keep it

Simple Smarty

fun + fulfilling home education without the fluff

Travel + Field Trips
Reading + Writing
STEM
Art, History, + Religion
Everyday Education + Play
Making it Work
Travel + Field Trips
Reading + Writing
STEM
Art, History, + Religion
Everyday Education + Play
Making it Work

Because teaching kids isn’t easy, but it shouldn’t be complicated.

We are passionate about ensuring that each of our children receives a quality education that opens doors of opportunity for them. If you’re here, you likely feel the same. So whether your kids attend public school and you want to support them and supplement their learning at home or you’re figuring out the homeschooling thing, we’re here to show you the good, the bad, and the cringey as we endeavor to teach our kids everything from reading to fractions to how to boil an egg. Maybe we’ll learn from each other, maybe we’ll laugh with each other, or maybe we’ll just commiserate. But you can trust that we’ll do our best to stick to our education philosophy: keep it simple, smarty. 

hey, I’m Ray!

I’m mom to two little boys. I love thrifting, snuggling my boys (that includes my husband and the dog), long walks, and home improvement. Someday I’ll find a hobby and stick with it, but until then, that’s me! I’m so excited you’re here!

Latest Posts

Our Favorite Toys for Toddlers

Our Favorite Toys for Toddlers

I love toys. I think I love toys as much as my sons do. Toy shopping for Christmas and birthdays is so fun for me, and I have such a hard time holding myself back! But I am also pretty conscientious about what toys I choose for our boys, so I’m here to tell you what...

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what we’re about

Keep it simple

Seeing some of the fantastic, glittery, time-consuming, flashy approaches to parenting and teaching kids used to make me feel incompetent and inadequate. So raise your hand if you want to give your child(ren) a great education with minimal effort and NOT feel bad about it! You’re in the right place. We’re here to teach our kids, not spend hours bedazzling worksheets.

Keep it safe

Our biggest motivation for getting involved in our kids’ education is ensuring that our kids get an education that aligns with God’s standards, even when those standards don’t agree with society’s ideals. While we don’t want to “shelter” our kids excessively, we absolutely want to help them build safe, strong foundations that they can lean on as they navigate the world and make wise, faithful choices of their own.

Keep it fun

You know how kids are often more interested in the cardboard box than the toy that came in it? We’re trying to apply that concept to homeschool. All the fun, none of the fluff (unless it’s bubble wrap). Here at KISS, we believe that life is what you make of it, and attitude is everything (though we still have to check our attitudes multiple times a day)!

Keep it YOU

As a parent, you have something to offer your child that no one else does. You’ve got the magic sauce, the special ingredient, the pièce de résistance: unrelenting love for your child. Friends, teachers, and coaches come and go, but family is forever. You are invested in your child’s success and are able to understand and respond to their needs like no one else ever could. So we encourage you to learn what you can from others, but in the end, trust your gut and the guidance heaven sends you. Infuse your educational experiences with yours and your family’s personality, values, and culture, and don’t ever try to be someone else.

Sparking a Young Child’s Interest in Numbers

There are so many ways to encourage learning about numbers and basic math that don’t require a single flashcard or worksheet! Letting your child learn from the world around them will ignite interest and comprehension with less effort and more fun. So keep it simple!

A Positive Potty Training Experience

I expected there to be bodily fluids (and solids) on my floor 24-7. But I am here to tell you that it wasn’t as bad as I had feared! We got through it and so can you!

Our Favorite Toys for Toddlers

Child psychologist Jean Piaget said, “Play is the work of children,” and I couldn’t agree more!

Our Trip to Iowa

Recently we went on a trip to Iowa and Illinois to visit family and were amazed at how many new things the kids were exposed to and learned about while we were in a place some may not consider particularly exciting.

Thailand with Two Littles

We did the (seemingly) impossible! We took two kids, ages three and one, to Thailand! Why would we attempt such a daring exploit? Long story short – we wanted to.

Surviving Long Plane Rides with Small Kids

We believe that traveling adds a lot of value and spice to life, and we didn’t want to wait until our kids were older to start tackling our travel to-do list.

Setbacks in TYCTR and What’s Working for Us

We will give some specific tips that helped us, but the biggest thing to remember is attitude–none of these strategies will work unless you’re keeping the reading experience light-hearted and positive. 

We’re Halfway Through TYCTR

We hit a big milestone this week with T! He is officially halfway done with TYCTR! Here’s how it’s been going.

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons: What to Expect

It took a few lessons for T (and me) to get the hang of the book’s teaching approach, but I could tell very early on that the program was genius. It doesn’t look flashy or fun, but it was proving to be so effective that T got a lot of joy and a sense of achievement from it.

Our Favorite Picture Books for Little Kids

We have tried to instill a love of reading in our kids starting pretty young. From the time we moved T into his own bedroom at about 4 months old, we’ve been reading at least one book to him before every nap and bedtime. We’ve loved seeing T develop a love for...

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