IMPORTANT Homeschooling LINKS!!!

this was written for a friend of ours name Paul on June 6 2014, but it pretty much holds true for today as well

 

this is for your relatives who were interested in homeschooling their
son/daughter, 

I have combined and put together the links I have often given out to other people who are interested in homeschooling or who have questions about our homeschooling process.

Dear persons interested in homeschooling:

First, if you could check out these two links:

1.http://www.nheri.org/research/research-facts-on-homeschooling.html

2.http://www.hslda.org/docs/hshb/75/hshbwk4.asp

and then watch this video on the amazing ability of children to teach
themselves if just given the resources to do so:

3.https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xKdj8MNvhv8

After you have looked at the previous links, here is a list of the
main interactive  programs that Eagle uses:

1.Free interactive simulations for physics/chemistry/earth and bio
sciences that was originally designed for college kids but once they
realized all grades liked it, the have not extended it to all grade
levels: ****http://phet.colorado.edu/

2.a program Eagle loved since he was 3 (I was reading it to him, at
the time, but over the years he would still keep playing it reading it
himself over the years, but it was actually designed for older
kids):****www.engineeringinteract.org/

3.free month trial for phonics/beginning reading, with an advanced
program, too:****www.readingeggs.com

4.for keeping track of math abilities by grade level from kindergarten
to geometry:  ****http://www.ixl.com/

5.fun gizmos for math and science, with free 5 min games, unless you
pay full package:****www.explorelearning.com/

6.the main curriculum that Eagle uses:
*****https://www.khanacademy.org/exercisedashboard   go to the
knowledge map in math section  (2020 update: over the years we made up on our curriculum, see other posts for samples)

7.for learning computer programming:  coming soon

I certainly wouldn't mind taking on another student, though I would
want the parents to consider these rules:

1. NO regular tv shows/movies unless its an educational documentary or
unless they sit down as a family to watch and discuss the show both
during and after, but to allow watching as many educational
documentaries as the child might be inclined to watch (still
preferably WITH the family, but okay to watch alone, as long as they
discuss what the child has watched later in the day (or if I am
teaching the child, I will ask them to discuss it with me and Eagle)

2.little to NO video games allowed at home unless child can show how
it is an educational game (btw, i kind of recommend the rules coming off when at a friend's
house or hanging out with a friend bc we have found that there are a gazillion kids who don't know how to relate to other kids unless it is through a video game, so kiddo has found it useful just a way to open the doors to some kids)

also we actually have come to the point where zero video games are tolerated bc they just are too distracting.. and once you let them have 15 minute, they are going to want more and will find a way to sneak it in when you are not watching.  

also look up how they have done studies showing how video games are basically the equivilant to giving your kid heroin.     

now, even though I am against video games, there ARE TONS of wonderful educational apps to teach you languages, music a million of educational and useful skills: from DragonBox for math, PHET for physics, Mandarin Tap for Chinese (sadly discontinued, but millions of other amazing language game apps), etc etc.

so do allow the educational apps... 

The reasons for the first two rules are hard to explain.  It has to do with a combination of how I noticed how too many fast paced movies/video games tends to affect the thinking of a person.

3.the student will be asked to keep a journal of what they watched, did that day/week.

(to be fair, we talk about doing this but rarely ever follow through for more then a week at a time, but we keep other records in other ways)

Outside of the student's own interests, I do not tend to use to many (if any) workbooks, but instead have the child do applied learning..  ie. learning about the world around him/her and try to inspire learning some of the history behind whatever it is he/she is studying..

The student will also be asked to pick a language to learn.. any language the child wants, and be allowed to download a phone/tablet app in which the child can practice learning that language at least five minutes a day.

I also ask that the student be allowed to use a phone/tablet for educational purposes. 

It would be easier to have access to their own tablet/phone or laptop while at my house, if possible, since I do not currently have an extra laptop to give them.

I also ask if maybe the student might be willing to write me a little letter telling me who they are, and maybe what they like or a little bit about themselves.  Ideally, I would want the student to write down why they want to be homeschooled, but if they are too young for that,
then maybe, just be willing to sit down with me and/or their parents and have a heart to heart about it.

