Category: My Life

First Day of School Traditions

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What does a first day of school look like for homeschooling? Can’t our kids just stay in pajamas all day? Do I really need a first day of school when we are just staying home? What is so important about celebrating the first day of school?

When we started homeschooling 12 years ago, I wanted to make the first day of our school memorable. I didn’t want our kids looking longingly at the school bus leaving our neighborhood, thinking that they were missing out. They weren’t missing out, they were just on a different adventure than some of their neighborhood friends. I wanted our kids to enjoy the uniqueness of homeschooling and what that might look like. Yes, they were staying home, but I wanted to create an atmosphere of excitement for the new adventure that they would be stepping into this year. The first day of school became a tradition that our kids look forward to each year.

I do something a little different every year, but they know that the first day of school will have a variety of delights for them to enjoy and remember as they begin a new school year. I thought I would share with you some of the different traditions our family have enjoyed over the years.

One of the first traditions that I do is to make homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Right now, we are about to have our first day of school and the yummy cinnamon rolls are waiting downstairs in anticipation of the kids waking up to start their day. I think the only hard thing for me about making the kids cinnamon rolls is the temptation of eating them. I have to keep reminding myself that they are for the kids and not me.

Another tradition is school supplies outside their door when they wake up. I usually make a little card that says “Let the Adventure Begin…” and then put some kind of school supplies outside their door. This year I bought art supplies and a favorite book that I had picked for them to enjoy in their reading time. This looks a little different each year, depending on what school supplies they need and what my budget is for that year. This also depends on the age of my kids. For example, my teenage daughter is going to have new coffee mug and a book while my younger children get the art supplies. I try to pick a school supply that is part of a subject that they really enjoy learning. I have also had small budget years when the school supplies are minimal, but the kids still enjoy the anticipation of what is outside their door each year regardless of how much of a budget I had to work with.

The last tradition we do is to go on some kind of outing or field trip. This is the kids favorite tradition and unique to homeschooling. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that we can do field trips while everyone else is in school. We have done a variety of field trips such as hiking, visiting a park, going out for pizza or even going to the zoo in the previous years. The zoo is quite fun without all those crowds of people.

It really didn’t matter what we chose to do, we just had fun celebrating our first day with a field trip. This year, we are going on a fishing trip with all their cousins. I am blessed to have my siblings, who also homeschool their children, live in the same area. We have all decided to celebrate the first school day together and take the kids to a lake for fishing. Choosing to go on an outing for the first day of school is wonderful way to celebrate your homeschooling. My kids look forward to this event each year. Again, this can be quite simple, and does not have to be a big event. I have simply gone to a park one year and the kids loved it.

Homeschooling is an adventure worth taking and one of the ways that we can communicate that to our kids is to celebrate the first day of their new school year. There are so many ways that you can celebrate that are simple and easy. I have done all kinds of simple “First day of school” activities throughout the years. We have made special lunches at home, read to them a story, or simply went outside and had popsicles in our backyard. Our kids have loved it when we have had a S’more night outside or played a family board game. Think of what your family might enjoy or what you occasionally do for fun and maybe it would be a good fit for celebrating the first day of school. The important thing is to celebrate the start of their new adventure. Kids will remember the moments, not how spectacular the field trip or activity ended up being.

What are some of your favorite first day of school traditions? What does your family enjoy doing together?

Hope you all have an amazing first day of school! Enjoy the adventure!

Process of Letting Go

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When it comes to my kids, I hate this phrase.  What do you mean the process of letting go?!  These are children that I have carried in my womb for 9 months and I wanted to surround them with a mountain of bubble wrap to protect them from the outside world since they emerged to grace this earth with their presence.  To protect them from a fall or a broken heart is my job as their mom.  I am the hero that will save them!  

But the truth is, although I physically gave birth to each one of my children, they were never mine to begin with.  My husband and I are entrusted by God to help raise them. The truth is, that they are His.  The truth is, that I am not in control and cannot protect them from everything. Ironically, if I try to protect them from too much and not allow them to make mistakes in the safety of my home, then I might be setting them up for bigger falls when they leave the nest.  

