The Heart of Homeschooling: Recent Episodes
Leah Lovero
This is a podcast all about how the craziness of homeschooling molds and shapes the lives of us homeschooling moms. Because it turns out, homeschooling isn't all about our kids! Join me, Leah Lovero, as I share my journey of personal and spiritual growth while homeschooling my four kids. It's always an adventure. I hope my journey can help you as well! This is a podcast just for you, the heart of your homeschool.
This week I’m talking about why it’s important to reflect, take stock, evaluate how the year went. So you can tweak what needs to be tweaked and set yourself up for the best school year yet next year!
I’m sharing the reflection questions I use for my own homeschool and then the ones I use when I’m thinking about how I personally did as the homeschool teacher. They’re both important to think about.
In this episode I hope you embrace how far you’ve come this year or in all of the years of homeschooling. When you look at those reflection questions you’ll be able to see how much you’ve learned over the year or years.
And finally, I’m going to try to help you be comfortable with sharing your experiences and advice with those moms coming behind you who are going to be asking you how you do it all.
When moms at church or anywhere else you go find out that you homeschool, they have a million questions, right?
Now I know you might not feel like the best choice to be advising other moms who ask you about homeschooling.
But I’m going to give you some Biblical and practical encouragement to embrace the level of experience you already have and just share it with them.
You’ve got a lot of wisdom to share, I promise!
You can grab a copy of the end of school year reflection questions here.
Visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
You know how we’re always wondering what to do with kids who don’t want to have school on any given day?
They just don’t seem to want to sit still or pay attention. And it really starts getting bad when the weather gets nice?
It's the bane of a homeschooling mom’s existence!
Buuuut, what do you do when it’s mom who doesn’t want to have school?
Time to fess up.
You know it’s not just the kids who aren’t always in the mood for school.
Right now, we’re wrapping up our school year and I have about one million other things on my plate and my mind and I just can’t seem to focus on school.
So while I’m trying to stay on task and keep going even when I don’t want to, I thought I would hop on the podcast and talk about what I’m doing to hang in there just in case you’re feeling less than motivated to teach right now too.
I’ve got 5 things I do to keep me moving, keep me steady and getting to the finish line at any given time.
I've got homeschool planning pages you can grab here to help you get organized and have some mental clarity going into the next school year.
Visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week I get to share another conversation I had with my friend and former life coach, Sarah Cramer. I mean, she’s still a life coach, she’s just my former life coach.
But I’m excited about this conversation even more than last week’s because this is what I really wanted to talk to Sarah about.
She’s helping me through some fear I’ve been struggling with which I fully share in the episode.
She shares her own personal struggles with fear of homeschooling, fear of losing her children, fear of moving across the country and gave a little professional advice as well, which I very much appreciated.
I had a suspicion she would be the right person to help me with what I’m going through because I figured she must have come up against a lot of fear. For starters when she made the decision to live in that RV and homeschool her kids in it for the past year.
And I was right! She’s got a lot of wisdom in there.
So if you’ve ever struggled with fear related to homeschooling, you know things like, “I’m afraid this will ruin my life if I do it, or ruin my children’s education, or they won’t learn enough to get into college,” all those fun thoughts that run through our minds.
Or if you’ve got fear about anything else going on in your life like I do, then this is the episode for you!
You can visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
I brought my friend Sarah Cramer back on the show for the next two episodes. This week she’s sharing about how she’s surviving and thriving homeschooling her four active boys in an RV this year, traveling the country.
We probably all think we could use more space to school our kids, but Sarah’s going to give you a whole new perspective on that.
She’s figuring out how to get it done in 400 square feet.
I also got to pick her brain on how she keeps all of her boys’ attention spans on math and all the other things when they’ve got awesome things to get to every afternoon.
And even though none of us are parked at the Grand Canyon, I don’t know about your house, but there are A LOT of short attention spans in my house at this time of year.
The trampoline in the backyard feels just as exciting when the weather’s nice.
Sarah’s got some ideas for what we can all do to keep moving with school even when everyone’s itching to get out and go.
You can follow along with Sarah's RVing adventures on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/the_coaching_cramers/
You can visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week I’ve got to talk about prioritizing REST in our lives as homeschool mom.
Because we all need it!
And when you’re a busy wife, mom, homemaker and homeschooler, time for rest doesn’t just magically appear, we have to be a little intentional with fitting it in.
