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“It never turns out the way I imagine it,” she says, with tears in her eyes and disappointment on her face. It's 2022, my seventh year of homeschooling, and I'm trying something new by starting each homeschool day with art. I provide a steady rotation of sculpting and sketching prompts, with a once-a-week watercolour painting date thrown into the mix when I’m feeling brave. It’s time consuming and messy, and I am not great at coming up with creative and thought provoking prom

Homeschooling clearly comes with its difficult days. My children and I, we have no walls between us. We are vulnerable to our weakest points with each other. In this, I find so much beauty. I love that they can whine with me. Did you sense the sarcasm? Math againnnnnnnn? I am chuckling a little writing this. So, this is why when we found a learning process that brought joy on all fronts I just had to share it with you. Birds. Yes, apparently creating a bar graph about birds

It’s a new year and many have set new goals for 2026, specifically a nutritional diet. For my family, this means eating nutrient dense foods with a focus on dietary fats and meats instead of processed foods such as breads, cereals, pasta, crackers, etc. and having an understanding of updates to food guides in Canada and our neighbouring countries. I want to emphasize how important it is for me to put whole food first, along with dietary fats, for a huge improvement in my fami

We haul the box that held our Christmas tree for the last 10 months of its hibernation up the basement stairs and slit the tape holding it closed with a butter knife. My kids unpack one section of pre-lit bunched artificial greenery after another, and we plug each section into the one below until we reach the top. She’s a lopsided cone now, standing in the corner by the living room window. When we straighten her out and plug her in to the outlet on the wall, she looks like sh

These double chocolate peppermint cookies have earned a permanent spot in our family's holiday baking rotation. They’re simple but festive — perfect for munching on during tree trimming or a favorite holiday movie, or for bringing to a cookie swap. With no mixer required, these cookies are also an excellent baking project for kids of varying ages. My older ones love measuring out everything, melting the butter, and reading through the instructions, while the younger ones enth

A decade ago, not long before my husband and I made the decision to homeschool (and when I was somewhere in between “I will never homeschool!” and “Well, maybe we could do this”), I had a dream about a beautiful homeschool room. In this dream, I was shopping for a new house, and I woke up after viewing one with what I thought of at the time as a perfect homeschool space. It was bright and airy. Shelves lined the walls, begging to be filled with books. Large and open, there wa

"A new personal best. Yes! " Since I first became involved in fitness and health 24 years ago, I have been setting new goals each time. And now with my three children, I want to be able to teach them the same principles. Whether it be running, lifting a new weight, or preparing for a race or sport, one thing I found I always needed was strength . I do admit that when I was younger, it became about self reliance. I thought I could do things like parenting, being a teacher, or

a fun math activity (and a carpet in need of vacuuming) Surprises are not my favourite. I would rather know what's coming. I would rather be prepared. I would rather not be caught off guard. Enter parenting, followed a few years later by homeschooling, and the closest it seemed I ever got to a "Would you rather?" was "Would you rather help a frustrated kid with math or clean up the box of Cheerios that the toddler emptied onto the kitchen floor?" The unpredictability of those

Did you know there are 5 components of Physical Fitness? Each component should strive to improve your overall health and life: 1) cardiovascular endurance 2) muscular strength 3) muscular endurance 4) flexibility 5) body composition Although we should aim for a well balanced approach, have you stopped to consider what a spiritual approach might look like in these five areas? As we start our co-op year together, I want to encourage you to seek ways to grow in each area. In a s

“You have to let go of her sometime.” She’s given me parenting advice before, but I pause at this comment. I’ve just shared that our oldest will not be starting grade one at our local public school in September, and I’m not surprised about yet another unconvinced reaction to homeschooling. Dodging questions about my children's future social skills from near strangers and tolerating skeptical silence is my specialty. I have heard it all. It will hold them back. It will make th

Kate (Vice Chair) Kate is a high school English teacher turned homeschool mom in her eleventh year of homeschooling. When she’s not reading, baking, or sipping earl grey tea, you’ll probably find her exploring nature with her husband and three daughters. As MCHA’s Vice Chair, she takes care of scheduling, registration, and other behind-the-scenes planning. Dinah (Treasurer) Dinah has been a homeschool mama for 10 years and is also a trained ESL teacher. She has been married t