Author Archives: Christina C

A New Perspective on Self Care for a Homeschooling Mama

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A wonderful thought was expressed by a homeschooling friend who said that once we have children, we need to be more intentional about caring for ourselves. I heard this message on the morning after a particularly rough homeschooling day. A day that indicated that my self-care jar was empty. I really needed to hear this message at this precise moment in time and I needed to sit with it for a while…

What do I do for self care? I mean, my “work” is my life. I don’t get a lot of free time to be by myself.

Nothing earth-shattering came immediately to mind other than the usual things, such as:

  • painting my nails, doing makeup, putting on jewelry and anything else that makes me feel pretty
  • listening to music
  • playing my mandolin
  • cooking (I am really enjoying finding new recipes and feel really proud when it turns out well!)
  • cleaning and organizing an area of the house (this ALWAYS helps clear my mental space as well!)
  • going shopping
  • reading
  • having a cup of tea

Sitting reading Morning Girl with my daughter on the couch one morning, I had an a-ha moment. I was so enjoying being immersed in the book with her, going on this wonderful journey together in our hearts and minds. THIS felt like self care. My soul was being soothed in a way that could never happen while doing anything else. Sure, I could paint my nails, take a bath, read a book by myself, go shopping. There is a time and a place for those things. But this kind of connection is good for my soul. I love to read, but I love to read more when I can share the experience with others, especially snuggled up close together feeling warm bodies pressed against me as I read. I started to really pay attention and notice the connection during our family read-aloud time in the evening as well. In the moment, I realize that there is no place I would rather be, nothing I would rather be doing.

So I started to generate another list because I realized that self care CAN include others. As a matter of fact, including others in your acts of self care invites connection. Connection can be good for the soul. It is a daily requirement for mine. And not just any togetherness will do. Just being in a room with others may not be enough. The connection I am referring to involves depth. Sometimes it is intentional, but sometimes it is not. We must experience something together, share something just between us.

So here is my list of self-care activities that involve my children:

  • Music. Since I NEED music in my life, regularly, why not share my passion with my children? In my white minivan, you will often see us mouthing lyrics and bouncing around as we enjoy a variety of musical genres, like 80’s, New Wave, Country, Classical, Irish, Turkish, Italian, and much more…We are also known to put on some tunes in my living room and have an impromptu dance party. This almost always leads to a game of Just Dance on the Wii!
  • Art. I love looking at it, talking about it, and I used to love creating it. My husband is the artist in the family. So, we appreciate and create art together now. I get to express my creativity and the kids are finding their creative outlets at the same time. It’s a win-win!
  • Food. I love to eat. All kinds of food. When they are interested, I let my kids join me in the kitchen, donning their aprons and chef hats. This makes my heart really happy…Foods that we make together are especially good for the soul.
  • Reading. Reading is probably my favorite solitary self-care activity. In almost two years of homeschooling, I have read so many enjoyable books with my children, but I haven’t had as much time to read personal selections. It took me almost a whole year to read Anna Karenina (but it was worth every delicious stolen moment away!). I love our times together spent reading. I love the shared experience. I love the delicious conversations that we have about the books we share.
  • Nature. Being in nature is soothing. Being in nature with my children is wondrous. I get to see the world through the eyes of a child, and what better vantage point is there? Watching my children frolic and wonder in nature is probably the most soul-healing activity there is.

Self care, for me, is anything that replenishes the soul. Sometimes I need space to clear my head. But sometimes I need connection. A deep connection with another. When I stop, pay attention, and relish the moment, I often find that soul-healing connection is sitting right beside me when I need it most…

Our Homeschool in One Word: Free!

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One morning, the kids and I were driving in the car and I asked them a question: If you could pick one word to describe our homeschool, what would it be?

My eight-year-old daughter immediately screamed, “Awesome!” I asked her what specifically was “awesome” about our homeschool and without hesitation she responded, “There are no bullies! We get more than 15 minutes to eat lunch! I get to read whatever I want!”

My six-year-old son had a different opinion. To him, our homeschool means “Math and Moving Beyond the Page.” I understand that his thinking is more concrete, but I also think that to him, school is just those two things. He doesn’t realize that playing with blocks, dressing up, climbing trees, reading on the couch, going to the trampoline park, playing games and all of the other fun things we do regularly count as “school” for us.

My three-year-old wanted in on the action and chimed in with “Fun!” I can understand that. We were, after all, on our way to a trampoline park to bounce for an hour and a half as our PE class…

We generated some more words and talked about all of the reasons why we love our homeschool. We decided that we needed a broader word, one that encompassed everything that we were discussing and feeling. And then it hit me…

Free.

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That’s it. Free. I blurted it out. “We are free!” The kids started cheering. Pretty soon, we looked like Mel Gibson in Braveheart , pumping our fists and shouting, “Freedom!”

We are free from the rat race. Free from being bound by an oppressive schedule. Free from grades and rigid evaluations. Free from having to rush to meet the bus. Free from having to say goodbye to each other every day as we parted.  Free from listening to someone else about what is best for our children.

 

 

On the flip side, I would ratherIMG_20150515_104541795 focus on what we are free to move TOWARD. We are free to travel, sleep in, go to bed late, stay in our pjs all day, explore curricula and methods, go on impromptu field trips and adventures. We are free to be together all day, every day. We are free to visit grandparents weekly. We are free to be ourselves. We are free to decide what we are doing and when, why, how, and with whom we are doing it. We are free to decide what works and is best for our family. It is so liberating. And challenging.

Sometimes that level of responsibility can be exhilarating, sometimes very stressful. But we are free…

 

Let’s Talk About Homeschool Enchantment

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

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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!)

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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!

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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

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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

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FIELDSCHOOL

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
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    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.
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    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.
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  5. 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!

 

Arctic Animal and Habitat Unit Study and Lapbook Project

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This past week marked the official beginning of winter. What a great time to start learning about the animals that live in arctic climates and how they manage to survive in extreme temperatures! Here is a list of the books that we are reading for our Arctic Unit:

(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!)

At the suggestion of my daughter, we also watched this movie about an Inuit legend to add some culture to our unit as well as March of the Penguins to try to experience life in Antarctica:

We have also decided to add Mr. Popper’s Penguins to the mix as our chapter book read aloud. In addition to that, we will do The Quiver of Arrows from Brave Writer to accompany Mr. Popper’s Penguins as our Language Arts for the unit. I love when it all falls into place and everything fits together!

With the knowledge that we acquired through reading these wonderful books and watching these movies, we are designing and making our first lapbooks. Most of the printables that we used for our lapbooks came from here. Others were from quick Google searches for specific items.These are works in progress, and we are adding more and more as we learn more! I think it has been a huge success so far!

My children love learning about animals and they love being creative with their knowledge. This has been a win-win for everyone!

 

 

Bringing History to Life – Part 2

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Traveling through time to a century and a half later, we entered the town of Williamsburg in the year 1773. There, we meandered down brick pathways through a living Colonial town.

One of our first stops was at a shoemaker’s shop. There we saw how shoes were made in Colonial America. We learned that shoemakers had a 12-year apprenticeship. Shoe shops imported leather from England because it was of better quality than leather from America. Additionally, shoemakers only made and sold men’s shoes – women’s and children’s shoes were made of fabric and were not well crafted, like men’s leather shoes.

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Next, we had the pleasure of dining by candlelight in Chowning’s Tavern. There, we were entertained by guitar music and readings by Edward Chowning, the tavern owner’s nephew. We dined on Shepherd’s Pie and sampled homemade ales and hot cider.

A stop in the marketplace turned into an afternoon of shopping for local wares, game playing, and a lively game of “baseball,” the way Colonial children might have played it.

We met some very interesting folks during our stroll through town. One gentleman even taught my sons how to march like soldiers!

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On the way down Duke of Gloucester Street, we stopped at the courthouse and had a chat with a clerk. He informed us about the law and how it was carried out in Colonial times…

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We took a grand tour of the Governor’s Palace,

which included a tour of the kitchen. We got to visually sample a five-course meal that might have been served to guests of the palace.

We walked through the parlor, offices, bed chambers, and the ballroom…

The finale was a visit to a woodworking shop, where a wheelwright was fastening the final pegs into a cart wheel. We learned that all wheels were made of ash, oak, and elm. It took two weeks to make one wheel!

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Reading about history is wonderful and can be very interesting and engaging. But actually living it, seeing it in action, walking amongst it, is an altogether different experience. My children and I will remember this experience in all of its vivid splendor for a very long time…

 

 

 

Bringing History to Life – Part 1

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Our family loves history. We love to read encyclopedias, historical fiction, myths and legends. We love to watch period films. We recently had the pleasure of visiting the Historic Settlement at Jamestown outside of Williamsburg, Virginia. Stepping back in time to the year 1607, my children got to frolic around a Powhatan Indian village, board two ships that brought English settlers and merchants across the Atlantic, and explore an English settlement. They made tools out of rock and animal bone, loaded and pretended to fire a swivel gun from the side of a ship, and watched a settler make meat and fruit pies. The got to see history come to life, be a part of it, live it – if just for a day.

 

 

It All Counts!

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As the Holiday Season descends upon us, I would like to encourage everyone to slow down and enjoy this festive time. Stop and smell the evergreens and the scrumptious smells wafting through your kitchens. Listen to the children laughing and squealing in Christmas anticipation. Enjoy it all. I know it’s hard, but we need to learn to go a little easier on ourselves! Let’s face it, the Holidays can be very stressful. Add to that the responsibilities of everyday life: the cooking, cleaning, errands, and commitments. Now add to that the responsibility of homeschooling our kids. That’s enough to send us all over the edge.

