Author: schoolioadmin

Defend Your Choice to Homeschool

It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year. The time of the year that includes family gatherings, delicious meals, holiday music, and gifts. Easily the best part of the holiday season is the opportunity for you to defend your choice to homeschool. Now you get to practice this skill with every family member that decides to question your choice. How exciting! So, are you prepared to defend your choice to homeschool this holiday season? If not, let us help you with that. 

Homeschooling has become so much more mainstream in the last 10 years. Nevertheless, there are still so many people that have strong negative opinions about home-learning. Often times their opinions can be extremely overwhelming. Which sometimes can lead to frustration and at times social exhaustion.

Additionally, feeling like you have to constantly defend your choice to homeschool can leave you feeling very burnt out.

So, why do people judge homeschooling so harshly and also so often? Undoubtedly it has to do with traditional comforts for starters. Because the average person wants things to look and work a certain way. Therefore when things look different, or they have a hard time understanding something ‘new’, it can cause them to have a mountain of doubts in your homeschooling abilities. 

Is it fair that you must defend your choice to homeschool? Absolutely not. Unquestionably there are some people that just enjoy questioning you to get a rise. Clearly, in those situations walking away is honestly your best choice. On the other hand, if this relationship is important to you and the person asking the questions is clearly just asking out of curiosity. Then these eight reasons will come in as a handy reference for you. Especially when preparing to defend your homeschooling choice this holiday season. 

8 Reasons Why Homeschooling Rocks: 

1. Freedom to Choose.

Many parents find that in-home learning allows them the freedom to choose their educational approach. Additionally, homeschooling can be personalized around your schedule, values, and living. This can look like: Some parents choosing to unschool for greater benefits of freedom and even creativity. On the other hand, structured learning can produce amazing benefits. Those benefits include but are not limited to: Accelerated academic performance. As well as, homeschooling gives the parent, and the student, the freedom to choose what style of education is best suited for their learning needs.

2. Putting your child’s needs first, now!

Homeschooling gives you the freedom to prioritize your child’s emotional, mental, physical and behavioural health now. Rather than worrying about your child in a large class setting. You have the opportunity to help them with their current needs.

3. Which brings us to our next important reason: Valuable Learning time.

Chances are you already know this to be true. Large class sizes have aided in learning loss. Additionally,  children’s learning challenges often go undetected. The reason is that it’s nearly impossible for a teacher to care for a class of 20+ children and help each child learn in a way that is unique to them. When homeschooling, your child will greatly benefit from the one-on-one time that they will receive. 

4. Opportunity to focus on important life skills.

Preparing for adult life is a really great perk of homeschooling. Obviously, homeschooled children have more opportunities to learn to cook, budget, do laundry and more. These life lessons are just as valuable as a child’s math assignment.

5. Encouraging Independence.

While one-on-one learning is readily available when homeschooling. There’re also amazing opportunities for your child to learn independent skills. This is another huge perk of homeschooling. Things like independent play, reading time, life skills, and more.  Are all utilized when homeschooling.

6. Stepping out of a bad situation.

Occasionally mental health issues are directly connected to unfortunate school situations. For example: Providing your child safety from a situation that they’re being bullied in. This is another huge beneficial component to homeschooling.

7. Focus on their mental health.

Anxiety, depression, brain health, and social anxiety are all areas of your child’s mental health that can be helped by homeschooling. Because homeschooling gives you the chance to help your child by focusing on their mental and emotional well-being. Moreover, homeschool parents can prioritize time learning coping skills, medical care and therapy. Which will then benefit the child mentally, and in time academically too. 

8. Home learning offers the opportunity for a more thorough education.

It’s fact that traditional schools skip a lot of educational lessons. These range from different subjects like history and science to mental health. Of course these educational lessons have the opportunity to  examined further when homeschooling.

Regardless of how beneficial it can be, home learning won’t be for everyone.

Even if you listed all the most amazing benefits of homeschooling to the person questioning you. Some people still will not be able to see the benefits. Please don’t let their sour opinions drag you down. Even if you just remember these 8 reasons to benefit and back up your own personal beliefs about homeschooling. It will still be worth it. 

Your decision to put your child’s education first is a direct side affect of your desire to provide them with the best skills for a good life. You’re doing a great job. 

 

Click Here to prepare for the ‘What about Socialization Questions’! 

Additional Resources: 

Benefits of Homeschooling – The Homeschool Mom 

What Are Some Benefits of Homeschooling – OFTP

4 Reasons Your Kids Should be Homeschooled – Augusta Free Press 

Purchasing Digital Content.

Let’s Talk About: Purchasing Digital Content with Lindsey Casselman.

If you’re new to home-schooling, you may not have had much experience purchasing digital content before. This is something most veteran homeschoolers are very familiar with, so let’s talk about it!

What Is It Digital Content and How Is It Offered?

Digital content is when you make a purchase of materials that don’t have a physical product. This includes e-books, PDFs and a ton of other downloadable content. Because talented people and companies are located around the world, providing digital content is an easy way to bring their product to the world.

Digital content is available in many places, like Pinterest, TpT and many homeschool curriculum companies, including Schoolio. 

  • Some places offer both print and digital versions of their content. The Digital and Print product are offered at different price points (because printing is expensive). Also as two separate products on their website. Be sure to carefully look over your cart before completing a purchase. Doing so to ensure you’re getting the version you expected to get. 
  • Some places offer printing and shipping for you as an add-on cost. This means you’re buying the digital version of the content. In addition you’ll receive a printed version for an additional fee. These are usually print-on-demand (meaning they aren’t printed until the order is placed, so it may take 7-10 business days or more to reach your door). However, they are often one of the best printing rates you’ll find. That is because the company has negotiated a volume discount with the third-party printer. (If you’re unsure about the rate, look in the FAQs for a price-per-page rate, or look in the product description for page numbers of the product and do the math yourself to find a price-per-page cost. Then compare locally to printers in your area).
  • The majority of digital product companies do not offer printing at all. You will need to either print at home or find a printer that is local to you. The price difference between printing at home or paying a printer to print for you varies widely. Factors that change the cost are based on your printer, what you’re printing, and your location. A little research in this area is a good idea before you decide to buy any digital product. This way you don’t get shocked later by the additional cost to print your digital files.

Tips to Being a Digital Product Consumer

  1. Digital products are almost always non-refundable. Once you purchase a digital product, you’re able to download it to your hard drive and it is yours forever. There is no way to “return” a digital product. Even if a company takes away your access to the download, they have no way to ensure you haven’t saved it locally. Therefore, almost every digital company you come across will have a no refunds policy. 

It is your responsibility as the consumer to ensure the product is what you want. 

  • Read all the descriptions about the product, before purchasing digital content. If you’re buying any sort of bundle, read the descriptions of each piece of the bundle so you’re sure about what you’re getting.
  • Find and read the FAQs. These will answer a lot of the most common questions other people have asked. In addition to this you may learn an answer to a question you hadn’t even thought to ask!
  • Look at samples. There should be samples available for you to look at. Read them thoroughly and envision using the product in your own homeschool. 
  • Read reviews. You can read testimonials on the company page, ask other homeschoolers, or watch youtube reviews of a product. If you have a local friend already using the product- ask to borrow it!
  • Start small. If the program has mini units or some other small product, buy it for the cheaper price as a more detailed sample. This way you get to actually use something from the company before you commit to an entire year financially.

