 5 year olds do NOT need to be reading, writing and doing math. If they want to-- let them. But. Teaching them to love learning should be the goal . She had a bite on the back of her leg. F: What bit me? Hmm, maybe a snake? F: No. They don't bite. Ummm, yes they do. F: let's take a lie detector test. ***pretend straps wires to me** F: you're lying Wanna watch a video? F: yes an entire hour watching a video about venomous snakes: milking, looking at blood under a microscope and comparing rattlesnake, copperhead and moccasin reactions to blood with the naked eye. She's always know snakes can bite. She'll always know snakes may be venomous. But the best part is she will always know if she wants to learn about something, she can. I plan travel to support my family. Schedule some time to chat to see if my services are a fit for your needs!
0 Comments
 This pictures sums it up. My oldest struggled with reading. He was 8 before it really clicked. Sure, he could read at an earlier age, but he was not confident in his abilities and it showed.  Finley knows how to write her name, can identify colors, sing her ABCs and 123s, but we are no where near starting to read. But talk to her for two minutes and you'd think she was much older. She absorbs everything around her. When it comes to reading, the plan is to let things happen naturally. She pretends to read. She shows an interest in it. She asks me "mom, what does this say?" But, there is no big push to teach her to read because she's "almost 5." Maybe she'll be 6 before she can read, maybe she'll read at 5. Maybe 7. I am really not too concerned about WHEN as long as she CAN. To support my family, I plan travel.
Schedule time to chat about your next trip!  In my Facebook group of homeschoolers who believe in the power of travel, we often talk about hidden gems, fun places to check out and ask for suggested things to do in areas we are planning to travel to. Ponce de Leon State Park in Florida has been suggested quite a few times by others who have checked this gem out. This beautiful spring is named after Juan Ponce de Leon, who led he first Spanish expedition in Florida in 1513-as legend has it --in search of the fountain of youth. For the kids--the water was enough for them to want to check it out. For this homeschooling momma-- it was the perfect mix of history and fun!  I wasn't sure when we were going to visit the park--because I knew a stop there meant an overnight stay on our drive from Louisiana to Florida. With having to maintain two households until March 2023, we were trying to avoid having to spend funds on a hotel room. The opportunity presented itself: Justin had a nail in his tire. And we were told it would take about two hours to get the tire fixed. Who wants to wait when you know there's adventure to be had?  I figured we'd drive out there, take a look and then head out. We all took our shoes off, dipped our toes into the 68 degree water and decided we were going in for a dip. Jon said to me " I wish I had my black shorts on because I would jump in." So, we headed back to the car, pulled out a change of clothes, beach towels and a bag and headed back to the water. My car looked like someone threw up clothes everywhere but we were going for an adventure! It was cold for about 3.5 seconds and then you got used to it. We walked, floated, dunked ourselves and swam for 45 minutes while waiting on Justin to get his tire fixed. So what life lessons did we learn? The kids: It's okay not to be prepared all the time. We were NOT the only ones in regular clothes in the water. Many people were "unprepared" but no one was complaining. Everyone was laughing, smiling and having a great time! When things don't go as planned, make an adventure out of it. That morning I was super anxious wanting to be on the road by a certain time " so we wouldn't get to Florida at dark-- I was tired and wanted to get to our camper as soon as possible." We ended up getting to the camper at almost 10pm that night. We had been on the road at 530am that morning. But, the time spent at Ponce de Leon made me realize this was a great chance to spend some unplanned fun time with my kids and so I did just that.  For mom: Get in the picture. Who cares if you've gained 50 pounds, your hair is a mess or you are not feeling so great. The memories may fade, but the pictures will last a lifetime. It's okay to be on the road longer than anticipated. It's okay to be tired. It's okay to be anxious. But, when it comes down to making those memories, you should jump right into that water!  My son read a few postings at the park, mentioned a few things he remembered about the history of the park during our ride to Central Florida and my little one decided it was time to learn how to read a book--- I have no idea how that came about from playing in the cool, crisp waters but I'll take it!  I support my family by planning travel for others; schedule some time to chat about your next trip!
