Here are some helpful tips for working from home with kids. 

Working from home with kids? Here are several helpful tips for you! #wahm #parenting #workathome
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / evgenyataman

IF YOU DON’T HAVE A SCHEDULE, MAKE ONE.

You may have heard repeatedly that kids need structure, but you need structure too! If you haven’t created a schedule for your family yet, then now’s the time to do so. 

There was a lot of excitement (and then criticism) of the popular quarantine schedule that went viral on social media a few months ago… but this parent was onto something. Children need to know what to expect and you need a plan to manage their needs all day long so that you can get your work done!

The schedule doesn’t have to be elaborate or include every minute of the day. You just need a general daily plan for your family.

SET OFFICE HOURS 

I was recently struggling to get my work done. I was productive but in unproductive ways. I spent my days cleaning, cooking, menu planning, making online food orders, and baking crazy amounts of comfort foods (yes, I’m a stress baker). 

I reached out to a group of fellow writer friends and one of the best tips I received was to set office hours for my work time. 

Office hours aren’t new to me. I used to have set “office hours” a while ago and when I stuck to them I was super productive. However, the stress of the pandemic and the subsequent quarantine wiped out my memory. Seriously… as I discussed this issue with these ladies, I was stunned by how I USED to do these things!

If you are under quarantine with a spouse, see if you can come up with a schedule for office hours that works for the two of you. Once you’ve decided on your office hours, call a family meeting to share your office hours and the expectations surrounding this time with your children. 

SET A GOAL

Every day, you should have a goal as to what you want to accomplish. 

You can handle goal setting in one of three ways:

1. Work on your MUST DO task(s) first. These would be the tasks that are usually most time sensitive and there may be an expectation placed by others about the urgency of this work being done. 
2. Eat the frog. I can’t remember where I first heard this term, but eating the frog means essentially working on the daunting task (possibly the most boring / hardest task) first.
3. Tackle a whole bunch of small/easy tasks. If you have a long to-do list, you may want to approach your work time by tackling as many small tasks as you can.

Whichever work goal(s) you set – make sure to take the time to reflect on your day’s goals and plan for your next work day. A planner or goal setting sheets are very helpful for planning and reflecting on your days. 

Don’t forget to get your FREE planner sheets here! 

PLAN SOME ACTIVITIES FOR YOUR CHILDREN

Once a week, take some time to plan various activities for your children. Sometimes it helps to have multiple choices for them to select from.

For instance, I have a binder ring of laminated activity ideas for my children. You could even have multiple binder rings arranged by the theme of the activities (i.e. physical education activities such as: WiiFit exercises, yoga DVD, dancing game, etc. creative activities such as: drawing, colouring, finger knitting, etc.)

You could establish an expectation that your children have to do their homeschool work, a physical education activity, a creative activity, play a game together, and do their chores before they have screen time. This approach obviously works better with older children (6+ years). 

For younger children, you can set up interesting play space activities to keep them engaged for longer blocks of time. For instance, I had quiet time bins for my children when they were younger. There was a Lego bin, a colouring book / crayons bin, a toy animal bin, etc.

You may also consider setting up dramatic play spaces for your children. Here are a few dramatic play spaces you could easily implement with items from around your house.

ANTICIPATE (AND PLAN FOR) YOUR FAMILY’S NEEDS

Another key component of successfully working from home is to anticipate (and plan for) your family’s needs.

For instance, every night you might want to prepare snack bags/baskets for your children so that they know what snacks they can have throughout the day. This approach helps curb the possibility of them raiding the pantry and also encourages independence. 

In addition, if your children have school work or textbooks they are working from, put those books out for them as well as a container of sharpened pencils, pencil crayons, etc. 

HAVE A MENU PLAN

Another huge time saver is to make a menu and have it displayed in your kitchen. 

A menu plan alleviates the pressure of coming up with meal ideas on the fly. Plus, it makes it possible for other family members to pitch in and help. For example, if I have Salmon Rice planned for the evening, my oldest daughter can prep the rice in the rice cooker and my youngest can mix up the salmon and mayo and my husband can cut up avocado and cucumber for the side.  

USE SCREEN TIME EFFECTIVELY

Screens and technology can provide you with large blocks of uninterrupted work time. I have appreciated and used technology in my children’s education and it’s been a life-saver! 

Some guilt-free technology activities include:

• WiiFit Plus 
• Wii Zumba
• Yoga DVDs
• CuriosityStream Documentary streaming service (we love CusiosityStream and it’s so cheap)! 
• Prodigy (online math game)
• Tynker Coding App

WHILE WORKING FROM HOME WITH KIDS… GIVE SOME GRACE

By applying these tips, I’m certain you’ll experience increased productivity. Working from home with kids can be challenging but these suggestions will help give direction and inspiration to everyone involved. 

Regardless, make sure to extend yourself (and others) some grace. Patience, kindness, and a smile go long ways in stressful times. 

The post Helpful Tips for Working From Home With Kids appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

I’ve always been an advocate for meal planning. Not only does it save money, but it helps prevent food waste. 

However, between wanting to minimize my number of trips to the grocery store and trying to keep expenses low, I’ve found some delightful recipes have been in a steady rotation on my menu. 

Most of these recipes require less than 3 ingredients. Please note, when I say less than 3 ingredients, I mean ingredients outside of condiments, oils, and spices.

Are you ready to explore this simple cuisine with me? Let’s get cooking!

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / ajafoto

HOT DOG MEALS 

I know, it doesn’t sound “healthy” but I buy premium hot dogs and it’s still cheaper than purchasing chicken and ground beef. Plus hot dogs satisfy those cravings for meat that my carnivorous family regularly has. 

Wieners and Beans on Toast

All you need is wieners, a can (or two) of beans and bread. Heat up your beans, cook and slice up your wieners and serve on toast. 

Hot Dog & Veggie Stir Fry

I found this hot dog & veggie stir fry recipe several years ago on the Hillbilly Housewife website. I was skeptical at first but my family fell in love with this recipe (and request it often). All you need is hot dogs, celery, and carrots (as well as oil and seasoning).

We’ve had this dinner on its own and served with rice. It’s delicious either way!

Hot Dogs & Macaroni

This is the comfort food of my youth. Simply prepare a package of macaroni and cheese and serve with chopped up, cooked, hot dogs.

RICE MEALS

Salmon Rice

Salmon Rice is one of the most popular meals I’ve ever come up with. It’s easy to prepare and requires just a few simple ingredients. All you need to make this dish is rice, salmon, and mayonnaise.

Fried Rice

Fried rice is a quick and delicious favourite meal in our house. All you need is cooked rice, some frozen mixed veggies, and a protein (scrambled egg, bacon, ham, or shredded chicken).

Simply fry your cooked rice, veggies, and meat in oil with soy sauce. 

Rice Bowls

I recently shared this recipe as one of the self-assembly meals my kids love. Simply provide cooked rice, beans, and corn. You can also give them an assortment of toppings that they could use to assemble their own rice bowls. Topping ideas include shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, etc. You can make it simple (rice, corn, and beans) or go as fancy as you want! 

Mexican Rice

Talk about simple and tasty! This 3 ingredient Mexican Rice Recipe is scrumptious! All you need is rice, broth, and enchilada sauce! 

BACON MEALS

Bacon is another meat which I can usually get for a good deal and it makes a variety of delicious dinners. Here are some of my favourite bacon dinners.

Breakfast for Dinner

Breakfast for Dinner is one of my family’s favourite meals. I fry up some eggs, bacon, and serve with toast or pancakes. Delicious and satisfying! 

Campfire Pig Greens

Don’t let the name deceive you… Campfire Pig Greens taste great even when cooked in the oven! All you need for this recipe is a pound of bacon, a head of cabbage, butter, and seasoning. It’s basically cabbage wrapped in bacon… and it’s scrumptious! 

PASTA MEALS

Garlic Pasta

Garlic Pasta is another popular dish in my house. You only need to fry some garlic in olive oil and serve over angel hair pasta with Parmesan cheese and parsley. It’s super simple and scrumptious!

Spaghetti & Meat Sauce

All you need is ground beef, pasta, and your favourite pasta sauce. Fry up your ground beef and then mix it into your pasta sauce. Serve over spaghetti with or without shredded cheese.

SANDWICHES

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Mmmmm… grilled cheese sandwiches are the best! All you need is bread, butter, and some cheese. Grill up your sandwich and serve with your favourite canned soup. 

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Nothing beats the simplicity of a PB & J! If you want to get fancy, you can check out my husband’s famous peanut butter & jelly sandwich. It’s amazing! 

Bacon & Tomato Sandwiches

Bacon and tomato sandwiches are my favourite. Simply spread mayo on your bread and top with crispy, cooked bacon and slices of tomato. Delicious! 

Tuna Melt

Mix some mayonnaise and tuna together. Spread on a piece of bread. Top with mozzarella or Swiss cheese. Toast in the oven at 400°F for about 5-8 minutes (until cheese is bubbly and a bit brown). 

SALADS

Chickpea & Green Peas Salad

This is such a simple and satisfying meal. All you need is two cans of chickpeas (drained and rinsed), 1/2 to 3/4 cup of frozen peas (microwaved so thawed but not cooked), about 1/4 cup olive oil, and some seasoning (your choice). Mix all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and season the way you like it. My kids like salt, a bit of pepper, and some garlic powder.

Chill salad for a bit (about 20-30 minutes) before eating.

Tuna Fish Pea Salad

I love this tuna fish pea salad! It’s so easy to make (and even easier to devour)! 

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / michelangelus

OTHER YUMMY 3 INGREDIENT RECIPES

Homemade Tortillas 

I love making homemade tortillas! I use this tortilla recipe. While I don’t have a tortilla press, I simply place the ball of dough between two plates (dough ball is also between two pieces of plastic freezer bag) and I press down. Then I cook the tortillas in a hot frying pan. 

We have enjoyed tortillas with seasoned ground beef, chicken, or simply with refried beans. What makes the tortillas especially scrumptious is a bit of shredded cheese and/or salsa.

Sheet Pan Bake

This meal is delicious and can be done with just three ingredients plus oil and spices! I got this Roasted Sausage & Veggie Recipe idea from Tiffany over at A Fit Mom’s Life. I use sausage, sweet potato, and broccoli in my sheet pan bake but you can use anything you desire! I’ve pretty much scoured the fridge and used whatever veggies I wanted in my bake. Carrots, asparagus, potatoes, cherry tomatoes… whatever you have, throw it in there and bake it! 

Ground Beef and Cabbage Casserole

We love this ground beef and cabbage casserole… it’s almost like eating a cabbage roll. Since there are some onion “haters” in this household, we make this meal without onion (and substitute onion powder instead). All you need for this recipe is ground beef, cabbage, diced tomatoes, and spices!

Simple Bread Recipe

I make this bread weekly and my family LOVES it! This Bread Recipe is simple to make and delicious! Some tips for this recipe… if your oven doesn’t go below 100°F , simply turn it on at its lowest setting (mine goes to 170°F) for about 3 minutes. Then turn the oven off and place 1 glass measuring cup of boiling water in the oven with the dough. Keep the oven door closed and this proofs the dough beautifully! 

You do need a stand mixer for this recipe – but no kneading is required… YAY! 

So there you have it! A whole bunch of simple 3-ingredient recipes my family has been enjoying lately. As you can see, there is some overlap between the ingredients with these recipes, which makes grocery shopping and meal planning a cinch! 

Do you have any favourite 3-ingredient recipes?! Please share!

The post Affordable Meals Made With 3 Ingredients or Less! appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Take 2015 for example. We turned the clocks back at 2 am on November 1. The day after Halloween – we gained an hour. One more hour of children bouncing off the walls from their sugar highs. Oh, the torment!

Whether we’re moving the clocks forward or back… the time change rarely goes well with the little people in our lives.

Here are some tips to survive Daylight Saving Time...with kids! #parenttips
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com /Y-Boychenko

How to Survive Daylight Saving Time (With Kids)

Adjusting to a time change with young children is challenging. Whether you’re moving the clocks ahead an hour, back an hour, or even adjusting to a time change because of travel, these tips will surely help!

Have a bedtime routine

Bedtime routines are essential year-round. When your children know all the steps leading up to bedtime, their bodies start to naturally relax and unwind. Decide what elements are most important to help your children relax before bed and stick to it.

We have a very basic bedtime routine which includes:

• snack
• brush teeth
• change into PJ’s
• read a Bible story
• 2 lullabies / songs

By the time we’re singing songs, the kids are yawning and ready to go to sleep.

Make the time change gradual

Consider adjusting their schedule by 10-15 minute increments over the span of 4-6 days before the time change. Gradually shift their bedtime or consider shifting their wake-up time.

Use a good children’s clock 

I absolutely LOVE using this clock with my children! The Teach Me Time Talking Alarm Clock & Night Light is AMAZING! There is an “ok to wake” night-light which is a soft yellow and turns green in the morning (the time to wake up is programmed by the parent). My children know that when the clock is green, they can get out of bed.

While they may still rise early as a result of daylight saving time, they know (because of the clock) not to come wake up mom and dad until the clock glows green.

There’s a whole bunch of other things I like about this clock too. It has an interactive, talking, time-teaching game and your child can learn to read time both in digital and analog.

Wear them out

Whether daylight saving time is starting or ending, you’ll want to make sure your children get loads of exercise. Wear your kids out so they get a good sleep at night! Plenty of fresh air is a good idea as well.

Feed them well

Your children may still feel the effects of daylight saving time. A tired child is challenging, but a tired and hungry child is torture! Prepare plenty of healthy snacks for your children to eat. You can check out my post on healthy snack hacks for busy moms if you need some ideas.

Take care of yourself

Oh no! You took all these measures and the kids are still crabby? Make sure you have whatever it takes to get YOU through the days. Check your stock of coffee, tea, chocolate, and/or candy… *wink*. Drink plenty of water and make sure you have what you need to pull through the long days that tend to follow a time change.

Be gentle

Remember that your child’s adjustment to the time change is temporary. Very soon they’ll be back to normal. Be calm, understanding, and gentle through this period. If you do lose your cool, you can always reference my list of five things to do after you blow up at your kids.

Now it’s your turn

What do you do to make a time-change less painful for you and your children? I invite you to post your thoughts below and then share this article with other parents who may need it.

The post How to Survive Daylight Saving Time (With Kids) appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Please note, this post is not endorsed or sponsored by Rocketbooks. These opinions are my own! But I have shared my affiliate / referral links throughout the post (which means if you click through and make a purchase, I may get compensated at no extra expense to you).

WHAT ARE ROCKETBOOKS?

First things, first. You may be wondering what the heck are Rocketbooks? If you haven’t heard of this yet, then I’m super pumped to be the one who’s going to blow your mind!

A Rocketbook is a reusable notebook. Whatever you write, you scan with their app and it loads to over 10+ integrated apps including Google Drive, Dropbox, and email. After you upload your note, simply erase the Rocketbook with water and reuse!

Amazing right?

HOW DO WE USE ROCKETBOOKS IN OUR HOMESCHOOL?

I just received my first Rocketbooks in December and I can’t believe how many uses I’ve found for it! Here are a few ways that we use Rocketbooks in our homeschool. 

Drawing activities 

These books are delightful to use for drawing activities. I’ve purchased various colours of Pilot Frixon pens and markers to use in our books and they make for wonderful spaces to doodle and draw in! Plus once a picture is done, I scan it to the app (which then gets automatically into a drawing file I created on my Google Drive)! 

I no longer feel guilty about using too much paper in our house! My kids can doodle as much as they like! 

Long form work for mathematical equations

My daughter loves using the Rocketbook Mini for when she’s working on equations in math. I love that I’m not finding scraps of paper all over the house! 

Notetaking while watching documentaries or while on a field trip

The Rocketbook is fantastic for notetaking. I simply give each of my girls a book and they take notes and/or doodle while watching documentaries or while we’re on a field trip. Once again, the notes are uploaded to a file I have organized on Google Drive. I can even text copies to family members!

I use it for journalling about our homeschool day

I’m a reflective mom and a reflective homeschooler. The Rocketbook has helped me to engage in the practice of journalling about our homeschool day. Some of the things I document include:

• the books we read
• experiments we did
• observations we made
• milestones accomplished (i.e. “Can now write her name in cursive”)
• questions my children asked
• further topics and subjects for exploration
• activity ideas and inspiration

I upload these notes to a monthly file. It’s a lovely way to document our homeschool process.

Playing pen and paper games like Tic-Tac-Toe, Hangman, and SOS

I don’t know about you, but we LOVE pen and paper games. Tic-Tac-Toe, Hangman, Dots & Boxes, Pictionary, Scrambled Word Ladders, and SOS are some of favourites. What’s lovely is that we can play loads of games and not waste one sheet of paper! Awesome right?! 

Bonus tip: Always have a Rocketbook and pen with you for those times you are in waiting rooms or in line with your kids. It makes for a fantastic way to pass the time!

As you can see, Rocketbooks have been an amazing resource in our homeschool. If you don’t have one yet, I encourage you to try it out… the possibilities will blow your mind! 

Pssst – If you don’t have a Rocketbook yet, I encourage you to get one! It is a MUST-HAVE tool for any homeschooler!

The post Saving Time and Paper in Our Homeschool With Rocketbooks appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

When I look around my home, I’m often surprised by how many items we can use as learning materials. I like to “shop my home” first before I make any science lab supply purchases from educational stores.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com /DimaBaranow

Not too long ago I published a similar list of math materials and manipulatives and I had someone ask me a very good question…

How do you store your materials?

I store most of my materials in file/banker’s boxes. I have one homeschool supply box for each subject except for math and science (with those subjects I have two boxes because I have so many materials)! I label the boxes and store them on a shelf in our basement. I take out the materials from the boxes as I need them.

I’ve been meaning to draft up a “supply list” to store on the outside of each box, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Maybe I’ll do that project during our next homeschool break.

We have a small home, so I need to be intentional with how I store our homeschool supplies. If you’re interested, I have several other organization tips in my post, How to Organize a Small Homeschool Space.

Check out this handy list of 65 science materials you can find around the house! #homeschool #science
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SCIENCE MATERIALS YOU CAN FIND AROUND THE HOUSE

Here’s the home science lab list of supplies that I came up with:

1. corks
2. styrofoam packing chips
3. rocks
4. egg cartons
5. magnets
6. compass
7. batteries (make sure to store these properly)
8. wire
9. nails
10. paper clips
11. elastics
12. paper
13. dirt
14. plants
15. leaves
16. water
17. sponges
18. sea shells
19. insects (hopefully you find these outside of your house)
20. candles
21. tin cans
22. oil
23. vinegar
24. baking soda
25. cornstarch
26. yeast
27. food colouring
28. paint
29. scale
30. measuring cups
31. measuring spoons
32. sieves
33. funnels
34. turkey baster
35. coffee filters
36. tissue paper
37. paper towels
38. electric fan
39. blow dryer
40. hand-held fan
41. feathers
42. binoculars
43. balloons
44. soda cans
45. glass jars with lids
46. plastic containers with lids
47. resealable plastic bags
48. magnifying glass
49. mirrors
50. flashlights
51. medicine dropper
52. thermometers
53. tongs
54. tweezers
55. tubing
56. plumbing pipes and connectors
57. rubber gloves
58. ice cube trays
59. stop watch
60. wood
61. CDs
62. coins
63. string
64. pipe cleaners
65. marbles

There you have it! 65 easy-to-find and inexpensive (or free) materials that you can use to bulk up your own home science lab. These tools are perfect for your science explorations! Make sure to download your own list of these homeschool science materials. The link to the downloadable science tools list is below. Enjoy!

PRINTABLE HOMESCHOOL SCIENCE MATERIALS LIST

Download and print out this homeschool science supply list on your home computer!

Homeschool Science Materials List

Check out this amazing list of homeschool science materials you can find around your home. Outfit your home science lab for free (or for minimal expense)!

Download Now!

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That’s when I discovered the joy of self-assembly meals! In this article, I’m going to share the most popular self-assembly meals in our home.

Is your child a picky eater? These self-assembly meal ideas may be exactly what you've been waiting for! #pickyeater #parenting
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / ElenPhoto

Self-Assembly Meals (Ideas & Inspiration)

The thing I love about self-assembly meals, is usually preparation for these dinners can be done ahead of time. Plus my children love them (and so do I). For each of these meal ideas, place all your ingredients on a counter (buffet style) and let your kids assemble their own meal by choosing the components they like. 

Taco Salad

Taco Salad is one of our favourite self-assembly meals. All you need is:

• Fried ground beef with taco seasoning
• Washed lettuce
• Diced fresh tomatoes
• Chopped avocado
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Mild salsa
• Sour cream
• Guacamole
• Crushed tortilla chips

My children usually have seconds or thirds of taco salad. They love it!

Salad Bar

Once again, my girls usually don’t like lettuce, but when it’s served in a salad bar… that’s a whole other story!

• Washed lettuce
• Diced tomato
• Diced yellow and orange peppers
• Chopped celery
• Chopped cucumber
• Croutons
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Cocktail shrimp
• Various salad dressings

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / goceristeski

Charcuterie

We have charcuterie at least once a week in our house. It’s so easy to prepare ahead of time too! 

• Chopped sausage
• Salami slices
• Pickles
• Olives
• Assorted crackers
• Assorted cheeses (we like cheddar, Havarti, and Swiss the most)
• Hummus
• Cucumbers and carrot sticks
• Grapes
• Assorted nuts
• Red pepper jelly
• Sliced baguette

Bean Bowls

My husband came up with this concoction and it’s often a favourite meal for my girls. My youngest hates rice but will eat loads of it when it’s served this way. 

• Plain cooked rice
• Beans in tomato sauce (warmed up)
• Cooked corn niblets
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Crushed tortilla chips

Breakfast for Dinner

Breakfast for dinner is one of my favourite meals. It takes a little more effort to prepare but it’s always a hit!

• Hard boiled eggs
• Cooked bacon
• Cooked breakfast sausage
• Toast and various muffins
• Condiments for toast / muffins (peanut butter, jam, margarine, etc.)
• Sliced cheese
• Assorted fruits

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / yekophotostudio

Submarine Sandwiches

While my kids will eat most sandwiches I make for them, they go crazy over making their own subs (and may have 2-3 sandwiches)! 

• Submarine buns (hot dog buns will suffice)
• Lettuce
• Sliced cucumber
• Sliced tomato
• Avocado
• Assorted cheeses
• Olives
• Margarine, mustard, mayonnaise
• Assorted meats

TIPS TO MAKE SELF-ASSEMBLY MEALS A HIT

1. Prepare as much of your self-assembly meal ahead of time. Even with something like taco salad, the meat can be cooked the day before and simply warmed up the day of the meal.
2. Allow children to serve and assemble their meals themselves. Toddlers and preschoolers may need some guidance / help.
3. You can establish a rule to try one or two “new” things if your child avoids many foods.
4. As mentioned previously, spread the food out buffet-style (it makes it much more appealing to the kiddos). 

If you have a child who’s a picky eater, self-assembly meals may be just the thing you need. Children are much more willing to eat and try new foods if they “make” it themselves!

Do you make any self-assembly meals in your home? If we haven’t mentioned one of your favourites, make sure to tell us all about it in the comments below!

The post Easy Self-Assembly Meals Your Kids Will Love appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

My yearning to raise my children in this manner started with my early childhood career. My education taught me about the benefits of leading and guiding children’s behaviours in a gentle and respectful way. The first time I held my child in my hands solidified my commitment to lead my child in a peaceful and positive way.

In this article I will share:

• The basic definition of positive parenting.
• Common positive parenting principles.
• Examples of positive parenting.
• Why parents should use positive parenting principles.
• Some positive parenting myths.

Become the mom you’ve always wanted to be with this workbook.

Positive parenting. What is it? How does it work? Is it successful? These questions and more are answered in this article. #parenting
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / VaSrobotBO

What is positive parenting?

Positive parenting focuses on developing a deep, loving, and respectful relationship with one’s children. Its primary focus is to teach children self-regulation while nurturing their self-esteem.  

What are some common principles of this parenting style?

Some common positive parenting principles are:

• The parent listens to the child and allows the child opportunities to express him/herself. 
• The parent expresses their feelings but shares these feelings without condemnation or judgement of the child.
• Rather than doling out punishments, there are logical consequences.
• A child’s feelings are never punished.
• The child learns to behave out of self-regulation and self-discipline. Making good choices and behaving is internal rather than external. 
• Rules and expectations are clear, but can also be discussed and/or negotiated between child and parent.

What are some examples of positive parenting principles?

THE PARENT LISTENS TO THE CHILD

Annie is allowed to play in her neighbourhood but has set boundaries as to where she can and can not play. Today while she was outside, her mom discovered she was outside of her boundaries. 

Her mom asks Annie why she was outside of the boundaries. Annie replies that all of her friends went to play outside of her boundaries and she didn’t want to play by herself. 

Her mom actively listens to Annie’s reasoning and empathizes with how lonely that must have made Annie feel. However, she also prompts Annie to consider other ways which she could’ve handled this dilemma.

Annie came to the conclusion that she probably should have reminded her friends of her boundaries.

THE PARENT EXPRESSES THEIR FEELINGS

In this situation, it’s important for Annie’s mom to share how it made her feel when she went to look for Annie and discovered she wasn’t within the established area. She can share how scared and worried it made her feel when she couldn’t find Annie and how for 5 minutes she was worried that Annie was hurt or in danger. 

LOGICAL CONSEQUENCES ARE USED AS A METHOD OF CHILD GUIDANCE

In the previous example of Annie ignoring her boundaries, a logical consequence can be given to Annie. Her consequence is that for today her outside time is over. Tomorrow she can play outside and hopefully she will make better choices. 

A CHILD’S FEELINGS ARE NEVER PUNISHED

Annie was mad that she had to end her outside time. She thinks her consequence is unfair. She runs to her room crying. 

Annie’s mom allows her the space and time to feel sad, disappointed, and even angry. She doesn’t give further discipline or punishment for Annie’s reaction to the consequence. Annie’s feelings are respected and valued. After some time, Annie’s mom might approach Annie to help her feel comfortable with her feelings and to reaffirm her love for Annie. 

Once again, active listening is used with Annie. Her mom might say things like, “I imagine it’s very disappointing that your outside time came to an end sooner than you hoped.” She listens to Annie and helps Annie identify and label her own feelings without passing judgement on them. 

A CHILD LEARNS TO BEHAVE OUT OF SELF-REGULATION AND SELF-DISCIPLINE

The next day Annie asks to play outside. Her mother agrees but restates the boundaries in which Annie can play. She reminds Annie that it would be wise to let her friends know that she needs to play within the prescribed area. 

Once again, Annie’s friends decide that they want to play outside of her boundaries. Rather than following them, Annie comes inside and asks her mom if she can join her friends. Annie’s mom decides to walk with Annie, so that she also knows exactly where this area is and establishes the new boundaries in which Annie can play.

Annie has learned self-regulation and self-discipline.

RULES AND EXPECTATIONS ARE CLEAR BUT CAN BE DISCUSSED AND/OR NEGOTIATED

As with the example of Annie’s boundaries when playing outside, the rules and expectations are clear. However, an exception was made to expand the boundaries on the second day. For following outside times, Annie’s mom will need to establish if the expanded area is still acceptable, or if the boundaries are to be what they previously were. Expectations need to be clear.

Why should parents use these parenting principles?

A huge focus of positive parenting is to nurture relationships (the parent’s relationship with child, the child’s relationships with others, and the child’s relationship with him/herself). This kind of relationship-based approach emanates love. It also fosters mutual respect and understanding between the parent and child.

What are some positive parenting myths?

As with any parenting method or philosophy, various myths arise. Unfortunately when these myths are shared and spread, individuals develop false views of positive parenting practices.

Here are a few common positive parenting myths.

MYTH #1 – POSITIVE PARENTING LEADS TO SPOILED CHILDREN.

Perhaps you’ve heard people say that positive parenting makes children spoiled. This is simply untrue. Unfortunately some people are still of the mindset that harsh parenting, strict rules, and firm discipline leads to well-behaved children. While these kinds of approaches may make a child compliant, the child is often choosing to behave out of fear of the parent. 

Read: How to Stop Yelling at Your Child: 3 Techniques to Try Today

External motivation is never ideal if you want to raise, competent, confident, and well-behaved children. Motivation to behave needs to come from a child’s intrinsic desire to make positive choices because it leads to self-contentment and satisfaction.

