Thriving in Your Home (Instead of simply surviving...)

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Thriving in Your Home (Instead of simply surviving...)

This is a guest post from my friend Jana! I love to read her practical encouragement and actionable wisdom. I hope it will bless you too!

The monotony of life at home can lull us into simply existing. We’ve all been there. But it doesn’t have to be so. Mama, you can thrive at home!

Here are three strategies: make it beautiful, provide gracious order, and be a consistent presence.

MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL

Do you feel an internal tug for beauty? Perhaps you love an orange sunset or pink peonies. God created this world beautiful as a reflection of Himself, so I believe an innate pull to beauty is why we desire to create beautiful spaces in our homes. Beautiful spaces bring a deep sense of thriving.

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Maintaining a "One Room Schoolhouse" with Teens in the Mix

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Maintaining a "One Room Schoolhouse" with Teens in the Mix

This is a guest post from Kelly Hellmuth! I’m absolutely delighted to have a “peak behind the curtain” into Kelly’s home. Find more from Kelly at the bottom of this post.

“Maybe it’s the influence of the Little House on the Prairie, but I find the history of the one-room schoolhouse a little romantic.” - Denise M. Colby

Don’t we all? Most of us here are pursuing an educational path either with Charlotte Mason or Classical influences (or both!), and we know the value of educating our children together. There is an ease and even a necessity to discuss subjects such as history and science and fine arts as a family.

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How to Wisely Anchor Your Homeschool Day

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How to Wisely Anchor Your Homeschool Day

This is a guest post from Leah Hudson! It has amazing encouragement and wisdom. Find out how to hear more from Leah at the bottom of the post.

When I started homeschooling my oldest, I compared the anticipation to jumping off a cliff into a vast ocean. From my pre-homeschool vantage point, I could see countless other women bobbing up and down in the waves—obviously keeping afloat. Some had even fashioned together trim little boats for their crews. Their success gave me encouragement to take the plunge.

I dove in.

Who knew kindergarten could be so overwhelming? Who knew adjusting to new routines would prove so difficult? I needed to get my sea legs FAST!

That first year was hard. I problem-solved my way through it. And I hoped that someday I could be one of those other homeschool moms who had “figured it out.”

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Making Our Homeschool Days Work for Us (A Day in the Life)

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Making Our Homeschool Days Work for Us (A Day in the Life)

This is a guest post from DJ! I love her perspective of making things work well for her family. Find her details at the bottom of the post.

Hey y’all! I’m DJ from thebookishden.com and I’m so excited to have the opportunity to share with you what a typical homeschool day looks like for our family. I’m sort of fan-girling over here, as Erin’s blog is one I’ve followed for ages!

We’re a family hanging out in a small town right outside of Charlotte, NC. We have 5 kiddos ages, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. I wish I could say that those stair step ages were our plan, but that was all Jesus!

Our family started this wonderful world of homeschooling about 5 years ago and man…there’s been a serious learning curve! We’ve been experimenting with how we do school since the beginning, and with each child coming to school age-each year looks a little different.

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A Day in Our Gentle, Classical Homeschool

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A Day in Our Gentle, Classical Homeschool

This fabulous guest post was written by my friend Lydia who does a fabulous job of sharing her adventures with her three littles utilizing The Gentle + Classical Preschool. Find more info about Lydia at the bottom of the post.

To the homeschool mamas reading this…
 …who are simultaneously changing a diaper, wrangling a toddler away from near disaster, and mitigating the uproarious queries of a preschooler bouncing on the couch — you are my people.

With three very little littles (ages 4, 2.5, and 1), I would be lying if I told you we regularly had beautifully structured homeschool days. Far from it! But homeschooling has brought its own rhythm to our home, adding an invaluable richness to our lives and family culture. I want to share with you an example of what I consider a very good day.

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When God Changes Your Homeschool Plans

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When God Changes Your Homeschool Plans

The alarm labeled “It’s Co-op Day!” goes off at 6:00 a.m. Thankfully, the coffee pot also automatically starts at 6:00 a.m. I’m not a morning person, so, in all honesty, the next step in my morning routine is hitting the snooze button. Lunches have been packed the night before and the kids are old enough to get themselves breakfast, so as I grab that first cup of coffee I take a moment to sit in the dark, pray over the day ahead, get snuggles from my dog, and let my brain wake up a bit.

Then we hit the day running. Everyone out the door by 7:35 a.m. to be on time.

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Why Yelling Just Doesn't Work... (Restoring Children with a Gentle Spirit)

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Why Yelling Just Doesn't Work... (Restoring Children with a Gentle Spirit)

This post was contributed to Life, Abundantly by the talented Amber Palmer. See her full bio below. I hope you’ll be as encouraged and convicted as I was!

The intense yelling coming from the other side of the house floated down the hall to where I was putting laundry away in my room. “Oh, not again, I can’t do this again…” I thought to myself as my children’s yells and cries got louder.  This was the third time within thirty minutes that I was interrupted while trying to put the pile (ok, mountain) of laundry away.  

Anger poured over me and through me and all around me as I marched down the hall toward the sibling fight. Huffing and puffing, mumbling and complaining, I hustled to the fire I was desperate to put out for good.

Marching over to them, I matched their loud screams with, “Why are you always yelling at each other!” I felt pain rip through my throat and a voice come out that I wasn’t even familiar with myself.

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A Peak Inside a Relaxed Preschool + Kindergarten Rhythm

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A Peak Inside a Relaxed Preschool + Kindergarten Rhythm

This is a guest post written by Kim! I hope you enjoy all of her encouragement and insight as she details a typical homeschool day with her two little ones. Find out more about Kim below.

With two boys, three and five, our days are usually full of a lot of energy, a lot of noise, and a whole lot of crazy. When it comes to our daily homeschooling, I have been slowly introducing a gentle learning environment for both boys since they are both still young.

When I first began to plan our official homeschool “Kindergarten” year, I was already (almost unconsciously) trying to recreate a public school environment. I was already beginning to forget the freedom homeschooling allows in learning. While planning, I was trying to check all the boxes and tick all the subjects. I was trying to figure out how to cram all of this material into one day… for a five year old!

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The Charlotte Mason Method in a Single Parent Home

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The Charlotte Mason Method in a Single Parent Home

This article is a guest post by Tia McArthur. You can learn more about Tia and find her online via the information at the end of this post. I hope you’ll find Tia’s words a comfort and encouragement!

As a single mom with a small business that is a full-time ministry, homeschooling looks a lot different in our home than many others. Finding balance to implement the feast that is a Charlotte Mason (CM) education while also providing our sole source of income is the most rewarding challenge of my life. Like family dinners, this feast is often messy and loud and one of us often wants to take our favorite dish/book off to a corner somewhere. But this time spent together is weaving a fabric of memories for us both to treasure for a lifetime, just like those family dinners from my childhood.

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When 2 Minutes of Waiting Gets on Your Nerves... {Becoming an Unhurried Wife}

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When 2 Minutes of Waiting Gets on Your Nerves... {Becoming an Unhurried Wife}

This guest post was contributed by the delightful and talented Carly Wilson. See the bio at the bottom to find more of Carly’s work. We are delighted to have her!

My husband just stands there, doing nothing. I can’t tolerate it! He pours the coffee into the mug, pops it into the microwave, hits start, and then…nothing. He just lounges against the counter while it heats up.

He should be putting the time to good use.

He should be wiping up the counter, putting away the milk, or closing the drawer.

“Don’t you need to do something?” I asked him. “Aren’t you bored just standing there?”

“Not at all,” he answered. “It’s actually kind of nice to do nothing.”

For some reason, this annoys me!

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