Engaging Learning Tools for Homeschooling Success
Homeschool

Engaging Learning Tools for Homeschooling Success

Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

Last week I made a post of the three homeschooling tips that did not work for my family and our busy lifestyle. In keeping with that theme, this week I wanted to share three tools that I actually do enjoy utilizing through out our homeschool journey. I want to preface this to say that I am not sponsored by any of these products, but they have helped me with keeping my girls engaged and learning and are all products I would highly recommend.

  1. Mrs. Wordsmith Blah Blah Blah Card Game

Similar to Uno but with words and sounds both my girls really took to this game and it seriously helps them with sounding out their words. While I haven’t tried any other Mrs. Wordsmith products this is one I seriously recommend. With silly cards like draw four, skip-a-turn, etc. it builds their competitive spirit while also revolving around words and sounding them out. I also really like that the games come with 3 difficulty levels so that you can build up the difficulty once certain words gets too easy.

2. Boddle

I actually discovered this one recently when I saw a public school teacher recommend it on social media. It is a game that can be played on the computer or other devices like phones and tablets. The game focuses on Language, Math, and Science and you can select your Child’s grade level. The children will then get pets which they can battle and level up, (think Pokémon) by answering questions regarding to the subject they are focusing on. My favorite part of this game is the parent dashboard where you can see the results of their questions, any learning gaps that they may have, and so on. It is also fun and engaging and one of the few “learning apps” my girls actually enjoy to do. I do not recommend using this as a curriculum by itself, that is not what it is designed for. But for me it has helped tremendously as some supplementary work that they can work on while I myself am working. It keeps them busy, entertained, while also teaching them. I also see just how much my oldest LOVES science when in less than a week she has already answered almost 200 science based questions, most of them correctly. Oh and did I mention it’s free? While there is a ‘premium’ version available I have not found any need to make that purchase at this time.

3. Kiwico

Kiwico is a subscription service where you can get a new box of your choice ranging from arts and crafts, science, geography, and more. I started their quarterly boxes, so about 4 a year, when the girls were small and learning colors and shapes and they have continued to this day including different building and science kits. They are always excited to get their boxes in the mail. They are fun, and engaging, but I will say things can also get pretty messy. But still, it makes memories and fun.

Lessons Learned from My Journey as a Homeschooling Working Mom
Homeschool · Life

Lessons Learned from My Journey as a Homeschooling Working Mom

Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

As we have started yet another homeschooling year, second grade, I wish I could give you a list of sure-fire tricks that can help you on your journey. But homeschooling in and of itself is a learning experience for both the teacher and the students. When preparing to start your homeschool journey, it often begins with a lot of research. Online blogs. Tik Toks, Instagram’s, Pinterest boards, you name it. You need to go from choosing curriculum, whether you’re going to stick with one or shake things up, and what kind of teaching method you want to follow.

The struggle that I had, was to find recommendations for working parents who both worked full time while also trying to homeschool, and how they did it, which is why I want to share my experiences so far even if all I have to offer is a list of the top 3 things that I have found does NOT work for our busy, working, homeschooling, lifestyle.

1. Get it out of the way at the start of the day.

Over the years I have met and seen plenty of people who homeschool and would share about how quickly they were able to just get their ‘lessons’ and curriculum done in the morning and the rest of the day was open for other learning/teaching activities or to teach life skills. I think this is great and fantastic for them. But for us, it just doesn’t work. For starters, I work in the mornings, and my girls are younger which means they need a lot more hands on attention. Secondly, they’re younger. Their attention span runs out at lightning speed and they will get easily distracted. In our house, breaks are our friends. I have noticed in previous years that mornings do seem to be when they are most alert and absorb the most. So this year our mornings are going to focus on the core classes, Reading, Math, etc. Then after some free time to play and decompress we will do other subjects in the afternoon, subjects that are more engaging for them like science, music, etc.

2. Dedicated School Room

When getting started on my homeschool journey, I fell in love with all of the cute homeschool Pinterest boards and the decorated dedicated rooms just for school. I had started homeschooling my girls in my home office. They had their tiny desks, which they quickly grew out of. It resulted in my office always being messy with scrap papers or art supplies, etc. on the ground. or they would stuff things into my bookshelves that I would find much later. What I ended up finding is that for us school happens everywhere.

