New Reality

They just keep coming, transitions, adjustments and overall new realities in our lives. In our home, we recently experienced a big taste of an empty nest as each of our three launched into the big wide world. One set out on his own with a job and into an apartment. Another for his final two years of college, at a university about a 100 miles away, the third and 'baby' to pursue dance training in a city about 500 miles away.

And then the return began, with the awareness  of COVID-19. The threats it presents have been shaping a new reality. Due to the demands for health and safety for, ourselves, our neighbors and communities, they have all three dove back into the nest of our home. It is in many ways, lovely to have them here. Due to the surprise of it, it is in many ways a more impact-ful change than their leaving was. It is lifestyle altering again for each of us individually and for all us as a family. From a family perspective it is a return to a former stage of family life but not of parenting.  From an entire life, work and world perspective, it is a new reality, beyond what any of us have confronted before.

For how long? Who knows? Make plans? Live in the moment?

As a former homeschooling family with three young adult graduates, I have been used to having everyone home. Some seasons included more inside all together time than others. Some seasons were filled with activities, schedules and commitments.

There were weeks of jam packed schedules with activities of travel, work, sports participation, volunteering and other obligations. Other seasons, there were quieter times of stay at home art projects, outdoor nature wanderings, backyard picnics, lots of read aloud time. They were in our homeschooling years frequent days of unstructured time without a schedule.

There were many days when the three kids began some self-
initiated or group project among themselves. I rarely interrupted those self initiated endeavors with my own agenda. A day of them recording their own "radio show" on an old tape recorder, home developed animated lego videos, as just a couple of examples, seemed to have, potentially, more value than would have been gleaned from a lesson from an academic program I could impose.


Even in those free for all, unstructured times it was valuable to approach the day with a routine. To begin together with a breakfast or brunch gathering, a read aloud or a check-in to see what was on everyone's list of to do lists. and pursuits.

Winter was generally a more low key for us but it also frequently, meant responding to what the weather prompted. There were ongoing commitments to neighbors to shovel snow, deliver the local weekly paper despite the cold or assess the temps that produced the right conditions to skate in the backyard rink.

All the many activities and experiences contributed to real life learning and skills; math, reading, writing, communication, project management, along with some joys and disappointments along the way.

So for now, sweet families, try to enjoy each other and your time together. Choose happiness. Choose to be positive. Choose to see the blessings. Relax, meditate, breathe, pray, read, think. Let your mind empty, wander, enjoy the quiet moment and the chaos. Be willing to see what brilliance you yourself posses and can discover in each of those you are sheltered in place with.

Hey Mama! Planner - A Review

I was provided the Hey, Mama! Schoolhouse Planner for 2019/2020 Year to review. Created by homeschooling mom, Gena Suarez , the planner is just one of the many useful homeschooling products available from The Old Schoolhouse®.

Planners seem to be a big deal these days. Everyone is selling one. I have used a personal planner for many years, almost every year. My planner enthusiasm is, like many, highest at the beginning of each calendar year. The hopes and dreams inspired by having a place to write it all down, to organize thoughts and plans, starts the year with added motivation to achieve those dreams. Hopefully it helps facilitate a doable plan of action to make it all happen.

Come August and September the same enthusiasm hits again, only with the intention of preparing for the school year. Fall is the beginning of the academic year, as we all have come to know it. Planning for nine months of academic learning is exciting and sometimes daunting. A planner to write it down in, keep track and record activities, is more than useful, it is a necessity. A standard planner doesn't always fit the criteria of what a homeschooling parent needs for planning and record keeping. Homeschool moms have been adapting typical calendars and planners for as long as families have been homeschooling. Notebooks, wall calendars, file folders (one per student, maybe) there are as many solutions as there are families.

The Hey, Mama! Schoolhouse Planner for 2019/2020 Year is a published calendar/planner that puts it all in one place. It is designed by a homeschool mom with homeschool families in mind. The author, Gena Suarez, is an experienced homeschool mom who has put together this and other extensive resources for homeschooling families. This planner is one of many of the resources available for families at The Old Schoolhouse. (You can find all of them at The Old Schoolhouse®).

Gena provides a solution to the problems presented when trying to use a standard planner for students by creating a planner specific to homeschooling. As a homeschooling mom herself she knows the ropes. She knows what reminders and prompts are useful for a family while homeschooling.

The Hey, Mama! Planner Homeschool Planner for 2019/2020 includes a devotional at the beginning of each section. These provide welcome encouraging reminders for those in the midst of the homeschool journey. There is a curriculum planning section, attendance record pages, books read pages and semester and yearly goals pages. There are enough of these specialized pages for five homeschool students. Using this planner also provides a place for notes and info for maintaining records of completed projects, activities and curriculum. There is a transcript template as well as a useful skills acquired checklist.

For our family, this is officially the last year of homeschooling. I am about to become a homeschool veteran mom with an empty nest. We have none the less, begun to use the planner for mapping out my youngest's transition to a full time dance program and a few college courses. She will be taking over the planning and record keeping herself, as she embarks on a somewhat non-traditional pursuit of higher education. This planner will give her a wonderful head start with prompts of some of what she needs to consider as she moves into the bigger world and continuing her education.

The Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner 2019/2020 Year has sold out of close to 98% of the this printing and they do not plan to print more until next year. Get your copy soon!