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Welcome

Cultivating the Desire to Homeschool

October 28, 2014 | 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You’ve probably come across the type before. Those homeschoolers that knew always that they were going to homeschool and they knew before their first child was conceived.

However, if you are one of those that just fell into homeschooling or came to it kicking and screaming, then cultivating the desire to homeschool has probably been a learned art for you.

Whether you always had the desire to homeschool or hopped on board later, we all need to rekindle and cultivate the desire to homeschool so we can foster our growth.

Let’s just face it too, the world we live in today doesn’t engender finding tranquil moments in our day to ponder our desire to homeschool and fill up our reserve.

On the other hand, each day that we homeschool can empty us of our eagerness to keep on homeschooling.

It’s essential to maintaining the pace of homeschooling to tap into homeschool resources that will stir you to action and to avoid certain mind-sets.

Avoid the Weight of Burdensome Negativity.  Sometimes we are our own worst enemies because we have a set standard unreachably high for either us or our children.

For example, do you need to adjust the time that you begin school so that you have time to get more house chores done, or just to soak up more time in the morning to wake up?

Between me and you, I had several days early in my journey where I missed taking a shower and skipped breakfast because my schedule said it was time to start. Why do we do that to ourselves?

I never did get any homeschooling mom of the year trophy award either.

What I did learn was that day in and day out schooling at a grueling pace only sets a homeschooler up for burn out.

The end of the journey is all that matters. Mr. Senior 2013 remembers more about the quiet moments we had at home together doing simple things like reading aloud and playing board games than he did large homeschool projects where we were all stressed out.

Maybe you feel your child is not progressing as fast some other homeschool children that you know.

Could your child be at a learning plateau or is he getting enough rest and exercise?  Look at The Dos and Don’ts When You Hit A Learning Plateau in Homeschooling.

Change Your Homeschool Approach.  I changed my homeschool approach three times until I found one that suited my children and my teaching style.

When we are fighting a switch to a new homeschool approach, it can have devastating effects on our desire to continue homeschooling.

Look at Stop Switching Your Curriculum, Switch Your Course of Study.  I use to think if only I can change my teaching methods at the end of the year that it would be less stressful.

What I finally realized was that like a parched and sun scorched plant that is drying up and shriveling, my children’s love of learning was the same way.

I needed to take quick action to inject a love of learning by changing either my approach, curriculum or schedule.

Just Can’t Avoid it – You Need Other Homeschoolers. Before I formed our co-op and field trip group, I use to think I was too busy to be meeting with other homeschoolers.  Ask me now about how I feel and I cringe about my thinking then because homeschooling and meeting with other homeschoolers are inextricably linked to homeschooling staying power.

When you are tired with several small children, it’s hard to see how fellowship with people you barely know will help you. It just seems like one more energy zapping exercise.

And to make matters worse, if your personality is like mine where you are perfectly happy with just your inner circle of friends, it can be hard to overcome the thinking that you are just fine.

But what I have learned is that the homeschooling spirit is contagious when you have a crowd around.  Instead of draining your time of one more lack luster thing to do, interacting and sharing tips, techniques, and venting about the the ups and downs of homeschooling with other homeschooling families bolsters our desire to keep on homeschooling.

Not only are we encouraged to keep on homeschooling, but we meet other families who have similar circumstances as our own.

Some of the most significant homeschooling changes that I have had the conviction to do came directly after mingling with experienced homeschool moms.

Stoke the embers of homeschooling by fueling the desire to homeschool through being consistent each day and being quick to take advantage of opportunities to be encouraged by other homeschoolers.

The end will be here before you know it.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

To go from exhausted to exhilarated, look at these posts:

The 3 R’s for Homeschoolers. Part 3

5 Ideas to Kick-Start Your New Homeschool Year By Including Others

Easy Ways to Break Out of a Homeschool Rut

Have You Learned the Secret to Homeschool Joy?

Look at some of these homeschooling books that will stir you to action!

