Time is flying! I’m wrapping up my planning and prep for our new homeschool year and wanted to share how the tools we have for my sweet babes to help them cope with sensory integration while learning, playing and living their best life.
Flexible Seating: Bilibo Spin Seats, Scoop Rockers, Floor Cushions, Sensory Seats, Exercise Ball, and Wobble Stools… yes, I know that sounds like a lot and yes, we have them all. However, these were accumulated over the years and purchased as gifts, from consignment sales and even yard sales. Do you need it all? No! We plan on homeschooling as long as God allows it so we felt these were investments into our home. They use them way more than when we are learning. It was also important for me to give my kids the best possible environment for them to learn, not for me to teach. I also didn’t want to emulate traditional school and force them to sit in one spot and still. Depending on seating you have available, I’ve heard great things about “kick bands”
Movement Jar: Sensory kids needs to move! Depending on they’re hypo and hyper sensitivity levels, the will needs some sort of proprioceptive and/or vestibular input. I’ve been at this for a few years now and it is still hard for me to remember all the different movements. So, I found a free printable with movement activities and stuffed them in a jar. This way, this gives the child ownership and lets them identify their needs, advocate for their needs and meets their needs. It also gives my brain and heart a break.
Fine Motor Tools: To make this easier, I compiled a list here. Lots of kids have an un-diagnosed fine motor delay. Their little hands need help and that’s ok. This year, I’m venturing to make some pencil weights and I’ve learned through experience having a small variety of writing tools and letting the writer choose is what works for us. I also had help from my occupational therapist. To see these tools in action, check out the video here.
Coping, Calming, Fidgets & Weighed Items: I’m a big advocate for teaching kids to advocate for themselves. Having these tools around helps in two ways: It helps me see a need and have a tool to meet it. It also helps me train them to advocate for themselves. If I see seeking, I can ask, “do you need _______” and allow them to answer and get the item. I did have to teach them how to use these properly and work through some discomfort because some things they need they don’t love. Our main items in these categories are weighted vests and lap pads; stress balls, something to massage, and something to occupy their hands.
I want to reiterate Rome wasn’t built in a day. It may not be super easy to identify their needs. You’ll misread a behavior. You may not have chewelry handy. There may be a transitional meltdown. I’ve spent years crying over my mistakes and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that I am but mere mortal. My humanity is what makes me error but it also the reason I have for error. Grace. Extend it and receive it, always. I didn’t get all these items in a day. I didn’t even know the purpose of some of them the first I saw or read about them. I started with one or two and maximized use for those and then added as needed.
Continuing our chat on school supplies. Here, I discussed what was “needed”. Today we are talking desired things. Please know, I reigned this in as much as possible because, I mean, honestly, this could go on forever.
Last year, I slowly purchased items for a literacy bin (video here) and we got so busy, I didn’t use it to capacity. I’m definitely changing that this year as we won’t be busy. (Thanks for that, Mr. Rona.) when you watch the video you’ll see lots of the items I got from the Dollar Tree and Walmart. The goal? Make learning fun! Sitting, reciting, scribing can be useful but I say, if it can be fun, let’s do it that way.
Play-doh, fidgets, letters, illustration, dictation, stamp math equations, stamp spelling… the list can go on for a while. I say that to say play-doh, with a few accessories, can really round-out a lesson. It can also be a great transitional activity. I frequently leave out play doh in a tray and let them go to town.
Podcast and songs: Most of these are free with streaming services but I bet you aren’t taking full advantage of them with kids podcasts and learning songs. These are lifesavers for us. They introduce and reinforce lessons. We use them for just about every subject. I found one for Spanish lessons for kids. This may take some training for your kids to listen but the results are epic! My children now request them by name.
Learning Games: I know, more fun. You would think I was a “cool mom” or something. This really depends on your child’s development and your budget. I will say this, with inexpensive games like Uno and Connect 4, you can work on about 8 different skills in one game do you are definitely getting your monies worth.
Digital Learning Games- I know, screens! How dare I? Here’s the thing, this can be as much or as little as you want or you can scroll right past it. We occasionally use various learning apps. Our favorites are ABC mouse and Khan Academy Kids. My kids can go weeks without using them actually. I understand and totally get there are some families anti-any screens. That is not us. We are very vigilant with what we allow our kids to consume and the time they use it. We also believe training on this can never start too young. We are training them on how to take care of these devices and how to use them. We are also teaching them what is appropriate, problem-solving, etc.
Skill-set tools: I will be sharing more of this in another blog post but you have to meet your children where they are. My two have varying needs from emotional to transitional, to spacial to attention to fine motor so, we have various aids to assist.
Essential oil diffuser: I’m an oily girl with an oily family and diffusers make our minds and bodies happy!
Wireless music player: This is definitely straddling the “desired” and “over the top” line. We use ours very regularly for music, podcasts, timers and to ask questions of course because I don’t know everything.
Folders binders, clips, page protectors: I prep as much as I can for a smoother year so the office supplies helps me keep all that prep organized. I personally feel that the more prepared you are the more successful you’ll be.
Pens and Stationery: I’m sure these are things you always ready have but I wanted to share how I use them in our homeschool. To start, I use erasable pens in my planners and the pen color denotes a person or event. Yes, my planner is color-coded. For example, in my homeschool planner, my sons each have color and the thing we do together are in another color. A great notepad and some post-it are my go-to note-taking and list-making.
That’s all I can think of… that’s not true. I don’t want this post to get too long so I’ll wrap it up. Stay tuned for all things “sensory-friendly” for homeschooling.
Ok, I know the title is a little weird because most homeschool families can’t roll-up get a “supply list” from their local Wal-Mart, shop and be set for the year. I’m writing this mainly for all the new homeschool families. The one whose kids are old enough, or felt like it was “the right time” or their kids’ school thinks COVID-19 is normal and not changing anything to keep their kids safe. Or, a mom who has been homeschooling for some years and “wants a change up.” You could also have a serious case of #FOMO like me. Either way, let’s get after it.
I know we’ve all be there: Instagram, because that’s where all research properly starts, and we’ve scrolled across a page like any of these:
Chicken Eggs and The Land”: Here we meet “Tara” who homeschools her 3 kids, “Sage”, “Prism” and “Continuity” on a homestead somewhere in the middle of nowhere. She’s pregnant with her fourth, aptly named “Fin”, because this is her last birthed baby. They want to also adopt. She chronicles her day chasing chickens, her kids, and executing perfect baked goods while somehow educating her kids with all these artisan wooden manipulatives.
“Pink Bows and Purple Toes”: “Linds” (we never know if her name is actually “Lindsey”), has 2 daughters. They all love Starbucks and artisan coffee. All their accessories are from “this super cute Etsy shop”. She’s a super eclectic homeschooler and has so many resources for each subject you can’t keep up. Her house is perfectly designed. It looks like something out of a magazine and her “no make up face” is that of angel.
“Home Is as Home Does”: This is the page of Ashlee and her “unschooled kids”. It seems Ashley has time for every house project under the sun including fostering kittens. She currently has 12. Her house is immaculate and wonderfully organized.
That isn’t to make fun of pages like those at all. I truly admire all who are like those above, because, I think, at the end of every day we are all doing the best we can for our kids, ourselves, and family. My point in bringing those up is, and I’m including myself here, we see those pages and instantly think that’s the goal. That is what our days need to look like. That’s what our homeschool spaces need to look like. That is what we need to homeschool successfully and it just isn’t true.
What is true? What actually do you need to homeschool? I’ll do my best to answer.
Emotional Needs: You need to be able to meet your mental and emotional needs before you can meet those of your kid(s). It really won’t work otherwise. You have to find ways to continually fill up, and then re-fill, and then top yourself off. Additionally, you need to plan and prep in a way that works best for you. If you’ve never owned a planner and the thought of sends you to a hiding corner, maybe a homeschool planner isn’t for you. On the flip-side, if you’ve always been type-A, maybe “winging it” isn’t the key to success. There is going to be trial and error. There will be apologies. You’re gonna have to accept and extend grace.
Physically: Ok, now to the nitty-gritty. You’re going to need a place to learn. That could be a kitchen table, a portable lap desk, and/or a converted or shared space. (Read: You DO NOT need a fully stocked “room” specifically for learning.) Our first learning space was shared with our playroom. I separated the spaces (learning on one side, toys on another) and kept the toys with noise up high. The thing is, they rarely played there so when we moved I didn’t make a playroom. I converted a coat closet to a “toy closet” and it’s been great. This left space for a learning room. To be clear, we do lessons and activities all over the house. Especially now with my husband working from home. (I’m working a revamp for it all for the fall!)