So, I begin my journey to let go when they are young.  This is not an easy feat because I am a bit of a control freak by nature, the type of person who actually thinks that they have some control.  I have to fight this part of my personality and align with God’s intention in my parenting.  Yes, I am supposed to watch out for my children, give them wisdom as they grow and discipline when the need arises, but I am also supposed to let them make mistakes, let them fall and then pick them up.  

By nature, I am not what you would call “a nostalgic personality”.  I
don’t cry easily; even at funerals my eyes are dry and birthdays don’t
typically affect me in an emotional way.
But on the morning of my oldest son’s 18th birthday, I felt an immediate
panic and sadness that caught me off guard. I was surprised at the
intensity of emotion that came flooding over me. Had I prepared him
enough for life outside our home? Would he make good decisions? Would he be safe? Could he be successful in life due to the education I had given him?

I sat in my bed and my thoughts left me face to face with all of my
past mistakes; all the memories of each time I had failed as a mom. I
had to confront the reflection of my own inadequacy, and the decisions
I had made as a homeschool parent.
As I sat there, all I wanted was to go back and start over at the
beginning. If I had a time machine, I could go back and do it better.

I would raise my voice less.

I would hug that baby more often.

I would have lived “in the moment” with him- instead of worrying about
his future.

If I could go back, I would let go more.

Parents on the other side with grown children and more experience than me have related phrases such as “time flies” and “cherish the time that you have with your kids.”  I always had a bit of a dismissive attitude when I would hear them say this.  My unbelief was rooted in the amount of young babies I had at the time and the amount of diapers I was changing.  In my mind, in those moments of my life, this was not a quick process, but a Mt. Everest situation where I could not see the end in sight.  This definitely is not going to feel quick!  But you know what?  They were right.  Just a couple of months ago my oldest turned 18 and time did fly. I want to go back.  I can’t.  I’m learning to let go.  

Reflection-homeschool life

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I am sitting here at the end of my day and looking at my house.  All is quiet and peaceful.  I look around me and see birthday balloons still floating above the dining room table, a kitchen that is not quite as clean as I would like it and toys scattered throughout my downstairs living area.  This is usually a point of frustration in my day where I reflect on how I didn’t get enough done in my day.  A clean house is a peaceful house in my book.  There is some truth to that, but I also was sitting here and reflecting on how this mess that I am staring at is also a representation of blessings.  The imperfect kitchen, the toys that don’t seem to ever be put away, even the balloons that are still floating above the kitchen represent life.  I am blessed with a 5 year old that just celebrated his birthday.  I am blessed by a house full of children that are learning and experiencing their own journey of growing up.  I get a front row seat to see what God plans to do with their lives.  The Speech and Debate world captured our attention tonight and led me to having an imperfect kitchen. It’s a delight to see our kiddos work on their communication and critical thinking skills and enjoy doing it!

Now don’t get me wrong, the kitchen and the toys will get picked up and my downstairs will eventually be clean but I am realizing that I need to quit dwelling on the things I didn’t get done and embrace the blessings and things that did get done.  I am in a unique season in my life where my kids are young and my main investment of time is with them.  I need to stop stressing about the little things that don’t always get done and embrace the moments that God is giving me everyday.  I am blessed!

Word of Encouragement to Parents-

Embrace the journey you are on with your kiddos.  Enjoy your front row seat in watching them grow into the young men and women that God has called them to be.  You are amazing and need to realize that everyday.  God has given you the children you have for a specific purpose and reason.  He has mighty plans for them and is choosing to use you to help them grow.

