In the Trenches of Motherhood

Practical guides for kids, family life and the home.

How we review

Updated

Guides on this site are aggregator-style. A guide collects public sources and says where each claim came from.

Sources

A guide may draw on:

  • Educator reviews and curriculum reviews
  • Homeschool curriculum review sites, for the homeschool section
  • Maker pages and reviews for toys, games, days out and household kit
  • Publisher samples and the maker's own age guidance
  • Buyer ratings on the shop page

A claim that depends on a source links that source on the page.

What a guide does not claim

The editorial team does not test products in a home or a classroom. Pages do not describe a writer using a product with children. Age ranges come from the maker's current guidance and are checked against that guidance before a page is published.

Comparison tables for age range, subject, prep time and format are the editorial team's summary of those sources. A table can change when a source changes.

AI disclosure

AI tools may be used to find sources, draft a comparison or write a first pass. An AI tool does not publish a page. It is not an author of this site.

Robert Thomas edits every page before publication. The editor checks product names, age ranges, quotations and links against the sources. The byline stays "In the Trenches of Motherhood editorial team, edited by Robert Thomas". If a claim cannot be tied to a source, it is removed.

The homepage does not carry this disclosure. It lives on this page, with a short version on About.

Re-check schedule

  • Law and "how to start" pages are checked every 6 months, and sooner when an official source changes. Each of those pages shows an updated date.
  • Product roundups are checked every 6 months, and when a product is discontinued or a maker changes the age range.

The date on a guide is the last human check.

Homeschool law

United States rules and United Kingdom rules sit on separate pages. A US page cites the education department for the reader's state. If it cites HSLDA, it says that HSLDA is an advocacy group. A UK page cites gov.uk and local authority guidance. Every law page tells the reader to check your local rules. It is not legal advice.

Shop links

A page with a shop link shows a commission notice before the first of those links. The Associates statement is on the Affiliate disclosure page.