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Musical Memory | Renee Cook

My weekly emails encourage homeschool moms in teaching young children at home with practical tips for real-life homeschooling. Get ideas for simple, engaging, and effective teaching strategies. PLUS tons of short & sweet learning songs... I wrote the only homeschool memory work program that is 100% set to song and homeschooling families with K-5 kiddos LOVE it!

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📚 Giant booklist [download]

A gift for you this October! I've been working on creating a MASSIVE booklist & it's finally ready to share. It has 17 pages of book recommendations for various categories and age groups. You can just save it as a PDF on your computer and refer back to it whenever you want. It includes Preschool books Our family's favorite picture books Beginning Readers Teen Books Picture books that coordinate with many Musical Memory songs!!!! Alas, there are some categories and age groups I didn't get to...

Hellooooo! I keep trying to sit down and plan our school year so I can share it with you and start back up on homeschooling content, but life keeps coming up. Haha While I do have some ideas swirling around in my head, I have yet to make any concrete plans on paper. Alas. It's on my list for next week. You know what I have done to help our school year start off right? Download & print this 3 month meal plan! Holy moly - this is already lifesaving. I used it the other day. Quickly assigned...

Helloooo! I hope you're having a GREAT summer. Ours has been a whirlwind but so good. As I started to think about fall rhythms & schedules, I realized it was going to be a pretty busy season for us. So when my internet friend Ashley created a 3 month done for you menu plan, I decided to try it. 3 Months Meals DONE I've used her recipes in the past and they're very easy & delicious. I've actually never bought a menu plan online... I typically just cook the same things and meal plan out of my...

I've been thinking a lot about how to describe daily homeschool life to newer homeschooling parents... one of the most common questions I get is: "If it doesn't look like school, what does it look like? What do you do? How do you structure it?" Anchors. Rhythms. Things that happen on a regular basis that are carefully chosen for your individual family and season of life. Things that always happen. (And by always, I mean most of the time. 😂) What anchors are in your days, weeks, and months?...

Everyday Homeschool is Live! I've done several interviews for my new podcast... every single one has left me feeling inspired and encouraged! And I'm so excited to be sharing them with you. I couldn't pick which episodes to share first, so I released four! 😊 Episode 001: Welcome Episode 002: Creating Great Thinkers, Writers, and Fort Builders with Andrew Pudewa Episode 003: Music Appreciation & Reflections After Graduation with Mary Prather Episode 004: Ohhh, you homeschool....?! Listen on...

Happy Friday! A few links to share with you today. That is all 😊 Happy Homeschooling, -Renee Open and Go? Some thoughts on curriculum that claims to be "open and go," and how to modify it when it's not working for your kiddo. Read article Word Play Books The Circus Ship, The 7 Silly Eaters, Casey at the Bat... 20 picture books that play with words that your kids ages 4-11 will laugh at and love. Get the List Coming Monday! Join the facebook launch group to be entered in a books + coffee...

It's That Time of Year Where we worry that we're not on pace to make it or finish in time or cover it all... or [insert your fear about your kids' progress or lack there of.] I'm going to say something very controversial in the homeschool world. It might ruffle your feathers. You might vehemently disagree. (That's okay; we can still be friends.) You do not need to finish scripted curriculum with 150 lessons taught 4-5 days per week to give your kids a world-class education at home. 😲 I would...

Do Your Kids Have Lists? We've used several different versions of an independent work list over the years. It's SO nice to have systems in place where your kids can self-direct their time and get going on what needs to be done without waiting on Mom (who may or may not be occupied directing the rest of the circus). Today on the blog, I shared some different ideas for independent lists or work baskets in your homeschool. I wrote about how I set up school-ish type things for preschool and...

Phonogram Question Hi there! This is Renee Cook, the homeschool mom behind the Musical Memory shop & website. I'm curious to know if you use the phonogram chart you downloaded a while back!? Here it is again if you need it. Download Phonogram Chart I'm using phonograms to teach my 4th child to read right now, so it's on my mind. I want to create stuff that is legitimately helpful for other parents! So, if you have a minute, hit reply & let me know whether or not you ended up using it, along...

Do you know about Chinese Bamboo Trees? You must very carefully monitor their water & temperature for the first 5 years, and nothing happens. You have to water often and weed and make sure it stays at the perfect temperature… but you won’t see a single sprout. Not an ounce of visible growth. But in year 5, something crazy happens. Within 6 weeks, the tree grows 80 feet tall. Turns out, during the first 5 years, a deep, vast, root system was growing beneath the surface. You just couldn’t see...