real soul talk + all things heart
I was asked to give a talk to our mom’s group at my church about simplifying our schedules and it was a great opportunity for me to process and put into words some things we’ve been learning as a family over the years. Listen to the video below to hear some of my thoughts on simplicity, family values, rest and how to prioritize what’s most important to us!
Every year my husband and I discuss and evaluate if we want to continue homeschooling for the next year. Once we’ve decided, I put my head down, get to work, and set up everything we need to make the next school year happen. But as every homeschooling parent I’m sure can attest to, no matter how certain you are that you want to homeschool, you begin to question your decision on the hard days.
Enter in my Homeschool Booster Shot!
Below I’ll share several resources (articles and videos) that I turn to when I’m feeling discouraged or begin to doubt our decision to homeschool. I also keep a list of “whys” on my phone so that when I’m struggling to remember why we chose this, I can read it and quickly be reminded!
Sometimes we just need a little refresher of the benefits of homeschooling – a booster shot if you will – to encourage us and keep our heads in the game!
*And for those who are new around here, I do want to mention that we are very pro-homeschool AND pro-public school. We have loved our homeschooling journey thus far, but are very open to making changes as we feel led. A lot of these resources are heavily pro-homeschool, which helps give me a boost when I’m down, but I also could make a substantial list of all the pros that come alongside public school. In my opinion, education is best when it’s the best fit for each family. Check out my thoughts on Public School vs Homeschool to understand my heart a little bit better on this topic!*
Ok, time to dive in. Let’s start with a list of some of the reasons we love homeschooling. I hope this list not only encourages you, but can inspire you to make a list of your own to have at your fingertips when you have discouraging days.
My Whys:
– Slow mornings and lots of sleep for our kids
– Lots of family time and sibling time together
– Allowing rest/play breaks between subjects
– Flexible schedules we can alter and move around based on our needs: sick days, vacation days, life chaos, unexpected family crises
– Ability to vacation in off-season when places/plane flights are cheaper
– Ability to take field trips when places are empty because most kids are in school
– A slower paced life
– Freedom to choose what work our kids need to do – no busy work!
– I get to see the lightbulbs of learning go off in their heads when they get a new concept
– Choosing how and when we introduce heavier topics to them – war, race, sex, etc.
– Ability to give a God-centered perspective as new topics are introduced
– Helping them know and learn about Jesus can be an overarching focus and theme of our homeschool; we have time to be intentional in this area and have regular discussions about these topics
– Time to play and use their imaginations
– One-on-one learning settings; very individualized and tailored education
– They can explore their passions and it’s easy for me to stay aware of what they’re excited about
– Capacity to do more travel and field trips bc we aren’t needing to recoup on the weekends from a busy school week
– Slow evenings not filled with homework
– Ability to build relationships and collaborate with other homeschooling families
– Slower holidays because we don’t feel pressure to cram in a lot of activities before kids have to go back to school
– Being able to let the kids play outside when it snows or take advantage of the sunny beautiful weather in springtime
I could go on, but that’s a good list to get us started!
Now let’s dive in to the resources I love to read and watch when I need a pick-me-up!
Articles:
18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children
Homeschooling Could Be the Smartest Way to Teach Kids in the 21st Century — Here are 5 Reasons Why
‘It Just Isn’t Working’: PISA Test Scores Cast Doubt on U.S. Education Efforts
Third Indication U.S. Educational System is Deteriorating
Homeschooling: Pros, Cons and Facts
Why Sending Your Child to Public School Won’t Solve Your Problems
My View: Why I Chose Homeschooling
Research Facts On Homeschooling
Videos:
TEDx Talk: The Surprising Truth About Learning In Schools
TED Talk: How to Escape Education’s Death Valley
TEDx Talk: Prepare Our Kids for Life, Not Standardized Tests
TEDx Talk: How Will I Educate My Children?
TED Talk: Do Schools Kill Creativity?
I hope this blog can be a resource you can use to give yourself (or someone you know) a boost and remember some of the reasons you chose to homeschool this year! We all could use a little encouragement along this journey.
You’ve got this!