Rest is so elusive in our culture as Americans, we don’t even realize it. We don’t have it built into our culture as a normal part of our day.
For so many other cultures, their days center around afternoon tea, siesta and long lunches. But in America, our days center around work.
We focus on work so much here, the first thing we ask someone when we meet them is, what do you do?
And maybe you didn’t need as much rest in the past as you do now that you’re homeschooling. But you do now or you’re on the fast track to burnout town!
So I’m bringing you some thoughts and ideas and things that I do in my life to get the rest I need. And of course, bringing my cautionary tales of what happens when we don’t rest.
You can visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
You know, those pesky problem areas either personally or circumstantially that make it hard to homeschool?
They bother us, they weigh on our minds, they can downright plague us.
And I’m sure you’re thinking about every last one of them if you’re trying to decide whether or not to keep homeschooling next year. Right??
We can’t pretend they don’t exist, they’re totally real, so let’s dive into what we’re all dealing with and how we can either overcome them or just homeschool around them.
This week I’m breaking down all those limitations into 4 different categories and tackling them each head on.
We’ve all got 'em. They're our:
- Physical limitations
- Circumstantial limitations
- Intellectual limitations
- Personal limitations
And of course sharing what makes homeschooling so difficult for me.
I hope you get a good look at what other moms have holding them back and realize you’re not the only one.
I’m also positive God has given us those hurdles to work around for a reason so let’s think about why that would be.
I hope you’re enlightened, uplifted and encouraged when you listen!
You can visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week I’m talking about all the things making us tired or down right exhausted in our homeschools.
Well, maybe not all the things, but I have 5 things I’ve struggled with at various times over the years that I think you might have too.
The bad news is, they’re all things we’re doing to ourselves. The good news is they’re all things we’re doing to ourselves and we have every ability to change them. TODAY.
You can have more energy TOMORROW, I’m serious!
That’s a big deal for most of us.
You’ve got to have something left in the tank at the end of the day for your sanity and for your husband.
But especially when you’re wrestling with whether or not to keep homeschooling next year, your energy level might be one of the things you’re taking into consideration.
And it probably went on the cons list.
So, if you’ve been wondering why homeschooling is zapping so much of your energy, let's take a stab at getting some of it back!
Grab your Daily Action Tracker in full page format here and in half page format here. And start your daily mini-plan today!
Visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week we’re diving into the burning question, SHOULD YOU KEEP HOMESCHOOLING?
I know this question is on a lot of hearts and minds at this time every single year. But especially for our covid homeschoolers, you’ve got a lot of thoughts running through your minds about where this homeschooling thing is going for your family.
I have two of my friends joining me for a roundtable discussion about how we answer that question in our own lives. Because you want different ideas and viewpoints when you’re thinking through that question, not just mine, right?
So I brought on Rosario Cintron, homeschooling mom of 3, household of 7, who’s going to be sharing all the reasons she has for not homeschooling next year and the reasons she’s still going to keep going.
You can follow along with Rosario's life at her blog: https://rosariocintron.wordpress.com/
And my very adventurous friend, Sarah Cramer, who homeschools her four energetic and sweet boys in an RV while her family travels the country and learns through experiencing life!
She also has some great insight into how her family chooses the lifestyle they choose one year at a time, including homeschooling.
You can follow along with Sarah's RVing adventures at https://www.facebook.com/thecoachingcramers/
I hope hearing all three of us work through our thought processes will inspire you to prayerfully make some decisions of your own.
We don’t all think about and tackle homeschooling the same way, so I hope you enjoy the different angles we come from!
Visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
Meal planning itself might not be fun, but it’s super duper fun to ditch decision fatigue when it comes to meals. It’s super duper fun to free up your mind to think about other things during the day.
And it’s super super duper fun to save time and money when you stop making emergency grocery runs because you don’t have what you need to make dinner on any given night.
So I think meal planning is fun!
Let’s give our families some more stability and security around family meals and together time at the table.
Let’s just feel like we’re providing for our families and nailing this homemaking job.
Plus, I hate thinking about what I need to cook during the school day. My kids need my undivided attention to get through the school day. And I want to give it to them.
This week I have a bunch of tips and tricks to get your started meal planning or tightening up the system you already have.
Grab your blank weekly menu plan here**.
