Tag: Homeschool Podcast

Finding Joy During the Holidays

What does Homeschooling during the holidays look like? Many new homeschooling parents are wondering the same thing. Do you take a two-week break like the school-boards do? Or you do take the full month of December? Should you homeschool right up until Christmas and then take a day or two off? What’s the best way to approach the holidays? 

This year is especially weird. Normal holidays during a global pandemic – that’s just not going to happen. How can you keep things fun and light for your kids despite the fact that there’s no Christmas plays, visits to grandma and grandpas house, and holiday parties with friends? 

Our best advice: Make little things fun. Put huge hype into things like ‘Pizza night’, driving around looking at Christmas lights, baking Christmas cookies together (unless baking with your kids stresses you out – no judgement here). Spend time reading Christmas books together, watching Christmas movies and talking about the plot of each story. On the latest podcast Lindsey and I talk about just that. Because, just like you, we are homeschooling moms living through a global pandemic and trying to find some semblance of balance through all the chaos around us. 

Whether you celebrate Diwali, Hannukah, Lunar New year, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice or Christmas, I’m sure you want it to be a special time for your children and you. So, let me remind you, that just because life is vastly different now, and things are unreservedly different than they were before, it doesn’t mean that you can’t still enjoy the holidays and cater to your children’s sense of magical peace. 

Light a few candles, make some hot chocolate, snuggle up close and enjoy this special time with your children. Yes, things are not the same. But in everything and every situation, there is something positive. Like the fact that this holiday season, the lack of business translates into more time spent in a peaceful state with your family. The hustle and the bustle are on the back burner, and peace and quality time are front and centre. 

So, enjoy it. Enjoy these little moments, enjoy the sound of your child reading. Enjoy the glow of the candles or Christmas lights. Enjoy the stories, enjoy the time. Because time is something that is taken from us all too quickly. My hope is that despite the difficulties of 2020, and the changes that have been brought as a result of it. You and your children will look back at this year with fond memories of all the time that you got to spend together. Lindsey and I truly believe that this holiday season is one that you both will always remember. 

Listen to this week’s podcast to hear Lindsey and my best advice when it comes to homeschooling and the holiday season. We talk about things like when you should take a break, what you can do to keep your kids up to date with their learning skills, fun things you can do together and more. 

We genuinely hope that you will enjoy this week’s podcast and find a sense of wonder in the mundane. And happiness in the crazy.

 

Find The Schoolio Podcast Episode 9 ‘Homeschooling and the Holidays’ on your favourite podcast streaming app.

Or click the link below to listen directly on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2vTUFzvaejHB9bYc0uCA1n

 

That Homeschool Stress Though!

When you first thought of the idea to homeschool your children you probably imagined yourself being the next Elizabeth Thatcher, cultivating a great relationship with your kids. Helping them learn in a fun way with a big smile painted across your face at all times. Patience abounding from every corner of your heart, as you teach with deep understanding and constant kindness. But, two months into it you find yourself wearing your pyjamas for the entire day. You don’t remember when the last time you brushed your hair was, shower? Let’s not even talk about a shower. And, that patience and happiness that you thought you’d portray? Ya, you’ve currently placed your children in their room prisons because their attitudes have caused great irritation in your mind. All those activities and art projects you saw on Pinterest and thought ‘We’re going to do these!!’ Are now crumples of paper and popsicle sticks and one is currently glued to your first grader’s math while the other art disaster is stuck to the table. Your house hasn’t been properly cleaned since ….September? And, your favourite meal is cereal.

You sit down for a break and open up your phone to see another homeschooler on Instagram. Her hair’s done, she has make-up on, she’s posting pictures of her clean house, her perfectly set-up classroom, and her perfectly dressed children. Suddenly, you think ‘What am I doing wrong?’ Suddenly that stress that you were feeling has been impacted and now you feel not just the horrible stress but the feeling of inadequacy. The thoughts ‘Why can’t I do a good job like her?’ ‘Should I even be homeschooling?’ ‘What am I doing wrong?’ Are all flashing through your head. This stress just adds another layer of tension to your already tense shoulders and you feel much more snappy than you did this morning when you woke up.