 

Review-“Be Your Own Doctor”

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I went out with a girlfriend of mine one night and she mentioned that she hardly ever goes to the doctor and tries “natural” ways to solve everyday sicknesses with kids.  I was curious on how she went about this so I asked her where she learned how to do these natural remedies for sicknesses.  She said she started by reading “Be Your Own Doctor” by Rachel Weaver M.H.   I am not against the medical world and I think there is a time and place, that if you are too sick and the “natural” ways aren’t working, then you should go see your doctor.  We have had severe emergencies in our family that we needed the atmosphere and help of a hospital and the medical world.  But I do think God has given us many things in this world like herbs and plants that aid in the healing process.  I think he has provided us with many different ways to help heal sickness and so I thought it was worth getting the book to satisfy my curiosity.

After spending some time with the book, I am hooked.  Rachel Weaver has so much helpful information that would help families in gaining knowledge on how to help the healing process of your everyday sicknesses.  For example, I learned that chamomile is a natural pain reliever for sore muscles.  You can easily take a chamomile bath by steeping some chamomile tea bags in a pan of water and then pouring it into your bath water.  Rachel Weaver also talks about salves which are like thick oils that you can use for medicinal purposes.  She puts the recipe in the book and tells you how to make it.  We used the “Green Salve” which is for every day scrapes, bruises or cuts on my daughter.  She had fallen and her arm was all scraped up.  When I put the “Green Salve” on her arm, she said the pain went away.  “Green Salve” is a natural antibiotic that takes the place of something like neosporin.

“Be Your Own Doctor” not only gives you a wealth of information on what different herbs and plants do, the author also includes many recipes on how to implement them in your life.  There are 101 stories of how people used “natural” ways to solve sicknesses. This gives you a excellent perspective on how the different remedies can be used in everyday life.  I am one of those people that if I like something, I am all in.  This made me appreciate the list of supply stores that she put in the back of her book, so that I could either purchase ready made salves, tinctures and other “natural” products or she listed companies that sold the different ingredients you might need.  The most economical way would be to grow the plants yourself.

Some items I just want to buy but other things like the “Green Salve”, I want to use more and make it.  It depends on whether you would feel ambitious enough to try some of the different recipes.  They are actually quite easy to do.  I am taking it one little step at a time.  I am picking a couple of things that I want to have ready medically in my cupboard.  I am also involving the kids by having them help me make some of the different recipes.  My daughter is especially excited to see the science behind the different things we make.

“Be Your Own Doctor” is a book worthy of your library in my opinion.  There are some recipes  and valuable information in there for everybody.  You can find the book on Amazon or at Rachel Weaver’s website which is bulkherbstore.com.  She even has kits if you don’t want to think about how to get stuff or how to start.

This was my adventure for the week.  Until next time….

Homeschooling and the Holidays

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We are in the middle of the holidays approaching Christmas much too fast.  Christmas is a time that you ask any homeschool family how they handle homeschooling and the holidays in December and you will get a different answer.  I know some homeschool families that take the entire month of December off and others that change their curriculum to more of a Christ centered theme to emphasize the meaning of Christmas.  Our family has different traditions that we like to do every year and some traditions that change every year because of my love of having variety in our lives.

This year for the Wright Family household it looks a little different because I had to have foot surgery.  We have had to scale back a lot of things that we normally do but the family is enjoying relaxing at home and finding fun things to do that don’t require leaving the home as much. We have many traditions that the kids have enjoyed over the years and I thought I would share some of them and give you a little picture of what Christmas is like in our home.  We take the month of November off so we still homeschool in December but on a more flexible schedule to allow for holiday fun.

Advent Calendar

We have always done some type of advent calendar.  If you google types of advent calendars, there are a million ideas on how to implement them in your home.  This is a tradition that gets changed every year because its fun to do it different.  One of my favorite advents is a book that my mother-in-law got us one Christmas when the kids were younger.  Its called the “Advent Book” by Jack Stockman.  It has beautiful illustrations that look like works of art and it tells the Christmas story straight from scripture.  Each day you read a new page and there is door on the page for the kids to open.  Behind the door is another part of the Christmas story.  The way the book works is that you are reading from the beginning of the book each day up to the new day that you open another part of the Christmas story, so that by the time it gets to Christmas day, your kids have memorized the entire Christmas story.  I find its a wonderful way to help the kids be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. This is an advent that we end up doing every year but add another type of advent calendar for fun.  We usually do this book as a bedtime devotional in the month of December.