3 CommentsFiled Under: Begin Homeschooling, Homeschool When Nobody Wants To Tagged With: fearless homeschooling, homeschool, homeschool challenges, homeschool joy, homeschool joys, new homeschool year

Treasure the Moments of Homeschooling Testosterone Armed Teen Boys

October 25, 2014 | 5 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I don’t want to sound cliché, but I treasure the moments of homeschooling testosterone armed teen boys. Thinking back when all the boys were real young, my sis came over to my house one day with her girls, which are about the same age as my boys. We were not only discussing how to homeschool boys, but also how we could join forces to homeschool our kids together.

How to Easily Homeschool Boys

When we looked up, my boys were outside in the yard with tree branches fighting and her girls were inside coloring pages, inside the lines no doubt.

(Boys to …………..

I didn’t speak out loud what I thought of her girls, but she did later about my boys.

She discussed with me about putting my boys on medication and I silently thought she had beaten the life out of her girls to the point they had no personality or energy either one.

I didn’t really speak out too because deep down I had a nagging fear that something might actually be wrong with my boys.

We both had our first glimpse of the opposite gender of which neither one of us had any experience handling.  Fast forward many years later, I never put my boys on medication because I knew as the mom that they were boys.
What does that mean? It means they learn differently than girls when they are young and it means more noticeable differences happen in the teen years.

Much of my work in disciplining my sons did come when they were younger because I was trying to teach them to sit still when they really needed to wiggle.
When my sis and I would meet together, I would be the one with my hands full as my time was spent beating my boys, mmmm, I meant settling fights and prodding the boys to complete their work.

As my sons have morphed into the teen years, my work as mentor has not stopped.  It has required more finesse, patience and respect of the fact that they are born with an inward need to exercise authority even over me and a some lot of days that set my not so laid back personality in a frenzy.
Because homeschooling is not just an adventure for my boys, but a journey in learning year by year for me too, I want to share a few things that worked and did not work for me as I homeschool teen boys.

……. Men)

1).  Embrace the differences.  As my middle son, Mr. Awesome approaches completing his high school years, his relationship with me is different than Mr. Senior 2013.  Unlike Mr. Senior 2013, Mr. Awesome wants very clear cut guidelines as to what is expected of him in high school for each year.  So I changed the way I prepared his high school curriculum without giving up some of what his father and I required of him in high school.

For example, with Mr. Senior 2013, we planned his high school together each year.  With Mr. Awesome, I planned for two years and he is taking an online school for the next two years.

I still have some classes we do together like geography and some history, but he wanted an outside source.  I admit I was a bit disappointed, but then I have to remember that I have hopefully modeled the art of reasonableness and more importantly considered his needs and differences in high school.

Some things have not been different than Mr. Senior 2013 like my middles son’s need to also question my decision making ability now.

Mr. Senior 2013 and I had many head butting sessions, which only ended with me physically and mentally exhausted.  Having gone through the rooster syndrome with my oldest son, I was a bit more equipped this time with Mr. Awesome.

Blessing and Challenges of Homeschooling Teen Boys

Instead of taking his questioning my authority as a personal assault, I realized his need to start exercising his thinking ability to make good decisions.  If he does not start learning when and how to question decisions now, then how will he be able to make good decisions on his own and then to care for a family later?

Understanding this has helped me a bit more to have patience when I am questioned about every school subject.  It is on the job training for the preparation of the challenges of manhood.

2.) Figure Head of Male Authority a Need.  I sympathize with those single moms, but even they can provide a positive male role model.  It may be their father, uncle or other close friend or family member.  Men just have an unspoken word among themselves when it comes to male bonding time.

It is not that a single mom cannot homeschool a testosterone packing teen, but it sure makes her job easier to have a male figure to turn to.

In all my worry, both of my sons lapped up the influence by my husband and his time as he models the kind of men I want my sons to become.

Too, my husband is able to help my sons to accept the fact that as mom, they need to learn how to accept my authority.

