Happy Birthday William Henry Harrison!
Did you know the our 9th president of the United States was only in office for a month?! That’s right. He started out his presidency by giving the longest inaugural address in history. It was freezing cold and rainy outside and he didn’t wear a hat or coat. Just like your mom always told you could happen, he caught a cold. A month later he died from pneumonia. 🙁
Despite his short tenure as president, he did have an interesting life and served in the U.S. military and government in many different ways before becoming president. You can learn more about William Henry Harrison as well as other fascinating U.S. Presidents in our awesome Presidents collections available here. We will be having a sale on these items in honor of Presidents Day, starting on Feb 15! Be sure to get our freebies and sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss it!
You are also welcome to help yourself to the printable version of this quote from William Henry Harrison by clicking the graphic here:
[mashshare]
Weekly Round-up 2/7/15: Good Stuff!
This here is my weekly round up of noteworthy items for your consideration. Enjoy!
How Decision Fatigue is Wearing Down Your Homeschool (and 4 things you can do about it)
This is a really good article that I’m sure most homeschool moms will find useful. Her suggestions are quite good, and I bet you’ve got a few things to add to it. (leave a comment so we can all benefit, ok?) My favorite idea that she shared? #3. Genius! And will be so helpful for those of you that suffer from the whole, “Look! A squirrel!” type of curriculum yearning and such. 🙂
Crock Pot Recipes: All hail the slow cooker, saver of family dinners and motherly sanity! Come check out my pinterest board for some fresh recipe inspiration.
Breakfast Art: First, we ooh and aah and wow, because: ladybug strawberries! Then we go back to fancying up PBJs by cutting on the diagonal. No shame! You can’t do it all. But it’s fun to look at.
usinterior on Instagram: No joke. They have some of the most gorgeous and inspiring photos of the beautiful USA that you will ever see. Just like that! you get a burst of WOW in your Instagram feed.
You Thought the Cello Couldn’t Rock? Think Again.
2Cellos is a duo that does a lot of contemporary covers. They also have quite a sense of humor. I love the way this video shows all of the period costumes, and the way it morphs from classical style into rock. For all the kids that thought stringed instruments couldn’t rock, here ya go. 🙂
**If you don’t rock-n-roll at your house, this one might not be for you. Preview or skip if you’re unsure.
[mashshare]
World’s Tallest Ballet Dancer: Wow!
My boys and I were so interested to read this article about Fabrice Calmels, the world’s tallest ballet dancer! This man is 6′ 6″ tall, and after you see him, you’ll no longer think of men in ballet quite the same.
I really enjoy sharing this article and photos with my sons for several reasons. First, he’s a guy in ballet. That alone takes guts. What a great example of following your interests! Second, he started ballet at the age of four, and loved it so much that he overcame a lot of industry prejudice in order to stick with it. He obviously works incredibly hard at his craft.
This video shows Fabrice Calmels and Julianne Kepley dancing The Dream. Beautifully done. Now, I will admit, your kids might only be interested for a couple minutes. It’s pretty mellow. Still, let them take a couple minutes and see some beautiful ballet, ok? Leave a comment and let me know how they liked it.
[mashshare]
Ideas for Dawdlers and Reluctant Kids and Weary Moms
You’re burnt out on homeschooling.
Your kids are burnt out on homeschooling.
Your 10 year old son can somehow drag one math lesson out all the live-long day and STILL not have it all done!
Aggravated moms, unite! You are not alone!
OK, on the count of three let’s all have a primal scream (into our pillows so we don’t scare the kids). Ready? One…..two…..THREE!
Phew. Alrighty then. Feel a little better? Now that we’ve got THAT out of the way, let’s talk about this.
My stats: Six kids. 5 of them are boys. We’ve been homeschooling for most of the last 18 years. So, you might say that I have a little bitty bit of experience with kids, dawdling, reluctance to get stuff done, and lots of other things (most of them are actually positive!). There are many possible ideas for handling this at various ages and stages, but for today I’m going to address the 10 year old boy scenario.
Yes, I know. He loves minecraft, hates math. Loves Legos, loathes Latin. His idea of fun is to figure out new and creative ways to gross out his sisters and mom. He looks for opportunities to take breaks and fall through the cracks in your system throughout the day. His schoolwork might not be completed by dinnertime. Sounds like a normal boy to me. 🙂
1. Consider taking short breaks. I know, I know: “We already struggle to get everything done! We can’t take breaks!” I feel ya, sister. I really really do. But hear me out: More is not more.
Awhile back I read this interesting article. Basically, some smart folks have figured out that –surprise!– human folks need to take breaks in order to have optimal productivity. Yup. For reals. In fact, they found that for adults, the highest-performing 10 percent of employees worked for 52 consecutive minutes, and then took a 17-minute break. Workers that actually followed a timer for working and breaking were 13% more accurate in their work, too!
