Adventuring into Homeschooling
HomeSCHOOL x design
Sovereignty.
In our homes, in our health + in how we raise our children.
We don’t wait.
We create.
And we’ve got this.
There are times when we encourage our children to roam …
to develop their sense of self, to follow their curiosity and to learn to trust their intuition.
And there are times when we must bring our cubs back into the den under our protection.
If you feel this too,
I wrote this blog for you.
Note - If you’d like to receive this content in a beautiful free PDF, add your info below:
To start, here’s a few recordings to intro this blog and it includes a conversation/Q+A with homeschooling Mama + author, Monica La Vella.
Check our her new book, Homeschool by Design and her Facebook homeschooling community group.
And a conversation with my 11 year old daughter Chloe.
🎙️ You can also find this content as audio only over on the podcast
🎙️ Are you looking for a great podcast to help your husband be more on board with homeschooling? This one by Order of Man is great.
With you …
We have found ourselves entering new waters this school year and we are all seeking to make the decision that best works for each of us.
Whatever you decide to do will be great and you can always pivot throughout the year, as these are unprecedented times.
Years ago, I would have told you that I would never be a homeschooling mom.
I would tell you why I don’t have enough time and that I need to reserve my brain for making decisions in my business and not for teaching long division.
And then in the last few years we made the transition from public school to a private Waldorf school.
And it has truly been an amazing experience … I didn’t think we would be needing to make this decision.
As our world shifted fast in March, I could feel the tug on my heart … and our decision to homeschool has nothing to do with Waldorf.
The school falls under the provincial mandates which requires children grades 4+ wear masks and so for that reason alone, we are homeschooling.
I also feel that this school year is a great year to give homeschooling a go … this was the push I needed.
And while I’ve had waves of sadness come over me … grieving what was … I’m getting more excited about this new adventure and what we can create through this.
You’re going to notice that much of what I’m sharing is based on what I know works best for me and my family. I run a large business from home, Chris is a firefighter working 24 hr shifts twice a week which allow him to be home 5 days a week. We thrive with routine + structure ... I resonate with the belief that discipline = freedom.
Whatever you decide, is the right decision for your family. Full stop.
No one else has the right to weigh in on that. You are the most qualified person to make this decision.
Work schedules, time, finances and family values are all factors to be considered.
If you have decided to homeschool or even if you aren’t but you’d like some fresh approaches to living your life by design … you’ll enjoy the contents in this post
I created this for you because I show up to help when I know I can.
I live what I teach ... Whether that be through what I share about essential oils or life by design.
This content reflects the journey I have been on the last few months and I hope it arrives in good timing for you.
(If you’d like to receive this content in a beautiful free PDF - add your email above)
If you’re new to my work, here’s what I’m good at + deeply committed to:
I take a problem and I look it in the eyes and I mash it all up and turn it into something beautiful ✨
So here we go.
Once we made the decision:
This was our process:
✔️ Setting up a learning space in a quiet area of our home + decorated it with some printed art from Pinterest.
The art was the special touch … they actually teared up when they saw their learning space for the first time.
✔️ Organized what school supplies we had on hand - storing crayons, pencils etc in glass jars. Purchased what we needed (I included a little shop section further down)
✔️ Talked with friends who homeschool and researched different approaches + curriculums
✔️ Gathered a library of resources organized by topic to help me with planning their lessons each week if I want to pivot from the curriculum a bit
✔️ Created a playlist on Netflix + Youtube Kids with documentaries and educational videos (I’ve included them in the various topic sections below)
✔️ Created a folder of H-School apps on our devices
✔️ Focused on morning + evening routines with the girls to anchor them so they serve as a bookends to a great day. This is what I feel is the biggest element here … I want to simply insert the morning school block from 9a - 12p without the other parts of the day feeling stressful
✔️ Did a few assessments with them to get a better understanding of where they at (their fave was doing the love languages for kids)
✔️ Asked them if there was anything that would make this feel extra special since we can make this whatever we want it to be. They said they would miss having lockers and that they’d actually love to have school uniforms … so we’re coming up with something there.
Here’s a peek at our learning space:
Your Vision for this new adventure:
Before you begin, spend some time as a family dreaming up what this new experience can look + feel like.
What if this could feel fun and meaningful and free?
What would homeschooling allow you to do that you haven’t been able to do before?
Let your mind drift!
Once I started really dreaming up what this could be … I felt deep gratitude!
What if this season of our lives is happening for us as a family?
An invitation to (re)claim sovereignty over our children, our homes and our health.
And I believe the most important thing I will instil into my girls is the ability to be curious, to trust their ideas/intuition and to always go their own way.