 Get creative. We tend to spend lots of time on art projects, outside time and just using our imagination. Sometimes we have structured play like this activity, but other times we just take out suppliers and go for it. All while I work.  Other times we are in the house and she's right next to me. Watching. Being curious. Waiting for mom to finish working so we can play. YouTube really can teach your children a ton of useful information. Don't be ashamed that you need some distraction free time to get work done. Finn is currently underneath a fort her brother built for her. She is having a picnic, watching cartoons and planning her activities for the afternoon. Before a doctor's appointment.  We have activity bags made with things she can entertain herself with. Such as sidewalk chalk , paint supplies and paper. Here I was on a Zoom call with someone in Spain and she was happy a could be.  Here we were headed to do laundry. She had a standoff with the resident duck lol. But, what I really want to point out is the outside toys that she plays with while I work. Checkers. Bouncy balls. It all works.  She's 4 and a momma's girl. She wants me to play with her too. So, I set things up where it's easy to take a quick 15 minute break to join in on the fun and then go back to work.  Other times we are in bed, both with lap desks getting work done. Here she wanted to learn how to write her numbers. More about that later.  Homeschooling doesn't have to look pretty. lt doesn't have to be what you were taught it should be like. What about teens? Well, I've worked hard on my son being independent. I wrote more about what we are focusing on this upcoming year here: When you can't win by being better, win by being different I supper my family planning travel for others. Schedule some time to about planning your next trip!
 I’ve fallen into the “ how am I going to teach her to read and write and count” bandwagon. I‘m growing a business, going back and forth between two states and have a teen to keep on track. And then this happened: She asked to learn to write her numbers. I wrote 4 numbers. She copied those numbers. I wrote a sentence of an email. Repeat 25xs. That email may have taken three times the amount of time to write, but my girl wrote her numbers to 100 and I didn’t have to force her to do a thing. I support my family but planning travel for others. Schedule time to chat about what I can do for you!
I have found that as my son gets older, there are not as many teenagers homeschooling. This is speculation but I am sure it's because it's intimidating to homeschool a high schooler --after all, who is going to teach them Chemistry? That is a post for another day. I believe that all students should be learning more than just math and reading. Mental health. Running a business. Financial literacy. Life skills 101. This next year we are focusing on being okay with being different. Striving to be different. The importance of being healthy-physically, mentally and emotionally. I run a business and start my day at 4am (okay, sometimes later). I try hard to start my day with something motivational then I usually head for industry news. I read a minimum of 30 minutes a day--sometimes business related, sometimes for enjoyment. It just depends on how I am feeling. But I am reading everyday. Atomic Habits by James Clear has been a game changer for me. I learned many useful skills, but a take-away that I want to pass long to my children, especially my teen, is being different is okay. I'd go as far as saying it should be a goal to be different than everyone else. I want to be able to share real-life examples and how I was different to show him that it is being different is what sets you apart from others.  In college, I was a single mom studying accounting. It was hard. SUPER HARD. My friends were rockstars crushing the classes and I was sweating to get on by. This was a whole new world for me. Before, I was top of the class. Everytime. But in college? Nope. Everyone knew if you wait to take Corporate Tax your last semester your chances of graduating on time was slim. THIS SCARED THE S**T out of me. I had Jon to support. When an opportunity presented itself to take Corporate Tax in the summer, in 4 weeks, I jumped on it. This opportunity had never happened before to any other class. And then reality hit me like a ton of bricks. This class was the one that could break me. It felt like I was dragging a load of bricks to get to the end of the 4 weeks. And then I took the first exam. 38F. I remember so vividly thinking " holy s**t balls, I have NO CHANCE." Others didn't do great either. They stopped going to class because they knew they were not going to make it out of there. But me? I Literally studied for every exam like I would pass it. I even sat through that atrocious final knowing I was not passing the class. Why? Because I knew I wasn't the best, but I was going to be different. I was going to sit through that class, learn as much as I could in those 4 weeks, get an idea of what the final would be like and accept my fate that I was going to take this class my final semester of college. WITH ONE ADVANTAGE. I had seen all of the information once before. I had a hand-up. I had an advantage. An advantage I created for myself. I did something different. My final semester of college-- I passed all of my classes, Corporate Tax by the bare minimum and I felt like I conquered the world. Be different. "When you can't win by being better, win by being different"-Atomic Habits, James Clear  I plan travel as a way to support my family.