So far I don’t know of any similar studies for children, but I would tend to think that children of all ages would need a shorter workspan than 52 minutes before taking a break. (probably getting shorter and shorter duration of workspan as you decrease in age from teens down to preschoolers) While we don’t know of any magic number right now, how about if you pick one and try it? 30 minutes of school stuff/10 minute break! Or 45 minutes of school stuff and a 15 minute break! I don’t know what will work for you, but let a break be your buddy.
2. The Fun Break You already know what they love to do: Minecraft. Legos. Building Stuff. Could you add in a long “fun break” or two during the day that allows for time to do some of these things? Could you “power up” on this by piggy-backing it to something that they tend to dawdle about?
For instance: Maybe your son takes a long time to do math. What if you remove the power struggle over Legos and became his ally? What if you said something like, “I can see that you love building with your legos, and I think that’s a really cool thing for you to do. I would really like to fit it into your school day, but right now it is so hard to get our regular stuff done that I don’t know if we can. Do you think maybe you could get all your math done from 9-9:45? Because then we could give you, like, 30 minutes to play with legos before we do _______. What do you think?”
I’d be all, “Help me help you, buddy.” There wouldn’t be any trace of impending doom coming from me, because the truth is, I would LOVE to let him have a fun break in the day to build and think and explore spacial relationships and all that good stuff that goes along with Legos! Really what he’s getting is time to do more enriching stuff that’s good for his brain. But we call that fun at our house. Don’t you?
Want to print this inspiring quote? Click the image to download a printable PDF.
What if he can’t get the math done in time for the enrichment period? First, no shaming, mom. Remember: this is a child that is already struggling. You want to help make things better. Observe from a space of kindness and empathy.
- What do you see?
- Is he trying?
- Is he distracted?
- Is he confused?
- Does he need you to sit with him and encourage him along or personally teach the concepts again?
- Does he need more frequent breaks? (It won’t hurt to try and see how that goes!)
- Is his chair uncomfortable?
- Is the table too high for him to sit at comfortably?
- Would a snack help?
- See what you can figure out to help him succeed.
- Could you adjust the time allowance?
- Would he do better with math first thing in the morning or right after lunch?
- Would it be better to do half the math lesson in the morning and the other half in the afternoon?
One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is that you have the opportunity to be mindful, flexible, and creative in meeting the needs of your children and helping them succeed. See yourself as their ally and advocate, not their adversary! They need you in their corner mom, and they need to feel it, too.
Want to print this inspiring quote? Click the image for a downloadable PDF.
3. Easing Back Into It One of the tricky parts of taking breaks or shifting gears in a school day is getting people back together for the next things. May I suggest some transition tricks?
My Gather ’round collection is going to be awesome for this. We take breaks many days to watch a cool or interesting video at the computer. Often it only takes a minute or two, but nobody wants to miss it. All I have to do is say, “Hey guys, who wants to watch this video? It’s supposed to be really cool.” They all come running. I’ve got a zillion awesome, interesting, fascinating, and funny videos to share here that enrich, entertain, and inspire me and my kids. Pick one or two or a handful each day to share with your kids. Do it at the end of a break when you need to gather everybody together. “Hey kids! Check this out!” Then watch the video, let the natural spin-off discussion (or freewrite) happen, and then refocus to the next item you’ve got in front of you.
Reading. I love reading to my kids, and even at ages 11-16 they still tell me it is one of their favorite things that we do. Rather than doing all the reading in one big session, maybe you’d like to read one thing after a break. If they are still munching on their cookies and not totally ready for seat work, cuddle up on the couch and let them finish up while you read to them. After that everyone should be settled and ready to get up and do the next thing.
4. Finding the rhythm: If you’ve got those dawdlers, my recommendation is to try out a work session/break schedule that is reasonable for your kids. Remember: adults thrive at 52 minutes of work/17 minutes of break. Try something like 30-45 minutes of work/10 minutes for short breaks, and see how it goes. These should be guaranteed breaks, not privileges. Just like going to the bathroom and getting a drink of water, your kids, their bodies, their minds all have an actual need for a break. So do you, mom. Take it. Enjoy.
Try offering at least one Fun Break per day that is a 30 minute session for your child to do something he enjoys. Attach it to the schedule so that it is an if/then proposition for him. If you can get your math done by 9:45, then you can take the next half hour to play legos or minecraft or whatever the popular item is at your house. Whatever portion of the time remains when the math is done (including if he gets it done early!), happily allow him the remainder of the fun break. If he didn’t make it this time, be sympathetic, see what you can do to adjust for success next time, and carry on with your day. Help him have pockets of hope and joy and delight throughout his school day!
There probably isn’t one thing that will always work to solve this forever, but a fresh solution is good for however long it’s good for!
If you give this a try, will you leave a comment and let me know how this works for you? What other positive approaches have you found helpful in your own home?
[mashshare]
Tiny House Living: Could You Do It?
I know that the whole tiny house thing has been getting pretty popular for several years now. I thought this video was pretty cool since it utilizes some interesting design, similar to how boats and campers stow away stuff. I feel like watching this with your kids could definitely spark some interesting commentary, and possibly even a freewriting opportunity. Maybe they would be inspired to create something!