That is what excites me most about this new adventure.
Common Concerns:
Not qualified.
Why not me? Who is more qualified than I am to lead here?
Not enough time:
First track where time is going. Clean it up and align your values with it. Ask what you are willing to trade in to create more space with your time.
Not enough money:
Track your expenses, clean it up, align. Do a finance assessment to track current spending and spending last year at this time.
Again - ask what you are willing to trade in for this time with your children?
What about socializing?
Mark down the public + private school PD days and holidays (here’s Ontario). Work them into your plans each month to have friend dates
If you think about it - school is the only time in life where you’re surrounded by people that are your own age. This is a great time to branch out and create new community.
Think of how sports, drama and church for example can grow this.
Logistics:
Every state/province has their own laws regarding homeschooling so you’ll want to look up what yours are.
If you’re in the US - go here.
In Canada - go here. Also check out HSLDA
I printed the Ontario curriculum for both grades and looked through these helpful learning plans for their grades.
Learn something new about your child:
Have a special date with your child to learn some new things about them!
Learn how how your child wants to receive love + praise by doing this free love languages quiz:
Many of the curriculums will have assessments you can do with your child.
We decided to go with the Good & Beautiful … printed these checklists and did the assessments here.
You can download a few free resources here to get a feel for it.
Curriculums:
There are so many curriculums + approaches out there … I had no idea when I first began looking around.
Look through the various curriculums out there to find one that fits your family best.
Here are some of the most recommended I came across:
Gather Round
The Good + Beautiful
Wild + Free (bundles - not exactly a curriculum)
The Daily Wonder (Waldorf inspired)
Schoolio (Canadian based - nice + simple)
Teachers Pay Teachers (they have bundles for homeschoolers)
Discovery K12
Khan
Charlotte Mason
Classical Conversations
Sonlight
Self Design
Timberdoodle
Bookshark
Keystone
ABC Ya (tons of worksheets by topic and grade)
Outschool for online learning by topic
Free Worksheets
What we’re using:
The Good & Beautiful for Language Arts and Science
Teachers Pay Teachers Homeschooling Math Bundle (purchased the grade 3/4 split and the grade 5/6 split)
Waldorfish for Art
Our approx costs:
Purchased Curriculums from Teachers Pay Teachers for Math: $100/yr
Good + Beautiful Science and Language Arts: $300/year
Printing Worksheets for each month: approx $50/month
Waldorfish for Art: $266/year
Adventure Academy for boosting science + math: $60/year
Night Zookeeper for boosting writing/language arts: $120/year
Paying a teacher $40/hr x 6 hours a week x 4 weeks a month: $960/month
Total for the year for us without paying teachers: $1146
Total with paying teachers for 6 hours a week: $10,646
(We were paying $22,000/year for both girls at Waldorf)
And remember - you can homeschool completely free through all the resources out there!
Daily + Weekly Rhythm:
This may not be your jam … I’m sharing this because it’s how we roll in our home and some new templates if you’d like to design your own.
What I suggest you first do is outline your top daily + weekly priorities. Both self and as a family. You want to see it clearly in front of you so you can then design your day + week.
We will basically be doing school from 9a - 12p each day with a little creative arts, music or language in the afternoons. I plan to map out the lesson blocks each Sunday for the upcoming week.
In our classroom area, I’ve hung a dry erase monthly calendar that I’ll use as a visual for them. And then we have a binder that we’ll track + use as a way to journal what they’ve learned each week.
I’ve mentioned this a few times - we thrive with structure and have found that flow + flexibility naturally occurs when we have a solid plan in place.
I’m also highlighting how I’m planning to calendar my work time since as you know I run a business from home.
If you’d like to download my guide of health + productivity tools for planning your life x design, add your email below:
Our Weekly Rhythm:
Monday: Math, Science + Language Arts. Art in the afternoon
Tuesday: Math, Language Arts + History. French in the afternoon
Wednesday: Family Phys ed + Piano practice in the morning. Math + Language Arts with teacher in the afternoon.
Thursday: Math, Language Arts + Geography
Friday: Open day: Family Phys ed + Big Life Journal work together. Friends over or Field Trip. Piano practice.
Saturday: Math + French with teacher in the morning.
Sunday: Weekend chores + baking together.
I also do the Sunday Scrub which involves review of the calendar, meal planning, placing our weekly grocery order and creating their lesson plan for the upcoming week.