 I don’t know a single fellow homeschooler. That includes myself. Who hasn’t paid good money purchasing digital content   that ended up either not working out, or just never being used. It happens, so don’t beat yourself up if it does. But following the above steps and not rushing a purchase can help you avoid it as much as possible.

  1. Digital purchases won’t be available to you forever. Always download your purchases somewhere locally.

    Most companies allow limited storage of your purchased content. Even if they will store it for you indefinitely, it’s good digital consumerism to always save your purchases somewhere safe. Somewhere that you have control of them. Website maintenance, server or platform changes, expired links, etc. All of these issues can lead to frustration if you count on someone else to hold your purchases for you. Some companies will give you a set number of times you can access your materials. This avoids people sharing their links with friends. Alternatively, other companies will give you an expiry date on your available downloads.

       Places to save your digital product purchases:

  • Your computer’s hard drive. This way you have access to your purchases whenever you need. In addition if it’s saved on your hard drive, you don’t even need an internet connection to preview.
  • External hard drive. Thumb drives are available affordably and in massive size capacities these days. You can have one dedicated to your homeschool digital downloads. This is extremely helpful if you worry about problems with your computer and losing your materials.
  • Cloud storage. I personally can’t say enough good things about OneDrive through MS Office. If you already pay for MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.). Then you already have a OneDrive account. I love that I can save things to my OneDrive and then easily access them from my desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone, anywhere, anytime. Additionally, it also saves your content in the cloud. That way if disaster ever struck your device, you’d be fully covered.
  • Storage companies. Curriculum companies don’t want to be your digital closet. However, there are several companies out there that do! DropBox is a popular one, along with Google Drive. Both are there to safely store your digital purchases. The one downside is that you will need internet service to access your files.

We’ve all had the misfortune of losing an important download.

Some of us have dropped our thumb drives in our coffee cups…. I won’t say who. The best practice is to store it somewhere safe. While also being sure to keep it in two different locations. On your hard drive, plus a thumb, or a cloud server. If you do lose something important, contact the company and they may be able to help you. But if they can’t, don’t let that bring you down, because it happens. We’ve all been to the park and left our favourite sweater or the book we were reading behind. Sometimes things get lost!

  1. Understand licensing agreements with digital products.

    Depending on what you purchase, you will want to be familiar with the licensing agreement. Ebooks are usually yours to read, over and over again if desired. But a lot of homeschool materials will have a one-user only license or a personal-use only license. One-user only means the program is designed to be consumable (most likely a workbook with pages you write directly on) and to only be used once. If you intend to re-use the program for a subsequent child, the legal thing to do is to purchase two copies of the product.

Personal use only means the program is not to be used to make money. That means you can’t resell it to other people. But you also can’t use it to teach a group. Many digital curriculum companies offer co-op or group rates. This is where you get a discount for buying multiple copies of the program to use with your group. If you don’t see it offered somewhere on the site, or you’re unsure about user agreements. Always contact the company’s customer service and they will likely be happy to help you. 

Please remember that digital piracy is just as much stealing as going to a store and walking out with a sweater tucked in your bag. Stealing is stealing. Please model good citizenship to your children.

  1. Check formatting before printing.

    I once sent a PDF to my local printer. Due to one extra blank page being inserted, all the two-page spread sheets were misaligned and the whole book was a mess. It wasn’t the company’s or the printer’s fault. They inserted a blank page after the title page to be the “back” of the title page- makes sense! My printer however prints the title page separately on a heavier card-stock. So that blank page became my book’s page 1, and everything else was messed up from there.

Before you spend the money to have a digital product printed, or print it yourself, be sure to take a look at some formatting:

  • Open up the PDF and take a look at the layout. Are there cutouts involved? Will they be unusable if you print double sided? Are there extra blank pages anywhere to accommodate cut outs that you don’t need printed and inserted if you’re printing single size? 
  • Any other visible formatting problems when open in your program? Even when you have a PDF. The page layout size it was saved in and the default page layout size of your PDF reading program could misalign important pages or images. Always check and make sure everything is the way you want it before you print or send it to the printer. 
  • Talk to your printer about how they do title pages and back covers. 

Make sure you know what you’re getting ahead of time. This way you aren’t disappointed or paying for it to be printed again.

I hope these tips help you in your purchasing digital content journey! Digital products are an amazing way to access great content from anywhere in the world.  With a little know-how, you can really make the most of any digital purchase!

 

This blog was written by Lindsey Casselman, Co-Founder and Lead Curriculum Writer at Schoolio Learning.

 

Click Here to learn more about how to use digital curriculum.

Stay Curious With Your Homeschool.

Stay Curious With Your Homeschool – Guest Blog by Tawny Stowe

Every child is different! Isn’t this exactly why I wanted to homeschool? To give time and space to my child so he can learn in his own way? Well, intellectually yes. But then I found myself setting up my home exactly like a school. Trying to do all the ‘school like’ things. My heart was hearing Rudolph Steiner loud and clear. Saying “Why did you bother to read my philosophies if you are going to be so mechanical?” Even so, I just couldn’t let go of this idea of how I thought education should be. Because that is all I have ever known. I wasn’t sure how to stay curious with our homeschool. 

What changed…

Luckily for my son and I, I am a Saggitarius who gets bored with routine with ease. So, we were released from the ‘educational’ prison I had created. Just as soon as the weather turned nice enough to spend the majority of our time outside.

Over the spring and summer months I turned my trust to homestead moms. I leaned into Wildschooling ideas, placing a great importance on learning in our natural environment. At first it was sheer necessity, as a single mom I couldn’t manage our spring gardens with a full day of sit down learning. Very quickly this way of learning opened my eyes to a beautiful truth for my son and I. 

Learning about Charlotte Mason and Rudolph Steiner spoke to my soul.

Truly the ideologies of Charlotte Mason and Rudolph Steiner speak to my soul. I find that the more I learn about them the better able I am to embody them and to model them. This has resulted in an epic growth for me and a much deeper connection to my environment. A true healing of my Metis roots, and a stronger richer bond with my son. 

When exploring homeschooling for the first time, or really at any time. It can be so overwhelming to know what to study, and how to study. To be honest, some days it can be overwhelming to know where to even start. Some people have a natural teacher flow to their life and it comes like second nature. While others, like me, have to nurture their teacher flow a bit more until we can really find it. The true key to success in homeschool, is to stay curious and stay in alignment with your values. 

What are the best questions to ask yourself to stay curious?

Some of the best questions to ask yourself usually start with why you want to homeschool? The answers to these questions will guide you towards what philosophies or even curriculums support your desired outcomes. As I deepen my relationship with my son, I find I have to evaluate my reasons constantly against his growth. Constantly checking in with whether I am doing things for him, or for me. Because the answer to that can drastically shift our educational direction. I am continually learning that I must stay as curious as him. Curious about what excites him, what lights him up, what fuels him, what challenges him, what improves his confidence, nourishes his mind, his body and his soul. I use the seasons to prompt my reflection time. This way I can check in where we are both at, four times a year. 

An unexpected path of motherhood.

