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How Homeschooling Improved Our Family Life

November 4, 2014 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We’ve been homeschooling for six years now…and we’re about to make a huge transition in our family. (I’ll be talking about that in an upcoming post.) But there’s no doubt that homeschooling has changed our family life….for the better.

Since most of us have ADHD, homeschooling has been a challenge but it’s also been a true blessing to our family. We’ve had fun, we’ve had fights, and we’ve had freedom to learn from and with each other.

Recently, I got the chance to share a bit about how homeschooling has improved our family life over at TOTS Family. Be sure to stop by and check out the post: How Homeschooling Has Improved Our Family Life to read more!

How Homeschooling Improved Our Family Life – TOTS Family

Sifting Through the Different Types of ADHD

October 5, 2014 by Selena Robinson 7 Comments

Did you know there are different types of ADHD? It’s true! Unfortunately, the names of these might differ, depending on who you ask, which can be confusing. For example, is it ADHD or ADD? Are they same?

I’ve been reading the book “Healing ADD” by Dr. Daniel Amen off and on for the past couple of months and it. is. excellent. I literally cannot say this enough. It is an excellent book about ADHD/ADD. In the book, Dr. Amen describes seven types of ADD. He also uses ADD to encompass ADHD, and in this post I will use both terms interchangeably.

As I read “Healing ADD”, I found almost every member of my family, which was both enlightening and horrifying. We had no idea it was this widespread in our home. But it also explained a lot.

If you’re beginning the process of homeschooling your children with ADHD, you’ll want to take the time to sort through the different types of ADHD before you decide on a homeschooling method. Otherwise, you’ll have to go back to the drawing board multiple times. (Ask me how I know.)

The Different Types of ADHD/ADD

In “Healing ADD”, Dr. Amen describes seven types of ADD/ADHD. I’ve added a very brief description of each one.

Classic – the stereotypical person with ADD or ADHD
Inattentive – the daydreamer
Overfocused – the one-track mind
Temporal Lobe – the hothead
Limbic – the loner
Ring of Fire – the intense one
Anxious – the worrier

Here’s the problem: If you have a family with multiple ADHD members (like ours), you may have to deal with several types of ADD at once. For example, my husband tends toward anxious ADD and I tend toward overfocused ADD. Needless to say, we’ve had quite a few incidences of miscommunication over the years.

We’ve seen variations in our kids’ types of ADHD as well. Tigger has classic ADD, complete with hyperactivity, but Roo displays Ring of Fire ADD. He has extremely intense emotions and he is very easily frustrated. Until I read the book, I was under the impression that Pooh did not have ADHD at all. But then I learned about limbic ADD and that is him to a T.

Adapting to Your Child’s Type of ADHD

Here’s why it’s so important to understand your child’s type of ADHD: If you intend to homeschool, you will have a miserable experience if you choose a method that does not fit with the way your child’s brain works. This is especially true if multiple members of the family have ADHD, because the likelihood that all will have the same type of ADHD is very low.

In our family, Pooh has limbic ADHD, so he is moody, irritable, and generally negative. He needs a very different homeschooling approach than Roo and Tigger. They need far more activity than he does, and, in fact, he generally prefers a solitary activity over P.E. (We’ll talk more about developing a homeschooling approach for the ADHD child later in the series.)

Have you noticed any symptoms of these different types of ADHD in your family? How have you adjusted to them? Let us know in the comments!

This post is part of the series “31 Days of ADHD Homeschooling“! Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Day 6: Creating an ADHD Friendly Routine for Kids!

Why ADHD Parents Should Let Go of the Homeschooling Ideal

October 3, 2014 by Selena Robinson 6 Comments

When you first thought of “homeschooling“, what did you envision? I talked about my homeschooling dream a few months back when I shared my Homeschool Mom Confession at The Mommy Mess. In short, it was to have all of my kids sitting quietly at the dining room table – kind of like the one-room schoolhouse in Anne of Green Gables.

Naturally, this is an unrealistic fantasy, so I wasn’t surprised that it didn’t come true. But while I dropped the more ridiculous aspects of my ideal homeschooling experience, I was still hoping for a certain homeschooling reality. I’d settle for completing an entire week’s lesson plan or finishing a picture book without my kids getting up or standing on their heads.

Finding out that our kids have ADHD, though, threw a real monkey wrench in my plans for our homeschool. I tried lowering my expectations and reducing our schedule, but I still had a hard time dealing with our situation. I found out the hard way that, if our homeschooling experience was going to be a success, I’d have to let go of the homeschooling “ideal”.

Dealing with the Sadness

My first feeling after the diagnosis was sadness. I was sad that my kids were never going to be “normal”, because I felt that they should be able to sit down for an entire school lesson and they should be able to think before they speak. I worried that other parents would look at me as an example of what homeschooling should NOT look like.

Then, there was the guilt that I felt after I realized that many of my primary parenting techniques were unfair to my kids. I had been unfair by expecting them to sit down and maintain focus during a lesson. I had been unfair by assuming that they were being disobedient when they forgot their assignments or got distracted on the way back to the table after a bathroom break. Those realizations were extremely hard to deal with.

Looking on the Bright Side

It wasn’t until I started reading about ADHD that I learned that there are positive aspects of having it. Our kids are extremely imaginative, which is a quality that can serve them extremely well both in school and in life. Plus, kids with ADHD tend to become super passionate about the topics that interest them, so the ability to focus is there if the subject is right.