Our Daily Rhythm:
6-8 am: I do some work
7 - 830 am: Girls wake up, breakfast + morning routine. I prep the kitchen for the day. We play music such as this playlist to start the day
From Wild + Free Book
9ish - 12 ish: Main Lesson Block. We review their work at the table before and after their school block (see learning plan for example). Diffuse some oils near their desk with our Homeschool Music Playlist playing. I do the first 1.5 hrs (Chris does a workout) and Chris does the last 1.5hrs (I workout then).
Two days a week we are paying a teacher/tutor to come to the house to work on Math + Science and on those days I’ll do work in my business. We are also involving Nana for Grammar + History because she’s excited to do those subjects with the girls.
1 pm: Lunch
2 - 4 pm: We alternate creative, grammar, music and Audible ‘read alongs’ in the afternoons. Some days I’ll do a 2 hour work block here if I didn’t in the morning.
Or we’ll play a board game (even games like Scrabble + Boggle can be used as learning tools)
4 - 6 pm: We do dinner prep, setting table together
630 pm: Bath and put away clean laundry while I clean kitchen (do the ‘goodnight home’ routine)
7 - 8 pm: Free time
8 - 9 pm: Reading before bed.
We’ve been working on anchoring the morning + evening rituals for the past few months.
If you are starting fresh as a family in a new routine, give yourself extra room throughout the day and be patient with it.
We often overestimate what we can get done in a day, so I suggest you design your day and then give each thing an extra buffer of time until it starts to be more efficient.
If you work from home and are now planning to homeschool, remember Parkinson’s Law which suggests that ‘work expands to fill the time available for its completion’.
You’ll likely find you get even more accomplished when you know you only have a certain amount of time to complete it. If you’d like to see how I plan my day + week by design, read this blog.
Homeschool Music Playlist:
Free Templates:
Here are some templates I’ve created for you which will come to you in the free PDF if you add your email above.
I’ve also filled them in to show you our plans as an example
💡 TIP: Print + place the daily rhythm in a protective sleeve or laminate to make them dry erase:
TOPICS + RESOURCES
In this section, I’m providing you some resources I’ve found + plan to use throughout the week.
Our girls are going into Grade 4 + 6 so I’ve only included resources below we plan to use for their stage in life.
I plan to draw from the curriculum I’ve purchased along with a mix from various resources in these topics
I’ve also put a ⭐ next to the ones that were a top pick from my girls:
Art
Their goal is to fill a large wall with their creations this year … some we frame, others we hang by string lights.
Other simple ways to display is by using pant hangers and clipboards.
Check out Doodle Academy, Wow Art ⭐ and the Art for Kids Hub (all free on YouTube)
I’ve created this Youtube playlist of other easy drawing + painting tutorials for the kids.
The Crafty Classroom also has tons of free craft ideas + printable sheets.
Waldorfish ⭐ has a beautiful online art course we are checking out ($266 usd per year)
Music
We bought the girls a piano last a few months ago but haven’t been able to start up in home lessons yet so for now they are working with Yousician Piano , Flowkey and the Simply Piano app ⭐ Since they’re new to lessons, we’re working with this simple playbook and have stickers on the keys. We are also planning to work in an online piano teacher through Miistro.
I’ve also created this Youtube playlist of easy songs to learn on the Piano.
Language:
We’re using the Duolingo kids app ⭐ (free) for continuing their French (they have all languages on there)
Science:
This doTERRA Science + Chemistry eBook for kids ⭐
Mystery Science ⭐
Adapted Mind
Generation Genius
NASA Kids (also check out their YouTube channel here)
Peekaboo Kidz
Adventure Academy ⭐ ($60 usd per year)
Reading + Writing:
Brave Writer
Night Zookeeper ⭐ ($120 usd per year)
Read a louds + activities ⭐
Adapted Mind for Reading
Poetry Tea Time (their instagram is super sweet)
Handwriting worksheets
I love the Big Life Journals for writing + developing a growth mindset ⭐
A few things we are doing in this category that the girls are loving:
Curling up together to do family reading (read aloud style). ⭐
(or I’ll leverage Audible for read aloud)
Here’s are some book suggestions that work beautifully for this:
The Dream Traveler’s Quest, Harry Potter Series, Chronicles of Narnia Series, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Pippi Longstocking, Wonder and A Wrinkle in Time
Here are some other Book Ideas from Wild + Free:
Math + Coding:
Teaching Textbooks
Adapted Mind (a gaming style that adapts to the child)
Beast Academy
Kids Hack Labs
Prodigy ⭐
Code.org ⭐
The Photomath app
And baking can be a fun way to learn about math … these Radish boxes are a cute way to inspire kids in the kitchen
Adventure Academy ⭐
History +Geography:
National Geographic Kids ⭐ (also check out their YouTube channel here)
The Great Canadian Adventure
Spin the Globe ⭐: Have them close their eyes and spin the globe and then stop it with their finger.
