How to Make Your Own Homeschooling Board Game

One of the major reasons we decided to homeschool our kids was to preserve their love of learning. We want our kids to be self-directed learners, learning about the things they are passionate about.  That being said, there are certain things we really want our kids to know. Things that their passions may not lead […]

How We Do Weekly Family Meetings

You might think meetings are for work, but your family is the most important organization and YOU are the CEO. This is why I think of the weekly meeting as the most important parenting habit. In this article, I want to give you an inside look at how we conduct our family meetings. Why the […]

How to be Happy Right NOW

“I’ll be happy once I’m retired, once the house is paid off, once I’m married, once I’m divorced…” We all fall into this trap of thinking the grass will be greener once we get to that next milestone in our life. Especially in America, we can fall prey to the idea that happiness only comes […]

40+ Tactics Used by Controlling Groups

“I’m surrounded by people who all believe, do, and value the same things as me! This is my home. These are my people!” Such is the ecstasy of belonging to a tight-knit group. We all crave community: a sense of belonging to a group. But in our quest for connection, we need to be careful that […]

How We Built a Campervan for Our Family of Four

“What if we bought a hippie van and threw a bed in the back?”This is the question I asked myself that led us to where we are right now: driving from Colorado to Florida for a month-long family adventure in our newly-converted campervan. I had just watched a documentary about Woodstock, and seeing those hippies […]

How We Teach Our Kids Life Skills Using 150+ Badges

Did school prepare you to succeed in the real world? I think most of us would answer with a resounding no. When we decided to homeschool our kids, we thought long and hard about the kind of adults we want our kids to become. I quickly realized that memorizing random facts about science or American history […]

30+ Human Needs: A Comprehensive List

“You’re so needy!” It’s something that no one wants to be accused of, but the truth of the matter is that every human has needs. Tons of needs. The real issue is not that you have needs, but not being aware of them and not getting them met in healthy ways. The truth is this: […]

Which Culture is Best for Your Family: Individualistic or Collectivistic?

Psychology textbooks will tell you that there are two types of cultures: Individualistic and collectivistic cultures. American culture is often criticized for being too individualistic: “You’re so selfish! All you care about is me, me, me!” And Asian cultures are often criticized for being too collectivistic: “Your parents moved with you to college? Talk about […]

Lovingly Discipline Your Kids with These 9 Parenting Tools

When I first became a dad, I was overflowing with enthusiasm (and a good amount of ignorance). I thought that my love would be more than enough to succeed as a father. Afterall, “love is all you need,” right? THE MORE PARENTING TOOLS, THE BETTERI quickly discovered that love by itself often failed to provide […]