homeschooling // friendship necklaces for pen pals

today stella and i spent some time at our dining room table as the morning light made its way through our front windows.  as i started to jot a few things down in my garden journal, like what sorts of things we were going to try this year, she worked away stringing beads together making necklaces and bracelets for her pen pals.  it was a simple and sweet activity to do for someone her age.  the concentration, the option to choose colors, the dexterity it took to get those tiny beads onto string.  but the message in making these gifts was what really shined.  she we worked, we talked about her friends, the importance of community, and how nice this gesture will make them feel.  she kept listing off people to send them to, so i got started stamping envelopes.  we worked together like this for over an hour, just chatting away about color patterns and princesses and when she could play outside.  i love how informal our homeschool routine has become.  sure, we do a fair amount of letter work and puzzles and books, but these sort of organic activities remain my very favorite because of the important messages they instill.  i hope as stella grows, she continues her love for handwritten notes and snail mail.  i believe things like this are of great importance, and something we need not let slip away as technology seems to become the center of our daily lives.

essential oils // all natural therapeutic play-doh

stell woke us up bright and early this morning (big surprise there) and asked what we were going to do today.  a long list of mama chores came to my mind: change and wash our sheets, make a pot roast, organize the nursery, sort laundry etc.  so to keep her busy and focused after homeschooling while i do my to-do's, i decided to make her some homemade play-doh first thing after my coffee.  to make our home smell like a spa and hopefully help my little lady calm down, i added some of my essential oils to the recipe.  genius idea, i know! actually, this has been all over pinterest and i've been meaning for some time to make this for our homeschool craft station.  i choose three oils that i know stella loves, and that also happen to be great and safe for kiddos: lavender, stress away, and grapefruit.

lavender: not only is lavender a true gem when it comes to relaxation, but it also helps with seasonal discomfort (allergies), eczema, and minor owies (cuts, burns, and scrapes).  we diffuse this one before bedtimes and it helps us all get ready to sleep, so naturally, this oil was going in my little one's play-doh.  give her all those zzzzzzz.

stress away:  this is a beautiful blend made by young living that i adore.  it smells of vanilla, cedarwood, lime, and copiaba.  basically, it's vacation in a bottle.  this essential oil does just as the name suggests, it promotes a calm nature and helps one unwind.  i use this as perfume and add it to my epsom salt baths at the end of a long day.

grapefruit:  this oils is very uplifting and fresh smelling.  i call it a happy oil and love that it is rich in the powerful antioxidant d-limonene, so it is nourishing to the skin.  i also like adding a few drops of this to my water/vinegar cleaner for an all-purpose spray and to water when i need a pick me up.

i love that each of these play-dohs have their own special oily job, but most importantly, that they foster creativity for kiddos who are eager to make something on their own.  stella is at that independent age where she insists on doing everything herself.  because this play-doh is all natural, including the young living oils which are safe to ingest if she happen to sneak a bite, i feel good letting her play while i make a hundred trips up and down the stairs.

here is the recipe, friends!

ingredients:    

1 cup water
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tablespoon of oil, i used olive oil
*food coloring
*essential oils, i use oils by young living because each bottle can be traced to its source and because of their seed to seal process.

to prepare, add all ingredients, except the food coloring and essential oil, to a large sauce pan over low to medium heat.  stir until the mixture starts to get clumpy.  take off the heat, transfer to a large surface, and knead into a big ball.  divide your play-doh into three qual parts, pressing your thumb into the center of each ball adding an indent.  to the center of each indent, add one to two drops of food coloring and five to ten drops of essential oil.  i color coordinated the essential oil bottles to the food coloring because that kind of thing makes me happy.

i hope you guys try it out!  for more of my essential oil recipes, head here.  if you are interested in purchasing young living oils and becoming a member of my team leave me a note and i'll help you out, or head to this page to sign up to purchase your own kit.  note: you never have to sell anything when you become a wholesale member of young living.  in fact, most people don't!  being on my team just gives you heaps of education and support from other oil users like myself.  make sure you sign up wholesale to get your 24% off.  that is not offered to retail customers.  happy oiling, friends!