Early preschool years when we were learning about different plants, fruits, and vegetables, we took school to the market. I still remember walking around the produce section and holding up different fruits and vegetables asking them to name them and whether they grew on a tree, plant, or underground. I remember a few other shoppers chuckling when they saw us. We have taken school outside. We have done it in bed. But the place that seems to have worked out the best so far, is at our kitchen table. With their books and supplies on the shelf close by and plenty of space to not constantly bump elbows, it has worked best for us all.

3. Co-Ops

The number one concern that I had with homeschooling, was the socialization aspect. I think that is always the argument that comes up when you talk about homeschooling and it is a good argument. My first experience with homeschoolers when I was younger was with kids who had clearly not known how to really interact in public social settings. It honestly had me completely against homeschooling for most of my young adult life. It wasn’t until later on after other family members had started homeschooling and meeting even more who had successful homeschool experiences, that I learned that there were different ways to homeschool.

When looking into the socialization aspect of homeschooling, the number one recommendation I received was to sign them up for co-ops. The problem with that is I have yet to find any local co-ops that would work with my working schedule. It just has not been feasible. That being said, what I did find that worked for us were local community center groups. Our small city community center has tons of activities, camps, groups, sports, and more that ranges from all ages. The girls have done soccer, basketball, arts and crafts, and nature exploring through our local community center and they have loved each and every one of them. I definitely recommend looking into what your local community center has to offer.

I am only starting out on my 4th year of homeschooling, and I am sure that there will be even more things I try this year that will not work. But there will be more that will work. The important thing to me is that I cultivate my girls’ love to learn instead of making them dread each moment and feel like they’re just given work. I hope sharing my experiences and lessons can help someone else who is getting started, or has been struggling on their journey.

The Importance of Family Meals: A Personal Reflection
Life

The Importance of Family Meals: A Personal Reflection

Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

When it’s that time of year for the girls to have their yearly physical, I am always sent a questionnaire to fill out about their growth and so on. One question I get every year is how often we have the opportunity to sit down for family meals. I always thought this was an interesting question to ask. I also wondered how many people had the ability to sit down for a family meal every day. I grew up in a big family where both parents worked and siblings who were much older than I and had lives of their own. I remember sit down family meals revolving around holidays or when we had visitors, not so much a regular everyday occurrence. It’s not that we didn’t enjoy eating together, we just never all seemed to be in the same place to be able to do so. Being the youngest I would often eat with my grandparents or one or two of my siblings, otherwise our family was more of a ‘eat whenever you get home’ type of family.

Things changed when I was in high school, my siblings were all married and living in different states and it was just me and my parents. My mom no longer worked and with just the three of us, we ended up eating together a lot more often. Back then, I never really saw the significance of that time together but now, thinking back, I really miss those after school snacks and chats with my mom.

Now, being a mother myself, that is something I have been working on doing with our own family. With both of us working its easy to get into that same routine of eating whenever we can. Feed the girls their lunch while I eat lunch at my desk since I am working. We started implementing family dinners whenever we could and surprisingly, the girls loved it. They loved having our undivided attention and being able to talk and ask questions. It wasn’t until I first saw this that I understood why that question is on the yearly questionnaires from the pediatrician, there’s even been studies on the impact of family meals, which I won’t get into because this is not that type of blog but you can look into it.

Now that our hours are different, sometimes we aren’t able to do those family dinners as often as we had been doing. To combat this we decided to change things up and have family breakfasts and it has been going surprisingly well. Starting the day off with some family time is a great beginning to your day. In fact on one of the days when my husband and I were running late and unable to have that sit down family breakfast, my youngest called it a ‘lonely breakfast’. Even when they don’t vocalize it, they crave those family moments together. This might mean getting up a little bit earlier to get breakfast ready, or you can work together to get it done faster. But the effort you put in, is worth it.

If you’re one of those busy families that is always a grab and eat type of family try shaking things up this week and see how it changes. Start small if you’d like. Pick one day this week and one meal, sit down together and enjoy your meal together. I also strongly recommend putting the phones away for this meal and give each other that undivided attention.