Let’s Talk About Homeschool Enchantment

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Christina C

I want to talk to you about Enchantment. It’s important, so have a seat, grab a cup of tea, and join me…

What does “Enchantment” even mean? A quick Google search reveals that “Enchantment” means “a feeling of great pleasure or delight” and “the state of being under a spell; magic.” Why wouldn’t we want more of that in our homeschools, and in our lives for that matter?

Let me first preface that I received my encouragement to seek Enchantment in my life and homeschool from the Julie Bogart and the Brave Writer program. Prior to this we were exploring our way through various curricula and programs, which all provided great information and resources but were lacking that ‘je ne sais quoi’ that we were unconsciously seeking but never finding.

When you find it, you will know.

(The photo below shows a spontaneous Short Story Tea Time that my mother and step-father put together. Purely delighful!)

Enchantment looks and feels different for each family and each person. For us it visits in the form of pure joy. That’s how I know when it arrives at our house. My children and I experience pure and unadulterated joy. There are twinkling eyes, dimpled cheeks. Little ones dance while time stands still. Pressure is gone, obligation is not welcome, and schedule is most certainly uninvited!

But be careful, it won’t necessarily stay. You have to invite it, make it feel welcome, nurture it. It may not visit every day. But when it does, you will most certainly be grateful for its company.

The good news is that all you need to summon Enchantment into your homeschool is a little pixie dust. Pixie dust lets Enchantment know that your heart is open, ready and willing. “What is pixie dust and where do you find it?” you ask. Well, let me tell you where we have found some pixie dust.

Pixie dust is found in everyday places. That’s good news, right? It collects in the ordinary places that we often neglect while schooling, like game shelves, costume chests, picture book baskets, and toy bins. It gathers in the pantry where we keep our treat baking supplies. It forms powdery mountains behind the couch and gets kicked up when we pile on to read fun stories together. Pixie dust builds up in the Legos, Lincoln Log Villages, crayons, and K’Nex creatures all over the floor. Messes (those made from play and creativity) are sure signs of pixie dust and even the elusive Enchantment!

You see, Enchantment visits us when there is pixie dust in the air. Now, I understand that there are times when we feel that we must get out our worksheets and curriculum books and sit at the kitchen table. There are times when we may hear some moaning and groaning (a SURE sign that Enchantment is nowhere near). There are times when we feel like we must do things that we don’t want to do. I have good news. It is still possible, and never too late, to find a little pixie dust. You must just listen to yourself and your children. If what you are doing is not bringing joy into your home, bid it farewell.

Oh, and please don’t be afraid that learning is put on hold when Enchantment comes to call. Au contraire! It is happening. Naturally. Easily. Happily. Without stress or struggle.

So take a chance. Let go and look for the pixie dust. See what Enchantment has in store for you when she visits…

Here are some quick tips for inviting some Enchantment into your homeschool day:

Bake some treats and have a Poetry Tea Time.
Grab a favorite game and play together!
Substitute one subject for a game. I have our list of educational games here.
Take a break and go outside! Play. Go on a nature hike. Watch birds. Collect rocks. Whatever – just go outside!
Grab the art supplies and get creative!
Set up a book basket in your living area. Fill it with books on various topics and from different genres. Have each child pick one and gather on the couch to read.
Create a toy corner full of bins of fun and creative stuff. Give your kids some free time to build and explore on their own.
Pop some popcorn and watch a great movie together. Here is a list of some of our favorites.
Have a dress-up bin readily accessible and give your kids free time to pretend when the interest strikes.
Leave some interesting things out, like on the coffee table, and see what your kids do. Some ideas I have seen lately are new games, art supplies, toothpicks and marshmallows. The possibilities are as endless as your creativity!
Try giving your kids a say in what and how they learn. They will appreciate the choice! This could be as simple as allowing them to choose which subject to start with or which book they want to read next. You may be surprised by how much ownership they take over the material.

Our Favorite Picture Books

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Christina C

There’s nothing better than piling together on a couch or bed and reading together as a family. It fosters closeness, but better yet, it encourages a shared love of great books. We read together throughout the day, but our favorite read-aloud time is bedtime. Each child gets to pick a favorite story and we snuggle up to enjoy. Here is a list of our favorites, those that are worn, torn, and well-loved. One or two of these is a second copy, as the first one was so well-used that it had to be replaced.

(The following pictures contain links to Amazon.com. Should you decide to purchase any of the books, Thankfully Home will receive a small commission. This will not cost you anything at all! It helps us buy books for our family, so thank you!)

Gather your favorites, snuggle up, and enjoy! These are the makings of fond memories that your kids will remember long after they leave home…

Worldschooling on a Budget

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Christina C

Our family loves to travel. We love to feast our eyes on new landscapes, taste new foods, and immerse ourselves in different experiences.

