Christian Homeschool Moms Podcast | Christian Homeschool Moms

Homeschooling during Coronavirus

Decluttering, Letting Go, and Making Space in Your Homeschool

Did you know that teaching our children about Easter can be an avenue to practice sharing the gospel? The Gospel is so simple: it’s sharing what we believe about the foundation of our salvation- that Christ died and rose again and has given us eternal life. Here are some key points you might cover when teaching about the real meaning of Easter this year: CHRIST SACRIFICED FOR US If our Savior paid the ultimate sacrifice in order to give us eternal life, how much more can we sacrifice for one another- sharing God’s love with each other? How can we do this individually, and as a family? We can do this easily by teaching the Fruit of the Spirit. We can focus on love, longsuffering, patience, goodness, kindness, self-control, thankfulness, etc. In reality, each Fruit of the Spirit helps us to sacrifice for one another. Ways to sacrifice for one another: Share when we don’t feel like it Pray for one another even if we’re mad at that person Give up something you have in order to make someone else’s life better (material possessions, time, energy) Verses Referenced 1 Corinthians 5:7. Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. And again in Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. CHRIST REDEEMED US. Galatians 3:13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” So, what does "redemption" mean? Redemption means the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil. The fact is, Jesus saved us from something far greater than ourselves that we couldn’t save ourselves from. I'm so glad to be redeemed! This is the real meaning of Easter- and is good news that we absolutely have to share with our kids. It means anything we've done wrong is covered through Christ's redemptive power. He purchased our freedom for us, and that alone has changed our destiny. CHRIST ROSE AGAIN. The best news of all is that Jesus rose again. That is our saving grace: the fact that we have victory through Him. There is victory in His resurrection. Because of the power of the cross we can have eternal life today. Share this with your kids boldly as you talk aboutthe real meaning of Easter and help them to see that because of Christ's resurrection we can have victory over our problems in life. We can have joy and peace and everything we need in Him. Matthew 28:6. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Romans 6:4. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. RESOURCES MENTIONED Resurrection Cookies Recipe Kids of Integrity The Jesus Storybook

This week's interview is extremely exciting because I had the awesome opportunity to chat with Sherri Seligson of Apologia. My family has been extremely happy with Apologia materials over the years (you can check out our videos here and here to see more about our curriculum picks in past years). In this interview, Sherri has so much to offer us including a wonderful science curriculum with a trusted company.

We teach and teach and teach our kids...but have you ever asked yourself what the Bible has to say about teaching? As Christian homeschool moms we often get caught up in our daily school activities: teaching core academic subjects such as writing and arithmetic, science and history, or even music and art. We understand the importance of teaching these subjects. We also understand how important it is to teach God’s Word to our kids. But why is teaching important, and what does the Bible really have to say about our role as both moms and teachers? But what does the bible say about teaching children? On today’s podcast I want to cover this topic by giving you a few scriptures to think about and ponder in the weeks to come as you set out on the daily task of raising, loving and teaching your kids. Know that God has a plan for your kids and for your family. Your availability is important to your family and your teaching is not in vain. During this month of February, I want to focus on love: loving our families and ourselves. Truly honoring God means taking care of the beautiful blessings He’s placed in our lives. Those blessings often come in many different forms: our families health finances hobbies and skills opportunities to serve opportunities to be a friend and a support system abilities to do things well- such as cook, offer someone a ride or give an encouraging word Today, we talk about the blessing and the enormous duty of being a mother through the lens of God’s Word. What does God have to say about not only mothering our kids- but the art of teaching our children? Let’s dig in… What does the bible say about teaching children? Show them the way. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. If you’re teaching your kids, you are showing them the way to go. This means our attitude towards our kids should be “Do as I do” and not so much “do as I say”. Showing them the way means we have to model for our children, giving them a path to follow. We show them what to do and how to do it, then we watch them copy us. That's ultimately what we want: to show our children how to do life. For example, whenever you choose to have a family bible time or bible study together, you are giving your kids a great experience to role model. You are showing them what they can hopefully pass down to their future families and next generations. Teach them diligently. There is a reason that conferences like Teach Them Diligently exist! :-) There is a verse that sums this all up: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deut. 6:5-7 What does it mean to be diligent? It means to assert our energy until we have accomplished the task before us. Raising up our kids is probably the most diligent task we can pursue! We are to press in, giving our kids the best of what we wish to pass down- and do it with all of our hearts: diligently. Teach them all the time. If you thought teaching was a five-days-per-week thing...think again. We are teaching our kids around the clock- all day long. But as a homeschool mom, I'm sure you already know that! Here's a scripture that proves just how often we are to teach our kids You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deut. 11:19 As homeschool moms, we are always teaching our kids, no matter what we are doing. Even if we are not intentionally teaching or not even saying a word, just by our actions we are teaching them life lessons. We don’t get a break from teaching! Give correction when needed. How should we correct our children? I believe the answer is "with love". Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. Proverbs 13:24 We also shouldn't be afraid to withhold correction. Do not withhold discipline from a child. Proverbs 23:13-14 It’s so important that we give our kids consequences. We should always follow through with correction when it’s needed. Teach them to honor and submit to authority. This verse reminds me that teaching our kids to honor authority is so important today in our culture of dishonor. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Ephesians 6:1-3 Although our kids have an opinion and should be encouraged to have a voice, we also need to be clear about boundaries. We should show them not to cross the line so that they keep their integrity wo honor and submit to authority. Teach them to honor our teachings. What happens when our kids despise our ways? When they dishonor us? When they turn their backs on us? We feel dishonored. One of our constant prayers as moms of faith should be that the Lord would help us to teach our children to honor what they are being taught. Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching. Proverbs 1:8 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Colossians 3:20 We’re teaching them in order that they will please God ultimately. We want them to have a long life and enjoy their lives so much easier because of their obedience. Teach them to run to God for everything. I'm so glad that I can turn to God for any and everything! I want my kids to know that they can also. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14 Teach our kids to trust in God and run to Him for everything they need. Also, God accepts them and has a purpose for them. As Christian moms we can cultivate a sense of importance inside of them our children should have. They should know how important they are, how needed they are, how loved they are. I hope this podcast has blessed you! Please consider leaving a review in Itunes, and don't forget to pick up your free printable to place on your wall or your teacher binder. Pick up your wall and binder printables below... I hope this encourages you to keep on teaching your kids!

Have you been looking for easy ways to have family time bible study with your kids, but just don't know how to incorporate it? On this podcast I share some reasons why bible study with your kids is important...and then I get into some how's. Easy ways to have family bible study I feel that as Christian parents there are three reasons for incorporating family time bible study into our weekdays- above and beyond church and bible study with other believers. Pick up your free Books of the Bible Flash Cards! Subscribe to my mailing list to get podcast and blog updates by email. Your email address DOWNLOAD FLASHCARDS Family time bible study build up your faith as a family. Doing bible study together helps your children see the application of our faith as Christians on a daily basis. It makes learning the bible together a cemented reality for them and shows them how truly important it is to us personally and for our families. Whatever we believe in, we spend time doing. How we devote our time shows our children what’s most important to us. As we spend time studying God’s word together we build up our faith in the Savior and His plans for our lives, and we believe in God even more deeply. This type of lesson can’t be duplicated anywhere else. Having this happen at home is a true blessing to our children because we are living out our faith right in front of them, and teaching them by example. Bible study helps our kids get to know God better. Family time bible study helps our children learn to know the Lord, or at least sets them on the path to becoming firm in their faith. As they study the Bible with us, their parents, they are coming to know the character of God and who He is. I believe home is the best place and the first place our children should learn about Jesus. It equips our children to help others. As Believers we always hear how important it is to share the gospel with others. If we truly believe that this is important then we have to consider how to equip our children to share God’s love with others. Again, I believe that the best way to do this is to pour time into sharing bible time with our children, building them up in the Faith so that they are then able to reach out to others and share as well. One of the best things I enjoy as a mom who loves the Lord is to hear that one of my girls has reached out to their friends to pray for them. I have watched my oldest daughter pray for her friends who are hurting, and even pray for me when I am going through a tough time. My youngest daughter also knows just the right words to say to encourage me when I need a pick-me-up. I can tell that God’s spirit is moving through them as they minister to others around them simply by being a friend and being available. When we invest time in our children- raising them to believe in the goodness of God, they are more equipped to extend God’s love and goodness to others. THAT ALL SOUNDS GOOD...BUT HOW DO WE DO IT? Create a devoted time for bible study. Whether it’s the evening when dad is home and everyone is together or early in the morning before school, or even during lunch break- start with a specific time at least once a week for bible time. If you’re just starting off with this you don’t have to make it into a full-fledge study- but you can. You don’t need to do very much with this time except to show up with your bibles and an open heart to learn from God’s word. Start with becoming