Wherever their finger landed is a place in the world they need to learn 3 things about and do a write up in their binder and present to us.
The Curiosity Chronicles for History
Horrible Histories Book Series
Phys Ed
Outside as much as possible. I’ve created this Youtube playlist of kids workouts + yoga for days inside
Netflix Learning:
A few afternoons each week, I’ll be popping one of these on while I get some work done.
We created a profile on our Netflix account called School.
Here’s what we stored on the list:
Nailed it
Sugar rush
Brain child
Myth busters
Night on earth
Shop class
Carmen Sandiego
You vs. Wild
Our Planet
Project MC2
Minute to Win it
Timeless
Just Add Magic
Dinotopia
The Storyteller series
YouTube:
National Geographic Kids
NASA
Operation Ouch
Peekaboo Kidz
Also consider:
✔️ Co-Schooling / learning pods with other families
✔️ Trading time/topics with other local moms
✔️ Involving family members for specific topics + tea parties
✔️ Hiring a teacher or tutor for a few hours each week
✔️ Planning monthly field trips + friend dates when they have PD days
✔️ Online Tutoring: Go Peer, Tutor Doctor and Outschool
✔️ In home Tutoring: Super Prof (Canada)
(the images above are from this Pinterest board I’ve created. I printed + framed them in our home learning area)
Seasonal cleansing + prep:
I’ve spent the last few months purging + cleansing our home to create space for the new. I have felt this to be a vital period of cleansing and focusing on what I can control within the walls of our home. We completed various projects around, purged + renovated our closets, cleaned out every drawer, nook + cranny.
It’s official - I can tell you where every item in our home is and it’s quite likely labeled or in a mason jar ;)
Here is a list from the back to school blog I posted last year …. with areas you could clean + prep as we change seasons: Whatever you decide to do , I wanted to include this as it’s especially helpful when transitioning out of summer into school routines …
✔️ Fridge/Freezer: clean out, check dates on dressings etc. Prep some freezer meals in reusable storage bags, soups + bone broth. (This is a great monthly routine to integrate going forward)
✔️ Mud Room: organize winter gear (wash first if needed), organize shoes/boots. Put name labels on coats, gloves + shoes. Put kids supplements + oils in crate
✔️ Pantry: organize + check expiry dates. Label kids lunchbags, containers + water bottles. Stock up on healthy school snacks - Costco has lots of good options now such as Made Good bars
✔️ Prep immune / health toolbox: check inventory of our vitamins , Vit D/K2, Probiotic, Elderberry syrup, TOUCH rollers, thermometer and bandaids. Check expiry dates on any meds
✔️ All closets: Clean out + donate. Wash out of season gear and move to bins.
✔️ Fall Calendar: look it over with the family and really feel into what you want this next season to mean. Spaciousness is one of our most valued feelings and so we make sure that anything we’ve said a yes to is important to us still. We look at upcoming travel, business needs, the girls school schedule and also things we want to do as a couple. A refresh on the love languages is typically a good idea for us too
✔️ Meal Planning Tips: Each week, look at your calendar and plan out meals accordingly. Consider having a monthly calendar in the kitchen - here’s a nice magnetic one for the fridge. If you want something much bigger, here’s a 4ft dry erase version
We have a large dry erase calendar in the kitchen where we write out the weekly school plan + also the girls help make the decisions for what will be their ‘lunch theme’ and meal plan. TIP: Have your kids make a list of all the lunch + dinner options that they love and then choose from it each week! Use your crockpot on days you’re working and the kids have activities after school. And most crockpot dinners transfer to lunch thermoses the next day really well. (This lentil taco recipe is a staple for us!)
Check out the ‘back to school’ recipe section for you on the recipe page of HOL:FIT right here. TIP - If you use the planet boxes - look up #planetbox on instagram and save the images within the app so you can refer when making lunches!
Also think about having theme nights each week: Taco Tues, Meatless Mon, DIY Pizza Fridays & a beautiful long meal on Sunday nights. I love using the digital meal planner Plan To Eat.
The School Shop:
Some resources that may interest you:
the supernatural recipe guide
Over 180 of the best DIY recipes for taking care of your health + home
Life
Scrub
Cleansing out the distractions key areas of your life to welcome in the new.
the kitchen blueprint
A method for healthy meal prep + ease in your kitchen
I hope this content serves you in this season of life.
And Mama … You’ve got this.