I do also have a small request of the parents, that they either choose to learn a little bit about some kind of communication program for handling conflicts:   (The main two we are attempting to try to learn
are:  

1) http://www.capabilitiesinc.com/  (link disabled: now see, https://www.positivediscipline.com/products/developing-capable-young-people-online-class

and  2) http://www.cnvc.org/Training/NVC-Concepts )

or if the parents know of some other communication programs we'd be
happy to hear about those, too..

Here are two others we picked up some helpful hints from:
1)http://www.gordontraining.com/parent-programs/family-effectiveness-training-f-e-t/

2) http://www.positivediscipline.com/,  

(2020 update: though now I would recommend https://nvctraining.com/registration/aff/go/gardendreamer?i=4)

Whichever program the parent uses, the main concept from all of these is a
willingness to listen for and respect the child's needs equally to
their own needs.  A willingness to sincerely stop a minute and listen
to their child's ideas and keeping in mind their child's feelings
during any conflict which will arise.  Learning conflict management is
critical because when you are around someone a lot, especially like
during homeschooling, it's important to have as many useful tools as
you can to help you learn how to handle all the many conflicts that
can arise.
For me, helping the child to  be aware of emotions is critical, even
if all you can sense is if the emotion is a positive one or a negative
one, but emotions are the signals which allow others around them to
know if a person's needs are getting met, or not met.

Last, but not least, I am eager and happy to work with any other
students and families with their homeschooling journey, but please be
aware that the student and parents are still the ones who need to take
final responsibility for making sure they are doing what they can to
reach their potential.
I am often available between 1pm to midnight.

:)

If you have any questions, please send me an email or text  to set up a time to meet.  :D
For blog readers, please either post comments at bottom OR contact us either through one of our facebook pages: www.facebook.com/ideas2thinkabout    www.facebook.com/ideas2explore    or www.facebook.com/eaglep.adesignersjournee 

or find one of our other social media links after subscribing to www.patreon.com/KEE for a $1/month

thank you.

--
old links that had been included in my original email: 

BE INSPIRED:http://www.richsoil.com/hugelkultur/

or check out our facebook page: www.facebook.com/houstonhugelkultur

Undoing a desert:
http://permaculture.org.au/2007/03/01/greening-the-desert-now-on-youtube/,
   http://permaculturenews.org/2010/10/01/loess-plateau-revisited-and-other-examples-of-earth-healing/

closed loops:http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pawlyn_using_nature_s_genius_in_architecture.html

READ:  CNVC: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life by Marshall
Rosenberg and the Giraffe Classroom by Nancy Sokol Green
made in the 80%'s but as true today as it was back then Stephen Glenns: Building Capable People

you can find links to these via https://bodylisteningstore.com/product-category/parenting

originally republished onto this blog 1025am 10/0/2020

What does learning mean to you?

Think longterm here: stop thinking about learning to retain information to pass a test.  start thinking about homeschooling as making it possible for your kid to enjoy learn what they want to learn!  When kids learn what they want to learn they retain the information so much more. Make learning applied learning. When you go to the store and use math on your everyday lives, when you build a do it yourself project, when you learn the history about whats going on around you, learning is supposed to be fun!!!  The purpose of learning  to be able to learn skills to helpyou do what you want to do in life.  For example, writing to be able to commuincate your goals and wishes to others, to be able to share your ideas and thoughts across to others.  Learning is NOT about the nitpicky details on an exams.. its about being able to apply critical thinking, to be able to research solutions, to be able to commuincate with peers, etc.  Talk with your daughter about what she wants to do when she grows up as a starting point and talk about with her what skills she will need to do that.  Look those skills up WITH her. Encourage her passion for a subject or an idea.. her passion will help her retain what she needs to accomplish her dreams.

801am sept 29 2020

Consider this as a Possible Curriculum

When determining you childs curriculum, the first instinct is to want to duplicate what schools do.

Take a deep breath and stop.. remember now that you are homeschooling now, you can now TAYLOR your child's curriculum to what works best SPECIFICALLY for them.