Applying this to homeschooling has not always been easy, but I try to do my part in always listening to what each of my sons have to say no matter how trivial it may seem.

Admitting that I too make mistakes and want them to learn to make capable decisions independent of a woman (though always listening to sound advice by either a man or woman) has always been a good stepping stone to them completing assignments or subjects that my husband and I have planned for them.

This goes back to appreciating the fact that they are a different gender and their need to exercise domination and independence is such an intrinsic part of homeschooling each day.

It is hard to separate the parenting from homeschooling during the teen years.

3.) Create A World Separate From Yours.  Again I noticed the slight differences between my teen boys when it comes to having other teen friends and have had to adjust to their needs.  Mr. Senior 2013 was more content with just a few friends though he still needed a sphere of friends outside of our family.

Mr. Awesome on the other hand has a stronger need for more socialization with teens.  He has a more-the-merrier attitude when it comes to other teens and even other people.

Creating opportunities for both my sons to interact with both teen boys and girls has been some of the hardest work on my part beyond academics.

Our homeschool co-op, church activities, fun sports and group field trips just for teens have been some of my best life saving tips to fill my boys need for the right kind of association.

Coming up in more articles about how to homeschool teen boys, I will be sharing specific curriculum that clicked better for us and more specifics as to how boys learn.

Your turn. Have you hit a brick wall when homeschooling your tween or teen boy?  What tips work for you?

Hugs and love ya,

Want to brush up on some more tips for homeschooling teens?

Guiding Older Children

Homeschooling Middle School Doesn’t Always Mean Middle Way

Homeschool Writing Program for Middle and High School

Homeschool High School Readiness?

 

5 CommentsFiled Under: Homeschool Boys, Homeschool Teens _ From Teen to Graduation Tagged With: boys, homeschool, homeschool challenges, homeschoolchallenges, middleschool, teens

5 Things I Love About Cuenca Ecuador

October 22, 2014 | 6 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I’m sharing 5 things I love about Cuenca Ecuador. Also, look at my page Free South America Printable Lapbook and Fun Hands-on Unit Study Ideas.

The house hunt is over!  We have been so impatient in finding time to explore Ecuador, but had to focus on finding a home. 

But in the few short weeks we have lived here, I have discovered a lot I like. 

Today in 5 things I love about Cuenca, Ecuador, I wanted to share a few of them.

5 Things I Love About Cuenca Ecuador

First, look at some of these books we love about South America.

Books About South America

13 Resources for a Study of South America

Add some of these fun books and resources to your study of South America.

South America (Rookie Read-About Geography: Continents)

An incredible variety of climates and biomes span the territory of South America. As a result, the continent contains some of the greatest biodiversity on Earth.

Rookie Read-About: Continents series gives the youngest reader (Ages 3-6) an introduction to the components that make each continent distinctive and exceptional. Readers will get to know each continents' geography, history, and wildlife. In this book readers learn about the continent of South America, including the geography, native animals, people and more.

Ancient Civilizations: Aztecs, Maya, Incas!: With 25 Social Studies Projects for Kids (Explore Your World)

A full-color, compelling book for ages 7 to 10 offers a deep dive into the three sophisticated ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica―the Aztecs, Maya, and Incas― through hands-on STEAM projects, essential questions, and loads of fascinating facts!

Why were there more than 3,000 steps built at Machu Picchu? Why did the Aztecs roam Mexico for nearly 200 years before finding a place to settle? How did the Maya study the movements of the stars and the planets? Ancient Civilizations: Aztecs, Maya, Incas! With 25 Social Studies Projects for Kids takes kids ages 7 to 10 on a guided tour to experience the history, culture, economics, and daily life of the Aztecs, Maya, and Incas.

Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia

A man, his burros, and his books bring joy to children in remote Colombian villages in this inspiring book based on a true story by celebrated picture book creator Jeanette Winter.Luis loves to read, but soon his house in Colombia is so full of books there’s barely room for the family. What to do? Then he comes up with the perfect solution—a traveling library! He buys two donkeys—Alfa and Beto—and travels with them throughout the land, bringing books and reading to the children in faraway villages.