MYTH #2 – POSITIVE PARENTING IS PASSIVE PARENTING.

This myth is simply untrue. Passive parenting is letting children do whatever they want and rarely guiding, leading, or disciplining them. 

Positive parenting is quite the opposite. It requires an engaged, involved parent who takes the time to speak respectfully to and with their child. Parents converse regularly with their children and allow room for the child to express his/her thoughts and feelings about circumstances, rules, boundaries, limits, and consequences. 

MYTH #3 – POSITIVE PARENTING MEANS BEING A FRIEND TO YOUR CHILD.

Positive parenting is often mistaken to mean being “friends” with your child. While positive parenting fosters a mutually respectful relationship between parent and child, the parent still maintains their role as a parent. They do not make guidance and discipline choices because they want to be friends with their child. Parenting decisions are made based upon what is best for the child’s social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development. 

Often what is best for the child isn’t necessarily what the child wants. As mentioned previously, it’s important to listen to and validate the child’s feelings but this does not mean the parent compromises on what’s best for the child.

Become the mom you’ve always wanted to be with this workbook.

Final thoughts.

Fred Rogers once said, “To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is.” In all our efforts as parents, it’s important to love our children and to raise and discipline them while protecting and honouring their unique personality.

Positive parenting takes effort and practice. However, this investment in your relationship with your child will undoubtedly create a secure, self-confident, and self-disciplined child. 

The post What is Positive Parenting Anyway? appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Today I want to share some insights I’ve gleaned in creating a memorable Christmas with less stress and more peace.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / OSORIOartist

Come mid-November, my children are READY for Christmas. They want the tree up, the lights on, and the music playing. I think this eagerness is simply because they believe the sooner we make preparations, the faster this beloved holiday will come. 

For the past few years, I’ve sat down with my children before the Christmas season and reflected on what was important to them during the holidays. I use my Christmas planner to reminisce about the previous year and to plan for the coming year. 

I do this for a few reasons:

1- I can plan the month to include the activities that mean the most to them.

2- We can prepare for things like writing Christmas cards and purchasing gifts.

3- I can gauge what they like the most. Because why bake that particular Christmas cookie every year if it’s not a favourite?

This year as I sat down to discuss Christmas with my children, I got a whole new perspective and insight.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / nata-sabyna

With pen and paper in hand, I asked my children what their most beloved Christmas memories were. They paused and then shared various treasured memories from Christmases past:

“I remember one Christmas, I looked out the window and the snow was sparkling like diamonds and the trees were white, and it looked so beautiful.”

“My favourite Christmas memory was the year I made you a coffee mug. You cried. And I knew you loved your gift. And it was so special.”

“I love standing in the church on Christmas Eve and everyone is holding candles. It’s so pretty.”

“I remember the year when we saw a white bunny outside our window.”

“I love laying under the Christmas tree and looking up at all the colourful lights.”

As I jotted these things down, I was hit with a moment of complete clarity. Most of my children’s beloved and cherished memories were not something I could create or control. 

I can’t control the weather and make the trees frost over for Christmas morning. I can’t predict my reaction when I’m given a gift from my children. I don’t decide if the church will have a candlelit service or not. I can’t make a rabbit appear outside our living room window. I didn’t tell my children to lay under the Christmas tree to look at the lights.

This realization was freeing. 

My children didn’t mention the plates overflowing with baked goods. They didn’t reminisce about the Christmas Book Advent Calendar that we faithfully do every year. They didn’t reflect on the BIG gift they received or their Christmas stockings. They shared special moments.

Christmas is something to be experienced and felt… not controlled. And the most meaningful moments are the ones where there is pause, rest, and space for reflection. 

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / gitusik

Creating a Memorable Christmas With Less Stress and More Peace

So what can you do to create a memorable Christmas with less stress and more peace?

Create space in your days.

Rather than saying yes to all the things, take some time to slow down. Say no to some events and activities. Sometimes we think that an event or a particular experience will fill us with the Christmas spirit, when in actuality, the pressure of the event can detract from the season.

Get outdoors.

Take moments to pause and enjoy the great outdoors. Go for a nature walk. Step outside when the snow is falling. Watch the birds and the animals around you – observe their movements and patterns. 

Let go of needless traditions.

Every year we watch the same Christmas shows. We HAVE TO go look at the lights on Candy Cane Lane. Every year we decorate gingerbread men. We have these traditions that while they’re lovely, they can also be burdensome. Free yourself of a few things that you do every year. 

Be flexible.

Often the biggest stressors during the Christmas season are the expectations that we place on ourselves to make everything perfect. Allow for flexibility and welcome a change of pace. Our rigidity in plans and activities can zap peace from our lives. Allow your plans and occasions to be interrupted – you may be surprised at what comes of it.

Spend time in the word of God.

I recently discovered that the book of Luke is exactly 24 chapters long. Every day I read a chapter from this beloved book of the Bible and I reflect on it. By Christmas day, I will have read and followed Jesus’ entire life story. It’s a powerful way to experience the true reason for the season. The birth of our Lord, His perfect life, the grace offered through His sacrifice, and the freedom from sin. The power of scripture will make your Christmas especially meaningful.

Beautiful mama, you aren’t responsible for creating a magical or memorable Christmas. Step back and let the true beauty of this holiday have the chance to fill you and your children with awe and wonder. May you and your family be blessed with a beautiful Christmas filled with peace.

The post Creating a Memorable Christmas With Less Stress and More Peace appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

This article gives some inspiring and helpful suggestions to help you encourage generosity in your children this Christmas season. (Make sure to scroll down for $500 giveaway).

photo credit: Ben White on christianpics.co

How to Encourage Generosity in Your Children this Christmas

Before the Christmas tree goes up my children go into full-on “wanting” mode.

I understand.

I remember those exciting times as a kid… anticipating that special day of the year when you get gifts from others simply because you’re loved.

Yet I worry.

I fear that greed and entitlement will overcome my children. As their Christmas lists, grow, so does my concern that greed will overcome them.

Does this burden you too? Here are some practical ways to encourage generosity in your children this Christmas.

Here are some ways to encourage your children to be generous this #Christmas. #parentingtips
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IT ALL STARTS WITH A LIST

First of all, why not start the season with an attitude of generosity? Instead of encouraging your child to write a Christmas wish list, get them to write a Christmas giving list. Have them write out the ways they would like to help others this year. A few prompts for this list could be:

• I would like to help…
• I would like to donate…
• I would like to invite…
• I would like to send a Christmas card to…
• I would like to make…
• I would like to give…

HAVE A MEANINGFUL CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN

In addition, generosity can be practiced daily throughout the Christmas season.

Write 24 special activities and acts of kindness on pieces of paper. Do one activity every day leading up to Christmas.

Our meaningful Christmas countdown is a beloved tradition.

VOLUNTEER

Perhaps you can investigate volunteer opportunities that your children can participate in over the Christmas season? Here are some possible volunteer activities you can do with your children:

• sing carols at a senior’s home
• clean kennels at an animal shelter
• help deliver meals to seniors who are confined to their homes
• shovel neighbours’ sidewalks

It’s always a good idea to call organizations in advance to see if help is needed. Some places have age restrictions or may be booking volunteer opportunities far in advance.

What I love about volunteerism, is it teaches children that generosity isn’t just about giving money, people can be generous with their time.

PURCHASE AND DONATE TOYS

Furthermore, give your children a budget and have them select toys to donate to children in need. 

Our children have save / give / spend jars that they use to store their money. They use their own money to purchase and donate toys. Using their own money has a lot more meaning then simply buying it for them to donate.

COLLECT FOOD FOR THE FOOD BANK

The food bank is always in need of donations. Encourage your children to collect food from family and friends. After they’ve filled a box, they can donate it to the food bank. This article highlights how to make the most of your food bank donations.

You could even plan a reverse advent calendar! The way this works is you start with an empty basket and for every day in December leading up to Christmas, have your children add an item to the basket. Encourage them to use some of their allowance to purchase items for the basket.

BUY A CHICKEN, A WELL, OR A PIG…

Every year, my children and I gather around the World Vision catalog and we select a gift for a community in need. From livestock to medicines, and clean water to education, there are plenty of gifts to send to a community in need.

USE THEIR CREATIVITY FOR GOOD

Get out the construction paper and crayons! Have your children make Christmas cards for people who are in the hospital for Christmas or for seniors in a care facility.

ASK THEM

Last of all, try asking your children how they would like to be more generous this Christmas season! You might be surprised by all the wonderful ideas they come up with!

It’s never too late to encourage generosity in your children. Whether they donate time, goods, or money, there’s always some way to help those in need.

A GENEROUS CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS GIVEAWAY

Can you believe that this is the last Christmas in this decade?! Where has the time gone? I have teamed up with some pretty generous bloggers for the 6th annual Christmas Blessings Giveaway with the hopes of making this a Christmas to remember for TWO families as we close out this decade.

While we wish we could bless many more families, we were able to come up with a big prize for TWO families – $500 each (delivered via Paypal) – that we pray will make a big difference in their lives this Christmas season – whether it’s to fulfill their kids’ Christmas wishes, pay off some bills, or to help build some savings, our prayer is that it helps to lessen any financial burden and/or fills a specific need.

There are lots of entry options in the Rafflecopter form below – the more you enter, the better your chance of winning! I know it can seem tedious and time consuming to go through all the entries, but isn’t a chance at $500 worth it? I think it is! Plus, all of these amazing bloggers donated their own money toward the cash prizes, so this giveaway wouldn’t be possible without them. I hope you’ll take the time to check out each one. Who knows, maybe you will find some new blogs to follow.

The giveaway will run from Monday, November 18th through Wednesday, November 27th (ends at 11:59pm EST). Winner will be notified by email shortly after the giveaway ends and will have 48 hours to respond to claim the prize or another winner will be drawn. You must have a Paypal account to win. By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating bloggers. Please be sure to read the Rafflecopter terms and conditions upon entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post How to Encourage Generosity in Your Kids this Christmas appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

November 20th is a special day. You may not be aware of it’s significance, but it’s important. Every year I celebrate November 20th with my children… and here’s why.

November 20th is National Child Day.

November 20th is National Child Day. Here are some ways to celebrate it. #NationalChildDay
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What is National Child Day?

It is the celebration of the signing of the UN Declaration For The Rights of Children.

A section of our social studies curriculum requires us to teach children about the basic terms: rights and responsibilities. I decided to use the platform of this significant day to explore these terms in greater depth.

As I began to explore this concept I asked myself a few important questions:

• What does having rights mean to a child?
• What responsibilities accompany those rights?
• How do I teach a five-year-old such an abstract concept as rights and responsibilities?

2019 is an extra special year, as it marks the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Reviewing the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child

We started by reviewing the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child: In Child-Friendly Language (PDF). The convention is quite large and a lot for a young child to process so we decided to focus on one article of the convention.

Selecting A National Child Day Theme

This year I decided to select the theme: “It’s our right… to be heard”.

This theme stems from Article 12 of the Convention:

“You have the right to give your opinion and for adults to listen and take it seriously.”

What Does It Mean?

First, we discussed Article 12 and what it means for children like my daughter.

She said it meant: “What I say should be important to adults.”

I then asked her what her responsibility would be with this “right to be heard”.

She described her responsibility as: “I should also listen to others.”

We also explored the responsibility of making sure that what she says isn’t hurtful to others. With a right to be heard, we have a responsibility to ensure we don’t say things that offend or harm other people’s rights.

Books To Explore

There are various children’s picture books available to explore National Child Day. Two of our favourites include:

A comprehensive list of children’s books about children’s rights and social justice can be found on the National Child Day website (click the 2019 toolkit link for a handy PDF download).

NATIONAL CHILD DAY ACTIVITIES

Every year, there are various activities I do to celebrate this day with my children. I’ve listed some of our favourite activities below.

• Use the Unicef Rights, Wants, and Needs cards (PDF) to discuss and classify what is a right/need and what is a want
• Encourage your child to prepare a presentation on their favourite topic (and then share that presentation with family and friends)
• Wear a royal blue ribbon to commemorate the day
• Wear blue to commemorate the day
• Every year I make cards for my girls that I give to them on National Child Day (here’s a PDF version of the card I make for my girls)
• Take photos of you and/or your children wearing blue and post them to social media. Don’t forget the official hashtags: #NationalChildDay and #childrenhaverights 

The Canadian Child Care Federation has a lovely one-page handout on ways in which you can celebrate National Child Day with the children in your life. The handout can be found HERE (PDF).

National Child Day is a time to celebrate the children in our lives. They bring purity, joy, love, and laughter into our lives. However, they aren’t just children but they are also important citizens with a valid voice. They hold the future of our world in their hands.

The post National Child Day: Teaching Children About Rights and Responsibilities appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

OUR GRADE 7 CURRICULUM CHOICES

Grade 7? How did that happen? I can hardly believe I’m homeschooling a grade 7 student. Where did the time go?!

I had a great time selecting my daughter’s grade 7 curriculum. Here’s the curriculum we are using this year.

Check out these curriculum selections made for grade 7! #homeschool #curriculum
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MORNING TIME

As I’ve mentioned before, our morning time routine brings such peace and beauty into our homeschool day. It sets the stage for learning and continually inspires us. I’m definitely continuing the morning time basket. This year, the bulk of our morning time will consist of the suggestions included in the Ancients Morning Time Plans Set.

Some of the curriculum choices that I’m sharing here are part of our morning time routine, while others are used during the more structured part of our homeschool day.

I’m often asked how often we study each of our subjects, so I’ve included a section on frequency as well. 

LANGUAGE ARTS

This year my daughter is taking her Language Arts classes online through our homeschool association. As a result, I don’t have a choice in the curriculum used in this subject. However, I enrich her language arts curriculum with literature that I select for her. 

Sequential Spelling – Last year we started using Sequential Spelling in our homeschool. After trying a lot of spelling programs, we’ve finally found one that my daughter actually enjoys! So we’ll continue with Sequential Spelling this year.

FREQUENCY OF LANGUAGE ARTS: Daily

MATH

Jump Math – My daughter has been doing Jump Math since Grade 1. It’s a no-frills book (very basic in appearance) but it’s effective and she enjoys it (which is what matters). Plus, the Jump Math curriculum is very affordable. 

Bedtime Math – This is an extra bit of math fun. I read from the Bedtime Math book twice a week and the girls answer the questions. I’ve shared our love of Jump Math on Instagram and I can’t say enough good things about it! What I love about this book is it tells an interesting story/fact and then there are several questions for different age and skill levels which are tied into the story. It’s a fabulous resource and we love it! 

CTC Math – I decided to invest in CTC Math this year and I’m delighted that I took the plunge. Every week I log into the parent dashboard and set up her tasks (lessons) for the week. She enjoys it and she loves the math games too. If you want more information, you can read my honest review of CTC Math. 

FREQUENCY OF MATH:  Daily

Our edible cell experiment

SCIENCE

For years I have been following a delight-filled method of schooling my children. When I can, I try to follow their interests and incorporate those interests into our curriculum.

Since my youngest daughter is so fascinated with the human body (in particular, the work of doctors and nurses) I decided to focus on teaching human anatomy and physiology this year.

There are plenty of resources about this topic, but after gathering research and recommendations, I selected the curriculum, Exploring Creation With Human Anatomy and Physiology. 

So far, I’m LOVING this curriculum! I purchased the lab kit as well that way we have most of the materials to carry out the science experiments in the book. 

In addition to studying the human body, we regularly do nature studies during our morning time. Many of my nature study ideas come from the NaturExplorers books. They’re packed with loads of activity ideas, as well as journaling sheets, and more! In addition, last spring I set up an outdoor classroom on our porch. We will be using the classroom periodically throughout this year.

FREQUENCY OF SCIENCE: Human Anatomy Curriculum is done two times per week. Nature studies are done twice a week. Experiments are done approximately once every two weeks.

My youngest daughter in our backyard bean teepee

SOCIAL STUDIES

This year we decided to explore the history of civilizations by starting with the Ancients Morning Time Bundle from Pamela Barnhill. We love this curriculum and my children are learning so much about ancient civilizations. 

FREQUENCY OF SOCIAL STUDIES: Daily

BIBLE

This year I decided to do a loop schedule of Bible activities. We are doing the following activities:

• Reading from the Golden’s Children Bible.
• A devotional reading from: Indescribable (100 Devotions for Kids About God and Science)
• Prayer Journaling in our Prayer Map for Girls journals
• A lesson from Sacred Pathways for Kids
• Hymn Study Lesson from Hymns for a Kid’s Heart (Volume 1)

This rotation of Bible study activities keeps my children engaged, fresh, and excited to spend time with Jesus!

FREQUENCY OF BIBLE STUDIES: Daily

ART

Our art lessons are the best! I include various forms of art in our program. Watercolour paintings, collages, sculpting with clay, and drawing are just some of our regular art activities.

Our favourite art curriculum is the chalk pastel art video lessons by You ARE An Artist. My girls LOVE these video lessons! We have a monthly clubhouse membership, which we can access at any time! There are so many lessons available, I can always find something that relates to a topic we’re currently studying.

FREQUENCY OF ART LESSONS: Two times per week

We do a variety of homeschool art activities.

HEALTH

I decided that this year I would cover a different health topic every couple of months. Many of the resources I’ve gathered from the internet and the library. This year we’re studying growth mindset, hygiene, money management, goal setting and much more.

FREQUENCY OF HEALTH LESSONS: Two times per week

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

My approach to physical education is much like we’ve done in the past. The girls will have exercise DVDS and games that they will do in a daily rotation. There are also natural physical activities that I’ve included in our schedule (nature walks, biking, park outings, swimming, badminton, baseball, soccer, etc.). In addition, they attend weekly Kung Fu and gymnastics lessons.

FREQUENCY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Daily

SECOND LANGUAGE

This is the second year I’ve included a second language in our program. Last year I enrolled my daughter in Rosetta Stone French Lessons but she didn’t enjoy the rigidity of Rosetta Stone, so we switched over to DuoLingo. She’s loving it! I especially like that I can set up a “classroom” for my children in DuoLingo. By doing this, I get notifications of their progress through the lessons. 

FREQUENCY OF FRENCH LESSONS: Daily

MUSIC

We love SQUILT (Super Quiet Uninterrupted Listening Time). With this curriculum, my children get exposed to notable pieces of music. SQUILT also allows us the opportunity to include a peaceful ritual of music appreciation in our days. This year we’re focusing on learning all about the instruments in an orchestra, as well as studying some music from the Baroque and Classical Eras. 

FREQUENCY OF MUSIC LESSONS: One or two times per week

REFLECT

So now it’s your turn! Is there a particular curriculum you love that you’re using this year? Feel free to comment below and then share this post with your homeschool communities.

The post Our Fabulous Grade 7 Curriculum Choices appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / AlexLipa

It’s no secret that I love writing.

When I was in school, language arts was one of my favourite subjects.

Teaching language arts can be overwhelming. After all, there are so many facets to this subject. From spelling, to grammar, to punctuation, and composing written works… there’s a lot to cover.

Here are some suggestions for how to craft a dynamic language arts program for your child.

Check out these great tips for how to create a dynamic language arts program for your homeschooler! #writing #homeschool
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FREQUENCY OF LESSONS

We do our language arts lessons daily. However, the activities are always fresh and exciting.

FAVOURITE CURRICULUM

We rotate through a few curriculum books to keep the learning lively. The following curriculum is what we like to use.

ALL ABOUT SPELLING

All About Spelling, is by far, one of my favourite spelling curriculums. While it requires hands-on parental involvement, it effectively teaches children the many “rules” of spelling. I love how thorough it is.

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Once a week, I present a section from Editor in Chief. This curriculum encourages children to look for (and correct) errors in writing. I find it especially good for the child who resists self-editing. It subtly demonstrates the importance of editing.

BOB JONES

The format of the Bob Jones curriculum is fabulous. The chapters alternate in their focus. For example, one chapter teaches the foundations of writing (i.e verbs, adjectives, pronouns, etc.), while the next chapter focuses on a writing project.

WRITING PROJECTS

Every month I like to focus on a different type of writing (for instance, in the month of September we may focus on descriptive writing). I find with this approach, my children have enough time to completely explore each particular form of writing.

Here is a list of types of writing projects you can give to your children:

• creative writing
• business (formal) letters
• friendly (informal) letters
• compare and contrast essay
• narrative essay
• research report
• poetry
• procedural writing
• book report
• descriptive writing

If your child struggles with content ideas, I encourage you to check out WriteShop. We’re subscribed to their newsletter and every month we get a month’s worth of writing prompts delivered via email. The writing prompts can inspire even the most reluctant writer!

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / belchonock

LANGUAGE ARTS FUN

We also include fun language arts games and activities in our school days. Here are some of the activities we enjoy:

• Scrabble
• Boggle
• Bananagrams
• crossword puzzles
• word search puzzles

Another way to make writing fun is to set up a writing table with special paper, pens, envelopes, a dictionary, thesaurus, etc. You may be surprised by the works your child creates when they can use different writing tools!

As you can see, it’s easy to pull together a dynamic language arts program. There are many resources available to young children and plenty of opportunities to practice their writing skills.

The post How to Create a Dynamic Writing Program for Your Homeschooler appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / maximleshkovich

For several months the scenario hasn’t changed… your page views are predictable, your social media numbers grow at a snail’s pace, and for every newsletter subscriber you gain, you seem to lose two.

Does this sound familiar?

What to Do When Your Blog Growth Flatlines

I can guarantee almost every blogger has encountered a season when their blog growth flatlines. Here are some practical strategies to turn things around!

Check out these tips on how to turn around a #blog that has flatlined! #blogging
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Assess your strategic plan.

If you want to grow your blog you should have a strategic plan. When in a season of slow/no growth, it’s a good idea to evaluate your strategic plan and assess your objectives.

Maybe you implemented something that isn’t working well, or perhaps you’ve strayed from your original niche.

If you don’t have a strategic plan yet, just sign up for my newsletter HERE and get access to my printable template for strategic planning.

Refresh and resurrect old content.

Sometimes there’s old content that needs an update and a push through social media channels! What I love about this strategy is it can breathe new life into old posts and can excite people about your blog all over again!

If you need step-by-step instructions to inspire you through the process of refreshing and resurrecting old posts, you can find that HERE.

Network.

You can’t grow if you don’t work on building your community! Join link parties, visit other blogs, and comment on others’ social media shares. Be clever about how you market your site. Do everything you can to make your brand STAND OUT!

Take a course.

Perhaps your blog stopped growing because you stopped learning!

Blog courses are a wonderful way to breathe life into your blog. Crystal Paine’s Blogging University Courses are amazing, affordable, and helpful whether you’re just starting out or if you’re a seasoned blogger.

Read a blogging book.

There are so many helpful blogging books out there! Find one that will help you achieve your blogging goals. Here are a few good ones to investigate:

Write a guest post.

Guest posting is a fabulous way to build readership on your blog. By guest posting, you are reaching out to someone else’s audience!

When you write your article, make sure to include backlinks to your blog so that readers can pop over to your site.

Another way to achieve this is to cross publish on other sites such as The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, For Every Mom, and many more! Susan Maccarelli from Beyond Your Blog published a list of sites to submit your writing to. In fact, she even has a list of sites that will PAY for your previously published work… how sweet is that?! Increased exposure AND money… sounds like a blogger’s dream come true!

Invite guest posters.

Why not invite someone to bring their audience to YOUR site?! If you work with someone who writes within your niche, you may gain new regular readers. Make sure that your guest posting terms highlight what your expectations are (i.e. that they share the post on their social media, that they have a lead in from their own site, etc.).

If you’re considering guest posters, it’s a good idea to have a section on your site which indicates your expectations.

Make a product.

Products are another fabulous way to give your site a nudge in the upward direction.

Write a book. Make a printable resource. Design something.

Whatever you do, make sure to include a section on all the ways people can stay in contact with you (i.e. your blog URL, social media links, etc.).

Narrow your focus.

Maybe you’ve been writing about too many interests and your audience is scattered. Perhaps you drew some people in with your recipes, some with your marriage advice, some with your parenting advice, and others with your sewing projects. Your readers may not be getting what they originally came for and as a result, you’re not seeing growth.

I never used to “get” the niche blogging thing. I used to think that it was unnecessary and uninspired. I wanted to write about whatever I liked but over the last year, I realized that people were coming for specific content and I needed to share that information as much as possible.

Find a tribe.

This is KEY to getting over the flatline hump! A close-knit tribe will help you grow exponentially! They can help share your content on social media, they encourage one another, and they can be a cornerstone to your blog flourishing.

If you don’t have a tribe to join, why not form your own? Successful tribes usually are:

• small (less than 20 participants)
• active (if you can’t commit to participating in the tribe at least once a week, then maybe it isn’t the right thing for you)
• committed to seeing one another succeed (there’s no room for envy, jealousy, or gossip here – these things will kill a tribe)
• honest and willing to tell one another their concerns or opinions
• sets goals for their sites AND the tribe
• reviews membership regularly to ensure members are still interested and involved

Join a mastermind group

A while back, my blog growth flatlined. I was struggling to break my own record of daily visitors and my income was steady but predictably low. Fortunately, Crystal Paine launched her Blogging Mastermind group and after joining, my blog began to grow again. I attribute much of my growth to Crystal’s coaching sessions and mentorship.

Try not to let your blog’s flatline get you down. Every blog at some time or another hits a quiet season. Jumpstart your blog’s heart with a few of these strategies and watch your site grow!

The post What to Do When Your Blog Growth Flatlines appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

This article will explain why it’s important to create rules with children. It will also demonstrate how to involve children in this process.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / artursz

Children. 

They never fail to surprise me. 

While I think I have them figured out, they do something that sends me reeling. 

For instance, I recently decided to do an “official” cooking program with my children. While they’ve done a lot of cooking with me, I want them to learn to cook various meals all by themselves.

Before embarking on this journey, I thought I would sit them down and ask them what rules we should have for our cooking class. 

Their responses were hilarious… and ridiculous.

Rule #1 – Don’t burn down the house.

(LOL – I think that would be a given.)

Rule #2 – Don’t cut off your fingers.

(Agreed.)

Rule #3 – Knives are only to be used for cutting.

(What else could they be used for? Actually, don’t answer that.)

Rule #4 – Only lick your fingers if you’re not cooking with eggs.

(Gross. I’m beginning to think cooking with them is not a good idea. LOL)

I’ll stop here because this went on and on until they started to come up with practical, tangible, rules. 

WHY INVOLVE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE RULE-SETTING PROCESS

The reason why I’ve shared this story with you, is children NEED to be part of the rule making process. And while their rules may be slightly ridiculous (and hilarious) they thrive on opportunities to have some control over their environment. 

Control for children is important. Giving children control helps them feel less anxious. They know what to expect and the fact that you’ve included them in the rule setting process, helps them feel valued. 

In addition, by participating in the rule-making / limit-setting process, your children are more likely to follow the rules and stay within the limits. This is because:

• they are invested in the rules (after all, they helped think of them)
• your children are more likely to remember the rules / limits because they were involved in the process of setting them

HOW TO INVOLVE YOUR CHILDREN IN SETTING RULES

If you’re wondering how to involve your children in the rule making process, here are a few suggestions.

1 – Host a family meeting. Set a time and day that the family can gather to discuss the rules.

It’s important to hang up a meeting agenda beforehand, so that everyone knows that rules and limits will be a topic at this meeting. By doing this, your children can start thinking about how they want to approach this process.

2 – At the meeting, introduce the topic (what activity are you creating guidelines and limits for)? For instance if you’re going on a trip, what will be the hotel rules? Or if you’re planning a play date, what are the limits for that event?

3 – Document all of their ideas on a big piece of paper. It’s important that EVERY contribution is written down. Every child needs to feel respected, heard, and valued. 

4 – After all the ideas have been written down, involve your children in the process of narrowing down the list.Sometimes several rules can be combined into one, so facilitate that process of grouping these guidelines as well. For example, with our cooking rules, we could combine:

• don’t cut off your fingers
• knives are only to be used for cutting

Our guideline might be to always be safe when using a knife.

5 – Encourage your children to vote on the top 3-5 rules. We don’t like long lists of rules, 3-5 MAX ensure that these guidelines will be remembered more easily.

6 – Post the finalized set of rules in a visible spot somewhere in your home. Want to make it fancy? You could post them on a rustic chalkboard or on a letterboard.