I got bitten by the travel bug when I was too young to remember. Fortunately for me, I had parents that were willing to indulge my passion and they made it possible for me to have many travel opportunities. I did three exchange programs, two to France and one to Italy, starting in the 8th grade. I took a semester off from college and set off on a two month jaunt through Europe, with no itinerary.

Those trips shaped my life in immeasurable ways. My husband and I decided that we want the same for our children. We want them to have a broader, more worldly perspective on life. But, we are a single-income family. We cannot simply indulge our every single travel whim!

My husband was born in Turkey and came to live in the United States when he was 11 years old. He remembers his traveling adventures around Turkey very fondly. He also has a very unique World view because of his experiences, one that he is eager to share with me and our children.

We have had some great successes with traveling on a small budget so far, like two weeks at Disney with a 10-day park pass for under $4k, a week at Williamsburg / Busch Gardens for under $700, two weeks in a beautifully appointed townhome on Hilton Head Island, SC for the price of one week, and we are planning a 5-week trip to Ireland / Scotland / Wales for under $7K. I will blog about each of these trips, and others, in the near future. I wanted to share our general travel tips here:

You have to be flexible. Let me write that again. YOU HAVE TO BE FLEXIBLE. That means that you may not get to go to the exact destination of your dreams on the exact dates that work best for you for the exact price that you want to pay. You may have to be willing to drive or travel to another airport as well. One of our favorite things about homeschooling is that we have travel flexibility. We have saved a ton of money by traveling during the off season. So, there are three main areas to consider: your budget, your destination, and your dates. Start planning by choosing one area in which you are the least flexible. Then start your research. But you must then be more flexible in the other two areas.
Avoid staying in hotels, if you can. Even when you get a good deal, they can be pricey. There are sites where you can rent time shares from agencies or owners. We have done that in Orlando and Williamsburg. Because my husband works for the government, he has access to timeshare rentals around the World. But you can rent timeshares as well on sites such as timeshare-resale-rental.com, tug2.com and redweek.com. We have also had great experiences with Trip Advisor and VRBO for house/condo rentals (we have traveled to Hilton Head Island, SC and Martha’s Vineyard by renting vacation homes from owners). Some of the perks of staying in a house or condo is that you get a fully-appointed kitchen and, in most cases, a washer and dryer. This is so immensely helpful for families, especially on extended trips. Imagine how you can save on packing space if you have a washer and dryer! For the times when you are only going to be at a destination for a night or two and you must stay in a hotel, compare prices on places like kayak.com to make sure you are getting the best deal.
Eat in at least once per day. I can tell you that we have saved a mint by at least eating breakfast in our rental place. It also helps to prepare lunches for the day and take them along if you can. We saved hundreds of dollars by doing this at Disney World. This is also where having a condo or house helps. Having a fully-appointed kitchen is a luxury that saves a ton of money.
Plan ahead, especially for international travel. We started planning our trip to Ireland about a year ahead of time. This allowed us to spend some time tracking prices of things like flights. Airfare is often the biggest expense, especially for large families. My husband studied flight prices over the past year and was able to determine the time of year that flights were cheaper for certain destinations. His favorite sites for doing this are Google Flights and Kayak. A first look at Google flights shows DC to Paris at over $4,000 for 2 adults and 3 kids. This is a nice overview since we can see prices with just one click for any city. It is slow to load the prices but eventually, if you leave the map up, it will load the prices for all the places on the map.

We change to graph view and see that flights are $2,000 cheaper if we fly 11 days later. Click on that date and it will move your trip forward that many days.

If you go back to map view London is now also a lot cheaper. We saved almost $2,000 just by moving forward 11 days. One problem with this is that monthly housing is usually rented from the start to end of the month. But, you can take that $2k and make other plans with it. We have found that owners are usually pretty flexible and will work with you.
But be ready to jump when the deal is hot! This is another area in which you must be flexible. If you want to see the World, especially on a budget, sometimes you have to be ready to grab an opportunity. For example, during a Periscope presentation my husband found a direct flight to London from Washington, D.C. for $2,200.00 for a family of five! That is a phenomenal deal and if London is a place that you dream about going to, that’s a deal you may want to jump on. We happened to pick Ireland in this manner. We stumbled upon our cottage and the price made us take the plunge. The owner was flexible on dates since we were booking so far in advance so we had the time to watch flight prices.

All of these tips go hand in hand and compliment each other in many ways. They have helped us save incredible amounts of money and take trips, even long ones, that we would otherwise not be able to afford. So, we wanted to share our tips with everyone in the hopes that we can get the word out that, with a little time, effort, and the right resources, Worldschooling is within reach!