Hi Reader!

Happy Monday! Looks like the school year is here for those who take summer breaks! I can't even tell what we are anymore. 🤣 We took so many breaks this summer that I think we're just unschooling for the most part.

It's amazing, really, how much kids learn outside of the "school time" realm. For example, my son learned - all on his own mind you - 200 species of BIRDS!!! Well, *I'VE* NEVER taught anything about birds!

Because seriously, if I go to teach my kids 200 birds and their attributes, their eyes will glaze over. 😒 But now... if they go do it on their own by means of their own interests, then it sticks.

This is why it can be SO very important to include delight-directed learning into your homeschool. You've probably been doing it this whole time and didn't really put a label to it. But you can be more intentional and mindful with it by taking what your kids interests are and making the most of it!

Like the Bible says, there's a time for everything! So don't *just* include your homeschool curriculum lesson plans...feel free to create your own unit studies around the interests of your kids. Hit pause on your lessons and do THAT instead.

Orrrrr simply include those interests into your current lessons. There are plenty of opportunities to turn those current curriculum lessons into THEMED lessons to coincide with the unit study.

A Time for Everything

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)

I suppose it's our lifelong journey to understand *when* the time comes for each of those things, know what I mean? Knowing the boundaries of each one. Knowing when one presents itself. Knowing when to stop one and when to start one.

Hit reply and let me know when you've realized you needed to stop something in order to start something else...or vice versa!

If you need to know how to create a unit study, you can read all about it here where I can into detail about how to gather materials, how to brainstorm stuff, what different activities to include, and more. You can also use this beautiful Unit Study Planner to plan out your unit study!

Did you know that My Teaching Library is one of my favorite go to resource libraries for homeschool moms? It really is! But here's one thing you might not know about My Teaching Library...it has an e-zine! Yes - a digital magazine that's free! It publishes every quarter and it's right now gathering resources for their Fall issue!

If you're a homeschool blogger, curriculum creator, or need more eyes on your TpT shop or Etsy story or blog or event or workshop or what have you, then submit your swag bag ad(s), articles, worksheets, or units to be included in the upcoming free issue of Let's Teach! ezine!

I submitted swag bag ads last time to gain more exposure on the summer summit as well as a freebie and it did! But, like I said, you can also write guest articles to publish in there (which are REALLY good, by the way! I love reading the articles within this ezine!!), submit fun worksheets or units. Submission is free.

​Learn more about submitting educational resources to the ezine here.​

Bible Study Plans for August, September, and October

We are starting our Bible study reading for August today, and we're beginning with The Gospels, in the Book of Matthew!

If you need to start reading your Bible more consistently, or need a plan to follow on what to read, this can be SO helpful for you!

We usually read something each month and we meet every Friday to chat about what we read that week. But meeting is totally optional! There have been plenty of times that each of us have missed a Friday or two! I missed the last two Fridays, personally. We were reading The Kingdom Woman in July by Tony Evans and his daughter.

Which leads me to why we are reading the Gospels for August.

We are wanting to be studying IN the BIBLE in our Bible Study group, rather than reading books about the Bible. If that makes sense.

So here's our schedule:

• Matthew - 2 weeks
• Mark - 2 weeks
• Luke - 2 weeks
• John - 2 weeks
• Acts - 2 weeks
• Romans - 2 weeks

We are reading each book for two weeks and then moving on to the next book, then reading that one for two weeks, and so on. I believe this takes us through October.

And reading the Gospels grounds us back to Jesus. It helps us to remember the things that Jesus said and did and God's Plan. This is important because, if we're not careful, we can get so caught up in the day-to-day that we lose sight of what really matters. We forget what Jesus would want us to do in the situations we face. The Gospels remind us who God & Jesus & the Holy Spirit are and what He wants for us, so that we can live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him.

The Gospels, Acts, and Romans are wonderful books to read if you want to strengthen your faith. Reading these books can help you stay grounded in your faith and remember God's plan. The Gospels remind us who God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are and what He wants for us. The book of Acts shows us the story of how the early church started and grew. Romans shows us the importance of faith in our salvation and living a life that is pleasing to God. If you are looking for some Bible books to read that will encourage your faith, I recommend starting with these!

You're invited to study the Bible alongside us, and have people to chat with about it on a weekly basis! There can be around 4-5 people on a Friday meetup, but sometimes it's just 2-3, so not a lot of people. If you're an introvert, you won't come into a whole room full of people. ;)

I'll add the meet up links in the community events soon as well as the information in the Bible Studies channel in the community. There's nothing there at the moment, but it will be soon. In th meantime, just start reading Matthew and try to meet with us Friday at 2:30pm CT/3:30 ET to chat about the first half of Matthew!

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!

xo,
Richie