Schedule some time to chat about how I can help you plan your next trip!  We have a map of the world on our wall at home. It was a gift from a fellow homeschooling mom. Every time we visit a new state or country, we "scratch off" the country and flag. I believe cultivating an imagination will bring children far in life. So we daydream, together. This is not the exact map, but you get the idea:  Every time we daydream my girl points to Russia as where she wants to visit. Every time I ask her why there? Her response is pretty spot on for a 4 year old: because it's the biggest one (on the map). Running a business while homeschooling is tough. Having a toddler makes it that much harder. I do my best to set up our day so she knows what to expect. On this particular day, I had a Zoom meet up with a company based in Spain. So I hyped her up about it. She is usually too shy to get on camera, but she is not too far lurking while momma works. I have read to her since she was a baby, both in English and Spanish. I am no where near conversational, but I would like to get there one day. She never really had interest in learning basic words because as she got older " that's not a word momma!" She had never heard someone speak anything other than English. We live in a village. Literally. Everyone speaks English. BUT Then we started spending more time in Orlando. A much bigger, international city. And we are the odd balls (I love it btw!). Everyone here speaks another language. And Finley noticed. Our neighbors in Orlando are Puerto Rican, Dominican and Cuban. She hears them speak in Spanish everyday. And NOW she's interested. She's learned: estufa= stove red= rojo Well, those are the words she can remember. She regularly asks me to teach her " that other words."  Before my call I let her know if she needed something, she would have to wait until I was done with the call. She ALWAYS wants to know who, what why? Here's how our conversation went: Me to Finn: sis, today mom has a meeting with someone in Spain. Finn: where's that? Me: you know that big country you always point to on the map at home? It's underneath that place. Finn: ohhhhh Me: do you know what language they speak? Finn: SPANISH!! (we've been learning some Spanish words) Me: yes! Finn: ohhhhhh Me: can you help me speak to the lady? Finn: ***blank stare*** Me: you've been practicing Spanish! Come on, sis! Finn: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO Me: can you help me, sis? Finn: ****blank stare*** I am pretty sure she's telling me I am on my own with this one lol  I write this to remind you that piquing your child's interest is the key to getting them to want to learn. Making it exciting for them. Showing them your excitement to learn with them. I know I don't do well with being forced to do something, do you? I support my family planning travel for others. Book a complimentary consult so we can chat about what I can do for you!
With a new schoolyear starting soon..my inbox will be flooded with questions about homeschooling. Here are some important points: How long does it take? Check this handy dandy flyer that is a great start and is very realistic on how long it should take you. Remember, your kids are learning ALL THE TIME. 30 minutes of intentional work with a 4 year old is NOT all that happens in a day. What curriculum we do need to use? I'll tell you none. Especially the first six months. And box curriculum would not be what I recommend. But. every child is different. I work-I won't be able to do it. WRONG! School can be done at night, weekends, holidays, on lunch breaks. Maw Maw can help too. I RUN A BUSINESS y'all. There are THOUSANDS of families who work full time, run businesses, work out of town and still homeschool their kids. Be creative. It takes HOURS to do homework when we get home, how are we going to have time to do it? Your schoolwork is your homework. Where do you do work? The couch, floor, car, trampoline, steps, restaurants, libraries. Planes, trains, tables. Living room. Kitchen. Bathroom if necessary lol. It's important to understand you do not have to recreate the classroom at home. I understand some kids need this structure, and you can give them structure without being at a desk, table for 8 hours a day. I don't remember the last time we sat down in a desk or table for hours doing worksheets. After trying for 6 months of doing this, we realized nope it's not for us. I remember Jon listening to me read to him while he literally practiced his rolls for karate on the living room floor. Examples of what we do: With Finn (4) we are working on identifying letters and numbers. On a kid's menu at a restaurant there are usually games--- use that as a time to identify letters. This past week we had to decode a secret message--each letter we worked on identifying the letters. We play UNO and I make sure to say you can match this color (she knows all of her colors) or this number. What is this number? I read everyday. Multiple times a day. It's not unusual of for her to pick up a book and pretend to read. She often asks "what does this say?" I've started to point out easy words to encourage her to "read" those words when we are reading together. The. A. Is. I. Lots of artwork. Lots of projects. Lots of using old boxes to build fun things. Lots of games. Lots of conversating. When she asks a question-- I often don't give her a straight answer. Could it be this? or maybe this? or what else could it be? The wheels spin. That is what I WANT TO HAPPEN. I want her to be curious. I want her to ask questions. And exploring. In our backyard, on the road, in Florida. On the computer. With Jon (13) he needs to improve on his writing and reading skills and his confidence. He's at an age where peer pressure is real. He is home with me more than he is not, but he is exposed to peer pressure in so many other areas of his life. Part of the plan for next year is to: In our day-to-day life, he will help me in my business, is going to take online classes (for high schoolers ) and we will start on a daily routine in September that includes time to get in the right GROWTH MINDSET, exercising and eating a healthy breakfast before we start our day (together). This will include him focusing on a goal, writing out a plan, tracking his progress and making changes until he hits that goal. Fun fact: I curse like a sailor in front of my kids-- and neither of them curse (they fuss at me for cursing) so him listening to a podcast, watching a YouTube video or reading a book that pumps him up and puts in his head "f**k those people, you are strong, brave and courageous. You do not WANT to be like everybody else" --- is exactly what we will be listening to. Hearing it from his momma doesn't always sink in but maybe listening to other highly successful people and hearing their stories will let it sink in. If not, we'll try something else. research landscape architecture (this is what my heart knows he would love doing--but the only way to know, is to try it out). being intentional with our writing--- learning that we need to focus on those words we are not sure is the right form, spelling or use and researching it (handy-dandy google is always nice to have at our fingertips) and encouraging him to remember how to use the word without having to research it in the future. being intentional with writing more complex sentences. He will focus on the who, why, what where and how to improve those skills. He has a momma that will ask 45 questions if it's not clear enough. taking online classes that focus on learning how to use critical thinking skills, building the skills for high school essay writing, learning to properly paraphrase text and the like. we'll always include art in his work--- drawing has been a big part of his day to day life since he was able to hold a pencil. soccer and conditioning outside of practice. and he's ready to start working to earn some cash. he's been helping my parents repair their rent house and would cut our neighbor's grass each week but the plan is for him to reach out to landscaping companies to learn about their BUSINESS OPERATIONS and maybe get a little dirty too. Exploring new places isn't as fun to him anymore, but I will NEVER stop encouraging him to get excited about a new place, city or new area. My biggest tip is--if you feel your kids are fighting you-- take a break. When you are overwhelmed, not sure what to do next or are feeling discouraged--- you would take a break. It works the same for kids. We take lots of breaks. So we can travel!  If you'd like to help support our family, book a travel consult with me!