[mashshare]
Being a mother of six, I’ve never considered a tiny house for myself. When I watch this video I think it looks really cool and creative, but it makes me feel a little claustrophobic just seeing it! I’m about 6 feet tall, so maybe I just feel like I naturally need more space. 🙂
What do YOU think? Does living in a tiny house appeal to you?
Dyslexie: The new font to help dyslexics!
Two of my sons have dyslexia, and I have seen firsthand how difficult it can be for them to read and write. Parents of kids with issues like dyslexia, dysgraphia, and similar issues are always on the lookout for anything that can help. I was excited to learn about this new font that has been developed to help people with dyslexia differentiate letters more easily. You can download the font to use in your word processing on your computer, and even get an extension for your browser so that the text as you browse the internet shows up in dyslexie! How cool is that?
You can learn more and get the dyslexie font here.
[mashshare]
Musical Monday: How Playing an Instrument Benefits Your Brain
Did you grow up playing an instrument? I played cello for a few years, my sister played piano, and my brother played the saxophone. So far a few of my children have taken up instruments. My oldest son plays guitar and my daughter plays clarinet. My other children haven’t yet been interested in playing a musical instrument, but this video has me thinking that maybe I should at least nudge them into something for at least a trial period. I think guitar might be popular for four guys, don’t you?
Do your children play any instruments? Do they enjoy it? Do you find it difficult to get them to practice?
This video is really interesting. The human brain is so amazingly powerful and interconnected!
[mashshare]
February is African-American History Month: We can help!
February is African-American History Month, and we have some excellent resources to help you celebrate some great and talented people!
Our Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. freebie is full of some great stuff. Watch a video of his “I Have a Dream” speech and more!
Another great freebie that we have available is our Duke Ellington jazz composer resource. There are lots of entertaining videos, streaming music, and a bunch of informational links for you to learn more about this talented jazz musician!
If you like what you see at the Duke Ellington resource, consider getting our entire Jazz Composers collection! You will learn so much about the development of jazz and American music in the 20th century with this collection of 15 accomplished jazz composers! Includes Art Tatum, Benny Goodman, Bix Beiderbecke, Cab Calloway, Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Fletcher Henderson, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Ornette Coleman, Ray Charles, and Thelonious Monk. To celebrate the start of this month you can take 25% off this collection using coupon code JAZZ here.
[mashshare]
We’ll laugh. We’ll cry. We’ll grow.
I’m so looking forward to connecting with you guys better! This blog has been on my mind for many months now, and I have so much that I want to share with you. While I do enjoy creating new Enrichment Studies products for your families to enjoy, there are tons of other tidbits and goodies that I come across that are worth sharing and talking about too. There is so much juicy, awesome, amazing stuff to watch, see, listen to, think about, and experience! We’re going to do as much of that here as we can. 🙂 I’d like to tell you about some of what I plan to have going on here at the blog:
Poetry: I’ve had a real resurgence in my love for poetry and I’d love to share that with you.
Musical Mondays: I enjoy and find value in so many types of music, and I love sharing that with my kids, too. Most likely it’ll be a video. Classical, jazz, rock, parodies, ancient, modern, international, quirky–probably a little bit of everything.
Teach Me Tuesdays: Did you know that sometimes it’s really good to be the student? It is! And that experience will make you a better, more compassionate and aware teacher, too! I’ve been trying to take one time a week to have my kids teach me something that they know about. It has been fun, interesting, and cool. I’ll share about those experiences with you, and encourage you to let your kids have the opportunity to be the teacher, too. 🙂
Wondrous Wednesday: There is so much creativity in the natural world, and I love to see it and share it!
Delightful Design: Architecture. Landscape. Textiles. You name it.
Fine Arts Friday: We’ll take time most Fridays to check out something cool in the world of Fine Arts. It’s a big, big ocean of creativity out there, with so much to see!
Give Them Wings: I’ve got a soft spot for kids that have learning struggles. Two of my guys have dyslexia, so we’re always on the lookout for helpful stuff for them and others with similar (and different) struggles. My goal for working with my dyslexic kids has been to figure out how to help them learn and grow in spite of the stuck spots. I’ll be happily sharing stuff that has helped us, or that might be of interest to families with similar needs.
Birthday Features: As we have created so many resource collections, I have often wished there was a way to say, “Hey you guys! Did you know this cool thing about this person?!” Well, now I can. Throughout the year you’ll be hearing about all of these noteworthy people, which will be cooler than you expect! 🙂
Mom to Mom: I’ve got six children. Two are grown. I’m a mother-in-law. I’m a Grammy. I’ve homeschooled for most of the time since 1997. Sometimes I have stuff worth saying. 🙂
That seems like a pretty long list for today, so I’m gonna leave it at that for now. Needless to say, there will be more: freebies, recommendations of things I think are worth sharing, encouragement for you moms, announcements about sales and specials, and more good stuff will be included.