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Another fun advent countdown that we do is to put little burlap bags hung on a ribbon with numbers that the kids get to open one of the bags each day.  You can make the little bags and there are a ton of creative ways to do it that you can find easily on pinterest.  I am missing that creative gene and to me it seemed like a lot of work to try and do it myself, so I bought them on etsy.  I don’t have a picture of mine but I wanted to post a picture so you can get an idea of what I am talking about.

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Each bag is filled with a piece of candy and a fun thing that we get to do that day for the holidays.  It might seem overwhelming to think of 25 different fun things to do with your kids but its not when you think of all the holiday stuff you might already do or how it can be as simple as read a Christmas story or watch a Christmas movie.  The kids have helped me sometimes put a list of fun things that they want in the advent calendar.  You can be as creative as you want to be.  I know of a family that put acts of kindness in each of the bags, so that each day the kids did random acts of kindness.  I thought that was an awesome idea.

Snowman Soup

Snowman Soup is a fun tradition that is a simple activity that the kids love.  Its usually put as an activity in the advent calendar.  Snowman Soup is just hot cocoa with marshmallow and a candy cane.  There is a poem that goes along with it that you can find online.  We usually play family games or watch a Christmas movie as we enjoy snowman soup.  I have even seen it given as a gift.  Its a fun possibility for a party favors or neighbors.

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Christmas Lights

I love Christmas lights and doing fun activities that involve looking at Christmas lights.  This may sound silly, but one of the most fun Christmas lights traditions that our family does is we all get in the car and try to find the best neighborhoods with Christmas lights.  Its also tradition to bring a package of candy canes to enjoy while we look.  We have found that the best neighborhoods are the ones that have contests for Christmas with the lights.

Another favorite Christmas lights place is Warm Beach “Lights of Christmas” if you live in western Washington.  They do a great job of displaying millions of Christmas lights.  Besides the beauty of the lights, my favorite spot to stop is the homemade donuts that they make every year.  They are amazing and worth the long line you have to wait in.

 

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Gingerbread House Contest

Now we don’t always make it a contest.  In fact when the kids were younger we just usually bought a big gingerbread house that we could make as a family.  As the kids have gotten older, we have made it into a contest where they each have their own gingerbread house that they are making.  One year, I was feeling adventurous and I made a train cake, not gingerbread, that we decorated and then we watched Polar Express.  That was a lot of work and I probably will never do it again but it was a fun family memory for the kids.  It looks a little different every year but the kids have fun and we usually end the event with watching a favorite Christmas movie.  If you live in the Seattle area, there is an amazing gingerbread contest that is free to tour at the Marriott hotel.  The gingerbread housed that they create a amazing and elaborate.  Its a fun tradition for some families to go to Seattle and tour the gingerbread displays.  I believe you even get to vote on which is your favorite.

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(By the way, this is not a picture of our gingerbread house we made, this gingerbread house looks amazing but in our house they looked a little more shall we say “kid friendly”.  In fact some of them you might have to label as gingerbread house to know what it is. Haha!)

These are just a few of our family traditions.  I love the freedom of homeschooling because it allows families to take off all of December if they want to or focus their curriculum on the birth of Christ and the meaning of Christmas.  Celebrating the birth of Jesus is an amazing and wonderful thing to do as a family.  Jesus was born so that He could die for you and me.  He loves us so much that he was willing to give his life so that we might be saved.  A friend of mine wrote a song about the meaning of Christmas called the “Reason for the Season”.  The lyrics talk about how we are in need of a Savior and we are in need of the Lamb.  How Jesus was the perfect gift for us and how we are the reason for the season.  I loved that line in the song that said “we are the reason for the season”.  I hadn’t thought of how the entire reason Jesus was born on earth was for us. Remember God loves you and that you are the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

I am a 2nd generational homeschooler!

