resources – Page 2 – Homeschool With Joy

Homeschooling is a beautiful adventure, but let’s be real – sometimes life throws curveballs that make it feel like you’re navigating a ship through a storm.

Whether you’re battling illness (of your own or of other family members), dealing with real estate headaches (buying/selling houses is no picnic!), or trying to keep up with lessons while traveling, it can be overwhelming. But take heart, dear homeschooler!

With a bit of creativity and a lot of grace, you can keep your homeschool ship sailing smoothly.

🤒When You’re Under the Weather

Being sick is no fun, especially when you’re the captain of the homeschool ship.

Here are some tips to keep things afloat:

Embrace Flexibility: It’s okay to take a break. Use this time for independent reading, educational videos, or quiet activities like puzzles and coloring.
- Quiet Activities:
  - Puzzle Globe
  - Mudpuppy Geography Puzzles
  - ThinkFun Games, like Cat Crimes
  - Richard Scarry’s Big Busy Book
- Recommended Channels:
Simplify: Focus on the basics. Math and reading can be enough for a few days. Remember, learning happens in many forms, and rest is important, too. Sometimes it’s better to take a few days off and then accomplish more when you are revived rather than hunkering down and forcing things to keep going at a speed that is untenable.

🏡Navigating Real Estate Woes

Selling or buying a home can be a rollercoaster of emotions and seemingly-endless tasks, from signing forms to tacking repairs that pop up and have to be done NOW. Not to mention the total upheaval of moving!

Here’s how to keep homeschooling on track:

Incorporate Real-Life Learning: Use the experience as a learning opportunity. Teach your kids about the real estate market, budgeting, and the moving process.
Create a Portable Homeschool Kit: Keep essential supplies in a portable bin or backpack. This way, you can easily transition from one location to another without missing a beat.
- Sonlight Lapbooks: These are wonderful – we have tried a couple – and easy to bring along with you. They have everything you need, even glue stick!
- Power Homeschool: This is a good option for school on-the-go. We used it when we were moving and all our curriculum was in a box. FYI, the high school biology does push the theory of evolution as proven science.
- Green Kids Craft Kits: These are also super fun kits that have great lessons for kids under 12 or so, depending on learning levels.
Stay Organized: Keep a checklist of tasks and deadlines. Involve your kids in the process – they can help pack, organize, and even clean. They can even learn organization and computer skills making labels for boxes and helping to keep things going smoothly.

🧳Homeschooling on the Go

Traveling can be an enriching experience, but it can also disrupt your routine.

Here’s how to make the most of it:

Plan Ahead: Research educational opportunities at your destination. Museums, historical sites, and nature reserves can provide hands-on learning experiences.
- Museum Finder
- National Register of Historic Places
Pack Smart: Bring along portable learning materials like tablets loaded with educational apps, workbooks, audiobooks, and travel-friendly games. We never go anywhere without stuff to do and a snack! We use Kindles with the browser blocked and only approved apps sparingly. I love sticker puzzle and activity books because they don’t have small pieces to get lost (I’m looking at you, Legos!) and are easy to take anywhere.
- Good and the Beautiful audio books, learning apps, and videos.
- RAR Recommended Audio Books
- Usborne Sticker Dressing Explorers, First World War, and Heroes books.
- Barefoot Books Sticker Atlas

🧩When Life Gets Complicated

Sometimes, life just gets complicated. Not through any fault of our own, sometimes, I might add! Maybe it’s a family crisis, a job change, or something else entirely.

Here’s how to keep your homeschool steady:

Prioritize: Focus on the most important subjects and let go of the rest for a while. It’s okay to scale back. Just keep going! That’s what is important. A rope of consistency running through makes a big difference!
Seek Support: Lean on your homeschool community. Whether it’s friends, a local church, co-ops, or online groups, don’t be afraid to ask for help. People are happy to bring you a casserole, feed your dog, or jump in when needed! Let others be a blessing to you.
Practice Self-Care: Remember to take care of yourself. A well-rested and healthy parent is better equipped to handle the challenges of homeschooling. Whispering Wildflowers hot tea, David Arkenstone music, and a really engaging fictional novel that has 0% to do with my real life problems go a long way for me.

Finding Joy in the Journey

Homeschooling through difficult times is no easy feat, but it’s also an opportunity to teach your children resilience, adaptability, and the importance of family.

Your children will learn that there is constant change in life and that it is possible to sail through these things without giving up, becoming frazzled, or running away from the problem.

Embrace the changes, find joy in the little moments, and remember that this too shall pass.

Your homeschool journey is unique, and every challenge you overcome together strengthens your family’s bond.

Keep sailing, brave homeschooler. The storm will pass, and the sun will shine again. 🌈

Scatter Joy,

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homeschooling, joy, parenting

“M-O-R-N-I-N-G spells morning!”

February 22, 2024December 17, 2025 Jessica Lovett

“M-O-R-N-I-N-G spells morning!”
“I love afternoon too,” said Grasshopper.
The beetles stopped singing and dancing.
“What did you say?” they asked.
“I said that I loved afternoon,” said Grasshopper.
All the beetles were quiet.
“And night is very nice,” said Grasshopper.
-excerpt from Grasshopper on the Road by Arnold Lobel

Have you ever read Grasshopper on the Road by Arnold Lobel? It is a charming little collection of stories. The first one, “The Club,” is about a group of beetles that Grasshopper encounters on his journey. They are all chanting about how much they love mornings and won’t tolerate anyone who believes that mornings are not best, or that all times are great, for that matter.

This seemingly simple tale is actually quite profound. It is about not only accepting others but about discovering one’s own personality quirks and preferences and being true to oneself – a gentle reminder even amidst the cacophony of differing opinions and perspectives.

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
~Shakespeare, from Hamlet (act 1, scene 3)

Because my kids love this story so much, if they are sleeping super late, sometimes I’ll hop into their room, pretending to hold a sign and say cheerfully, “MORNING IS BEST! UP WITH MORNING! DOWN WITH EVENINGS!” This never fails to make them chuckle a little bit, even in underneath the cloud of heavy growth-spurt-sleepiness that sometimes befalls them.

Since they both love that book – and all of Lobel’s books! – that has become an inside joke with our family.

Books become part of your family’s personality – ironically even books about finding one’s personality.

Now, I say all this to the point that I am not a morning person at all. I’m a Night Owl and a card-carrying member of Down with Mornings Club, right there holding signs petitioning against the morning beetles on the road, if I’m honest with myself. Choosing to make mornings joyful is 100% a choice.

When the morning goes smoothly, you know what? The whole school day goes better! That’s just how it is. And, as the parent, I’m setting the vibe for the day. That’s my superpower!

You, as a parent, have that superpower, too! Try exercising it sometime!

Steps to Scatter Joy in the Mornings:

🧇Make an effort to prep breakfast for the kids the night before, especially if you’re a Night Owl like me and don’t cook as well upon first waking up… without lots of coffee.

🎵Make a special playlist of morning music to play that is soothing and peaceful.

🙂Smile at them when you see them rouse out of bed in the morning.

🤗Be sure to hug them and act glad to see them when they first wake up!

Even if your own warm blankets are calling you louder than the feelings of affection that you have right then are, you’ll start to feel better yourself.

Scatter Joy,