And if you want to check 3 weeks of my family's exact menu plan to use as an example, you can download that here**.
Visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This episode is all about the habit of taking action!
Because sometimes it’s easier to THINK about something or maybe be “encouraged” when you hear someone else talking than to actually DO it.
That’s a lot of us!
Or probably ALL of us at some point in time in one area of our lives or another.
And the thing about homeschooling is it’s a super duper action oriented vocation. Action, action, action all day long.
Whether it’s the actual teaching, the organizing, the cleaning up from it or the planning, homeschools are always in motion.
But even in the rest of our lives we might have really good ideas about what we could do with this, that, or the other thing, but we just can’t seem to get moving.
Or maybe we like to learn about new things and research things, but never get started implementing them.
Because it’s tough!
So this week I want to talk about how to get things out of our heads and move from idea to action. Or maybe from conviction to transformation if you feel like there are some spiritual things going on your life you need to take action with.
Visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
We’re still going with the “Good Habits For Mom” series. And this week I’m talking about the good habit of practicing contentment.
Biblical contentment in every area of our lives. Even homeschooling.
A little while back I couldn’t figure out why I had stalled out in my spiritual growth and personal development. It seemed like I was finally making strides toward becoming the woman God wanted me to be for years and then I hit a brick wall.
I couldn’t figure out what was going on.
And then God brought to my heart and mind that I had an issue with not being content in those areas of my life that I was stuck in. More to the point, I had a discontent heart.
So if you’re anything like me, or every other human that has ever walked the planet, you’re going to identify with all the things I’m talking about in this week’s episode!
Visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
We’re moving through the series, “Good Habits for Mom.” And this week I’m talking about the habit of always considering your husband.
Because even though we’re in the trenches all day, every day in the home with the kids and all the stuff, there’s an entire other adult with a stake in all of this. And the Bible says we have to respect him.
So what does he think about what’s going on in your home, with your homeschooling and how much or little would he actually like to be involved?
You already know, putting some good habits in place for relating to your husband is foundational to a thriving home life, but I just want to remind you again and maybe give you some ideas for how you can do it.
I have to confess, I have a soft spot for husbands since losing mine several years ago and having to step into the role of head of our household myself.
I have a little bit of a unique perspective on the marriage relationship because of it, and I would love to share it with you!
Because having a better understanding of where your husband is coming from will go a long way in smoothing out all the rough edges of your days and even trickle down into your homeschooling.
I guarantee it!
Visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
We’re moving forward with the series, "Good Habits For Mom.” And this week it’s all about the habit of doing the next right thing.
‘Cause that’s hard to do when you’re an autonomous homeschooling mom home alone all day with a bunch of kids and a bunch of school work and a bunch of housework.
No one’s telling us what to do or when to do it.
So what do you do first, what do you do next, how do you keep moving forward?
It’s a lot to sort out with no real guidance from anyone else!
I've got a couple of tips and tricks for you and I’ve got 3 questions you can ask yourself to keep you on the track you want to be on:
- What am I fit for?
- What's the frog?
- What does my husband say?
You can download our family's school schedule here for some examples of how our days flow. And my personal schedule here to see how I know what to do next every day.
Visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week I’m kicking off the “Good Habits for Mom” series talking all about your MORNING ROUTINE.
Whether you need one or already have one, I’ve got some tips and encouragement for getting you started on the right foot every single day.
Whether you’ve got littles, bigs, an only child or a pack of 8, you need that peace and quiet and time to gather your thoughts before anyone else is stirring in your house.
It’s just a gentle entry to the day and a total sanity saver before it’s off the homeschool races.
So let’s figure out how to make it happen!
Visit my site, homeschoolingwell.com, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
For years, I’ve been telling myself that if I just had more time in my schedule, or a more organized schedule or a more whittled down schedule, I would be able to be more present with my kids when I spend time with them.
I tweaked my schedule for years and it got a little better for sure.
Then covid came along and my schedule was whittled down to something I couldn’t have ever imagined.
I finally had all the time in the world for my kids!
And guess what?
I spent a lot more time with them, but I wasn’t all that much more present.
I learned what's going on is we've all been born with a specific orientation to time. Each of us is either past, present or future oriented and that determines our behavior and the lens through which we see everything. And it sure as anything, determines how present we are with our kids in our homes and homeschools.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
Homeschooling through the winter can be a total drag. It’s the darkest, coldest part of the year. We don’t have as many field trips, playdates, park days and everyone starts climbing the walls.
