🎁 Simple + Screen-Free Advent and Gift Ideas

As our family embarks on an exciting new chapter (I can’t wait to share more soon!), I wanted to share some of our favorite Advent and Christmas gift ideas.

We love creating a simple, screen-free holiday atmosphere (with the exception of classic movies like Christmas Vacation and Home Alone), so you won’t find tech gadgets or gizmos on this list. 

Advent Ideas for your homeschool:

Hallelujah: Cultivating Advent Traditions with Handel's Messiah by Cindy Rollins - One of my all-time favorite guides.

All Creation Waits by Gayle Boss - We did this one when the kids were younger and it’s one of the sweetest books. We enjoyed Jennifer Pepito’s printable guide for this book.

My personal adult Advent daily reading I enjoy the most each year - super simple daily bits to read and reflect on: Joy to the World: Daily Readings for Advent by Charles H. Spurgeon

We plan to use Let Heaven and Nature Sing: Advent Art and Poetry Lesson Plans for All Ages from the Circe Institute this year with the family if we can get to it.

And just for fun because our family loves Escape rooms, puzzles and solving riddles together: EXIT: Advent Calendar - The Hunt for The Golden Book

Crack the crate

Crack the Crate - Both my kids (14 & 10) worked together to crack this case - and it’s really well done. Digging dragon eggs and solving crypto clues and it was the perfect difficulty level - not to difficult and not to easy! 

Screen-Free Gift Ideas:

Fahlo - Our kids LOVE animals, so we track about 10 animals with these unique bracelets that to help saving endangered species around the globe! Get 20% OFF Using code SIMPLE20 

Little Christmas Carol - If you enjoyed Little Pilgrim’s Progress, you might love this book too!

Book Lovers Gift Set (Okay, this one might be more for me!) haha

The Harry Potter Mystery Box – If your kids love receiving mail or subscription boxes, this would be the perfect gift that keeps on giving! Each box is filled with exclusive items from the Potterverse including memorabilia, artwork, accessories and more… cancel anytime!

More than a Puzzle! Our family adores putting these puzzles together and then taking it a step further and solving the clues to find the answer to each mystery! Some do say 14+ but our 10yo helped us solve multiple clues! Here are our favorites so far:

Jungle Escape Puzzle
The Art Studio Escape Puzzle
Midnight Garden Escape Puzzle

Zero Waste Gifts by Me Mother Earth – for the eco-conscious friends and family in your life

The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien (A Graphic Novel) - I’m snagging this for both kids!

Coffee Produced in Bird-Friendly Habitats (Another gift I’m asking for!)

FREEBIE!

Before you go, don’t forget to download my FREE 5-Day Gratitude Journal for you and your family! way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

As we prepare for the holiday season, I hope these Advent and Christmas gift ideas inspire you to create meaningful, tech-free traditions with your loved ones. Whether you're savoring quiet moments, enjoying classic holiday films, or diving into festive activities, may this season be filled with joy, connection, and cherished memories. 

☕️ Skill-Based Learning, Book-ish Updates, Fall Lessons and More…

Despite our family going through some major shifts, I still read as regularly as possible. In fact, reading helps me self-regulate! (You too?)

First, I’m sharing some books I’ve read (or am reading) this fall below, and I started a couple new book journals I’m excited to share more about in a later update.

Secondly, our Winter LIVE Classes are now enrolling. They’re about 1/3 full so while there’s still room if you’ve been on the fence, I wouldn’t wait too long!

Thirdly, I just completed another NEW, FANTASTIC Simple Studies Character Guide (woo hoo!) It releases November 12 - so be sure to check your email that day!

Love books? Me too! So glad you’re here!

Skill-Based Learning:

If you’re feeling tired and unmotivated – just know you’re not alone.

We ALL hit these slumps!

Sometimes lessons aren’t as fun as we think it’s going to be. I think that’s the case for so many of us who maybe enjoy our read alouds and then get everything in order, sit down and open up our daily lessons with our kids.

Just this week, our daughter was in tears (again) over math. I’m not doing anything crazy – in fact, we go slowly through each lesson and I’m privy to her individual needs – however, math just ain’t her thing (nor is it mine, no matter how “Charlotte Mason-ish” or “Montessori-ish” or hands-on I try to be).

I’m not ashamed to share this because I KNOW I’m not alone.

