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Homeschool really is about what you put into it. It can be fun and simple or full of challenges. My daughter is almost six and in kindergarten so it is easy for us to keep things fun, simple and engaging. We don’t have standardized testing requirements yet and while there is curriculum to be taught and subjects to be learned, she is young enough to keep the subjects more fun and interactive. Many people have been forced into distance learning, or have chosen to homeschool right now and may be struggling to come up with a daily routine for their children. Below is what our homeschool routine looks like.

• Physical Exercise (at least 20 minutes)
• Morning Story
• Language Arts
• Art (Floating subject)
• Snack Time/ Recess
• Math
• Social Studies
• Science

I have a method to my madness, and you can adjust the schedule as you see fit based on the needs of your children.

The reason I’ve chosen to have physical exercise at the beginning of our homeschool routine is so that the kids get as much energy out as they can. Not only does it get out their energy, it also wakes them up. The movement gets the blood flowing everywhere, including their brains. I feel like physical activity at the beginning of the day also helps for an easier transition into school. We begin school around 9 am and my kids are usually already playing before school even starts. All I have to do is focus that energy into a structured activity. Some activities we’ve done so far are:

• Dance (to your favorite music)
• Soccer
• Spelling our names with movement
• Karate (lessons on YouTube)
• Traditional exercises
• Gymnastics (if you’re adventurous enough)

Next in our homeschool routine is a morning story. The reason for the story after the morning exercise is to calm your child down. All that exercise is bound to make them more hyper and restless. So, to remedy this issue we either cuddle up on the couch with a story, or sit at the dining room table to read. It depends on the day and the mood. I have found that reading and having them engage in the story allows them to gradually focus on the schooling environment rather than throwing them straight in.

The decision to do Language Arts next has a two part reason. First, my daughter doesn’t care for Language Arts as much as other subjects. She does well in most subjects but would much rather do math all day long. I felt that it would be a good idea to finish the subject that may cause trouble first thing when my daughter has much more energy and is ready to focus. The second part to this is that one of the curricula we use (Five in a Row) has you read a story five days in a row and do an activity based on the the story. Each activity relates to a different subject. It has been fun and engaging and I am in love with it so far. I alternate between Five in a Row and a few other Language Arts curricula. We cover reading, writing, grammar and spelling.

Social Studies art project.

Learning about seasons and proper attire.

Art is next in our homeschool routine, although this is my “floating subject”. I often attach art to either social studies or to our daily reading. If I don’t have a specific art project planned I tend to have my kids draw a picture of what we read about. I ask my older daughter to write a little bit about what she drew and how it relates to the story we read. My younger daughter will draw a picture for me and I will ask her how it relates and then write it down for her. That way we can look back at the end of the year and see how far they’ve come.

Next is snack time and recess. It’s important to give your children a break. As much as we adults want to power through and get the school day over with, our kids just can’t handle it the same way. Their little brains get overwhelmed with all of that information and they can become frustrated or begin to act out. So, we like to break up our day with a snack and some play time.

Once we’re back from recess it’s time to move on to math. We have a curriculum we follow, but in addition I personally like to use manipulatives for math. I think it helps little ones to grasp the concept better if they have items that they can hold and move around. I don’t have anything fancy, in fact, I like to use household items for this. Some items you can use are:

• crayons
• stuffed animals/ figurines
• beads/buttons
• snacks

A fun activity we do is a math scavenger hunt. I ask them to find items around our house (ex. 2 pillows , 3 spoons, and 1 sock). When they bring them back we count them out and make math problems out of them. At the end we count the total number of items and of course they have to put everything back. You can make it a fun game as well. Whoever puts the items back in the correct place fastest wins a small treat/prize.

Next in our homeschool routine is Social Studies. I like to tie this into whatever book we read about during the week. For example, we read a story that took place in China. For that week we learned about geography, culture, traditions, and even types of food. The kids had fun and we all learned new things each day.

Baking Soda Volcano

Oobleck

Last but not least is my favorite subject. Science! I make this subject last because to me it is the most fun. I have a degree in Biology so I really enjoy teaching my kids about science. Not to mention I get to be a kid again while I do the experiments with them. We cover things in a more basic way. It can be super simple like types of animals and where they live or what they eat. Or it can be more involved like a baking soda volcano or Oobleck. Obviously the experiments should be geared toward the age of your child and must be done with parental supervision, but you can certainly have fun while teaching.

I hope our homeschool routine has been helpful to you. You can always adjust this routine to fit your child’s needs and educational desires. In addition to this, remember that while workbooks can be a useful tool, every child learns differently and what works for some may not work for others. Stay flexible, have fun and know that you can do this!