So there you have it… that’s how we set rules and limits in our household. 

Do you set rules with your children too? What does your process look like? Comment below and share with me!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Setting Rules & Limits With Children appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / solarseven

CANADIAN TERRITORIES UNIT STUDY

For social studies this year, we’re studying Canada! I previously shared our month-long studies of the provinces including:

• Newfoundland & Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• New Brunswick
• Quebec
• Ontario
• Manitoba
• Saskatchewan
• Alberta
• British Columbia

We’ve learned so much about Canada this year! I’m even amazed at how much I’ve learned in this process! Since this series has been so well received I thought I would share our final homeschool unit study about the territories of: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut! It was a fabulous month full of terrific books and wonderful educational experiences!

This family did a Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut unit study in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this amazing region of Canada! #homeschool #canada #yukon #nwt #nunavut
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OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Lesniewski

YUKON, NWT, & NUNAVUT READ-ALOUD BOOKS

As I’ve mentioned many times before, we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. At this time, I read aloud to my children from a variety of books. Since we were studying the northernmost areas of Canada, I selected interesting books that were related to this region.

Since our read aloud books we shorter reads, we did a few read-alouds this month:

• Crazy for Gold by Frieda Wishinsky
• Arctic Storm by Frieda Wishinsky
• Beware, Pirates by Frieda Wishinsky

T is for Territories: A Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut Alphabet was another great book. This series has been a fabulous addition to our homeschool social studies curriculum! A poem runs through every page of the book and it relates to some aspect of the region. The rhyming text is fabulous for young children with low attention spans. But there’s also detailed information about the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut on various pages to engage and enhance the learning of older children. By reading this book, we learned so much about the northernmost regions of Canada! We read about 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month.

We have also been enjoying the Canada Close Up series. We read through:

• Canada Close Up: Yukon
• Canada Close Up: Northwest Territories
• Canada Close Up: Nunavut

These are fabulous non-fiction books. We’ve actually enjoyed all the books in this series. It’s full of photos and it gives us additional information about the territories. We read almost 1 book per week throughout the month.

VIDEOS

We watched many videos during the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the various sights of the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

POLAR PEN PAL

Throughout the month, we also enjoyed opening letters we received through our Polar Pen Pal subscription. I had purchased a 6 month subscription and saved the letters for when we studied the territories. 

The girls loved the letters, links to videos and activities, as well as the special treats like the Inuit Tea (yum)! 

It was through our Polar Pen Pal subscription that they also found their new favourite song… Ukiuq by the Jerry Cans. Make sure to check out this video – it gives some stunning northern views and inspired my youngest to practice throat singing!

ARTIST STUDY

Every month we study an artist who pairs well with the region we’re exploring. This month we studied the fabulous art of Ted Harrison. 

The Ted Harrison paintings that we studied were:

• The Old Log Church
• Yukon Sun
• Inside Passage
• Saamis Tepee

We discussed Ted Harrison’s artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art. We also read The Cremation of Sam McGee and Children of the Yukon, both of which were illustrated by Ted Harrison.

ACTIVITIES

We engaged in various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• Whitehorse – the capital of the Yukon
• Yellowknife – the capital of the Northwest Territories
• Iqaluit – the capital of Nunavut
• The flags for these territories
• Each of the territories’ flowers: Fireweed (YT), Mountain Avens (NWT), Purple Saxifrage (NU)
• Each of the territories’ birds: Common Raven (YT), Gyrfalcon (NWT), Rock Ptarmigan (NU)

As usual, we wrapped up our study of the territories with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. I love seeing what my children choose as photos that best represent the area. It’s always an enjoyable and educational activity.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Lastly, I usually include a cooking activity with our unit studies, but I was at a loss as to what to cook for our territories unit study. So we made Inuit tea (which we got through our Polar Pen Pal subscription) and were able to get our hands on some blueberry pemmican. 

Our month-long territories unit study was fabulous. We learned so much from the experience! This study of the provinces and territories across Canada has been a delightful one. The unit studies in their entirety can be found on the Complete Homeschool Study of the Provinces and Territories of Canada page.

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post Fabulous Canadian Territories Unit Study for Homeschoolers appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Tihon6

The man caught my attention. His disheveled appearance and angry outbursts made me come to the conclusion that he was either homeless, on drugs or mentally ill. He stood beside a bicycle loaded with bags and yelled at everyone who passed by.

I did what I often do in situations such as these; I averted my eyes.

Moments after walking by him I heard a series of pops. My mind raced, and when I turned to look back, he shouted at me and pointed a gun in my direction. There were several more pops.

For a few brief moments, it felt like everything stopped. Life, time, and existence froze until I looked down at my coat. I expected to see myself covered with blood, and I anticipated my legs would buckle beneath me like in the movies.

There was no blood. I was still standing.

I realized that it wasn’t a real gun that he fired at me. It was a cap gun.

This encounter launched a steady unraveling of my life. You see, when I was a teenager, I was robbed at gunpoint while working at a doughnut shop. My solution to that trauma was to quit my job. That unresolved trauma exacerbated this experience of the man with the cap gun.

I was gripped by terror. My mind was tormented with visions of this incident. I grappled with reality. I was edgy, tired, and unhappy. It took a complete mental breakdown, months later, for me to get the help that I needed.

The months that followed were some of the darkest times in my life.

While other moms were pushing their children on swings at the park or playing hide and seek, I faced the challenge of overcoming Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. While families went on picnics and took day trips to the zoo, I was locked in my house, fearful to leave, trapped in a perpetual state of anxiety. Fitful outbursts of tears would grip me at random times, and the darkness I felt wasn’t just metaphorical, it was literal.

When I was pregnant with my girls, I had visions of a joyous childhood full of smiles, giggles, and magical whimsy. Yet here I was, a weepy mess, wracked with guilt because I was robbing my children of the happy childhood that I envisioned for them.

I tried to hide the distress from my 5 and 1 1/2-year-old daughters. While I wanted to shelter them from the pain I felt, my emotions often got the best of me. I couldn’t identify with their frustrations. Sometimes I wanted to scream, “Who cares about your lost toy! I thought I had been shot!” Of course, I would never say such things, but to protect myself and them I did what seemed most natural, I hid.

Parenting books don’t cover the trials of life we may face and they rarely offer advice on how to care for your children while you’re mentally unstable.

Parenting books don’t cover the trials of life we may face and they rarely offer advice on how to care for your children while you’re mentally unstable.
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I didn’t find a Pinterest pin of 5 Ways to Navigate Parenting While Suffering from PTSD. I was on uncharted territory, and it terrified me.

My slow but steady recovery required the assistance of many professionals and months of counseling appointments. A large component of my treatment was supervised exposure therapy. These sessions involved looking at pictures of my workplace and keeping my mind present. Looking at the photos filled me with emotion. Terror, sadness, and anger would pour out of the corners of my eyes.

During exposure treatment, I was challenged to avoid looking back on the incident. Remembering the trauma escalated my emotions.

I also couldn’t look towards the future as the fear of returning to my work threatened to slow my progress.

All I could do was stay in the present. I looked at that picture of my workplace and told myself that it’s just a picture, I’m safe, and everything is okay.

After I had conquered the task of looking at photos of my workplace, I progressed to standing with my therapist on a sidewalk thirty-two blocks away from the site where the incident took place. The time spent in the exposure sessions were often 2-3 hours long and the therapy was emotionally draining.

Sometimes I would walk only a few steps. My legs often felt weak and my breathing, shallow. The therapist prompted me to talk about what I was thinking so that I wouldn’t get caught in the trappings of my mind. She would coax me to use breathing techniques and to focus on the task at hand.

The progress was painstakingly slow. If I was able to walk five blocks closer to work, we would celebrate. There were hugs, pats on the back, and sometimes, baked goods or ice cream. Each achievement was acknowledged and celebrated because every accomplishment brought me closer to wholeness.

It was the most trying time of my life, but it was also a period when I went through tremendous growth as a person and as a parent.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Devon

Lessons Learned From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Here are some of the lessons I learned from post traumatic stress disorder.

I learned about the fragility of life. I realized that time can’t be spent dwelling on the negative or what’s lacking but rather should be spent celebrating all that is. There is much to be thankful for if I take the time to seek it out and acknowledge it.

I discovered the necessity of being present. Dwelling on the past filled me with sadness, focusing on the future filled me with anxiety, but being in the present gave me contentment.

Dwelling on the past fosters sadness, focusing on the future creates anxiety, but being in the present gives contentment.
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I became aware that busyness is my number one defense mechanism. Some of the hardest times in my recovery were the quietest times. I would try to avoid the quiet by keeping myself busy. Healing came through stillness, prayer, and calm reflection

I recognized the value of sharing my feelings. It’s okay to tell my children I’m sad. I don’t need to be happy all the time to give my kids a happy childhood.

In addition, I learned to have patience with myself, and I was able to extend that grace to my children.

I discovered the importance of self-care and realized that before caring for anyone else, I needed to take care of myself. Moms, in general, tend to neglect self-care, but recovering from this trauma made me see the necessity of taking care of my body and soul.

I recognized the strength of the family unit. My recovery came from having a supportive husband and children who inspired me to seek wholeness.

I learned the power of forgiveness. In one minute my life, as I knew it, was taken away from me. In forgiveness, I was able to reclaim all that I lost and more.

Most importantly, I learned that I am loved by God. He is my heavenly father and I am his beloved daughter. He was with me as I journeyed through this dark time and I can say with absolute certainty that He healed me. Yes, I am healed. I am 100% whole. I haven’t had a flashback to these events for several years, and I can go to the area where I experienced this trauma with confidence and ease.

Lastly, I refuse to believe that this experience was a random, unfortunate event. The growth I’ve gained and the life I have as a result of it is too great. The lessons I learned from PTSD reverberate through my life, and their echoes are louder than any cap gun.

Author’s note: This article was previously published on xoJane. Since xoJane closed their website, I sought permission from them to share my story here on The Deliberate Mom – and they graciously encouraged me to do so. I want others to know that there is hope for those who suffer with PTSD and I pray that my story is one of encouragement.

The post The Lessons I Learned From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

This article is going to give you some simple and practical ideas for assembling homeschool yearbooks. Are you ready? Let’s dive in shall we?

Get some practical tips to make yearbooks for your homeschooler! #homeschooling
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HOMESCHOOL YEARBOOKS

A yearbook is a must-have for homeschoolers and here’s why:

• It’s a great way to document learning.
• A homeschool yearbook is a fabulous keepsake.
• It’s a wonderful way to inspire you (especially after a rough homeschool day).
• In the future, your children can look back and be nostalgic about their homeschool years.
• It captures field trips, projects, friends, and activities during that time in your child’s life.

HOW TO CREATE A HOMESCHOOL YEARBOOK

The best homeschool yearbook is full of pictures. So if you’re not taking loads of photos yet, hop to it!

WHAT KIND OF PICTURES SHOULD YOU INCLUDE?

Here are some great ideas of what kind of photos to take during the year.

First day of “homeschool” photo

Yes, you can also pose your child with a sign that indicates what grade they’re going into! Those photos aren’t just for kids who go to brick and mortar schools! 

Field trips

Make sure to snap photos on all the field trips you attend. 

Co-op events

If you attend a homeschool co-op, snap some photos of the activities there (check first to make sure that photos are allowed). If your child has some best buddies at the co-op, ask their parent’s permission to take a picture of them together. 

Special homeschool activities

Did you mummify a chicken with your child? Perhaps you made an erupting volcano? Or maybe your children put on a skit? Take pictures of all those special homeschool activities.

Capture the mundane too

As nice as it is to look at all those extra-special activities, it’s wonderful to capture the mundane, basic moments too. Take pictures of your children solving equations, or working on a writing project. 

Take some pictures of you

Set up a tripod and snap some pictures of you reading to your children or working on an experiment with them. You children (and you) will love having those photos to look back on!

Completed projects

The yearbook is a great way to document some of the special projects your children worked on. Whether it’s a painting they completed, a sculpture they made, a handicraft they completed, or a poem they wrote… take photos of their work.

HOW TO ASSEMBLE HOMESCHOOL YEARBOOKS

Select your photos and write up a small caption to include with the photo. Dates are handy but not necessary. Just make sure you complete your yearbook every year and have the year on the outside of the book.

You can place your photos in an album OR you can make a photobook online! I make all of our yearbooks with Chatbooks. I find it’s the easiest and simplest way to assemble our yearbooks. 

USING CHATBOOKS TO MAKE HOMESCHOOL YEARBOOKS

The best part about Chatbooks is they have an app you can install on your phone. 

Once the app is installed, when I take a picture that I want to include in the yearbook, I pop it in there and quickly write up the caption.

All year long I add to the yearbook. This way the yearbook is never an overwhelming project an the end of the year because I’ve picked away at it for ten months.

Once we’ve wrapped up our year, I order the Chatbook and voila! The book arrives in the mail a few weeks later. 

I love that I can stack our yearbooks easily and the children can sit down and look through them at any time. 

Plus, with the Chatbooks account, my previous books are kept on file. So if a book gets damaged, the kids can’t bear to share it, or the grandparents want a copy, I can simply order another yearbook with the click of a button.

Easy peasy, right?!

So what about you? Do you assemble homeschool yearbooks too? I invite you to comment below… I would love to hear your process for making a yearbook. 

Psst – If you use my Chatbooks referral link, you’ll get $10 off of your first photo book! 

The post Homeschoolers Can Have Yearbooks Too! appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Toberto

What’s the problem with plastics?

There are many issues with the amount of plastic being used in the world. For instance, plastic is landing up in our landfills and they can take anywhere from 400-1000 years to degrade. On top of that, plastic is being consumed by fish and wildlife. When we eat those animals, the toxins in that plastic ends up in OUR bodies! Even if you’re a vegetarian, plastics will end up in your food because microplastics appear in our water supply.

The amount of plastic in our world is a crisis.

Remember how over a decade ago, people were freaking out about BPA in our plastic bottles and containers? We were worried because it put the health of us and our children at risk. Shouldn’t we be as concerned over the effects that plastic has on our food and water supply?! Ingesting microplastics is harmful! In fact, in 2017, a study out of King’s College in London hypothesized that, over time, the cumulative effect of ingesting plastic could be toxic.

Since my children were born, I have looked for ways to lessen my family’s impact on the environment. From hosting a “green” Christmas to planning eco-friendly birthday parties, I’m often making changes to be more environmentally friendly. Cutting back on single-use plastics was one of the biggest changes we made and today I’m going to share these simple but powerful tips with you!

Our dependence on plastics has been in the news a lot lately. This article demonstrates simple but powerful ways for your family to use less plastic. #ecofriendlytips
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How to Use Less Plastic in Your Home

1 – Assess how much plastic is in packaging before you buy

When you’re shopping, take the time to compare the way things are packaged. For example, instead of buying the convenient 6-packs of applesauce, consider buying a large jar that you can divide into smaller containers.

The outer packaging of many products are encased in plastic. Consider buying products that are packaged in paper or cardboard instead. 

2 – Say no to a straw

Let’s face it. North America is a fast-food culture. It’s crazy when we think of how much waste comes from grabbing a meal on the run. However, we help cut back on waste by using our own reusable straws. My family loves these ones.

The silicone tips are fabulous if you have an aversion to putting metal in your mouth. The set of straws we bought came in varying lengths and widths. The set also included a convenient storage pouch and a cleaning brush.

3 – Reusable cutlery

While you’re eating out and saying no to plastic straws, you might as well say no to plastic cutlery too. There are plenty of options for travel cutlery now… from bamboo cutlery kits to wheat straw sets. The options and colours are limitless!

4 – Use a refillable water bottle

People think that if they recycle their water bottle, it’s okay to purchase bottled water. However, instead of purchasing a bottle of water, buy a refillable water bottle! Consider keeping a reusable bottle at home and one at work. Plus using a reusable water bottle is much more affordable than purchasing individual plastic bottles of water.

5 – Just say no to glitter

I know our kids love the glittery crafts and toys – but glitter is full of microplastics. No worries though. There are plenty of glitters on the market that are made of plant cellulose instead of plastics!

6 – Reusable grocery bags are a must

If you haven’t made the switch to reusable grocery bags, then this is one measure you MUST take as soon as possible. Most stores have their own reusable bags. We’ve been using these ones since 2008 and I absolutely LOVE how compact they are. They’ve lasted many years… and they’re still going strong! Plus they can carry up to 44 lbs each!

7 – Go back to bottled milk

I recently switched back to bottled milk and I have to say I LOVE it! I find the bottled milk even tastes better than the milk in a carton or a plastic jug! While glass takes a significant amount of energy to make, these milk bottles are completely reuseable.

8 – Ditch that plastic wrap

My family recently made a switch from plastic wrap to beeswax food wrap and I have no idea what took us so long to make the switch! I love this brand of food wrap. It works beautifully and stores our food well.

9 – Opt for toys made of natural products

I’ve always loved the look of natural toys but now that I know of the dangers of exposing our little ones to so much plastic, I would encourage any new parent to opt for toys made of wood and/or natural products.

10 – Reusable produce bags

I purchased these reusable produce bags quite some time ago. When purchasing your apples, bananas, potatoes, etc. simply pop them into one of these bags instead of using the plastic produce bags in the store. I recommend buying a large lot of these and carry them in your purse. 

As you can see, cutting back on your family’s plastic use isn’t that difficult. I recommend slowly integrating these tips into your lifestyle one at a time. Before you know it, your family’s dependence on (and use of) plastics will be minimal. 

Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Let’s be that group of thoughtful, committed citizens! Together, we can make a huge difference in protecting and preserving our beautiful planet.

The post The Best Ways to Curb Your Family’s Plastic Use appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Reading high quality children’s books is a wonderful way to teach your children. Also, if you discover a book that your child enjoys, you could always extend the book by doing some literacy-based planning around the book.

Now that I’ve shared our June picture books list, do you have any favourite books that you’re reading this month? I invite you to tell us all about them!

June Book List

Want a handy list of all of the books we’ve listed in this post? Simply click the download button and the complete list is yours.

Download Now!

The post Our Favourite Picture Books for June appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / JeniFoto

BRITISH COLUMBIA UNIT STUDY

For social studies this year, we’re studying Canada! I previously shared our month-long studies of various provinces including:

• Newfoundland & Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• New Brunswick
• Quebec
• Ontario
• Manitoba
• Saskatchewan
• Alberta

We’ve learned so much about Canada this year! I’m even amazed at how much I’ve learned in this process! Since this series has been so well received I thought I would share our recent homeschool unit study about the province of British Columbia! It was a fabulous month full of terrific books and wonderful educational experiences!

This family did an amazing British Columbia unit study in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this amazing province! #homeschool #canada #BritishColumbia
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OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / FER737NG

BRITISH COLUMBIA READ-ALOUD BOOKS

As I’ve mentioned many times before, we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. At this time, I read aloud to my children from a variety of books. Since we were studying British Columbia, I selected interesting books that were related to this province.

Our read aloud book was a pleasant surprise. In my research for children’s books based in British Columbia, I discovered The Whole Truth by Kit Pearson.

This fictional account of a young girl’s traumatic and sudden move to British Columbia tackles themes of grief, bullying, and moral dilemmas. It’s a fabulous book and was a delightful addition to our morning time. 

S is for Spirit Bear was another great book. This series has been a fabulous addition to our homeschool social studies curriculum! There’s a poem that runs through every page of the book and relates to some aspect of the province. The rhyming text is fabulous for young children with low attention spans. But there’s also detailed information about the province on each page to engage and enhance the learning of older children. By reading this book, we learned so much about the province of British Columbia! We read about 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month.

Canada Close Up: British Columbia was another great non-fiction book. We’ve actually enjoyed all the books in this series. The book is full of photos and it gives us additional information about the province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.

VIDEOS

We watched many videos during the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the various sights of British Columbia.

ARTIST STUDY

Every month we study an artist who pairs well with the province we’re exploring.

This month we studied the wonderful and amazing Emily Carr. 

The Emily Carr paintings that we studied were:

• Indian Church
• Above the Trees
• Cedar
• Skidgate Pole

We discussed Emily Carr’s artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.

We also read a couple books about Emily Carr too.

ACTIVITIES

We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• Victoria – the capital of British Columbia
• The provincial flag
• Provincial flower: The Pacific Dogwood
• The provincial bird: Steller’s Jay

As usual, we wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about British Columbia. I love seeing what my children choose as photos that best represent the province. It’s always an enjoyable and educational activity.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

I always like to include a cooking activity with our unit studies. We chose to make homemade Nanaimo Bars! Since my oldest daughter has an anaphylaxis dairy allergy, we chose to make these vegan Nanaimo Bars. They were delicious!

Our month-long British Columbia unit study was fabulous. We learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to do our final study of Canada. We’re heading up north to study: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut!

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post This Amazing British Columbia Unit Study Will Inspire You appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Mom Guilt. Does it hang over your head, too? Do you feel guilt over your parenting decisions? This article delves into this phenomena of mom guilt and gives practical strategies for how to let go of (and overcome) the guilt.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / CITAlliance

When I got pregnant, there were many things I anticipated. From the sleepless nights, to teething, to feeding struggles, overwhelm and exhaustion. I anticipated so much but what I didn’t expect was the guilt. 

Mom guilt became a huge part of my motherhood journey and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Was it instinct telling me I had handled something wrong? Was it a result of watching too many television shows with strong mother characters? Or was it there because I was doing a bad job as a parent?

Mom guilt is real. 

If you ask any mom if she’s felt guilt in her motherhood journey, I can bet most moms would respond with a resounding YES. 

A part of me feels like if I didn’t feel any form of mom guilt, then I’ve most likely stopped caring about how I’m doing as a mom. Yet another part of me knows that the guilt is unhealthy when left to fester within me. 

The reality is guilt doesn’t have to overcome your parenting journey. That’s why I’m sharing 3 practical strategies to deal with the mom guilt.

Do you struggle with mom guilt?! Banish mom guilt once and for all with these 3 practical strategies! #parentingtips #momguilt
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1- TRUST YOUR INTUITION

It’s not just a saying… moms DO have intuition and we need to trust it! I find my guilt usually comes from looking over my shoulder and thinking someone is handling the exact same situation better than me. But here’s the thing… that’s a different mom and a different child. Not only does comparison rob us of our confidence but it also clouds our intuition as parents.

When we trust ourselves in our roles as moms, we find much freedom and less anxiety. 

2- DISTANCE YOURSELF FROM TRIGGERS

I urge you not to skim over this point! There are people (and I’m not talking about our kids here) who feed that spirit of mom guilt. 

Whether it’s a friend who critiques the meals you feed your child or the sister who thinks your kids misbehave because you’re a “pushover”… people who make you feel guilty are toxic. 

Before distancing yourself, try explaining how their commentary on your parenting makes you feel. If they continue to critique you, then it’s time to distance yourself.

No one needs to have their doubts or fears thrown in their face by family or “friends”. Cut the ties and scale back on the amount of time you spend with these kinds of people. Your mommy heart will thank you. 

3- COMPLIMENT YOURSELF

Everyone needs positive words in their lives. 

As busy mamas, positive words are often hard to come by.

Make time in your day to write down three things you’re doing well in your motherhood journey. You can keep a journal just for this activity! Also when someone compliments your parenting, jot it down in this journal too!  

Then, when the mom guilt overwhelms you, take out your journal and read through a few pages. You’ll be amazed at how a few positive words can dissolve any negative feelings you may be having. 

PARENTING CHALLENGE

Your challenge for this month is to think about the mom guilt you feel and make a plan to eliminate it in the coming month. Whether you use these strategies or try some strategies of your own, use this month to drop the guilt from your life.

I would love to hear from you! Can you share how you let go of guilt? Then take a moment to share this article with your parenting tribes. Together we can banish mom guilt, once and for all!

This post is part of The Parenting Resolution series. The entire series is here:

Introduction: The Parenting Resolution: Make This Year the Best Year!

Challenge #1: The Parenting Resolution: Creating a Learning Plan

Challenge #2: How to Stop Yelling at Your Kids

Challenge #3: How to Say More Yes and Less No

Challenge #4: How to Let Your Children Know They Can Depend on You

Challenge #5: Banishing Mom Guilt Once and For All

The post Banishing Mom Guilt Once and For All appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Reading high quality children’s books is a wonderful way to teach your children. Also, if you discover a book that your child enjoys, you could always extend the book by doing some literacy-based planning around the book.

Now that I’ve shared our May picture books list, do you have any favourite books that you’re reading this month? I invite you to tell us all about them!

May Book List

Want a handy list of all of the books we’ve listed in this post? Simply click the download button and the complete list is yours.

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The post Our Favourite Picture Books for May appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / martinm303

ALBERTA UNIT STUDY

For social studies this year, we’re studying Canada! I previously shared our month-long studies of various provinces including:

• Newfoundland & Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• New Brunswick
• Quebec
• Ontario
• Manitoba
• Saskatchewan

We’ve learned so much about Canada this year! I’m even amazed at how much I’ve learned in this process! Since this series has been so well received I thought I would share our recent homeschool unit study about the province of Alberta! It was a wonderful month full of terrific books and fabulous educational experiences!

This family did an Alberta unit study in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this amazing province! #homeschool #canada #Alberta
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OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / gvictoria

ALBERTA READ-ALOUD BOOKS

As I’ve mentioned many times before, we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. At this time, I read aloud to my children from a variety of books. Since we were studying Alberta, I selected interesting books that were related to this province.

Our read aloud book was from the Dear Canada series. We read All Fall Down: The Landslide Diary of Abby Roberts.

This book was a historical fiction about a family’s sudden move from Montreal, Quebec to Frank, Alberta and their experience of Canada’s largest landslide disaster, the Frank Slide on April 29,1903.

The Frank Slide (Canada’s largest landslide disaster)

C is for Chinook: An Alberta Alphabet was another great book. This series has been a fabulous addition to our homeschool social studies curriculum! There’s a poem that runs through every page of the book and relates to some aspect of the province. The rhyming text is fabulous for young children with low attention spans. But there’s also detailed information about the province on each page to engage and enhance the learning of older children. By reading this book, we learned so much about the province of Alberta! We read about 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month.

Canada Close Up: Alberta was another great non-fiction book. We’ve actually enjoyed all the books in this series. The book is full of photos and it gives us additional information about the province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.

VIDEOS

We watched many videos during the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the various sights of Alberta.

ARTIST STUDY

Every month we study an artist who pairs well with the province we’re exploring.

This month we studied Roland Gissing. 

The Roland Gissing paintings that we studied were:

• The Legend of the Ghost of Ghost River
• Deepening Shadows
• Blossom Time

We discussed Roland Gissing’s artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.

ACTIVITIES

We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• Edmonton – the capital of Alberta (this didn’t take much effort since we live in Edmonton *wink*)
• The provincial flag
• Provincial flower: The Wild Rose
• The provincial bird: The Great Horned Owl

As usual, we wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about Alberta. I love seeing what my children choose as photos that best represent the province. It’s always an enjoyable and educational activity.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (Fort Macleod, Alberta)

FIELD TRIPS

Since we live in Alberta, it was easy to schedule some special field trips so my children could learn more about this fabulous province in which they live. This month we visited:

• The Provincial Legislature Building
• The Frank Slide Interpretive Centre
• The Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Our month-long Alberta unit study was fabulous. We learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to study our next province, British Columbia!

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post Learning About Canada: Homeschool Alberta Unit Study appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / avemario

Don’t laugh at me, but sometimes I imagine what my relationship will be like with my daughters when they’re older.

What will they be like when they’re 12, 16, 18, 26? Will we butt heads or will we have a close relationship? I wonder about our connection and if they will feel like they can count on me.

As I reflect on these things, I’m sure of one thing; what I do now will impact the relationship I’ll have with my girls later on in life.

More than anything, I want my children to trust me and know that they can depend on me. On some days, I feel like I’m progressing wonderfully towards this goal and on other days, I feel like I’m messing everything up.

For this month’s Parenting Resolution, I want to focus on doing things that let my children know that they can depend on me. Here’s what I’ve come up with….

How do you let your children know that they can depend on you? #parenting
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Listening.

I think this is probably the most important things I can do as a parent. When my children have a problem or a challenge, it’s important that they feel like they can always talk to me. Listening can be hard. Sometimes I feel like the voices of my children are chattering non-stop in my head. At times I even I wish I could shush them so that I can have some peace and quiet.

Then I think about the people in my life who I’m most fond of. What I appreciate the most about them is that they’re great listeners. I feel like I can tell them anything and that they truly hear me. I want my children to know that when they talk to me, that I will listen, lovingly and non-judgmentally.

Here are some ways to let your children know that you are listening to them.

Undivided attention. 

One of the best ways to let someone know you are listening to them is to give them your complete, undivided attention. This is most often reflected in the posture of your body and through eye contact.

I recognize that I can’t always immediately drop what I’m doing to listen to what my children have to say. When I’m busy, I’ll let them know: “What you’re saying sounds important. I want to give you all my attention. I just need 5 minutes to wrap this up before we talk, okay?”

Ditch the screens and electronic devices. 

It feels like I’m continually working on this. I do blog work in the afternoons while my children have “quiet” time. More often than not, my time is interrupted by at least one of my girls. I have caught myself answering their requests while still looking at the computer screen.

I want to stop doing this altogether. I need to practice this with my husband too.

Be an active listener. 

When I was in my Early Childhood Education program, one of the key practices they taught us was active listening. Unfortunately, I practice this more with people outside of my immediate family. Active listening involves being attentive to what the other person in saying. It discerns and clarifies the meaning, intentions, and feelings behind the words the other person is speaking.

This month I want to focus on using active listening techniques with my children.

Responding with love.

I think this is a critical way to let my children know that they can depend on me. For instance, if they have a frustration, struggle, or they’ve made a poor choice, I want to respond as gently and as lovingly as I can.

Responding with love can be particularly challenging if they made a poor choice. However, I’ve recently come to realize that we learn best from our mistakes. I don’t want to shame my children when they mess up, but rather I want to encourage them to assess how they would do things differently if confronted with a similar situation in the future.

Help when it’s warranted.

We seem to live in a culture that pushes the notion of independence. I, as an early childhood educator, know the importance of allowing children to assert their autonomy. I wonder, though, if this constant push for independence sometimes pushes our children away.

I’ve been reading The 5 Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman. This book has prompted me to consider my parenting techniques – specifically with my youngest daughter. It never occurred to me that when she asks for help, and I tell her that she can do it for herself, that she could be perceiving this as rejection. What if her love language is acts of service?!

I’m going to pay closer attention to moments like these and help my daughter whenever she seems genuinely overwhelmed by something.

Prayer.

Lastly, another way I can let my children know that they can depend on me is by prayer with and for them. By offering to pray with my children, I’m letting them know that God cares for them, and He will always be there in their challenges and frustrations.

I want my children to know that they can depend on me spiritually and that I will be here to lead and guide them through prayer whenever they need it.

This month’s challenge:

This month, I would like to challenge you to think of ways you can let your children know that they can depend on you.

Will you do me a favour? Can you tell us how you let your children know that they can depend on you? Then take a moment to share this article with your parenting tribes.

This post is part of The Parenting Resolution series. The entire series is here:

Introduction: The Parenting Resolution: Make This Year the Best Year!

Challenge #1: The Parenting Resolution: Creating a Learning Plan

Challenge #2: How to Stop Yelling at Your Kids

Challenge #3: How to Say More Yes and Less No

Challenge #4: How to Let Your Children Know They Can Depend on You

Challenge #5: Banishing Mom Guilt Once and For All

The post How to Let Your Children Know They Can Depend on You appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

I remember when I was a little girl, I loved math… until Grade 4. That was the grade that the times tables were drilled and division was taught. My love of this subject quickly turned into dread and hatred. 

Math was not fun. 

One of my fears when I started homeschooling, was that I would have to teach challenging subjects that I, myself, did not like while I was in school. 

How could I convey excitement and joy for learning when I dread something myself?

I soon realized that for the first few years, math was actually an easy subject to teach. 

Simple counting. Sorting. Patterns. Basic geometry.

Easy, peasy – no problem. 

But then my daughter entered Grade 5 and multiplication and division became more difficult. I had no troubles teaching it but she struggled with grasping the concepts. By the end of Grade 5, I realized that she was lost when it came to multiplication and she was need of additional help. 

After much research, I purchased an annual homeschool membership to CTC Math.

I must emphasize that even though this review is sponsored by CTC Math, I purchased this program last year with my own money and we’ve been using it regularly since then. Even though this review was sponsored by CTC Math, all opinions are my own. See my full disclosure policy here.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Goodluz

MY HONEST CTC MATH REVIEW

When I was looking for an online math teaching tool, I had several essential requirements:

• the website had to be user-friendly
• there needed to be video / visual tools
• a reward system would be beneficial (my children thrive on badges, awards, certificates)
• there had to be a way for me to monitor my children’s progress
• automatic grading
• separate accounts for me and my children
• affordable

I stumbled across CTC Math and signed up for their FREE TRIAL. It was a wonderful way to delve into the program without any kind of commitment. You get access to the first lesson of each grade and the trial gives a clear sense of how the program works. 

Within minutes of checking out the free trial, I was sold on CTC Math. CTC Math not only met but exceeded most of my expectations. I thought it would cost a fortune but I was wrong! The value for the fee was unbelievable! On top of that, since we are homeschoolers, we got a significant discount (60% off) of the regular fees and it’s a flat rate family fee (as opposed to a per student fee)! This saved us a lot of money!

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT CTC MATH

The site is very user-friendly.

I find the CTC Math website very easy to navigate. Also, if you’re just getting started, there’s a library of tutorial videos for parents on the website. 

My kids can learn math in their PJs.

Learn math in their PJs? You bet! I love that CTC Math can be done at any time. Comfort and convenience is important to us!

The program is affordable.

As I mentioned previously, the homeschool rates are so affordable. The value for your money is phenomenal. 

The parent dashboard helps me to easily monitor my children’s progress.

I love the online dashboard for CTC Math. I can see exactly when my children have logged in and how long they worked on their lessons. I can also see at a glance, what grade (percentage) they are at. 

My children and I have access to all of the grades.

Your fee covers access to all the lessons in the entire curriculum from Kindergarten to Grade 12! I love this feature because when my daughter was struggling with multiplication, I was able to access multiplication lessons from the previous grades. This ability to choose lessons from multiple grades creates a customized learning experience for my children.

I’m the one who determines what’s a passing grade. 

I love that I can set what grades my children have to get before they move onto the next lesson in the program.

The video lessons are well made. 

The video lessons in CTC Math are simple and straight-forward. They aren’t visually busy or distracting in any way. The videos are ideal for a visual learner. 

I can schedule the tasks for my children, and these tasks show up in their dashboard.

Every month, I schedule out weekly CTC Math tasks for my children. The tasks appear in their dashboard and I get email updates if they’ve completed a task or received a certificate. 

My oldest daughter loves the drills / games. 

My oldest daughter absolutely adores the drills / games (especially the Times Tables Shoot ‘Em Up Game). I was delighted that there’s something like this available in the CTC Math program because games make learning extra fun! 

My kids love the certificates. 

As I mentioned previously, my children love awards and accolades. They earn certificates in CTC Math and my youngest daughter loved that when she gets 100% in an online assessment, the screen is illuminated with streamers and confetti. 

WHAT I DON’T LOVE ABOUT CTC MATH

The drag and drop tools / feature.

My youngest daughter (Grade 2) struggled with using the online counters / manipulative tools. You have to drag and drop the counters in the screen and sometimes the counters stick and she would miscount as a result. 

To navigate this, I simply gave her physical manipulatives to use during her math lessons. I instructed her to use the physical manipulatives rather than the online counters.

The grading / marking system allows no room for minor typos/errors.

Once again, this was an issue my youngest daughter encountered. She wasn’t familiar with the shift+ key so when answering a question which required her to convert analog to digital, she typed 10;00 instead of 10:00. The semi-colon instead of colon rendered her answer as incorrect. 

Even though this is frustrating on her part, the practice from redoing the assessment isn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

HOW WE USE CTC MATH IN OUR HOMESCHOOL

My girls do math daily from their textbooks, but I also schedule 2-3 CTC Math lessons per week to enhance what they are learning in their regular math course. 

By pairing CTC Math with their favourite textbooks, my children have learned and can skillfully apply important mathematical concepts. 

OUR OVERALL IMPRESSION

We are very satisfied with CTC Math. I love the confidence it’s given me to homeschool my children through our math curriculum and I’m no longer worried about teaching math to my kids. 

Would you like to give CTC Math a try? I highly recommend the FREE TRIAL. Sign up and give it a whirl today!

But if you’re convinced and ready to sign up, click here to receive a 60% discount (for homeschooling families).

I would love to hear from you! Has your family tried CTC Math? I invite you to share your experience in the comments below.

The post Scared to Teach Math in Your Homeschool? Try CTC Math! appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / sprokop

SASKATCHEWAN UNIT STUDY

For social studies this year, we’re studying Canada! I previously shared our month-long studies of various provinces including:

• Newfoundland & Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• New Brunswick
• Quebec
• Ontario
• Manitoba

I’m stunned at how much we’ve learned about Canada so far. Since this series has been so well received I thought I would share our recent homeschool unit study about the province of Saskatchewan! It was a month full of terrific books and fabulous educational experiences!

This family did a Saskatchewan unit study in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this province! #homeschool #canada #Saskatchewan
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OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Bennian

SASKATCHEWAN READ-ALOUD BOOKS

As I’ve mentioned many times before, we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. At this time, I read aloud to my children from a variety of books. Since we were studying Saskatchewan, I carefully selected books that were related to this province.

Our read aloud books were from The Barr Colony Adventure series:

• Full Steam to Canada
• Through Flood & Fire

Both books are historical fiction novels about a family’s immigration and settlement in Saskatchewan in the early 1900’s.

L is for Land of the Living Skies was another great book. This series has been a delightful addition to our homeschool social studies curriculum!

There’s a poem that weaves through every page of the book related to each letter of the alphabet. The rhyming text is fabulous for young children with low attention spans. But there’s detailed information about the province on each page as well.

By reading this book, we learned so much about the province of Saskatchewan! We read about 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month.

Canada Close Up: Saskatchewan was another great non-fiction book. We’ve actually enjoyed all the books in this series. The book is full of photos and it gives us additional information about the province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.

Heartland: A Prairie Sampler was a gorgeous book full of beautiful artwork by Saskatchewan artist, Yvette Moore. The book describes various aspects of prairie life and even includes recipes for Saskatoon Pie and Bannock. 

VIDEOS

We watched many videos during the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the sights of Saskatchewan.

We also appreciated the additional videos about the RCMP. 

ARTIST STUDY

Every month we study an artist who pairs well with the province we’re exploring.

This month we studied Allen Sapp. He was born in the late 1920s on the Pheasant Reserve in north central Saskatchewan (which is located near North Battleford). Many of his paintings depict aboriginal and prairie life.

The Allen Sapp paintings that we studied were:

• Pow Wow Singers
• Nokum Resting
• Harvesting

We discussed Allen Sapp’s artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.

Two Spirits Soar is a fabulous coffee table art book full of Allen Sapp’s artwork.

ACTIVITIES

We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• Regina – the capital of Saskatchewan (we also learned that Regina means Queen in Latin)
• The provincial flag
• Provincial flower: The Western Red Lily
• The provincial bird: The Sharp-tailed Grouse

As usual, we wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about Saskatchewan. It’s always an enjoyable and educational activity.

Our month-long Saskatchewan unit study was fabulous. We learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to study our next province, the one where we live… Alberta!

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post Learning About Canada: Homeschool Saskatchewan Unit Study appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Stop. Don’t do that. No.

As the day progressed I realized that I had unintentionally stomped on my children’s behaviour so many times that my responses had become almost automatic.

One of the first early learning and child care courses I attended required all the students to track how many times they say no in a day. At the end of the exercise, students were often baffled by how often they said no to the children in their care.

Children will need to hear a “no” on occasion. Not everything in life is a “yes”. However, too many nos can have negative effect on our children and how they respond to us as authoritative figures.

For instance, my youngest daughter recently asked me if we could go to the park.

I said no.

She immediately dropped to the floor and started kicking, hitting, and screaming.

I stood there, completely overwhelmed by the temper tantrum that followed. She’s four!

Then I questioned myself… What did I do? Why was she freaking out like this?

I then realized that my “no” was obviously something she didn’t want to hear and she reacted by going into battle mode.

As I reflected on this situation, I realized I had slipped into the habit of frequently saying no to my children. I contemplated what I had learned in my early childhood education and decided that I had to let my children hear “yes” more often.

How to say more yes and less no! Come claim your FREE downloadable resource sheet too! #parentingresolution
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What’s wrong with saying no to your kids?

1. Saying no limits conversation.
2. It may become ineffective if overused.
3. Saying no often leads to a power struggle.
4. If you say no too often, your children may stop asking.

But what if I have to say no to my kids?

There are often alternatives to no. It just may take more time and effort to think of them and to speak them to our children. Here are a few ways to transform the “no message” into a positive message.

Make it a yes – just not a yes right now.

For instance, when my daughter asked if we could go to the park, I could have said:

“I know you love the park, we’ll make sure to go there on a warmer day.”

By responding this way, I am:

• Acknowledging her love for the park.
• Letting her know we will go there (while indicating why today might not be the best day for it).
• Sending her a positive message instead of a negative one.

Another example:

“Mom can I have some chips?”

“Sure! We’ll have some chips after dinner.”

Use positive instead of negative direction.

Instead of saying, “Stop yelling,” – you can say, “Use soft voices inside.”

Rather than saying, “Don’t jump on the couch,” try saying, “You can jump on the floor.”

Explain your requests.

Instead of saying, “Stop playing with your food!” you can say, “I’m worried you’re going to be hungry if you don’t eat your food.”

Narrate what you see and explain natural consequences of actions.

Rather than saying, “Stop taking off your boots!” you could try, “I see you took your boots off again. It looks like you don’t want to go outside to play.”

This month’s positive parenting challenge:

This month, I would like to challenge you to say yes more often. It might help to start this challenge by documenting how many times you say no in the day. 

Keep track in a notebook, how many times you say no. Tally the results and reflect on them at the end of the day. 

A day or two later, seek out ways to turn those nos into yeses. If your response has to be a no, try to phrase it so it’s positive.

Get your free download.

I’ve included a free downloadable reference sheet of examples for positive messages and alternatives to “no”. All you have to do is click the download button below and this reference sheet is yours!

Positive Messages & Alternatives to No

Check out this wonderful reference sheet of examples for positive messages and alternatives to “no”. Download your copy today.

Download Now!

Will you do me a favour? Share in the comments, do you struggle with saying “no” too much and what are you going to do to try to fix it? Then share this article with your parenting tribe.

This post is part of The Parenting Resolution series. The entire series is here:

Introduction: The Parenting Resolution: Make This Year the Best Year!

Challenge #1: The Parenting Resolution: Creating a Learning Plan

Challenge #2: How to Stop Yelling at Your Kids

Challenge #3: How to Say More Yes and Less No

Challenge #4: How to Let Your Children Know They Can Depend On You

Challenge #5: Banishing Mom Guilt Once and For All

The post How to Say More Yes and Less No appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

When I started homeschooling I just sort of dove in. My husband had just finished homeschooling my daughter through Kindergarten. As circumstances would have it, a career change had us switching roles within a couple weeks of her starting grade one. 

I had no idea what to do, how to plan, nor how to document our progress. I’ll admit, the process was overwhelming (especially for a Type-A personality such as myself). In the first year of homeschooling I learned a lot!

I would like to save you some stress and frustration by sharing some of my biggest homeschool documentation insights with you.

WHAT IS THE REQUIRED HOMESCHOOL DOCUMENTATION?

The first thing I would advise is to find out what is the legally required homeschool documentation for your province / state.

Some areas simply require a notification to homeschool, while others require extensive paperwork, attendance reports, and detailed portfolios.

• For regulations and standards in the USA visit HSLDA
• For regulations and standards in Canada, visit The Canadian Home Based Learning Resource Page.

WHY IS HOMESCHOOL DOCUMENTATION IMPORTANT?

Even if your area has loose regulations, homeschool documentation is beneficial. Here are some of the reasons why homeschool documentation is important.

HOMESCHOOL DOCUMENTATION HELPS GAUGE PROGRESS

One of the best things about homeschool documentation is it helps you gauge your child’s progress. You can see how far they’ve come through lessons and writing samples from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

HOMESCHOOL DOCUMENTATION OFFERS PROTECTION

We’ve all heard or read the story of a neighbour reporting a family to child services because they are concerned that the child isn’t in school. I tend to give these individuals the benefit of the doubt and like to think that they take this kind of action out of genuine concern for the child’s well-being. 

Regardless of the intention, if Children’s Services is on your doorstep investigating a complaint, it’s best to have evidence that your child is indeed engaged in learning activities in your homeschool.

Even if you “unschool”, there’s no harm in documenting what they’re learning. One of my favourite sheets in the Deluxe Homeschool Planner is the “Natural Learning” sheet. This sheet is perfect for the unschooler. You simply jot down the magazines/journals read, documentaries watched, projects worked on, etc. Then you file the monthly sheets in a binder!

CAPTURE THE JOY OF HOMESCHOOLING BY DOCUMENTING

Let’s face it, the years go by quickly. Homeschool documentation helps capture and preserve the memories and joy of homeschooling. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked through one of our homeschool photo albums and was inspired by the projects we did and the joy we had from past homeschooling years. 

Plus, on those really bad days, when I feel like quitting homeschooling, I take some time with our homeschool albums, and in no time I’m reminded of my passion for home education.

HOMESCHOOL DOCUMENTATION HELPS YOU ASSESS CURRICULUM

At the end of every homeschool year, I sit down with my children and have them complete a Celebration of Learning booklet. In this booklet, they document the books that they enjoyed reading the most, their favourite field trips, and the best units in each subject. 

This form of documentation has helped me select curriculum and activities for subsequent homeschool years. 

HOMESCHOOL DOCUMENTATION SIMPLIFIES TRANSFERS INTO THE MAINSTREAM SCHOOL SYSTEM

If for any reason, you decide to stop homeschooling and transfer your child to the school system, adequate documentation of your child’s learning will assist the school in determining the best placement / classes for your child. While your child may still have to undergo some placement testing, documentation could help alleviate some of the testing. 

WHAT HOMESCHOOL DOCUMENTATION SHOULD I INCLUDE IN MY CHILD’S PORTFOLIO?

So now that we’ve covered why homeschool documentation is beneficial, it’s important to know what type of homeschool documentation you should be gathering.

ATTENDANCE

It doesn’t hurt to keep an ongoing record of when your children are schooling. Even if you unschool, consider documenting the days that your children watch extra documentaries, work on a project, etc.

MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION

Medical documentation is essential if you have a child with special needs, but it’s also beneficial to all homeschoolers. Track the doctor appointments, medications, and sick days your child had throughout the year. If you have a child with special needs, store your O/T, P/T, and Speech Therapy reports as well as any IPPs that have been developed during the school year.

SCHEDULE, PLANNING SHEETS, AND/OR NATURAL LEARNING SHEETS

Schedules, planning sheets and/or natural learning sheets help you to clearly see progress and track what kind of activities were completed on a daily basis.

SAMPLES OF WORK

Keep assorted samples of your child’s work throughout the year. Some ideas for samples of work are:

• writing samples from the beginning, middle, and end of the year
• math work
• art projects
• photographs of field trips

I also like to take a photograph of my children at the beginning of the year, to document how they physically change from school year to school year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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READING LISTS

Literacy is the cornerstone of any education. Keep a copy of your child’s reading lists in your portfolio. For younger children, you can document how many minutes they read for every day. Older children can assign star ratings to the books they read. 

COMMUNITY PROJECTS

It’s also very helpful to keep a record of any community service and/or volunteer projects your children engage in. This is especially helpful for children who may be applying to colleges or universities.

ASSESSMENTS

You will also want to store various marked/graded assessments from the year in your child’s portfolio. Generated reports from online programs such as Rosetta Stone and CTC Math are also easy to print out and store.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON HOMESCHOOL DOCUMENTATION

Documentation in your homeschool needn’t be frustrating or overwhelming. Having an idea of what you want to collect and a way to store documentation is a great help! 

If you want to rock your homeschool documentation, these five ideas may be exactly what you’re looking for! 

How to you document your child’s learning in your homeschool? I invite you to share your thoughts with us!

Psst – Here are some fabulous homeschool planning secrets and hacks. You don’t want to miss these!

The post What Documentation Should I Keep in My Homeschool? appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / coloradokay

MANITOBA UNIT STUDY

For social studies this year, we’re studying Canada! I previously shared our month-long studies of various provinces including:

• Newfoundland & Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• New Brunswick
• Quebec
• Ontario

Since everyone’s enjoying a behind-the-scenes glimpse at our month-long studies, I thought I would share our recent homeschool unit study about the province of Manitoba. It was a month full of wonderful books and educational experiences!

This family did a Manitoba unit study in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this province! #homeschool #canada #Manitoba
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OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Bennian

MANITOBA READ-ALOUD BOOKS

As I’ve mentioned many times before, we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. At this time, I read aloud from a variety of books. Since we were studying Manitoba, I made sure that the books I chose were related to this province.

The read-aloud book we read was from the Canadian Flyer Series, entitled, Make it Fair! This historical fiction book was a light read and covered Nellie McClung and her fight for women’s rights to vote.

G is for Golden Boy was another great book. This series has been a fabulous addition to our homeschool social studies curriculum! There’s a poem that weaves through every page of the book related to each letter of the alphabet, which is fabulous for young children with low attention spans. But there’s also detailed information on each page as well. By reading this book, we end up learning so much about the province of Manitoba! We read about 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month.

Canada Close Up: Manitoba was a fabulous non-fiction book. We’ve enjoyed all the books in this series. It’s full of photos and gives us additional information about the province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.

VIDEOS

We watched many videos during the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the sights of Manitoba.

I also appreciated the additional videos about the Metis culture. The information provided in those videos really helped us gain an understanding and appreciation for the Metis. There was even a tutorial for how to weave a Metis sash!

ARTIST STUDY

Every month we study an artist who pairs well with the province we’re exploring. This month we studied Walter J. Phillips. He lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba for 28 years and painted many pictures of the region.

The Walter J. Phillips paintings that we studied were:

• A Suburban Street, Winnipeg, 1920
• Silver Plains, Manitoba, 1930
• York Boat on Lake Winnipeg, 1930
• Manitoba Farmstead, 1934

We discussed Walter J. Phillips’ artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.

ACTIVITIES

We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• Winnipeg – the capital of Manitoba
• The provincial flag
• Provincial flower: The Prairie Crocus
• The provincial bird: The Great Grey Owl

Of course, cooking is a big part of our exploration of the provinces. We made sure to make a delicious serving of Bannock.

We also indulged in some Jelly Filled Doughnuts!

As usual, we wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about Manitoba. It’s always an enjoyable and educational activity.

Our month-long Manitoba unit study was fabulous. We learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to study our next province… Saskatchewan!

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post Learning About Canada: Homeschool Manitoba Unit Study appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / altanaka

I’m exhausted.

We’re on hour 5 of the day. The girls have sought out every opportunity to fight with each other. In the moments that they’re not engaged in battle, they’re ganging up on me and whining that they want to watch a show.

I decide to make them lunch because there’s a slight possibility that while they’re eating, I may get a few seconds of peace. As I stir the soup in the pot, my oldest daughter starts screaming.

“Mom! Mommmmm!”

I enter the living room to see my youngest daughter biting her big sister’s pant leg… she’s angry because her older sister was tattling on her — for colouring the TV with a marker.

I come unglued.

“Both of you go to your rooms. RIGHT NOW!”

I cringed. I told myself I was not going to yell today… yet here we are, at 11:30 am, and I’m yelling.

These situations have become all too familiar. I feel like I’m losing my cool every day, and I don’t like it.

Why do we yell at our kids? Here are some tips to stop yelling at your children today. #parentingresolution
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Why do people yell at their kids?

As I’ve been doing research on this year’s parenting resolution, I’ve concluded that there are several reasons why people yell at their children.

Lack of skills/knowledge of what to do

We often parent with the skills we’ve experienced or witnessed in our personal lives. If you were raised in a home with yelling, most likely this will be your natural parenting default.

Exhaustion

When you’re mentally and emotionally drained, thinking through everything you want to say and do can be especially challenging. So we might act more impulsively.

Frustration

Perhaps you’ve dealt with the same situation repeatedly and you’re at a loss. You may be tempted to yell at your children when you’re in situations like these.

Control

Parents who yell may use this child guidance strategy because they want to control or frighten their children into submission or obedience.

Fear

Parents may yell out of fear. In some cases, this may be the only justifiable reason to yell. For instance, if your preschooler is running towards a busy road full of speeding cars, it’s very hard not to yell at them. You’re scared, and you want to get their attention as soon as possible.

Why is yelling at my kids bad?

Yelling at your children has many repercussions. Here are a few that are most concerning:

1- Yelling harms the relationship you have with your child.

There is no doubt that yelling will impact your relationship with your child. Yelling is meant to frighten and intimidate. Yelling at your kids can cause them to have fear or resentment towards you. No one wants to be in a relationship that’s based on fear and intimidation.

2- Yelling at your child hurts their self-esteem.

Much of a child’s sense of self-worth comes from feeling loved and valued as an individual. Being yelled at sends a message that they are unloved and insignificant. Also, when a parent is yelling at their child, the messages conveyed are often belittling.

The parent isn’t yelling: “I love you so much my heart could explode!” or “You are the best thing that ever happened to me!”

Rather, they’re yelling things like:

“Why do you do this all the time?! What’s the matter with you!” or “What were you thinking?!”

The yell, as well as the message delivered in the yell, hammers away at a child’s self-worth. Eventually, they start to believe the words they’ve heard.

3- When you yell at your child, it loses its impact.

Remember that preschooler who’s running towards a street full of cars? Imagine if you yell at this kid all the time over every issue and mishap? Suddenly, when you want your yell to catch their attention, it doesn’t have any impact!

However, the same preschooler who is in a home where yelling is a rarity most likely will stop in his tracks the second you yell at him.

Three techniques to stop yelling at your kids.

I’m a Christian. It’s essential to my faith journey that I regularly hand my issues and struggles over to God. I humbly accept that I can’t fix myself, but the Lord can, and will, help me in all things. He has made me the caretaker of His children. My girls are not mine, but His. It grieves me when I lose my cool with them. That’s why I want to make a change.

Here are three techniques that can help you break the habit of yelling at your children.

1- The rubber band method.

I got this technique from Jackie over at LJSkool. While her method involves using the rubber bands to catch her children doing something good, the modified technique uses the rubber band as a reminder of what not to do – and a consequence if the parent does choose to yell.

Here’s how it works. Place three rubber bands on your left wrist. If you yell at your kids, one rubber band gets moved over to your right wrist.

This technique can be rather soul-crushing… especially if you’ve just moved your last rubber band over to your right wrist. However, I find it’s also a deliberate way to challenge and counter poor behaviour. When I move that rubber band, I have to think about the scenario. I have to contemplate my words and address the fact that I screwed up.

If you’re having success with keeping your cool, then the next week, start with two rubber bands, and the week after that, go down to one.

2- Don’t yell, just love.

I adore this technique from Crystal over at Money Saving Mom. Whenever she feels like yelling at her kids, she mindfully chooses love and pours her love on them. Read her article for all of the details about this strategy.

3- Get close.

Perhaps since I’m a former early childhood educator, this strategy from Lemon Lime Adventures resonated with me the most. Instead of handling things from afar, move closer to your kids and talk with them. I encourage you to read the article to get the full effect of this approach.

Reflect

So this is the challenge for February. Will you join me? Identify what triggers you to yell. Select a technique to stop yelling at your kids and let me know what you’re going to do to break this habit.

Also, make sure to use the hashtag #parentingresolution with any of your social media shares… I want to follow you on your journey to make this your best parenting year yet!

This post is part of The Parenting Resolution series. The entire series is here:

Introduction: The Parenting Resolution: Make This Year the Best Year!

Challenge #1: The Parenting Resolution: Creating a Learning Plan

Challenge #2: How to Stop Yelling at Your Kids

The post How to Stop Yelling at Your Kids: 3 Techniques to Try Today! appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Do you wish you could spend more quality time with your children?

Are you worried you’re not spending enough time with your kids?

Are you wanting to strengthen your relationship with your children?

There were moments last year when I went to bed and upon reflecting on the day I realized that I had done a lot for my children but nothing with my children. My days were full of homeschooling, lesson prep, laundering their favourite clothing items, mending their toys, and driving them to activities.

While all these things are demonstrations of a mother’s love for her children, I realized that my children may not process the significance of these activities and may interpret their mom as too busy to be with them.

Some days I do a lot for my children but I've done nothing with them. #parenting
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / VitalikRadko

At the beginning of this year, I made it my mission to spend focused, quality time with my children. I want them to know that they are important and that I enjoy doing things with them.

Rather than make a strict schedule of activities, I jotted out a list of possibilities and made it a goal that I would do something from the list every single day. It’s not a “bucket-list” per se but rather a one stop place for inspiration.

Today I thought I would share that list with you. I haven’t done everything on this list (nor do I think I’ll do everything) but it’s a starting point.

30 Delightful Ways to Connect With Your Child

– bake a multi-layered cake or a monster cookie

– play a board game

– play with play dough together; work towards a mutual goal (i.e. a scene, a bakery)

– have a tea party

– have a camp-out in the living room (complete with s’mores and hot cocoa)

– colour a picture together (some of the most beautiful conversations have come from colouring side-by-side with my oldest daughter)

– play together with their toys… try something collaborative like Lego

– make a pizza together

– surprise them by letting them stay up later one night to watch a movie

– have a book “club”; read a book together and discuss at the end of every chapter

– build a massive fort in the living room

– have a picnic on the kitchen floor

– listen, listen, listen… children want to be heard

– snuggle with them

– create a silly photo booth complete with props and take lots of pictures

– work together to create a puppet show for the rest of the family

– have a dance party

– look at family photo albums together

– tell stories about things they did when they were little; children love to hear tales about themselves

– share stories about your childhood

– play hide and seek

– listen to some music and play/sing along with tambourines and maracas

– create an event or a celebration together; the Days of the Year website lists practically every wacky “holiday” you could imagine

photo credit: Leo Rivas on Unsplash

CONNECT WITH YOUR CHILD OUTSIDE

– create a “treasure hunt” for them; leave messages of love with every clue

– cloud or star watch outside

– go on a “date”; take your children out separately for dinner, ice cream, or the library

– go for a nature walk

– play together at the playground

– blow and chase bubbles

– go berry picking or flower picking; (optional: pack a picnic)

Check out these 30 delightful ways to connect with your child! #parenting
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I plan on extending this list as I think of more ideas.

Do you find that sometimes you do more things for your children than with your children? Do you wish you could find more ways to connect with your child?

Psst – All of these ideas can be found on this handy download (plus there are 6 additional fun ideas)!

Connect With Your Kids!

Here is a list of ways to connect with your child. Be inspired and connect today!

Download Now!

The post 30 Delightful Ways to Connect with Your Child appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: Amie Johnson on Unsplash

I remember dreading the appointment with the career counselor at my university, but I knew it would be a cornerstone of my future decision making and educational success. It turned out the appointment proved to be one of the best investments of time I had ever made.

Courses I was thinking of taking were not considered critical to my career path, but programs I had overlooked were essential to obtaining my diploma. Without that meeting, I could have squandered time, money, and resources.

Whenever we want to achieve something, a plan is necessary. So when I made my Parenting Resolution, I knew one of the most important steps I could take is make a learning plan.

It’s hard to make a change when you lack inspiration. I get most inspired when I am in a “learning” mode. Whether it’s a book, a thought-provoking conversation, or a class. Learning inspires me.

Check out the first challenge of this year's #parentingresolution! Make this year your best!
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Create a Parenting Learning Plan

January’s parenting resolution challenge is to create a parenting learning plan.

I have already decided that my learning plan will include reading one parenting book every three months. This means I will have read four parenting books by the end of this year. I’m a slow reader, plus I would still like some room for fiction books, which is why I chose to give myself three months to finish each book.

Read

At first, it was a daunting task to come up with the four books for this challenge. There are loads of parenting books to choose from!

After doing some research, and reading other bloggers’ reviews and suggestions, I decided on the following:

Raising Your Spirited Child – Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

Hands Free Mama – Rachel Macy Stafford

Simplicity Parenting – Kim John Payne (I read this in 2016 but I would like to read it again)

Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids – Dr. Laura Markham

If I finish these early I will read:

Parenting the Wholehearted Child – Jeannie Cunnion

Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline – Becky A. Bailey

Coursework

The other part of my learning plan is to complete at least a few parenting courses, workshops, or seminars.

The Becoming a Deliberate Mom workbook is one of the best, easiest, parenting workbooks you could use! I go through the workbook at least once a year. There are seven simple units with challenges and homework for each unit. This workbook was designed for moms to use and apply regardless of their busy schedules. I will once again, use the Becoming a Deliberate Mom workbook to improve my parenting practices.

In addition, thanks to the internet, it’s easy to find online classes to attend.

While developing my learning plan, I stumbled across The Center for Parenting Education and their archive of FREE parenting webinars. I may try to attend a live session as well.

Some of the webinars I hope to listen to are:

“You’re so Mean – I Hate You!” – Taming the Angry Monster in Childen

Skills of Healthy Communication

Setting the Stage for Discipline that Works

The Right Attitude for Discipline that Works

Isn’t that such a cool resource?!

Moreover, my church belongs to RightNow Media, so I may do a couple learning seminars from their collection.

I’m interested in:

Have a New Kid By Friday – Kevin Leman

The Power of Love – Gary Thomas

5 Keys to Better Kids – Michael & Amy Smalley

Each of these studies has over five video sessions, so there’s a lot of content to watch and learn.

Reflect

The last part of my learning plan is to document my learning and reflection. I will start a parenting journal and write my thoughts about what I’ve learned and how I’m applying concepts to everyday life with my children. I find journaling to be remarkably edifying, as it’s a simple way to capture the growth and changes that are taking place.

So this is the challenge for January. Will you join me? Perhaps you would like to read some parenting books this year? Please share your recommendations, your thoughts, etc.

Also, make sure to use the hashtag #parentingresolution with any of your social media shares… you can even take a picture of your books and share it on Instagram!

This post is part of The Parenting Resolution series. The entire series is here:

Introduction: The Parenting Resolution: Make This Year the Best Year!

Challenge #1: The Parenting Resolution: Creating a Learning Plan

The post The Parenting Resolution: Creating a Learning Plan appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / tiger_barb

ONTARIO UNIT STUDY

For social studies this year, we’re studying Canada! I previously shared our month-long studies of various provinces including:

• Newfoundland & Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• New Brunswick
• Quebec

Since everyone’s enjoying a behind-the-scenes glimpse at our month-long studies, I thought I would share our recent homeschool unit study about the province of Ontario. It was a month full of wonderful books and educational experiences!

This family did an Ontario unit study in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this beautiful province! #homeschool #canada #Ontario
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OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Bennian

ONTARIO READ-ALOUD BOOKS

As I’ve mentioned many times before, we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. At this time, I read aloud from a variety of books. Since we were studying Ontario, I made sure that the books I chose were related to this province.

The read-aloud book we read was, The Mealworm Diaries by Anna Kerz. The book is set in Toronto, which is why I chose it as our read-aloud book. The Mealworm Diaries dealt with big issues such as grief, trauma, bullying, diversity, and inclusivity. My girls loved the book, even though there were some intense and deeply sad moments in the book. 

A is for Algonquin Park: An Ontario Alphabet was another great book. This series has been a wonderful addition to our homeschool studies! There’s a poem that weaves through every page of the book related to each letter of the alphabet, which is fabulous for young children with low attention spans. But there’s also detailed information on each page as well. By reading this book, we end up learning so much about the province! We read 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month.

Canada Close Up: Ontario was a great non-fiction book. We’ve enjoyed all the books in this series and it gives us additional information about the province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.

VIDEOS

We watched many videos during the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the sights of Ontario.

ARTIST STUDY

Every month we study an artist who pairs well with the province we’re exploring. This month we studied Tom Thomson.

The Tom Thomson paintings that we studied were:

• Northern Lights
• Snow in the Woods
• Portage, Ragged Lake

We discussed Tom Thomson’s artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.

We also read about him in the book, Scholastic Canadian Biographies: Canadian Artists.

ACTIVITIES

We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• Toronto – the capital of Ontario
• Ottawa – the capital of Canada
• The provincial flag
• Provincial flower: Great White Trillium
• The provincial bird: the Common Loon

As usual, we wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about Ontario. It’s always an enjoyable and educational activity.

Our month-long Ontario unit study was fabulous. We learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to study our next province… Manitoba!

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post Learning About Canada: Homeschool Ontario Unit Study appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: Leonard von Bibra on Unsplash

Conflicts. Raised voices. Slamming doors. Frustration. Disappointment.

Last year wasn’t the best year in our home. I started the year off right by creating a detailed parenting vision but my eagerness waned. While I yearned to create a home of peace, I did little to make my wishes come to fruition.

In fact, it was such a rough year that I mastered strategies for how to make amends after I’ve lost my cool with my kids.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve struggled over the past year. Perhaps you could tell as my parenting posts have dwindled.

I’ve tormented myself with thoughts like:

“How can I write about parenting if I, myself, have no idea what I’m doing?”

“Why am I doing things I don’t want to do?”

“How can I give advice about parenting if I’m doing things that I shouldn’t do?”

However, I’ve come to realize something: Whenever I’m brutally honest, I discover that there are other parents who are struggling as much as I am. I’ve found that this parenting journey, although it feels solitary, it isn’t so lonely after all.

I want a change.

This year I’m making a parenting resolution to become the best mom I can be for my kids.

BECOMING A BETTER MOM

I’m not so naive to think that this will be easy. In fact, I’m certain this resolution will take a lot of work, but this is my work. Parenting is the most important job I will ever do, and I want to do my best.

As I contemplated my goals for the year, I realized that much will have to change. I have bad habits that I need to break. I have new approaches that I need to practice. This journey is going to be epic.

Change takes patience, time, and effort. Every month I want to make small changes that will breed new, good habits, and encourage a compounding growth in myself.

I’m not talking about striving for perfection, but rather improving and becoming a better mom. This resolution is for me and my children.

I want to do this. I need to do this. Maybe you need to do this too?

That is why I’ve decided to make a series out of my parenting resolution.

Every month, I’ll publish a new challenge/focus for the month, and I would love it if you could join me. Let’s start a dialogue. Let’s be open, share, and make a change!

I want to become the parent I know I need to be. My #parentingresolution begins here!
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WHEN DOES THE PARENTING RESOLUTION BEGIN?

Please come back in a couple weeks for the first challenge. Don’t worry, since it’s mid-month, I’m making it an easy one. In the meantime, if you haven’t created a parenting vision yet, maybe now’s the time to do so. Download your FREE parenting vision planner and start working on your parenting vision for the year.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey. If you share anything related on social media related to your parenting resolution, please use the hashtag #parentingresolution so that I can easily find and reshare your posts. Let’s do this… together!

THE PARENTING RESOLUTION SERIES

This post is part of the parenting resolution series. The entire series is here:

Introduction: The Parenting Resolution: Make this Your Best Year Ever!

The post The Parenting Resolution: Make This Your Best Year Ever! appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Here are some great tips to help beat the post-Christmas blues. #Christmas #mentalhealth
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / CITAlliance

10 tips to beat the post-Christmas blues!

Christmas is over. There’s a deep sadness in you.

Perhaps it’s because the family has gone home and now the house feels so empty. Maybe it’s because of the forgotten Christmas tree in the corner of the room… the lights are no longer turned on, and there’s a void beneath the tree. Or perhaps it’s because the passing of the season is a sad reminder of the passage of time.

Regardless of the reason, the days after Christmas can be emotionally overwhelming. Here are ten tips on how to beat the post-Christmas blues.

Take down the tree

A festive season has just passed. Usually, the Christmas tree is placed in the heart of the home… which can be a frequent and sad reminder that Christmas is over. Take down the tree, clean your house and revel in the joy of the extra space you’ve just created.

Take a break

You’ve been busy with visits, activities, and events. Take a relaxation day for yourself. Stay in your pajamas all day and relax! You can read one of your new books, watch some movies, take a hot bath and unwind. Enjoy the peace and quiet of your home.

Even children need a break after Christmas. Designate a day free of commitments and allow your children the time to explore their new toys.

Give

Christmas is a time of giving. We become extra conscientious of the poor and needy. Don’t stop now that Christmas is over! Commit to continued giving and good will.

Perhaps you can adopt a Foster Child from another country? Or maybe you can donate some time to a local charity, homeless shelter or hospital. There will always be people in need… don’t let the passing of Christmas cloud your awareness of this. Plus giving, whether it’s time or money, makes you feel good!

Clean up

You got all this stuff for Christmas, and now you need to find a place for all of it. Take the opportunity to declutter and reorganize your belongings. Donate old clothes to a homeless shelter. Go through your child’s toys. Is there anything they don’t play with anymore?

Start a box for items you wish to place in next year’s garage sale. Place ads for “old” items online. Use this time to clean your cupboards and decide what you want to keep and what you want to discard.

Also, keep in mind that local charities accept donations of most household items… so not only are you decluttering but you’re also doing something good for your community!

Plan a trip

Part of the joy of Christmas is all the planning, preparation, and excitement leading up to it. Perhaps you can plan a family vacation to take place in a few months’ time. Whether it’s a trip to a nearby city or overseas, to have a vacation to look forward to can help you overcome some of the post-Christmas blues.

Reframe your thoughts

Instead of dwelling on the fact that Christmas is over, reframe your thinking and look forward to all the things to come in the New Year!

Reflect on the season

Think of all the wonderful things you did this Christmas and write about it! Ever since I was pregnant with my little girl, I have written about our family Christmas every year. I assemble my writings and then create a pictures album through Chatbooks. If you like to scrapbook, you can assemble the mementos that way as well. Recalling fun holiday moments can help alleviate some of the sadness you may have about the holiday season being over.

Pay a bill

Part of the post-holiday depression comes from the spending you may have done during the Christmas season. We all know we shouldn’t spend money we don’t have but still, holiday debt is a reality that many people face. Do you still have some money in your bank account? Pay a bill right now before you’re tempted to spend the cash. Don’t have any money in the bank account? Sell something and put at least 85% of the money towards a bill (i.e. You received a new camera for Christmas. Sell your old camera and put the money toward your holiday debt).

Plan a party

Perhaps in a month’s time you can get together with the friends you didn’t have the time to visit with during the holiday season. You can plan a wine and cheese function, games night, or a dinner party. Getting together with friends outside of the holiday bustle can make the visit that much more enjoyable!

Start writing letters and thank you cards

If you didn’t write letters to include in your annual family Christmas card, perhaps now is a good time to do so. Write about what your family did during the Christmas season and any plans you may have for the New Year.

This is also a good time to write thank-you cards to the people who may have given you or your children gifts. Giving (and receiving) mail after Christmas can be a very simple way to extend the joy of the holiday season.

Is there anything you do to beat the post-Christmas blues? If so, please share your thoughts and ideas for others to enjoy.

The post How to Beat the Post-Christmas Blues appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Please note, I received this product for free from Moms Meet to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate (referral) links. As always, my opinions are completely my own.

My children are raving fans of the National Geographic Weird But True books. As you may already be aware, for social studies this year, we are studying Canada. This made the Weird But True! Canada edition especially appealing!

WHAT IS WEIRD BUT TRUE CANADA?

Weird But True! Canada is a book published by National Geographic Kids that contains 300 quirky, bizarre, and unique facts about Canada. This 208 page book is full of pictures, as well as short, catchy blurbs about Canada.

MY HONEST OPINION OF WEIRD BUT TRUE CANADA

While the internet is a wonderful resource for information, nothing takes the place of books. Not only does Weird But True! Canada, provide hours of unplugged entertainment and information, but it’s the FIRST country-specific Weird But True! book. Yay for Canada!

As a homeschooling mom, I’m often on the look-out for educational materials that appeal to my children, that also meet my curriculum needs. The Weird But True! Canada book is now one of my coveted educational resources. Here are some of the reasons why I loved this book.

INTERESTING PROVOCATIONS FOR LEARNING

The Weird But True! Canada book provides wonderful provocations for learning. For example, when we were reading the book we encountered the fact: “At Alberta’s Gopher Hole Museum, stuffed gophers are posed in everyday scenarios, such as having a picnic at the beach, getting their hair done, and pumping gas.”

We live in Alberta and I’ve never heard of this museum before. After doing some research, we found out that the Gopher Hole Museum is located in Torrington, Alberta. We looked Torrington up on the map and discovered it’s about a 2 hour drive from our home. We’re definitely adding this attraction on our “must see” list!

Many of the facts in the Weird But True! Canada book, provide the opportunity for further exploration and research. We’ve learned about new people and places, plus we’ve encountered fascinating statistics about animals! For instance, I had no idea that walruses can run as fast as humans! I always thought they were slow animals.

The Weird But True! Canada book is so engaging that my children don’t even know they’re learning! I love it when learning is this easy!

REINFORCES LEARNING

As I mentioned previously, this year we’ve been studying the provinces & territories of Canada. My girls were so excited when they saw the fact: “The Bay of Fundy off Nova Scotia has the world’s highest tides – as tall as a five story building.”

My youngest daughter exclaimed, “Hey, we learned about that when we were studying Nova Scotia!”

BEAUTIFUL FULL-COLOUR PICTURES

Another aspect I love about the Weird But True! Canada book is that it’s full of beautiful and colourful images. The photos make the book extra appealing to children.

COMPACT

As a homeschooling mom, I appreciate small books that are loaded with information. The Weird But True! Canada book is very compact. They’re about 6.5″ x 6.5″ – so they take up very little room on your bookshelves.

PRICE

I like that the Weird But True books are affordable. The price listed on the back of the book is $10.99 CAN and $7.99 US.

EASY TO FIND

These books are easy to find! National Geographic Kids Weird But True! Canada is available for purchase at:

Indigo, Barnes & Noble, independent bookstores, Target, Walmart, and of course, Amazon.

Come read this mom's honest review of Weird But True! Canada. @momsmeet @ngkids #sponsored
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WHAT MY KIDS SAY ABOUT WEIRD BUT TRUE CANADA

My seven-year-old daughter, Hope, said: “It’s amazing!”

Hope’s favourite fact from the book is: “Twelve people can fit inside the mouth of the world’s largest dinosaur statue, in Alberta.”

We recently visited Drumheller, so I can see why this particular fact resonated with her. She said, “I knew it was big but I didn’t know twelve people could fit in there!”

My ten-year-old daughter, Grace, said: “This book is awesome!”

Grace’s favourite fact from the book is: “Canadian ‘Furious Pete’ holds records for the most hamburgers eaten in a minute, the fastest time to eat a bowl of pasta, and the fastest time to eat a hot dog with no hands.”

It’s no surprise that Grace loved this fact, considering hamburgers and hot dogs are on her top five list of favourite foods!

IT’S THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY!

Did you know that it’s the 10th anniversary of the original Weird But True! series? To celebrate this amazing milestone, the 1-10 series is updated with flashy new covers and 50 more facts to appeal to a whole new generation of readers. You can get more details about all the Weird But True books on the National Geographic Kids website.

ENTER THE WEIRD BUT TRUE CANADA CONTEST

Kids 6-14 years old are invited to enter the Weird But True! Canada contest! To enter, they simply submit their own verifiable weird facts about their hometown, province, or country at: natgeokids.com/wbtcanada through March 1, 2019.

If your fact is featured on the National Geographic Kids website next May, you’ll win two books: Weird But True! Canada and Weird But True! 10.

We loved the Weird But True! Canada book! From the amazing photographs to the engaging facts, my children and I will treasure this book for many years!

LEARN MORE

• Visit the National Geographic Kids website
• Follow National Geographic Kids on Facebook
• Stay connected with National Geographic Kids on Twitter

The post My Honest Review of Weird But True! Canada Edition appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

We’re spending this year studying Canada! I previously shared our studies of:

• Newfoundland & Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• New Brunswick

Since everyone’s enjoying a behind-the-scenes glimpse at our month-long studies, I thought I would share our recent homeschool unit study about the province of Quebec. It was a month full of wonderful books and educational experiences!

This family did a Quebec unit study in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this amazing province! #homeschool #canada #quebec
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OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Bennian

READ-ALOUD BOOKS

As I’ve mentioned many times before, we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. At this time, I read aloud from a variety of books. Since we were studying Quebec, I made sure that the books I chose were related to this province.

We read a few historical fiction books this month. The books we read were from the Our Canadian Girl series. The books we read included:

• Marie-Claire: Dark Spring
• Marie-Claire: A Season of Sorrow
• Marie-Claire: The Visitors

This historical fiction series is about a girl living in Montreal during the late 1800’s. It tells the sad and challenging tale of living during the Small Pox epidemic.

F is for French: A New Quebec Alphabet was another great book. This series has been a wonderful addition to our homeschool studies! We end up learning so much additional information about the province! We read 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month.

Canada Close Up: Quebec was a great non-fiction book that gave us detailed information about the province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.

We also read Lost in the Snow (a book from the Canadian Flyer Adventure Series).

My girls also enjoyed A New Life for Henri from the book On a Canadian Day.

VIDEOS

We watched many videos during the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the sights of Quebec.

ARTIST STUDY

Every month we study an artist who pairs well with the province we’re exploring. This month we studied Cornelius Krieghoff.

The four Cornelius Krieghoff paintings that we studied were:

• Moccasin Seller Crossing the St. Lawrence at Quebec City
• Fishing at Lake Memphremagog
• The First Snow
• Mail Boat Crossing

We discussed Cornelius Krieghoff’s artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.

ACTIVITIES

We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• Quebec City – the capital of Quebec
• The provincial flag
• Provincial flower: Northern Blue Flag
• The provincial bird: the Snowy Owl

We also made sure to cook some recipes that are popular in the region. Some of the delicacies we enjoyed were:

• Tourtière (meat pie)
• Sugar Pie
• Poutine
• Chômeur

Since Quebec produces 71% of the world’s supply of maple syrup, we spent some time studying how maple syrup is made. Our study included a few great books and a fabulous video on maple tree tapping.

As usual, we wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about Quebec. It’s always an enjoyable and educational activity.

Our month-long Quebec unit study was fabulous. We learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to study our next province… Ontario!

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post Learning About Canada: Homeschool Quebec Unit Study appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / pressmaster

DO YOU WANT YOUR CHILDREN TO BE EAGER HOMESCHOOLERS?

We opened our books and from the collective groan, I could tell my children weren’t too happy to be back to their homeschool routine. My bubble of excitement deflated because I knew this would be a battle to get back into the groove of learning.

Do you have moments like these too?

As homeschooling parents, we want our children to be eager homeschoolers. We want to see an enthusiasm and a desire to learn, but how to we do that? Here are 6 little things you can do to create eager homeschoolers.

Do you want to excite and inspire your children to learn? Here are 6 little things you can do to create eager homeschoolers. #homeschooling
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WHAT CAN YOU DO TO CREATE EAGER HOMESHOOLERS?

HAVE A PLAN

If there’s one thing I want to emphasize the most, it’s to have a plan. Always have an idea of what you want to accomplish on a given day. I encourage you to leave room for rabbit trails and spontaneity, but have a goal for the day.

If you have troubles keeping your inspiration and ideas in one place, you might want to try using a planner. The Deluxe Homeschool Planner has all the sheets you need to plan (and document) your children’s learning.

READ ALOUD

If you think your children are too old to have read-aloud time, think again. Sarah Mackenzie’s book, The Read Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections With Your Kids highlights the beauty of reading aloud to children of all ages.

Read aloud time is something that will excite and inspire your homeschoolers. They will be eager to join you to find out what happens next in the story. My children request that we read aloud fist thing in the morning because they ALWAYS want to know where the plot of the story is headed. I love their excitement. Plus, I use that excitement to my benefit, by bridging into our other subjects afterwards.

USE LEARNING PROVOCATIONS

Learning provocations are another delightful way to create eager homeschoolers. Often this strategy is overlooked, but it works beautifully with children of all ages.

This article about learning provocations is a fantastic resource to explore the idea of using provocations in your homeschool.

BE EXCITED

An excited teacher makes for excited students. If you have no passion or joy for what you’re teaching, then how can you expect your children to be eager to learn?

If you’re lacking excitement, perhaps you need to take a break, have coffee with a close homeschooling friend, or attend a homeschool conference.

DO SOMETHING NEW

A great way to have eager homeschoolers is to do something new! Maybe you do today’s lessons outside in the backyard? Or perhaps you take a field trip to your local museum? Simply sitting in a different room of the house can create a new eagerness for your homeschoolers as well.

CHILD-LED DISCOVERY

One of the easiest ways to create eager homeschoolers, is to allow ample time for child-led discovery. So if you’re reading a book and a child asks about something you’ve read, look up the topic together. Borrow books about this subject and help them find all the answers to their questions.

I use child-led discovery often with my children. We’ve explored trees, clouds, butterflies, ants, and even historical events like the Frank Slide, the Titanic, and the Halifax Explosion by following “rabbit trails” of interest from my children.

Another wonderful aspect about child-led learning, is they retain the information a lot better because it’s of interest to THEM!

WANT EAGER HOMESCHOOLERS?

If you want eager homeschoolers, I encourage you to try some of these strategies. Make sure to let me know which works for you!

The post 6 Little Things That Create Eager Homeschoolers appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Fortunately, I’ve tried a few kid’s subscription boxes and today I would like to share them with you!

Are you looking for a subscription box for children? These are some of the best! #subscriptionboxes
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Maximkostenko

WHY BUY A MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION BOX FOR KIDS?

I love monthly subscription boxes for children. It’s a fabulous gift, and one that gives throughout the year.

What’s wonderful about gift subscription boxes is your child will receive a new “gift” every month throughout the year. Plus many of the boxes that I’m sharing with you are educational boxes… which means it’s a gift that will enhance your child’s cognitive development. Now that’s a win-win, right?!

LITTLE PASSPORTS

I absolutely ADORE the Little Passports subscription box. The materials are high quality and the recipient of this subscription will learn so much about the world!

Each month your child will receive:

• Letters from their pals, Sam & Sofia
• Fun “souvenirs”
• Activity sheets
• Stickers for their suitcase, passport & map
• Photos

For more information, here is my in-depth review of the Little Passports Subscription Box.

KIWI CRATE

The Kiwi Crate subscription box is the perfect pairing for a child who loves to create and explore.

Every month, your child will receive:

• A Maker Project (hands on fun for art, science, and engineering)
• Creative Learning materials
• explore! Magazine (full of comics, experiments, and games)
• Online DIY Ideas

You can start with Kiwi Crate, but have the option to switch to any of the other crates later on.

I’ve previously reviewed Kiwi Crate. Here’s where you can read the full review of our Kiwi Crate experience.

**Note: This review of Kiwi Crate was done when it was strictly an arts & crafts subscription box. Since then, Kiwi Crate has expanded to include many other modes of creating and discovery! I think it’s actually a better value now!**

KIDSTIR

Kidstir is another wonderful monthly subscription box! If you want a subscription that teaches your child a practical life skill (cooking) and you want a gift that allows you to connect more with your child, then this monthly subscription box is for you!

Each month, your child will receive:

• A fresh food shopping list (which is also emailed)
• 3 easy recipes for children and grown-ups
• 2 kid-size tools and extras that get children involved
• 3 foodie education pages (covers culture, vocabulary, science and math)
• 3 fun learning filled games and activities
  

Kidstir is a wonderful gift for children who love to be in the kitchen!

**Note: Kidstir recently discontinued shipments to Canada, so they only ship within the US.**

THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS SCIENCE CLUB

My children LOVE the Magic School Bus, so naturally this science club subscription is a hit with them!

Every month your child will receive:

• A colourful manual based on the Magic School Bus characters
• At least seven experiments to complete which relate to that month’s “theme”

The Magic School Bus Science Club Subscription is a fabulous deal for the little scientists in your life.

THE PRIME BOOK BOX FOR KIDS

Amazon is getting in on this subscription box thing with their Prime Book Box for Kids! This is a fabulous subscription for the little reader in your life. Each box contains 2 hardcover books or 4 board books. This box saves you over 40% off the list price AND you can choose if you want the books delivered every 1, 2, or 3 months! I love that kind of flexibility in a subscription!

