About Jessica

Once a public high school teacher, Jessica now homeschools her six children, covering preschool through 10th grade. When she's not changing diapers, washing mountains of laundry, or chasing down the wayward math student who's steathily playing video games in the closet, she shares parenting and homekeeping tips on Life as MOM as well as "delicious ways to act your wage" at Good Cheap Eats.

5 ways to manage home and school

by on April 24, 2013
in home maintenance & management · 19 Comments

5-ways-to-manage-home-and-homeschool
Written by Jessica Fisher of Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats

Ours is a busy household. As you can imagine, with eight people, the sheer volume of dishes, laundry, and stuff to manage is fairly high, at least twice that of the “average” home. Coupled with homeschooling and being home-based in the truest sense of the word, our home boasts a very “lived in” look.

The walls bare fingerprints. The washing machine has a shelf life of about five years. The kitchen boasts a revolving door. Or so it seems.

Here are five tricks that I use to help me manage home and school: [Read more...]

Cozy up with a good book.

by on March 8, 2013
in family time · 18 Comments

Books and ZhuZhu PetWritten by Jessica Fisher of Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats

Over the last two weeks, my kids and I have been engrossed in a family read aloud. I checked out the digital edition of The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. Since it was only a two-week check-out, it was a race to complete the book before it magically disappeared from my iPad.

Books, and specifically family read-alouds, have been a unifying thread in the fabric of our family since my eldest was about three years old. He’s always been a good listener and back then while I nursed his baby brother we read through The Little House books and Narnia. Ever since then I have always felt more “at one” with my children when we have a chapter book going.

My youngest child, a four-year old child of the technology age is not quite “into” our read alouds yet. But the others, ages 6, 8, 10, and 12, all enjoy them. Even today at fifteen, my eldest son lurks in the shadows or mutes the hockey game so that he can hear me read to his siblings.
[Read more...]

Jessica’s homeschool day in the life (with a 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, and 15-year old)

by on January 23, 2013
in organization · 19 Comments

mom and boys on slide

Written by Jessica Fisher of Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats

Somedays, I feel like the old lady in the grocery store. You know the one. The one who tells you to enjoy these days because they will soon be gone.

I know, I know. When you’re in the thick of child-rearing, baby-wearing, diaper-changing, nose-wiping, it’s hard to imagine looking back on these moments or days fondly.

I thought that after my first child was born. As I limped around with a healing episiotomy and two milk-filled boulders on my chest, I couldn’t imagine ever wanting to do that again.

An older mom friend said,

“It’s okay. God gives you amnesia. You won’t remember the feelings of all the hard things. You might remember them intellectually. But you’ll look back on this time with different emotions.”

She was right.
[Read more...]

5 new (school) resolutions to consider

by on December 26, 2012
in family time · 12 Comments

Written by contributor Jessica Fisher of Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats

I intended to finish the calendar year with a strong academic month. Of course, illness and a number of unforeseeable circumstances got in my way. In some ways, we limped to the finish line.

But, in other ways, we ran a good race. We spent more down time as a family, endeavored to be more patient with one another, had a chance just to rest, and focused on priorities rather than a completed lesson plan.

It got me thinking of how lovely it is to get a second fresh start when January 1 rolls around. And how I want to prioritize in the new year.

Here are five ways I hope to “put off the old man” and put on the new one in 2013:
[Read more...]

Simplifying school (and life) at the holidays

by on November 9, 2012
in a mom's education · 5 Comments

Written by contributor Jessica Fisher of Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats

I well remember my public school days near the holidays. They were chock full of rehearsals for the Christmas play, extended art sessions as we finished up crafts that would be gifts for our parents, and a plethora of holiday parties. Our elementary school also threw in a fundraiser and canned food drive as well.

Those seasons were anything but simple.

I think my poor mother must have been run ragged with all the things that were required of us — and her — back in those days.

Times have changed. Given that my husband and I have chosen a different educational path than we ourselves were raised in, we don’t have that same holiday busy-ness thrown at us — at least not from the outside.
[Read more...]

Make mealtimes easier with freezer cooking

by on October 12, 2012
in home maintenance & management · 13 Comments

Written by contributor Jessica Fisher of Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats

One of the unique, albeit obvious, characteristics of homeschooling is that it takes place at home. Oh sure, there are co-ops and field trips and class days and carschooling, but often our educational style is home-based. Homebody that I am, I love that!

As such, there are distractions present that might not occur in a traditional classroom setting: barking dogs, poopy diapers, and ringing doorbells, to name a few. How often have my children rushed to the front door from all corners of the house to greet the delivery man?! You would think it was Santa Claus, but no, it’s just a guy bringing a replacement refrigerator part.

I, like my children, am prone to distraction, making teaching at home challenging amid the laundry and the cleaning that could be done.

And the cooking? Don’t even get me started. I begin to make lunch but remember that I have all these apples to deal with. Before I know it, I’m knee deep in pies and applesauce and apple butter. It’s like giving a mouse a cookie.

[Read more...]

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