So instead of trying to crush math lessons every day, we take it a little bit at a time and instead, allow her to spend more time focusing on what she loves.

We don’t skip math but I can at least give her plenty of free time to explore the topics and activities she does enjoy to help set her up in life to use skills she’s naturally gifted with.

Encourage your kids to spend 80% of their time nurturing their natural strengths and passions. Dedicate the remaining 20% to building foundational skills in essential subjects—those areas that may not come as naturally but are valuable for life.

And when in doubt – read aloud! (Check out our favorite read aloud guides from past autumn months):

Let’s dive into the books!

Here’s a list of all the books I’ve been reading lately (they are not all clean - so please advise –it wouldn’t be fall without a bit of spooky mysteries and vampires!)

The Art of Living: The Classical Mannual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness (I’m taking diligent notes as I slowly chew on this book)

Odd and the Frost Giants (audiobook with the kids by one of my all-time favorite authors)

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Read aloud with my teen)

River Sing Me Home

The Serpent and the Wings of the Night (Duology, caution advised)

Meditations

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Audiobook with the kids – we have like 15 hours remaining and waiting for a roadtrip to knock it out!)

Our Narrow Hiding Places: A Novel (Audiobook)

The Secret History (Just starting this one - it begs to be read during the autumn season and comes highly recommended)

Just finished:

Woman in the Polar Night (One of my favorite books of the year. Talk about resilience! Last year I read Letters of a Woman Homesteader – I just love this non-fiction genre)

Weyward (They had me at the cover)

Blackbeard Audiobook (Short story based on a true story from 1920s - production was wonderful!)

Gray After Dark (based on a true story here in Idaho)

Into the Drowning Deep (Loved the creepy, marine biology/scientific approach to mermaid murder mysteries! Major caution advised with this one and I skip the parts that).

Annihilation: A Novel (My husband reminded me I’ve apparently seen this movie before but I can’t for the life of me remember how it was - he tells me it wasn’t that great).

Madwoman (a BOTM Club pick: Motherhood-focused mystery/fiction/thriller - kind of dark at times)

God of the Woods (Not bad! Not the best 500pg book out there but I love me some wilderness mysteries!)

Heartless Hunter (First in the Crimson Moth series - Better than I thought it would be but contains witchy stuff if you’re not comfortable with this)

More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (2nd book in the series)

Burn (I love Peter Heller books since they’re super outdoorsy (too much unnecessary cursing IMO) but this one was a disappointment IMO)

On my TBR before Fall ends
(I can’t honestly recommend any of these yet so please advise!):

Why Literature Still Matters by Jason Baxter (available Dec. 1)
The Will of The Many (Over 4.5 stars on Goodreads I simply need to stop procrastinating and dive in! I see this being recommended everywhere!)
The Wild Huntress (a BOTM Club pick)
Here One Moment (a BOTM Club pick)
HEIR (Spontaneous impulse purchase)
A House with Good Bones (I’ve enjoyed T. Kingfisher short novels when it’s dark outside)
What you are Looking for is in the Library (Because I love books about books and libraries)
The Story Collector, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Man’s Search for Meaning, Red Rising (All have been sitting on my shelf while I continue to collect and read other books).

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I hope you enjoyed this week’s update! I’m not super consistent when things are busy for us but I’m so glad you’re here 🥰

Teaching Citizenship with Purpose to All Ages

I received this email recently from a homeschooler: ”Hello!!! I would LOVE and even pay for a beginners guide to teaching citizenship and Plutarch. It feels so overwhelming to me for some reason I don’t even know where to begin, and I saw you mention in one of your videos it’s one of your favorite subjects to teach.” Warm wishes! - KM

I DO love teaching citizenship! But sometimes it sounds intimidating and I can understand why. Public school approaches these topics through subjects like “social studies” and “civics” and when homeschoolers talk about things like Rome and Plutarch and your child is 5 years old… it can feel confusing and overwhelming.

My initial response is to suggest checking out Heroes & Hope and Exploring Political Ideologies for older students, but these are launching pads to dive even deeper and appreciate this subject area.

That’s why today, I’m diving into how we can teach citizenship with purpose to all ages.

Reading through our Heroes & Hope book with my kids in April 2020!

Charlotte Mason viewed citizenship as an essential part of education, helping individuals understand their role and responsibility within society. Her approach was rooted in character formation, moral integrity, and a deep understanding of history, government, and social order.