**Note: This is only available in the US, but I certainly hope it comes to Canada soon. My children LOVE books!**

So there you have it! These are some of best subscription boxes for children. Which ones are you interested in? Do you have a subscription box for children that you love which I haven’t mentioned here? Make sure to tell us all about it!

The post The Best Subscription Boxes for Children appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Romanovskaya

Simple Preparations for a Stress-Free Christmas Season

Christmas! I love this season and I adore preparing for it!

You may not share my sentiments. In fact, just the idea that we’re inching closer to Christmas may add to your stress. You dread baking, buying gifts, and maybe you even agonize over the idea of hosting people in your home.

I know, I’m probably a minority here, but organizing, planning for, and anticipating Christmas is one of my favourite parts of the season. That’s why today I’m going to share a step-by-step process to plan a stress-free Christmas. Are you ready? Pour yourself some egg nog, bring up Nat King Cole on your playlist, and join me as we prepare to deck the halls!

Check out these simple preparations, tips, and hacks for a stress-free Christmas season! #Christmasplanning
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1- START YOUR CHRISTMAS LISTS

Instead of “start your engines”, I’m encouraging you to start your lists! Now’s the time to start listing everything that needs to be done prior to December 25th.

You’ll need multiple lists too. Here are some lists to make:

• Activities, parties, and functions
• Christmas cards (and addresses)
• Gifts to buy
• Meals to make
• Baking to do
• Traditions

This beautiful and affordable ($3 CAD) Christmas Planner has many different types of lists and it’s a great way to get your Christmas preparations organized. Buy once, print as many sheets as you need, and use it year after year!

2- MAKE YOUR CHRISTMAS BUDGET

I know. This is part you would rather avoid. However, as wonderful as the Christmas season may be, you don’t want a dreaded debt hangover in the new year.

Take some time to carefully consider how much you want to spend this Christmas. Here are some areas to include in your Christmas budget:

• Christmas cards
• Stamps and parcel postage
• Food
• Gifts
• Stocking stuffers
• Travel expenses
• Special events and activities
• Decorations

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Feverpitch

3- MAKE CONTACT

Spend some time making contact with family and friends to get a clear indication of how the holidays will be handled this year. Some things to consider:

• Is family coming in from out of town?
• Where are out of town guests staying?
• How are gifts being handled (buying for one, buying for all, group gifts, etc.)

4- CARDS, CARDS, CARDS

I’m all about traditions. I love sending (and receiving) Christmas cards. You may not do Christmas cards, or perhaps you send your season’s greetings via email… if so, you can breeze past this point to the next tip. BUT, if you’re like me and you send annual Christmas cards here are some things to contemplate:

• Did anyone move, get married, have a baby, or die? It’s good to know these things before you address and mail your Christmas cards.
• Confirm addresses for Christmas cards.
• If you design photo Christmas cards, these should be ordered before November 10th so that you have ample time for them to be made, delivered, and for you to address them.
• Don’t forget to purchase stamps.

We’ve used various different card making companies over the years, but Minted, Snapfish, and Mixbook remain our favourites!

Just a little side note: When I’m licking the envelopes for Christmas cards I can’t help but think of the Seinfeld episode in which Susan, George’s fiancé, dies from licking the envelopes for their wedding invitations. And every year I think I have GOT to get one of these handy envelope moisteners.

5- GET YOUR CHRISTMAS BAKING ORGANIZED

In order to avoid overwhelm, I recommend you start your Christmas baking by mid-November. Try making 1-2 items every week and freeze as much baking as you can. If you have treat thieves in your house, try burying your Christmas baking at the bottom of your deep freezer. Make sure to keep a log of what you baked, how much you baked, and when you baked it.

My Christmas Planner has generous space to record your Christmas baking as well.

If you’re looking for some amazing Christmas baking ideas, you might want to check out these family favourites:

• Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn
• 3-Ingredient Chocolate Crunchies
• Cuban Lunch

This tip isn’t just reserved for treats and sweets – it applies to main dishes too! For instance, I like to make my Christmas Cabbage Rolls and meat pies a few weeks ahead of time.

photo credit: jill111 on Pixabay

6- BUY THOSE CHRISTMAS GIFTS

I urge you to start your Christmas shopping as soon as possible. My husband and I have a bin in the basement where we store gifts that we purchase throughout the year. This often alleviates the last minute rush of Christmas shopping.

If you need gift ideas, there are plenty of ideas online! Here are a few notable round-ups of gift ideas:

• 12 Great Gift Ideas for Men
• Top 10 Educational Gifts for Young Children
• Unique and Inspiring Gifts for the Christian Woman
• Last Minute Stocking Stuffer Ideas

7- PLAN FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

Spend some time considering your family’s Christmas traditions. Do you have any preparations to make ahead of time? We have a Christmas Book Advent Calendar which requires me to wrap 25 books for the month of December. I like to make sure this project is completed a few days before December 1st. We also do a Meaningful Christmas Countdown which takes some organization and planning.

Here are some tradition preparations to consider:

• Have you assembled / made your advent calendars?
• Are you doing any charity work? Have you signed up for it yet?
• Have you designed / sent out invites for any special activities?
• Babysitting arrangements have been made so you can attend work Christmas parties?

8- REFLECT ON CHRISTMAS

Christmas is a wonderful time for reflection. If you’re a Christian, Christmas is probably especially meaningful to you. This is a good time to choose a devotional to help you set your eyes on Christ. One of my all-time favourite Christmas devotionals is Then Came Jesus by Lara Williams. I could do it year after year.

9- DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS

Ahhh, one of our favourite parts of the season… decorating the home.

I advise you go through your Christmas decorations at least 1-2 weeks PRIOR to putting up your Christmas tree. It’s better to discover broken decorations, burnt out lights, etc. before you’re in the midst of decorating.

10- WATCH YOUR FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS MOVIES

If you love Christmas movies as much as my family does, you may want to take some time to schedule the days you’ll watch your favourite Christmas shows!

Maybe write your movies on a calendar, that way you can stay on track with the festive shows you wish to watch with your family.

11- ENJOY CHRISTMAS

Hopefully this step-by-step plan will help you get organized for a stress-free Christmas season. Make sure to enjoy all the moments and remember — we celebrate this beautiful holiday only once a year. Make the most of it and enjoy the time spent with loved ones.

May this be the best, most blessed, Christmas ever.

PSST – I have so many Christmas articles, craft ideas, recipes, and more that I’ve shared here on The Deliberate Mom. Make sure to check out my Christmas Library for holiday inspiration.

The post Simple Preparations for a Stress-Free Christmas Season appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

• Newfoundland & Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island

Since everyone’s enjoying a behind-the-scenes glimpse at our month-long studies, I thought I would share our recent homeschool New Brunswick unit study. It was a month full of wonderful books and educational experiences!

This family did a New Brunswick unit study in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this fascinating province! #homeschool #canada #newbrunswick
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / vincentstthomas

OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Bennian

READ-ALOUD BOOKS

As I’ve mentioned many times before, we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. At this time, I read aloud from a variety of books. Since we were studying New Brunswick, I made sure that the books I chose were related.

It was a challenge to find a novel based in the province of New Brunswick, so we ended up reading Dear Canada: Banished From Our Home: The Acadian Diary of Angelique Richard, Grande-pre, Acadia, 1755. This historical fiction about the expulsion of the Acadians was a fascinating, but also a very sad read. However, my girls enjoyed this book and often begged me to read more than our allotted amount.

F is for Fiddlehead: A New Brunswick Alphabet was another great book. I’ve been hooked on this series of books since we began our studies of Canada. Even though this is an alphabet book, it’s a very educational read! Reading through this book often reinforces the facts we’ve learned and also introduces new information about the province too. We read 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month.

Canada Close Up: New Brunswick gave us detailed information about the province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.

VIDEOS

We watched many videos during the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the sights of New Brunswick. My children’s favourite part of the province was the Hopewell Rocks.

ARTIST STUDY

Every month we study an artist who pairs well with the province we’re exploring. This month we studied Alexander Colville. He traveled and lived in numerous places, but since he taught at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick from 1946 to 1963, I thought he would be a suitable artist to pair with our New Brunswick studies.

We used this Mapping Colville interactive map to specifically investigate the areas his paintings depicted / were inspired from.

The four Alexander Colville paintings that we studied were:

• To Prince Edward Island
• Church and Horse
• On a River
• Seven Crows

We discussed Alexander Colville’s artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.

ACTIVITIES

We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• Fredericton – the capital of New Brunswick
• The provincial flag
• Provincial flower: the Purple Violet
• The provincial bird: the Black-Capped Chickadee

We also made sure to cook some recipes that are popular in the region. Poutines With a Hole was our favourite New Brunswick treat!

As usual, we wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about New Brunswick. It’s always an enjoyable and educational activity.

Our month-long study of New Brunswick was fabulous. We learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to study our next province… Quebec!

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post Homeschool Study of New Brunswick appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / alenkasm

Before I had children, I had this amazing picture of what kind of mom I would be. I envisioned myself as a calm mom. I imagined an even-tempered woman who would always speak in a slow and even tone. Basically, I pictured myself as a female Mr. Rogers.

Was I in for a surprise!

Am I crazy to think that I could ever be a calm mom? A calm mom… it could almost be an oxymoron couldn’t it?

Over the last decade of parenting, I’ve been on a journey to become the best mom I could be. This adventure of parenting two children has refined me. I’ve had my share of struggles. In fact, I went through a time when I yelled at my children. I’ve also struggled with balancing the demands of homeschooling, working, homemaking, and parenting. As I felt the pull of all these demands, I floundered in my role as mom. I was far from calm, yet I yearned for it with all my being.

Do you wish you could be a calm mom too?

I don’t know if I’ve mellowed in my age. Maybe it’s that I’ve begun to feel more comfortable in my role as a mom. Regardless, over the past year, my parenting style has become calmer. As a deliberate and reflective mom, I’ve contemplated this shift in my parenting style. I’ve come to some conclusions about how I arrived here. These insights may help you as you try to become a calm mom too.

ADEQUATE SELF-CARE

Moms are notorious for putting their needs on hold. After all, when children are vying for your attention, the dishes are dirty, and there’s a looming deadline at work, something has to give, right?!

But by ignoring self-care, we’re only whittling away at the calm and peace within ourselves. Eventually we’ll snap.

Self-care is one of the simplest ways to maintain our sense of calm. Plus it doesn’t need loads of money or demand time away from your family. In fact, one of the biggest obstacles to proper self-care is that we’ve bought into the beautiful, “Instagram version” of self-care. We’ve learned to identify self-care as a weekend away at the beach or a day at a spa.

Unfortunately, this kind of self-care won’t to sustain you. The type of self-care that I’m talking about is far less glamorous, but has much more impact. It includes activities like:

• Eating healthy snacks.
• Going to bed a half-hour earlier.
• Taking breaks from social media.
• Writing in your journal.
• Reading.
• Prayer and/or meditation.
• Taking a bath or a shower.
• Daily exercising.
• Choosing water over soda.
• Talking with a good friend.

Little actions like these are easy, simple, and the effects last a lot longer.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / frankie_s

BE PRESENT

I can’t tell you how many times I rewrote this particular point. We’ve all heard the importance of being present many times. In fact, the advice to “be present” almost seems cliché, but there’s no other way to define the action of living in the here and now. When you’re present, you’re not dwelling on the mistakes of the past or worrying about the unknowns of the future.

By not living our present moments, our reactions tend to be more emotional and our emotions play a huge part in how calm we are. For example, imagine my child asked for a cookie and I’ve told her not to take one until after supper. But then I discover that she took a cookie anyway. If I don’t live this moment in the present, my reaction to my child’s disobedience may get out of control.

Living in the past: She’s done this time and time again! What am I doing wrong? I’m failing as a mom.

Living in the future: She stole again! I’m worried this child is going to end up in jail. She’ll ruin her life because she can’t stop stealing.

By not being present, there’s a tangible threat that the discipline of my daughter may go overboard.

Yet if I act in the present and deal with today’s behaviour of my daughter stealing the cookie, it’s easier to control my emotions. By being present, this act of disobedience isn’t loaded with the emotions of failing my child (or her grim future as a convicted cookie thief).

KNOW YOUR TRIGGERS

If you want to be a calm mom, it’s important to know what fires you up. Everyone has a trigger that threatens to disrupt their calm. For instance, I get easily frustrated when I’m interrupted while engaged in a work project. Since I know this is one of my triggers, I plan accordingly. For instance, I might schedule my work for first thing in the morning before the kids wake up.

OWN YOUR FEELINGS

The last secret to being a calm mom is to own your feelings.

As mentioned before, our emotions play a huge role in our sense of calm. In fact, if left unchecked, emotions can hijack our calm. That’s why it’s necessary that we own our feelings.

How do we own our feelings? 

1. Don’t take your child’s behaviour personally. When our feelings get wrapped up in what our children do, we’re allowing others (and circumstances) control how we feel.

2. Take responsibility of your feelings. My daughter didn’t “make” me frustrated. I’m frustrated over my daughter’s behaviour. These emotions intensified when my brain started to imagine a scenario of visiting my child in jail ten years from now.

3. Label your feelings as they occur. Be specific. Try to stay away from terms like happy, sad, or angry. Get descriptive in labeling your feelings. For example, with my cookie stealing child, instead of saying I’m angry, I could say that I’m disappointed, frustrated, or overwhelmed.

4. Evaluate your feelings. Once you’ve labelled your feelings, try to evaluate them without judgment (aka: that little voice at the back of your head that only has crummy things to say about you).

5. Decide how to control your feelings. This is especially important if we’re distressed or infuriated. Avoid navigating the situation while emotions are heightened. A few minutes alone, or some time spent journaling may help you claim some calm.

6. Be honest about your feelings. When you see your feelings for as they are and share the truth of your feelings with others, you prevent negativity from building up within you.

Our feelings and emotions are a huge part of what makes us human. We need to own our feelings and avoid imposing our feelings on others (i.e. If I’m miserable, you should be miserable too).

PRACTICE BEING A CALM MOM

Being a calm mom takes practice. You’re not going to be calm overnight. You will need to practice these tips on a daily basis. Over time, you’ll realize that you’re calmer than you were months before. 

Give it a shot! Try these tips and let me know if they help you to be a calmer mom.

The post The Secret to Being a Calm Mom appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

• Newfoundland & Labrador
• Nova Scotia

Since the curriculum reveals of our month-long studies are so well received, I thought I would share our recent exploration of Prince Edward Island. It was a month full of great books and amazing experiences!

This family studied Prince Edward Island in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this gorgeous province! #homeschool #canada #princeedwardisland #PEI
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / milosk50

OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / gvictoria

READ-ALOUD BOOKS

Every morning we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. Often in this time, I read-aloud from a variety of books. Since we were studying Prince Edward Island, I made sure that the books I chose were related.

The novel I read was: Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery. We have already read Anne of Green Gables, so I chose to continue the series by reading Anne of Avonlea. I love Montgomery’s descriptions of Prince Edward Island. It feels almost like you’re there seeing everything through her eyes.

I is for Island was another great book. Even though this is an alphabet book, it’s a very educational read! I find that reading through this book reinforces some of the facts we’ve learned but also introduces new information about the province as well. We read 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month. I highly recommend it!

Canada Close Up: Prince Edward Island gave us detailed information about this province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.

VIDEOS

We watched many videos throughout the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the sights of Prince Edward Island.

ARTIST STUDY

Robert Harris was the artist we studied this month. One of his most famous works of art was The Fathers of the Confederation. Robert Harris was commissioned by the Canadian Government in 1883 to paint the Charlottetown Conference of September 1864. This particular painting was the cornerstone of our artist study.

We even discussed how the original was hung in the parliament building in Ottawa but was destroyed by the Parliament Building fire on February 3, 1916.

We planned on viewing the reproduction, by John McCallum, which is a mural in the Fairmont Hotel MacDonald, but we didn’t get around to it. We watched the following video instead, but we still plan on visiting the reproduction in person.

• Brackley Beach (a beach in PEI)
• The Settler’s Home
• Self-Portrait

We discussed Robert Harris’ artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.

If you’re unsure about how to discuss artwork with your children, I highly recommend you snag this free printable picture study guide designed by Vintage Kids Modern World. We use these picture study prompts daily!

ACTIVITIES

We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• Charlottetown – the capital of Prince Edward Island
• The provincial flag
• Provincial flower: the Lady’s Slipper
• The provincial bird: the Blue Jay

We also made sure to cook some recipes that are popular in the region. We learned that Prince Edward Island has the largest potato crop in Canada. That meant that our recipes included potatoes. We made PEI Potato Fudge Cake and PEI Potato Scones (both were a hit)!

As usual, we wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about Prince Edward Island. It’s always an enjoyable and educational activity.

The month-long study of Prince Edward Island was fabulous. We learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to study our next province… New Brunswick!

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post Homeschool Study of Prince Edward Island appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

The other day I did some purse cleaning and outside of some non-essential items (ahem, I found a tooth and a pinecone in there), I have some tried and true necessities that I always carry in my purse.

What do you carry in your purse? Here's a list of essential items every mom should carry in her purse. #momstuff #momspurse
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photo credit: ©depositphotos.com / zoeytoja

ESSENTIAL ITEMS FOR A MOM’S PURSE

Other than a phone and wallet, here are the essential items every mom should carry in her purse

TISSUES

From runny noses, to public bathrooms that don’t have toilet paper, tissues are ALWAYS a purse necessity.

SNACKS 

Kids get GRUMPY when they’re hungry. I recommend carrying 1-2 snacks (per child) in your purse. If you use your emergency snacks, make sure to replenish them ASAP.

HEADACHE MEDICATION

Nothing’s worse than watching your child’s piano recital or swim lesson and suffering with a horrible headache. I always carry a travel-sized container of headache medication for such occasions.

A PAIR OF MEDICAL GLOVES

Whether your child gets sick, someone gets injured, or you have to deal with something nasty you encounter in your travels, a pair of medical gloves is a valuable resource to have in your purse.

BANDAGES

Almost 8 out of 10 times, my kids will scrape their knees or hurt themselves at a park. Bandages are very useful in situations like these and one of the most essential items every mom should carry in her purse.

STAIN REMOVER PEN

It never fails, if I’m wearing something nice and I’m out with my kids, I’ll get something gross on me. These stain removing pens will save your clothes from being permanently damaged.

A PLASTIC ZIPPER BAG

A plastic zipper bag is handy for soiled clothing, for use as a puke bag, or for disposing of messy things like used tissues. I try to always carry at least one in my purse at all times.

ANTIBACTERIAL WIPES

Antibacterial wipes are fabulous for when you want to give your kids a snack but you can’t wash their hands first. I’ve also used them to wipe down the handles on grocery carts.

A PEN & NOTEBOOK

If you have a wait for a long time with your child, you’ll be very happy to have a pen and notebook. Drawing pictures and playing Tic-Tac-Toe can be great ways to pass time with ease.

A COMB

Whether you or your child have some fly-away atrand of hair to deal with, you’ll be happy to have a comb readily available.

A TRAVEL-SIZED DEODORANT

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve often left the house and wondered if I put deodorant on. If you have a travel-sized deodorant in your purse, you can calm all anxieties and simply apply some pit-stick the next time you’re in the bathroom.

DENTAL FLOSS & TOOTHPASTE

Need to freshen your pearly whites? A finger makes a great impromptu toothbrush. I also like to carry dental floss for those times I get a popcorn husk or a piece of meat stuck between my teeth!

HOW DO I FIT THESE IN MY PURSE?

I like having a purse that pairs well with my outfits. This means that I have at least four purses in rotation. Rather than moving each individual item from one purse to another, I store all these essentials in a makeup bag. So, all I have to do is move the makeup bag from purse to purse. Easy peasy, right?!

Miguel de Cervantes Once said, “To be prepared is half the victory.” With these items in your purse, you’ll be prepared for almost any situation.

So now it’s your turn. What essential items do you carry in your purse? Do you have a necessity that wasn’t mentioned in this post?

The post 12 Essential Items Every Mom Should Have in Her Purse appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

I have also come to be on the lookout for teal pumpkin signs. The teal pumpkin is an initiative that was launched back in 2014. It means that non-food treats are available at that particular home.

Whether food allergies impact your family, or you simply don’t want all the junk food and candy in your home, you may be seeking out some non-food Halloween treat ideas.

Today I thought I would share some exciting and creative Halloween candy alternatives with you!

Check out these Halloween candy alternatives! Over 20 ideas that don't involve food! #halloween #halloweentreats
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / ramonantinolo

EXCITING HALLOWEEN CANDY ALTERNATIVES

Colouring Books

Colouring books are easy to find and inexpensive when purchased in sets or from places like dollar stores.

Stickers

Stickers are a beloved treat. They don’t have to be Halloween-themed stickers either!

Bouncy Balls

What child doesn’t love a bouncy ball (although it might not be a favourite in the eyes of adults. *wink*)

Glow Sticks

Kids LOVE glow sticks / glow jewelry. Plus if they want to wear it trick or treating, it makes them more visible!

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / bluesnote

Temporary Tattoos

Temporary tattoos are loads of fun for young children.

Decorative Pencils

Let’s face it, every kid uses pencils. Why not hand out some fancy ones? To keep costs down, pencils can often be purchased in large sets.

Special Erasers

Fancy erasers are fun too!

Toothbrush

Okay, the kids may not like you for this treat, but it is practical! These toothbrushes are individually wrapped.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / dotcom

Flossers

Individually wrapped flossers are inexpensive and help keep kids’ teeth healthy as well!

Smelly Markers

Why not purchase several sets of smelly markers and hand out one per child? Kids LOVE smelly markers!

Writing Journals

Writing journals are a great alternative to treats and can be purchased from dollar stores or during back-to-school sales.

Bubbles

Bubbles are loads of fun, regardless of the child’s age!

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Akbudak

Playdough

Mini containers of playdough are inexpensive and are a great way to spark a child’s creativity.

Containers of Slime

Slime is a great non-food treat for the older kids!

Activity Pads

Activity pads are fun and can last for a few weeks after Halloween has passed.

Rings & Necklaces

Rings and necklaces are fun items to give away. I find the Halloween-themed ones go over BIG with the kids!

Cookie Cutters

A cute cookie cutter is a fabulous item to hand out to the kiddos!

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / nilswey

Bubble Bath or Bath Bombs

Everyone needs to take baths right?! These little bath bombs are especially cute!

Playing Cards

Kids can play all sorts of games with playing cards!

Flower/Herb Seeds

We live in an area where the snow is usually settling on the ground around Halloween. However, herbs can be grown indoors or the seeds can be saved until next spring! These Earth paper seed cards are the cutest!

Sidewalk Chalk

If it hasn’t snowed yet, sidewalk chalk is a fun item to give away to your trick or treaters!

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Supertrooper

Hair Combs

Why not give out brand new hair combs?!

Hatch and Grow Dino Eggs

Kids love these dino eggs that you hatch and grow!

Money

This one is a hit with the older kids. Who doesn’t want to find some change in their Halloween bag?!

While this list isn’t exhaustive, I hope it spurs some non-food Halloween treat ideas for you!

The post 20+ Exciting Halloween Candy Alternatives appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

This family studied Nova Scotia in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this beautiful province! #homeschool #canada #novascotia
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / craigscottwalke

OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / gvictoria

READ-ALOUD BOOKS

Every morning we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. Often in this time, I read-aloud from a variety of books. Since we were studying Nova Scotia , I made sure that the books I chose were related.

The novel I read was: Run by Eric Walters. This book blends fact and fiction and tells the tale of a troubled teen who encounters Terry Fox on his Marathon of Hope. The book is inspiring and encouraging. I was delighted to find an alternate book to share with my girls about Terry Fox.

B is for Bluenose: A Nova Scotia Alphabet was another great book. Even though this book is an alphabet book, it’s a very educational read! We learned so many wonderful facts and details about this province as a result of this book! We read 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month. I highly recommend it!

Penelope: Terror in the Harbour is a historical fiction about the Halifax Explosion. My girls were saddened, yet fascinated by this Canadian tragedy.

Hello Lighthouse is probably one of my newest, favourite children’s picture books. Since there are 150 lighthouses in Nova Scotia, we spent some time studying them.

Canada Close Up: Nova Scotia gave us detailed information about this province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.

VIDEOS

We watched many videos throughout the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the sights of Nova Scotia.

One video that we especially enjoyed was this short National Geographic film: A Day in the Life of a Lighthouse Keeper. It was a beautiful and fascinating video.

We also watched an informative documentary about the Halifax Explosion.

ARTIST STUDY

I wanted to study an artist who was either from Nova Scotia or painted scenes from the region. Since Maud Lewis lived in Nova Scotia, we ended up studying her artwork.

A few years ago, I did an artist study of Maud Lewis with my oldest daughter. However, I love Maud Lewis’ work and was eager to explore her paintings once again.

The girls learned about four of her paintings:

• Lighthouse & Yacht
• Lighthouse
• Three Black Cats
• Tulips

We discussed her artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.

ACTIVITIES

We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• Halifax – the capital of Nova Scotia
• The provincial flag
• Provincial flower: the May Flower
• The provincial bird: the Osprey

We also made sure to cook a meal that is popular in the region. My girls had their first experience eating lobster. They LOVED it!

The girls and I also made a delicious dessert known to the Nova Scotia area… Blueberry Grunt. It was fabulous!

We wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about Nova Scotia. It was an enjoyable and educational activity.

The month-long study of Nova Scotia was fabulous. All of us learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to study our next province… Prince Edward Island!

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post Homeschool Study of Nova Scotia appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Over the years I’ve met some incredible moms. These are moms who seem to parent their children effortlessly. While I know they have their challenges, they raise their children with an inspiring grace.

Here are 6 things that make a fabulous mom.

What makes a fabulous mom? Click to find out the secrets! #parenting #momswanted #formoms
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / OlgaZakrevskaya

WHAT MAKES A FABULOUS MOM?

Whether she displays one or several of the characteristics listed below, it’s time to let the secrets out… this is what the fabulous mom does well.

CONFIDENCE

A fabulous mom isn’t measuring herself against other moms. She doesn’t try to copy a mom she knows or watches on television.

She is her own person.

This mom is full of strength and confidence.

She has a vision for what kind of mom she wants to be. This mom acts on what she believes and is grounded in how she parents her children. She isn’t shaken easily because she knows exactly what she wishes to accomplish as a mom.

HUMBLENESS

The fabulous mom is humble. There’s no ego in her parenting. When she screws up, she’s comfortable admitting it and will seek forgiveness.

She also doesn’t tell others how to parent their children. If asked, she may offer counsel, but she does so with humble grace.

You want this mom to spill the beans and to tell you all her secrets, but as you talk to her, she gently encourages you in your mission as a mom. She points out how amazing you are and reminds you that you are the best mom for your children.

TENDERNESS

Some of the best moms I’ve met have a tender facet to their personalities. Their words and approaches are gentle.

You can see this in their interactions with their children. Whether they gently stroke their daughter’s hair, or caress their son’s hand.

These moms smile and have a calming reassurance about them. You feel soothed just being in their presence.

photo credit: Ben White on Christianpics

LOVES BIG

Okay, I know this is a given. Of course a fabulous mom loves her child! But here’s the thing, she loves through the good and the bad. Even when her child screams that they hate her and despite the teenager who mouths off, her love never wavers. She always loves.

She disciplines with love and her children never doubt her love because she doesn’t act out of anger but out of honest concern for her children.

EMBRACES GROWTH

The fabulous mom is one who seeks out opportunities to learn and grow her skills. She’s the one who reads the parenting books or attends parenting workshops.

She’s not afraid to learn new strategies and she’s open to changing her ways if it means making things better for her family.

This mom uses all the knowledge she’s gathered to improve her journey as a mom. She’s on a mission to become the mom she’s meant to be and will continually strive for growth.

YOU ARE A FABULOUS MOM

The fabulous mom is the mom who parents your child.

That’s right… the fabulous mom is you.

You are the mom who was created for your child and there is no one like you.

You are a gift and a treasure and I can guarantee your child thinks the world of you. Yes, you may have your rough days and sometimes you may think you’re not enough, but you are your child’s mom. That makes you a fabulous mom.

