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Jen Merckling

life.unimaginable

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12 Favorite Christmas Books for Kids (and kids at heart)

I love everything about Christmas. All the traditions…all the food…all the music…movies, decorations, lights, parties…All. Of. It.  And of course–all the books! Like the smell of Christmas trees or sugar cookies, Christmas books have an amazing way of whisking us back to childhood–the vivid pictures and words bring it all rushing back. And of course…

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Filed Under: Family, Holidays, Homeschooling Tagged With: Advent, Affiliate, Christmas, Favorite Books

It’s Okay–Give Your Homeschool Permission to These 5 Things

Whew…We just made it through our first few weeks of the new homeschool year. Even after 16 years–the transition from summer to school still exhausts me.  So in case you’re feeling a little overwhelmed (and wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into), I want to send you a hug and let you know that it’s okay…The…

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Filed Under: Encouragement, Homeschooling Tagged With: Affiliate, Back to Homeschool, Homeschool Encouragement, How to Homeschool

2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum–What We Loved

Sometimes I get really excited about my homeschool curriculum picks and just have to share them–even before we use them…This year I decided to write my curriculum picks reflectively… (And I procrastinated.) But now you can see what worked and what ended up being tweaked a bit as the year progressed! That’s the beauty of…

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Filed Under: Curriculum, Elementary, Homeschooling Tagged With: Affiliate, Curriculum Review, Encouragement, Homeschool 2nd grade, Homeschool Curriculum

children homeschooling

6 Things No One Tells You About Homeschooling…

I’m getting ready to officially start my 17th year of homeschooling!  I can hardly believe it. I have a senior, a 3rd grader, and twins in kindergarten…The senior is my first child to officially graduate from our homeschool (my oldest two kids graduated from public high school). Homeschooling has truly become our lifestyle…But I still remember…

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Filed Under: Encouragement, Homeschooling Tagged With: Affiliate, Encouragement, Homeschool, How to Homeschool

4 Books that Will Make You Rethink Homeschooling, Unschooling, & How You Parent

As a former public school teacher, gold-star sticker student, and general rule-follower…I never really considered unschooling.  I don’t like the word. And quite frankly–I thought it sounded like a bunch of crazy talk. Who are these wild moms? I can only be so countercultural! Homeschooling is my max-limit—thank-you-very-much. To me unschooling sounded too much like…

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Filed Under: Encouragement, Homeschooling Tagged With: Affiliate, Books, Encouragement, Homeschool Resources, How to Homeschool

20 Lessons After 20 Years of Motherhood

This year I’ll be celebrating my 21st Mother’s Day as a mom…My oldest child is 20 years old–I became a mother at age 22. I’ve almost spent more of my life as a mom than not. But no matter how long you’ve been a mom, entering motherhood is a defining moment.  A bridge, that once…

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Filed Under: Family, Lifestyle Tagged With: Affiliate, Faith, Motherhood

Is Saxon Math Right for Your Homeschool?

I’ve been using Saxon Math for almost as long as I’ve been homeschooling…(16 years).  It’s my staple, no-brainer curriculum choice year after year. For whatever reason–talk of math curriculum brings out some really strong emotions among the homeschool crowd. We’re fierce about our math! Perhaps because math is such a foundational subject or perhaps because…

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Filed Under: Curriculum, Homeschooling, Math Tagged With: Affiliate, curriculum, Curriculum Review, math, Saxon Math

2020 Homeschool Mom Conference

It’s that time of year…Homeschool Conference Season!  This year, many in-person conferences have been delayed or rescheduled for later in the summer (we hope). I’ve been involved with the online Homeschool Mom Conference since it started in 2018…It’s the original online homeschool conference! But because the concept is still relatively new–you might be wondering exactly how…

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Filed Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: 2020 Homeschool Mom Conference, Affiliate

How to Start Homeschooling: The Ultimate Guide

I have been homeschooling 16 years…It’s not something I ever imagined doing–but now I can’t imagine my life without it. If you’re at the beginning of the journey, I just want to come along beside you and give you a huge hug.  You can do this!   (Currently, some of you find yourselves schooling-at-home temporarily because…

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Filed Under: Curriculum, Early Learning, Elementary, Encouragement, High School, Homeschooling, Middle School Tagged With: Affiliate, curriculum, Getting Started, How to Homeschool

Letter A : Crafts & Activities

Let the games begin! My 5 year-old twins are just beginning to learn how to read!  They’re on step one: Learning the letters and corresponding sounds. We’re using my phonics curriculum: Ready for Reading (I created it especially for them and other homeschool families after years of teaching my other 4 children to read and…

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Filed Under: Early Learning, Homeschooling, Reading Tagged With: Affiliate, Apples, Crafts, Kindergarten, Letter A, Preschool, Ready for Reading

