Getting “back” into our homeschool routine is pretty much the same as saying, “After school, we’ll go to the pool!” It’s pretty much the same year ’round. However, there are certain times of the year that when it comes down to it, they still need that extra ‘umpf’ to get back into school at home. 

Way back when I decided to pull my oldest two children out of public school and educate them at home, I had no idea what I was doing. Whatever it would turn out to be, I figured it was better than hearing, “I played with my friends and colored,” every day after I asked my kindergartner what she learned at school that day. Enough was enough. Sure, playing is great, I wouldn’t take that from any kid, but if they’re just going to play on the playground, color, and an occasional backtalk because “Johnny says that to his mom,” I might as well sleep in a little bit more and teach them some real-life skills with math and respect sprinkled on top.

Thus began our journey into homeschooling. It was scary, I felt inadequate, and my kids just may end up in jail, but home is where, I felt in my heart, they should be. And we’ve never looked back (okay, that’s a lie, I’d be a pillar of salt about 20x over!) – that much since!

Healthy Home Environment

We’re stuck in the house. All. Day. Long.

As the weather gets cooler (or they are still escaping this Virginia heat), it’s not ideal for me to push them out of the house all bundled up just to come in 3 1/2 minutes later telling me they’re done. I literally have to lock the door and monitor that they move around for a minimum of ten minutes before I let them back in the house. Hey, I’m no fan of the colder weather, so why should I make them do something I wouldn’t do?

As one of those “crunchy” mommas, I’m aware that our home is saturated in EMF’s (electromagnetic frequencies) from our router to the handheld devices that promise a break from schoolwork. Yes, we have controlled game time, but that doesn’t automatically mean the EMF’s stop flowing through the house. The more we’re cooped up, the more we’re exposed.

If there’s one thing I am adamant to teach my children, it’s to take care of their bodies – mind, body, and soul. If these EMF’s can affect their minds and bodies – I get to teach them about how EMF works, how to limit their exposure, and how to take that knowledge with them when they leave the home and start their own families. After all, if they don’t have the tools and knowledge on how to have a strong healthy body after leaving my home, what good is my homeschooling for living a full life as adults?

Read moreWhy A Convenience Store Should Be Your Stop for Your Cross Country PCS

I’m responsible for not only their basic academics, I’m also responsible for teaching them how to be the best, healthy little humans they can be. If they choose to do otherwise, well, I did my absolute best by at least giving them that choice to know better. No mom-regrets here!

In an earlier post, I told you about a couple of products that are made by ‘energydots’ – ‘dots’ that help protect us against the radiation and EMFs emitted from mobile technology items (remember the smartdot for protection from radiation from mobile devices and the biodot to help reenergize our body?), but there are also a couple of other ‘dots’ from the same company that can help to make a big difference to life in our modern world – especially in my home.

The energyDOTS surround our home in a mini world of good energy. This is pertinent for my children since their bodies are still developing; they are more vulnerable to the toxic effects of EMF’s than we are as adults. My kids understand that when they wear these stylish little charms, they are harmonizing their natural energy fields, keeping the disrupting EMF’s from causing excessive cellular damage to my sweet clan of little LaBrunes.

I’m not going to lie, I love our devices and I love the technology behind them. I’m not ready to pack up and leave the modern world and go teach my kids how to survive in the Amazon – a field trip to the zoo is enough. What I can do is protect my family, and even our pets, from the effects of EMFs with the use of energyDOTS®!

First, there is the spacedot which is a wonderful way to clear and revitalize any space, home, office or even the van if I have a full day of errands or field trips!

Our homes all have their own currents or ‘vibes’. These energies can be negative, neutral, or positive, and there are several layers that contribute to creating the overall energetic quality of any place. There is an awful lot of electricity that is powering through my home, both from electric outlets and underground wiring.

The spacedot is designed to harmonize disruptive energies and so uplift the energy in our home. The Phi energy that spacedot continuously radiates will interact resonantly with our environment to produce a powerful clearing harmonic. This harmonic re-energizes and balances the area by the process known as entrainment.

A beautiful Space Pyramid is right where we need it. As an object of beauty, it has all the functionality of the spacedot and will grace any of our rooms while harmonizing the spatial energy around it. Because of its pyramid shaped structure, the power of the spacedot is amplified and has an effective working radius of approximately ninety yards.

Read more6 Things Moms Who Have Trouble Pumping Need to Know

With nine amazingly different personalities, there’s bound to be frustrations, irritability, and lack of “let’s all get along” energy. Now that the space around them is more harmonized, there’s a sense of “we’re just calm, happy, and feeling good” attitude in the air. Where has this been all my life?!

