Author Archives: doucementgently

About doucementgently

I'm a thirty-something female with loads of kids, a great husband, and lots of things on my mind. I plan on blogging about homeschooling, personal finance, the economy in the U.S., politics, family life, and the things my children do.

Preschool craft all-in-one boxes

Posted on November 9, 2013 by doucementgently

I went to buy my ds#1 a box of everything-in-one-box crafts for December and found that my source for the last several years was closed. Oh no! We’ve been lovers of Shirley’s Prepackaged Crafts since dd#3 was about four years … Continue reading →

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First Quarter Review

Posted on November 2, 2013 by doucementgently

I scheduled this week off from school, knowing we’d need a break about now. It was also the end of our first quarter, so I’d theoretically have time to file some papers, do a little more planning for second semester, … Continue reading →

Posted in A Beka, activities, curriculum, homeschool, Kids, school year, Story of the World, SWR | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Science & Memory Work

Posted on August 22, 2013 by doucementgently

I’ve written before on how we use memory work in our little homeschool, but this year we’re definitely stepping it up a notch. Our memory work usually contains poems, Latin chants, Catechism questions, and prayers. However, I decided to purchase Classically … Continue reading →

Posted in homeschool, memory work, planning, school year, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

End of summer, back to school

Posted on August 13, 2013 by doucementgently

My children are on a long-promised break from any school work right now. They will have three full weeks off before starting back up after Labor Day with a full school schedule. Over the summer, they did swim lessons (dd#3, … Continue reading →

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Story of the World (with tag alongs!)

Posted on February 27, 2013 by doucementgently

We began our formal romp through (world) history when oldest was in 2nd grade & dd#2 was in Kindergarten. Story of the World #1 (SOTW1 or “Ancients”) is geared for grades 1st-5th, so we started there. I added the Activity … Continue reading →

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Quitting Cold Turkey — Thumb-Sucking

Posted on February 21, 2013 by doucementgently

So, as I’ve blogged before, youngest is my one & only thumb sucker. As we’ve noticed his baby teeth bulging out somewhat and how the cuteness factor (for others) of thumb-sucking decreases with increased age, dh & I have discussed … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, Kids, potty training, stories | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Writing Magic – Creating Sparks

Posted on February 18, 2013 by doucementgently

To give (me and) my oldest a break from Classical Writing Homer, we started this second semester with Gail Carson Levine’s Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly. My dd#2 loves to write stories but struggles to finish them. There are … Continue reading →

Posted in homeschool, Kids, stories | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Baking With History

Posted on February 8, 2013 by doucementgently

On our (second) trip through Story of the World 1, we have sometimes picked activities that we’ve done before. However, sometimes the kids choose to do something that we haven’t tried before. In Chapter 24, one of the activities is … Continue reading →

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Struggling Reader Turns into a Reading Lover

Posted on November 11, 2012 by doucementgently

My older two have struggled to become readers. And, once they can read, they have struggled to read fluently. I have written before about the time my oldest asked my husband if he liked to read. She told him that … Continue reading →

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Missing My Father

Posted on November 7, 2012 by doucementgently

This poem struck my heart this morning. The stories and comments at the bottom show that I am not alone in missing my father – no matter how long it has been.

Posted in death in the family, stories | Tagged , , | Leave a comment