If we let that get on top of us, we can start thinking negative thoughts about our abilities or whether or not we should even keep going.
But that’s just winter talking! It tells us all the same thing.
I’ve got some tips for surviving, and maybe even thriving during your winter homeschooling. If you start with some appropriate expectations, ditch the perfectionism and don’t take yourself too seriously, you’re going to be breezin’ through like a champ.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week, I’m wrapping up the three-part series I’ve been doing entitled: Getting Your Kids to Love Your Homeschool
Because we ALL want that, right?
I’m super excited to get you this final piece of the puzzle I’ve been building!
Especially because I think this one’s full of the most practical ideas. And I’m a practical girl at heart.
So for part three I’m talking all about how all of the things going on in your home life can play into whether or not your kids love their school.
And I’m bringing you some ideas of how to build a bridge between school hours to home hours.
I think we all know that our homeschool doesn’t occur in a vacuum. All of the pieces in our lives touch each other and impact each other, especially all of the different things that happen inside of our home.
But sometimes they seem completely separate and disjointed and maybe even at odds with each other. Or at odds with what your hopes and dreams for what they would be actually are.
If you want an idea of why that’s happening or how to fix it, give the episode a listen
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
If you're enjoying the podcast, I would be honored if you left a rating or review so other moms like you can find it!
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:
https://ratethispodcast.com/heartofhomeschooling
This week I’m coming back with part 2 of what is now a 3-part series. The way that you view your child’s education can deeply impact whether or not they love being in your homeschool.
Because let’s face it, we might not consciously know how we're viewing their education or our homeschool, but our actions are speaking a lot louder than words.
I know I’ve had all kinds of funky thoughts in my head about teaching my kids.
I’ve done the whole grin and bear it just to make it through to the end of the day thing. I’ve done the whole, I have more important things to get to today so let’s get this over with thing.
And in the beginning I did the whole, “you better make me look good at this homeschooling thing in front of your grandparents or else” thing.
Yikes!
But then I learned what education truly is according to God’s word and a whole bunch of dead philosophers and it helped me get my head on straight.
And I really want to share that epiphany with you!
Because the rotten fruit that came from all of the other ways I was thinking about my homeschool definitely did not help my kids love being there!
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes **and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
If you're enjoying the podcast, I would be awesome if you could leave a rating or review so other moms like you can find it!**
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:
https://ratethispodcast.com/heartofhomeschooling
Want your kids to love your homeschool? Of course! We all want our kids to love our homeschools! Everyone would be happier, life would be so much easier.
So we try to plan fun activities, purchase interesting looking curriculum and search for exciting field trips. And for some reason, a lot of the time they fall flat or they only work temporarily.
Because of that, I’m not convinced that that’s the way to win their hearts.
Then how on earth do we do it?
I have a few too many thoughts on the topic to fit them all into one episode so this is going to be a two-parter on Getting Your Kids to Love Your Homeschool.
On this week’s episode I’m talking all about how the way we view our kids and then the way we treat them because of how we view them is ACTUALLY the key to getting them to love their school.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
Consistency in our homeschooling and homemaking and maybe even parenting continues to elude a lot of us.
Especially with the way 2021 has begun, we may be distracted and feel unable to focus consistently on our homeschools.
I'm giving you the nitty gritty of how you can either become consistent or get back to your good habit of consistency. Consistency helps your family know what to expect, know they can rely on you and feel secure because of it.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
Have you ever felt like a fraud in your homeschool, or your parenting or your life?
Like maybe you don’t have what it takes to do this thing and at any moment, someone’s going to figure that out?
Me too!
Well, that’s called imposter syndrome.
And you wouldn’t believe how often I fall for it.
Now that we’re back to school this week and starting fresh with a whole new calendar year, we might be having some doubts about how well we’ll be able to get through the winter or the next part of the year.
But I want to address all of those thoughts head on and stop them dead in their tracks in this week’s episode.
And I really, really want to share with you all the thoughts of fraud I’ve believed about myself in almost everything I’ve ever started doing in my life. You’re gonna’ feel real good about yourself after you listen to me.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
It’s time to say goodbye to 2020 and look ahead to 2021!
That’s my favorite thing, looking ahead! Everything is so full of hope and excitement in the future in my mind. And maybe even a little adventure . . .