The great thing about homeschooling is that we have TONS of leeway when it comes to deciding how to approach specific topics. When I use a unit study about a topic the kids like, they get excited and interested and they stay that way throughout the whole lesson. My boys are even asking to read books during their free time now, just because I started letting them choose books about topics they like. Bugs, cars, and trains are at the top of the list these days. 🙂

As an homeschooling parent to an ADHD child, it’s very easy to burn out and lose motivation to continue. The fastest way to burn out is to expect your kids to be like the ideal homeschooled kids. They may not graduate at 15. They may not read until they’re in elementary school. And they may not even potty train until they’re in PreK.

But that’s just fine. As long as you help them love to learn and adjust to their needs, they’ll still be homeschooling success stories!

This post is part of the month-long series “31 Days of ADHD Homeschooling“! Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Day 4: Understanding Your Child’s ADHD Brain!

Must Read Books for ADHD Homeschooling Parents

October 2, 2014 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

When I first learned that our daughter had ADHD, I was full of questions: What is ADHD? What are the treatment options for ADHD? Should I change my parenting style? Can we manage ADHD without medication?

I Googled and poked around some online sites and found a few great ones (I’ll be sharing those later in the series), but what I really wanted was a comprehensive book about ADHD that would explain the condition, let me know what to expect, and offer suggestions for how we could help Tigger manage her symptoms.

Of course, now that we’ve learned that most of us in the family have ADHD, I’ve had to do even more reading about it. Today I’m recommending my must-read books for ADHD homeschooling parents, but even if you’re not a homeschooling family, you’ll find some excellent advice and tips for managing ADHD in these resources.

My Must-Read Books for ADHD Homeschooling Parents

Healing ADD Revised Edition: The Breakthrough Program that Allows You to See and Heal the 7 Types of ADD

This book by Dr. Daniel Amen has literally been a life changer for our family. In the book, Dr. Amen describes seven types of ADD, including hyper and inattentive versions. We found each of us in this book and we learned about the types of behaviors that are unique to each type.

For example, Tigger tends to show classic ADD symptoms, complete with hyperactivity, while Pooh displays the characteristics of limbic ADD – a type I had never heard of before. It was after reading this book that I decided to adjust our homeschool schedule to allow for a more gradual wake up routine in the morning.

We’ll be talking more about the different types of ADHD later this week.

Raising Girls with ADHD: Secrets for Parenting Healthy, Happy Daughters

Raising Girls with ADHD is a book specifically about helping young girls with the condition to understand their symptoms, manage their behavior, and build self-esteem. Tigger’s dealt with low self-esteem quite a lot over the years, especially when it comes to some of her harder school subjects, so this book was right up our alley!

Look for our full review and a giveaway later this month! 🙂

The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, Revised Edition: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder

Since some of our children have sensory processing disorder, we try to incorporate sensory activities whenever possible. This book, a follow up to The Out-of-Sync Child, is packed with active, sensory-stimulating activities that are simple to do around the house. These activities have provided some great material for our homeschool P.E. classes!

Women With Attention Deficit Disorder: Embrace Your Differences and Transform Your Life

I came across this book as I was just beginning to realize that I have ADHD. The author, Sari Solden, is also a woman living with ADD and she is incredibly compassionate and relatable as she describes the challenges and advantages of living with this condition.

As a homeschooling mom, I do the majority of the parenting and the teaching in our home and I really needed some help to understand my tendencies toward disorganization and procrastination. This book has really helped me to work with those tendencies, instead of trying to be “normal”.

The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks

This ebook, written by homeschooling mom Heather Haupt, is a great way to add movement breaks into your homeschool day! We got a chance to review it a while back and our kids absolutely loved it! We schedule in brain breaks every day and the kids pay attention so much better after we take them.

Do you have any favorite books for ADHD homeschooling parents? Share your recommendations in the comments!

This post is part of our “31 Days of ADHD Homeschooling” series! Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Day 3: Why ADHD Parents Should Let Go of the Homeschooling Ideal!

This post is also part of The Massive Guide to Homeschool Reading Lists by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read tons of awesome booklists shared by my fellow homeschooling bloggers!

All Touched Out: Managing SPD Tactile Seeking Symptoms

October 1, 2014 by Selena Robinson 16 Comments

Two of our children are living with sensory processing disorder. Since SPD is such a broad disorder, it can involve all kinds of symptoms that affect every sensory system of the body. One of the biggest issues for both of our kids is SPD tactile seeking. (By the way, tactile is just a fancy word for touch.)

Tigger and Roo are huge tactile seekers. They always have their hands on things around the house. I mean, ALWAYS. When Tigger was younger, we would say “Stop touching!” so many times each day that I’d lose count.

It wasn’t until I started reading about SPD that I realized they were seeking tactile input. I just thought we hadn’t done a good job of teaching them to be polite. And then we noticed variations in their behavior. Tigger tends to touch things very lightly, but Roo uses an enormous amount of pressure. Those variations made it hard for me to know how to treat each child.

Over time, though, we’ve learned to offer sensory experiences for our kids and we’ve seen their behaviors improve quite a lot. Today I’m sharing a few tips we’ve used to help our kids manage their SPD tactile seeking symptoms!

Image c/o: EduardSV / Dollar Photo Club

Tips for Managing SPD Tactile Seeking Behavior

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Don’t overreact.

