Swimming forward: How to stick with homeschooling after you've begun
Jot down the progress your child makes, the accomplishments in each school area, no matter how small. I suggest keeping a notebook rather...
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Learning Styles
How to Boost Learning by Reinforcing
Your Child's Strengths
Sharon Hancock
- Oct 17, 2023
- 3 min
Empower Your Child from the Inside Out: Dispel the LIES of Learning
If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If broken by an inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from the inside....
Sharon Hancock
- Jul 10, 2023
- 5 min
The Tie That Rocked Women’s Sports: Riley Gaines Speaks in Loudoun County About Transgender Athletes
Riley Gaines Barker and Pastor Gary Hamrick at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia LEESBURG, VIRGINIA—When Riley Gaines’s hand hit...
Sharon Hancock
- Jun 27, 2023
- 5 min
Emotional Intelligence: Reach Your Child's Heart and Communicate More Effectively with Everyone
Don’t let emotions cloud your judgment. Let reason be your guide. Take a step back and assess the situation objectively. More than likely...
Sharon Hancock
- Jun 15, 2023
- 4 min
Record Crowd Attends Kirk Cameron Story Hour at Loudoun County Public Library
Kirk Cameron speaking at Gum Spring Library/Photo by Kate Foelsch STONE RIDGE, VA—Actor, author, and director Kirk Cameron attracted a...
Sharon Hancock
- May 30, 2023
- 3 min
Me! Me! Me! The Impact of Interrupting Your Child and How to Bite Your Tongue
“Don’t you think the city council ought to expand Maple Street to alleviate the rush hour traffic?” demanded a booming voice a few yards...
Sharon Hancock
- May 30, 2023
- 3 min
You Got This: Steering Straight in Your Homeschool Journey
I fondly remember canoeing at the nearby Tomoka State Park, where my family often spent Saturdays when I was a girl. Exploring the shaded...
Sharon Hancock
- Jan 30, 2023
- 5 min
The Impossible, Made Possible: Uplifting Life Lessons from an Astronaut's Perspective
Chris Hadfield remembers the night his family and most everyone on Stag Island, Ontario, Canada, crowded around a neighbor’s TV. It was...
Sharon Hancock
- Nov 30, 2022
- 3 min
Hoodwinked: Avoiding Common Misconceptions About Homeschool
Hoodwink: [verb] to deceive or trick; synonyms: dupe, fool, delude, misguide When it comes to homeschooling, you may have been hoodwinked...
Sharon Hancock
- Nov 9, 2022
- 4 min
Spock vs. McCoy: Handling Emotions Before They Dominate You
“You’re so stupid. You can’t do anything right. Things work for everyone else, but not you. You may as well give up. You’ll never...
Sharon Hancock
- Oct 17, 2022
- 3 min
Get Your ACBs Straight: How to Belay Negative Responses When Bad Things Happen
If you’re like many people, you’ve got your ABCs all out of whack and don’t even realize it. People tend to think that when bad things...
Sharon Hancock
- Sep 12, 2022
- 4 min
It's Not the End of the World: How to Help Your Child Overcome Learned Helplessness
“I’ll never be good at math.” “Writing is too hard. I give up.” “People always let me down. Why should I bother trying to make friends?”...
Sharon Hancock
- Jan 5, 2022
- 4 min
Getting It All Done: How to Streamline Homeschool Lessons
“I hate Tuesdays.” Irene sighed and slumped in her chair, a downcast look on her face, completely out of character for this normally prim...
Sharon Hancock
- Oct 24, 2020
- 6 min
How to Talk to Your Teen Like an FBI Negotiator
End the battles with your teen by using FBI negotiation techniques
Sharon Hancock
- Sep 23, 2020
- 3 min
Harmony with Homophones: Fun ways to keep your spellings untangled
To remember which "wood" has to do with trees, think of Red Riding Hood. She might have said, "I stood among the wood in my good hood."
Sharon Hancock
- Sep 2, 2020
- 5 min
The Jailbird's New Wings: How prodding my daughter led to new possibilities
After serving her "sentence" of running all summer, Autumn improved in soccer and discovered she could do more than she'd ever imagined.
Sharon Hancock
- Aug 19, 2020
- 3 min
The Positives of Negatives: When not to step in
A parent who rescues her child from experiencing negative emotions cripples the child's ability to mature.
Sharon Hancock
- Jul 29, 2020
- 2 min
The Computation Conundrum and how to fix it
Students often score low on math computation sections of standardized tests. Here's why and how to help your child fix the problem.
Sharon Hancock
- Jul 15, 2020
- 4 min
Some Unseen Factors Behind Every Decision, Including Homeschool
Acknowledge any sense of loss. Move past your lack of training as a teacher. Use the 10/10/10 principle to gain perspective.
Sharon Hancock
- Jul 1, 2020
- 3 min
Self-Esteem: The damaging effects of overemphasis
The way self-esteem is reinforced "often erodes children's self-worth," said Dr. Martin Seligman, author of The Optimistic Child.
Sharon Hancock
- Jun 24, 2020
- 2 min
Is Your Self-Identity Sabotaging Your Habits?
Who are you? Or better yet, who do you want to become? An organized mom? A woman of grace? A generous friend? An excellent homeschooler?...
Sharon Hancock
- Jun 17, 2020
- 3 min
Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him
Crowds & colors overwhelmed Nathan. Meltdowns came without warning. His unpredictable behavior made life exhausting for his family.