But what it’s not full of are resolutions and goal setting, thank goodness!
I do however, like to have some structure for moving forward in the new year and I can’t wait to tell you what that’s all about on this episode of the podcast.
Now I know everyone doesn’t love looking ahead like I do.
But I have a simple way that I like to frame the new year and I think you’re gonna’ love it.
So if you don’t naturally like to think about the future, this episode is for you. And if you DO like to think about the future, then this episode is really for you!
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
We’re coming to the end of 2020. And because we all have a natural break with the holidays, it just makes sense to start thinking about how the school year’s going so far.
But there’s a difference between productive thinking and OVERTHINKING.
If you’ve found yourself thinking about your homeschool a little too much this year, you might know exactly what I mean. ‘Cause if you’re a classic overthinker in your everyday life, chances are you really really are when it comes to your homeschool.
At the very least we’ve all had the “normal” negative thoughts about our homeschooling abilities and boy can they be joy stealers.
But never fear! God had promised to cover our homeschools with tons of grace. Thank the Lord.
Get on track and stay on track in 2021 with the totally FREE Homeschooling Well ON TRACK Consistency Challenge. Get more info or sign up here!
If you haven’t checked out my THRIVE community, you can do that here. Join other down earth, real moms who want to thrive, not just survive in their homeschooling!
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week I’m bringing you more confessions. Confessions of all of my rebellion and impulsivity inside of my homeschool.
Because right now all I want for Christmas is to stop having school and I’m feeling very rebellious about continuing.
But seriously, we usually think about our kids being rebellious and impulsive, but truly, it’s a battle for some of us moms too!
What happens when mom doesn’t want to follow the schedule or the curriculum?
I’m getting real about how my rebellion affects my homeschool and how I plan on wrangling it a lot in the coming new year.
If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Well Membership, you can do that here. Join other down earth, real moms who are working on themselves while they work to teach their kids.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
Homeschooling is challenging in the best of times, but how on earth do you handle it when you’ve had a major trauma in your life or even the extremely difficult year we’ve all just had?!
We’re homeschoolers and we’ve got to keep on rolling in some way, shape or form, despite it all because we’ve chosen to educate our children ourselves.
On this episode, I’m joined by my dear friend, Rosario Cintron, to talk about the devastating losses we’ve both experienced and how we’ve homeschooled through the healing. It’s not as heavy as it sounds, God’s brought us a long way!
We’ve got some great tips for homeschooling, but some encouragement and advice for moving through those stressful, trying and down right traumatic times in our lives.
If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Well Membership, you can do that here. Join other down earth, real moms who are working on themselves while they work to teach their kids.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
Today kicks off the 2020 holiday season! I'm so excited for it. I'm sick of this Debby Downer year, let's celebrate!
I love the holiday season more than any other time of the year because I love traditions and I love celebrating whenever I can.
I've always wanted a certain atmosphere and feel to my home and all of our family traditions and even our homeschool traditions really add to, or even help create the family culture that I'm looking for and the atmosphere in our home that I love so much.
And that's all the stuff I'm talking about on this episode. Why all of us need traditions in our homes and homeschools and especially during the holidays. And I'm going to be bringing you simple ways to pull off your traditions and maybe even add some new ones without a lot of hubbub.
If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Well Membership, you can do that here. Join other down earth, real moms who are working on themselves while they work to teach their kids.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
I just made kind of a whopper of a mistake in my homeschool and I want to make sure you don't make the same one.
I knew already what the key to my family's "perfect" homeschool schedule was. We had it going on for 3 years already and then I flubbed it for the first 13 weeks of this school year.
Ready for the key?
It's margin. Lots of margin.
Today I'm talking all about why we need to plan it in, how to do that, why a lot of us don't automatically do it and I'm going to encourage you to give it a try!
If the Homeschooling Well Membership sounds like just what you need, you can check it out here. Join other down earth, real moms who are working on themselves while they work to teach their kids!
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
I LOVE talking about how we need to really take care of ourselves as homeschool moms because our job is so draining. I’ve talked about it a bunch on the podcast already.
But the part of ourselves that I don’t talk about that much is our mind!
But I’m doing it today because it's just so so important and transformational. I really believe that!
So on the podcast today, I’m giving you 3 good reasons you should be a lifelong learners while you're raising your kids to be lifelong learners:
1️. We need to be able to provide wisdom and good counsel to our children even when they’re adults. So we better not use our minds up.