This tip is probably the most important. When you have a tactile seeking child, expect that he or she is going to try to touch every. single. thing. every. single. day. Depending on your child, he might touch things very, very softly or with tons of pressure.

When Tigger brushes up against me, it’s like being brushed with a feather. In the past, my immediate reaction was to push away, which made her feel that I didn’t want her to touch me. Now that I understand that she’s just looking for sensory input, I’m more sensitive and I let her crawl up against me as often as she likes.

Give them a safe item to touch.

If your child tends to touch things too hard (like Roo does), give them a safe item that can provide that kind of sensory input. Squeeze balls have been a big hit in our house, because Roo can grab them and squeeze them as hard as he likes without worrying about breaking them. And I’d much rather he squeeze those than his little sister. 🙂

The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks eBook

Engage in lots of sensory play.

Sensory play is a must for kids who exhibit SPD tactile seeking behaviors. When you engage in sensory play, the goal is to engage as many of the senses at once as possible. For example, if you make a sensory bin, you try to include colorful objects (for visual input), different textures (for tactile input), items that make noise (for auditory input), and, if possible, objects that can be tasted (for oral input).

This year, we’ve been sharing in a monthly linkup called “12 Months of Sensory Dough”, where we make a different kind of sensory dough and try it with the kids. So far, we’ve made edible play dough, fizzy dough, moon sand, pumpkin spice latte dough, and even DIY slime! When I take the time to create sensory experiences for our kids, they get the input they need without grabbing random objects.

Those are some of the tips I’ve used to help our kids manage their sensory seeking behaviors, but I’d love to hear your suggestions! Feel free to leave your experiences and tips in the comments!

SPD Solutions from Project Sensory

To help kids manage their SPD tactile seeking symptoms, a new website is launching today called Project Sensory! One of Project Sensory’s SPD products is the Sensory Fix Toolkit, a complete SPD kit in a backpack with 15 tools for managing auditory distractions, restlessness, and even oral input.

Every purchase of the toolkit includes access to Project Sensory’s exclusive printables club, where you can download printables full of sensory tips! Even better, a percentage of every Sensory Fix Toolkit goes toward supplying classrooms with sensory tools. 🙂

This post is part of the “Decoding Everyday Kid Behaviors” blog hop hosted by Lemon Lime Adventures! In honor of Sensory Processing Awareness Month, bloggers will be sharing their favorite tips for sensory processing disorder all month long! Be sure to click over and visit the hop landing page to read all of this month’s great SPD-related posts!

How to Keep a Homeschool Tantrum from Derailing Your School Day

September 24, 2014 by Selena Robinson 10 Comments

Homeschooling moms have the dual challenge of serving as parents AND teachers during the day, which means we often have to deal with a homeschool tantrum or two on occasion. Yay! Not.

When a child throws a temper tantrum, it can disrupt the entire school day. And if you’re homeschooling more than one child, it can distract the other kids from their lessons, make you angry, and throw off your whole schedule for the week. Since we’re homeschooling children with ADHD, it’s essential that we stick to our regular school schedule, so I just cannot afford to have the school day disrupted by a temper tantrum.

Today, I thought I’d share a few of the things that have worked for us in keeping a homeschool tantrum at bay. I’ll also be including a few things that did NOT work, just for comparison. 🙂

Image © fasphotographic / Dollar Photo Club

Tips for Dealing with a Homeschool Tantrum

Find out what’s wrong. Before you even attempt to handle the tantrum, try to learn why your child is upset. Trust me, this can be difficult. Especially if they’re screaming incoherently at the time. Is your child frustrated because he can’t understand a concept? Is she feeling overwhelmed? Ask your child what’s wrong and then try to listen patiently as he explains.

What does NOT work: Shouting at your child to “Be quiet!”

Establish a regular schedule. Pooh, our oldest boy, is extremely cranky in the mornings. He tends to sleep restlessly and he frequently has night terrors. As a result, he really needs time to wake up at his own pace without being rushed. So, we decided to begin school a bit later in the day to avoid making him concentrate at an early hour. Before I realized that was a problem, he had tantrums almost every day. When we stick with the schedule, though, he rests better and he behaves better.

What does NOT work: Beginning school at a different time each morning

Keep right on teaching. This one is probably the most important. No matter what you do, continue with your lesson plan to the extent you possibly can. Naturally, if you have a kicking and screaming child in your school room, you may have to stop to remove him or her to a safe place. (I’ve had to do that on occasion.) But, if you drop your lesson plan completely, you’ve just told your child that he or she can make school “stop” by throwing a fit. Once you send that message, you’ll have a hard time teaching every day afterward.

What does NOT work: Stopping your lesson for that day

When I follow these three tips, temper tantrums in our family become minor hiccups instead of major obstacles. How do you handle homeschool tantrums? Do you have any suggestions for how to manage temper tantrums while homeschooling? Let us know in the comments!

Don’t miss these other parenting and homeschooling posts!

Get more parenting tips on my Parenting with Joy board on Pinterest!

Sensory Processing Disorder Parenting: Showing Empathy

August 5, 2014 by Selena Robinson 6 Comments

Last week, I shared the beginning stages of our journey toward an official sensory processing disorder diagnosis. Today I’m passing along four sensory processing disorder parenting tips that are helping me relate to my children.

Empathy is an important part of positive parenting. When we identify with our kids’ feelings, we can adjust our parenting approach to help them sort through their emotions and follow our directions.

