As you ramp up into holdiay spirit, you might be tempted to put your self esteem in your kids’ hands. If they don’t like the cookies you bake, or seem disappointed in the gift you purchase, or show no interest in a family movie night, you may feel like you’re failing them. Their reaction may bring your spirits down.

Shift the Focus

Concentrate on what makes this holiday season meaningful and twinkly for YOU. Each time you make a plan, make sure you enjoy it and inhabit fully. Let your children’s reactions ride side car. Sometimes they’ll be into it and sometimes they won’t, but it’s not because you didn’t put in enough effort.

Put your energy where it makes your life brighter and merrier. If your kids happen to appreciate the bright and merry with you, that’s a bonus!

By the way: they can also make the holiday bright and merry for themselves. Give them the twinkle lights and the glue gun and the evergreens to decorate as they wish. Turn them loose in the kitchen with your supervision. The more they participate, the more they will feel like the holiday is meaningful to them.

One of my favorite activities as a kid was to wrap each of the stairwell posts in red ribbon. This took a long time at my grandmother‘s house and I have such fond memories of it. Think about ways your children can turn this season into something special that requires their effort rather than just appreciating yours.

This post was originally shared on Instagram.
Watch the accompanying reel for more.

It’s so easy as a home educator to wonder if your kids are keeping pace with their schooled peers. Sometimes we want reassurance that we aren’t ruining their lives!

The truth is…

We pulled our kids out of school to get out of a system of evaluation that often crushes:

• independent thinking,
• creativity,
• and motivation to learn.

In a recent Substack Live, I spoke about the danger of a grading mentality in learning and offer some thoughts on how to measure progress without them!

Watch the Replay

We had a great conversation on Instagram (go here and scroll through the screenshots) about how to inspire your kids to learn when they don’t want to do the work you assign. I’ve written books that are dedicated to this subject!

• The Brave Learner
• Raising Critical Thinkers
• Help! My Kid Hates Writing

What is the underlying principle that guides my work?

Taking children seriously.

Believing them when they tell us they are bored or disinterested or hate something. Understanding what motivates a child from a child’s perspective not the adult’s reasoning.

When we shift how we see our children and we shift how we understand learning, all kinds of ideas for teaching emerge. It’s difficult when the system is against you.

You have all the hours in the day when they are not in a system to experiment and see your children for who they really are. Stay curious. You don’t completely know them yet.

It’s an ongoing odyssey of discovery to raise a child and to believe what they say to you.

This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!

Sometimes it helps to work through a systematic approach to math or phonics. And sometimes, that’s the exact right approach for this season of homeschool.

However…

I want to remind you that the genius of homeschooling is that the WORLD is your classroom. The conversations you have along the way, the activities you pursue out in the world matter and count!

Your kids are going to forget so much that you teach them. They won’t remember all of the activities you painstakingly created.

What they will remember is that the entire world is available to them. They’ll learn that if something interests them, they can go find out what it is and what it means.

They will see the world as wonderful to know. They won’t see learning as something you only do in a building.

Need some ideas?

If it feels scary to let go of “kitchen table” type learning, here are a few hacks:

• Take that workbook outside and sit on a blanket.
• Go to a coffee shop or library to finish the math book.
• Drill the times tables on a hike.
• Practice spelling words while jumping on a trampoline.
• Skip count while tossing a frisbee.

You might also download our FREE 7-Day Writing Blitz! It has a week of ideas to help you and your kids see writing in a whole new way.

You got this!

This post was originally shared on Instagram.
Watch the accompanying reel for more.

Sometimes we blame our kids for not being interested in the lessons. Ask yourself: “When was the last time I was actually interested in what I’m teaching them?”

For example, you unleash curiosity in your children when you become curious about:

• phonics,
• the origin of the symbols called numbers,
• or how a book was printed and bound.

Curiosity drives learning.

Anytime the routine becomes too predictable and stale, kids check out. You might notice that you check out, too. You can check back in by asking provocative questions, and even doing research yourself. Have more to express, be more interested.

It’s the oldest education hack in the book. Curiosity drives learning. Live your questions in front of your kids before you expect curiosity to bloom in them.

This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!