familiar with the bible. Make sure each child has a bible that is easy for them to read. It’s even better, in my opinion, if during bible study each family member reads from the same version. One of the best things we can do for our children in bible study is to get them familiar with the layout of their bibles so that they can more easily find scripture. Start with scripture memory songs, helping them learn the order of the Old and New Testament books. I started this with my girls when they were little, but it’s never too late to begin. Purchase or make your own Books of the Bible cards and have your kids lay them out in the correct order- then eventually time them. I also have a free download available for you below: Pick up your free Books of the Bible Flash Cards! Subscribe to my mailing list to get podcast and blog updates by email. Your email address DOWNLOAD FLASHCARDS You can have bible drill games and see who can find scriptures the fastest. Also, I loved using resources such as the What’s in The bible DVD series which help familiarize my kids with the details of each book of the bible in a fun and engaging way for young children. Has this post and podcast been helpful to you? I sure hope so! Leave a comment and don't forget to pick up your free books of the bible cards.

How are your mid-semester goals coming along? Did you set a laundry list of homeschool learning goals back in August or September for your children, and you’re now wondering if you’ll ever be able to check those learning goals off your list? Whether it’s a mid-semester homeschool change or slump, sometimes we just need a bit of motivation to keep us moving. I’ve also found that when we’ve set an intention for our homeschools, our days and weeks flow more smoothly. In this podcast and blog post, I want to share some ideas that can help keep you motivated in setting homeschool learning goals for your kids, and show you how uncomplicated the process really is. Once we set goals, homeschooling days go much easier. Here are some tips to help you set learning goals for your family. Let your child CHOOSE. I find that it helps to get the kids involved in our homeschool planning. I like to sit down with each of my daughters and ask them what they would like to accomplish at the beginning of the school year. We also meet back up over the New Year holidays and make any adjustments for the next semester. When my kids create their goals, it gives them a voice in their own education. Having them sit down with me and let me know what’s important to them is a huge deal in our house. It gives our kids the motivation to succeed at meeting their goals and also just prepares them for real life as they will need to learn to be intrinsically motivated to set their own goals as they become adults. One way I do this is through brainstorming and brain dumps. I carve out a special time for each child and sit down with her. With a notebook and pen, we create a brain dump page and just hash out all the ideas we have for what they want to achieve this school year. I ask questions such as:   What do you want to learn about? What topics would you like to explore that you’ve never had the chance to? What are your favorite subjects we should focus on most? What are your least favorite subjects and what can we do to make it more interesting and meaningful? What special projects would you like to do this year? What places would you like to go? What activities would you like to be involved in? What do you want to achieve? We write these all down in our notebook and have a family discussion that helps us decide what our nexts will be to accomplish these goals. I find that conversations like these are invaluable as I learn so much about my kids and the way they think. Determine the purpose of your learning goals. Next, we determine why we have these goals in the first place. What is the purpose of these goals? Although we may like to accomplish all of these things we’ve just written down in our brainstorming session, what would be the purpose of it all? Certainly, the longer the list, the less we could accomplish in a given time frame. That’s why we have to understand and know the why in what we do. Yes, setting goals is important, but not understanding why we’ve made particular goals of utmost importance in our homeschools will bring confusion later on. It’s important to know the why behind every decision we make so that we are honoring of our time together as a family. Is our purpose to help others? To understand more about a topic? To learn a particular skill? Let’s be careful not to write down goals that just keep us busy but have no particular purpose. Busy doesn’t always equate to purposeful. Break down your learning goals. Once you have a list of goals for your child, consider how you approach them. Break big learning goals into little goals. Make them small and manageable. You will want to keep them short term as well so that you don’t become overwhelmed with goals that reach far, far out into the future. Short term, smaller goals are especially important for little ones. Remember, if you are teaching a small child how to set goals, the smaller the goals are, the better. For example, you can have a younger child learn a few basic skills such as: Make the bed every morning before school Pick up toys before bath and bedtime every night Read a book with mom every day Write their name every day Be kind to someone every day Follow directions from mom and dad And of course, for older children, you can have them take larger goals and break them down into smaller, more manageable chunks. For example, my high school daughter wants to learn digital art. With her goal of selling digital art on Etsy, her goals list might look something like this: Become familiar with the Wacom tablet Watch Lynda.com videos to learn to use Adobe Illustrator Watch digital art videos on Lynda.com Watch videos on YouTube to learn how to sell digital art on Etsy Purchase all necessary art materials Practice making a few art pieces to give away to family and friends Make a total of ten pieces