Even though I don’t necessarily have SPD (that I know of), I have found that I do have a few sensory issues. So, I’ve been trying to tap into those feelings to empathize with my children.

Sensory Processing Disorder Parenting Tips for Showing Empathy

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Think about how you feel when you’re overwhelmed. What sensory moments set you off or irritate you? For me, it’s lots of loud noise. When all of the kids are talking at once, I literally feel like my brain is short-circuiting. So I know that sensory overload is damaging.

Magnify your own feelings by 10 to get a sense of your child’s emotions. Even though I get irritated when my senses are overwhelmed, I can (usually) stay in control because I know what I’m doing next or because I know I have an action plan. My kids, though, don’t have that option. Naturally, their own response is not going to be as measured as mine. So why would I expect them to behave the way I do?

Accept that your children have the right to feel. This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s something we often overlook as parents. Our children are entitled to their feelings. They really are. Their feelings don’t have to make sense or meet some kind of standard for normality. We shouldn’t ever criticize or belittle what they feel, even if we don’t understand why they are reacting to something so strongly. Since kids with SPD tend to have stronger emotional responses, we need to be prepared to help them manage those feelings, not deny them.

Acknowledge your kids’ feelings before giving instructions or discipline. To help our children show obedience, we need to deal with their feelings first. Personally, I know that if I’m angry or sad, I find it very hard to follow instructions (even if they’re good for me!). My feelings are so strong that they basically block out my good sense. My kids are the same way. If they’re consumed with their feelings or sensory responses, they’re not going to be able to follow my instructions. I have to acknowledge their feelings and help them work through them before I can expect them to cooperate with direction.

Other Parenting with Empathy Resources:

Have you tried parenting with empathy? Does showing empathy make it easier for you to handle sensory processing disorder parenting struggles? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Accepting the Reality of Sensory Processing Disorder

July 31, 2014 by Selena Robinson 27 Comments

Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a somewhat controversial topic in the medical community. Some physicians, including my children’s primary physician, either do not believe that it is a real condition or they feel that it is simply a symptom of another issue.

For a while, I tended to agree with these “experts”. I had noticed a few unusual quirks in some of my kids, such as constant chewing, intentionally crashing into the floor, and seeking out upside down positions, but I felt that these were effects of their ADHD.

Because I didn’t look at SPD as a real, standalone condition, I wasn’t sensitive to the special needs of children who have it, including my own. Over the past few weeks, though, I’ve come to think differently about SPD. I’m slowly accepting the reality of sensory processing disorder and what it means for our family.

What is Sensory Processing Disorder?

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SPD is a complex condition. It generally manifests itself in either underresponsiveness (child feels too little) or overresponsiveness (child feels too much).

Kids who are underresponsive may seek out sensory input through rough play, touching everything in sight, shouting, and chewing on inedible objects. My kids fall into this category.

Kids who are overresponsive may avoid or run away from regular activities because the sound, feel, or taste of something is too strong for them to handle.

Interestingly, SPD is not a straight-line condition. Kids may be overresponsive in some areas and underresponsive in others. You can have a child who shouts at the top of his lungs all day just to get some auditory stimulation, but cries after tasting a pretzel because the texture is too hard for his mouth.

How I Knew Something Was Wrong

Now that I’m back at home with the kids on a full-time basis, some of their behaviors seem a bit more blatant than they did before. Tigger, for example, chews ALL DAY LONG. She’s chewed her fingers quite a lot over the years.

When we started helping her take care of her nails, she switched to chewing on her hair. She was even sucking her locks. I’d never seen anything like that before. We worked with her on that habit and we thought things had improved.

Then, one day after naptime, we noticed these large circular bruises on both of her arms. We were horrified. “What did you do???!!” She had been sucking on her arms before falling asleep. It seemed like when we helped her stop using one object for oral sensory input, she’d simply switch to another and another. That was when I realized we were dealing with more than just a bad habit.

I’ve read quite a few books on SPD recently and I’ll share my insights from those in an upcoming post. But, noticing that my kids were not “getting better” made me realize that SPD wasn’t going anywhere and that we’d have to deal with it in order to help our kids thrive.

Other Sensory Processing Disorder Resources

Books about Sensory Processing Disorder

Are any of you dealing with sensory processing disorder with your kids? What challenges have you faced so far? Have you had any trouble getting support from your physician or your family? We’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

5 Tips for Positive Discipline Parenting

July 30, 2014 by Selena Robinson 25 Comments

Positive discipline is a parenting style that encourages the use of positive language and redirection when teaching children. I was very new to the idea of finding positive ways to discipline my kids, so I have truly appreciated the following five tips for using positive discipline with my kids.

When we use positive discipline, we focus on teaching our kids what to do, instead of what not to do. It’s funny, but until I started watching my language, I didn’t realize how much of my conversation with my kids was negative. “Don’t do that.” “Stop it!” “You can’t do that!” What child wants to obey a parent like that?

So – I’m sharing five of the positive discipline parenting tips I’ve appreciated today, as well as other resources for parents who want to take the negative talk out of their relationship with their kids.

Why I Love Positive Discipline Parenting

As a mom to four high-energy kids (and some with special needs), I found myself saying “NO” quite a lot. In fact, if I had a dime for every time I uttered the word “No”, I’d have a lot of dimes. While it’s good for kids to understand how to respond to “no”, using that word as the basis of your parenting can make it hard to parent with joy. I know this from experience.