As human beings, we are very good at adapting ourselves to environmental disturbances. However, this is not the same as changing their effects for our benefit. Symptoms like poor quality sleep, irritability, difficulty relaxing and headaches can all be helped by attending to our energetic environment. By addressing the environment directly around my children, irritability has noticeably dropped between my children and that makes a homeschool “good” day into homeschool great days!

The angular glass faces of the Space Pyramid, together with its spacedot and the Seed of Life design engraved on the base, provide spectacularly beautiful reflected and refracted light effects in both daylight and with artificial lighting (particularly from below). No wonder it has a calming effect.

The little individual space dots are a self-adhesive dot that can be stuck to any object wherever we feel there may be a ‘disturbance’. Since the kids spend the other half of their lives in their rooms, this is a great fit when they aren’t in the main area of the house.

The spacedot’s powerful resonant programming interacts with our home to bring harmony, clearing any energetic disturbances. Now I feel doubly un-regretful when I send them to their room! Revitalizing their environment with spacedots has an uplifting and enhancing effect which brings restored clarity and flow. Each spacedot has a radius of five yards (i.e. 360 degrees in all directions) and my peace of mind.

The aquadot – a fantastic water harmonizer and freshener is designed to refresh the natural energetic structure of water, removing imprinting from EMFs and other sources. This gives your body the best chance to renew itself on a cellular level – and my kids need that!

The aquadot is attuned to the vibration of living water – and can restore the natural vitality of water and other liquids.  Removing the physical toxins from our water (so-called ‘purifying’ it) is not enough. The aquadot is designed to refresh the natural energetic structure of water, removing imprinting from EMFs and other sources. This gives our body the best chance to renew itself on a cellular level.

Read moreA Song of Motherhood

Water and other liquids require only 1-2 minutes to adjust with the aquadot’s harmonizing effect so the longer exposure can give it a marked improvement in taste too. The obvious places we use aquadots are on the containers of our main source of drinking water – our dispenser, bottles, or daily water cup.

My kids know how I feel about getting adequate water intake each day and the quality of water we drink can heal or harm us. Since water is very impressionable (it is a liquid crystal with a pliable lattice matrix) and the water supplied to us is just as exposed and sensitive to the vibrational effects of electromagnetic radiation as we are; it can become ‘imprinted’ with distorted frequencies from technology. And I’m not about to give up “kids, watch T.V. – I’m taking a break” time!

Be sure to use the code: NextOrder15 for a 15% discount after you sign up for their newsletter!

Nearly a score later, we’ve managed to add 7 more to the homeschooling crew since that fateful decision. A family of 9 children and 11 very different personalities.

Nurture Creative Personalities

Now that the coloring and playground days are long past, I’ve got to keep the little minds engaged and off of our digitalized world. Literally, they need to get their hands dirty. I’ve got the sticky kid who loves to glue and tape. I’ve got the colorful kid who likes colors in all directions. Then I have the quiet thinker, a bit to himself, and yet his talent screams across the room when you look at his drawings.

Then, there are the hands-on children. They have to mold, shape, cut, color, glue, and add a hint of personality. I can’t tell you how many times I love hearing that they are creating with their minds versus zoning out like a zombie on the screen and hearing them ask for project materials because they read through the craft books. My kids may not be a mini-orchestra of homeschool excellence, but dangit, it’s music to my ears.

This is where the summer months fall ever so graciously into the “school months” that keeps us going year-round. Reading, writing, and arithmetic may be the same mundane tasks, but their creativity sparks an interest that only they can ignite. Oh, and lucky for us moms, it’s very washable.

Product Recommendation

Ooly loves creating products that help people of all ages smile, explore their imaginations, and express themselves. That’s exactly what I need when turning the tables to refresh a new season of school. Ooly, the dreamers of ideas, they are constantly coming up with new material and creatives.

For all the little and big personalities in my home, Ooly is a life saver! Whether I have painters, builders, artists, or little chubby finger-people that want to create magic with sticker-hands, our creative time is covered.

And, I have the non-guilty pleasure of turning off the electronics.

During the weekends or when the younger kids finish up their school work, they need something to do. We have set days and times that they are allowed to game or watch a favorite show. Outside of those times, I’ve got to keep these little people busy or they literally end up on the couch sleeping. Sure, we may have a trampoline outside, some chickens to chase, or a basement full of toys, but that’s ‘old school’ play. 