(Btw, If you need help doing this, we are happy to mentor and help hold your hand through  the process - but mostly be ready to do a LOT of listening to your children)

But ok lets look at the core basics taught in school: 1)math, 2)science, 3)"english", 4)language, 5)P.E. (ie physical education) 6)arts 7)history

I put "English" in quotes bc i want you to rethink what is taught in English classes.  Traditionally what is taught is : Grammer, spelling, reading comprehension, vocabulary
Ok, so why teach these things... so you can be able to communicate effectively or to become better communicators!!!    And yet, despite 12 years of "English" taught in schools, massive conflicts at home, at work, in your relationships, and just in your daily life often occur bc of poor communication skills..  
Did you know in colleges, they have a TOTALLY separate degree for communication that is different the "English"?   (I rememeber when i found this out and sat in on a friends class i was astounded, startled, and even shocked to realize that there was an entirely different way of looking at words)..
And then i was startled to find out that there is even another field studying the evolution of language.
On top of all that, there is a whole study about the communication that occurs oustide of words that covers your a range of senses from the visual physical body language, to smells (or pheromes), to auditory nuances and tones.
Oh and lets not even get started on the commuication area of emotional intelligence!

The point is... true communication skills are FAR MORE COMPLEX then the "simple" English classes which barely even scratch the surface, and which in my own personal opinion often dont at all, though i have had quite  a few English major buddies and acquaintances who will argue to the death with me about that concept.. (okay, fine, its sometimes scratches the surface), but still there is a LOT about communication that basic English classes totally miss out on.

So when I started homeschooling kiddo was just about when I started learning about the concept of emotional intelligence, needs based communication, compassionate based forms of communication, the concept of conflict transformation, and became aware of just how little i knew or could even comprehend about communication.  All of these were skills i lacked and i was beginning to realize how much better my life would be if i had actually learned any of these concepts at an earlier time in my life..  hopefully i can still slowly learn now. But as I learned more, i realized that for me, it was far more important to me that kiddo be exposed to all of these new and important concpets about communication that I had been missing all the many years then learn about diagramming a sentence. Oh every now and then we would glance at that stuff but what i very quickly realized and found out early one was that even though it was years before he learned about verbs, pronouns, etc, that from all the reading he was doing, that it turned out that instinctively he had a far deeper better grasp of "correct" grammer then I often did...and he would come up behind me while i was writing an email and "correct" my grammer.  It got annoying after awhile, but for awhile there i actually had more understandable emails.. if you are reading one of the early drafts of this, as you can probably tell,  he stopped. 
Now i am back to noncaptilized letters, run on sentences, stream of consciousness writing that goes off on many tangents, etc... ( plus i have an ocd quirk that likes keeping all the mistakes there and has to slowly wait till time passes before i can fix any of the gazillion typos so if you are reading anything i write ( before someone else comes in and fixes it) chances are you probably wont be able to tell that i actually know anything about communication whatsoever.
Esp if i am rambling stream of consciousness style..

BUT KIDDO, on the other hand, that kid learned vocabulary, grammar, all that stuff just from reading and listening and be exposed to tons of superb musuem and college lectures and documentaries from an early age, allllll on his very own.

(((Though it probably helped that he shares a love for learning about the intricaies of language.. and actually enjoys documentaries and audibles and youtube videos about the evolution of langauges.)))

The point to this whole long detour was that as long as everyday both you and your child are learning something new about communication and language each day/week, you dont need to worry so much about having then specifically spend an hour on the english subject each day like they would in school. Well that is if you are homeschooling in a state that doesnt require testing. .  If you are in place that requires testing, then your kiddo should probably learrn test taking skills.

If test taking skills are more important to you then a joy of learning, then by all means keep doing what the tradition public schools do. Though frankly i would discourage making "testing skills" such a high priority..  bc i cant tell you how many kids we have encountered that have had the love of learning beaten out of them bc of the whole testing process.  It always breaks kiddos heart when he encounters other  kids who stopped enjoying learning simply for the fun and joy of learning.  We also cant tell you how many teachers who wish testing wasnt so dam emphasized in school systems and wish learning and fun of learning was more emphasized.

So, next topic..

So, Now in a traditional school, you supposedly attend to each 'subject' for roughly an hour and then do homework later in the day to either prep for the next class or to review what was already learned.

But realistically, how much actual learning goes on each hour.  One teacher broke it down for me once and determined that she was lucky if the kids got 15 to 20 mins of learning done each day on any particular subject.

I have also heard from an assortment of misc researchers on the subject that short bursts of intense learning can actually be far more effective then hours...that as time passes after the 20/30 min mark that you efficiency at learning actually decreases and that its better to take breaks..  

Studies have also shown that people learn better from both applied learning rather then just listening to a lecture and by being exposed to the material is a fun intrigueng way

Lets put this into the concept of a youtube video since the avg teaching youtube video is anywhere between 3 to 5 mins to an hour long.. and so many out there are often designed to be engaging and fun to watch.

So based off all that, i would like you to consider this idea for a curriculum..

Everyday require at least 15 mins worth of input or exposure on each subject regardless of whether its via a video format, a book format, an audible or audio book on tape format, a phone app, direct tutor, something anything as long as its 15 mins focused attention on each subject plus later that day at least ten minutes of them telling you what they learned and or teaching you soemthing interesting the learned on each subject..

That way each subject is at least covered.

So lol, i just remembered why i started this post..

It was to write down a list:.
One video, book, app etc on each of these below:

1)Video on listening skills, conflict transformation, emotional intelligence or on evolution of your language .. basically something analyzing communication

2) learning a different language

3) something about body mechanics , whether it is on somantics, mechanics of an exercise, a danxing technique, tai chi, qi gong, martial arts, some new thing about some form of body movement

4)something about anatomy/physiology/herbal medicine effects/ food effects

5) something about the food that you eat, whether its gardening or chemical aspects

6)something about math

7) something about chemistry/geology/earth sciences

8) something about physics

9) something about history -- any history at all!!!

10) list to be continued. ...

Some myths i learned about while homeschooling

1) what the scientists say is developmentally possible - take with a grain of salt.
And remember all studies and results are usually on a bell curve!
And that your child is unique and in some areas might be at the bottom of the curve,but in other areas might exceed the bell curve
And to never limit your childs abilities bc some curve said the avg was such and such!!!

Oh, and just because children under three do not use verbal words, does not mean they cannot comprehend. 
Start using sigm language around them and also start watching for how rhey are trying to communicate with their bodylanguage and you will realize tbat thwy have an incredible knowledge about the world around them.
Noted its kind of like playing a game of charades nonstop for a few years but the wxcitment and glee in their eyes when you correctly figured out what they are saying and they feel heard and understood by you is well worh the incredible amounts of patience it takes sometikes to give them so 100% of your attention when you are feeling impatient  and wanting to just go do whatever task is pulling your attention away.

Take the time to listen to your kids every single time they want you to listen to them and you will be astounded by how much their brains  are actually processinga and understanding with insighta you couldnt have even comceived of or imagined were possible!!

Feb 2020 10:26am

Learning Korean

So this isnt an app.. but it's a super cute fyn way to get a quick introduction to the the Korean Alphabet.

Especially for the consonants.

Highly recommend it.

https://ryanestradadotcom.tumblr.com/post/20461267965/learn-to-read-korean-in-15-minutes

2018/2019/2020

Importance of youtube in homeschooling

For kiddo esp, a large portion of his information comes from an assortment of incredible learning programs on youtube that provide way more insights and education then even i was exposed to in school.  From kahn academy (a favorite of homeschoolers) to crash course.. well the list is endlesss.  When he was three i used to plop him down in fromt of the MIT physics lectures done by this guy who explained physicsnin a really fun way. 

  Sometimes it is information overload, at least for me.  Kiddo absorbs it all like a massive sponge. But i find he does retain it better when i let him chatter away to me afterwards.

. though much of what he is learning about he applies right away and its all much more applied learning as he goes.    Which i personally believe is one of the best ways to learn.

WHY we HOMESCHOLE (so that i can mess up like that? -Eagle)

mmy likes copying HTML.. rip post (copyd from here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/why-we-17676782)

Krin & Eagles Journeys

Mar 20 at 8:49pm

WHY we HOMESCHOOL...

 Hi Patreon members, So I wanted to share with you some links about why we do homeschooling.  Often when we are out at the playground, we get asked WHY do we homeschool or how do we homeschool.   The three links below sums up a LOT of the answers to those questions.

these videos I found in March 2018 https://www.ted.com/speakers/sir_ken_robinson  on creativity summed up for me one of the reasons why we started homeschooling in the first place. Because even as young as 3 years old, when kiddo started designing something he would get superfocused and have INCREDIBLE attention span on whatever it was he was working on and he could 3 or 4 hours straight designing things and I would have to remind him to eat.  I knew that if we sent him to school he would not have the freedom to focus on projects like we had seen him do, and I wanted to make sure he had that freedom to feel free to design to his hearts content whenever the inspiration hit him.  normally, I personally believe its almost instinct for kids to love learning and given the resources they will take it upon themselves to devour information and understand the world around them.  :)At the beginning,  I used to fret about whether my son was on track but then after a video i watched I started letting him have more freedom to learn what he wanted to learn and I have been thoroughly impressed with the amount of information he has picked up on his own --  with me acting more like a mentor and less like a teacher.

 In the beginning, I used to be the one to find him educational resources but over time after having been encouraged by the experiment that Sugata Mitra did in India, I started letting Eagle explore and find his own favorite resources.  He started finding educational resources of all sorts on his own that he has enjoyed learning from. 

 Here is the set of video links I watched  about this experiment that Sugata Mitra did with the group of kids in India who had never even heard of a computer; but after getting access to one, they SELF taught themselves English and science:  its truly inspirational and amazing what kids will do on their own if just given the resources :)
Www.Ted.com/speakers/sugata_mitra   (Sugata Mitra not Sutra)    I think the one I watched is "The child-driven education"  start with that one :)

Since watching those videos years ago, ive been truly impressed with our son on the computer.. i act like the "grandmother" or "mentor" in the video and we spend hours talking about whatever he wants to talk about throughout the day. Often he might not bring up what he watches immediately, but after a few weeks, when he does he bring up something he had watched earlier, he asks such thought provoking questions I am often left in awe 

IF I no longer necessarily know the answer to something, we try to figure it out together. Or after discussing something, it might inspire him to look up even more..  The important thing, regardless of whether you are homeschooling or not,  is to make sure you child knows he/she is not alone in this journey. That you are there available supporting them and encouraging them and accepting and appreciating them all along the way.

But if you do decide to homeschool your own kids, (or even if you don't) be prepared to TALK A LOT with your kid and to ASK QUESTIONS and to SHARE A PASSION AND LOVE FOR LEARNING HOW THE MIND WORK AND HOW THE WORLD REALLY WORKS.. and for imparting the idea of THINKING and QUESTIONING and RESEARCHING answers.  And in todays world of the internet, you will also need to make sure to be able to discuss with them some about data anyalysis and being able to sort information from MISinformation 

IF you are thinking of homeschooling but are uncertain.. Please discuss with your child.  To homeschool, you MUST be willing to work with your child and to listen to what works best for them.  Every homeschooling parent I have talked to who has multiple kids has reminded me how every child is quite different from another and what works for one child chances are might not work for another child.   You will need to collaborate WITH YOUR CHILD to see what works best for you and what works best for them.

.
If you would like to know some  statistics  the NHERI site  has done lots of research on and about homeschooling:  

http://www.nheri.org/research/research-facts-on-homeschooling.html

There are millions of way to homeschool, ( from traditional to eclectic, from University style to Unschooling, from Montessori based to Waldorf based to Technological basesd) but no matter what route you might do, remember the key is to Encourage the Joy and Fun kids naturally have at Learning. 

 It saddened my son when he encountered a second grader friend who had already lost the joy for learning and refused to do any activity with him if it meant he would be "learning" something .
Don't let that happen to your kid.. And IF it has, get involved in learning as many kinds of communication and learning techniques out there.. 

but however you wish to raise your kids, PLEASE PLEASE LEARN & PRACTICE  Active Listening!

Please also learn about Non-Violent Communication,  

& learn about H. Stephen Glenn's Research about Developing Capable Young People and learn about the importance of Emotional Awareness.  

We appreciate it ..   

                                      Thank you,   from Krin & Eagle

ps: we are required to let you know that the amazon links we provided are part of the amazon affiliate program we are a part of see privacy policy for more info 

EKJRNY-TORCHWINGS-VNX.png

active listening,

creating creative genius,

homeschooling,

kid like learning,

why we homeschool

1 Like 

AHHhhh thats better.. ok so umm.. mmy wanted me to add something..
Join Eagles newsletter, its COL omg keybiard TYPEEEEEE... ok trying again..

Please Sign up for Eagles Newsletter! Its really COOL and i think you will like it!
heres the link: umm ahem compuyter.... IM TRYING TO TYPE!! this computer sucks -_-
AHEM sorry about that.. heres the link, go check it out THX: http://eaglesjourneys.com

Thank you and Goodbye!