 We are from Louisiana. Gators are in our swamps, ditches and waterways. But we never really see them. At least, Finley hasn't. But in Florida, in the campground there's one or two always lurking around:  Scene setup: Feeding the turtles.... with the 4ft alligator not too far behind. He doesn't move much. At first. Then it looks like he's going to walk up the embankment. Me: okay, Finn we need to back up and if we need to run, run! Finn: okay. Gator swims opposite direction. Feeds turtles. Gator starts to swim under the bridge. Okay, sis, let's just go back to the car. Finn: it's coming????? Me: not yet, but I dont like that we can't see it. Finn: ***doesn't hear a word I am saying*** IT'S COMING???? Me: holding in my belly laugh Finn: IT'S COMING!!! ***throws the entire hand full of turtle food while running full force towards the car.******** Me: **************hollering********************** Finn: IT'S COMING!!!!!! Me: running to car right behind Finn with my legs half crossed because I am about to pee myself from laughing so hard. Finn: IT'S COMING!!!!! We both make it to the car at same time: Doors ARE LOCKED!!! I am screaming at this point in tears laughing. Finn: IT'S COMING!!!!! Me: presses button to unlock car Finn: made it all the way to the other side of the vehicle and was about to climb on top of the trunk. Me: Sis, it's okay! The car is unlocked now! Finn: jumps in car, closes the door: IT'S COMING!!!! Me: sis, we are safe, It's still near the bridge. Finn: IT'S COMING!!! Me: Finley!!! It's okay!!! Just gooooooooooooooo, mom! And STOP LAUGHING AT ME!!!! X Cardio X Sunshine X Laughter Fun fact: when I am scared, I laugh. Hysterically.  What did we learn from this?
Counting: there's only one gator, mom. there's five turtles Safety: stay away from the gators! Colors: our faces were white with terror Exercise: we both ran for our lives! Okay, in reality it wasn't much of a "lessons' but it was our day and I wanted to share! Enjoy! P.S. I support my family planning travel. Book a complimentary travel with me today!  When in Florida you have to check out the beaches. I mean, Louisiana, has muddy, chocolate, nasty water. So when we get a chance to check out blue, green, clear water--- we do it! There are tons of beaches to visit, but we went with what was familiar to us first: Cocoa Beach.  We didn't plan to go into the water, so we just packed up and headed out. No towels. No bathing suites. No toys. Just us and the open road.  The pier was nice, the temperature was perfect and the views were okay. It was fun to watch those with surf boards riding the waves, walk the pier and stand in the cool water.  A pic of me and Justin because we NEVER take pictures.  Finley decided she wanted to walk in the water, run in the sand and bring Helen with her for some fun. The next time we made it out to the beach (another post) she had her bathing suit ready, sunglasses in tow and sand toys in her bag! We took a different route back and stopped at a roadside fruit and veggie stand. MY FAVORITE! We squeezed fresh orange juice, ate the fresh strawberries and made sandwiches with fresh tomatoes!    You really cannot get a better shot than a toddler drinking fresh squeezed Florida orange juice with fingers full of dirt and grime. I plan travel to support my family. Schedule some time to chat to see if what I offer travelers is what you are needing!
|
AuthorAs a homeschooling mom who found that her children thrived more when living life together instead of being stuck in a classroom 8 hours a day, I turned my love of travel and educating my kids into the perfect mix: unschooling. Archives
October 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed