Written by Cait Fitzpatrick Curley
I don’t know about you, but I’m having trouble concentrating lately. I head upstairs to collect laundry and, the next thing I know, I’m standing in the hallway, wondering what on earth I was supposed to be doing. Or I’ll put a bagel in the toaster oven and find it hours later, long forgotten and rock hard.
It’s hard to do ordinary life things right now. Forget about homeschooling. Or working. Or – gasp!- attempting to juggle both and do all of the ordinary life things.
This post is a perfect example.
Every time I thought about writing this article, I came up blank. I shared my writer’s block with dear friends and my homeschool sister suggested I ask for help. She’s a genius, that one!
I reached out to eleven of my homeschool blogger friends and asked them, “What three things are helping you right now?”
And then I asked them to share a resource or two that might be helpful during this uncertain time.
I think you’re going to love their answers!
Photo by Molly Belle
So, without further ado, I’d like to share advice from the trenches:
Alicia Hutchinson, Living Well + Learning Well with Alicia Hutchinson
Three things helping right now:
A resource to help:
Cait Curley, My Little Poppies & The Homeschool Sisters Podcast
Three things helping right now:
- Mental Health Daily Must-Dos.
When this all started, I created a super-simple homeschool routine to use with my kiddos and shared it on My Little Poppies. It worked for a little while… and then I realized we needed to focus on hearts over heads. My husband is a critical care physician and he works in the ICU, treating those fighting COVID-19. As I type this, he’s volunteering at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, NY. We are so over-the-moon proud of him, but we are also worried about the guy! That’s how I ended up with the mental-health daily must-dos. They have been helping our family immensely. - Walks.
We have been walking at least twice a day and spending as many hours as possible outdoors, regardless of weather. It helps our souls. - Reading.
During this uncertain time, I have relied heavily upon my earliest coping mechanism. Books have a magical way of transporting us from our current situation. When we can’t travel far, we can get lost in a book.
Resources to help:
- Mental Health Must-Do List
- Resources for this Uncertain Time
- We have had a lot of COVID-19 related conversations on The Homeschool Sisters Podcast.
Cindy West, Our Journey Westward
Three things helping right now:
1. Nature walks!
The exercise, fresh air, sunshine, and beauty of spring are essentials for keeping my spirits up.
2. Homeschool consistency!
Sticking to our normal homeschool schedule as much as possible gives us a daily framework to keep the hours from running together into endless wandering and wondering.
A Resource to help:
Colleen Kessler, Raising Lifelong Learners
Three things helping right now:
- Sleep.
I’m sleeping in and letting my bigger kids sleep in too. The younger ones still get up, and they play or work on things I’ve strewn out for them — right now that’s polymer clay. - Rabbit holes.
The kids are trying new things and enjoying those explorations, and I’m not jumping in to teach them or solve problems for them. My 12-year-old has baked 3-4 times each week with some successes and some failures. My 10-year-old’s clay figures keep losing their heads in the oven, and I tell her to look up ways to make polymer clay survive the baking process to troubleshoot. - Downtime.
We’re taking a lot of downtime. Playing in the yard, snuggling up on the couch with books and movies, playing games, doing crafts — connection is the most important thing with intense and differently-wired (well, ANY) kiddo, and so we’re connecting — A LOT.
Resources to help:
Amy Sloan, Humility and Doxology
Three things helping right now:1. Lots of Steps.
My Fitbit has never been happier. A couple of days ago, I think I ended up going out for three separate walks. I’d feel my insides start to churn and my heart start to race and I’d lace up my sneakers and head outside. Bonus, it gave me time to catch up on podcasts.
2. Setting Sundays Apart.
Not being able to go to church on Sundays has been one of the hardest adjustments for our family. But we’ve been making a point to still make Sundays feel special. We worship with our local congregation over Zoom morning and evening. We come together multiple times to pray and sing hymns around the piano as a family. I’m even getting up, showering, and putting on my “Sunday dress” to remind myself what day of the week it is (because that is becoming a real problem over here). God’s gift of rest isn’t dependent on my circumstances, thankfully.
I’m so glad we haven’t stopped doing Morning Time and read aloud right now. Those are the cornerstone of our school day, and we’ve never needed that time of relationship and beauty more than now. Most recently I started reading The Wind in the Willows aloud to my younger three and it is making me so happy.
A Resource to help:
Jessica Waldock, The Waldock Way
Three things helping right now:
- Reading books.
- Playing games.
- Connection.
Taking nightly golf cart rides are keeping us as sane as can be and connected as a family.
Resources to help:
- COVID-19 Unit Study Resources
- Stuck at home! Now what?
- Gameschooling Virtually (Free Printable Pack)
Kara S. Anderson, karasanderson.com & The Homeschool Sisters Podcast
Candles are pretty and help with any quarantine funk, which I’m pretty sure is a thing.
Sometimes I feel like walks don’t “count” as exercise, but I sleep better and my mood is better and overall, I just feel better when I walk each day.
Resources to help:
Lynna Sutherland, Homeschooling without Training Wheels & Sibling Relationship Lab
Three things helping right now:
That way I don’t have to waste brainpower searching for answers I probably won’t find.
I need more sleep, I have less ability to focus, decision fatigue is at an all-time high, and drumming up the motivation to do hard things is at an all-time low. This isn’t just in my imagination. It’s a real, physiological part of tough times.