2️. We need to be able to understand the Bible.
3️. We need to stay sharp enough to teach our kids through graduation. (or at least help them.)
It also just plain feels good to keep stretching your mind and learning and growing.
Don’t worry I’m bringing the practical tips and a whole bunch of resources too. Check it out!
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week I had the pleasure of chatting with my dear friend, Lauren Shockey, all about the big ole comparison trap that homeschooling can be.
All of us struggle with comparing our homeschools to other homeschools to some degree.
There’s just something about homeschooling that makes it so easy and tempting to slip into envy over what other women are accomplishing in their homes.
It seems like they’re getting it all done, nailing life and looking good while they do it! What’s up with that?!
Lauren shares her theories about why falling into the comparison trap is so common and tempting. I love her because she’s completely open and transparent about her struggles with envy, especially since beginning to homeschool and how God has been working on her heart to help her avoid the trap these days.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week I just wanted to come to you with a whole bunch of encouragement for your homeschool straight from the Bible.
Because I think we could all use that right about now!
Sometimes when things begin to get difficult in our homeschooling, you know, because it takes so much out of us, it can be challenging to see God for who he is or maybe to see his hand in our lives at all.
We start to forget all of the amazing things God has for us and wants for us in our lives and our homeschools. And I want to remind you of 6 of those things on this week’s episode of the podcast.
Check them out!
- He wants to show favor to you
- He wants to give you the desires of your heart
- He wants to grant you wisdom
- He wants you to prosper
- He wants to give you strength
- He wants to give all of those things to your children as well
That’s amazing, Sounds great right?????
I’m pulling from a ton of scripture and talking about how we can pray the scriptures over our own lives and homeschools to align our prayer life with God’s will.
Because that’s exactly what God wants us to do!
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
In my former life, I never wanted to homeschool because I didn’t want to become a “weird homeschooler” or have “weird homeschool kids.” Sad, but true. Maybe it sounds familiar. But hey, I’m all in now and I love my “alternative lifestyle!”
In this episode, I’m sharing some funny stories about learning to embrace being different and everything that comes with it. It’s been a long road!
I believe part of why homeschooling does make us so different is because it sets us apart from the world. We’re no longer conformed to the world at least in this one area just like the Bible tells us we shouldn’t be.
I don’t know about you, but if God says that’s good, I’m going to embrace it and be a homeschool weirdo all the way. Turn the house over to it, make it a lifestyle and go on this wild ride God has me on.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week I’m talking all about being kind and gentle with ourselves. How we can speak to ourselves with love instead of the less loving way we are probably used to?
This school year has been wild and crazy and full of changes and adjustments for me and my kids.
Some have been good changes like starting a podcast, which is super fun. And some have been unsettling like having our whole schedule and life routine disrupted by a global pandemic.
You with me on that one??
If I’m being honest, I’ve been a little impatient and hard on myself as I struggle to adjust to all these changes, like stress eating my way through 2020. My inner voice has not been compassionate about that one.
We all need to remember to be KIND to ourselves. 2020 is tough enough as it is without you being hard on yourself. Show yourself some love!
If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Well Membership, you can do that here. Join other down earth, real moms who are working on themselves while they work to teach their kids.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
As our energy starts to dip and things start to feel difficult in our homeschools, we can begin to play a little game I call The Homeschool Blame Game.
We start looking around and pointing fingers at whatever and WHOever we can blame for our energy being zapped and the homeschooling being difficult.
It’s a dangerous game because the blame can accumulate and ultimately lead to bitterness in our hearts, something the Bible warns us against.
And the truth is we are in charge of our homeschools, we’re the boss, we’re setting the rules and the tone and we can change all the things that need to be changed.
I hope to encourage you to catch yourself if you’re playing this game and go in the other direction; a direction of more personal responsibility and a lot more satisfaction in your homeschooling!
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
This week’s podcast episode is a shout out to everyone who’s losing their energy as fast as I am.
It happens every year like clockwork for me as the days get shorter at the same time that we get deeper into the school year. Both things converge to cause me to be T-I-R-E-D!
I know you’re feeling it too! So how do we make sure we have the energy we need to keep going in this life that we’re called to, whether it’s in our homeschools, with our homemaking or in our relationships?
