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Hi there! Looking for something? I have designed a few tools.

My tools pair well with:

-living booklists

-homeschool planning

-narration

-morning time

Come, take a look! Some of these are free to you. Enjoy!

June 2022

Robert Louis Stevenson Poetry Mini-Unit

You have probably heard of or may have read Treasure Island and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but did you know the same author who penned these classics is also the poet who gave us some simply delightful children’s poetry? 

Robert Louis Stevenson was the Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer who won my heart with his A Child’s Garden of Verses, the collection of short poems written about childhood, but enjoyed by children and adults alike. 

Do you remember going to the beach and building sand castles? Does a summer rain shower make you feel sentimental or cozy?  Do you remember the days of having to go to bed before the sun set?  

If you would like a taste of Robert Louis Stevenson, simply sign up to receive a collection of copy work and recommended activities you can do with your children at home or on vacation that celebrate the simplicity of summer.  I would love for you to join me next year as I spend more time diving deeply into Robert Louis Stevenson’s poetry with my own children, in our homeschool.  

These three, short poems will get you started!

April 2022

Travel Four Square Resource

My Little Brick Schoolhouse is all about some educational family travel!  As a parent and teacher of three children, I relish family trips.

Sometimes it feels like I try to cram everything into my brain when we are in a new place! The information on the museum walls, the scenes from the natural wonders, and all the interesting stories about the people who live there get muddled and lose their meaning if I try to cram it all in.

That’s why I’m using this simple four-square template with my children on our next adventure. I hope it helps your kids hold on to two or three lovely, true and good things from your family trip. 

March 2022

Maine Basket (17 pages) Unit – NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR FREE

I want you to enjoy reading with your kids. That’s why I created this wonderful integrated project resource to pair with the life and home of author Robert McCloskey.  He is the most endearing author of picture books, to me.  I made something you will LOVE that will take you on a trip to Maine to meet the man himself!  Minimal advanced-prep required (just get the books).  Who’s with me?
All 17 pages of goodness are yours, FREE, when you sign up to join my sweet email community.  Look for my book updates and more resources to help you relish good books with your kids!
P.S. All 35 pages of My Big Maine Basket can be found in my Etsy shop, Brick Schoolhouse.  You get 17 for FREE.

Nature Study Mini-Unit

I know that it helps me to have something quality and practical when teaching my kids. Sign up to join My Little Brick Schoolhouse email community and you’ll get this quality freebie: a nature study mini-unit!  It’s adapted for co-ops, school groups, and individual families.  It’ll be a gentle way for you to ease into the spring season, learn with your kids, and it includes minimal prep work.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family has!

September 2021

A Year of Nature Study

It’s autumn, and as I think about a Charlotte Mason education, I would be remiss to leave out nature study. I made a nature study unit for the whole year. This is an excellent resource for any homeschool family, but I designed it with the co-op in mind. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we will! Living book suggestions, nature notebooking lessons, and differentiated activities abound here. The habits of attention and patient persistence will be developed as a result of taking part in nature study.

August 2021

Dear Homeschool Mama: Refresh Your Home’s Atmosphere + Habits

I was tired of not having a plan, but every time I tried to set out to make goals for our upcoming year, I would get stuck! I started curating some wisdom from various women who have walked the walk. Lara Casey, Charlotte Mason (Sonya Shafer at Simply Charlotte Mason), and my own experience have helped me develop this tool you might find as a breath of fresh air to help you organize your thoughts about uncovering what matters, as well as implement habits to change the atmosphere of your home! This is my process. I hope it blesses you in some way.

July 2021

The Big Maine Basket

You do not want to miss the rich narration tools I have provided alongside the books on my Maine booklist! It’s no longer free, but you can access The Big Maine Basket: Charlotte Mason Style Narration Printables, Booklist, and Integrated Projects on my Etsy Shop, Brick School House.

June 2021

Just Because We Can Days Ideas

Narration Practice

Corolla Beach, May 2020

Summer Rhythms

I think it’s best for our family to look at our time in degrees of magnitude, then zoom in. For example, first I look at the month of June. Next, I look at the week ahead, and plan that week out, as far as I can. Then, I try to have a rhythm for each day. The days will look somewhat similar in the summer, because we are trying to prioritize: 1. family time in the morning 2.structure 3. rest and play in the afternoon.

The summer is an interesting time. We do have a lot of things that “interrupt” this rhythm. Camps, family vacations, anniversary getaways, appointments and lessons can make it tough to have a string of weeks with a consistent rhythm. So, I am taking my weeks as they come. We work on habits, and my hope is that we can work on habits even during vacation.

Why not make your bed on vacation?

Why not read books in the morning after breakfast on vacation? It takes a balance of letting go of old structure and taking on new habits, new rhythms.

Here are a few pages that might pair well with your summer planning endeavors:

*Note* : On the Summer Day Rhythm Planning Sheet, I broke up the summer day into different blocks. Since we do most of our structured activities in the morning, the morning time is broken up into multiple blocks.

Habit Training

This summer, we are working on the habit of attention and the habit of self-starting. I think it has yet to come to fruition when I can start the summer morning with my three children, in the way I want to. Last week, my son had a camp that started very early in the day. This week, we are with my extended family on vacation. So, it will come. I am not rushing these memorable moments.

I created the habit tracker with the 5-part process I learned from Simply Charlotte Mason.

We’re using this as a guide this summer.

The habit of attention and self-starting can be worked on while we vacation. Make the bed? That’s part of my daughter’s and son’s rhythm in the morning chore block of our day.

Learning the habit of attention? Listen to this podcast/read this blog post.

Are you working on habit training in the early years? Read this blog post.

I believe it will take some time, but we will go about habit training in the method I have learned from listening to one of Simply Charlotte Mason’s podcasts about preschool and habit training. Here is one such podcast.

Cultivating Virtues

Last, but not least, virtue. Virtue is paramount to academics. We are trying to cultivate the virtues of integrity and attention. I know that attention is really more of a habit, but I see it as a virtue, as well. To pay attention is to will to do something that does not come easily. To show integrity is to will to do something that does not come easily, either. Integrity is following through, doing what you say you are going to do. Attention could be an action that comes from the practice of the virtue of integrity. It is to will the mind to focus and take in what one is being asked to do. If you are asked to pay attention, then you are practicing integrity and attention at the same time to pay attention fully. Fully. This means, I say it once, without repeating myself. The two virtues of integrity and attention must work in tandem to achieve learning.

How are we cultivating this? I suppose in daily language and tasks. I am asking my children to hear me say the directive, or the story, and to be able to repeat to me exactly what they have taken in. This shows attention. This shows integrity.

Starting the breakfast.

Another way to cultivate attention is to give children a feast of attention practice. Picture study. Nature study. Word study. Subtraction fact memorization and visualization. Learning new skills: swimming a stroke, piano.

Take a look at the Building Character: Virtues page. It pairs well with what you are trying to do with teaching and cultivation of character.