If you want to connect, find me over on Instagram to see more of our daily life!
xo
Let’s dive into all things Essentials In Writing! Teaching your child to learn how to write can sometimes feel daunting. Choosing a curriculum that meets your family’s needs can be incredibly helpful in this endeavor! Here are the top reasons why we love this homeschool writing curriculum. Feel free to reach out if you have specific questions – I’m happy to share more about our experience!
Here’s what we’ve been using for Language Arts this year (2020/2021) for my 2nd grader:
I get many questions about why we use All About Reading and how that fits in with using Sonlight’s Language Arts program – so I explain all of that in this video! Feel free to reach out with questions!
As a homeschooling mom (or parent in general) I encounter hundreds of meltdowns between my 3 kids and if I’m honest, it is EXHAUSTING.
Over the years I realized that I didn’t like how I reacted when my kids would meltdown. I felt like I couldn’t meet them emotionally, and in fact I would shutdown and disconnect, just hoping the screaming or crying would stop. I wasn’t able to help them healthily deal with their emotions.
If you’d like to hear a method for how to engage compassionately with your kids when they meltdown (which I have found actually calms and addresses the meltdowns more effectively) watch this video where I break it all down into 4 steps.
As mentioned in this video, here is the link to get the PDF that details out this method for those who are more visual or would like something you can print and revisit.
Download PDF : 4 Steps to Help Your Child When They Meltdown
Here’s our life/parent coach Amy Ferrell’s email. You can email her directly or message me and I can give more details about who she is and what our times with her have looked like. She’s gold!
Email : amyferrellpwp@comcast.net
I hope this will be as helpful for you as it has been for me! Connecting with our kids and their strong emotions is so valuable and worth the effort!
Feel free to reach out with any questions or thoughts you have, and subscribe if you’d like to be notified of new posts!
As a homeschooling mom I’ve been asked several questions regarding public school – so I thought, let’s just dive in! I want to share with you a couple thoughts we’ve processed related to public school. Let me know any questions/comments you might have!
Let me show you what a typical day of homeschooling looks like for us! As with all days and weeks, know that this is reflective of one of our best days (only showing our 5 second highlight reels!) and that we have our fair share of ups and downs just like any other family. We had a lot of fun putting this together – I hope you enjoy seeing our day unfold!
The ONE thing I was SO intimidated by when we began homeschooling was figuring out how to teach someone to read. You could say I was minorly (majorly) terrified because I had no confidence or knowledge for how to go about this mysterious task.
Enter in All About Reading.
This curriculum has been a gift to us and more importantly, has helped me to feel confident in HOW to teach someone to read. But I’ll let my video do the talking as I break down all the reasons why we’ve truly enjoyed this learning process I once dreaded.
If you’re debating on what to use to help your child learn how to read, I highly recommend looking into All About Reading to see if it’s a fit for your family!
One question I know that is on many homeschooling moms’ minds is, “How will I be able to get school done when I have a toddler in the house??”
This was also a question of mine when I had my 3rd baby. I knew eventually I’d have less naps and a toddler running around while I needed to do school with my older two. I’m happy to report we have thus far survived! As each year passes and the kids get a little older, I am finding things to be easier and operating a little smoother. We are still in the thick of it, but I feel there have been some learnings from our past years that I wanted to share with those of you facing a similar homeschool situation. Entertaining a toddler while you homeschool is no easy task, but I’m hopeful you might find a tip or two here that you can apply to your family!
I’ve created two videos that share what we have done to include our sweet toddler in our schooling process.
Check out this first video which details out what I have found most helpful with managing a toddler/preschooler, including my process of what I like to call “Stations”.
After you’ve watched that video, settle in with some popcorn and watch this next video which gives you LOTS of ideas for what you can include in your stations with your toddler. And don’t feel limited by what items you see we use – the sky’s the limit! If matching a pile of socks entertains your toddler, use it! Don’t feel a need to buy a ton of things – you most likely have quite a lot of options already at home.
As I described in the video, I was able to group all of the items I use for our stations in 6 categories:
You by no means have to be categorically structured with your stations – just let these categories guide you in brainstorming what items you’d like to have in your toddler arsenal.
I’ll list below the items I mentioned in my video that can be found on Amazon for those interested.
(*Know that these are affiliate links which means if you purchase using these links I receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!)
Now on to the goods!
1. Playfoam Go!
The kids love this stuff and I love that it’s super easy to clean up and never dries out! Get it here : Playfoam Go!
2. Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pads
There are several of these sticker pads to choose from but these are two we have and love. They are a quiet activity and can be used over and over again. Get them here : Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pad Play House! / Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pad Habitats
3. See-Through Creative Workshop
This drill set has given us entertainment in large chunks of time, for all ages in our house! It’s really well made and has been a fun play item the kids have enjoyed using alone or together. Get it here : See-Through Creative Workshop
This mat is amazing. It allows for creativity with near to no mess. Just fill the writing utensils with water and let your kids draw on it. When the mat dries the pictures disappear and you can start all over again! Get it here : Water Drawing Mat
These little bears are adorable and durable. They are fun to play as a game or to have your toddler match them by themselves. Get it here : Teddy Mix & Match Bears
Mighty Mind is great for younger and older kids alike. With varying levels of difficulty, these puzzles get kids thinking by placing the shapes in the right locations to complete the pictures. Get it here : Mighty Mind Puzzles
This maze is a lot of fun. You move the magnetic balls around and drop them in their appropriate locations! It’s quiet, it’s mess-free, and it keeps kids interested while they figure it out. Wins all around. Get it here : Wooden Magnetic Tree Maze
8. Blokus Game
Blokus is a fun family game, but it’s also a great option to use for stations with a toddler. The pieces are fun to pick up and move around on the tray and it gets the child thinking about where they all fit. Get it here : Blokus Game
This is a sweet little activity that is cute, colorful, and made up of light-weight wooden shapes. A great way for toddlers and preschoolers to familiarize themselves with shapes while trying to figure out how they can make the pictures on the cards. Get it here : Wooden Shapes Puzzle
10. My First Learn-to-Write Workbook
This is one of the workbooks we’ve been using with my preschooler/toddler this year and I’ve been really impressed with it! This is a paper workbook and is just enough, but not too much, for little hands and minds to warm up to tracing letters. Get it here : My First Learn-to-Write Workbook
This workbook comes with a small dry-erase marker and is such a high quality product. The pages are thick and glossy with colorful images that entice little ones to want to dive right in. It covers letters, colors, numbers, etc. Get it here : Wipe-Clean Workbook
Well that about wraps it up! If you have any questions at all don’t hesitate to reach out by commenting here or finding me on Instagram/Facebook. And if you’re a veteran homeschool mom and have some words of wisdom or advice to share on this topic, please jump in!
I remember when we began to discuss homeschooling for the first time way back when I was pregnant with our first (see photo). I was surprised to even be considering it because my husband and I both had public school backgrounds and didn’t feel any pressing needs to change that experience for our (then future) kids.
We had some dear friends we met in our early married life that homeschooled, and watching their family and the love they shared for each other was the first seed that was planted for becoming curious about homeschooling.
I remember one night laying in bed, super pregnant, reading a book on homeschooling for our (then utero) child. Let’s just say I like to be prepared. I felt a need to be on the same page with my husband about this, so I remember wanting to firm up our answer THAT night to the question, “Will we homeschool or not??”
In his wisdom, knowing how I run hard after a passion for 6 months – 2 years and then quickly move on to the next thing, he said, “We still have around 5 years to figure this out. If this is still something you’re interested in then, that will be very telling to me.”
I agreed because I know how I can be. I can become obsessed and excited about something for a season and then move on from it just as fast.
I put the topic on hold in my heart. And sat with it for the next years.
Surprisingly to me, the desire didn’t go away. It just grew. By the time we had to make a preschool decision for our first, that was the year we “got our toes wet” by dipping them in the homeschool pool. We got a preschool curriculum and had fun reading books together and doing some light activities.
As each year goes on, we evaluate and see if we want to continue. Every year brings about its own learnings as everything continues to change. Different grades, different kids’ ages, more kids needing to be schooled, etc.
So far we’ve had really sweet seasons, and really difficult seasons. There are days where I’m so content and joy-filled with the gift of homeschooling and other days where I question everything and want to walk (or run as fast as I can) away.
But as each year passes I look back and feel grateful for the gift homeschooling has been. We may not homeschool forever, but I cherish these years that we’ve been able to learn and grow together.
So where are you today – in a sweet season or looking for an escape route, or somewhere in between??