This journey to homeschool has come with moments of ease and moments of challenge. But above all it has come with a deeper feeling of presence in motherhood. Along with a stronger bond of love between my son and I. Together we grow, one day at a time. I have found that more times than not, it is him teaching me. I am so grateful that life pushed me down this unexpected path of motherhood and homeschooling. As I find myself becoming a much braver, compassionate, resilient human because of this experience.

Staying open to the process and a having a curious mind are the only two real tools needed in my opinion. The rest is about tuning into one another and celebrating the joy within the journey. 

Schoolio Guest Blog

Click Here to read another blog by Tawny Stowe.

How to Encourage Your Child to Write

Does your child hate writing? You’ve spent an adequate amount of time explaining what they need to accomplish and providing them with the tools to be successful. However, they immediately shrivel up in a ball and start whining. Additionally, they will literally sit at the table and twiddle their thumbs for what seems like hours. Rather than just write out the simple paragraph that they need to complete. What do you do? How can you encourage your child to write?

First of all why is writing important? 

Sometimes the fight to get your child to write just doesn’t feel worth it, am I right? Your mind may gravitate towards thoughts like ‘Why do I need to have them write anyway? The world is digital!’ Occasionally, it might feel easier to just to write it for them and pretend that they did it. However, it’s extremely important to keep your child writing and encourage them to practice their writing skills. Why? Because your child will likely need to write nearly every day in their life. Your child will need writing skills in order to complete tasks, like filling out a form at the doctors office. Writing a letter, filling out a job application, signing their name on an important document and more. 

Yes, the world has gone very digital. Even so, writing is still a huge aspect of life. When your child reaches high school, there are some assignments and exams that require the student to write short or sometimes even long answers using paper and a pencil. When it comes to work, writing might be an important part of their job in the future. Taking notes, administrative work, taking phone messages. Obviously, all of these tasks require the ability to write. 

Aside from all of the practical reasons why you should encourage your child to write. Writing can also be extremely therapeutic. Writing has been known to be an amazing outlet, and way to express feelings that perhaps they verbally just cannot express. 

How can you encourage your child to write?

First of all, remember that you aren’t failing as a parent just because your child is struggling to write. Teaching writing can be just as difficult as learning to write. Start by encouraging your child to develop strong writing skills from a young age. Then as they grow, continue encouraging them. If your child is now 8 years old, and you never took the time to encourage them to write, please don’t be hard on yourself. Your child will be able to pick up the skills that they need to write, in no time at all. We’ve compiled a list of ways to make practicing writing much more simple and obtainable for both you and your child. 

Have plenty of writing tools around the house, and make a writing toolbox.

Inside their writing tool box include items like: Lined paper, construction paper, regular paper, coloured paper, pens, pencils, markers, crayons, rulers. All of these are items that you should have in your home for your child to utilize.

Brainstorm writing ideas with your child. 

Are there certain topics that really catch the interest of your child? Chat with them about these exciting topics. Encourage them to draw pictures and then write small explanations about the pictures that they have created. In addition to this, have your child tell you verbal stories, and encourage them to write down their stories so they can remember. Even if their story is just a few words. Without a doubt they’re still getting essential practice in writing while using their amazing imagination. 

Always include reading. 

Did you know that reading is a stepping stone for better writing? It’s true! As reading has been proven to help strengthen kids’ writing skills. When your child is young, be sure to read together every day. While always encouraging their love for reading. Because when your child reads, they are expanding their vocabulary. Along with learning different spelling skills and gaining more knowledge. 

Make Writing Fun! 

Writing doesn’t have to be boring! It absolutely doesn’t always need to be writing sheets and assignments. In fact, there are so many fun ways to increase their love for writing, ways in which don’t include worksheets and pencils. Some of these ways include: Creative writing, crossword puzzles, writing a letter for a friend or family member, making up their own unique language, paint, sidewalk chalk and more. 

Fun Writing Games: 

Write the Word. 

This is a simple and fun game. You will need to have a piece of paper and pencil ready. Additionally you will need some simple items that’s names are easy to spell. Example: brush, apple, car, toy, doll, pen, book. 

First, show your child the item. Then spell the items name on a piece of paper. After that, tell your child to count to 10 while you hide the item somewhere. Now have your child find the item. Once they find it, have them spell out the name of the item on the paper. 

Pass Around Story-Writing

For this you will need a plain sheet of paper, and pencils for each player. *Note there doesn’t need to be a large amount of players to make this game fun. It can be just you and your student.

First Sit in a circle, or at your table. Secondly, explain to your child that you are going to write a sentence. Example: “Jane was hungry to a pizza sandwich.” Thirdly, have your child write a sentence to go along with your sentence. Then continue swapping the paper until you’ve come up with a hilarious story to share. 

Fill in the story. 

This game is a lot like pass around story. With the exception that it’s a little more structured. For this you will need a paper and pencils. On the sheet you will write a story with missing sections. Then have your child read through the story, and decide what the missing sections should be. 

Birthday and Holiday Messages. 

This is truly one of my favourite ways to get my children to practice their writing skills. Every single holiday I have my kids write little cards to friends and family. Writing “Happy Thanksgiving” with their name over and over again is an excellent way to help them practice their writing. Alternatively, birthday cards are also an awesome way to include writing in a fun, giving activity. 

Mix it up! 

Contrary to popular belief, writing doesn’t always have to be with a pencil and paper. Have your child write a fun message on the driveway or sidewalk with sidewalk chalk. And there’s always paint! Finger paint? Maybe painting with a paint brush? Those are both excellent ways to increase their writing skills. Additionally you can have your child write friends or grandparents names on a picture that they painted. There are some other fun materials you can use for writing skills too! Like water with food colouring, or even salt. 

Don’t stop them mid-writing. 

It can be super tempting to stop your child mid writing because they have spelled a word incorrectly. Clearly, you just want them to spell correctly, I get that. However, when you stop your child from their writing to point out a mistake that they have made. This only causes more frustration and resentment towards writing (and possibly you). Avoid this at all costs. Let them write, even if you know that they are making mistakes. Because the reality is that they are still writing out the words, and doing a good job. Letters are still being practiced, and hand coordination is being utilized. So, don’t worry so much about spelling and grammar. 

Encourage them to keep a journal. 

I personally have always journaled, and as a result, my children have started to fall in love with journaling too. One of my daughters has so many journals, I don’t actually know if she even knows where they all are. It’s so important to write down our thoughts, even if it sometimes is messy, or words aren’t spelt correctly. Journaling is such an important tool when it comes to improving your child’s writing skills. Start by purchasing a special journal and pens. Then explain that this is their special book to write their thoughts in. More than likely they will cherish it and fill it with all kinds of beautiful words. 

Be a good writing influence. 

Our kids mirror what they see. So, does your child see you on a computer/tablet a lot? Or on your smartphone scrolling through social media? What about writing texts to friends? When your child is around, let them see you writing. The same goes for reading. If your child only ever sees you on your phone, they will then want to do that also. Alternatively, if your child sees you writing, they will want to write. Kids reflect what they see. So, aim to be a good writing influence. 

Always make a big deal about their writing. 

When your child brings a story, poem, or letter to you. Always read it. Never brush it off. Then when you’ve finished reading it, don’t point out the issues (spelling, grammar). Instead point out all that was good with their story. Constantly work to build them up and instil self-confidence.