I’ve had to learn this lesson the hard way and I want to make it easier for you. I’ll be diving into our mindset and our habits surrounding taking care of ourselves.
Don’t worry, this has nothing to do with an extensive workout routine, diet plan or an entire overhaul of your schedule!
It’s more about what we can remove from our schedules and how we can add the pleasant things in life like rest and play that even serve to improve our health and energy.
You can check out my YouTube Channel here.
If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Well Membership, you can do that here. Join other down earth, real moms who are working on themselves while they work to teach their kids.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
If you’re starting to feel your energy tank moving toward low, join the club!
This week, I had a chance to sit down with Sarah Collins, an occupational therapy consultant who specializes in working with homeschool families, to talk about both of our favorite subject: how moms can care for their own needs while they homeschool their kids.
We both have experienced our energy start to wane once the newness of the school year wears off and we’ve noticed that other moms feel the same way.
We talked all about how we can all incorporate into our busy schedules:
- A growth mindset
- Habits of spiritual health
- Habits of physical health
- Organizational habits
- Finding balance between them all within the natural rhythms of our day
To me, the most interesting piece of wisdom Sarah had from her OT expertise was the importance of finding balance in your day between:
- WORK
- PLAY
- REST &
- SLEEP
Sarah has a series on her Instagram and Facebook accounts for the next two weeks to help give moms of special needs kiddos a boost if they’re feeling that dip right about now.
You can find Sarah at The Collins Academy Therapy Services.
If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Well Membership, you can do that here. Join other down earth, real moms who are working on themselves while they work to teach their kids.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
We all know homeschooling can make us moms anxious at times, but it feels terrible when we see our kids struggling with anxiety themselves.
Some kids are just anxious little people from birth and some seem to be triggered by their school work at home just like they would in any learning situation.
If you’re parenting an anxious kiddo, you’re not alone!
But maybe your child is struggling with school and you’re not sure where it’s coming from. If you’re anything like me, you might be missing that it’s anxiety they’re dealing with.
On this weeks’ episode of the podcast, I’m joined once again by Deborah Herring, to talk about how both of us homeschool our kids who struggle with anxiety, and what it looks like inside of our homes and homeschools.
Because it takes a lot of time and effort to help one of these little people, we had a chat about how we try to show up for our kids in a loving and gracious way and meet them where they are struggling.
You can find her blog here for even more encouragement if you could use it!
If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Well Membership, you can do that here. Join other down earth, real moms who are working on themselves while they work to teach their kids.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
The school year is underway and that means anxiety is creeping in for a lot of moms.
Because of that, I'm joined by Deborah Herring, a homeschool mom and anxiety blogger at A Life At Rest: My World in His Hands. We're chatting all about how anxiety affects so many of our every day lives, our homeschooling and of course how we can combat it with the help of the Lord and the Word of God.
Deborah has an encouraging word for moms with both chronic anxiety and for those struggling for the first time as they take on homeschooling their kids during this challenging time.
You can find her blog here for even more encouragement if you could use it!
If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Well Membership, you can do that here. Join other down earth, real moms who are working on themselves while they work to teach their kids.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
If you wish you had more self-confidence in your homeschooling abilities, you’re not alone. People who know me consider me to be a confident homeschooler, which gives me a little chuckle.
I'm pulling back the curtain on this elusive “confidence” and let you in on what’s really going on in my head and probably the heads and homeschools of the other confident homeschoolers you come across.
I think there will be a surprise or two and some insight from the Word of God and our culture that might make you change your mind about even desiring to become a confident homeschooler yourself.
If you already have a ton of confidence yourself or are a mom who is looking for some, I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on what I have to say. Send me a message atcontact@homeschoolingwell.com.
If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Well Membership, you can do that here**. I’ve put together an online community with as many of the elements of my real life community as I can.
Looking for the convenience of grocery delivery during this stressful time of year, check out Instacart here**.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
As women, we have an ingrained desire to live in community with one another. Relationships can be especially rich with fellow homeschool moms because you’re on a common journey. I’ve found fellowship beyond just friendship with the women in my community and I would love that for all moms as well.
This week I’m joined once again by my friend Jessica Mihos, to chat about the things we do inside of our community and the kind of relationships that we've been blessed to have. We’ll leave you with some ideas for getting to know other homeschool moms and developing deep and lasting relationships with them as well.
