Today we answer a listener’s letter. An excerpt::
My kids craft. All. The. Time. They wake and craft. Hot glue and paper scraps everywhere. Markers and lost lids everywhere. Cardboard everywhere. Currently they’re making some kind of escape room with string strung everywhere like a spider's web.
I let them be and I read aloud for an hour or so, so that our morning starts fun. But then I can’t stop them. And the energy it takes me to try and get them to clean up and then refocus on some math or whatever drains me before I can even begin. I do short (no busywork) lessons but even that they balk at because they just wanna do their own thing that they are on a roll with. And they are ALWAYS on a roll!!
The mess stresses me out…I wonder if you have any caring ideas for the frazzled mom. I wish I loved artsy chaos. I am not my best self in it. I’m exhausted with the struggle of trying to keep some order and also do the lessons we need to do.
We’ve all been there: Trying to wrangle wild, messy children away from what they’re engrossed in and towards a small lesson or two that needs to be done. It can become a daily grind that frazzles and exhausts you, maybe even making you doubt yourself. Today we open the listener mailbag and respond to “Molly,” a mom who is experiencing this and looking for ideas to unfrazzle her life.
First, we talk big picture: Your needs as a mother matter. While you’re finding the balance between letting the children engage in curiosity-based learning and making sure they’re doing what they need to do in order to keep future doors open, don’t forget your own needs for a functional home and life. You matter.
Then we get into specifics. We go over tactics to manage physical space and materials. We cover how to plan and execute activity transitions. We discuss how to communicate, verbally and nonverbally, in order to help your children adjust to changes.
While it’s natural to feel frazzled sometimes, you shouldn’t have to live in a constant state of frazzlement. We hope our conversation today helps “Molly” and all the other homeschooling families out there.
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Produced by NOVA Media
101. (S6E14) Creativity in Teaching
100. (S6E13) Joy-Centered Learning for the Reluctant Learner
99. (S6E12) Healthy Diverse Homeschool Communities
98. (S6E11) Marriage, Divorce, and Homeschooling
97. (S6E10) Out of the Classroom: Brave Schooling
96. (S6E9) What Are the Risks of Homeschooling?
95. (S6E8) Tips for Suddenly-at-Home Schoolers & Working from Home While Schooling
94. (S6E7) Finding Common Ground in Homeschool Communities
93. (S6E6) What To Do When Your Kid Has No Passion
92. (S6E5) To Parent Or Not To Parent: That Is The Question
91. (S6E4) When You Have No Energy To Do Any Of It
90. (S6E3) How Do You Balance Being a Parent & a Teacher?
89. (S6E2) Love + Collaboration in Learning
88. (S6E1) Celebrating 20 Years of Brave Writers
BONUS. Getting Wild + Free | with Greta Eskridge
BONUS. The Brave Learner: Happy Book Birthday!
87. (S5E12) Routines, Chaos, and Big Goals—Oh My!
86. (S5E11) Breaking Free From Multitasking | with Courtney Moyer
85. (S5E10) Prepping Your Teen for Adulthood | with Myah St. John
84. (S5E9) Awesome Adulting | with Jessica Hammond
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