Undoubtedly, you want your child to read and write without any issue. Nevertheless it’s important to remember that every child is different. Furthermore, every child learns in their own unique way and on their own timeline. If your child is struggling with writing, always remember to be patient first and foremost. When you put too much pressure on them to get it done and do it right. Their resentment towards learning will grow and not their love for it.

Take it slow, be patient, caring, positive and encouraging. And above all remember, good things take time. Just because they’re taking a little longer to figure something out doesn’t mean that they are falling behind or failing. Additionally, it doesn’t mean that you are failing as a parent, or as a homeschool parent. 

Every so often these concepts take time to learn and master. So, be patient and supportive. Your student is bright and they will be just fine. 

 

Is your child also struggling with reading? Check out this blog: ‘Why Does My Child Hate Reading?’ 

Resources for this blog:

Oxford Learning ‘How to Improve Writing Skills for Kids’

Colorin’ Colorado ‘Helping Your Children Develop Strong Writing Skills’

Parenting First Cry ‘8 Creative Writing Games’ 

The Reading Mama ’25 Ways to Make Writing Fun’

How Do You Homeschool With A Toddler?

How Do You Homeschool With A Toddler? – Guest Blog Written By Rebecca Miller

Are you wondering if it’s even possible to homeschool multiple children of different ages? How can you possibly teach your 10-year-old math while your preschooler is asking for snacks every five minutes? How on Earth can you practice reading with your 12-year-old while your toddler is climbing on your lap? How do you keep your toddler busy during homeschool? 

As a mom of four, ages 3 to 14. I understand that it can be a challenge! But, my friend, it is most definitely possible! 

Through trial and error, I have found some great ways to keep my preschooler busy while spending time with my older children on their projects.

Here are a few of my favourite ways to keep your toddler busy: 

Make sure your toddlers bucket is full.

Let’s face it – sometimes it can feel as if our youngest is constantly seeking our undivided attention. Sometimes the way they go about getting our attention is not the most discreet.

Recently I added something to our routine that has been a game-changer. When you front-load the day with some quality one-on-one time with your toddler (for example – reading, playing or cooking together). It can fill her bucket and lessen the need to seek connection while you are helping her siblings.

Enlist help from others.

Homeschooling is a family affair. If you have a spouse, talk to them about ways you can share the responsibilities and joys of educating your children. Maybe you can take turns teaching. Perhaps one of you is stronger in one subject and would enjoy taking that on. Maybe your partner can play with the youngest child while you work with the older ones – or vice versa.

If you have family or friends nearby, you may be able to have them care for your youngest for a few hours per week. During the school day. Homeschooling is all about family, you may be surprised how grandma may respond if you ask her to support your homeschooling journey in this way. Another option is to find another homeschooling Mom in your area who would be willing to swap childcare with you. 

Rotate toys for your toddler.

Sometimes toddlers and preschoolers can become overwhelmed when there are too many toys. If you find there are toys that your child doesn’t play with regularly, it can be really helpful to put them away in a closet for awhile. Then when you bring them back out, they can seem new and exciting again. Similarly, if there are toys that are only brought out at “school” time, your child will get excited at the novelty of those toys. Your toddler will begin to associate school time with their ‘special’ toys.

Try some fun ‘Make ahead activity trays/bags’.

Preparation is key, here. When you are preparing lessons for the older kids on Sunday night (or whenever you prepare). Take a few minutes to prepare something for the youngest learner as well. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. A simple baking pan with magnet letters, new Play-doh, stickers and paper or even a tub of rice can be a fun activity! While they are busily playing with their new activity tray, you will be able to help the other children with their book work. 

Utilize nap time.

  This one is pretty self-explanatory. If your toddler or preschooler is still napping, you can use that time to focus on book work with the older kids without distraction. If your child is not napping, you can still add “quiet time” to your routine. Bring out quiet toys or books that are reserved for this special time. And have your child get cozy and rest their body for an hour.

Take advantage of helpful older siblings.

Don’t be afraid to have your older kids take on “sibling duty.” I believe that one of the best parts of having all my children at home is that they can create a strong bond. I also believe children who learn responsibility in younger years, find it easier to become responsible adults. In our family, everyone knows (not that they always agree) that we all have parts to play and “jobs” to do within our family unit. My oldest two are 14 and 12. They take turns watching the busy 3-year-old when I am need one-on-one with one of the others. 

Play school with your toddler.

Younger siblings love to imitate older siblings. While the older kids are working on their worksheets, get out pens, markers and paper and have your little one “do school” along-side their siblings. Stickers, dry erase boards and colouring books are also great ‘school supplies.’

Seek out non-traditional learning opportunities.

Playing board games, going for nature walks and exploring a local farm are all great learning opportunities. These activities don’t involve sitting at a desk. These learning opportunities can supplement your book work and are perfect for all ages. While walking through the forest with your kids, you can point out different types of leaves and birds. Have your toddler point out different colours and shapes in nature. While playing a family board game, your preschooler will learn turn-taking along-side their siblings. Sometimes non-traditional learning activities can be overlooked, but they can really help solidify concepts learned through book work.

Educational Apps.

If you are open to using screens in your home, allowing your preschooler a limited amount of free time on an educational iPad app can be useful and fun. There are many free and low-cost programs that can be a great tool to keep your little one occupied. While still teaching some fun and important skills like shape recognition, colours, letters and numbers.

Including your toddler or preschooler in your homeschool whenever possible is the best way to build strong relationships and a strong foundation for learning. Sometimes, though, it is necessary to give your older children more individual attention. I hope these ideas give you hope that you absolutely can homeschool your children, even if you have a toddler underfoot.

Schoolio Guest Blog

Is your child old enough to jump into Kindergarten? 

Check out our fun Kindergarten program! Click Here

How to Use a Digital Curriculum

Are you curious why we are so passionate about our digital curriculum? Lately, we’ve been receiving multiple questions about what a digital curriculum is? How can you use a digital curriculum? And what are the best ways to be successful using a digital curriculum? This is why this blog is all about how to use a digital curriculum and why we’re so passionate about it.

Why do we promote and sell a digital curriculum? 

Convenience is always the ideal. This is why the idea of having only physical workbooks in hand is the ideal and preferred method for most families. This is why we are passionate about finding an alternative that will make the family and the environment happy. It should be alarming that roughly 15 billion trees are cut down annually. Researchers estimate that since the onset of human civilization, the global number of trees has dropped by approximately 46%. Find more details here.

Those are some staggering and alarming statistics.

Especially because trees are such an essential part of life here on planet earth, trees and shrubs improve soil and water conservation while storing carbon. They also help moderate local climates by providing shade. Trees act to regulate temperature extremes and provide homes for much of the world’s wildlife. 

Trees are so important and needed. Yet, they are the first to be cut down when we need lumber to build more houses, furniture, and paper for books. This is why we are committed to helping heal the environment. And while we are just a small, start-up company. We are determined to make a difference in the world around us. 

Digital curriculum means: Fewer trees being cut down to provide for single-use books.

That’s important to us. We understand that some families wish to have a physical product in their hands. That ‘pen to paper’ feel is hard to replace. The pen-to-paper ‘feel’ is something that most people greatly value, and we agree. It is essential to be able to use a pencil to learn better writing skills, especially in the beginning years. We aren’t saying you need to throw out ‘paper’ altogether, as our digital curriculum comes with many options.

