I get a lot of questions from parents who are considering homeschooling and just beginning their journey. We're just beginning our journey too (this is the year Z would have gone to kindergarten if she was attending public school) although we have known for years that we wanted to homeschool. Since Jeremiah and I tend to do a lot of reading, both online and in print, to support whatever project we happen to be taking on, we have collected a pretty substantial list of learning resources we have found very useful as we have begun homeschooling, and I wanted to share some of them with you - our favorite homeschooling books, forums, blogs, and websites - beginning today. The great thing about good homeschooling resources is that the activity-oriented books are also good enrichment resources any family can use, regardless of the context of their child's "main" education, so there should be something useful here for anyone who wants to better engage with their child on their learning path.

Getting started

These are the best homeschooling books we have read for the determining your goals and clarifying your perspective on the potential and challenges of homeschooling as you decide if this option is right for your family.

Teach Your Own by John Holt. if you're only going to read one introductory homeschooling book, it should be this one.

Understanding Waldorf Education: Teaching from the Inside Out by Jack Petrash

The Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World As Your Child's Classroom by Mary Griffith

The Homeschooling Book of Answers: The 101 Most Important Questions Answered by Homeschooling's Most Respected Voices by Linda Dobson

Homeschooling: The Early Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 3- to 8-Year-Old Child by Linda Dobson

Books for homeschoolers and public school families

These books have learning ideas useful for any family, whether it is for homeschooling or to supplement education that occurs outside of the home. We have and love the first three titles, and are very interested in and have heard good things about the other three.

The Complete Home Learning Source Book: The Essential Resource Guide for Homeschoolers, Parents, and Educators Covering Every Subject from Arithmetic to Zoology by Rebecca Rupp

Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves: Transforming Parent-child Relationships from Reaction and Struggle to Freedom, Power and Joy by Naomi Aldort

Playful Parenting by Lawrence J. Cohen

Family Math for Young Children by Jean Kerr Stenmark

1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up by Julia Eccleshare

The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas: 500+ Fun and Creative Learning Activities for Kids Ages 3-12by Linda Dobson

Internet resources

Here are some great web resources - forums and traditional web publications - for homeschooling families.

• Learning at Home and Beyond forum at Mothering.com - discussion groups for all different types of homeschoolers


• EclecticHomeschool.org


• DonnaYoung.org Homeschool Printables and Resources - This site has a ton of free printables - everything from lesson planners to math worksheets


• TheHomeschoolMom.com - More lesson plans and forms
  
• Home Education magazine site

Some of our favorite homeschooling blogs

We read a wide range of homeschooling blogs, and find great ideas on so many of them. But these are a few we have found that regularly provide us with inspiration, insight, and ideas into the art and habits of child-centered learning.

• 5 Orange Potatoes


• Camp Creek Blog


• Handbook of Nature Study


• Wee Folk Activities

Are you considering homeschooling, or homeschooling your children already? Do you have any favorite resources to share? Tell us in the comments!

Are you a normal human being? If so, you probably procrastinate in some areas of your life. Putting off stuff you just don’t want to do, stalling when you feel blocked, letting things stack up because you feel overwhelmed. Which of these sounds familiar?

The good news is that procrastination is just a strategy and one that can be easily shifted. And most of the time, the tasks that seem so daunting are much easier once you stop resisting them. But, you have to want to change the resistance pattern before you can really make progress.

As a parent, you have so little time anyway. The things you put off are likely to never get done. My good friend and professional organizer Krista Colvin says: "Now is the new later."

Here are five simple steps to shifting out of procrastination and into action:

1. How does procrastination affect your life? You are not going to be willing to change until become aware of how procrastinating is impacting your life. When you put things off, you tend to get even more overwhelmed. Sometimes relationships are challenged because your friends and family feel frustrated when you don’t follow through. You also have trouble reaching your goals when you are constantly resisting move forward. And resisting something often takes more energy than just doing it anyway! The truth is that procrastination keeps you stuck and hampers your success.