The post 6 Things That Make a Fabulous Mom appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

This family studied Newfoundland & Labrador in their homeschool! Check out all of the fun and educational activities they did to learn about this magnificent province! #homeschool #canada
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / PiLens

OUR CURRICULUM

The bulk of our planning came from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. I added some other elements to the curriculum, such as various read-aloud books and a related artist study.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Bennian

READ-ALOUD BOOKS

Every morning we start our day with Morning Time. This peaceful way of easing into our day is something I cherish. Often in this time, I read-aloud from a variety of books. Since we were studying Newfoundland & Labrador, I made sure that the books I chose were related.

The novel I read was: The Nine Lives of Travis Keating. This story is based in Newfoundland & Labrador and involves themes such as death, grief, bullying, and animal cruelty. Though it was an intense read, my girls enjoyed the book. We had many discussions specifically about grief and bullying as a result of this book.

P is for Puffin: A Newfoundland & Labrador Alphabet was another great book. I was hesitant about this book before I dove into it with my children because my girls are 10-years-old and 7-years-old. I was concerned they would think an alphabet book was babyish, BUT this book is a very educational read! We learned so many wonderful facts and details about this province as a result of this book! We read 1-2 letters of the alphabet per day throughout the month. I highly recommend this book!

Heroes of Isle aux Morts is a picture book based on the true story of 1832 the shipwreck of the Despatch. Through this book we enjoyed learning about the heroism of the Newfoundland dog.

Saltwater Joys was another fabulous picture book. Of course we listened to the song too!

Canada Close Up: Newfoundland & Labrador gave us detailed information about this province. We read 1-2 chapters per week throughout the month.

Since Vikings were a part of the Newfoundland & Labrador history, I included the book Yikes, Vikings! (from the Canadian Flyer Adventure series) in our readings as well.

VIDEOS

We watched many videos throughout the month. Most of the videos were provided by links through The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. The videos were beautiful and many times it felt like we were seeing and experiencing the sights of Newfoundland & Labrador.

ARTIST STUDY

I wanted to study an artist who was either from Newfoundland & Labrador or painted scenes from the region. We ended up studying Christopher Pratt. The girls learned about four of his paintings:

• Ferolle Pointe Light
• Labrador Current
• Boys Dipping Caplin
• Gulf of St. Lawrence

We discussed his artwork in detail and my girls memorized the names of each piece of art.

ACTIVITIES

We did various activities throughout the month. The girls did map work about the province. They also worked on memorizing and recognizing:

• St. John’s – the capital of Newfoundland & Labrador
• The provincial flag
• Provincial flower: the Pitcher Plant
• The provincial bird: the Puffin

We also made sure to cook a recipe that is known to the area. We made traditional Lassy Bread (which is a molasses bread). Everyone LOVED it!

Of course we made sure to listen and dance to some traditional Newfoundland music.

We wrapped up our study of the province with collages. I had gathered tourist guides and my girls cut out pictures that they felt depicted what they had learned about Newfoundland & Labrador. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and educational activity.

The month-long study of Newfoundland & Labrador was fabulous. All of us learned so much from the experience! I can’t wait to study our next province… Nova Scotia!

Psst – If you’re curious about doing an in-depth study on Canada, I can’t say enough good things about The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. Make sure to check it out!

The post Homeschool Study of Newfoundland & Labrador appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

The temperatures are SOARING! Here are some ways to help your kids cool down in the summer heat. #summer #summerheatwave #heatwavetips
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Photo by Abigail Keenan on Unsplash

SEEK OUT AIR CONDITIONED PLACES TO EXPLORE

On the hot days, try to find air conditioned places to explore. Indoor playgrounds, art galleries, museums, malls, and recreation centres are a few places to consider visiting.

STAY INSIDE DURING PEAK HOURS

Another way to keep cool in the summer heat is to stay inside during the peak hours of 12 noon to 3 pm.

DRINK WATER

When the days are hot, that’s the time to dole out the water. If your child doesn’t enjoy drinking water, here are some creative ways to jazz up their H20!

BONUS TIP: Make sure your child has a water bottle available throughout the day.

Photo by Francesca Hotchin on Unsplash

PLAY IN THE WATER

Speaking of water, why not have a water fight, fill up the kiddie pool, turn on the sprinkler, visit a spray park, or go for a swim at a local swimming pool? Water play is a fun way to keep cool.

WEAR A HAT

Children get overheated easily, so it’s especially important they wear a hat while they’re out in the sun. If you have a child who doesn’t like wearing hats, make sure they’re involved in the process of selecting their own hat from the store. They’re more likely to wear a hat if they’ve had a say in what it looks like.

Don’t forget the sunscreen either! While sunscreen won’t keep your kids cool, it helps prevent sunburns. If you’re looking for a quality sunscreen, every year EWG (Environmental Working Group) publishes a guide listing the safest sunscreens on the market.

BONUS TIP: Use the EWG search bar to read the safety rating of your current sunscreen.

ENJOY SOME ICY TREATS

Summer is the best time to eat an ice cream cone or lick a popsicle. Smoothies and frozen yogurt are also delicious treats to enjoy on a hot summer day!

Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash

COOL EATS

Another way to keep cool is to enjoy some cold meals and snacks. Here are some delicious foods that you can dish up and enjoy with your kids:

• Watermelon
• Potato salad
• Cucumber sandwiches
• Egg salad sandwiches
• Frozen fruit (watermelon, blueberries, mango, etc.)
• Hummus and crackers
• Guacamole and chips
• Pasta salad
• Fruit and yogurt dip
• Fruit salad
• California rolls
• Avocado chocolate pudding

BONUS TIP: Keep a list of these snack ideas in your wallet so that when you’re grocery shopping, you have some basic menu ideas readily available.

As you can see there are plenty of ways to keep you and your child cool this summer. Which method will you try out?

The post Help Your Kids Beat the Summer Heat With These Tips! appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

I had a great time selecting my daughter’s grade 6 curriculum. I knew this year I wanted to do an in-depth study of Canada, so naturally a lot of my selections we based upon that core interest. Here’s the curriculum we are using for grade 6.

Check out these curriculum selections made for grade 6! #homeschool #curriculum
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MORNING TIME

As I’ve mentioned before, our morning time routine brings such peace and beauty into our homeschool day. It sets the stage for learning and continually inspires us. I’m definitely continuing the morning time basket.

Some of the curriculum choices that I’m sharing here are part of our morning time routine, while others are used during the more structured part of our homeschool day.

I’m often asked how often we study each of our subjects, so I’ve included a section on frequency as well. Note: we have a four day homeschool week, so when I say “daily”, it means four times per week.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Bob Jones English 6 – We love Bob Jones! The chapters alternate between grammar and writing. I love that we cover a variety of writing projects over the course of the year.

Sequential Spelling – Last year we tried All About Spelling but my daughter lost interest. This year we’re attempting Sequential Spelling. So far, she’s enjoying it.

FREQUENCY OF LANGUAGE ARTS: Daily

MATH

Math Makes Sense – We started with Math Makes Sense but my daughter disliked it and our book didn’t come with an answer key, so we switched back to Jump Math. We’ll hold onto the textbook anyway because it might come in handy if she’s struggling with a concept.

Jump Math – My daughter has been doing Jump Math since Grade 1. It’s a no-frills book but it’s effective and she enjoys it (which is what matters).

Bedtime Math – This is an extra bit of math fun. I read from the Bedtime Math book twice a week and the girls answer the applicable questions. What I love about this book is it tells an interesting story/fact and then there are several questions for different age and skill levels which are tied into the story. It’s a fabulous resource and we love it!

CTC Math – I decided to invest in CTC Math this year and I’m delighted that I took the plunge. Every week I log into the parent dashboard and set up her tasks (lessons) for the week. She enjoys it and she loves the math games too.

FREQUENCY OF MATH:  Daily

SCIENCE

I’m excited for science this year. I decided to plan an in-depth nature study every month. For instance, this month we’re studying insects, next month we’ll be investigating wildflowers, and in September, we’ll study conifers.

Many of my nature study ideas come from the NaturExplorers books. They’re packed with loads of activity ideas, as well as journaling sheets, and more!

We’re also doing at least one experiment per week from our Magic School Bus Science kit!

FREQUENCY OF SCIENCE: Nature studies are twice a week and experiments are one or two times per week..

SOCIAL STUDIES

This year I decided that both of my girls were going to learn about Canada from coast to coast (to coast)! The majority of our social studies curriculum I got from The Canadian Adventure Online Edition. This interactive curriculum is full of resource sheets, links to videos, and even recipes! We started our first province (Newfoundland & Labrador) and my girls LOVE it!

To fill out the social studies curriculum, I’ve tried to choose read-aloud books which take place in Canada. I’ve also planned Canadian artist studies for each province & territory we study.

I’m also reading the provincial alphabet books. There’s a whole set of them (i.e. P is for Puffin, B is for Bluenose, I is for island, F is for Fiddlehead, etc.). These books are beautiful and are not “just” alphabet books. They give plenty of informative facts about the province and history of the area.

FREQUENCY OF SOCIAL STUDIES: Daily

BIBLE

This year we’re doing readings from the Believe Storybook Bible.

I also purchased special journals for the girls so they can draw their way through the Psalms.

We’re also focusing on memorizing one scripture per week.

FREQUENCY OF BIBLE STUDIES: Daily

ART

Our art lessons are the best! I include various forms of art in our program. Watercolour paintings, collages, sculpting with clay, and drawing are just some of our regular art activities.

Our favourite art curriculum is the chalk pastel art video lessons by You ARE An Artist. My girls LOVE these video lessons! We have a monthly clubhouse membership, which we can access at any time! There are so many lessons available, I can always find something that relates to a topic we’re currently studying.

FREQUENCY OF ART LESSONS: Two times per week

HEALTH

I decided that this year I would cover a different health topic every month. Many of the resources I’ve gathered from the internet and the library. We’re studying our bodies, online safety, nutrition, dental care, fitness, and much more.

FREQUENCY OF HEALTH LESSONS: Two times per week

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

My approach to physical education is much like we’ve done in the past. The girls will have exercise DVDS and games that they will do in a daily rotation. There are also natural physical activities that I’ve included in our schedule (nature walks, biking, park outings, swimming, badminton, baseball, soccer, etc.) In addition, they attend weekly Kung Fu lessons.

FREQUENCY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Daily

SECOND LANGUAGE

This is the first year I’ve included a second language in our program. I enrolled my daughter in Rosetta Stone French Lessons. I especially love that these lessons require the child to speak into a microphone (so that they can be tested on pronunciation).

FREQUENCY OF FRENCH LESSONS: Daily

MUSIC

Composer Studies of Handel, Bach, Mozart, and Dvorak.

We love SQUILT (Super Quiet Uninterrupted Listening Time). With this curriculum, my children get exposed to notable pieces of music. SQUILT also allows us the opportunity to include a peaceful ritual of music appreciation in our days.

FREQUENCY OF MUSIC LESSONS: Two times per week

TEA TIME

On Friday afternoons, we’re implementing something called: Tea Time. At tea time, we discuss a piece of classical music, do a picture study, listen to (and discuss) a poem, recite all the memory work we’ve done throughout the week, and we practice a handicraft.

This tradition reinforces what we’ve been learning but is a lighter, more enjoyable way to wrap up our homeschool week.

REFLECT

So now it’s your turn! Is there a particular curriculum you love that you’re using this year? Feel free to comment below and then share this post with your homeschool communities.

The post Our Grade 6 Curriculum Choices appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

It’s this deep yearning… a desire for complete peace. The feeling was so strong, I made it my word for the year.

As someone with anxiety, it’s no wonder my mind and body crave peace. I’m often in fight or flight mode and it’s sparked by the silliest things – like the dishes piled in the sink, or the garden full of weeds.

Heap on the stress of bad news stories, natural disasters, and intense world events, and it feels like everything’s spinning out of control.

Fortunately I have my faith and my Savior to ground me on this shaky terrain.

Outside of my faith, I’ve been looking for ways to create a peaceful home for me and my family. As I’ve been on this journey, I discovered that my tools for creating a peaceful home may look different than someone else’s. For instance, having a plan and a checklist gives me peace, but lists may be stressful for someone else.

Despite these individual preferences, I thought I would share what creates peace in my home. Perhaps these suggestions may help you as well.

Do you want a peaceful home? Here are some suggestions for how to create a more peaceful home for you and your family. #peace
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / ersler

MINIMALISM

I find that the less objects in my environment, the happier I am. Decluttering is a continual process. It involves looking at the items in your home and asking yourself if they’re important, beautiful, and bring you joy.

I find it challenging to keep all areas of my home simplified and decluttered. So my biggest focus is the living room, kitchen, and my work space. As long as these areas are kept clean, orderly, and decluttered, I’m content.

Which areas in your home could be simplified and decluttered?

NATURE… INDOORS

Nature is healing and soothing. During the summer months I spend a lot of time outside, but the winter is a whole other story! Try to bring nature into your home, whether it’s a houseplant or a bouquet of flowers.

NURTURE THE SENSE OF SMELL

I can recall frantic and stressful times in my life pierced by the smell of cookies or apple pie. These smells were welcome interruptions to frenzied days.

Take time to delight your senses with home baking, a floral arrangement, or by diffusing essential oils. By the way, I used to think essential oils were a weird trend that had no other purpose than to get people to spend money. My tune changed when I started using essential oils to help with PTSD and anxiety attacks.

There are all sorts of essential oils available but one of my favourites is the Peace & Quiet blend. Even the name of this oil is calming, isn’t it?!

MUSIC

Music is one of my favourite ways to bring peace into my home.

In May, Christian songwriter & pianist, Debbie Fortnum, came to speak at my church. She told us that instrumental music stimulates the brain in a healthy and healing way. She had us close our eyes and she played a piece on the piano. The music was so calming and peaceful, I didn’t want it to end!

There are many benefits to listening to music and the right music can bring much peace into your home. Try it out!

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Syda_Productions

CREATE PEACEFUL SPACES

Your home should have several peaceful spaces. Assess your space and see how you can create peaceful spaces for someone to seek out. Some ideas for peaceful spaces include:

• a cozy chair with a blanket near the window
• a lounge chair in the garden
• the bathroom equipped with all the sundries to feel like a spa (soft bath mat, bubble bath, robe)
• a bed heaped with soft pillows and a vase of flowers on the nightstand

With a little effort, you can have multiple cozy, peaceful, areas in your home.

ADEQUATE LIGHTING

I’m sensitive to artificial light. It took me a few years to find the “right” lighting for my home. From soft light, to natural light through windows and to candle light, the way you choose to illuminate your home greatly impacts the peace you feel.

RELAXATION TIMES

Lastly, one of my favourite ways to create a peaceful home is to have times when everyone can relax. We may read independently or together. Relaxation time may also involve colouring books or working on a handicraft.

Spending quiet time engaged in a meaningful activity has a powerful impact on your mood and sense of peace.

Bil Keane once said, “A peaceful home is as sacred a place as any cathedral or chapel,” and I completely agree! I feel closer to God and more joyful when my home is peaceful. By creating a peaceful home, I’m a happier mother and wife. Plus I take great pride in knowing that my efforts contribute to a healthy environment for my family.

The post Creating a Peaceful Home in a Chaotic World appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

I love making the curriculum mingle and blend into an elaborate educational dance.

Often I’m asked how I keep so organized with my planning. Today I’m pulling back the curtain and letting you get a behind the scenes glimpse at my homeschool planning. In fact, I’m sharing some of my favourite homeschool planning secrets and hacks!

Come get a behind the scenes glimpse at these homeschool planning secrets and hacks! #homeschoolplanning #homeschoolorganization #homeschoolmom
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HAVE A VISION

Before you even put a pen to paper, you need to have a clear vision of what you want for the year. I try to pick an overarching theme/focus for the year. For example, last year we studied pioneers all year. Many of our social studies, art, music, and language arts activities came from that common theme.

This year, I’m planning our year around an in-depth study of Canada’s provinces and territories. By having this common “theme” it’s easier for me to select the books we read, the artists we study, the videos we watch, and the recipes we make.

YOU NEED A PLANNER

I can’t emphasize this enough… you NEED a homeschool planner.

I spent my first couple of homeschool years looking for a homeschool planner that would meet my needs. After some disappointing purchases, I finally created one of my own. What I love about my homeschool planner is it’s undated and it has all the sheets I need to layout detailed activities for my children.

In addition, the planner also has many resource sheets that help me document my children’s learning. These include physical education trackers, an attendance sheet, reading logs, grade trackers, and much more.

SET ASIDE UNINTERRUPTED TIME TO PLAN

One of my most critical tips is to set aside uninterrupted planning time. I try to make my planning time like a retreat. It’s amazing how much you can get done when you have few interruptions! Here’s when you can get more information about creating a homeschool planning retreat.

A SYSTEM FOR GATHERING MATERIALS

As you plan your year, you’ll want to have a place to gather your materials.

I try to plan three months at a time. As I do my planning, I place the applicable books and worksheets into plastic bins which are labelled with the month they will be used. Also on the outside of the bins are quick reference cards so I know which topics we’ll be studying that month. This way, if I find a related resource I can quickly pop it into the correct bin.

In addition, each bin is a to-do list that relates to the month of planning. This to-do list contains the titles of all the books I need to borrow from the library, the supplies I need to purchase, and the items I may need to print out. I write these to-do lists as I do my planning.

A BACK-UP PLAN

Every year I select a complete Morning Time curriculum that I would like to follow. This Morning Time curriculum covers Bible, music, art, poetry, language arts, nature study, and geography. When paired with a writing and mathematics program, it’s very comprehensive.

I do this because we almost always go through a season where homeschooling and/or planning may be challenging. Whether it’s personal issues, illness, or simply a hectic period, it’s nice to have something comprehensive and premade to fall back on!

There are many morning time plans to enjoy such as:

• Ancient History
• Middle Ages
• Early Modern History
• Seasonal Plans (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer)
• and the brand new Morning Time plans, Classical Cycles Basket Two

Benjamin Franklin once said, “For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.” I couldn’t agree more! By having organized homeschool plans, I’m certain you’ll encounter less stress, guilt, and frustration.

With these tips and hacks, I’m confident that you’ll have all the plans and materials you’ll need to make the year a success. There’s no last minute scrambling for materials or rushing to develop a lesson… everything is laid out ahead of time. You’re completely ready to teach!

Pssst – Want to get all your homeschool planning done without stress and frustration?! Easily and simply plan your entire year with the Put Your Homeschool Year on Autopilot eCourse! 

The post The Best Homeschool Planning Secrets & Hacks appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / giorgiomtb

7 Energizing Hacks Hacks for Exhausted Moms

I once saw a meme that said:

“How do you spell mom?

T – I – R – E – D”

Isn’t that the truth?!

Motherhood is physically, emotionally, and mentally draining. Whether you’re a working mom, a stay-at-home-mom, or a work-at-home-mom, energy often runs low.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m tired, I don’t feel like I’m the best mom to my kids.

That’s why I’m excited to share these seven hacks that will dramatically increase energy!

Check out these seven hacks for moms to dramatically increase energy! The 5th one may surprise you! #health #momhacks #momhelp
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DRINK MORE WATER

Water is essential to keeping everything functioning in our bodies. If you’re feeling a slump in energy, try chugging a 8 oz glass of cold water. You may be surprised at how much it perks you up!

If you don’t like to drink water, maybe check out these tips to make your H²0 more exciting!

GET SOME FRESH AIR

Our homes are traps for pollution and stale air. When you get outside, you receive the benefits of some naturally sourced vitamin D as well as some fresh air full of the oxygen needed for your brain.

EXERCISE

Okay, I know when you’re feeling tired, the last thing you feel like doing is exercising, but I promise this works! I find that a brisk walk, cycling, or dancing are the most energizing exercises.

Find an exercise that invigorates you and do it regularly!

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / joaquincorbalan

EAT THE RIGHT FOODS

Guess what? Certain foods will increase your energy as well. This list of 5 caffeine-free food combinations is a great starting point!

Also, a healthy diet fuels you properly for the day. If you need some inspiration, these healthy snack hacks for busy moms are super helpful!

BINAURAL BEATS

Several years ago, when I was in treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I discovered binaural beats.

The way binaural beats work is they trigger and activate systems within the brain. The frequency patterns they use are alpha, beta, theta, or delta.

I use an app called SleepStream 2 Pro. This app has a 10 minute “Instant Energy” guided meditation. I listen to the meditation when I’m feeling sluggish and almost immediately feel energized.

TAKE A SHORT NAP

If it’s possible, take a quick nap (15-20 minutes). A power nap can do wonders for your energy levels! If you feel your children would never let you rest, perhaps it’s time to incorporate a daily habit of rest into their days. Here’s an article to get your kids on board with a daily rest time.

ESSENTIAL OILS

Essential oils are used for virtually any symptom in my home. One of my favourite oils is Rocky Mountain Oil’s Energy formula. This oil blend consists of lime and clove bud. It can be diffused or applied topically. Try it for yourself and see how it works for you!

So there you have it… seven hacks increase energy for exhausted moms! Which strategy will you try out?

The post 7 Hacks for Moms to Dramatically Increase Energy appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Over a year ago I discovered You ARE an Artist; a website with video chalk pastel lessons taught by “Nana”. The lessons had varying themes and each set included about eight video lessons. I figured we could do a lesson per week and test it out.

After one lesson, we instantly fell in love with You ARE an Artist. The lessons were short and simple and our teacher, Nana, was so kind and gentle.

If you follow us on Instagram, you may have seen pictures and Instagram stories which feature my children doing their chalk pastel lessons. It has become an essential component to our homeschool.

After realizing that my children loved these lessons, I decided to investigate the You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Annual Membership.

Here’s what we discovered after enrolling in the clubhouse annual membership program.

Want to teach your children #art but you're not sure where to start? Check out this review of the You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Annual Membership! @chalkpastelart #homeschool
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Belchonock

You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Annual Membership

The You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Annual Membership has an extensive list of benefits. Here’s what it includes:

• Immediate access to A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels year-long video art course with 45 lessons plus these video art courses: Get Started in Chalk Pastel Art, Preschool Video Art Lessons, Spring Video Art Lesson and Forest Nature Video Art Lessons (a $282 value)!
• A new video art course each month!
• A brand new art lesson each week! Nana’s Weekly Art Lesson – live or pre-recorded every week. Each month two art lessons will be for members only.

There are also annual membership bonuses such as:

• Art Lesson Index – This index includes all lessons in our video art courses plus links to the free ones we have shared all over the web.
• Chalk Pastels at the Movies – all your favorite book and movie character art lessons at your fingertips.
• A beautiful You ARE an Artist planner for the whole year! (Coming June 2018)
• AND a coupon code for a video art course of your choice from our special membership library. You can use this at any time during your membership year!

Since You ARE an Artist is instruction on how to use chalk pastels to create art, purchasing art supplies is a cinch! All you need is paper, a pencil, and chalk pastels! I also recommend a plastic table covering and baby wipes to make clean up a breeze.

The most exciting part about the annual membership is the price… $200 per year!

Considering the sets of lessons range in price from $25-$100, I would say $200 is a bargain! This works out to being less than $17 per month. You could never get in-house art lessons at that price!

How we use the You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Annual Membership 

I usually schedule two chalk pastel lessons a week. The catalog of lessons is extensive, so I often choose lessons which fit with our current curriculum objectives. For example, if we’re studying birds in science, I’ll schedule a bird art lesson.

I keep all of our supplies in a basket (tablecloth, chalk pastels, pencils, paper, and baby wipes). This makes set-up quick and easy enough for my children to do on their own.

I often connect my laptop to the TV so there’s a big screen to view the lesson, but I will also stream lessons through the iPad.

The girls work on the lesson and will stop and start the lesson as they work on their masterpieces.

When the lesson is done, we clean up the table and proudly showcase their work!

Come Join the Clubhouse!

As you can see, it’s easy to use the chalk pastel video art lessons.

With the clubhouse library, you can incorporate art easily and freely into your homeschool days. So if you’re intimidated by teaching art (like I was)… the You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Annual Membership could very well be the solution you were looking for!

The clubhouse doors are open!

Check it out! I’m sure you’ll fall in love… just like we did.

Disclaimer: We were provided a complimentary membership for the purpose of this review. As noted at the top of this post, the links are affiliate links, which means if you click through and make a purchase, we may receive a commission. Our full disclosure policy is here.  

The post You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Annual Membership Review appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

I started getting migraines in the past year. While I’ve only had about 4 bad ones, this particular migraine was one of the worst.

In the weeks leading up to this migraine, I had been working full force on getting my website GDPR compliant. In addition, I was scrambling to complete my girls’ homeschool assessments (which are a requirement for their aligned courses).

On top of these huge demands, I was also doing my usual activities of chauffeuring my girls to their extra-curricular events, serving at church, and juggling my everyday tasks around the house.

When I finally completed my GDPR requirements and submitted the last of our homeschool work, I looked forward to resting and relaxing.

Apparently my body looked forward to it too.

My first “free” day I spent in bed with the blinds drawn and a cold cloth on my forehead.

WHY WAS THIS HAPPENING?! I had plans! I wanted to celebrate this first free day with the girls! Why did a migraine have to hit now?!

This new development in my health made me contemplate my self-care practices (or lack thereof).

I’m disciplined in taking care of myself when I don’t have impending deadlines, but unfortunately, I’ve learned that self-care gets thrown out the window when I have obligations looming in front of me.

I reflected on this revelation and made some observations…

We live in a fast world.

Everything is now, now, now.

If we want to buy an album, we can instantly download it. Want to watch a movie? Most likely we can find it on Netflix. Heard great things about a book? We can buy an instant digital download. Want to buy something? If you order it from Amazon you can get next day delivery.

We don’t have to schedule a date to go to a restaurant… we can now order from our favourite restaurants through Skip the Dishes. We’ve even seen a shift from Slow Cooker to Instant Pot!

Everything is quick and on demand.

But the thing is, as humans, we can’t function this way.

Carl Honore once said, “We’re so marinated in the culture of speed that we almost fail to notice the toll it takes on every aspect of our lives – on our health, our diet, our work, our relationships, the environment and our community.” Isn’t this the truth?!

We need rest, slowness and time to breathe. We need to replenish… and that can’t be rushed.

So how do we slow down in a fast world? Here’s a handful of suggestions to help you out.

Do you often feel rushed or hurried? Here are some tips to slow down in this fast world. #slowdown #intentionality
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / digoarpi

HOW TO SLOW DOWN IN A FAST WORLD

NATURE

Getting outside in nature does wonders to the body, mind, and soul. In nature, everything has own preset pace. We can’t rush a wildflower to bloom. The butterfly will emerge from its chrysalis when it’s ready. The tadpoles will turn into frogs in due time.

Nature has its own divine order. Our minds and bodies can’t help but be influenced by the rhythm and beauty of nature.

Have you ever camped and wondered why you go to bed earlier and wake up earlier? In nature, the sun and moon help define our rhythms of rest. When we’re in our home, under artificial light, we can stretch those boundaries of time.

MEDITATION

Meditation does remarkable things for the mind. In the midst of a busy world and a fast life, it gives us the opportunity to block everything out and control our thoughts (rather than allowing the world to take over our thoughts).

As a  Christian, I can attest to the benefits of meditation. In fact, meditation is mentioned numerous times in scripture:

• “Blessed is the man  who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2 (ESV)
• “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” Psalm 119:15 (ESV)
• “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

Slowing the mind and focusing on what is good and right, is one of the simplest ways to slow down in this busy world.

CHOOSE THE “SLOWER” WAY

Whenever possible, intentionally choose the “slower” way of doing things. For instance, if the grocery store is within walking distance, rather than driving to buy a brick of butter, try walking there.

Some other ideas:

• rather than buying a loaf of bread, try baking it
• instead of ordering a book online, look for it at your library or a bookstore
• call your friend instead of texting her

DO LESS

It’s easier to slow down when you’re doing less. Don’t make as many commitments. Say “no”. Don’t overextend yourself. Be protective of the time you have.

START A HOBBY

I find hobbies are a wonderful way to slow down. My breathing changes when I’m finger knitting or painting a picture. My focus becomes that activity. It’s slow and intentional. Here are some hobby ideas:

• painting
• building miniatures
• knitting
• needlepoint
• crochet
• gardening
• journaling
• building jigsaw puzzles
• colouring

Hobbies are productive but calming. Try it out for yourself!