6 Reading Strategies for New or Struggling Readers

Training wheels…Sometimes I feel like teaching children to read is much like teaching them to ride a bike.  Some kids are super confident–“Take these training wheels off; let me go!” (These are the amazing early readers that apparently all the other moms have…If only kids reading too much was your biggest problem!) And then there…

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Filed Under: Early Learning, Elementary, Homeschooling, Reading Tagged With: Affiliate, First Grade, Kindergarten, Learning to Read, Preschool, Reading, Reading Strategies, Second Grade, Sight Words, Struggling Readers, Third Grade

How to Clean Your House Fast

So the hard truth about house cleaning–it never ends.  But if you can build good habits and routines–it will “practically,” clean itself…And I know this sounds a little too Mary Poppins-ish to be comforting (now  “A Spoonful of Sugar” is stuck in my head).  But it’s really true… And what’s also true…habits and routines can take…

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Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: Affiliate, Crisis Cleaning, FlyLady, House Cleaning, Housekeeping, Housework

Don't miss these 10 BEST Tips to Successfully Homeschool High School! Give your teen the life skills they need to succeed & achieve their dreams! #homeschool #highschool #howtohomeschool #tips #homeschoolhighschool

10 Best Tips to Successfully Homeschool High School

Today it’s a pleasure to have Miranda Lamb, The Reluctant Cowgirl, on the blog…After homeschooling through high school, she’s sharing her 10 Best Tips to Successfully Homeschool High School! Welcome, Miranda!  Homeschooling through high school was never part of my plan. But I made the mistake of going to a homeschool graduation. As I sat in…

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Filed Under: Encouragement, High School, Homeschooling Tagged With: Affiliate, High School, Homeschool, Homeschooling High School, Teens, the homescholar

Great pumpkin lesson ideas and super simple pumpkin craft for kids! Grab my free printable pumpkin activity and get started with your kids!

Super Simple Pumpkin Craft & Activity for Kids

What the heck even happened to October, Sweet Friends? Scary, wicked how time flies! This past weekend we did our annual trip to the pumpkin patch and the pickins were a little slim…(And it was an absolute crowded, crazy zoo…People in huge lines to ride a tractor and buy kettle corn…It was a NO for me. I…

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Filed Under: Early Learning, Elementary, Holidays, Homeschooling Tagged With: Activities for Young Kids, Affiliate, Book Recommendations, Crafts, Fall, Halloween

3 Reasons I Love Homeschooling...even on the mundane days! Homeschooling may not always be cute and exciting--but it's always worth it! #homeschool #encouragement #howtohomeschool #homeschoolbenefits #whyihomeschool

When Your Homeschool Moments Aren’t Instagram Worthy

Most of the moments in our homeschool days don’t feel very “Instagram,” worthy…I wish they could all be cute with pinecones, flowers, and watercolors…(And pants—pants are good.) But no—many of our moments don’t make for great photo ops…The daily grind isn’t always very romantic: math, phonics, worksheets. Not to mention dirty dishes and piles of…

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Filed Under: Encouragement, Homeschooling Tagged With: Affiliate, Encouragement, Homeschool, How to Homeschool

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Hello! Welcome--I'm Jen! I've got 6 kiddos, twins, toddlers, teens--lots of laundry and always dirty dishes! I've been Jason's wife for 20 years, a mommy for 18 years, and a homeschooler for 14 years...I'd love to be friends. ♡

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Happy New Year!!🤩 Time to take down this tree Happy New Year!!🤩

Time to take down this tree & make some changes in 2021!🥳

{GIVEAWAY—Closed!! Winners have been notified —Congratulations to Sarah & Amy!}🎉❤️

But you still have time to join me for the Make Over Your Life Summit!🥰

We're covering all the things...in 8 individual tracks or grab the All-Access Pass:

❤️Marriage 
❤️Spiritual Life 
❤️Schedules 
❤️Home 
❤️Motherhood
❤️Homeschool 
❤️Health 
❤️Finances
Starts Monday--but Early Bird Registration (and best price) is NOW!
{Link in My Bio!!}
This sweet little book is meant to be read with ou This sweet little book is meant to be read with our little ones! They love joining in & “reading” the pictures! ❤️ 
It’s part of The Story of Christmas product in my shop—which also includes a game, narration, & coloring pages. 
 
Link in my bio!!❤️
All dressed up & nowhere to go!😂 #2020life All dressed up & nowhere to go!😂 #2020life
Happy Halloween from Harry, Hermione, & Professor Happy Halloween from Harry, Hermione, & Professor McGonagall!🎃🧙‍♀️
Math can be cozy too!❤️ We’re loving The G Math can be cozy too!❤️ 

We’re loving The Good and The Beautiful Math 3!❤️ 

Decided to mix it up a bit & try something different for math...Have you found any curriculum gems this year?❤️
Learning + Play = Engaged Learners The twins hel Learning + Play = Engaged Learners 

The twins helped the shapes move into their new homes! They are still playing...😉 

So excited about Ready for Math...Coming  Spring of 2021!🎉💗

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