Oh, those two wonderful words: no homework. The rare days when those words are uttered, children can play outside, and adults can plan satisfying family time. Wouldn't it be great if our kids' schools supported that sort of routine every day? If evenings could be spent reading together, playing games as a family, or even taking advantage of free museum nights instead of hovering over a pile of worksheets due tomorrow?

That’s where The Country School comes in— a progressive, project-based school in Valley Village that prioritizes the whole child and his or her creativity, compassion, and emotional intelligence. The mission of the school is to provide kids from preschool through eighth grade with a warm environment where they can approach learning in their own way. Instead of focusing on pop quizzes and worksheets, kids might be planting trees, making their own movies, creating maps, or learning to play instruments. The idea is that kids should be excited to tell their parents what they did at school that day.

If you're thinking about homeschooling, your first concern is probably how your kid will ever see other kids. It's normal to worry about feeling isolated and not knowing what to do or where to go, but don't. Your kid will be socialized, I promise. I was homeschooled from 5th grade all the way through high school, and I struggle more with maintaining adult relationships now than I ever did with friendships then, and trust me, it has nothing to do with the fact that I was homeschooled. Homeschooling has changed so much in the 10 years since I was homeschooled. While the resources are still a bit lacking, there are definitely more families homeschooling now for more of a variety of reasons. Whatever your reason may be, whether your jumping in for preschool or high school, starting out can be daunting and hard. The first thing you'll want to do is find a good group, which may offer classes, get togethers, and field trips.

Mommy Poppins hopes to become a great resource for homeschool families, so stay tuned for our series of articles on different homeschooling topics.

More and more studies are showing how important the role of play is in early childhood learning. Kids develop important social and cognitive skills from play, and become more self-confident and emotionally mature when allowed to learn by playing. Finding a daycare that goes beyond simply watching your kid, and fosters this independence and imporant early learning skill isn't always easy. We've rounded up a few great daycares (some of which also have preschools) where your child will love to learn while they play.