I want engagement for my children, with each other, us, and their family and friends. Everything is so digital and instant, but these stationary kits allow my kids to slow down and write an “old school” letter to someone. I know their grandparents, cousins, or even a friend would absolutely love receiving such a personal gift. Our digital age may make living more convenient and easier to connect with people from across the globe, but on a personal level – nothing beats a hand-written letter. I don’t want my kids to forget that. Plus, they get to work on their English, Writing, and Handwriting skills.

Remember that silent screamer of mine? He’ll spend hours sketching, drawing, and inventing new creatures in his sketchbook. I love the versatility of the black or white pages. It seems like I have to pull teeth to get them to add some color to their black and whites, but now, the black sketchbook (which they fight over on who gets how many pages, so I suggest you get one for each!) makes their sketches come alive with vibrant colors. I love it!

Got girls? Whether it’s my 17-year old or my 4-year old, coloring is for all ages. There’s something about getting out the unsaid through art. We don’t have to deal with the bullying from school, but we do handle miscommunication and unkind words that are said to each other. One of the ways I teach my children to let out their emotion is to color. Sometimes, they don’t want to talk about it and that’s okay. What’s not okay is keeping it inside and eating away at your core, creating doubt within you that is never released in a healthy way.

If my children don’t feel like talking about it, I advise them to find some kind of venting avenue. The trampoline might take some of their frustrations, but during our quieter moments in the home, they get to release themselves, letting the unsaid words be expressed through color, and working and releasing the pent up energy through their hands.

My kids don’t have to have it all figured out, they just get to let it out and continue on being awesome.

SHOP

When I Can’t Teach Them Everything

Outside Options In The House

I wish I knew how to do everything and be THAT mom. But, I’m humbly not!! There’s one thing I really want my kids to master when they are out on their own: problem-solving.  Whether my kids were to learn at an ivy-league school or within the humble walls of our home, learning the art and mechanics of problem-solving is something they will need to get along comfortably in life. Even if it’s the simple act of “Googling It” – they are working the solving bit to help themselves in life.

I’m a firm believer in this. If they are unable to think through a situation, they will always feel like they need someone or have to to go someone else to solve their problems. I’m quite possibly raising one of the many future leaders of our country…solving issues and problems should be like grocery shopping; a necessity of life. 

Why STEM projects?

“Educating students in STEM subjects (if taught correctly) prepares students for life, regardless of the profession they choose to follow. Those subjects teach students how to think critically and how to solve problems — skills that can be used throughout life to help them get through tough times and take advantage of opportunities whenever they appear.” STEPHEN F. DEANGELIS

My goal for my children is not to raise them to “take a really great test and pass.” I want them to function without fear in the real world, complete with all its real-world problems. Whether it’s simply finding the best deal on cable service or choosing the how to develop the next social media app. As long as they have the tools and skills to begin and execute (with a no-fear mindset for the task at hand) critical thinking…BOOM! My job is done.

I literally can’t solve all their problems that they will run into in life. I literally don’t want 5am calls in the morning asking, “Hey mom, how do you…” Sure, I’ll accept a call about how I achieve a killer meatloaf, but outside of that, kid, figure it out.

I don’t know how to implement critical thinking skills other than to give them a task, age-appropriate, and say, “figure it out.” Well, that works to a certain degree. So, I figured out my own solution – turn them towards something that is specifically designed to boost their problem-solving skills: STEM Boxes.

I have my own real-world problems to solve and I know that I don’t have all the knowledge under my skirts to give my kids the skills I hope to keep improving on: critical thinking. Stem Box helps me out tremendously by providing the hands-on experience my children need. When they say it takes a village to raise a child – I completely agree! I can lean on the wisdom and expertise of other women out there like, Kina McAllister, the CEO and founder of Stem Box.

So, I can choose what works best for my family: a subscription or just buy the monthly box. It’s pretty much a no-brainer, I’ll be lucky if I can get away with having just two in the house! I mean, what kid doesn’t like, first, getting mail in their name, and second, knowing it’s all theirs to figure out and explore?

This is exactly what I want for my brood. It’s hands-on, STEM minded, off of a digital device, and peace of mind for me. I’m giving them the best that I know how in the comfort and safety of my home.

I love the versatility and the “what’s coming next?” intrigue my kids get to experience every month.

I want my kids to have a great education, but I also want them to not only enjoy the experience but to carry those experiences on with them that they will actually use!

I love my big ‘ole house full of kids, even during our year ’round school season. We have our ups and downs whenever we get ‘back’ into the school routine, however, we stick together, stay motivated, and constantly entertained by exploring our world around us – even if it’s just each other.

Photo credits: AndiL., EnergyDots