Secret of the Andes (Puffin Newberry Library)

An Incan boy who tends llamas in a hidden valley in Peru learns the traditions and secrets of his ancestors. 

My Mama's Little Ranch on the Pampas

In the sequel to On the Pampas, the author recalls her first year on the small Argentinian ranch purchased and managed by her mother, in an account that includes a visual dictionary of the Spanish words and geographical terms used in the text.

Tales from Silver Lands

Atmospheric woodcuts illustrate this Newbery Award–winning collection of 19 South American folktales. Charles J. Finger heard the tales firsthand from native storytellers, whose fables of talking animals, witches, giants, and ordinary people in supernatural settings provide remarkable insights into regional values and culture. The first of the stories, "A Tale of Three Tails," tells of an age when the rat had a tail like a horse, the rabbit had a tail like a cat, and the deer's tail was plumed like the tail of a dog. "The Magic Dog" recounts an act of kindness to a stray animal that helps overcome a witch's curse. In "The Calabash Man," the creatures of the jungle assist a suitor in winning his bride, and in "El Enano," a greedy troll's insatiable appetite leads to his downfall. Packed with adventure and full of surprises, these and other stories emphasize the importance of hard work, courage, and loyalty.

Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time

In 1911, Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and “discovered” Machu Picchu. While history has recast Bingham as a villain who stole both priceless artifacts and credit for finding the great archeological site, Mark Adams set out to retrace the explorer’s perilous path in search of the truth—except he’d written about adventure far more than he’d actually lived it. In fact, he’d never even slept in a tent.

Journey to the River Sea

With the memorable characters and plot twists she brings to her best-selling fantasies, acclaimed author Eva Ibbotson has written a hair-raising novel, set in turn-of-the-last-century Brazil.Accompanied by Miss Minton, a fierce-looking, no-nonsense governess, Maia, a young orphan, sets off for the wilderness of the Amazon, expecting curtains of orchids, brightly colored macaws, and a loving family. But what she finds is an evil-tempered aunt and uncle and their spoiled daughters. It is only when she is swept up in a mystery involving a young Indian boy, a homesick child actor, and a missing inheritance that Maia lands in the middle of the Amazon adventure she's dreamed of. Readers of every generation will treasure Ibbotson's lush historical adventure that harkens back to the beloved classics of Frances Hodgson Burnett and Louisa May Alco

This Place Is Wet

Can you imagine living in a place where there is so much water some houses need to be built on stilts to protect them when the river rises? Or where it is so wet that some plants can grow on the sides of trees with their roots gathering water from the air? In This Place Is Wet, you'll find out all sorts of things about what it's like to live in the rain forest of Brazil. Try to imagine living there!

Bolivar: American Liberator

It is astonishing that Simón Bolívar, the great Liberator of South America, is not better known in the United States. He freed six countries from Spanish rule, traveled more than 75,000 miles on horseback to do so, and became the greatest figure in Latin American history. His life is epic, heroic, straight out of Hollywood: he fought battle after battle in punishing terrain, forged uncertain coalitions of competing forces and races, lost his beautiful wife soon after they married and never remarried (although he did have a succession of mistresses, including one who held up the revolution and another who saved his life), and he died relatively young, uncertain whether his
achievements would endure.

Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay

Ada Ríos grew up in Cateura, a small town in Paraguay built on a landfill. She dreamed of playing the violin, but with little money for anything but the bare essentials, it was never an option...until a music teacher named Favio Chávez arrived. He wanted to give the children of Cateura something special, so he made them instruments out of materials found in the trash

Mayans Aztecs Incas Coloring Book: Coloring Pages of Ancient Mexico Civilizations for Adults and Teens

Mayans Aztecs Incas Coloring Book – Fun And Education For Adults and TeensMake the perfect gift for anyone who loves coloring! Enjoy this Mayans Aztecs Incas Coloring Book for Adults and Teens. Click the cover to reveal what’s inside!About this book:

  • 40 original pages drawings of Symbols, Warriors, Masks and Mandalas.