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I want you to take one thing from me right now. IT ALL COUNTS. Let go of the stress of fitting in traditional work and curriculum. Christmas crafts are important for fine motor skills, artistic development, creative imagination, and so much more. And baking. Let’s talk about baking and cooking. Not only is it so much fun to spend time in the kitchen with your children, but imagine how they could learn addition, fractions, and measurement! Come on, count it as Math! Field trips to the Christmas tree farm, the train garden at the mall or fire station, trips to the theater or symphony. IT ALL COUNTS! These are the things your children will remember about the Holidays, not sitting at a table doing worksheets. There is definitely a time for that, but give yourselves a break! Don’t worry, though, because the learning doesn’t slow down just because you do…

If you would like to learn more about the program that has inspired our family to trust more in learning through living, please check out Brave Writer.

Practical Ideas for Homeschooling Multiple Kids

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One of the biggest challenges of homeschooling (for those of us with more than one child) is how to work simultaneously with children of different ages and at different developmental stages. There are several options for working with multiple children:

  1. Work with one child at a time on each subject. (This is incredibly time consuming. Personally, I try to only do this with Math and Reading instruction, and only a couple of times per week.)
  2. Work with all children at the same time on the same subject but with different lessons. (For example, if you are doing math, give each child his or her own math lesson and move from child to child as you assist each one separately.)
  3. Work with all children at the same time, using the same lesson, but tailoring each lesson to the abilities and expectations of each child. (I aspire to doing this in most subjects!)

Working with all my kids at the same time is my favorite way to learn. It saves time and planning efforts and it also saves money since I don’t have to buy as much by way of curriculum. Most importantly, though, it is so much more fun! The kids get to work together, help each other, bounce ideas around, challenge each other, learn to cooperate with each other, and so much more.

Here are some of the strategies that I have found helpful for working together. I will break it down, as some subjects may require different resources.

  • Math: I use the Right Start Math curriculum, Level A for DS1 and Level B for DD. I work with each child independently on this, but the good news is that the each lesson only takes about 15-20 minutes. DS2, who is 3,occasionally joins DS1, especially when he notices the fun manipulatives we are using that day. If he needs help being occupied, we use file folder games (see below), boxed games, and math manipulatives that are exclusively his. If you are short on time or just want to do math together, one great way is to play games! There are a lot of games on the market that really help develop good math skills. Check out my post Fun Games for Learning and my Periscope broadcast to see some of our favorite Math games.
  • Language Arts: This can be tricky with multiple kids, especially if there is a large span in age. But it can be done! Again, one way is to incorporate games into your routine. I shared some of our favorite Language Arts games here on my blog as well as on Periscope. I also use copywork for a large part of our writing, spelling, and grammar instruction. All kids sit together copying their own passage. A couple of very helpful resources for copywork pages are Notebooking Pages and Worksheet Works. I use Notebooking Pages primarily for DD. They are great because you can select either basic or primary lines and even select a theme for your pages. For my DS1, I love Worksheet Works because I can generate dotted-line passages for him that he can trace. DS2 even gets his passage to try, if he is interested!
  • History, Science, Read-alouds, Philosophy, Foreign Language, Art, Phys Ed, and just about any other subject you can think of can be done all together. The trick is to tailor your goals and expectations to each child’s needs and abilities. For me, it is easier to to go with DD’s level and then simplify my expectations for my sons. I have been surprised at how much they enjoy doing the science experiments, history read-alouds, Poetry Tea Times, art and philosophy discussions, and much more with my daughter and I. Again, I expect my daughter to process the information differently. I expect her to have a deeper relationship with the material. She does more reading, writing, and manipulation of the topic. My sons get involved as much as they want to, as much as they enjoy it.When they get older, their expectations will be adjusted, just as my daughter’s have been.

For times when not all of my kids are involved in what we are learning, like when DS2 (let me remind you that he is 3) simply wants to do his own thing, I have collected a small arsenal of tools that I use to help occupy him while allowing him to take part in the learning process.

These fileIMG_20151128_091227 folder games, recommended by my friend and neighbor, have been a real life saver! File folder games are just what they sound like. My friend gave me some and I re-purposed some old manila file folders of my own, colored some cute printables, laminated them, and stuck them onto the file folders using velcro tabs. My DS2 absolutely loves them. They are “his school” and he is so proud of himself when he does them. IMG_20151128_091149IMG_20151128_091615

 

 

Another helpful thing is to have a plethora of hands-on, creative toys that are freely accessible. My sons help themselves to a bin or two and play for long periods of time. I like to keep blocks, K’Nex, Tinker Toys, MagnaTiles, and anything else they can build. It keeps them busy for sure!

 

Lastly, I have a drawer in the kitchen that’s full of art supplies that can be grabbed and used right at the kitchen table. The kids know that they can help themselves whenever the creative bug bites.

 

 

 

 

 

The best advice I give myself is to do what works. What works today may not work tomorrow. Flexibility is key. Also, it must work for everyone involved. Homeschooling is a joint effort, a communal affair. It has a life of its own and must be tended and cared for…

(This post contains a link to Amazon.com. Should you decide to purchase the item, 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!)