The book Positive Discipline A-Z: 1001 Solutions to Everyday Parenting Problems has been extremely helpful to me. Before I read the book, I had never thought about how to reframe discipline in positive terms, so the fact that I could do so in any situation was eye-opening.

When I apply the suggestions in the book (and there are a lot of them), I feel happier and more peaceful. Knowing that I have an action plan in place to deal with behavior issues and disobedience makes it much easier to anticipate problems and deal with them before they become too much to handle.

Positive Discipline Parenting Suggestions

I’m not going to give away the whole book. With over 1,000 suggestions, I couldn’t if I wanted to. 🙂 But here are five of my favorite tips from Positive Discipline A-Z:

ADD/ADHD: “Be willing to help your child according to his or her needs based on what your child actually does as opposed to what may be expected for his or her age group or intelligence level…Do not punish your child for not being ‘normal’.”
Bedtime: “Be available during the bedtime routine…instead of trying to do ten other things. One reason children seek more attention is that they haven’t received a good dose of your full attention.”
Interrupting: “If your child has been waiting all day to play with you, when you come home from work (or are doing work from home) ignore the chores and spend fifteen minutes having fun with her or ask her to work with you.” (This works! I’ll be sharing a future post about this.)
Listening: “If you want your kids to listen more, it is important to use fewer words. Say what you mean as succinctly as possible and then follow through with actions.”
Values and manners: “Model the values you want to teach. If you want children to learn respect, be respect and respect yourself.”

Other Positive Discipline Parenting Resources:

For even more parenting tips, follow my “Parenting with Joy” board on Pinterest!

Follow Selena @ Look! We’re Learning!’s board Parenting with Joy on Pinterest.

Are you practicing positive discipline parenting with your kids? Do you have any suggestions to share? Let us know in the comments!

This post is part of the “Mama’s Best Parenting Books” Blog Hop hosted by B-Inspired Mama! Let’s face it. As moms, we barely have time to function, much less wade through a sea of parenting advice. Here you’ll find the best of the best parenting book recommendations from fellow mamas! To see even more great posts about parenting, check out the list of fabulous bloggers who are participating!

The Explosive Child (B-Inspired Mama)
Wiring Kids for Success in Life (Trilingual Mama)
The Contented Toddler Years + Routines: The Contented Little Me Says ‘Why’ (Words n Needles)
Discipline Without Distress (One Time Through)
Mom’s House, Dad’s House + Parenting Through Divorce (Lemon Lime Adventures)
Positive Discipline A-Z + 5 Tips for Positive Discipline Parenting (Look! We’re Learning!)
Real Boys (The Jenny Evolution)
Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids (Dirt & Boogers)
Smart Parenting for Smart Kids (Planet Smarty Pants)
Raising Unselfish Children in a Self-Absorbed World – A Parenting Book About Teaching Kids to Serve (This Reading Mama)
Bilingual is Better + Foreign Language for Preschoolers (Camilla and Roman)
Awakening Children’s Minds and Raising the Emotionally Intelligent Child – Emotionally Intelligent Parenting (Line Upon Line Learning)
Potty Training in a Weekend (Words n Needles)
The Out-of-Sync Child – The Ultimate Sensory Processing Disorder Resource (Sensory Activities for Kids)
12 MORE Books for Moms (Teach Beside Me)

Saying Goodbye to Baby Shoes

July 22, 2014 by Selena Robinson 13 Comments

Piglet is 19 months old now and we are certain that our baby days are over. (I mean, everyone’s sharing a room, so yeah.) And I have to say that I am completely surprised by how difficult it’s been to get rid of her last pair of baby shoes.

These little shoes have been sitting by our garage door for the last two months. Two months. I’m supposed to put them in a bag and take them to the clothing collection box, but I just can’t seem to do it.

Keep Reading…

Sister Bonding Ideas: Sisters Spa Day!

May 29, 2014 by Selena Robinson 6 Comments

There’s an eight-year age gap between Tigger (our oldest girl) and Piglet (our youngest girl). But we’re determined to help them form a close relationship through sister bonding ideas and experiences. My brother and I are 10 years apart and we’ve always been close, so I know that a large age difference doesn’t stand in the way of a sibling bond.

Keep Reading…

How I Juggle Going to College and Homeschooling My Kids

April 21, 2014 by Selena Robinson 27 Comments

Good morning! College finals are fast approaching, so I took last week off from blogging to catch up on some of my last assignments for this semester. Now that I’m nearly a full year into my “back to school” experience, I thought I’d share some of the pointers I’ve picked up about how to homeschool while going back to college. Spoiler: It’s hard. 🙂

1. Insist on a regular schedule.

You’ll need at least two schedules: one for your kids’ lessons and another for your own. It’s really difficult, but it’s essential that you keep the kids on their regular homeschooling schedule. Otherwise, you’ll finish the semester and then realize that you have to do double lessons for a month to catch up on math (like I have to do with Tigger in May).

As for organizing my classes – I have an enormous binder that I use for my classes with sections for each subject and a stack of weekly planning pages in the front. At the beginning of the semester, I look through every class schedule and then write the due dates for my assignments in my planner pages. I usually do this during the first week of class before the really heavy assignments start.

I’m usually very organized at the beginning of the semester, but after spring break, it’s all downhill and I’m barely functioning by finals. That’s when the organizing I did early in the semester ends up saving me. Seeing what assignments are due several weeks in advance helps me avoid having to work on them all at once.