This involves cooking up frozen pizza for the kids to eat downstairs while hubby and I hide in our room, eat take-out food (hooray for supporting small businesses!) and watch brainless romantic comedies (because I love them and he loves me).
This is hard, y’all. Hard in a way I think we won’t even be able to fathom until we look back at it from the other side.
Resources to help:
Mary Wilson, Creative Homeschooling with Mary Hanna Wilson
Three things helping right now:
The three big things saving me right now are our guilt-free Fridays, video chat, and good TV.
Our family decided to take Fridays “off” while quarantined and I named them guilt-free Fridays. The kids have no required school activities, there are no screen limits, and I am free to relax without any guilt. It’s been a win all around.
I’m an extrovert so I have had to rely on Facetime (and Zoom) a few times a week to SEE and talk to my friends. It’s not the same, but it is helping.
Finally, I’ve given myself permission to watch more good movies and TV than I normally do and it’s been so nice. I indulged in a series by myself and it felt like a wonderful treat. I have also found a few good movies, musicals, and TV shows to enjoy with the kids, which we always do but are doing a bit more than normal.
Resources to help:
Shawna Wingert, Different by Design Learning
The three things that are helping me right now feel pretty basic, but this is just the truth.
I used to drink a ton of water by bringing it with me in the car, while driving my boys around. Once we became housebound, it took me a few weeks to realize that I was physically feeling a bit dehydrated and cranky. Add in the lack of exercise, and I just didn’t feel at all like myself. What’s helping is to add drinking water and going on a walk every single day to my to-do list. I literally write it down every morning to make sure it is a priority.
We have always used online learning programs as part of our homeschool. Now, they feel essential. Classes on Outschool have allowed my kids to connect to the outside world and have occupied their time, which in turn, gives me a much-needed break. I cannot imagine what our days would be like without online learning.
Resources to help:
Tricia Hodges, Hodgepodge & The Curriculum Choice
Three things helping right now:
Resources to help:
Lucia Hames (Nana), You ARE an Artist
Three things helping right now:
1. Jesus.
He literally has the whole world in his hands. I have great peace and little fear of the future.
2. Chocolate.
‘Nuff said.
3. Painting with my beloved, Covid-free sister in her art studio.
I have been painting furiously and the brushes are worn and not a lot of paint left, but I am loving being here almost every day!
Resources to help:
We’ve got this, and we’re better together.
Happier times are ahead, you guys. We can’t see it now and it might take a while, but we will get there. I can just feel it. In the meantime, let’s be kind to each other and help where we can, in our small patch of this earth. And if you’re in the thick of it and you are struggling, reach out to a friend.
We are better together.
Tell us: What three things are helping you right now? Share here!
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Weekend homeschool links: May 8th
I love this, and I especially love that so many mamas mentioned walks as being so helpful right now. That’s actually my #1 too!
Love, love, love this! Thank you Ladies 🥰
Thank you, Cait, for putting this post together! I’m so thankful that we are not alone. I love your reminder that we are truly better together. ❤
Amy Sloan’s latest post: Unit Studies and Hands-On Learning (a video interview with Susan Evans)
I love this post Cait! What a great idea to tap into the magic of utilizing the broad range of tips from your friends. I love this!
What an exceptional group of friends you have. Thanks for sharing them all in one spot!
I think of motherhoid and marriage as a balancing act between taking care of everything your family needs and the needs of your own. If you don’t take the time to find balance with both, at least for me, I become overwhelmed and certainly look for my family to give me happiness instead of providing that for myself. (I’m not saying your family shouldn’t make you happy it should, but there is a difference in feeling satisfied in your day because you took the time to for example: work out so you feel good than expecting others to act a certain way to make you feel good. I hope that makes sense).
1. Connecting with family members; for the kids, we have two set days a week where we talk to my mother in law. This helps the kids keep track of days and have something to look forward to every week (think of it like virtual story time). She reads to them and then talks with my older kids during for an hour. They get to tell stories and jokes, or just talk about whatever they want. Best of all it’s a special timr my oldest get together to spend time together and their relationship has really grown from it.
I also do the same sort of thing for myself with other family members because sometimes you just need to have adult conversations 😂
2. Staying active :
Whether it’s inside or out, there is plenty you can do with your kids to keep them busy. From yoga to stretching to having your kids workout with you to having a dance party. Getting them to move will make everyone happier, add sunshine into that and even better. Just don’t think that because it’s a rainy day you can’t do anything. There are so many resources to use! The best part is you can set the kids up with an obstacle course outside or dance party, and they get to be free without you needing to do it with them. (Other than a watchful eye of course 😉). So put some music on and make breakfast at the same time!
I also make sure I am working out a lot during the week to make sure I am taking care of myself. You can’t take care of everyone else if you don’t take care of you!
3. Reading :
During the calls with my mother law she read to them. But I also read to them too. Pick a chapter book and read a couple of chapters during a meal or a quiet time. It’s a great way to connect, not to mention a great way to set a goal for yourself. How many books can you read together in a month?
B O N U S :
at night I ask the boys to either tell me 3 things they are grateful for today or a high and a low. And then I tell them as well.
Loved these tips from such a broad range of amazing homeschool moms!