Partial Printing: 

When you purchase our digital curriculum, you can only choose to print out the worksheets your child needs to practice with. The ‘reading’ and ‘lesson’ parts of each lesson can be used by simply opening the digital curriculum on your iPad. Read and learn together, then have the worksheets printed out – and let them get to work. 

This is a sure way to guarantee that less paper is being used while ensuring that your child is still getting that pen-to-paper feel.

Fully Digital: 

Alternatively, some families successfully download their digital e-books from their dashboard and use their digital curriculum with a tablet or iPad. They then have their child use a Stylus pen or Apple Pen to fill in the answers. Once they have completed the page, they save it. When you choose this option, you are using essentially no paper, which is a massive gift to the environment or your organization.

Your Digital Curriculum is Still Useful, Even if You Had The Workbooks Printed.

Those files aren’t just a waste. You can use the digital files to plan your lessons, look ahead, save for later, and help you stay organized and on track. Having your digital curriculum is also an excellent backup. What if you spill a drink on your paper workbooks? Those digital files are a simple replacement. You don’t have to purchase a whole new book. You can easily print off the pages that were compromised by juice. 

Digital Curriculum Helps Parents and Teachers Jump Right In. 

Our digital curriculum is also beneficial because you have access to it as soon as it’s purchased. That means you don’t have to wait for the curriculum to arrive to begin planning. As soon as it’s downloaded off your dashboard, you will have the ability to get familiar with everything needed to have a successful homeschool year. 

Digital Curriculum is more affordable. 

The curriculum will always be a little expensive because a lot of work and information goes into your curriculum. However, when it comes to a digital curriculum that isn’t printed – those costs become much less. We are committed to making quality home education available for families across Canada and The United States of America. 

How are we giving back with our digital curriculum and workbooks? 

We know that not everyone will want to have a digital curriculum. This is why we have offered a printing and shipping option through our third-party printer. All that paper takes away from our goal to help save the trees. So that is why we teamed up with One Tree Planted. Because we care deeply about the planet and give back to nature. We are investing 1% of monthly revenue to One Tree Planted. By doing so, we are planting trees across Canada and the world. Giving back where we can to help our environment.

Start small if you aren’t sure how you would feel about going ‘digital’ with your curriculum.

Grab a fun science unit like ‘Weather’ for grades 4-6. Click here to check out ‘Weather.’ 

This unique science unit is just 39 pages and covers fun lessons like What Causes Weather, The Sun, The Wind, All About Precipitation, Hurricanes and Tornadoes, Human Impacts on Climate and Meteorology. With this compact Special Interest Unit, your child can learn about the weather digitally. 

Another excellent science resource is: ‘Optics,’ which gives you another chance to try it out digitally. Optics is geared towards Grade 7-8. This Special Interest Unit is only 38 pages and teaches your student about Light and Vision, Transmission and Absorption, Reflection, Lenses, The Human Eye and more. Click here to learn more about ‘Optics.’ 

These Special Interest Units are filled with great content. Choosing to use these units Digital vs. getting printing done will allow your family to try out a fully digital curriculum on a smaller platform. 

If you need more tips on using our digital curriculum, our team is always here to help. 

Tablets and stylus pens can be purchased at any electronic store. Our favourites for digital curriculum use are the iPad and apple pen combo to fill out the curriculum quickly. 

Remember, whatever way you choose to use your digital curriculum, we stand behind you and are here to help you be successful. 

When Your Homeschool Schedule Isn’t Going As Planned.

What do you do when your homeschool schedule isn’t going as planned? 

Autumn is such a fitting season for school to resume. The weather outside matches the excitement that many homeschoolers feel when beginning a new school year. Both the new season and the beginning of a school year are fresh, crisp, and filled with promise. Many excited homeschool parents have their colour coded schedules all ready to go. Some are already diving into their curriculum with their students for the year. Staying on schedule can feel really good, but what do you do when your homeschool schedule isn’t going as planned? 

First of all, it happens.

It happens to all of us. Not just in the category of ‘homeschool’, but in all  categories of life. We all have times that we’ve made elaborate plans, and then plans suddenly changed and those hopes you once had are just a distant alternate reality that didn’t come to fruition. When things don’t go as planned it can become frustrating, overwhelming, and sometimes cause anger.  Because we just want things to work out the way we had originally planned, who doesn’t?

So, what do you do when your homeschool plan falls apart? 

Your amazing colour coded, perfectly planned schedule is now null and void. What now? Do you become aggravated? Because now you have to start over from scratch? Do you try to rewrite the plan? Or do you just throw away the plan and wing it? What’s the best alternative to a broken homeschool plan? 

When a setback occurs for your homeschool or any other area of your life you should always:

  • Check in with yourself.

Clarify what the initial goal was. What were you hoping to accomplish with your homeschool plan? How close did you come to accomplishing this goal? Taking a look at what you were hoping to ‘accomplish’ and how close you came are simple ways to ground yourself in reality and help you not too overreact when things get messy and the plan gets interrupted. Change and scheduling issues are inevitable. Because life is a series of ups and downs, so try not to let this pull you down. 

  • Remember the truth. 

Setbacks and messed up plans are not a reflection of you as a person or a homeschool teacher. Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan, and sometimes they do. Life is a never ending balancing act. It’s really important for you to remember that this isn’t your fault. Sometimes things change, and it’s how we react to the change that matters the most. 

  • Know that you aren’t the only one with the scheduling issue. 

Believe it or not most, if not all, homeschool families experience setbacks and delays when it comes to accomplishing that which they had originally planned. For sure it can be frustrating, but homeschool parents are one-of-a-kind. Strong, brave, and not afraid of a set-back. When things get turned upside down, utilize this opportunity to show your kids that life doesn’t go as planned, and through the set-backs we learn important lessons and test our resilience. 

  • Plan for the unexpected.

When things get off-track, plan for them to get off-track again. Because they will! That’s part of life. Sometimes we can’t control our circumstances, really no one can. There isn’t a single person in this world that has the ability to know when the unexpected will happen. So expect the unexpected, because I guarantee it will happen. 

  • Ditch this false idea that things need to be perfect.

It’s homeschool, not traditional school. It won’t look like ‘real school’, because it’s not supposed to. You probably won’t have school desks, a big chalkboard, and colour coded binders (or maybe you will). You won’t be able to get your kids to sit at their desks in their house for 6 hours. Homeschooling is different, and it is beautiful. You can personalize your schedule, you can decide when is the best time for education to begin and end for the day. It’s not perfect, because it’s not meant to be. 

  • Don’t get stuck in it – move forward.

Things didn’t go as you planned? OK. Let’s move forward. Learn from your mistakes. ‘What happened that threw us off our plan? Did I maybe plan too much?’ Relax your schedule. There are so many circumstances that can occur. Like, the whole family catching the flu, the homeschool curriculum company experiencing printing delays, your child finding a topic they’re really interested in and want to spend more time on. And the list continues. 

Instead of becoming upset and discouraged when your homeschool schedule doesn’t go as planned, focus on the fact that sometimes things fall off track. Move forward. Always, move forward.

