Designing a home-centered life: learning, exploring, and creating with our five littles
“Moms, let me say it again. You can’t help him too much. Okay?” These firm, but gentle, generous words from my son’s Essentials tutor washed over me for the second week in a row and I realized what freedom they had brought to our homeschool experience. I had been warned the first year in Essentials could be overwhelming and it's certainly … [Read more...]
The lessons, the calendar, the schedule was making us all a bit weary. I could feel we needed a slow-down, but instead I wanted to hurry ahead to finish. I'm like that. It can feel productive, but it's often quite the opposite. And besides productive? Producing what exactly? Harried children and a frazzled mother? No good. And that's when … [Read more...]
Been picking up tidbits from around the internet that I thought you'd be interested in too. Consider it weekend reading and be sure to leave me your thoughts in the comments. It's dialectic. Screentime is Making Kids Moody, Crazy, and Lazy I definitely think I see times where this seems to be true for my brood. We limit their time, but this … [Read more...]
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who name drops? Well, Leigh Bortins is kinda like that, but with books. In a totally innocuous kind of way, of course. This year I totally lucked out with Leigh Bortins as the featured speaker at the practicum I attended. Throughout her talks, Leigh shared with us books she has read, … [Read more...]
Alright, folks, here's the skinny. I struggle with needing things to be super neat and tidy. I mean s t r u g g l e. Can you hear me? Do you feel me? Something about a clean environment makes my mind feel clear and my soul feel peaceful. As you may remember, we moved just a few short months back. Moving is anything but neat and tidy. Unpacking and … [Read more...]
If I could, I would say to my littles, "If you get nothing else, get this." I'm not sure I'm the teacher I should be with this, but I do want to be. Reading this book brought me closer than before and reading Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan with my littles has reminded me. Maybe today you need to be reminded of the cleansing pleasure of … [Read more...]
Recently during my 7 year olds annual check-up at the pediatrician's, the nurse was asking him to answer a list of prescribed questions prior to the doctor coming in. It went something like this -- Nurse: "What's the name of your school?" My son: Blank stare. Somewhat impatiently, the nurse repeats: "The name? of your school?" I was giving … [Read more...]
I want to say in the simplest way possible the lesson that God has been teaching me lately. I'll start at the beginning. I'm a talker…as in, I talk a lot. When I'm happy, sad, excited, nervous, angry, joyful, unsure, thinking…..I talk. You'll usually only find me quiet when I'm tired or overwhelmed or really into what I'm reading. My children, who … [Read more...]
And this picture pretty much perfectly describes homeschooling with a preschooler in the house. This was us last year. My daughter would climb onto the schoolroom table and try to gather up as many pencils, erasers, etc as she could. I snapped this picture, because in this moment it was so, so funny to me. Despite the ridiculous distraction … [Read more...]
I recently had a first-time CC mom message me to ask advice for her first year homeschooling her four and six year old sons. At first reading, I thought I might not have any advice to offer! But, after a little thought, I realized I had learned some things since beginning to homeschool my young ones three years ago. So, if you were to ask … [Read more...]