If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Well Membership, you can do that here. I’ve put together an online community with as many of the elements of my real life community as I can.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well!
Homeschool co-ops can be wonderful groups or activities for your family, but are they necessary for having a successful or satisfying homeschool year?
I’m joined by my first guest ever, Jessica Mihos, one of my friends and fellow board members of our local homeschool community. We talk about the ups and downs of joining a co-op, how you choose the best fit for your family and what to do if you can’t seem to find one or don’t feel compelled to find one in the first place
Listen in as we discuss our experiences in multiple homeschool groups and what our plans are for this less than “normal” year coming up.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.
Homeschooling can tend to be all consuming for some of us we never want to think about our homeschool at all because it's too stressful.
You can probably guess that I’ve leaned more toward the more intense, totally consumed end of the spectrum in the past and it hasn’t been great.
**So what’s the balance we need to strike between thinking about it too much and thinking about it too little?
Check out the all new Homeschooling Well Membership here**.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.
This week I’m talking about the thing that makes learning happen in our homeschool, the secret sauce of all of our homeschools.
It’s consistency!
It might not sound exciting, but it’s so important, it’s really the key. And I'll try to make it a little interesting.
Listen in on why some of us might struggle with being consistent, how I trained myself in this habit and how you can too!
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.
Homeschooling is tough physical and spiritual work. As a popular blogger and podcaster I follow says, “You’re gonna’ need Jesus for this.”
I can’t really go any further in my podcasting journey without telling you all about how I developed a love for the word of God and stopped playing games in my spiritual life. For the most part.
**While I knew I needed a robust personal devotional life my whole life, I didn’t really dive in and take it seriously until I was homeschooling and was desperate for God to be in control each and every day. Because I certainly wasn't!
If you could use encouragement in that area, listen in and take heart!**
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.
This week I’m opening up about my life-long struggle with anger and how it affects my homeschool and my kids. Anger, and all of its nuances is the easiest emotion for me to express.
And I know I’m not alone! For most of us, homeschooling can be a daily exercise in overcoming frustration and aggravation.
As women of God, what does the Bible tell us we should do with our anger? I’ll leave you with my best tips for overcoming the worst of our outbursts and give you encouragement in moving forward with positive relationships with your kids.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.
I'm going to fill you on one of the consistently biggest game changers in my homeschool.
It's decluttering my house!
And I have to stay on top of it constantly. I'll tell you the major mindset shifts I made about decluttering and how my "decluttering guru" taught me how to think about declutttering, the benefits that come from it and where on earth to start with it.
I'm telling you, starting the school year with less stuff in your house than you have now is going to help you have much smoother and easier days than you can even imagine.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.
**‘Tis the season to purchase our homeschool curriculum for next year! But believe it or not curriculum may not be as important to your homeschool as you think. Curriculum is necessary for sure, but I’ll share some other things I think might even be more important to having a successful or satisfying homeschool. I also have a free resource that can help you narrow down your curriculum choices for the fall. You can look for that in the show notes.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well**, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.
**I’m continuing to talk about how my expectations of what homeschooling should be didn’t always align with the reality of what homeschooling is. And the fallout that occurs in my life when I don’t adjust my mindset.
This week is all about how I thought I could maintain the lifestyle I already had. I wanted to keep doing all of the things I was already doing and just tack homeschooling onto them. I still struggle to keep my schedule under control and prioritize my homeschool. Find out how I started to make the mental shift and how I deal with it to this day.**
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all of the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.
I want to take you back to the beginning of my homeschool journey to give you an understanding of how I formed my perspective of what homeschooling is and where it fits into our lives. I learned the very first day my mindset wasn't what it needed to be and homeschooling had a lot of surprises in store for me.
Go to my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.
One of the first things I noticed about homeschooling is that it was A LOT more work than I thought it would be and I was not thrilled about it. Find out how I turned my attitude around, accepted the challenge and rose to the occasion. Spoiler alert: it took awhile!
Go to my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.
Welcome to the Heart of Homeschooling podcast! I am so excited to bring you this show all about how we as moms can grow both personally and spiritually while we're homeschooling our kids. I'd be honored if you'll let me take you through the journey I have been on from being a mom who swore I would never homeschool to learning to love my homeschool and encouraging other moms to do the same.
You can visit my site, Homeschooling Well, for this episode's transcript, show notes and all the other resources I have to help you homeschool well.