 

Additional Resources for you to check out:

Daily Homeschool Planning Tips

Overcoming Setbacks 

Staying Sane When Things Don’t Go As Planned

 

 

Teaching Our Kids About The Election

Teaching Our Kids About The Election – Guest Blog by Meredith Blunt

I’m back! Oh and I am super excited about the resource I have to share today. Have you ever found something as a homeschooler that thrills you to the core? If so share it with us in the comments. I LOVE finding amazing educational materials for the kids and myself. And I’m sure that you do, too. Today’s amazing find is all about teaching our kids about the election! 

It’s Election time! 

Here in Canada we are getting ready for a federal election on September 20th this year. As a result, the candidate signs have hit all the roadsides. And the door-knocking is well under way. Some of us have met with our local MP’s and the news is full of election stories. The reality is, if we’re seeing and hearing this, our kids are too.

Which is why learning about our elections history and Canadian democracy is really so important. And is also a great way to bring politics, civics and history to your homeschool curriculum. You can do this while supplementing brick and mortar education.

Elections Canada has amazing educational resources available for all classrooms and teachers. I apologize that my photos can’t completely capture everything I received! All the resources, information, activities and worksheets are available digitally. Or can be shipped to you in English or French.

Be aware each kit contains materials for up to six students. Which is especially good for learning pods. And truly excellent for sharing with members of your local homeschooling groups, too.

Engaging Activities for Kids.

Elections Canada has worked with like-minded organizations that support democracy education. Doing so to create engaging activities and resources for learners from the primary years right through high school. Their collaborators include the Library of Parliament and Provincial and Territorial electoral agencies.

As well as non-governmental agencies like Encounters with Canada, Forum for Young Canadians, MediaSmarts and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. They are great quality and ship very quickly. Everything is budget-friendly because it’s all free! FREE! I love free.

For Kindergarten to Grade 3. 

For our primary learners (Kindergarten to Grade 3) there is a wonderful election simulation activity called “Choosing our Mascot”. It includes clear and adaptive instructions for us educators. As well as all materials necessary and five beautiful illustrated posters. All of which were Created by an Indigenous artist for each candidate. Along with their campaign speech and song. 

Teaching our Kids about the Election

For Grade 4 and Up!

I am having a hard time choosing a favourite kit for students in Grade 4 and up. You’ll find these activities labelled as ‘secondary’ level however are adaptable to junior and intermediate students. Especially the mapping ones! First, let me preview those because I love a good map!

The “Geography of Elections” and “Mapping Electoral Districts” kits are so cool. All the secondary kits begin with great inquiry questions such as “What is my federal electoral community?” And, “How does it compare to others?”.

Geography of Elections includes two huge maps illustrating Canada’s Federal Electoral Districts and the official results of the 42nd general election. This is important because it helps to strengthen map literacy skills. While gaining understanding of the geographic and human factors that help create our country’s electoral districts.

The activity in Mapping Electoral Districts involves maps to use dry-erase markers. They can do this to name and label a country of your imagining with electoral districts. While considering things like population density, languages spoken and shared histories. Map work is a winner in our home!

Teaching our Kids about the Election

Grab your Election kit today!

The kits explore vital, living resources that will help us guide our children into informed voters. And educated, passionate civilians of an evolving and modern democracy, also. With topics ranging from the history of voting rights and civic action in Canada. To becoming a savvy critical thinkers in the online world. This is a big win as a contemporary and impactful component of your home education.


Teaching our kids about the election

About Meredith Blunt:

Everything has a Season – Even Education

Everything has a season – Guest blog by Tawny Stowe

“Everything has a season” … It’s a cliche, but for me it’s also a permission slip! As a homestead mom and an entrepreneur, certain seasons find me a little over my head! This was my first-year homeschooling. And when I began, I had these grand ideals of how to make school happen in my home the way it does in a classroom.

I failed. Miserably.

First I started off with alarms set, I had specific curriculum planned out every day and books set up on the table. I even had specific days for different topics.  At first, my four-year-old was excited and just as quickly he wasn’t. As soon as it turned into a power struggle for our family, I knew something had to change. But being so new to the homeschooling way of life, I didn’t know what!

And then… It happened.

As they say when the student is ready the teacher appears. So as I sat in on a webinar for my business that happened to be led by a homeschooling and homestead mamma of three. In her teaching she fully admitted that as gardening season approaches, her and the kids are done with formal learning for the remainder of the school year. When the demands of the garden increased, all learning revolved around growing food!

 

This was inspiring!

Suddenly, I felt as if the Spring Season was an open permission slip to let the rigidity and routine of learning go. We could slide into a more “unschooled approach” to education.

Then what took place blew my mind!

The power struggles that my family was facing, vanished. It seems getting a five-year-old to put on rain boots and splash in puddles requires zero effort! We went hunting for bugs, exploring wetlands for migrating birds, and spent time talking about the fertility of the Earth as it unravelled before our very eyes. Then we talked about seeds, and land stewardship (okay he’s five we called it tending to our food and forests). We collected garbage, we kayaked and we explored medicines and wild foods as they presented themselves. As I was walking around from morning to night working in the gardens, wheelbarrowing dirt, starting seeds and transplanting seedlings, and raising baby chicks, my son was with me every step of the way.

Another change in our Homeschooling Journey.

So here we are, now watching this season that started as Spring. Moved into summer and is quickly bringing us to fall.  I am pausing to reflect on what I am harvesting from the seeds I planted and tended all summer. Both in my garden and in my son’s learning environment.

My son has outgrown his shyness. He thrived in the natural world talking to plants, trees, rocks, and animals. We spent a summer taking our winter learning of Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe Language) and applying it to our outdoor classroom. We read books, we studied field guides. We had countless campfires helping us heal our Metis roots. Doing so by keeping us feeling connected to the Natural Landscape and all of her beings.

A new cycle is here.

In our way of living, we approach harvest as a time of ending, of clearing and even death. We view death as a necessary part of life because through the completion of one cycle a new one can emerge. Our cycle of complete unschooling is coming towards an end. I sense in both of us a desire to return to the blessed moments of connection we had when we spent half days with some structured learning.

Approaching learning through the seasons gives me permission to bring change (or cycles) into our school approach. And as I round up my first full year of homeschooling, I feel blessed. Blessed to have found a way to weave the healing of my Metis roots with my love of nature’s seasons. This all comes with a desire to help raise a child connected to the land through home learning.

Author Spotlight - Tawny Stowe

About the author: Tawny Stowe is a Metis business owner who works on the traditional lands of the Anishnabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples now known as Arden, Ontario, Canada.

Tawny is a steward of land and resources which allows her to embody her role as the Woodland Priestess helping parents return home to themselves and their children through a (re)connection to the Earth. She teaches a remembering of the Mind-Body-Soul through the sharing of children’s stories, song, food, creativity activities, gardening, spirituality + yoga practices, and nature exploration.

Click here to learn more about Tawny

 

Make Learning Fun

Have you heard of Special Interest Units? The phrase may make you wonder, what exactly that could mean? And why would that be important for your child’s education? Using these compact units of learning can make learning fun for our kids. While also helping our children discover their passions and desire to dig deeper on topics that excite them. It’s so important to cultivate their desire to learn when they’re young, and using Special Interest Units can help with that.

Have you ever found a topic that you just couldn’t get enough of? You started digging deeper, doing more research. You became fascinated by this topic and learning about it gave you so much life. You want your child to experience that same passion and hunger for learning, right? So, how? How can we help our kids with digging deeper, learning bigger, and enjoying the process?