to sell Open up an Etsy store Learn the business of how to sell on Etsy Writing down the detailed specifics of goals makes it so much easier to accomplish. Celebrate your achievements and successes! Also, be sure to celebrate your successes - no matter how big or small. When you take time out of your schedule to plan ahead and make new goals, it’s important that you honor the time you spent and acknowledging your achievements throughout the year. You could come up with a few ideas to make goal celebrations a fun event, such as: Ordering pizza for dinner or going out to a favorite restaurant Taking the younger kids to Chuck E Cheese or somewhere fun Getting tickets and taking your child to a sports event or any event your older student would really enjoy Taking a special trip as a family Keep reevaluating your learning goals Remember that goal-planning is an ongoing event and that in order to make progress it’s important to stop and reevaluate. Make it a point to periodically have a goals-reevaluation session- whether it’s over a holiday, spring or fall break, or even just on a weekend- to see how well things are going. If you are pleased with your progress, keep doing what you’re doing. If not, edit your goals to meet your needs. We have to do this every few months in our family since it seems that my kids keep growing and evolving so quickly. It doesn’t take long for a few weeks to turn into months and before we know it, my child’s interests may have changed. What was important to her three months ago is not so much a priority anymore. At this point, we make changes as necessary and tweak our goals to reflect her growth and maturity. Constant reassessment is crucial because our kids grow so much and so quickly! Family dynamics are bound to change and so are your goals. That’s okay. Keep making those goals because they’re important for your family to have clarity and direction with your homeschool lifestyle. Have these tips been helpful to you? I truly hope so. Check out a few of my other posts and podcasts on goal-planning, then come on over to Facebook to join the discussion. Show Notes: APPLY HERE: Guest Blogger Application Follow my Facebook page for current events (polls, giveaways, and more!) Check out my homeschool YouTube channel: MomZest Check out my mompreneur YouTube channel teaching moms how to blog! Interested in learning to blog? My blogging course is now open! Winter Crafts and Activities for Your Homeschool How to Play the Column Addition Game using Right Start Math What I Wish I Knew as a Newbie Homeschooler A Day in the Life of my Classical Conversations (Foundations Student) Classical Conversations Challenge 3 Update Five Benefits of Music Education for Your Child

What's your child's learning style? This podcast is all about helping you to discover your child's learning style. Over the years I've come to appreciate learning style information. With two kids who have completely opposite and unique learning styles, learning about how my kids learn has helped me in delivering the best to them in homeschooling. Here is an overview of the seven main types of learning styles: The Visual/Spatial Learner The visual/spatial learner prefers using spatial understanding and relies on pictures and images to enhance their learning.These kids love watching experiments and demonstrations. They enjoy YouTube videos for learning and might lean heavily toward image-based curriculum. They prefer pictures, images, and spatial understanding. Sometimes bright and colorful, sometimes black and white, images help to liven up their learning experience. The Auditory Learner These particular students might be more attentive, and prefer to hear their stories read aloud, listen to audiobooks and dramas or even music. Some kids thrive best by listening rather than moving around a lot. The Verbal/Linguistic Learner Linguistic kids love to talk. They’re chatty, they love manipulating words, creating new silly words, spelling words, playing word games, telling rhymes, writing stories. You might find them creating content to entertain and using their words to communicate their ideas more readily. Logical/Mathematical These kids prefer to use logic, reasoning, and systems. They might be your math-y types that seem to really catch on to math and logic quickly. They love to find out the how behind everything because there has just got to be a reasonably logical, even scientific explanation for it, right? My youngest daughter loves to pull items apart and put them back together- if she can. So if you find you have a few broken items lying around your house and it was pre-contemplated by your kids, then you might have a logical explorer type on your hands. :-) Physical/Kinesthetic A kinesthetic kid will have to burn his energy. He might like to turn flips, stand on his head or swing from trees. She might be a super crafter or enjoy plush toys and making slime. Kinesthetic kids prefer to use bodily movement and touch to learn best. Social/Interpersonal If you have a social butterfly, she may flutter from one group of friends to the next in her social circles, she might be chatty, outgoing, or witty. Social kids get their energy from being around other kids and thrive off the energy they play off one another. They oftentimes learn best in group environments, working on projects with others as they talk through things and bounce ideas off one another. Project based learning works great with these learners. Solitary/Intrapersonal Solitary kids may prefer to work alone in self-study and get their energy juice from doing things independently without the interruptions of being in a group. They are more intrapersonal and may prefer to work alone and can think better and work through problems more efficiently on their own. They also tend to be creative types who need just that extra space filled up with silence or their own thoughts. They might crave space and solitude in order to unwind and recharge. I hope this podcast has been helpful in giving you information to determine your child’s learning style. Happy homeschooling!