As you can see, there are a number of strategies to help you slow down in this fast world. I’m certain if you apply a few of these principles, you’ll feel calmer and more peaceful in no time.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The post How to Slow Down in a Fast World appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen this post:

I’m a devout rule-follower. I want to ensure I’m 100% in compliance with these strict regulations BUT I can’t afford a business lawyer or a GDPR specialist to make sure my sites are up to standard.

These regulations are intense and thorough, AND they are important because personal data needs to be kept secure.

I support GDPR 100%, but as I dove into the documentation and standards, I felt like I was drowning.

I just want to write, support, love, and encourage moms… I feel like the work of keeping on top of these constantly changing laws and regulations is a full time job in and of itself.

Which brings me to my emotional news.

As you may be aware, I run another website, Deliberate Homeschooling. As you can imagine, the efforts of running two websites is mentally and emotionally draining. As I prepared for GDPR, I realized that I simply can’t manage two websites anymore.

So I’m closing down Deliberate Homeschooling and I’ll be moving all of my homeschool posts here to The Deliberate Mom.

I’m sad, as I was building a beautiful site and a lovely following over there, but I truly feel it’s for the best.

What does this mean for you?

Well there’s a few things that might change around here, so I want to share what those will be.

• I will be adding a homeschooling category into the menu and on the front page of The Deliberate Mom.
• There will be homeshooling posts on The Deliberate Mom, but rest assured, you’ll still see the parenting and homemaking articles that you have come to expect here on The Deliberate Mom.
• The subscriber library will include all of the homeschooling printables I created for my Deliberate Homeschooling website.
• There may be a few visual changes to The Deliberate Mom.

In preparation for GDPR, you can expect to see:

• Updated policies and disclosures. I’ve been working on these for a few weeks now, but I plan to have all of these policies finalized by mid-May.
• If you’re an email subscriber, I will be inviting you (as well as my Deliberate Homeschooling subscribers) to reconfirm your subscription. You can expect an email about this in a few weeks.
• I may close the commenting feature on The Deliberate Mom. Comments collect data such as names, IP addresses, and email addresses. I’m trying to minimize the data collection points on my website – so comments may have to go. *insert sad face here*
• Past comments may be deleted as well *insert bigger sad face*. BUT I would hope we can keep the conversation flowing on Facebook and Twitter.
• I’m looking for a cookie plugin that will satisfy standards. I have a basic one right now, but this will most likely change once the cookie regulations are finalized within the GDPR standards.

By focusing on one website, I’m certain my workload will be more manageable and the data that I collect will be kept to a bare minimum (which is a great thing in light of GDPR).

This merging of the two websites should be complete mid-May. Since I’m preparing for GDPR and working on merging the two sites, I don’t anticipate that I’ll be writing any new content until June.

If you have any thoughts or comments, please feel free to share.

Psst – If you’re a blogger and this whole GDPR thing is new to you, here are some resources that I’ve found SUPER helpful:

• GDPR Requirements in Plain English
• EUGDPR.org
• Information Commissioner’s Office
• GDPR For Online Entrepreneurs (UK, US, CA, AU) Facebook Group

The post The Emotional Decision I Had to Make (and What It Means for The Deliberate Mom) appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Do you need parenting, homemaking, and organization help?

You may have already heard about the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle – if not, stick around and I’ll tell you all about this fabulous resource kit for moms!

But first I want you to know that the 2018 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, without a doubt, is the BEST one yet!

Before I tell you why this specific bundle is the best I have a confession to make…

I have been purchasing the Ultimate Homemaking Bundles since 2014!

I saw such value in these bundles that by 2016, I began submitting my own products for consideration in the bundle sales!

I have had my products in the 2016, 2017, and now, in this year’s bundle! I choose to participate because Ultimate Bundles is a trusted brand that I love, respect, and admire. It’s an honour to include my products in these bundles.

But as I said previously, the 2018 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is amazing and I can’t wait to tell you about it!

Let’s dig in shall we?!

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS BUNDLE

Family

Time Management

Intentional Living

Self-Care

Home Management

Budgeting & Finances

Homeschooling

Faith

In the Kitchen

Working at Home

The Essentials: 7 Projects to Sane-ify Your Life (eCourse) by Tsh Oxenreider ($37.00)

Oh my goodness, this course is an absolute treasure! Tsh takes you through a 7 step journey to help you get control of your life. This eCourse is a must-have for every busy mom… and here’s a spoiler alert… this eCourse will transform you and your home!

12 Months of Simplified Living: Printable Calendar Subscription by Stephanie O’Dea ($47.00)

This one resource ALONE makes this bundle a steal. With this year-long subscription, you get a month’s worth of checklists and tasks to keep your home running smoothly. I immediately saw a difference in my home and management of household duties when I started using Stephanie’s subscription. EVERY busy mom needs this!

Create Coping Skills Champions at Home (eCourse) by Janine Halloran ($49.00)

Children are growing up with more stress, anxiety, and depression. Janine’s course teaches parents how to empower their children with various skills such as, calming coping skills, physical coping skills, distraction coping skills, and much more!

PLUS SO MUCH MORE!

It’s worth repeating, there are 62 eBooks, 30 eCourses, 34 printable packs & workbooks and 3 membership sites in this bundle! Just think of the savings! You simply have to check it out for yourself, but don’t delay because this bundle is only available until the end of April 16, 2018!

THESE BONUSES ARE AWESOME!

Check out all of the businesses providing awesome bonuses in this bundle!

• Free printable colouring collection from Hope Ink, $52 value
• Free 1 month subscription from Kiwi Crate, $19.95 value
• 1 month subscription from Bookroo, $18 value
• 3 month subscription from Scribd (unlimited books, audiobooks, and magazines), $26.97 value
• $15 store credit from Strawesome
• $15 gift certificate from Cultivate What Matters
• Free spot or $15 off any product from Bloom Naturals
• $15 store credit from Orglamix

STILL NOT CONVINCED?

You get 30 days to try out this Ultimate Homemaking Bundle!

That’s right friend! We want you to be completely satisfied with your purchase. I’m certain you’ll love these resources as much as I do, but I always find it reassuring when a company confidently provides a money-back guarantee if their customers aren’t happy.

The post Why the 2018 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is the Best One Yet! appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

In the current economy, purchases such as books and online courses may seem like an extravagance. However, today I’m going to share my secret with how I get savings of over 90% off of materials like these!

Here's the secret to saving money on books and eCourses! #moneysaving #budgettips #bigsavings
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / manera

I bet you’re itching to hear my secret.

Here it is… bundle sales.

Yes, bundle sales are the secret to saving money on books and courses. Here are some of the most common questions about bundles and answers to those burning questions.

WHAT IS A BUNDLE SALE?

A bundle sale is when a group of authors and creators come together to offer a collection of products for one low price.

IS IT THE SAME CONTENT EVERY YEAR?

Absolutely not. In fact, the people who create these bundle sales want return customers, so they work hard to create unique collections every year.

IS THE BUNDLE REALLY WORTH IT?

First of all, there are many types of bundles available, from parenting bundles to homemaking bundles, and health bundles to homeschooling bundles! In order for the bundle to be of good value to you, you’ll want to purchase one which appeals most to your interests!

If you’ve found a bundle you’re interested in take a look at the list of books and courses which are included in the bundle. Often these lists will indicate the value of the resources if purchased separately. Usually I can find 2-3 resources which, when added up, exceed the price of the bundle. This alone prompts me to make the purchase. If I can get many more resources for the same cost as just 2 or 3 bought separately, then the expense is definitely worth it!

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / singkham

HOW DO I ACCESS THE CONTENT?

After your purchase is cleared you are emailed access to the content.

All you have to do is click and download the content you want, then register for any of the eCourses you’re interested in. If there are bonus offers, claim those as soon as possible too.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STUFF I DON’T LIKE?

I can almost guarantee that with ANY bundle there might be a couple products you don’t like. BUT that’s okay! If you’ve saved money on a whole bunch of resources you DO like then a few resources you don’t like shouldn’t be an issue. Simply ignore those products and if you’ve downloaded them to your computer already, just delete them.

HOW DO I GET THE MOST OUT OF MY PURCHASE?

Whenever I’m about to purchase a bundle I make a reading / learning plan for myself. I spend some time mapping out the content I’m interested in and schedule the books and courses into my calendar. I find this is the most helpful way for me to get the most out of my bundle.

DOES THE CONTENT EXPIRE?

With most bundles your access to the content expires usually within a year. This is usually because bundle hosts need to free up space on their servers for subsequent bundle sales.

However, if you’ve downloaded the products onto your own computer before access ends, then those products that you’ve downloaded are yours forever!

WHAT BUNDLE IS AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW?

I’ve purchased numerous bundles over the past few years and I’ve ALWAYS been more than satisfied with my purchases. Sometimes, I’m even a contributor to a bundle and you’ll find one of my products in it!

(I want you to know that I’m an affiliate for the Ultimate Productivity Bundle, but I wouldn’t be telling you about this bundle if I didn’t love it 100%).

The Ultimate Productivity Bundle will help you become a more organized and efficient person.

WHO SHOULDN’T BUY A BUNDLE?

Even though I love bundles, they might not be for everyone. Here are a few reasons why you SHOULDN’T buy a bundle.

• You already own all (or the majority of) these resources.
• You can’t access a computer or another digital device. Almost all of these resources need a digital device in order for you to use them.
• You don’t like reading or learning new things.
• You’ll get angry if you don’t like every – single – resource in the bundle.
• You can’t afford to pay your bills. Please don’t overextend yourself. If you’re struggling to put food on the table or can’t pay for your housing… don’t purchase this bundle.

So there you have it… my secret to saving money on books and eCourses! Bundles are a great money-saver. I encourage you to check one out! I’m confident you’ll love it!

The post How to Save Money on Books and Online Courses appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Are you nervous about teaching science to your homeschooler?

When I speak with homeschooling parents, one of their greatest concerns is how to teach a subject they don’t like or a subject that they, themselves, struggled with in school.

Science tends to be one of those subjects that makes homeschooling parents a bit nervous.

The truth is, you don’t have to be anxious about teaching science! There are loads of resources to support you through homeschooling this subject!

Here are some great hacks to teach science to your homeschooler.

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Don't be overwhelmed by science! Here are some great hacks to teach science to your homeschooler! #homeschooling #homeschoolscience
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / ArturVerkhovetskiy

IT’S EVERYWHERE!

 

Science is everywhere! You simply have to draw your children’s attention to it! For example, you can collect specimens to place on a table (i.e. rocks, a vase of flowers, a piece of driftwood, etc.). You can also make observations about the weather, clouds, and the stars.

A MONTHLY SCIENCE SUBSCRIPTION CLUB

Subscription clubs are a wonderful solution to help you present science information to your children. It’s fresh, exciting, and often the subscriptions include materials and instructions to do experiments.

Three popular science subscriptions are:

GROOVY LABS

KIWI CRATE

The post Homeschool Hacks to Teach Science appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

The meat wasn’t thawed, so supper ended up being 20 minutes later than usual. Your kids are fighting with each other… again. AND you’ve barely tackled your to-do list. At times like these it’s easy to push family time to another time or another day.

But if we don’t make family time a priority, it’s easily forgotten.

Dieter Uchtdorf once said, “in family relationships, love is really spelled T.I.M.E.,” and is this ever true! I once saw an Ikea commercial which showed children writing a letter to the Three Kings (the Santa Claus equivalent) and a letter to their parents. Every child requested that their parents spend more time with them.

This isn’t surprising though, is it?

I know for myself, some of my strongest, happiest, childhood memories were the ones which involved quality family time.

So how do we make family time a priority?

Come find out why family time is important, how to create a habit of regular family time, and get 25+ family activity ideas! #familylife #parentingtips
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Rawpixel

HOW CAN WE MAKE A HABIT OF FAMILY TIME?

If you want to have regular family time, you need to make a habit of it.

• Choose a day and time that will be set aside for family time. Make sure everyone knows that nothing else is to be scheduled at this time.
• Write your family time on the calendar and set a reminder on your phone.
• Unless there’s a critical emergency, don’t postpone or reschedule family time.

WHAT ARE SOME QUALITY FAMILY TIME ACTIVITIES?

Sometimes it’s easier to schedule family time when you have a planned activity. Here are some ideas for how to spend your quality family time together.

GAMES

Games are a wonderful way to connect with one another.

• Play a board game.
• Have a few rounds of hide and seek.
• Play conversation games like: “Would You Rather?”
• Try some classic card games (War, Go Fish, Stop the Bus).

PLAY, PLAY, AND PLAY SOME MORE.

Young children often long to play with their parents. Let your imagination come alive. Here are some encouraging tips and ideas for how to play with your children. Some playful ideas are:

• Build a blanket fort.
• Construct something out of blocks.
• Have a tea party.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / belchonock

GET COZY

Sometimes hunkering down in the house is a wonderful way to spend time together.

• Read aloud a book together and discuss it (family book club).
• Look at baby photo albums of the kids and parents!
• Work on a jigsaw puzzle.
• Camp out in the living room.

GET OUTSIDE

Fresh air is a wonderful way to connect with one another. The great outdoors is often refreshing and there are plenty of activities to enjoy!

• Do some puddle jumping.
• Build a snowman.
• Take a walk around the neighbourhood.
• Play in the community playground.
• Go for a picnic.
• Do some stargazing.
• Watch clouds floating through the sky.
• Fly a kite.
• Blow some bubbles.
• Watch the sun set.
• Go berry picking.
• Take a trip to the zoo.
• Have a water fight.

photo credit: © christianpics.co / Ben White

IN THE KITCHEN

There’s something special about the kitchen. It’s called the heart of the home for good reason. Spend some family time together in the kitchen.

• Make a giant chocolate chip cookie.
• Have a cook-off challenge (like the TV show, Chopped).
• Make ice cream sundaes.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to spend quality family time together. Family time activities are easy enough to plan… simply set a date, choose an activity, and have fun!

The post 25+ Quality Family Time Activities appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Reading high quality children’s books is a wonderful way to teach your children. Also, if you discover a book that your child enjoys, you could always extend the book by doing some literacy-based planning around the book.

Now that I’ve shared our April picture books list, do you have any favourite books that you’re reading this month? I invite you to tell us all about them!

April Book List

Want a handy list of all of the books we’ve listed in this post? Simply click the download button and the complete list is yours.

Download Now!

The post Our Favourite Picture Books for April appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

I love getting a glimpse of how other other homeschoolers manage their days. It always inspires me and gives me ideas for how I can plan for my weekdays.

So, without further ado, here’s a behind-the-scenes glimpse of our homeschool schedule in action.

Come take a behind-the-scenes peek at this family's homeschool schedule! #homeschool #hsroutine #homeschoolers
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / puhimec

MOMTIME

After facing burnout a few times, I’ve come to the realization that I need to be intentional with self-care. So every day, first thing in the morning, after I eat breakfast, I grab my coffee, then I sit down with my Bible and Spiritual Journal. This time alone refreshes me and motivates me for the day.

BREAKFAST

The girls usually wake up by the time I finish my Bible study.

They make and eat breakfast. **Sidenote: I almost never make breakfast for my children. They select from various choices of breakfasts (hard boiled eggs, toast, cereal, yogurt and fruit, etc.). My oldest daughter has also learned how to make scrambled eggs, which is one of her favourite breakfast choices.

I put in a load of laundry and wash the breakfast dishes as the girls finish eating.

MORNING TIME

We gather in the living room and snuggle up on the couch. I light our Morning Time candle and read various books from our Morning Time basket. Lately our Morning Time has included:

• The Believe Storybook Bible
• On The Banks of Plum Creek
• The Life and Times of Bees
• Bedtime Math
• Canadian Timeline (2x/week) and The Care and Keeping of You (2x/week)
• Story of the World (1x/week)

If you want to get a closer look at Morning Time, here’s where you can check out our Morning Time Basket.

SMOOTHIE BREAK

After Morning Time, we gather in the kitchen for a smoothie break. My favourite smoothies are a blend of spinach, water, apple, and orange. I guess it’s not a smoothie… but more like a juice.

TABLE TIME

After our smoothies, we meet at the table to work on Math and Language Arts.

I usually sit at the table and read while the girls do their work. By doing this, I’m available to help and answer any questions they may have.

After they’re done their studies, I send them to the living room to work on an art project. They draw in their journals or do a video chalk pastel art lesson.

While they’re doing art, I set up a science experiment or baking activity. Lately we’ve been working through the science experiments in our Magic School Bus Science Kit.

LUNCH

We clean off the table and have lunch. Lunches in our house are always simple (usually leftovers from dinner the night before).

QUIET TIME

After lunch, the girls and I have quiet time. I usually work on my blog while they watch a show and/or have some technology time.

A while after I’ve digested my food, I do some exercise. I alternate between the Homeschool Mom Fitness Program and yoga.

GET OUT OF THE HOUSE

We try to get out of the house in the afternoon. We may go for a community walk, visit the park, or simply play in the backyard. Fresh air is important for all of us… especially after working our brains so hard in the morning.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

This is our “typical” day. Of course, this homeschool schedule looks very different if one of us is sick or if we have a field trip planned for the day. However, with our 4-day homeschool week, we often have enough flexibility to shuffle things around.

COME SEE OUR HOMESCHOOL SCHEDULE IN ACTION

I occasionally participate in “Take-a-Peek Tuesday” on Instagram. The way it works is I publish pictures throughout the day into an Instagram Story. Follow @deliberatemom on Instagram and you’ll get a glimpse of what our homeschool days are like!

Wasn’t that fun?! I loved giving you a peek into our homeschool schedule. If you enjoyed watching our day unfold, make sure to join us on Instagram so you can see more behind-the-scenes moments like this!

The post A Day in the Life: Our Homeschool Schedule – 2018 Edition appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Are you looking for candy-free Easter basket ideas?

If your children are anything like mine, they LOVE a good Easter egg hunt. Traditionally, these hunts include little chocolate eggs hidden around the house.

While it’s loads of fun, the amount of sugar in these treats may concern you.

Then there’s the Easter basket which is often LOADED with candies and treats.

Well look no further! Here is a list of some of the best candy-free items for Easter baskets!

In this post, you’ll find:

• hair care and products
• toys
• fashionable accessories
• faith-building gifts
• art materials
• basket ideas for outside fun
• healthy treats
• as well as additional candy-free Easter basket ideas

For your convenience, each picture is linked to an Amazon page so that you can get more information about each of the Easter basket items.

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Want some candy-free Easter basket ideas? This post has 60+ unique ideas your kids are sure to love! #Easter #Easterbasketideas #nocandy
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / sjhuls

The post The Best Candy-Free Easter Basket Ideas appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

My girls and I jumped to our feet and rushed to the door.

It was another package stuffed full with homeschool books and materials.

We dove into the box and the initial excitement quickly waned.

More books to store on bookshelves we don’t have and extra supplies to pick up at the end of the day.

It didn’t take long for this new box of “things” to become a burden.

As I thought about this dread and discomfort, I suddenly became aware that our homeschool slipped into a pattern of buying.

Can’t find that book at the library? That’s okay – I can order it.

Want that fancy scale with all the weights for a mathematics activity? Go ahead and buy it!

I realized our homeschool became more about the tools and curriculum than the exploring and learning. 

Something had to change.

Does any of this seem familiar? Do you find you have too many homeschool plans, too many materials, and too little time? At times does homeschooling feel more like a burden than a joy?

In this article, you’ll discover that:

• Homeschooling doesn’t have to be all-consuming.
• Children don’t need long, lengthy days to learn.
• How to reduce the amount of “stuff” being bought.

Is your homeschool overflowing with books, supplies, and stuff? Come read about this family's journey to minimalist homeschooling. #homeschool
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / maximleshkovich

A  HOMESCHOOL VISION

When anyone asks me what’s the first step to start the homeschool journey, my answer is always the same… have a vision.

Without a vision of what you want to accomplish or a sense of what you consider to be “success”, you will easily get distracted. When you lack vision, every curriculum will beckon you and every field trip will be enticing.

Upon revisiting my vision, I had realized I filled our days with many activities that weren’t important to me or my children. My oldest daughter was attending optional online classes which interrupted our family learning time. I also became aware of the absence of community and connection in our days.

Without having a vision, I could have been stuck in this rut for a long time. However, since I have quarterly reflection days built into our schedule, I was able to identify this issue before it got too out of control.

DAYS DON’T NEED TO BE FULL

Kay Redfield Jamison once said, “Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.”

When I think about this quote, I’m reminded that our children’s days don’t need to be full of busywork, projects, worksheets, and assessments. Their learning comes mostly from interactions, reading good books, and participating in activities that are meaningful.

Minimalist homeschooling means letting go of the need to fill all the hours with learning opportunities. It means having more white space and having the flexibility to allow our children to explore and learn about what interests them!

RETHINK CURRICULUM

One of my favourite homeschooling books is Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie. There’s one quote in particular from this book, that resonated with me:

Curriculum isn’t something we buy. It’s something we teach. Something we embody. Something we love. It is the form and content of our children’s learning experiences. If we started thinking about “school” in terms of encountering certain ideas and mastering certain skills rather than finishing a particular book or “covering” material, we would free ourselves to learn far more than we can by binding ourselves to a set published resource.

Wow.

I can’t help but think about the times that I “doubled-up” on my children’s math work because it felt like we were slipping behind and we wouldn’t be able to finish the book before the end of the year. Of course, my focus of doing more was often met with resistance and it wouldn’t take long  before this strained my relationship with my children.

Curriculum can be so many things! It can be a walk through the forest with a bird book and a set of binoculars! It can be a conversation in the doctor’s office about the diabetes poster hanging on the wall. Curriculum could be planning a meal, making the grocery list, buying the ingredients, and then making the recipe.

When we broaden the definition of curriculum, suddenly opportunities to teach and learn appear everywhere we look!

BEGINNING OUR MINIMALIST HOMESCHOOLING JOURNEY

After letting go of filling all the minutes of our days and realizing that curriculum isn’t about textbooks, a minimalist homeschooling approach seemed natural.

As I began this journey, I knew I needed a concrete starting point. So I decided that the first focus is to reduce our physical materials.

Declutter our homeschool materials.

Our home is full of books.

Textbooks. Fiction. Non-fiction. Children’s picture books. Reference books.

We have so many books!

To begin our minimalist homeschooling journey, I had to begin the process of weeding through all of our books and choosing ONLY what is beautiful and lovely.

Oh my goodness… what a task!

I knew that without a deadline, I would never get it done. So I booked a table at our local homeschool used book sale (which takes place at the end of March). I’ve committed to purging at least 80% of our books and learning materials.

I have to admit I’m anxious about this, but I need to free myself from the shackles of all the stuff we’ve accumulated. There’s a terrible guilt that overcomes me when I realize I’ve neglected to use a resource or I accidentally purchased the same book twice.

Plus, when I’m juggling so many materials, it becomes more challenging to plan lessons for my children because I’m trying to include all the things rather than what’s most important.

Borrow, rather than buy materials.

Next, I plan to borrow as many materials as possible. For some subjects, this might not be possible. For instance, my daughter uses the Bob Jones English curriculum. She enjoys the worksheets in the textbook, and I like to have her worksheets in order to report learning to our supervising teacher.

However, whenever I’m building a unit study or conducting a project, I want to rely mostly on library books and borrowed resources. We have a fabulous public library and I want to make better use of it.

Go natural.

I’ve written before about the beauty of learning provocations. I plan on using more natural learning provocations in our homeschool.

Instead of tens blocks and counting rods, I want to use rocks and sticks. Rather than posters and collections, we’ll go on more meaningful outings and field trips.

While all these steps will take some time, I’m hoping that by the end of March, we’ll be well on our way to being a more minimalist homeschool.

Vince Gowmon once said, “You cannot make people learn. You can only provide the right conditions for learning to happen,” and this is absolutely true! As I looked around my homeschool, I saw more distractions than learning opportunities. The clutter of books and materials has pulled away from the natural beauty that comes from intentional planning and thoughtful exploration.

So what about you? Do you have a minimalist homeschool? What helps you stay focused on what’s most important?

The post Beginning the Journey to Minimalist Homeschooling appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.

Your mind stops racing and you glance around.

The home seems quiet considering there’s a child’s party about to commence in less than five minutes.

You begin to feel uneasy and pull out your phone.

Your child eagerly presses the doorbell again… and that’s when you find the email.

You were supposed to RSVP by this date. The party is actually next week.

Quickly, you scamper off the steps and down the sidewalk to your car.

How embarrassing.

You hope that the family really isn’t home (and peeking out at you behind closed drapes).

Has this ever happened to you? Have you missed appointments or showed up to events either too early or too late?

One of the biggest challenges of moms is trying to “do it all”. Time management and scheduling is often an obstacle and it becomes trickier with the more children you have.

Here are some tips, tricks, and hacks to keep your family organized!

One of the biggest challenges of moms is trying to 'do it all'. Here are some tips, tricks, and hacks to keep your family organized! #momtips #momhacks #homemakinghacks
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photo credit: © depositphotos.com / Rawpixel

HAVE A CALENDAR & USE IT

This may seem obvious, but if you aren’t using a calendar, then now’s the time to start. There are some tricks to using a calendar effectively. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• As soon as you know of an event, write it on the calendar. I HIGHLY recommend hanging the calendar in a central part of the home. Ours is in the kitchen.
• Make sure all family members know where the calendar is, and that events ALWAYS need to be recorded on it.
• If you also use a digital calendar, make sure to record events in your phone.

Our favourite calendar is the More Time Moms Calendar because it has large spaces to write activities. I also like the handy pocket at the back of the calendar. I use this pocket to store important papers and permission forms for my children.

We discuss our events for the week at our weekly family meeting. If someone has forgotten to record an event on the calendar, it’s caught and then added during our meeting time.

photo credit: © depositphotos.com / AntonMatyukha

USE A CLEANING SCHEDULE

I can’t say enough good things about my cleaning schedule. Without it I’m sure my home would be an awful mess. If you haven’t already adopted a cleaning schedule, I urge you to do so asap!

Also, make sure your children have assigned chores! I use chore cards for my girls and they select their chores at our weekly family meetings.

*affiliate link* Printable Chore Card Set by Military Wife and Mom

HAVE A MENU PLAN

Have you ever stood in front of the fridge and wondered what to make for dinner? As you waver from option to option, you realize you’ve been indecisive for over half an hour. Your frustration builds as you realize the time you’ve wasted.

A menu plan is one of the best ways for moms to stay organized. Every Sunday, I make a menu plan for the week along with an accompanying grocery list. It helps me (and my family) to know what’s for dinner.

I post our menu on our dry-erase menu board, but you can do this kind of planning on paper too. Magnetic menu plan / grocery list pads are a great help when it comes to planning your meals for the week.

MAKE TIME TO PLAN

Sunday is my day for planning the week. As I mentioned previously, I make our menu and grocery list on Sundays, but I do other planning too. I take the time to write all my goals and activities into my day planner. I double-check the calendar and I make sure all permission forms and timely documents are signed. These simple planning routines help me stay organized all week long.

Planning my week is a good excuse to take out all those highlighters and pretty gel pens. Have I ever mentioned how much I love erasable pens? Whoever invented them is a genius!

Pictured above is my Passion Planner. This planner is THE best tool in my organized living arsenal!

If you don’t already take time to plan your week, try it out! Half an hour is usually enough time to make sure your schedule is in order.

TACKLE THAT LAUNDRY… DAILY

Laundry quickly piles up in the house. If you want to stay organized, you’ll do at least one load of laundry per day.

**Important tip: One load of laundry means one load from beginning to end. Do not start a second load of laundry until the first load is folded and put away.**

Here are some additional laundry tips, tricks, and hacks.

MAKE NOTES

How many times has someone told you about an event and you make mental note of it, only to have it slip your mind? Make sure to have a system for making notes about such things as play dates, concerts, appointments, etc. Here are some options to track these things:

• Carry a small notebook and pen in your purse.
• Immediately record them into the notes section of your phone.
• Email yourself.

HAVE A HOME BINDER

One of my most beloved organization tools is our home binder. In my binder, I store things like my cleaning checklist, my rotation of recipes for the week, a plastic sleeve of coupons, important phone numbers, and other homemaking helps.

Our binder is kept in the kitchen near the calendar so we can reference it quickly.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned,” and this is absolutely true! When you use effective methods and have organizational systems in place, you’ll save loads of time. Now the question is… how are you going to use all that time you free up?

The post How Busy Moms Stay Organized: Tips to Maintain Your Home and Schedule appeared first on The Deliberate Mom.