The bonsai tree collection at the National Arboretum is one of our favorite places to visit. I love the peaceful simplicity of these trees. Bonsai trees aren’t ostentatious. They demonstrate the effect of intentional care and attention rather than frills and excess. Seeing them reminds me to slow down and cultivate my most important priorities. Growing bonsai trees takes patience. Homeschooling takes patience. Results are often slow in coming. Time has a dominant role in both.

Testing is a type of lens, and may be useful in some contexts. Consider, as an analogy, this description of the attributes of one type of lens: binoculars. “Binocular vision is a peculiarly exclusive form of looking,” explains Robert Macfarlane. “It draws a circle around the focused-on object and shuts out the world’s generous remainder. What binoculars grant you in focus and reach, they deny you in periphery. To view an object through them is to see it in crisp isolation, encircled by blackness – as though at the end of a tunnel.

After a challenging afternoon, I was worried our dinnertime would continue the same arguments and frustrations. Unexpectedly, we began reminiscing about our trip to the City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri four years ago. We talked and laughed, recalling all the unexpected aspects of that wonky building! (Like the school bus hanging off the edge of the top floor!) I was grateful for the way reminiscing turned round our mood.

This sign is on the busy bike path near my home, and the cat is literally sitting right underneath it. Though I have mixed feelings about animals wandering the neighborhood, I do think the message “I’m not lost” can apply to our homeschooling. We might as well wear t-shirts that say, “I promise I’m happy, healthy and very loved with a safe and warm home!” Maybe another line, “And even though I’m homeschooled, you don’t need to quiz me on my spelling or state capitals!

“Never sleep in your contacts!” was the wise advice I received from my eye doctor. “But, WHEN you do, make sure you wait to take them out until you’ve been awake for about 30 minutes.” I loved that he gave me the information about what I should do in response to the mistake. My son just began wearing contacts, and I taught him this principle. In homeschooling, as in contact wearing, we need to know how to respond to our mistakes so that they are not defeating.

Applesauce making is a favorite family tradition. Using a Victorio food strainer makes the job simpler. Instead of having to peel and core each apple, we simply quarter the apples and boil them with a small amount of water until they are soft. We scoop the mushy mixture into the hopper. Applesauce comes out one way and the peels, pulp and seeds come out the other way. This machine reminds me of the set of questions asked by Greg McKeown in his book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.

Pumpkin ice cream! My younger kids helped me prepare the custard, and we ran the machine then dished it out and enjoyed it together. In my mind, I thought I had repeated over and over, “PUMPKIN ice cream!” Plus, I thought the orange color and fragrant spices made it rather evident. But, multiple family members took their first spoonful and uttered a surprised, “pumpkin!?!” This reminds me of my homeschooling, because I find I am often repeating things.

My older children frequently work on their own to complete their math assignments. Recently, I began asking them to write two or three sentences at the end of their independent study session to describe what they accomplished today and what they need to do next. This helps me identify their challenges, but, more importantly, it helps them to visualize their own progress. This helps them hold themselves accountable for their own study time.

Remarking on the “pressure to deliver exceptional days,” Kim John Payne laments the loss of ordinary days. Why does it have to be a great day? “If we hold on to the exceptional—if our children adopt that as their measure of success—most will fail, and almost all of them will feel like failures,” he explains. We can’t have “uncommonly good” be our daily ideal. “There’s freedom,” Payne continues, “in embracing the ordinary: freedom, and possibilities.

Colleges vary widely in credit offered, so consider your specific college choice as you choose the exams you’ll take. This article addresses credit offered at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo. Each year BYU publishes a chart indicating the current credit they will offer for each score of each AP test. Their chart sorts the information by test name, listing all 39 possible AP tests. When examining their chart, I find it challenging to extract the information and choose tests that will be most meaningful.