Before you get to that point, I want to stop you right there. I want you to remember -before you look through the series of perfection Homeschooling parents on Instagram- that you are doing an incredible job. Parenting is hard, parenting during a pandemic is hard, taking care of a house is hard, working is hard, working from home is especially hard. But, you’re more than likely doing most of -if not- all of these things. You are incredible! You have to stop looking at all the things you ‘aren’t’ getting done and start looking at all the things you are accomplishing! Most people would look at your daily life and just curl up in a ball and say ‘NOPE.’ But not you. You’re tackling it all.

But stress, stress is the hardest part of all of our lives. So, what are some tips that we could use to calm down the Homeschooling/parenting stress and instead give us a small dose of peace?

If you haven’t already, listen to The Schoolio Podcast -Episode 5- ‘Tips to Help you Navigate the Stress’ on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1tnFc9JUnzHQ4C7zWtRHbB

or find The Schoolio Podcast on your favourite podcast streaming app.

P.S Don’t forget to subscribe!

Daily Homeschool Planning Tips And Free Resources | How To

Daily Homeschool Planning Tips

Rewind to last year; chances are you probably had no desire to homeschool your children yet, here you are. You are doing precisely that. The pandemic threw a wrench into everyone’s lives. And now you’re struggling with trying to get all your child’s Curriculum done and keep them from falling behind. What an insanely large task to take on – Are you overwhelmed? Don’t be. More often than not, we receive messages from parents asking the questions: ‘Should we be homeschooling all day?’ ‘Will my child fall behind if we only do two hours of school a day?’ Scheduling, scheduling, scheduling. The word schedule can often bring up a large amount of anxiety in many people’s minds. Why? Because, if you’ve ever over-scheduled yourself or under scheduled yourself, you’ll know that it’s either burn out or the feeling of being unaccomplished that you will feel. Both are not a feeling that we want you to handle, especially when it comes to your homeschooling career.

Many families are worried that their children will have their education compromised because of all the chaos around them. And that’s why we started Schoolio and developed our Ontario based Curriculum. We believe that access to the Ontario Curriculum and Canadian Curriculum guidelines is essential for homeschoolers.

But now you’re feeling over the top frustrated because your child is sitting at the kitchen table whining for hours about the math problems they don’t want to do. Or, you’re zipping through the lessons faster than a rocket ship shooting into space, and you’re worried that you’re going too fast.

So, what do you do? How do you schedule your homeschool correctly so that you get that perfect balance that your children (and you) need? 

Step one: Stop stressing! Stress is going to do absolutely nothing for you and your family.

Step two: Realize that a homeschool schedule doesn’t have to look like a regular school schedule. In-home learning is meant to be different, and that’s a good thing. It doesn’t mean that you won’t be getting the same amount of education; it’s just that homeschoolers hit their curriculum goals much faster than regular school. There are several reasons why this is. And to find out more, you need to listen to The Schoolio Podcast episode ‘Scheduling your Homeschool the right way’. In this episode, we cover the grounds of a good schedule.

We talk about what your homeschool day should ideally look like if it’s ok to go fast or slow. Should you have an epic schedule that leaves little breathing room? Or should you be completely relaxed with your child’s education? What is the best choice? 

So that’s step three: Listen to the podcast! We share all the answers that you’re looking for and more. When you’re finished listening to the podcast, you’ll have an incredible feeling of clarity.

Step four: Remember the truth; the truth is, you’re doing a fantastic job. You always have made the best decisions for your children, and you always will. Sure, things are weird and confusing right now. But despite all that, look at the fantastic job you’re doing! You are amazing. So don’t let a mixed-up schedule make you feel inadequate. It takes time, patience, and testing to know what works best for you and your family. You’ve got this!