Sharon Hancock
- Jun 10, 2020
- 2 min
The Nines Finger Trick: A shortcut in multiplication
Is your homeschooler having a tough time with multiplication? Skip the frustration with this shortcut for multiplying numbers by 9.
Sharon Hancock
- Jun 2, 2020
- 4 min
Zip Your Lips: Commonsense strategies to get your kids to listen
Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue & let anger straggle along in the rear. Listening to your kids takes conscientious effort.
Sharon Hancock
- May 27, 2020
- 4 min
From "Me" to "We": 5 steps to building empathy
As the story goes, a man and his four children boarded a subway car. The unruly kids ran up and down the aisle, shouting, throwing...
Sharon Hancock
- May 20, 2020
- 3 min
The Gift of Gratitude: Finding more satisfaction in life
Gratitude is one of the top three traits that predict a person's well-being and satisfaction in life. And gratitude can be taught.
Sharon Hancock
- May 8, 2020
- 4 min
Turning Tornadoes into Blue Skies: How to dissipate temper tantrums
Managing anger is a life skill. Teach it by taking advantage of your blue sky moments, those times with no tornado on the horizon...
Sharon Hancock
- May 6, 2020
- 2 min
Homeschoolers Still Required to Submit Assessments Despite Coronavirus Shutdown
Homeschoolers in some states may still have to take standardized tests even though public schoolers don't.
Sharon Hancock
- Apr 28, 2020
- 3 min
How to Get Going by Getting Going
Many people think you need motivation before moving toward a goal. And yet the opposite true: Your actions spawn motivation.
Sharon Hancock
- Apr 21, 2020
- 2 min
Quick Tips to Stay On Track
Some quick tips to help your homeschool succeed include consistency, stopping interruptions, managing 1-on-1 time, and watching your words.
Sharon Hancock
- Apr 7, 2020
- 3 min
Hackers Target Homeschoolers Amid Coronavirus Pandemic: The keys to prevent cyberattacks at home
Have you inadvertantly set out a welcome mat for hackers? Cyberattackers seek to steal students' personal data during the COVID-19 shutdown.
Sharon Hancock
- Mar 28, 2020
- 2 min
SUCCESS for Teens: Real Teens Talk about Using the Slight Edge
SUCCESS for Teens helps students take steps today to accomplish their future goals.
Sharon Hancock
- Mar 9, 2020
- 3 min
The 5 Love Languages of Children: The Secret to Loving Children Effectively
A love language is the way a person best understands and receives love from others. Speaking your child’s preferred love language builds his
Sharon Hancock
- Feb 16, 2020
- 2 min
Bounce Back: How to Be a Resilient Kid
Bounce Back was written to teach students how to grow in resiliency so they can face life’s difficulties without becoming overwhelmed
Sharon Hancock
- Nov 11, 2019
- 1 min
Belay the breakfast battle
Years ago I had a friend with six children who fought every morning over what should be for breakfast. “I want cereal!” said one. “No, I...
Sharon Hancock
- Oct 8, 2019
- 3 min
The emotions behind procrastination: Seven ways to help kids avoid it
Picture it: A task looms in front of you. You want to do it. You know all the reasons why you should do it. And you have good...
Sharon Hancock
- Jul 30, 2019
- 2 min
Shed that nagging mental weight, Part 3: Conquer fears and overcome procrastination
People procrastinate for all kinds of reasons. Little things, big things, never-before-tried things. They don’t want to do whatever...
Sharon Hancock
- Feb 27, 2019
- 3 min
Entertaining flies for lunch: The consequences of our words
Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz. The fly flitted around the dining room chairs, looking for a place to land. Bzzz, bzzz. It finally settled on the wall...
Sharon Hancock
- Feb 4, 2019
- 3 min
All the dirt on grit and why your homeschool student needs more of it
Kids with grit embrace a “can do” attitude. Instead of complacency, they exude excitement that propels them toward success.
Sharon Hancock
- Jan 13, 2019
- 3 min
Shed that nagging mental weight, Part 2: Deter distractions to stay on track
If we as adults have so easily succumb to distraction, how can we expect to keep our kids from doing the same? Especially when they’re not
Sharon Hancock
- Jan 13, 2019
- 3 min
Shed that nagging mental weight, Part 1: How to conquer your to-do list and find peace
Your daily tasks demand attention. They interrupt your day. They continually fight for space in your brain, jostling with your thoughts and
Sharon Hancock
- Jan 13, 2019
- 3 min
How to spell the most commonly used word in the English language
In the realm of reading, English can be tough! The language is full of exceptions. Just when you think you’ve got a rule down pat...
Sharon Hancock
- Jan 13, 2019
- 2 min
An encouraging word--Not! Be a good role model for your kids
It had been one of those days. You know the kind: Everything seems to go wrong. I’d been in a sour mood, which only exacerbated the...
Sharon Hancock
- Jan 12, 2019
- 2 min
The four-letter word: A simple tweak reaps surprising results
“Just.” It seems like a simple word, a nice adverb to qualify our actions. It’s such a wallflower in the scope of language that we...
Sharon Hancock
- Jan 9, 2019
- 1 min
Time savers: Sticky no more
Ever get stuck scraping honey out of a measuring cup? It's a gooey mess. Fortunately, there's an easy solution. For recipes that call for...
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