Being a teacher is not something I imagined I would be doing…ever! In fact when my mother-in-law suggested this idea I laughed. I told her “no way” because I didn’t feel like I had the patience to deal with difficult children all day. Something I didn’t realize however is that the once you become a parent, you become a teacher. Whether you like it or not. You teach your children to engage with you from the minute they are born. You teach them how to play, how to talk, and how to walk. Given the current state of affairs in our country, our family made the decision to begin homeschooling our oldest daughter. Here are the top 5 tips for homeschool that I have found to be useful.

1. Patience

The first of the top 5 tips for homeschool is patience. This isn’t something that you can buy in preparation for homeschool…I wish it was. Wouldn’t that be so easy? Unfortunately it’s something we must learn and something we have to go into homeschool keeping in mind.

Teaching can be fun, but it can also be challenging. We may be expecting our child to learn something quickly because of past experiences with them. But that is not always the case. Instead of being overbearing and rigid like a brick wall, we need to take a step back and ask ourselves what is causing the learning difficulty. Is there an outside source of distraction? Is it the way I’m approaching the subject? Once you diagnose the issue you can find a solution that helps both of you to move forward in a positive way. The last thing we need is to make our children dislike school because we were unwilling to be patient with them. We have to be open and try to understand the way that they learn individually.

2. Flexibility

Flexibility is key. As in life, teaching is unpredictable. You may have a plan for the whole school day, but things may not happen the way you want them to. We start our days off with the best intentions but children can be finicky and quite emotional sometimes.

Take today for example. We started with a plan but my oldest daughter who is only five was just not understanding the math concept we were covering (subtraction). This was causing her to be upset and emotional. I made the decision to take a snack break and switch topics. While we may not have finished math at the exact time I anticipated, it saved both of us from being frustrated. It allowed me to have a minute to think about a different approach to subtraction. After our “breather” she was able to come into the topic of math refreshed and ready to learn instead of becoming frustrated.

3. Planner/ Organizer

I bought a daily planner almost the minute that I registered my daughter for homeschool. I didn’t exactly know what to do with it at the time but I knew that I would figure it out and that I would eventually use it frequently.

This organizer has been so helpful to me even in the first few weeks of school. I quickly learned that I should have a rough plan for each day. It’s really just a guideline because things can change at any moment during the homeschool day. You may have activities set out to the 30 minute interval and a particular order you’d like for things to be in and that’s great. Unfortunately it’s not always the case that you reach those 30 minute interval goals.

I’ve experienced a few days so far that really haven’t gone to “plan” but we did get everything done that needed to be. Just in a different order and much slower than anticipated. I highly recommend that you get some type of organizer prior to starting homeschool. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should definitely be functional. I don’t feel the need for anything fancy with bells and whistles, but if that’s your preference, go for it. Whatever helps to keep you motivated.

4. A Dedicated Work Space

A dedicated area for homeschooling is essential. This isn’t to say that you need a whole room to do homeschool in. While that would probably be a dream for most homeschool parents, it just isn’t ideal.

I doubt that most of us have extra rooms just for homeschool. If you do that’s great! If you’re like me, you’ve crammed all of your homeschool activities/ curriculum into every corner of the dining room. And you use the dining room table for literally everything. This is homeschool though, it’s messy and fun and so very worth it!

I have 3 binders. One for each of my daughters and one for myself for important paperwork and record keeping that the school requires. After attempting distance learning through my daughters previous school and not having anywhere to put her completed work, I really appreciate having a binder just for her. After each activity we do, I simply place it under the subject divider and have it to refer to later as needed. Having this in place at the beginning of the school year has made the transition into homeschool much easier than I thought it would be.

Let’s talk storage. I have limited space so storage is essential. I have two medium sets of drawers (from Ikea) and a book shelf. In one set of drawers I have the fun activities that we get to do for Kindergarten. Things like play doh, games, construction paper and miscellaneous crafts. The other set of drawers is for curriculum aids. Most of what is in there is related to writing, alphabet learning and the like. There are some manipulatives for math as well. The bookshelf houses educational books that we read in the morning before school as well as essentials like crayons, pencils, pens, tape, etc.

In addition to the storage, I have two small containers (14.25″x14″x3.25″) (you can get them at Joanns) which hold school supplied for each of my girls. They have things like: pencils, crayons, glue, watercolor paints, dry erase boards and markers. This way when we have different activities throughout the day they can go to their individual boxes and get the supplies that they need. It gives them a sense of independence and teaches them to keep their supplies neat and organized for school.

Hang in There

In the end, as strange as this may sound, I feel like the best advice for a new homeschooling parent is to go into it with few expectations. You’ll end up happier and feeling more accomplished than you would if you went into it with high hopes and didn’t accomplish everything you had your heart set on. I’m definitely not saying that you shouldn’t have any goals set out for the day or even the year. What I am saying is to cut yourself some slack. Soon enough, using these top 5 tips for homeschool, you and your child will come into a routine and teaching will become easier and more fun.