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I was trying to think about my own experience of how I was homeschooled and I was surprised about the thoughts that started coming to me.  I don’t really remember in great detail the different “school” subjects that were taught but I do remember different  morals, values or disciplines that my parent’s taught me.  I remember that they taught me to think critically about things.  Still to this day, I remember my Dad say “You take the meat and leave the bones”.  When I hear or read or see something I know to line it up to the word of God and not just accept it because of how it sounds.  I remember that I was told by my parents numerous times that I could do anything and be anything that I wanted to be.  After my homeschool experience, I had confidence that there wasn’t much I couldn’t do with my life if that’s what God wanted.  I had a strong foundation in the Lord so that when they sent me back to highschool, no one could change my mind about what I should believe in and why I should believe it.  I also remember how they instilled marriage values that I apply today in my marriage.  My Dad would always say “Don’t forget you always date your mate”

My mom was probably what you would call “A Relaxed Homeschooler”.  We did all the subjects but she was relaxed about schedules and how much we did.  I think part of the reason all my syblings and I homeschool our children is because she didn’t “Burn” us out on homeschooling.  The school subjects are important and they are needed so that our kids can be furthered in accomplishing what God wants, but its the moral and values that we daily encourage our kids with that they will remember.  I need to be reminded that I have this rare opportunity to speak into their life and help shape them into who God wants them to be.  Every one of my kids are “world changers” who will be used for God’s glory.  May he give me the wisdom on how to partner with Him in the process.

Things I wish my parent would have done differently.  I was a very structured kid, so the other side of it, is that I wish there had been a little more sturcture.  My mom ran a home daycare and my dad helped with the homeschooling too.  Things were always different everyday of the week so I knew that that was probably a hard thing to accomplish.  I wish my parents hadn’t let me go to public highschool. I did great in highschool but I think I would have done better in homeschooling.  I would have learned more and been able to explore my own interests and hobbies.  Public highschool to me, at the time, was a waste of time.  I have a theory about homeschoolers and public students.  I think it takes longer for a homeschooler to mature when they are young because they do not have the peer pressure around them to get them to grow up quicker, but I think once they start to mature, they keep maturing thru out middle school and highschool. The public school student matures quicker but in highschool stops maturing for awhile because they are surrounded by peers their same age and do not have any mature people around them to help them to notice their immaturity.  This is obviously not the norm for everybody, but its interesting to think about.

My encouragement to my fellow homeschool mom’s is to say to you, it is worth it!  Every battle that you fight with your little ones.  Every prayer you send up to heaven on their behalf.  All your time and energy that you are choosing to pour out on these wonderful God given “World Changers” is worth it!  God has called you to a great mission of shaping these little ones into who they are meant to be.  I think of Mary the mother of Jesus, or Queen Esther or David or Joseph and I ask myself…who in the world were their parents?  What awesome things did they instill into these kids that they would do the great and mighty things that they are known for.  We do not know if in our very home if the next Queen Esther or the next King David or the next Thomas Edison or the next president is living right under our very roofs.  I had a friend recently encourage me with a quote from a pastor  I like to listen to and he said “God is in a good mood!  All He asks is that we partner with Him” I love that quote because it reminds me that I am not alone in the homeschool journey and all I have to do is partner with God and these beautiful children will be raised up to be the men and women of God that they are supposed to be.

Those are my thoughts for now…Loving God, Loving Homeschooling

Good Night:)

Finding the time to plan!

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It has occurred to me lately that I do not seem to have the time to plan my homeschool days.  So, I decided to try something new.  I wake up and fix myself some tea, get back into my bed and plan my day or catch up on different school stuff the first thing in the morning for about an hour.  Enough time to finish my tea and feel a little more sane before I start my day.  I beginning to realize that I need this time so that I am a better mommy and teacher for the day. We shall see if this continues to work in my life.