2. What do you really want? Often the things you are putting off are the things you don’t want to be doing anyway? Do the bills sit in piles and don’t get paid on time? Set up an on-line bill pay service. Are you always late for work? Time to rethink how you feel about your job. Putting off calling that friend back? Perhaps it is time to have the real conversation you have been avoiding, like changing the relationship. Procrastination can be a wonderful sign that it is either time to let something go or get some outside help.


3. Who can help you? Sometimes the projects and tasks we are avoiding are the ones that are most challenging for us. Getting some outside help or information can really make a difference! If cleaning out the garage is daunting, ask a friend who is really great at organizing to come and help you. Haven’t filed your taxes? Hire an accountant; it is worth every penny they will save you in penalties.


4. Make a plan: Make a list (right now, don’t put it off!) of all the things you have been putting off. Decide which ones you can let go of, which ones you can delegate and which ones you really want to do accomplish. Now, visit our previous post about goal setting and create your plan of action.


5. Celebrate your success! We bet you feel really great now that you have some things checked off your list! Remember to notice what is different in your life now that you are moving forward rather than stuck in gear. Reflecting on the positive change that happens when you get stuff accomplished will inspire you the next time you feel stuck in a procrastination cycle.

So, go ahead and tell us: What have you been putting off that you are now ready to complete? (I had been putting off writing this post and whew, I feel great now that it is done!)

Our family loves to ride bikes. From commuting to work to participating in long distance rides, my husband and I have always enjoyed the simplicity, sustainability, health benefits and great fun of riding bikes. But when you have small children, family rides can get a little more complicated. Through two kids, I've had experiences with balance bikes, mini bikes that attach to the back of an adult bike, and front- and rear-mounted child seats, so I thought I'd share a few impressions on our favorite kids' bike seat to date: The iBert Safe-T Seat.

Our toddler can balance for long distances on his pedal-free kids' bike. It's great for his own play, but not suitable for riding as a family.

When my older son (who is now 17) was little, I used a bike seat that attached to the back of my bicycle. While he enjoyed getting out on the bike with his mom, he often complained that he couldn’t see anything (besides my backside) and I didn’t like how difficult it was to talk to him. As he grew older, we got a Trail-A-Bike that was a blast for us both. We rode daily to school and even did some short “long distance” rides (25 miles) with friends.

Now, our younger son wants to be more involved in our bicycling adventures. He isn’t willing to sit quietly in a trailer and we knew he would want to see everything we were seeing from our bikes. So after my husband made a trip to Tokyo and saw countless Japanese families riding around with front-mounted child bike seats, we researched front seats online and found one available in the U.S.

The iBert Safe-T Seat allows our toddler to really participate in the ride. Since the seat faces forward and attaches near the handlebars, he can see where we are going, is able to talk to us while we are riding and feels safe right between our arms rather than being banished to the back of the bike. Out on a typical ride, he points out objects like airplanes, animals (he loves cats) and other bicyclists and is able to put his hands on the handlebars (which can be a liability if you aren’t paying attention).

The iBert Safe-T is recommended for children ages one to four with a maximum weight of 38 pounds and a maximum height of 42 inches.

The cost is reasonable compared to seats that go on the back of a bike - at around $85 it's cheaper than some, and costs more than just a few. Better still, assembly is a piece of cake - it literally took five minutes to install, and has a quick-release for the seat so you can ride solo again quickly. That's a great feature!

There are two drawbacks to the iBert:

1. Your handlebar stem needs to have 3/4" clearance for the iBert to fit properly, so make sure to measure it if you're thinking about getting one. Our family is proof that the mounting bar doesn’t fit on all bikes - it fits on two of the five bikes we have between us.


2. Ergonomically, it doesn't work equally for all users. My husband is tall (6 foot 1 inch) and he still has plenty of knee room to pedal. For me at 5 foot 3 inches tall, it is not as comfortable. Reaching over my son to get to my handlebars, I feel crowded. So, he usually rides with his Dad.

The seat has a very minimal affect on the handling of the bicycle and the balance feels natural, with more of the weight towards the front rather than the back of the bike.

Overall, the iBert seat is simple to use and our son loves it so much he asks to go on bike rides!