This week's fabulous interview is with author, Shelley Noonan. I had a blast talking with her and receiving encouragement about digging into the study of the bible for ourselves. She introduced to me the Selah bible study, a beautiful method of reading and meditating on scripture. Shelley Noonan has been married to the same sweet man for 35 years. She has three grown children and four, soon to be five, grandchildren. Her passion is to encourage others in their walk with the Lord by learning how to dwell in the Word of God and is the author and co-author of eight books. Shelley delights in speaking, writing, and communicating about the unexpected, undeserved, and steadfast love that is available from the Lord. What we chatted about About Pumpkin Seed Press and the vision behind Pumpkin Seed Press How we moms in the midst of our busy lives actually study - and not just read- the bible for ourselves The meaning of "Selah" and the methodology of this type of study Who Selah was intended for The ease for busy moms to get into God’s Word using the Selah studies Words of encouragement for busy homeschool mamas to spend quality time with the Lord Bible studies Shelley offers Beyond Beautiful Girlhood Plus Companion Guide (the next step in the Beautiful Girlhood series for girls ages 13-18) The Companion Guide to Beyond Beautiful Girlhood (Mother Daughter Bible Study) The Three Weavers- ages 12 and up for daughter and father King Arthur Series-the retelling of the story of King Arthur The Selah Series- includes Psalm 119 and Ruth 3 principles for getting time in the Word Set a time and guard it. Be flexible with your time but guard it. Find a place in your house. Make it special (have your candles and special journals and materials nearby). Have a plan. About the Selah Bible Studies Series "Selah" is a musical term that refers to reflecting and resting. It creates time to pause and listen and reflect on the Word of God. This is something we should be doing: spending time with God so that our hearts are completely changed. The change happens by spending one-on-one time with the Lord. Selah is a framework to create time to be with Him. It's a plan that creates a systematic interaction with scripture. It's incorporated through the daily discipline of study and time in the Word. 2 parts to the Selah method The Selah method is a beautiful process of reading through and studying the Word in detail. There are two main parts to the method. Pause- is when we take time out of our busy lives to read God's Word. Read a portion every day for five days and observe keenly the different facets of that one passage of scripture. Listen- is when we unearth discoveries and points of wisdom God is revealing to us. It's about moving from knowledge to application. Encouragement for homeschool moms Two important things which you will never regret: Spend time with your children. Spend time with the Lord. Receive your promo code Like Shelley's Facebook page and sign up here get 50% off the 8-week Ruth downloadable study receive a resource list of websites that may help you in going through the Word Reach Shelley and order Selah studies email: info@shelleynoonan.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/shelleyanoonan/ url: www.shelleynoonan.com

Do you have a busy homeschool? Do you find your life as a homeschool mom super busy? How can you rearrange your lifestyle to create the life you want your family- despite the fact that it's busy? Should you cut down on your busyness, or should you embrace your busy life and make the most of it? Today's podcast is about striking that balance: being busy and enjoying your seasons of busyness. You can actually have it both ways without having to give up either. You can be a busy homeschool family and still enjoy the process. Here are some tips that have helped helped me to manage a busy homeschool lifestyle. Admit your time catastrophes and face them. Admittedly, many of us go through seasons, especially as our kids become older, of what I like to refer to as "time catastrophes"- when there just seems to be no time to do anything except chauffeur our kids and support them with transportation needs. When we admit our time conflicts, we give ourselves the freedom to solve the problem. Admit the conflict, and move on with possible solutions to tame the time management beast! The first step to success in getting through your busy homeschool is to admit you have one! Use a planning system like it's your best friend. I especially love Google calendar, but I also love my handy, dandy notebooks. Notebooks are my best friend and it's where I write down my goals for the day. Writing down my goals gives me the motivation to check back and see what and how much I've accomplished. I tend to write out my kids' homeschool goals for the day so I can keep track of where we are education-wise. I also write about my business goals so I can weave those into what I'm doing throughout the day as