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Julie Naturally | Teen Health Coach | Personal Trainer

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How long does it take to learn to read? Insanely little time.

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How long does it take to learn to read? Judging by the age at which many folks start teaching reading skills, they must think it takes 3-4 years. I would argue that it takes much, much less time than that. It takes about thirty hours. That’s right, only one hour a week for less than one school year, or about 10-15 minutes a day for just over 6 months. Sounds pretty painless, right? In John Holt’s book, Learning All the Time, he mentions teachers proving this with poor, illiterate adults. Holt argues that reading is not hard to learn IF …

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Church Youth Group: Reasons to Say No

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Should Homeschoolers Participate in Church Youth Group? Recently, I listened to a conversation happening among millennials sitting next to me at church. I wasn’t snooping as they eventually asked me a few questions to involve me in their discussion. But their observations and conclusions struck me. They knew my children and they knew a few other homeschooled youth as well. Some of them had even spent a few years of their own childhoods homeschooling. But then I heard comments like, “not sounding like my mom all the time” and “all homeschoolers are socially awkward.” They seemed to feel that attending …

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Hope in the Midst of Chronic Illness

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I sank to my knees in despair, sobbing, imagining the next forty years. I loved Jesus, but still I felt as though all hope for a graceful ripening of years slipped away with the diagnosis. My mind filled with thoughts of broken dreams, maddening headaches and a body wracked with pain, an eventual wheelchair, and the image of my husband torn with long years of grief watching me suffer. Hope or despair? A few years ago, I received a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. In case you don’t know, fibromyalgia is a chronic illness with an unknown cause. There are 18 pain …

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Some Reasons Not to Go to College: A homeschooling mom’s perspective

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In 2018, we graduated our second child from our homeschool. The first question everyone asks upon discovering this is–you guessed it–“Where is he going to college?” Well, he’s not going to college. He completed a career assessment tool and his path doesn’t necessarily need college. The question is uncomfortable, and I wish people would broaden their view of post-high school life. When I say that he isn’t going to college, the barely-concealed disappointment says volumes about the expectations of our youth. Seventy percent of high school graduates attend college as their next step. The generally accepted wisdom is that college …

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How to Trust in God When You Lose Everything

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It’s easy to trust in God when everything goes well. We may start thinking of God as a cosmic vending machine. Prayer in and blessings out. Thanks, God. But what about when you see tragedy coming and you are helpless to stop it–whether it be a car accident, poor life choices, or other circumstances? What about when God asks you to start over after you lose everything precious to you through burglary, fire, or job loss? What about when you lose a child? Do you still trust in God or does your trust whither because you feel he’s failed you? …

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