We also don’t structure our homeschool like a traditional school, with social studies workbooks and tests.

Still, I firmly believe that citizenship encompasses the whole person—their values, beliefs, internal moral compass, and leadership development.

One key aspect I should mention is that I approach citizenship differently with my son and daughter, based on their God-given strengths, skills, and interests. In other words, our son is wired differently than his little sister. Nevertheless, they both deserve exposure to Plutarch, for example. While they may not both be naturally inclined to pursue studies in battle leadership, they are both inclined toward character development and ethics.

Here’s a brief overview of how we’ve approached teaching citizenship over the past 10 years:

1. Starting in Form 2B (Grade 4): We begin by gradually reading Stories from the History of Rome by Ms. Beesly. The children give an oral or a drawing narration.

2. Moving to Citizenship Primers: After completing Stories from the History of Rome, we introduce a citizenship primer like The Young Citizen Reader by Paul Reinsch. Alongside this, we start reading through a Plutarch Primer to familiarize the children with the lives and teachings of Plutarch, the Greek historian and biographer. Plutarch's Lives (or Parallel Lives)—biographies of notable Greeks and Romans—are considered foundational in classical education, including in Charlotte Mason's method.

3. Incorporating Other Stories, Current Events and Guides: While working through the primers, we also explore other historical stories and biographies, using resources like Heroes & Hope, Courage and Exploring Political Ideologies to discuss the ideas and values tied to citizenship. We enjoy poetry like Lyra Heroica, and books like Ourselves and the Socratic Dialogues. There are a plethora of great books depending on what you think your child might enjoy reading and discussing! I offer more ideas in my form guides which you can find here and here.
   
   We also incorporate daily Current Events (as Charlotte Mason recommends). We’ve been using WORLDWATCH for a couple years and the kids BEG to watch it daily.
   
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4. Diving Deeper into Plutarch: As we progress, we read Plutarch’s Lives together and discuss the various lives. Initially, my son and I read together, using guides from communities like The CMEC, The Alveary, and Ambleside Online. However, as our schedule became busier and I was reading aloud for most of the day, my son transitioned to online Plutarch classes with a community of students. For the past two years, his favorite has been classes with Thomas Banks from House of Humane Letters.

5. Engaging in In-Person Discussions on GREAT books: Finally, our kids participate in in-person groups where they get to discuss good books and citizenship values with their peers, focusing on the good, the true, and the beautiful. These can include things like sci-fi or fantasy fiction novels, historical fiction and more.

The key is to not box yourself in! Sure, we can enjoy a path with what others have studied for history AND we can include exciting books and dialogue with others based on modern society and the world we live in and the ideas and challenges we battle today.

In the end, as homeschool parents, our role isn’t to teach everything. It's about exposing our children to a rich feast of ideas and allowing them to explore these topics at their own pace.

I hope this is helpful!

Successful Homeschool Parents Don’t Keep Secrets 🥤

Hi friends! I’m really excited to share some exciting things shaping up this season. Until then, like most of you, we’re aiming to keep our homeschool healthy. Because without our health, we’re limited in our joy and our achievements.

To help boost our immune systems each fall, we consume things like bone broth, raw milk, and a slue of homeopathic, natural remedies.

One of my favorite immunity brands I’ve used for years is FeelGoods. “Like most kids, we'd run to our moms when we had a cold, tummy ache, or just felt crummy. And they always had some remedy for us—an herbal potion whipped up out of nowhere. After years of testing and tasting endless botanicals, meeting with homeopathic experts, and staying true to mama's healing touch, we crafted our first mix. And Feel Goods was born.”

If you love natural remedies like us, use code CRYSTAL87233 for $10 off of any purchase. 🥤

A few more things we’re focused on this year is LESS is MORE. IYKYK

Morning Circle Changes:

The past several years, I’ve packed so many beautiful subjects into our morning circle time together. But when it came down to it, our kids were less likely to enjoy their independent lessons the longer our morning circle time went on. Our oldest, in particular, became grumpy knowing he still had a lot on his plate AFTER we spent an hour together.

So this year, I’ve backed off a tad. We only tackle about 3-4 things each morning circle - and on busy days, we might only tackle two subjects that take us 20-25 minutes max.