<< EagleP >>

This post was written on 10OCT2018

a journal note from 2015, kiddo age 10

i wrote this note to journal note to myself back in july 2015 
afterwards i will say a 2018 update...

july2015 - kiddo age 10
Wrote this but realized after i do have more patience then i realized.  Bc later i had nice discussion with my son talking about feelinga and patience and emotions.  I love him so much and am learning so much about how to be flexille in my focus.  Sure there are still times i wish I had more patience listening to my son asking me how something works when I know don't know the answer myself and would need to look it up but he could just as easily go look it up on the computer for himself. its really hard to be patient with him when I was focused on something else myself. I just wish I didn't sound frustrated or annoyed or impatient (bc my own thoughts had been interrupted) when I asked him to go look it up but rather more inspiring and encouraging and celebrating his interest. I really need to work on this especially because it's usually about topics that I do happen to be interested in, though usually not to such a degree as he is about details. I will be honest, this is probably the hardest part about homeschooling is when he is working on a project and I am working on a different project simultaneously right next to him but then he stops to ask me a question which although might be quite interesting is something I know he could just as easily look up -- so sometimes I catch myself geting mildly irritated of why is he asking me, when he could just as easily look it up. I have to remind myself it's probably easier to just ask me, and it's realy nice to just be able to chat about questions and ideas, but occasionally its one of those kinds of questions which I don't readily have the answer to and would also need to look up, pulled away from what i was working on and distracted I go, ahhh, how about you just go look it up. okay? When he was younger and I actually was paying attention to him every second and actually doing the teaching it was much easier, but now most of what he is learning about is from the computer or some book he is reading, its easierto get distracted working on my own little research projects right next to him.. but although it gives me something to do while he is reading, it makes it harder for me to have patience sometimes.  This is when I think having a second child who was just beginning the learning process might make teaching the older more independent child much easier.

2018 follow up kiddo age 12/13
well one thing for certain kiddo mastered was the ability to look up most answers to questions himself esp while i was dealing desperately trying to put all my focus on my ex trying to get him to hear our love amd appreciation and need for his help and then when all that failed spending time on trying to make sure kiddo got his request for me to have full custody since the changes in his father had left him not only utterly terrified and scared of his fathers disrespect for the family and for all.of kiddo feelings and opinions and for what mattered most to him in life.

so, after the divorce, a lot of how we homeschooled changed bc my ex for whatever reason he refuses to tell is why is refusing to pay the child support he agreed to. One day we will have to take him back to court to get the money he agreed to, but for now we more despwrately need some time to heal after the emotional trauma we both encountered before we subject ourselves to even more trauma or chances of us hurting us even more.

in the meantime, we have changed our focus of homeschooling from pure exploration and love of learning more to how to survive and trying to learn different ways kiddo and i can make money from home so that kiddo can continue to homeschool to his hearts content..   Whats funny is that for years before kiddo had been disappointed with a belief system that there were few ways for a kid to make money or for him specifically to make money, but now as i do all my learning with him, kiddo has also been learning and his hope has been renewed. sort of.  our income producing ideas have not become a success yet bit we keep learning and trying to give our minds hope.

we have not made much yet but at least now there is a sensation of hope and also an acute awareness of the importance of being allowed to pursue ones passions. 

his passion is design.  much of what he designs is not quite sellable right now but we do open up a zazzle and a red bubble store where hopefully he will share some of his designs and make some money off of it. go to the menu bar of krineteagle.com for links

but where i was going to go with this topic was the idea of us working together in the same room. 

so after awhile, esp when kiddo started  getting super focused on his designs, he made it a habit to hum pretty nearly nonstop while he designed, which sometimes i can handle but sometimes the volume got a little loud and so id have to buffer by working from another room..  btw, if you would like to have his voice as a background you can go to his soundcloud where he has posted some small bita and pieces...
go to the menu bar of krineteagle for link

but even though i may be in other room, whats great is that both he and i are always accessible to one another..to ask questions of one another, esp now that we are business partners as well, to brainstorm ideas with each other, to just take breaks and get remimd each other to eat, stretch, go outside and be in nature, get some exercise, and connect with neighbors and people in the real world as well.