Here are some simple ways to make learning fun while helping your child develop a love for their education:

Expand of their ideas and imaginative thoughts.

Your son just came up to you and told you that he wants to drive a Porsche, and be a millionaire with a fast, fancy boat when he’s older.  What’s your initial reaction? To tell him that money doesn’t matter? To explain that we don’t always get what we want in life? Do you immediately think ‘Those are expensive, he could never afford that?’ Or do you say: “Well you’ll have to have a really good job then.” All of these initial thoughts are normal, because you live in a realistic world. Your child however, is living in a bright world where anything is possible. Instead of immediately shutting down his dream, try asking questions instead.

Ask things like: “What colour would your Porsche be?” “How fast would it go?” You can google how fast a Porsche can go together, and then perhaps talk about different speeds, because I guarantee that one day they will be driving and will need to know. “What colour would it be? There’re so many colours, let’s check out the Colours and Light Special interest Unit together to learn more about colours. Maybe we can even pick a colour that isn’t very common, if you like it!” That fast boat that he’s dreaming of, have him draw a picture, and write about where he would travel. Grab a map and explore the oceans with him. Ask him where he’d want to travel to, and what countries he’d like to see with his boat.

You aren’t squashing his dreams, you are helping him cultivate his dreams through joy-filled, education.

 

Make learning fun with Special Interest Units:

There are so many areas of education that can be really dry. Many parents struggle with teaching their children math, not because they don’t know it but because math is one of the more ‘dry subjects’. For some kids, they just love it. For others, it overwhelms them from the boredom of 5+6=11. How can you make learning more fun? Especially with those areas of their education that are beyond boring?

Special Interest Units aren’t just about an interesting topic. They are so much more than that. You can incorporate multiple subject areas under one theme. Math, Writing, Reading, Science, all of these are included in many Special Interest Units. When you mix enjoyable content with basic educational lessons, you have a remedy for a fun and successful learning experience.

 

Helping your child discover interests.

 The world would be a different place if we all did what we were actually interested in. If we all somehow found a way to make a living off of something that we enjoy. But chances are when you went to school you were taught in a traditional form. You were told to get good grades, do well in areas of education, and forget about your passions. Because “Passion doesn’t pay the bills.”

Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut, Sally Reis, Ph.D., states that the key to unlocking a child’s potential is finding that child’s interests and helping the child develop them. Did you catch that? The key to them unlocking their potential isn’t by forcing them to get good grades and then being disappointed when they don’t meet our expectations. Rather, the key comes when they love what they’re learning.

How can they discover their interests? Books, watching educational shows, museums, zoos, the outdoors, and Special Interest Units. There truly are so many ways to help your child find their passion for education while you make learning fun.

 

Be supportive as they find their learning style.

Every child has a unique learning style, or a way that they learn most effectively. The three different styles: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. Which style suits your child the most? Helping your child determine their learning style will be a gift that serves them their entire life.

Don’t become overwhelmed by the idea of ‘how to make learning fun’, ok? There are so many ways to do it. You can start by checking out our Special Interest Units.

Because we love to make learning fun, so we’ve created a whole bunch of awesome Special Interest Units to help your child learn fun new things while squeezing in important education lessons.

Click here to view our Special Interest Units.

 

Resources used for this blog: 

Big Life Journal – A love for learning

NAEYC – Encouraging your child to lead

Anxiety and School

Anxiety and School – Guest Blog by Meredith Blunt

I am so glad to be writing for Schoolio again. This time about something a little heavier than my last guest blog but a subject near and dear to me. I’m writing this with no expertise (not a doctor!) beyond my own experience as a parent and a human who has moved through the impacts and distortions of anxiety herself. Anxiety and mental health is a huge, personal, and potentially upsetting topic. Anxiety has a daily presence in my life. I am hoping to share some of the most insightful and effective knowledge I have gained from my own research and experience with anxiety and school, as well as from the experts I’ve met. 

Emotional and Mental Health.

Feeling anxious can be a normal reaction to events in our lives that make us feel pressured, stressed or challenged. This is okay. That anxious feeling teaches us to assess our perceptions quickly, make critical decisions and bolster our convictions. However, anxiety that is overtly and constantly present moves into the realm of a disorder. It feeds negative thought patterns. It pushes us to feel constant worry and fear. In these times of growing awareness and knowledge around mental and emotional health, we are gaining a better understanding that children can be just as affected by anxiety as anyone else. We are learning about the factors in their lives that can cause anxiety disorder. Unsurprisingly, school is one of those factors, which is why talking about anxiety and school is so important.  

Anxiety and school, what it can look like:

As parents we’re told to ‘trust our gut’ when it comes to our kids. This is good advice but tricky to follow. We are influenced by so much – our loved ones, social media, literature, news etc. It isn’t unusual for our internal voice, our own wisdom, to get drowned out. Parental intuition is further challenged by the role school plays in each child’s life. As the majority of their time is spent at school, it has an outsized impact on a child’s mental health. Teachers, conflicts with peers, being away from home, and expectations of family are all aspects of school that can be contributing factors to an anxiety disorder. 

“It started out as stomach aches and headaches…”

I noticed the beginnings of anxious behaviour in my youngest back when he was in grade one. It first started out as stomach aches and headaches every school morning but gradually progressed to withdrawal from some interests and sleep disruption. Fearing any lasting consequences of this situation and due to the complete absence of support from our school and his teacher at the time, my husband and I withdrew him from public school and began our first foray into homeschooling. 

Wisdom does come with experience, in our case we had crossed paths with school-based anxiety already and learned valuable information. Three years prior to my son’s grade one year, I didn’t have the confidence to trust what I was seeing and sensing with my eldest as anxiety disorders developed in her when she was around the same age. Everyone seemed to know better and worked to assuage my fears, so I put my trust in them. It’s hard to forgive yourself for mistakes you’ve made as a parent.

We can only do our best with the tools and knowledge we have at the time.

I didn’t know that what I was looking at was anxiety in my eldest. I would see her struggle to connect with peers and I would resort to the traditional well-meaning adages of ‘say hi!’ and ‘be friendly’. We battled over learning from mistakes, and I would feel lost when her reaction to an error or failure was immense defeat and crippling negative emotions. I’d try to get her excited about new things only to see her recoil almost in terror. The kids who sometimes can’t find the words to describe what they’re experiencing are the young people who may be susceptible to anxiety disorders. These kids can end up carrying heavy labels in school settings – difficult, shy, perfectionist, distracted, under-achiever, a weaker student. This is my daughter and not one of those labels was accurate. 

This isn’t a simple or easy topic to discuss. When we talk about anxiety in our children it hurts. When we give voice to these massive concerns for our kids – ranging from sleep deprivation and disruptive emotions to self-injurious behaviour and suicidal ideation – they become part of the world. The bigger, open, judging world. This is hard, really hard. We live in times where more pressure than ever is on families to be relentlessly picture-perfect at all times. If we pull back the curtain, what will people think of us! 

Here’s what people think – “Whaaaaat! That’s my kid too…that’s me too! I thought it was just us”. They really do. 

So what do we do as mums and dads? We get help. Help for our kids and help for ourselves. We learn how to listen, how to respond, and how to reach out when we feel overwhelmed. We adapt our parenting skills to the needs of our kids.