2. Enlist the help of your spouse.

I’ve written before about why we need supportive homeschooling spouses, and going back to college has just underscored how much I need the help of my husband. There have been many, many school days that he’s taught for me so I could go study. He has no problem cooking dinner or getting the kids ready for bed when I need to cram for a test or attend a school function.

In order for our spouses to help us out, though, we have to communicate with them. Jay and I have had several long conversations, especially this past semester, about how we can make adjustments to our schooling schedule while I’m in class. After finals, we’ll be sitting down again to see how I can revise my course load in the fall so that we can get back to learning more as a family.

3. Be flexible.

This is probably the most important tip I’ve learned about trying to go to college while homeschooling my kids. I’ve had to be open to trying new approaches almost every week. One of the choices I made was to take classes online, since that was the most flexible way for me to get my school work done.

Btw, if you are considering going back to college, I highly recommend distance learning. It’s convenient, easy to use, and adaptable for moms who are already busy during the day.

Another big part of being flexible is prioritizing. I have several interests that have had to take a backseat, especially during this past semester, including knitting, sewing, traveling, and (occasionally) blogging. But that’s life. We always have to shuffle our priorities to make sure that we’re taking care of the “more important things.” (Phil. 1:10)

I’ve even had to let go of my attempt to maintain a 4.0 GPA. In the past, I’ve done extra credit and additional assignments to make sure that my grades were perfect. As I’ve gotten older, though, I’ve learned that it’s more important to be reasonable than right. I hope that’s something I can teach my kids as well.

So, those are a few of the things I’ve learned while juggling homeschooling and going back to college! Are any of you back in school? Are you thinking about it? We’d love to hear your tips or suggestions in the comments!

This post is part of the “How Homeschool Moms Juggle” linkup at iHomeschoolNetwork! Click on over and read how our fellow bloggers juggle homeschooling and their other responsibilities such as housework, caring for a new baby, and working outside the home!

The Real Sacrifice of Motherhood

April 10, 2014 by Selena Robinson 15 Comments

I haven’t shared a personal post on here in quite a while, so I thought I’d let you all know about something that’s been on my heart lately.

When I hear people speak about motherhood and/or homeschooling, one of the words I hear the most is “sacrifice”. Quite often, I’ve heard people mention some of these sacrifices, which could include giving up a career (for some mothers), accepting the physical changes in your body (for most mothers), and sharing your time everyday (for every single mother on earth).

If you’re homeschooling, you’ll have even more sacrifices, which might involve living on a smaller income, learning to teach subjects in which you did not excel as a student, and adapting to the learning needs of your children.

But there’s another sacrifice that I’m having to make as a mother: I have to give up my feelings. Now I don’t mean my feelings about my kids, of course. But I’m having to let go of how I feel about a lot of other things so that I have room for my feelings toward my kids to grow.

Here’s what I’ve discovered about the real sacrifice of motherhood.

The Real Sacrifice of Motherhood

Before I had kids, I used to have an opinion about nearly everything under the sun.

Did that celebrity have plastic surgery?

Should the U.S. Individual Income Tax code be changed?

Is it impolite when someone holds the door open and no one says “Thank you?” (Yes, it is, by the way.)

I voiced these opinions to almost everyone I could find and I’d muster up some pretty strong emotions about all of these topics and others.

It wasn’t just small things like these, either. I had some pretty strong opinions about things that have happened in my life. I was angry about the injustices I’d experienced. I was frustrated, because so many issues had gone unresolved. And I was sad that I missed out on developing long-lasting friendships during my youth.

As I get closer to my kids, though, I’m finding that there is just no room for these feelings to continue taking up space in my heart. I’m at a point where I can either love my kids or hold onto to all those other feelings. And it’s no contest. My kids win.

Psalm 62:8 says “Trust in him at all times, O people. Pour out your hearts before him. God is a refuge for us.” (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures) I’ve decided to take that counsel seriously and deposit all of my unresolved feelings with Jehovah God in prayer. I know that He wants me to be the best mother I can be, and I know that He will support me if I’m willing to make this sacrifice for my children.

So, that’s where I am today. But I’d love to know what sacrifices you’ve made to become mothers and/or homeschooling mothers. Feel free share your experiences below.

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Helping Kids to Choose Good Friends

February 14, 2014 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

It all began when we sat down to have lunch as a family a few weeks ago. We decided to let the kids choose their own fruit for an after-lunch snack. Roo chose a banana, Tigger chose an apple, and Pooh chose a clementine.

We had purchased a crate of clementines a couple of weeks earlier, and there was one left. But it had sat in the crate for a few days, so Jay and I were a little skeptical about it still being good. Pooh insisted it was still good to eat, so we said okay.

As he peeled it, he said, “See? It’s still good, Dad!” And sure enough, it looked good.

But when he pulled it open, he found this at the very center.

As you can see, he didn’t think it was so good to eat then.

Jay decided to use the opportunity to talk about why it’s so important that we look at the inside qualities of our friends before we assume that they’re good people, simply because they look good on the outside.

After we discussed the importance of being selective about choosing friends, we watched the video “What’s a Real Friend” to learn which qualities we should look for in our friends. Most importantly, we want to have friends who will “stick closer than a brother”. (Proverbs 18:24) As the video showed, it’s important for kids not to just choose good friends, but to be good friends to others by taking a “personal interest” in them. (Philippians 2:4)

So, a regular midday meal turned in an impromptu lesson on friendship. But that’s the homeschooling life for you! 🙂

How do you help your kids to choose good friends and be good friends to others? Let us know in the comments!

