning for homeschooling. 

Show notes and links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/planning-for-homeschooling/ 

Find your tribe. Join the online community: Rebel Moms Club for Working Homeschool Mom:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/rebelmomsclub 

G...

Some days feels like chaos as a working at home mom. Even to the point of researching private school tuition and wondering if you should get an office job. 

Mom, if you’re juggling work, homeschool, family, and everything in between, then grab your coffee (you need that to conquer the world), let’s tame the chaos, and create a plan for working at home mom.

Show notes and links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/working-at-home-mom/

Grab your guide today! The Momtrepreneur's Guide to Homeschool Curriculum: https://lifeunboxed.blog/homeschool-curriculum/

RES...

Creating a flexible fall homeschool schedule is going to give you the homeschool freedom you want while ensuring those little clones you created are learning. 

The transition between summer break and starting a new school year isn't easy. Even if you did some schoolwork during the summer. Your kids and you enjoyed the break. And it was needed. Never feel guilty about taking a break. We all need to time to recover and reset. 

Let's take on these challenges and create a flexible fall homeschool schedule that works for you, your kids, and takes the st...

Get all the links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/writing-a-book/ 

Writing a book is a great way to add creative writing to your homeschool.  

Liven up your homeschool language arts by writing a book. 

As homeschoolers, we have the unique opportunity to really take the time to make writing enjoyable and fun. I know most college assignments will be the 5 paragraph essay, so that is important to know. Or you can just wing it if you decide to do dual enrollment in high school. But once your kids understand the structure of...

Hiring your kids in your business is a great way to boost their resume, teach practical life skills, and add help for those mundane tasks you don’t want to do. 

I have a confession. Like all confessions, I will probably lose my momtrepreneur status. But here goes. I don’t want to grow my business to the point of needing to hire anyone. I know shocking. Every business owner is supposed to want to grow to the point of creating an empire. But that’s not one of my business goals. However, there are things that I don’t...

You've been homeschooling a while or you just started, and you've discovered that you got this. Yes, you can really teach your kids. You are sailing along on your homeschool journey. It's not perfect, but it is good. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, your child hits 8th grade. The panic starts to slowly creep in. What are you going to do for high school? All of your homeschool comes down to this moment. Your validation as a teacher, and whether or not you messed up your kids for life. It all comes to a head during these years. Ok...

If you want to set each day up for success, tame the chaos before it starts, and just have a good day. Then you need to create a morning routine. 

I know the prevailing thought is to schedule every minute of your day. If you want to get it all done, then every minute should be scheduled. Or the opposite is pushed—never schedule, just be free and spontaneous. Both extremes don’t work well. The best thing you can do to find balance in the force is to create a morning routine. 

Show n...

Summer break and work from home can really be a mixed bag of emotions. Your excited that the schoolwork is finally done. You finished the year, good or bad, it is done. But then there is trepidation wondering what you are going to do with the kids all summer long. You are still working. Then you are back to relief because you get a break from grading. You no longer need to remind them to do their schoolwork.

Then you are back to dread because you need to figure how to balance summer break and work from...

Homeschool all in one curriculums are a work from home mom’s secret weapon. But they get a bad rap in the homeschool world. 

If you want to streamline your education journey, save time, and still tailor education for your kids. Then let’s dive into the ultimate guide to homeschool all in one curriculum.  

There are so many homeschool curriculum options out there. It is hard to know where to start. Then throw in the added pressure that you if you are going to be a real homeschool mom you need to write your own cu...

Dual enrollment. I actually have a lot to say about it. At this point, my oldest son finished his associates degree, and my next two teens are about to start their second year. So I wanted to give an update on our experience with dual enrollment. 

Between the three of them, they’ve attended six different colleges. So where do I start with sharing our experience with dual enrollment. 

This post is going to be a review of dual enrollment—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Show notes and li...

Homeschooling is about freedom. It is freedom to choose your curriculum and work on your schedule. But it doesn’t mean this freedom is always easy. It does take intention. One of the areas that requires intention is understanding learning styles.

Show notes and links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/learning-styles/

Grab your guide today! The Momtrepreneur's Guide to Homeschool Curriculum: https://lifeunboxed.blog/homeschool-curriculum/

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:

How to Choose the Best Curriculum for Your Tribe: 

Visual and Oral Methods of Learning: https://classroom.synonym.com/history-learning-styles-5381758.html

Get all the links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/homeschool-preschool/ 

Do you really need to homeschool preschool? The short answer is no. Now you can stop reading and be on your merry way. 

But if you want to homeschool preschool, then do it. And keep reading as I share all my tips on homeschool preschool. 

Homeschool preschool has been a saga for us. I have bought the expensive curriculum for the first 5 kids, and then promptly kicked myself because I spent so much money on something that was frustrating for everyone. You...

Do you feel like your previous homeschool year was a disaster? Now is the time to reflect on your homeschool life and determine how to make next year better…or at least avoid the things that made this year hard. 

Homeschool life is challenging. I know I am stating the obvious. But there are things that can take you from this is challenging, to that was a complete disaster I don't know if I should continue with this experiment. 

Mom, I think you should keep going, and I want to walk you through why you felt...

Show notes and links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/homeschool-curriculum-for-kindergarten/ 

There was a time that I was terrified of teaching kindergarten. It didn’t matter how good the homeschool curriculum for kindergarten was, I just didn’t want to do it. 

It was much easier to send the kids to school for kindergarten and first grade. Then once they had the basics down, I would bring them home and homeschool them. Then I didn’t need to worry about finding the best homeschool curriculum for kindergarten. 

Find your tribe. Join the online co...

A homeschool co-op is a lot of fun, but it also fills the outlet for homeschool socialization. There are different types of co-ops, but a true homeschool co op is parent led and involved. Usually, the parents are teaching all the classes.  

Now I know your first thought is, “What can I teach?” There are so many homeschool co-op ideas, but I know it is hard to know what you will enjoy teaching. You can see the previous 25 homeschool co-op class ideas. And here are 25 more easy co-op classes.

You can easily teach a homeschool co-op...

Working moms from home, do you feel like the to do list is never ending. You finally get to check a project off this list, just to add three more to it. It can feel overwhelming and never ending.  

What is the secret to mastering time management for working moms from home?

Show notes and links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/working-moms-from-home/ 

Find your tribe. Join the online community: Rebel Moms Club for Working Homeschool Mom:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/rebelmomsclub 

Grab your guide today! The Momtrepreneur's Guide to Homeschool Curr...

You want to teach a co-op class, but you don't know what to teach? Here are 25 easy homeschool co-op class ideas you can put together, and you don't need to be an expert.

Here are co-op class ideas that I've taught, the kids have participated in, or been in our co-op. I tried to offer as many ideas for the class. Ideas for art classes, literature and communication, history and geography, and more!

 Show notes and links: https://lifeunboxed.blog/homeschool-co-op-class-ideas

 RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:

Art Co-op Curriculum
Find Id...

Warm days are right around the corner. If you are ready to put away the school books and start looking forward to summer, then let's talk about bucket list ideas for summer. 

Yes, mom, you need to finish out the school year, so don't put the books away just yet, but you can start planning your big adventures and make a bucket list ideas for summer. 

Summer is the perfect time to step outside of your comfort zone and take on a new adventure to make unforgettable memories. This bucket list ideas fo...