Are your kids ALWAYS asking for you to make them something to eat? Here are 20 healthy recipes that they can make by themselves!
My kiddos are always hungry and looking for something to eat. We like to keep a variety of healthy snack options available but sometimes they want and need more than just a quick snack. These options are a great way to let them have a little independence with cooking and relieve a little stress from your day.
I’ve been trying to get the kids involved in helping to declutter the house so I have to get creative sometimes.
Lately, we’ve been playing this little game in the morning before we start our schooling. It’s pretty simple although you do need to provide a little supervision so that the little guys don’t throw away anything important.
I’ve been having each kiddo participate and I give them a number of items and a task to complete with those items. One day I might say I need 5 items to throw away, or another day might be I need 3 items to donate, or 4 items to put away, etc. I might even have them bring me one item per year of their age… I try to change it up to keep it interesting.
They bring the items to the kitchen island and deposit them. Then we complete the task of throwing them in the garbage, putting in the donation bin/bag, or putting them away in their proper places.
This doesn’t take very long to complete but it does make quite a difference… plus if the kids are complaining they are bored I can use this as a way to get them motivated to find something to keep themselves entertained.
You could even offer a ‘reward’ for the first kiddo to bring you the items… or offer them all a reward or snack when they complete their task. When we have 10-12 hands versus just my 2 hands picking up items we are able to clean/declutter a little bit faster… most of the time.
When we make the not-so-fun tasks a little bit more fun then they seem to get completed quicker. Who knows, maybe I could even come up with a Clutter Bingo?
When I first began homeschooling I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I had seen a few homeschooling families on TV shows and they pretty much did ‘school at home’ so that was what I tried to recreate in my home… I failed miserably.
I was getting stressed and we did not have a great environment for learning… it wasn’t what I had envisioned at all and I was so frustrated! I was struggling and beginning to doubt that this was really the best thing for our family at that time.
It was then that I found the Easy Peasy All-in-one Homeschool site… I fell in love instantly and so did my kiddos. The site has been through several changes since then but we always seem to fall back to that when we are stuck or feeling overwhelmed! We are still using it now for some independent learning and the kids all enjoy working on their lessons without being completely dependent on the internet for our lessons.
I also began researching other methods and have always been drawn toward the Montessori and Charlotte Mason styles. I have always considered our style to be a bit relaxed but over the past two years we’ve had a different kind of style… I’m not sure what you would call this but it definitely hasn’t been the most enjoyable learning environment. Sure, some parts are super exciting but others are lacking and seem extremely boring. More Montessori links HERE.
I’ve been wanting to make some changes so I’ve been going back through some of our past lessons and trying to take notes on what we really enjoyed and what we didn’t. I’ve also asked the kids what things they remember about the past few years of school and what they remembered and enjoyed. Using this information I have been putting together some notes on things we want to try again or try to incorporate into our school days.
In addition to the Easy Peasy site, I have been going back to the Simply Charlotte Mason site and checking out all of the FREE resources that they have. I plan to incorporate more of these principles into our daily routines to see if we can find that happy place we had before. We really love being able to combine as many subjects as possible and the kids seem to enjoy this method more as well. I’m hoping that this may also help some of the kids with the adjustments to our new living arrangements by making them feel more like a team… this would alleviate so much of the daily stress in our home and maybe help lower my blood pressure a little!
I know a lot has changed since we began homeschooling and a lot of things have changed with our family in the past couple of years. Nothing ever stays the same so we need to continue to adapt to these changes… the same thing happens in every area of our lives so it is important to continually reevaluate our situations and make changes when they are needed
What are some changes you would like to make in your homeschool?
I have been called the meanest mother in the world so many times that I’ve lost track. This morning I happened across an article that had been printed in a newspaper some time ago… after reading it, I will now take ‘You’re the Meanest Mom in the World’ as a compliment.
While trying to find a picture of this article I came across this:
It seems like our lives can get so hectic so quickly without us realizing it is even happening. I know that I seem to get one thing running smoothly but then ten other things seem to just fall off the track and then everything turns to CHAOS. We need our homes to be comfortable and not a place we dread being.
For me, the very first thing I need to do before starting this process is to find a little time for me & God… I often find that life feels overwhelming when I haven’t been able to have any quiet time for myself. I have tried getting up earlier but that just isn’t working out right now, I often would take a few minutes after lunch when the baby was down for a nap but our school routines have been out of whack since adding a new kiddo, when the time bedtime rolls around I am worn out. I do find little bits of time here and there to have little chats with God but I just haven’t been able to have my devotional time and I think that may be part of the reason that I am feeling so overwhelmed.
When something is frustrating me I often go to Him in prayer and ask Him to help me and show me ways that I can change or that we can change as a family. I ask Him to give me wisdom and guidance about the changes and things we need to work on so that they will benefit everyone.
Where do we start when it seems like everything is the problem?
We use this process in our home for a lot of different problems, part of it we even use for teaching the kids to make good choices. I’ll give a couple of examples of how we have used this system in the past.
This might be the most difficult part of the whole process because sometimes it can be difficult to actually narrow down what or where the problem actually is when you are feeling overwhelmed. Many times there are multiple problems and sometimes the problems are not actually what we think they are. If you do find yourself with a multitude of problems then just try to focus on the biggest one first and work on ONE AT A TIME or you may find yourself even more overwhelmed and frustrated.
Maybe your home just feels way too small and unorganized. What’s the biggest problem area? Well, the one that bothered me the most was the kitchen because that was where I spend the majority of my time.
Continue reading “Getting in the right mindset to simplify… simplify your spaces”
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