Solving the Socialization Dilemma

September 12, 2013 by Selena Robinson 9 Comments

If you’ve ever mentioned the word homeschooling in public, you’ve probably heard at least one person express concern about “socialization”. True, these well-meaning individuals may not use the actual word, but they probably say things like this:

“Don’t they need to be around some other children their own age?”

“They need to get away from Mommy and Daddy and see what it’s really like out there.”

“If you don’t let them to get used to other kids, they’re not going to know how to talk to people.”

“You’re sheltering them from the real world by keeping them at home with you.”

It can be tempting to respond to these concerns with a snarky answer. Maybe something like “You spent time around other children and you clearly don’t know how to talk to people yet.” (Okay, that might be just MY personal fantasy response.) But there’s a hint of truth behind those statements.

All children need socialization, including homeschoolers. Interestingly, the definition of the word “socialize” is “to make social; especially, to fit or train for a social environment”. The difference for homeschooling families is in how we choose to provide training that for them.

Yes, Homeschoolers Need Socialization

I’ve heard some homeschooling parents argue that children don’t need socialization with other children at all. They might say that kids get plenty of socialization by talking to their neighbors and acquaintances through the course of the day. Speaking as a homeschooling graduate, I have to respectfully disagree with that sentiment.

I was taught at home from the age of 11 until graduation and I spent quite a bit of time talking with adults on a regular basis. In fact, I eventually became more comfortable with adults than I was with my peers. That’s fine in itself. The problem came, though, when I attended the first day of college. I took one step into the Student Lounge and nearly had a panic attack. I hadn’t been around a large group of people my own age in years and it was a terrifying experience. So I do believe that homeschooled children need socialization with all kinds of people: adults, older kids, younger kids, and their peers. Talking to the cashier at the grocery store just isn’t going to cut it.

Creating Socialization Opportunities Outside the Home

How do we find ways to get our children out and around during the course of homeschooling? Simple. Make it part of the school day. Check out the activity calendar for any local attractions in your area and make it a point to visit on days that are set aside for children or homeschoolers. We’ve gotten to attend museum days and public storytelling events around our area and our kids have enjoyed being out and around others. We also belong to an active homeschooling group that arranges park days, support meet-ups, and field trips.

During these activities, the kids have learned some valuable things they can’t at home – how to stand in line, how to sit quietly in a group (even when others are talking), how to speak up to ask for assistance when needed, and how to listen despite distractions. These are important skills that they’ll need throughout life.

Encouraging Socialization Inside the Family

Of course, all this time training our children to interact with other people won’t be worth a thing if they can’t interact well with each other. Good socialization habits begin in the home and, as parents, it’s our job to help our kids learn how to treat one another with respect, settle disputes, and show concern. Our two oldest children, Tigger and Pooh, have gotten into several spats over the years. He looks up to her, but doesn’t really want her to know it. She wants his approval, but tries to keep that a secret. It’s a never-ending saga.

Jay caught on to the pattern between the two of them early on and he’s worked with them constantly, trying to help them speak to each other honestly and with kindness. As a result, the daily squabbles have dwindled down to a couple times a week. We’re confident that, with time and training based on Bible principles, their relationship will become stronger. (We fully expect a similar dynamic between Roo and Piglet in the future, though.)

Solving the socialization dilemma doesn’t mean separating our kids from society and it doesn’t mean dropping them off into a group of their peers without preparation. We can do it by making opportunities to train them for social activities. And all that takes is being an involved homeschooling parent.

This post is part of the “Homeschooling and the S-Word (Socialization)” linkup at iHomesc hool Network! Click over to read great posts about homeschooling and socialization from our fellow bloggers!

Why I’m Holding My Child Back This Year

July 25, 2013 by Selena Robinson 20 Comments

Yep, I said it. I’m holding my child back a grade this year. And I don’t feel bad in the least for doing it. The interesting thing is – I’m not required to do this. She didn’t fail a test that resulted in her having to repeat a grade. She’s not exceptionally behind on anything. In fact, she’s probably ahead on several subjects, especially reading and language. So, why am I choosing to repeat a grade with her?

It’s mostly because of me. Last year was a very trying one in our homeschool. My husband’s employer suddenly became extremely demanding, requiring him to work 12-hour swing shifts five or six days a week. For about three or four months straight, he actually worked more than 70 hours weekly. To make things more difficult, I was also working full-time from home. To complicate matters further, we found out we were pregnant with Piglet, who was a wonderful gift but also a completely unexpected one.

As a result, I wasn’t as prepared for the school year as I would liked to have been. Third grade is a pretty important year for kids. It’s a marked transition from the seatwork of early grades to the critical thinking requirements of upper elementary grades. I don’t feel that Tigger is as prepared as she could be to move on beyond that and I have no desire to thrust her into that situation simply to follow a certain timeline. On this matter, I’m speaking from personal experience.

When I was 11, my mom decided that it would probably be best for me to be homeschooled. I liked elementary school, but I was excited about the opportunity to learn at home on my own schedule so I was looking forward to it. I took the placement test for Calvert School and the teachers suggested that I skip sixth grade and possibly even seventh, because it appeared that I was advanced enough to do so. My mom agreed but decided that I should go ahead and take seventh grade.