The Inca Empire (A True Book: Ancient Civilizations) (A True Book (Relaunch))

Explore the Inca empire, including how the Incas survived in the mountains, how the empire was built, and why it disappeared.

A True Book: Ancient Civilizations series allows readers to experience what makes each ancient civilization distinctive and exceptional as well look at its influence on the some of the practices of the modern world. This series includes an age appropriate (grades 3-5) introduction to curriculum-relevant subjects and a robust resource section that encourages independent study.

1) I love the laid back lifestyle.  Once you leave the schedule treadmill of the United States, you see that a lot of countries have more laid back schedules. 

Oh sure, we heard about the manana attitude here and for the most part we have adopted it too.

Do you remember the time when stores actually closed on Sunday and spent time with their families?  It’s that way here.  The only place I know in the states that closes on Sundays still is Chick-Fil-A.

(Warning: Picture overload again. I got a little giddy about sharing another post about our new home in South America because I want you to see all that we are learning about.)

A few stores are open and the “gringo mall”, Mall Del Rio, is open too.  But the few stores that are open, close early too on Sunday. 

5 Things I Love About Cuenca Ecuador

The first Sunday or two caught us off guard, but after that we now know to have a quiet meal at the room or grab something earlier in the day for later.

5 Things I Love About Cuenca Ecuador

We were wondering too why we see more of these play horses on Sunday.  Ecuadorians spend their time with their families and they bring their kids to the park to ride these “rides” and spend time in the park.

2) Love the food in Ecuador.

The food is amazing here and especially lunch.  Lunch is normally a drink, soup, main entrée and dessert.  It can cost anywhere from 1.50 to 5.75. 

Now I warn you that some of the $1.50 places we have seen, I would rather skip their entrees as I don’t eat intestines (sorry, but I just had to tell you).

The first week or so we ate the traditional grilled chicken and rice, but then after that we have investigated the other food here. 

Oh yes, I have found one of my favorites, which is Mexican food too. 

Mexican Restaurant

(charming restaurant for Mexican food where you have to walk through a patio

El Pedregal Azteca Restaurant)

Since there aren’t any preservatives here, all the food is delicious.  It truly makes a difference in how it tastes.

At one of our favorite restaurants I mentioned in my last post, Don Colon, is owned by a man and wife that spend part of their time in the states and part of their time in Ecuador. 

The owner and chef makes all of his juices with bottled water.  So we have been enjoying all the variety of delicious home made fruit juices which is what they have for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

5 Things I Love About Cuenca Ecuador

(Mr. Awesome having no problem adopting the local pineapple juice.)

3) Shopping Luv.  I love having choices when it comes to shopping.  If I want convenience, there is a chain (actually I heard it’s from the United States) called SuperMaxi.  

Then of course, if you want really good prices, then shopping off the street from the different vendors is the way to go.

Quail eggs for breakfast anybody?

(Modern meets Old World)

(or you can buy from one of these nice ladies)

4) The history and culture is fascinating.

Of course you know my love for history and geography and there are so many exploring ventures that we want to take that I feel like an out of control child here. 

Everywhere I turn, there is something else we want to do. We have started with learning about the town first.

(Bus tour)

(Beautiful rivers through town and the architect is stunning to look at each day.)

5 Things I Love About Cuenca Ecuador

5 Things I Love About Cuenca Ecuador

(Of course, we never get tired of people watching.  The skirts of the women are suppose to tell what region they are from.  We are still trying to figure that one out.)

Of course when the kids find something they recognize, they want me to take a picture of it for you.  I guess BigMac is universal in any language.

I spotted Payless shoes the other day when I went down the wrong road.

5) The opportunities for field trips and learning are endless.

We have been catching up on and making up with lots of field trips.  Today, we spent time at the hat museum. 