Curriculum is definitely important and I know that there will be state testing in the future. For now though, engaging with my child, helping with hands on learning and making memories that will last a lifetime are more important than what is learned from a book. I want my children to have a love of learning and a healthy understanding of how to find the answers they seek. Instead of stressing about the curriculum and the end result (especially if your child is still little like mine) learn to enjoy the ride.

What are some of the tools that strong women use daily? How can I teach these things to my daughters so that their lives are set in the right direction? As a mother of two girls these thoughts are always on my mind.

I consider myself to be a strong woman in nearly every way. I am physically strong, I feel mentally stable and I have emotions of steel most of the time. But the question I’ve often wondered is how did I get here?

My parents had a huge role in who I am today. I started to look back on my childhood and the moments that had large impacts on me as an adult.

“Can’t is not in your vocabulary”

Many children try something once and expect it to work out. When they fail, they then feel inadequate or incapable and tell themselves “I can’t do it”. I know because not only have I been there, I’ve witnessed it first hand while observing my oldest daughter. Each time it brings me back to the time in my life where my dad told me…”can’t isn’t in your vocabulary”.

I didn’t fully understand it when I was younger and it really almost made me more frustrated at the time. Now that I’m an adult I realize he was telling me that I can do anything I set my mind to. It is up to me to make it happen. No one else can accomplish something for me. This is something I have always told myself probably since high school.

This idea is something that I have begun to instill into my daughters. I see them struggle through a task that doesn’t end the way they envisioned. I help them to collect themselves and then remind them that “can’t isn’t in their vocabulary”. My oldest daughter has already taken this to heart. She rarely gives up because something didn’t work out the first time. This is one of the tools that I think strong women use daily.

Self Esteem

My moms would always tell me that I was beautiful and smart and kind. That may not seem like much but it truly is. Our parents are our inner voice. The way they speak to us is the way that we end up speaking to ourselves. They always treated me with respect and reminded constantly that I was important and valued. My moms always told me I was worthy of love even when I didn’t feel that way myself.

I have suffered with insecurities about acne, scarring, stretch marks and not feeling pretty enough at times. My husband reinforces that I am enough, I am worthy and I am loved. He has taught me that I am the only one whose opinion really matters. This doesn’t mean that I don’t ever wear makeup or dress nicely. What it does mean is that I always hold my head high regardless of how I look or who is watching me. I am happy and that is all that ultimately matters.

This is something that I teach my daughters daily. Life is hectic with three kids under age six. Even among the chaos, I make sure that I recognize them for the things that they accomplish throughout the day. Even if it is something as small as a drawing. I encourage them and let them know that what they did was great. Pointing out details from their drawings or LEGO buildings makes them feel good about themselves. I praise them for their acts of kindness toward their siblings and remind them each night before they go to bed that they are my beautiful, brave, smart and kind baby girls. Self esteem is another of the important tools that strong women use daily. To have that at a young age can help a child go far.

Coping with anxiety

If you can manage your anxiety or fears, you can do anything. Every child should learn this. Doing so can allow them to have a good foundation to grow from. As I was growing up both of my parents always had a calm, cool and collected demeanor. If they were upset, it was usually justified. Seeing this helped me to logically analyze why I had anxiety, fear or sadness.

Even today when I have fear or anxiety I take a deep, cleansing breath and ask myself a few questions. Am I hurt? Is someone I know hurt? Is this something that is in my control? Often times it is something that is out of my control and I remind myself that “no amount of worry will change the future, and no amount of regret will change the past.” After that I force myself to move on and focus on the things that I can control within my own life.

Learning to cope with anxiety is helpful in the sense that we become less dependent on substance or self harming activities that really only mask our anxiety. These behaviors don’t teach us how to deal with the problems at hand. They facilitate us in shifting the blame and ignoring the root cause of our discomfort. Being taught to cope with anxiety at a young age is essential in the tools that strong women use daily. This would allow us to have the building blocks we need to go farther in life.

I feel it’s important to teach my daughters to understand their emotions. Crying is ok, but after a time you need to pick yourself up, breathe and move forward. My youngest daughter deals with temper, and strong emotions which is normal and ok. But it is when we let our emotions get out of control that we begin to have issues. After working with her she is beginning to understand that she should stop and think logically instead of emotionally. We have had many instances where there was nearly a full on melt down. After breathing and talking we were able to overcome the anxiety and move forward with our day.

Accountability

I remember being a child and making decisions that may have negatively effected my day because “someone else got me in trouble”. Being in trouble is a big thing to a child. But, more often than not my parents would explain to me that the actions I chose to take led to the trouble I was in. This isn’t something easy to understand as a child because your world revolves around yourself. Each action has a reaction and we must be held accountable for our decisions.

