Holidays are over and it is back to school time. Normally around this time each year I start to panic. I look at how much time is left in the official school year and before testing and what not, and I think to myself – well, we are utterly failing. We are not getting enough […]
Tag Archives | kids

School, Interrupted….
I am sitting on the porch, listening to the sound of the television for there will be no schooling today. The boy is home sick from school, which of course means that the girl can’t do anything either. She attempted to do some schoolwork, but then the draw of her brother watching TV and feeling […]

Surviving Winter!
For those that know me personally, you know that there are few things that I hate more than the cold. Not the snow – as long as I can look at it out my window and think how lovely and pretty it is – and it is lovely and pretty. However, the cold that comes […]

Carving Out Time
One of the biggest issues that all parents seem to struggle with is the idea of time. Time to do the laundry. Time to do the dishes. Time to run from one activity to another. Time to make dinner. Time to eat dinner. The list literally goes on and on as there never seems to […]
Vacation!
So, we went on vacation to Blairsville, GA and I cannot begin to tell you how AWESOME it was. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen, and one of the best vacations I have ever been on. We stayed at a friend’s cabin and the view was insane – mountains behind us […]
Summer and Going Back to School
So, when you homeschool summer takes on a new meaning. Now, when my kids went to school, we always did the Summer Bridges to Learning books over the summer so they never really had a whole summer off. It kept their minds fresh, and prepped them for the upcoming year. When they go to school […]
Excitement Takes a New Bent
You know, I find the things that get me excited these days are sad on some level. Today I found a new catalog for school stuff – things for decorating your classroom. Well, in trying to figure out where to put all of the new posters, etc. that I found I was LOVING, my husband […]

Hello world!
So, this is my new site. For those of you that have been following – we have moved from mommy-manual.com to the more official sounding mommymanual.com (no hyphen needed! We are coming up in the world!) We have a new design, and I have a new Word Press Blog – doesn’t that sound exciting? But […]
About Joanne Ruscella

Joanne is a homeschooling stay at home mother of two who published her first book, "The Mommy Manual" in 2004. She shares tips, resources, and practical advice for other moms about parenting, education, and the unique challenges facing modern moms. Read more.