well. Household goals and errands to run are factored in. Then I have personal goals (like fitness and health) I add those in. Putting these all on a planner gives me a nice overall picture of what my day should like, and I'm more likely to accomplish those goals. I can't accomplish my goals in a busy homeschool without notebooks. Be intentional and set realistic goals for your busy homeschool. My goals have to be realistic if I plan to truly accomplish them. I realize I can't do it all and that progress in each aspect of my life takes time and daily commitment. I like the phrase "slow and steady wins the race." If I just give a little attention every day to helping my daughter with grammar, math, and a science project she becomes better slowly over time. If I give myself small, incremental goals for making progress with learning a new skill, working for one client, cleaning only ONE room in the house for the week, doing laundry a bit every day, reading one chapter of a book...this is where I learn the beauty of setting goals that I can realistically accomplish. This keeps me from overwhelm. Be sure to delegate. Because there is so much to accomplish I've learned to delegate. My daughters are both old enough to do a good portion of the housework for me. They can both cook and clean after themselves, make their own beds, clean their rooms, and do their own laundry. I focus on housekeeping, excluding their bedrooms and shared bathroom which they are responsible for. I've also learned the beauty of delegating lesson planning for my high schooler who is in 10th grade. She can now take charge of her education and figure out her own path to success. Rather than driving myself bananas figuring out how to chart her path through high school and college, I gather the information for my knowledge only and after talking with my husband and sharing this info with her, I've thrown the ball in her court to see if she will take some lead in charting her path through the rest of 10th grade. Delegating her education to my daughter and observing closely to see how this goes is giving us both freedom to breathe and relax through high school. Delegating household chores takes a big load off me. Don't be afraid to say "yes" or "no". Sometimes we'll just have to say no. No to too many events. No to yet another volunteer opportunity. No to this curriculum that is no longer working for our family. No to another park day because we're gone far too often. Other times we need to say yes. Yes to a volunteer activity that is the chance of a lifetime. Yes to a new curriculum that will bless our kids and make our homeschooling lives easier. Yes to a park day because our family needs that time out of the house. Know when to say yes or no and don't be afraid to use your freedom of the "yes" or "no". Simplify where you can. the 3 r's let go of cleaning overkill plan easy meals RESOURCES MENTIONED ON THIS SHOW Finding Peace in Your Homeschools with Julie Bogart Planning and "Unplanning" Homeschool Goals Homeschooling For Free Information for homeschool mompreneurs

Welcome to this week's podcast. This week I'm encouraging you to figure out ways to begin homeschooling for free. With so many resources at our fingertips- both online and locally- the sky is the limit for free homeschool options! Reasons to consider homeschooling for free: You don't have to spend a fortune, but you can. I like to set my disclaimer that it's perfectly okay to spend money on your kids however you see fit. After all, they're your kids. But just know that you and I don't have to spend a fortune to accomplish the goal of educating our kids. Be willing to spend on quality items and services. This is a must for our family since we love art and music. We invest our money into long term goals to equip our kids with certain music and art skills that we may not possess. I feel like it's money well spent- but I have to make choices about where my money goes. Rather than spending a fortune on curriculum, many times I choose to place it on services that would be hard to come by in curriculum or book formats. This is where you have to decide what's more important: products or services- and how much, if any, you want to spend on either. Homeschooling for free comes with a price: the price of making intentional choices! Be very selective about your time. What does homeschooling for free look like for your family? Is it always about money, or does it include how you spend your time? Cutting back on time outside of the home has helped us this semester to focus on what really matters in our home. It also reduces the amount of money we spend while out and about! In our case, time is just as important as money, and I've found great improvements in our lifestyle by not only looking at our bank accounts but also our time management. Resources mentioned on this podcast Student News (Now CNN10) -student news in 10 minutes Library resources: look for Lynda.com, audiobook services