Our NEW current morning circle loop schedule:

Monday: No morning circle b/c we have community.
Tuesday: Bible, Artist/Picture Study, Read Aloud 1-2 chapters
Wednesday: Bible, Poetry, American History Mysteries, Read Aloud 1-2 chapters
Thursday: Ancient History, Recitation, Read Aloud 1-2 chapters
Friday: Bible, Poetry or Recitation, Geography, Read Aloud 1-2 chapters

That’s it! We’ll switch to Composer Study in winter in leu of our Artist Study. Subjects like Shakespeare, tales and Folk Songs are done at different intervals each week, depending on our workload and extracurricular classes and activities.

I hope this encourages YOU to take your health and happiness into account as the temps cool down.

Stay tuned for some exciting fall updates I can’t WAIT to share with you soon!

Planning is Personal ✍🏻 4 Homeschool Fall Planning Tips + Ideas

As homeschool parents, we wear SO many hats—teacher, planner, chauffeur, chef and more. And if you also run a small business or are a creator/entrepreneur (like yours truly 🙋🏼‍♀️), it’s A LOT to manage, especially when each child is at a different stage in their learning journey. 

So I’ve put together a few tools and tips below👇🏻 to help you simplify your homeschool planning and stay organized throughout the year based on how my homeschool planning and record-keeping has evolved over the past 10 years. 

Before we dive in, I want to share a little disclaimer: 

I love spontaneity!

When things get too rigid or over-planned, I can start feeling boxed in and tempted to scrap everything. So, while I’m sharing our plans, remember that planning is personal!

Please don’t feel like you need to replicate what you see here—these are tailored to our family's unique rhythm, and no two days ever look exactly the same!

1) Plan at the End of Each Week 
(Instead of the night before):

Each Friday after lessons, I take 10-20 minutes to plan and prep for the upcoming week. This simple habit allows me to head into the weekend with confidence, knowing things are set for Monday—especially with weekends full of activities and sports (just like yours, I’m sure)!

This year, I’ve been using this teacher planner because of all the blank spaces and logbook all in one (In past years, I used this Moleskin and draw out each week myself).

2) Post-Plan, a Birds-Eye View Logbook

My Logbook is my birds-eye view of how we’re doing each term. I break it down into 6 week chunks (12 weeks = 1 term). 

It takes me 2 minutes to fill this portion out for the day while my kids are immersed in their independent lessons, filling in last-minute things we might have covered (but didn’t plan to) the day before.

As you can see, we do try to cover multiple subjects and topics each day and term. But we don’t try to cover them ALL.

Instead, we generally heavily focus on something specific such as specific science or history lessons or curriculum and then switch to something like a new foreign language or music the second term. 

No way we could fit everything in each week!

*Bonus Tip: Even if you didn’t cover a specific topic in your lessons but maybe your kids watched a video, listened to an audiobook in the car or did something creative like writing or painting in their free time, these are are equally important and valuable - so yes, mark it down!

3) Hourly Goals: At-a-Glance Notebook

I’m not super consistent with this yet, but I do find writing down hourly rhythms the night before allows me to wake up, stay focused and be more efficient with my time. 

Since I own a small curriculum business, I have to allot time to work on it or things don’t progress.

But at the end of the day, time with God, our family and my children’s education are my main priority and all else gets shoved aside.

I use this Moleskin Daily/Hourly Breakdown Notebook.

Bonus Tip #1- Just because you have an hourly breakdown in front of you doesn’t mean you should fill in each hour! Stay spontaneous!

Bonus Tip #2: These are “general” hourly breakdown allotments, oftentimes our oldest will have a class or homework during the time I have my “work” scheduled - so again - they’re guides, not absolutes!

4) Let your kids plan WITH you!

Why should mom be doing all the planning? Get your kids involved! Let them sit next to you as you discuss what your (and their) goals are and upcoming activities and weekly plans.

As they get into their middle and high school years, if you’re comfortable with this, let them decide how to spend their time and when/how they complete their lessons.

This helps kids learn time management skills and how to plan their own lives (because they won’t be under our roof forever). 

Our oldest uses this Student Planner to keep track of his daily lessons, homework and activities.

Whether you're a meticulous planner or prefer a more flexible approach, our Simple Studies Curriculum Guides are designed to adapt to your teaching style, are super flexible (simply open and do the next lesson) and give you confidence in your homeschool structure.

I’m here to help you enjoy this homeschool season while making it as smooth and stress-free as possible. Let me know if you have any questions or need some encouragement!