Making a Homeschool Rhythm

Hey Loves!

Can I share something with you? I had no idea what a homeschool rhythm was. Not one. Not a clue. 

If you don’t know what something is, you have no idea how the benefits of it flow through your home.

So, once I found out about this gem and did a little digging, I was able to apply it so my family could thrive with it and not be bound to a schedule.

What’s the difference between a schedule and rhythms, you ask? Simply put, freedom and grace. A schedule is pass/fail. You either do the thing, complete the task or you don’t. A rhythm allows for grace to maybe kinder complete the task and the grace to either skip it or try it a different way.

Here is how I organize our homeschool rhythm every year:

Survey our life- That sounds very technical but basically I compile our activities, plans and ideals-like downtime, family time and things like church, chores and meal prep. 

Be realistic- I am definitely team “go hard or go home” but I have learned, albeit the hard way, that actually we can do way more when we do a little and are intentional with our time. 

Prep and plan- So, taking the two items above, I plan out our days. This includes not just the activities and ideals, but I have to be realistic and include traffic, prep time, travel time between destinations, etc. 

Put it all together- This is the last step. Think of the items above like puzzle pieces or Jenga blocks. I piece each item together in the little matrix of our lives and then, this is the key, I structure what lessons we do on what day so we can get into our rhythm.

I’ve said this before but I honestly can’t stress enough that the emphasis of homeschooling is on the home, not the opening  or closing of a curriculum at a certain time.
If you would like a printable to organize your own homeschool rhythm you can grab it here.

Advent Celebration Activity Pack

Let’s get ready for Advent Fun! This low-prep, ability-friendly and ethnically diverse pack walks families through the birth of Jesus with daily Bible verses and offers customizable activities for the entire family all through the Advent season. 

What’s Included?

In 2 color schemes, blue and grey and red and green, each Advent Activity Pack contains the following in a digital download:

-30 Advent Activity Cards

-Blank Advent Activity Cards 

-24 Advent Bible Verse Cards that detail the birth of Jesus

-Pre-Filled Advent Planner

-Blank Advent Planner

Note: This download is for personal use. It cannot be sold, published, or hosted on other websites. If you want to share this product, please feel free to share this link shop with others. Thanks!

Graphics for this project were purchased from flaticon.com

Juneteenth Baskets (and Celebration Ideas!)

Hey Loves!

One of my absolute favorite things about the culture of our house is that Black History and the celebration of Black people isn’t a day or a month. It’s literally every day.

So, I wanted to be sure to “kick it up a notch” for Juneteenth for a few reasons.

To know me is to know I love celebrating-the big, small and everything on between. I’m also big on traditions. It’s very VERY important that my kids see celebrations of Juneteenth just like they celebrations of Valentine’s Day or Halloween.

One of my favorite quotes is, “traditions make you remember” and I need them to remember the culture of home. Juneteenth helps by being tradition.

As my kids are getting older, they can absorb and comprehend so SO much I am so glad to educate, commemorate and celebrate all month long with these baskets.

Each basket contains:

DIY Pajamas: I ordered solid pajama short sets from Amazon and added patterned vinyl from my local vinyl shop.

DIY shirts: Using shirts from target, I added some vinyl to remind them that their joy is their birthright.

Craft kits- grabbing supplies from home and a craft store with some beads from our favorite jewelry designer, I put together a couple crafts. You can see the deets here.

Books- James got this one and Jude got this.

I also added a blank book for them to create a recipe book and awesome activity kits from Afrocentric Montessori.

I also created a word search for James. You can snag yours below.

Pennants- I designed these and you can grab yours below. Be sure to print in landscape!

Travel Packing List and Planner-Free Download!

Hey Loves!

As I was sharing my packing process via IG, lots of you wanted my list. So I created one to share with you!

This is truly for you and for me as I am constantly recreating this list (well, except for that 2020 bit.) and now I have a list ready to go.

I left space for us to as to it as we please because there are normal staples and then staples for our respective families.

Happy packing and safe travels!