and apps: Hoopla Digital, RBDigital, Enki, interlibrary loans Languages: Duolingo, Mango Languages National Geographic Learning Resources: Khan Academy- Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Offers Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice: math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Enchanted Learning- Enchanted Learning Software creates children's educational web sites and games designed to stimulate creativity, learning, enjoyment, and imagination. Starfall- a publicly supported non profit organization, teaching kids phonics for over a decade Ambleside-a free homeschool curriculum that uses Charlotte Mason's classically-based principles to prepare children for a life of rich relationships with everything around them: God, humanity, and the natural world Easy Peasy Homeschool- a complete and free K-12 Christian curriculum online Teachers Pay Teachers- online marketplace for original educational resources Currclick- online classes and curriculum right at your fingertips Don't forget to catch a bit of R&R and treat yourself, homeschool mom! Our Sponsor: Phonics Museum (pick up your freebies here!) Again, this week’s awesome sponsor is Phonics Museum by Veritas Press. If you have kids that are learning to read, be sure to check out the Phonics Museum app (in which you will receive a 2-week free trial) and pick up your freebies (an ebook, an activity book, and a printable activity for emerging readers). Check out their video to find out more... Grab your free gifts and get a free 2-week trial! You’ll get: An eBook early primer reader called: The Bug In The Mug On the Rug The activity eBook/print out called – “My Alphabet Book” Phonics Museum Paper Tube Activity Print Out That's it for this week. Please reach out to me if you have any questions. Happy Homeschooling! ~Demetria

Have you heard of Truth In The Tinsel? Chances are, if you've been around the homeschool blogosphere recently, you might have. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to talk with Amanda on today's podcast. Let me properly introduce her: The lady behind Truth In The TinselAmanda White is just a girl who wants her kids to know about Jesus. She grew up loving God, the church and all things creative. She and her husband, Les were full-time children’s ministry folks for the first few years of marriage–they traveled the country doing puppet shows, performing magic tricks and singing songs to lead kids to God and His Word. Then a few church jobs came and went and two kids came along and ministry became home-based and family-focused.Amanda started a blog, ohAmanda.com to tell her story of motherhood and leading her kids to the Lord. This led to a few ebooks and thousands of families learning to impress God’s Word on their kids’ hearts.Amanda's Favorite Verse: Psalm 139!At the beginning of the show, we chatted about:What inspired Amanda to create the Truth In The Tinsel curriculum. Her curriculum is so super easy, adaptable, and simple to use.The importance of Advent: it is simply the countdown to the arrival of something. In this case, it is the arrival of Christ.Amanda mentions that at the very least, if we focus our kids' hearts on the true meaning of Christmas and Easter we'll be doing so much to impact our kids for Christ.How to have balance in focusing on the spiritual things during the holiday season.The importance of bringing God's word into everyday conversation every day (not just Christmas)!Truth In The Tinsel is easy to integrate into daily life.It's not about making a perfect and beautiful craft.She offers alternate schedules.Supply list, tutorials, paper chain activities, clues, and more are provided.It's never too late to begin!With the alternate schedules, you can do the activities at your own convenience.You can do it in the middle of March if you want :-)Join the Affiliate ProgramIf you're a blogger, you can join the affiliate program easily and begin earning a commission simply by promoting this curriculum.Truth In The Tinsel DiscountYep, that's right...Amanda is graciously offering our listeners a 20% off discount with the following coupon code:CHRISTIANHOMESCHOOLMOMSShe's literally making it easy for you to invest in a curriculum that's easy to use, adaptable, and helps to center your kids around Christ this season. Thank you, Amanda!!Pick up your copy