homeschooling // getting started

with the turning of the seasons from sweltering summer days to cooler autumn ones, our family is starting something new.  to be precise, this venture of ours doesn't officially start for one more week but we have been over here doing our best to prepare.  andrew and i have decided to keep stella home for preschool this year with me being her teacher.  our decision to do so came about from a collision of circumstances for which i am now grateful, whereas i was originally quite scared and frustrated.  andrew and i were actually hoping to get stella into a christian preschool but being that it filled up rather quickly she did not get accepted.  for a moment we were bummed, but after talking it through, the idea of homeschooling for preschool caught fire and turned into something we feel was supposed to happen right from the start.  it was one of those moments that when strung together made perfect sense but we needed to work through connecting those dots to see the full picture.  alas, we did, and we are now happy and very hopeful.

having former experience as an educator i am very comfortable jumping back into teaching mode.  i don't think i have ever really stopped being a teacher even now that i am a stay at home mom.  the way i approach motherhood is intertwined with my calling as an educator because that is what works best for me.  it always has.  ever since i can remember i have always loved learning and helping others reach their potential through discovery and engagement in whatever we are doing.  i find myself echoing that same philosophy as a mother and friend and wife.  our choice to homeschool stella is a perfect fit for our family right now.  how utterly wonderful is it that everything does in fact happen for a reason and that her not getting accepted has given us the opportunity to spend more time together in a new capacity.

i must note, although it is a few years off, we currently have plans to put her in an language immersion school once kindergarten rolls around thus, our homeschooling adventures will linger on for just a short time.  i think there are both positives and negatives regarding both public, private, and in home schooling.  one can make a long list for each and while that is not what i am going to do here i want to acknowledge the fact that one is not better than the other.  they are both different and wonderful and completely personal depending on each family's situation.  what is really important is that each family does what is best for them in each season of their lives not letting judgement from others seep in affect their choices nor darkening their disposition and joy.

i have come to the comfortable realization that being able to stay home and educate my child is a gift and that one (possibly two) more years with her at home is a blessing.  with our classroom not only in our loft but also at the museum, park, zoo, library, and hopping around downtown, our little lady will be given the very best and that makes my quite happy.  this colorful city of ours has much to teach us if we take the time and effort to explore it.  after searching out the best options for learning here at home and around our city, our perspective of preschool at home has many more possitbilies than we had ever entertained.  i am finding that there is much more in kansas city than i had ever knew in terms of history and culture which we will be weaving into our lessons as the weeks progress.

and so, with our first day of school starting in just a matter of a few days i have been buried in preschool curriculums and activities and maps and school supplies over here.  we have set up camp in our loft which just happens to be the perfect place to learn during the day.  it is up and out of the way of our general living area giving us a special place to do our schooling.  luckily when i stepped away from teaching i had heaps of leftover school supplies i had purchased.  we stocked our learning area with those, along with some activity books, puzzles, creative manipulatives, and other education tools we have collected since stella was born.  we purchased a few educational maps and such at paper source and brought up some furniture to make her space more conducive to learning.

to keep stella's education well-rounded we have decided to diversify the preschool curriculum and pull from a few different sources.  i have heard many wonderful things about handwriting without tears and that is what we are going to use for its ease, effectiveness, and simplicity.  i ordered these books to help with the first stages of reading, art, and poetry.  i also have many type of preschool and kindergarten workbooks with activities and stories to help her learn the ways of the world in addition to reading and writing.  you can search amazon and find a plethora of options at great prices.  i have yet to construct our schedule but want to make sure that we integrate many different types of learning strategies in our mini-lessons that will all together form our school day.

this is just the start of a long learning process so bear with me as i navigate my way through this and find what best works in terms of rhythm and flow for both stella and myself.  however disorganized we may be at the moment, we are eager to hop in, get messy, and find our way.  i will be posting little bits here and there for you to follow along, and naturally, any comments or questions about what we are doing are welcome!  but let's just keep this a positive space.