This is probably the most difficult thing to teach a child because they have to understand what you are trying to say. My daughters are just at the age where explaining to them why they are in trouble isn’t a huge ordeal. It’s wonderful to be able to talk to my children as young people because I know that they understand what I am saying. Accountability is one of the most important tools that strong women use daily and should be taught more often than it is.

I feel fortunate and thankful to my parents for teaching me these lessons early in my life so that I could have a strong foundation to build upon. These traits have helped me to persevere and keep my head held high. At the end of the day there are only a few things that matter. Your opinion of yourself, how you treat others and knowing that you can and will get through whatever life puts in front of you. Here’s to all the strong women. “May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.”

Society tells women so many things about what beauty is. You need to be this height, this weight, your hair should be x amount of inches and you should wear makeup every day in order to feel beautiful and for other people to find you attractive. News flash! People are different. We come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. There is no one size fits all idea of beauty. I’m sad to say this, but I know that I have fallen into society’s trap. I feel the prettiest when I wear makeup, paint my nails and buy new clothes to show off. We, as women and mothers, need to have more self confidence and less self doubt.

Three babies later and my body has been through the ringer. Stretch marks galore, deflated breasts, and lowered self esteem. Not to mention the advertisements for weight loss and skin tightening that come up in my Instagram or Facebook feed. Like how do they even know it’s a potential issue? Why do they care how my body looks? Why can’t I just be happy with the way I am after nourishing growing three humans?

I hear too often of people shaming women based on their sizes, stretch marks, and any other flaws that are not deemed beautiful. People on social media make fun of women who wear bikinis and have stretch marks or are not “skinny” enough; whether it be from growing a human, or just gaining weight. Stretch marks are not a thing that can be helped. I’ve done everything in the book to prevent stretch marks. Eating healthier, applying lotions, coconut oil, exfoliating to promote cell regeneration. None of it works. Especially after already having three children. My stretch marks  have gotten worse and were more painful for some time. I almost felt ashamed for having them. But then I stopped and really thought about it. Who cares what other people think? Do any of them really matter? The answer is usually no.

What’s left after we start aging and that makeup doesn’t make us pretty anymore? Our character and our actions. If you think about it that way, I say forget everyone else and their deluded opinions of what beauty is. You know what makes you beautiful and if your body isn’t perfect, well guess what?! No one has a perfect body unless it’s been photoshopped and put into a magazine. You have stretch marks? Wear them proudly. Scars? They tell a story of where you’ve been. Extra weight? Who cares? You should be proud of who you are and love yourself no matter how society makes you feel. Because there is no room in your heart to love someone else unless you can figure out how to love yourself. 

My family are the only people who’s opinions really matter to me. I am lucky to have a wonderful husband who loves me and supports me in all of my decisions. Then there’s my children…they think I’m the best thing since sliced bread which in itself makes me feel beautiful. I want to teach them to love themselves no matter how this world tells them they should look or act. Because after all, true beauty is on the inside. I want to teach them to have more self confidence and less self doubt. I want them to be smart, caring and kind. Qualities that will last a lifetime instead of just a few years. Let’s start a new trend of caring less of what others think and more about how we treat people.

From the moment you smell it in the morning, your senses begin to awaken one by one. Your eyes become less droopy and your ears become more perky. 

You take your pot of coffee and pour yourself a mug of that beautiful, deep brown colored liquid.  You add your cream and sugar and give it a good stir. The steam rising and dancing in the brisk morning air. You inhale the aroma and exhale pure joy. After taking that first sip, you think for a moment…today is going to be a good day.

Hot or iced, anytime is a good time for coffee. Especially when you are raising children. Because raising tiny humans is harder than it looks. Coffee has been my best friend for the past five years. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without it. 

I originally gave up all drinks caffeinated during my pregnancies. Then I had my babies…and I realized that there was no way I could survive on a few interrupted hours of sleep without help. Babies have a lot of energy, and thus require a lot of energy. So I began to reintroduce coffee into my daily life. 

I started with just a small cup to see how each of my little ones would react to the caffeine in my breast milk. Each time they seemed to do well with it, so I took that as the ok to drink as much coffee as I desired. A cup in the morning and an afternoon pick me up was about as much as I needed at the beginning. But then my body got used to the caffeine and my tolerance grew…and grew. 

Then I stumbled across this thing called “cold brew” coffee. I had heard of iced coffee and liked it, but cold brew? Oh my goodness. One of the best inventions by far. I got my recipe on January Harshe’s blog. She’s an amazing woman who started Birth Without Fear. You can find the recipe here. 

My first sip of cold brew changed my life. It was stronger, sweeter and much smoother than a regular cup of coffee. Not to mention it was cold, which helped me even more since I can never finish a hot cup of coffee before mommy duties begin. 

From that moment on, life has been a lot tastier and little more manageable. So thank you coffee, for always being there for me without judgement or disdain. 

Much Love,

A Tired Mama