Are you at holiday overload just yet, homeschool moms? I find it difficult sometimes to balance a festive season with all the at-home responsibilities I have on my plate. I'll be talking a lot in this podcast (and blog post) about surviving Christmas and holidays, and how I go about doing that. I hear the Christmas bells ringing in front of Walmart and the Christmas songs playing in the malls- but what I see is a lot of frazzled families trekking from one store to the next in hunt of that one "perfect" gift for a friend or loved one...and they are tired.christmas-bustle.pngI don't know about you, but I've determined this holiday season not to wear myself thin with shopping, planning, and prepping for what should be a season of rest. Sure, I'm going to enjoy cooking a delicious meal that our family will enjoy on Christmas evening. Sure, I'm going to have fun shopping (online) for my kids' (few) gifts. (We've decided to pare down this year.) Yes, I'll enjoy the holidays, but it won't be so much about the hustle and bustle. I did all of that hustle and bustle when I traveled across several states these past two weeks to visit relatives and friends thousands of miles away. After two weeks of airplane flights, car rentals and hopping over for a surprise trip to Disney (my kids had no clue!) I decided that the rest of my holidays would be spent at home as much as possible! I barely even want to get out of the house for appointments. I am in a mood for rest. Here are a few steps I'm taking to "survive" the Christmas holiday season. It's sad that I must use the word survive, but commercialization and shopping have completely taken over what should be a time of restoration for us. So, here's how I get through the process of surviving Christmas.Clearing my schedule.Yep, over the holidays (weeks before Christmas, in fact), I start to clear up my schedule. It's a no-brainer for most of our activities since my kids' classes and co-ops naturally shut down for Christmas break anyway. I try to stay home a lot more and only get out when necessary. Life becomes less hectic when we slow down and it makes for a happier holiday mama.Also, slowing down just gives our busy life a restful reprieve. I suddenly become more creative and have time to whip up new recipes and enjoy old favorites, or bring out the knitting loom.As homeschool moms, we deserve some downtime, and in order to get that kind of time, we need to clear our schedules. The holidays is the best time to do it, in my opinion.Make time for fun.At the beginning of the school year, we homeschool moms tend to get overwhelmed with school planning and all the activities surrounding choosing curriculum, starting new co-ops, or buying school supplies. Then the school year begins and we're completely swamped with trying to keep up with our plans, which are likely NOT going as planned.If our kids are in co-ops and sports, we've turned into chauffeurs, and now it's all one, huge balancing act. By the time December hits, we're sometimes so exhausted from the fall semester (the August through November period) that we really don't know how to make time for fun. This is when we have to re-learn the art of fun. If we clear up our schedule and begin to slow our pace, we'll find the time we didn't think we had before.Plan some fun time with the kids. This could mean a board game, a card game, a game of make-believe, reading a book together, or watching a fun movie. Anything counts, so long as you unwind.Plan some time with your spouse. Go on a walk together. Curl up in your bed together in the middle of the day and watch Netflix. Go out to a coffee shop and chat over a cup of java or tea. (If you have a super busy husband like I do you'll need to be creative in your approach.) And don't forget about yourself. Me-time isn't so bad. If you like reading, go to the library and check out a great book, or download a digital one. Bubble baths always relax me, and if I have a good book to read while bathing in a sea of bubbles, it's all the better. Don't forget your own hobbies and interests. You'd be amazed at how much better you'll feel after you've done some things you personally enjoy. You'll be a better wife and a better mother for it.Make time for God.Last but not least, make time for God. I usually like to take the mornings for prayer and meditation, but it doesn't always happen first thing. Taking time for God is important (like drinking water). It's the foundation of our lives as Christian moms. When we make time for Him, His blessings seem far more evident in our lives. We notice His goodness more. We're more pliable to Him and more sensitive to His voice and calling.It's always my hope to spend time with the Lord before I say good morning to anyone. This way, I know I'm starting my day out on the right foot.This holiday season, don't forget these important tips for surviving the chaos of the drama that Christmas and New Year's can bring. Whether that's shopping drama or family drama, we all must admit that the holidays can be the not-so-best occasions, sadly enough. But if you do what you can do to take care of your family and yourself by clearing up your schedule, making time for each other, and making time for God, you will likely have a more fulfilling holiday.God bless you as you get through this season.Resources mentioned in this podcast:OnePlace.comLightsource.comJenHatmaker.comPriscilla ShirerThe Well Planned Day Planner

Welcome to the very first episode of the Christian Homeschool Moms Podcast! I will introduce you to my heart and purpose for this podcast and blog.