Did you know that the Panama hats do not originate from Panama, but from Ecuador?  It’s just that Panama figured out first how to export them.  And Ecuadorians are proud of their hats and hat history!!

More Activities About South America

  • Ikat Weaving and Makana Shawl in Gualaceo Ecuador
  • Finding a Home in Cuenca, Ecuador
  • Everyday Life in Cuenca, Ecuador
  • 5 Things I Love About Cuenca Ecuador
  • Effigies, Celebrations and Customs of Cuenca, Ecuador

Here at the equator, a good hat is a must because the top of your head becomes sunburned before you realize it.

I am hoping to have pictures soon of the house we will be renting while we are here and then we will be taking some more trips outside of the city too.

5 Things I Love About Cuenca Ecuador

6 CommentsFiled Under: Living Abroad

Finishing Strong – Homeschool Link Up Party {Homeschooling Middle & High School Years} #34.

October 22, 2014 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Finishing Strong Link Up Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

 

 

Finishing Strong ~ Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years

Welcome to another week of Finishing Strong!

Finishing Strong is the place where parents can come together and share their thoughts and ideas for homeschooling middle & high school students.

Below are three of the most popular posts from last week. Have you read them yet?

Teaching Literature – Helping Teens Form Relationships with Books by 7Sisters Homeschool

Exploring Narrative in Art by The Art Curator for Kids

3 Reasons to Continue the All About Spelling Journey by The Sunny Patch

We hope you’ll take some time to read all of the wonderful posts that people have shared below.

 

Follow Me Linky Party Finishing Strong

Blog Button Link Up Pinterest Button  Link Up Google Plus Link Up

Twitter Link Up You Tube Link Up

Follow Group Boards Linky Party Finishing Strong

Pinterest Button Link Up-1 Google Plus Group Link Up

Easy Details to Remember & Even Easier Guidelines.

      • The link up party goes live at 5:00 a.m. CST each Wednesday and stays open until the following Tuesday at 11:55 p.m.
      • Each week we will pick our favorite links as features and share them.
      • You can link up to 3 posts. Please do not link up advertising posts, or other link ups, or parties. I will remove them. Homeschool related reviews are permitted and of course all topics related to homeschooling middle to high school students.
      • Grab a button to add to your post after you link up and if you were featured, grab an “I was featured” button.
      • By linking up with us, you agree for us to share your images and give you credit of course.
      • That’s it! Glad to have you here and let’s party!

 

Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

 

Don’t forget to visit all of our co-hosts – Aspired Living, Blog She Wrote,Education Possible, Eva Varga,  Starts at Eight, and Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

An InLinkz Link-up

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Homeschool Link Up Party Tagged With: finishingstronghomeschoollinkup

Making Each Day Count When Homeschooling

October 19, 2014 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Beginning the journey of a lifetime when starting to homeschool, we seem to have superhuman strength and a dogged determination.  But then, each new year rolls around and we are faced with making each day count when homeschooling.
It’s not the starting homeschooling that makes us feel defeated, but it’s the constant stopping and starting throughout the year that is sabotaging a school day.

Some things are out of our control like a sick baby, a sick momma and sometimes dad’s crazy work schedule that throws us off our pace.

Let’s not beat ourselves up over things that we can’t control, but sometimes even those days are not a complete loss in making some headway for the day.

Don’t Put It Off to the Future

Homeschooling with Challenges.  One of the things that held me back from attempting to cover something for the day was to realize that perfect circumstances don’t really exist.

Waiting for the perfect day to happen, I missed out on seizing challenging moments because I couldn’t do everything in my curriculum planner.  I felt I was doing half-hearted homeschooling.

Accepting what I could do for the day when a circumstance threatened the day would have caused a few less bitter homeschooling days for me.

Accepting the Circumstances.  When my idea of what a homeschooling day should look like and reality collided, I see that I could have adjusted more easily if I had just simply accepted the change.  This is hard to do for a scheduler type of personality.