That’s when I found out that a lot of important math and English skills are taught in sixth grade. I know this because when the curriculum asked me to complete a basic pre-algebra equation or to diagram a sentence, I had no idea what those concepts meant. I struggled through seventh grade and eventually finished it, but it took me two years, completely erasing any “gains” I had made by skipping sixth grade.

The good thing for Tigger is that we started her in school a year early. Based on her birthday, she would just now be going into third grade in public school as well, so she’s technically not going to be “behind.” The truth is, though, I wouldn’t mind if she was. My concern is making sure my child is prepared for what is expected of her, not turning her into a case study for gifted homeschoolers.

Have you ever thought about having your child repeat a grade? Do you even bother teaching by grades at all? I’ve love to hear what you think in the comments. Keep on learning!

Homeschooling with ADHD: Considering the Other Kids

July 8, 2013 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by to see us again this week! Today we’re wrapping up our series “Homeschooling with ADHD” by talking about the non-ADHD children in the family.

Since children with ADHD can be extremely unpredictable, it’s easy to spend an entire day just helping them to manage their emotions, work on their impulses, and communicate their feelings. Before you know it, your children who don’t have ADHD have gone an entire day without spending any meaningful time with you.

Keep Reading…

Homeschooling with ADHD: Making Lifestyle Changes

July 1, 2013 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Good morning everyone! We’re off to a new week of learning in our family! As you know, we’re dealing with ADHD and we’ve been using various approaches to try to manage it without using medication. One of the ways that we’re finding to be helpful is by making lifestyle changes.

When I say “lifestyle changes”, I mean all parts of our lifestyle, including what we eat, watch, and do. There’s some disagreement over whether diet plays a role in ADHD symptoms among the medical community.

Keep Reading…

Homeschooling with ADHD: Preparing Kids to Learn

June 24, 2013 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

Hi everyone! Welcome to the next installment in our series “Homeschooling with ADHD.” Today we’re talking about how we can prepare kids to learn.

One of the most common indicators of ADHD is the inability to adjust your train of thought. For ADHD kids and adults, thought patterns are often like runaway engines, speeding down a single track in one specific direction. At times, this can be really useful, especially if there’s a project or task that needs finishing. At other times, though, it can make it almost impossible to perform the simplest task.

Keep Reading…

Learning How to Let Go…

June 19, 2013 by Selena Robinson 7 Comments

Good morning everyone! Today, I wanted to share something I’ve just realized about my parenting and homeschooling style. Hopefully, this will be of some help to some of you out there as well.

Yesterday, Jay and I took the kids to the library. If you’ve been reading our blog for a while, then you already know how much we love visiting our local library. We probably go at least every couple of weeks and, now that the boys are learning to read, we’re getting more books than ever before.

The last time we went, Jay made a comment about how Tigger needed to learn how to find her own books and how to speak with the librarian for assistance. Before he said that, I had honestly never thought about it. (Mind you – I went to public school during the elementary years and I visited my school library every day. I still didn’t think about the importance of learning those skills, though.)

So, when we went yesterday, I took Tigger aside and showed her how to use the library’s online catalog to find her favorite book series and authors. Then we walked down the aisles and we practiced finding the authors by last name. She had a lot of trouble focusing on what I asked her to do, though, because she had never done it before. My almost nine-year-old was unable to locate a book in the children’s section using alphabetical order. Why? Because I’ve always found books for her and then handed them to her to read after we got home. I don’t think of myself as a helicopter parent, so why was I so accustomed to performing this simple task for her?

And that’s when I had a realization…..

Being Preoccupied Can Have the Same Negative Effect as Being Overprotective

I’ve taken Tigger, Roo, and Pooh to the library more times than I can count over the years. Why hadn’t I taught them how to find their own books, look for their favorite authors, or talk to the children’s librarian? I was too busy. Too busy keeping everyone quiet. Too busy keeping everyone where I could see them. And even worse, too busy trying to select the books that I felt they needed to read, rather than exploring the joy of reading together.

By insisting on following a specific household routine or by focusing too intently on getting “everything done”, I’ve been unconsciously handicapping my children. I’ve been holding onto my comfortable ways of doing things, and in the process, holding onto their hands for far too long. Tigger will be approaching her pre-teen years before I know it and it’s entirely possible that I’ve been so lost in the daily details of parenting, working, and running a household that I could leave her unprepared for that part of her life.

So, I’m learning how to let go…of my old habits, my old ways of thinking, and my obsession over the daily to-do lists. After all, the Bible clearly says, “Never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties.” (Matthew 6:34) Instead, I’m going to focus on mindful parenting that will help me prepare my children for their futures. This way, when it’s time to let go of their hands completely, they’ll be strong enough to fly on their own.

Are any of you struggling with preoccupied parenting? How have you broken out of this mindset and become a more purposeful parent? Let us know in the comments! Keep on learning!

Homeschooling with ADHD – Adapting as a Teacher

June 17, 2013 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Happy Monday all! Welcome to the second installment of our series “Homeschooling with ADHD!” Last week, we discussed why it’s important that we manage our expectations of our children and ourselves. Today we’ll be talking about adapting as teachers.

When we accept the responsibility of homeschooling our kids, we’re accepting a special privilege, especially when working with kids who have special needs.

The good news is that we can adapt the schoolwork to suit our children, instead of forcing them to adapt to the curriculum. The bad news is that doing this successfully may require that we completely overhaul our teaching styles to suit their learning styles.

Keep Reading…