Here’s some favourites from my range of resources:

(I have no professional affiliation with these links they are just ones I like a lot). 

Books:

Helpful Apps that my family loves: 

Support groups:

It can be a wonderful, positive surprise, how generous and loving groups like Schoolio Families can be! 

 Therapy*:

  • Cognitive-behavioural therapy has been reliably successful in my experience. 

Learning the skills for when anxiety shows up:

I don’t know about you but I’m feeling a little worked up thinking and writing about anxiety and school so I’m going to regain some calm. This is the first suggestion I always make when talking to friends and other parents about anxiety in our families. Our kids need to know they are fully capable of being in control of their emotions. They are eager to learn the confidence and skills needed for anxiety when it shows up. Where those skills begin is awareness of the most basic of bodily functions – breathing. 

As anxiety builds, the more shallow and rapid we breathe. This is a prehistoric response from our brain, telling our body “There’s danger! Time to flood everything with oxygen and get the adrenaline going so we can get the heck outta here!”. There’s no sabretoothed cat stalking us but our body’s response is sufficient for us to cope as though there were. When we learn to identify this behaviour, the next step is to take control of the perceived threat by controlling our breath. 

Check your breathing.

Sometimes known as Paced Breathing, you inhale through your nose for 4-6 seconds, hold for 2-4 seconds, then a controlled exhale through your mouth for 6-8 seconds. It is totally cool if you can’t breathe for those exact seconds yet. The calming key is that longer exhale. With it you are releasing the excess oxygen and adrenaline which gives you control of the situation and yourself.

Another great one, especially for our little littles, is Box Breathing. Hold the image of a square in your mind. Each side of the square is equivalent to four seconds. We breath around the square. Inhale for 4 seconds, hold our lungs full for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, hold our lungs empty for 4 seconds. 

Putting in the practice of identifying the moments when we need to take that pause and breathe is worth it, whether you’re a kid or a grown up. 

It’s important to foster our mental well-being as caregivers because there are challenging emotions that come when your child is embattled with anxiety or any differences from the neurotypical. Guilt, doubt, resignation, disbelief, avoidance, anger, sadness to name a few. Those difficult feelings are valid and deserve reflection. 

A personal favourite expression regarding this is you have to put your own oxygen mask on before helping another. This doesn’t mean if a family member is in crisis you hold up a finger and say “Just a sec! I need 20 minutes for some *me* time then we’ll get to working on what’s happening with you ok?” …none of us would do that – it’s ridiculous. 

What it does mean is that every day we take space and time for ourselves.

What that space and time look like is dependent on you! For myself, my go-tos are walking and re-learning to run. The activity gives me the space and time to enjoy my own progress, and focus on it. Exercise isn’t the only activity that works, I encourage you to find the right activity for you that allows you to restock your emotional stores so you are better prepared to cope with whatever challenges the day brings. The singular purpose is to fill your happiness quotient. It’s also good behaviour to model, demonstrating that you find contentment and success in just being you and doing something for just you. 

I hope I have done some service to the impactful and encompassing topic of anxiety and school -age children. I would genuinely love to generate a supportive on-going discussion centred around advice, patience, familiarity, education and humour. Whether you and/or your child are experiencing what you suspect is anxiety or you are interested in mental wellness, remember we are not alone. 

*I fully acknowledge that financially viable and timely access to therapy is critically lacking in Canada. If you have the means, please consider advocating and supporting improved access to mental health professionals and programs in your region. Getting help should not be as difficult as it is.

Schoolio Guest Blog - Meredith Blunt

Debunking Homeschool Myths

Homeschooling has become so much more mainstream in the last decade. Despite that fact, there are still so many homeschooling myths. A couple weeks ago we posted a blog about the #1 myth surrounding homeschooling, which as you probably guessed it, is the thought that homeschooled children aren’t socialized. A belief that drives homeschooling families crazy. Aside from that myth there are still so many other myths that are just so far from the truth! That’s why this blog is dedicated to debunking homeschool myths.

As stated above, the #1 myth surrounding homeschooling is that homeschooled children aren’t socialized, we already busted this myth with great detail. Click Here to Read  Now we will jump to the next series of myths that drive homeschooled parents crazy.

Homeschool Myth #2: Not very many people homeschool their children.

That’s a myth. If you read the blog about socialization and homeschooling then you will know right away that that’s a myth. Why? Because there are literally millions of children being homeschooled worldwide. Why has homeschooling become such a popular option? It’s so easy to blame the pandemic, because yes that has caused a huge rush of parents to homeschool. But realistically parents have been turning to homeschooling for a while now because many parents have found that homeschooling puts their child’s needs and goals at the core of their education.

Myth #3: Homeschooling families all fit into the same mould.

That’s a nope. In fact, there are many, many different types of homeschooling families. Each is unique in their own way. There are families where the mother just stays home and teaches while the father goes out and works. There are single parent homeschoolers, there are families with so many kids, there’re families with one kid, there are different cultures, there are religious homeschoolers, there are secular homeschoolers. The differences are pretty distinct, but their reasons are often relatively similar.

Homeschool Myth #4: Children that are homeschooled don’t learn as much.

Most, if not all, homeschool programs are extremely thorough and detailed. When you choose to homeschool your child, they have the opportunity to learn in a way that is unique to them which often will be much better than the alternative. Homeschooling is customizable right from the teaching, to the schedule. Because of the customization and flexibility, children have the opportunity to move at a pace that works best for them.

Myth #5: Homeschooled children can’t function in the real world.

That is for sure going to be debunked. Because homeschooled kids spend every day in the real world. The belief that homeschooled kids spend all day sitting at home is false. The reality is that homeschooled kids get so much more time outside, they learn so much about their surroundings when they’re learning from home. Traditional learning often has kids sitting in one room for hours in a day. Homeschooled children spend lots of time out and about, interacting with their community.

Homeschool Myth #6: Homeschooled kids don’t get into College.

Do you think that’s true? I know for a fact that it’s not. Because I was homeschooled, and I was accepted into University just fine. I’ve been debunking homeschool myths my entire life. But don’t just take my word for it, because statistics show that Homeschoolers have a higher rate of attending college than any other group of children. 66.7% of homeschooled kids, compared to 57.5% of traditional public-school children. Even some well known colleges seek out homeschooled kids because they recognize their unique qualities and skills that they often have, like being self-motivated and self-disciplined.

Check out these statistics on homeschooling: Click here

 

Myth #7: Homeschool parents aren’t qualified to teach.

This is a sore subject for a lot of homeschooling parents. Because they’re tired of being underestimated. The truth is, that parents are the best teachers for their children. Parents teach their children to talk, walk, eat, read, and function in the world around them.  Contrary to popular belief, parents are actually the most qualified to teach their children. Parents choose a professionally crafted curriculum which aids and guides them on their teaching journey, so they are more than qualified to teach.

Homeschooling isn’t for everyone, and that’s ok.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with traditional learning and there’s nothing wrong with homeschooling. Both are different and important. Whichever avenue of education you choose for your family, be sure not to judge the other group of people and the decision they made. They are doing what is best for their family unit, just like you are. The general rule is just, be kind!  I hope you’ve enjoyed debunking homeschool myths with us! Let us know what homeschool myths drive you crazy?

 

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