For example, when my husband worked a crazy work schedule or had to be out of town for a long period of time, I could have simply had a read aloud day.  That would have been the perfect time to catch up on some reading.

When both the kids and I were tired trying to keep up with my husband’s changing work schedule, we could have slept in and planned a field trip for the day.

Meeting the Challenge

Avoid All or Nothing Days.  Another key to not completely stopping and then starting up again is to lose the mind-set that each day has to be an all or nothing day.

If your personality is more laid back and you are a respond to the moment teacher, then you may have an easier time accepting changing circumstances.  Again, because I like to plan, it was harder for me to accept those things out of my control.

Looking back now, though you can’t see it at the time, I was my own worst enemy.  It’s just that you realize that being organized allows us to make good use of our time.

However, setting unrealistic expectations and not accepting the present moment sets you up for burnout too and homeschool disillusionment.  It’s that feeling of being disappointed because we think homeschooling is not as good as thought it was.

Soon we may regret homeschooling and that is where the bitter homeschool days come in.  As you can see, if we don’t accept what we can’t control, it can have devastating results.

Homeschooling When Sick.  I think the hardest times, once I determined that my days were not a complete loss when something unplanned came up, are homeschooling through sicknesses.

When I had more than one child sick, then I called off school. But I have found that when one child is sick or if I am sick that homeschooling for the day was a relief.
Having activities lined up for sick days beforehand is essential.

Back before Netflix (I am not real ancient I promise), I would buy tapes about history or science at the homeschool conventions. Too, I would look for museum quality educational coloring books like Edupress or Dover and buy board games.

Special art projects and art supplies were also part of my arsenal that I stocked up on.
But I would hold all of them back, in what I call my Mary Poppins bag only to pull them out when I needed them throughout the year. Keeping all the goodies a surprise from the kids is key to them being something that will keep their attention for the day when you need it most.

As soon as I purchased those things, I would hide them and put them away when the kids were occupied.  It’s sounds crazy, but it’s almost like they looked forward to the days when I was sick because they would get something new.
One year at the end of summer, I stocked up on games that were meant to be played inside during the long hot summer months. Of course that is not the reason I bought them.

For example, I bought an indoor mini croquet set.  All of the pieces, the balls, mallets and stakes were lightweight and made to be played indoors. When I had morning sickness when pregnant with my third son, I pulled the set out for my two sons and they played indoors while I was hanging out in the bathroom.

They had no idea they didn’t miss a day on strengthening their gross motor skills and I got my much needed rest.

Buying a pail and shovel at the end of summer that is suppose to be used at the beach made for great indoor play in a plastic pool that I filled with rice, beans or indoor sand during the winter.

Your imagination is the only limit to creating hangouts at your house when you need them.

Taking the kids to the park to study so the Mr. could have the house quiet to sleep in are some of my fondest memories of them when they were little.

Of course grabbing some of their favorite food at the time like hotdogs, which we ate on special occasions made it more special too.

Seasons of Adventure

Now with iPads and tablets, finding an activity is much easier.

I still prefer activities, like board games, where my children have to interact with each other instead of an iPad.  But it’s a relief to have options from our iPad too because you can purchase board game apps, like Monopoly for a group to play too.

Though it took me a while to expect the unexpected, some of our best homeschool moments of learning were ones that I have not planned. I learned that the constant stopping and starting was sabotaging my teaching efforts.

And despite what I thought at the time, I could push on through the interruptions. Besides, I would have missed out some of our fondest memories so far in homeschooling.

Don’t pass up the opportunity to make each day special in homeschooling, you won’t regret it.

Hugs and love ya,

Keep on Going!! Check out some more tips!

How To Fake Homeschooling

Biggest Challenges to Homeschooling

Looking Back To Stretch Forward.

Helping our Homeschool Children Find their Inner Drive When We are Not Sure We Have It

40 Reasons I Homeschool

 

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Homeschool When Nobody Wants To, Schedule/Balance Home & School Tagged With: homeschool, homeschool challenges, homeschool crisis

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