its actually a pretty decent life minus not yet having the money to do many activities we would otherwise would have gotten to do when my husband was around.  we miss his wanting to be at home with us and wanting to share his life with us and our lives with him and hope not a minute goes by where he doesnt miss and long to be back with us as a family unit.  and we definitely are disappointed about his taking away the fiancial and emotional safety he once provided before he chose his job and a new life without the responsibility of a family over us.  but even still we are determined to do the best we can wirh what we have available to us..
and are grateful we have each other and that there is still hope we will learn enough to make enough to save and buy our home from him someday.

but in the meantime, if you have a dollar to spare and would like to help us on our creative journey... please subsribe to our channels and send a dollar a month to patreon.com/KeE

updated: on 9/13/18 4:13 PM

originally published July 2015 kiddo age 10

homeschooling tips 101 - exercise

12pm -3pm August 4/5 2018 published 3:20 pm
This lesson applies to you regardless of whether you are homeschooling or not.  even if your kids go to school, believe it or not but you are still homeschooling because EVERYTHING you do. and i mean everything you do..every decision you make no matter what it is.. its teaching them something about life and the order of life.  you are teaching them by your very existence!!

Every thing you do in life, its a learning  and teaching opportunity, from going to the store, paying your house bills, dealing with neighbora or work politics, to scheduling out your life and making dinner to staying in shape and healthy for yourself.

i was about to begin this post with the words "every chance you get" or "every opportunity you get" do it with your family but then i quickly realized thats an inaccurate phrasing  bc its not "every chance/opporunity you get" .. its "every thing you do IS AN OPPORTUNITY to teach and sharw with your kids something that will help them in their own lives.
everything you does give you a chance to be with your kids and to teach them.
everything you do, every decision you ake IS teaching your kids whether you intended to that or not.
it happened.
so make that lesson be that they actually ARE your highest priority in life. dont just say it.. actually SHOW it

and one of the simplest steps is to share your thoughts and activites WITH your children!

ESPECIALLY EXERCISE!

I am sorry but i truly find it the most absolute ludicrous thing ever that parents go and exercise without their kids! 
i hear "oh its my time to myself"  i am sorry but you know what you really can actually take that time to yourself with them.  okay its harder if you have a ton of kids i agree but its still possible!

i have heard the excuse "the gym doesnt allow kids" well go to a different gym. in fact get out of the gym and take those kids to a park!!  dont just depend on their school or friends or someone else like their coach to make sure they are exercerising. FIND a way to get your exercise done in such a way that your kids CAN join you.

same with the idea of oh they are too young to joing your team or any reason why you have for excluding your kids. FIND a different activity that DOES include your kids

Remember, even if you dont get alomg with your kids, you are your kids role models? 

If you are claiming that your kids are your highest priority, show it in your actions.  your actions reflect what is really your priority.

remember your time that your kids are young is extremely limited and YOU HAVE a CHOICE.

you have a choice of what you want to value more and of what you want to make your priority..  you get to choose if its your family or other people that matter more to you.

ok but what if your kid doent want to participate or join you?  hmm so that tells me that you just havent found the right activity yet and that you need to take the time to do some more listening.
maybr they need something simple like just going on a walk with you or if you are lucky enouhh to have acess to a game of ping pong or putput with or racquet ball to encourage more chitchatting.
but if they wont even budge from their couch to go with you then curl up next to the couch with them and actualy take thr time to listen and keep on listening and encouraging both you and then to keep coming up with ideas until something works.
keep staying persistent bc eventually you will find a creative way to exercise togther even if its just a walk at an arboretum or turning on the music and dancing. 

i believe in you..you CAN find a way of connecting to your kids so they will feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts with you and participate in excercise with you.

really and truly make it your priority and it will happen.  
in the end, whether your kids are in school or not, you are still doing a form of homeschooling no matter what .. bc in the end what homeschooling is is teaching by your connections to them.

if you are NOT connecting even that in itself is a lesson.

so find a way. make your famiky (that includes your partner even your ex partner) your highest priority.  try to do as many activities as you can together as a family (and if your are divorced do everything you can to heal your relarionship wirh your ex so that you fan find a way to include then so you can show the message to your kids that harmony and compassion and conflict transformations are doable) and that family matters!

so.FIND A WAY to EXERCISE WITH YOUR FAMILY as a whole!  its doable, it possible, MAKE IT HAPPEN!  make it a success!

originally Published on 8/5/18 2:34 PM, kiddo age 13