Organization/storage- Don’t we all want a trip to IKEA with no budget??? I mean, that would be heavenly. It’s also not realistic soooooo I’ll say this: My goals for organization/storage are easy to access and responsibility-training. I want to find things easily, make sure everything has a place, and train my kids to be responsible for their curricula and supplies. Truth, I have two small bookshelves and a short 9-cube organizer. That’s it. My kids have these storage bins for their curricula. I show how I use them and why I love them here. They are very affordable and go on sale often. I purchased ours from Michael’s.
Supplies- I made a very detailed list for our “back to school” shopping. Yes, I narrowed it down to the number of crayons. Why? Because I know that’s what we need. I also knew these items were inexpensive and if they were needed again I could purchase them then. So here is what I think are the most needed.
If you plan on purchasing downloaded versions of curricula, you will need a printer. Printing at office supply places or print shops can get very pricey. Printers can be found as low as $40 and generally come with ink coupons or deals. Not-needed but helpful items I’ve come to depend on are a laminator and paper cutter.
Daily items:
Something artsy/craftsy: Crayons, markers, colored pencils, paint (tempera, acrylic, watercolor), construction, and/or watercolor paper. Do you need things actual artists use? Absolutely not. Can you make do with things from Dollar Tree? For sure! Full transparency, I really struggle with these types of activities for my kids. However, I know art is therapy. If one doesn’t express creativity, it comes out in other not-so-pleasant ways.
Writing utensils: Pencils. That’s one sentence because there are so many kinds. Here I really urge you to meet your child’s fine motor needs. They may need short pencils. They may need thick pencils. They may need triangular pencils and/or pencils grips. From there, I ask you to go with your preference. I prefer mechanical pencils because I don’t like sharpening pencils. I do have traditional pencils because I feel like sharpening pencils is a skill everyone needs. I have a blog post on all things “special needs learning” and some videos on school supplies here if that helps.
Something to write on/Learn with: I put these two together because of workbooks. Some curriculum comes with a workbook and the pupil will do activities and write the answer in the workbook. If you want to save curricula to sell or for the next child, you’ll need something else to write on. So, paper. Again, go with your child’s needs. For math, I like this large grid paper. For writing, this template is great. Both are free. I also like this composition notebook for writing. For older kids, a spiral notebook or composition book is great. Now for curriculum, I urge you to read this post. Find your child(ren)’s love language(s) and learning style(s), make goals and find things that fit those. As hard as it is, this isn’t the time to use what everyone else is using. Trust me, popularity won’t necessarily win.
Library Access- Books make the world go round and you can learn the world from books. Hopefully, your library is allowing for safe and distanced pick-up options.
Tissues and hand soap: Yup, you definitely need these items in your homeschool. I also love having a pack of baby wipes for quick clean-ups from paint too before they go wash their hands.
Honestly, that’s all I think you need. Is there more you can have? Of course. I’ll share that in another post.
So, our little homeschool niche of community exploded this Spring and it is only going to grow this fall. To all the rookie homeschool families, WELCOME! I can only imagine how many times your head has spinned so hard, it nearly fell off. You aren’t alone! From my understanding, even the most seasoned of homeschool parents have to re-evaluate, research and sometimes start from scratch. This was me last year. I learned so much about my kids and how they learn and even after ordering curriculum and making videos on said curriculum, I read some books and the game was forever changed. *Note: I’m only stating one book and author as she has publicly made a stand against racial injustice and the others have not.
The Brave Learner, Julie Bogart
The books explained and taught me some foundational things I never had before in our homeschool journey. For starters, proper goal setting. I had no idea I was making goals incorrectly. From these books I also learned that I was homeSCHOOLing not HOMEschooling, see the difference? I wasn’t infusing our home, lifestyle, values or traditions into our learning, I was trying to create a class/ learning time that didn’t really include those things. Finally, I realized my standards fro teachings aids and curricula were wayward. There were a multitude of varying standards that ultimately added up to me having lots of things I didn’t love, forced or gave up on, etc. From these books, I learned to create my standards and how to stick to stick to them. What are my standards? Goodness. Beauty, Truth. If it doesn’t add one or more of those, it doesn’t come in. These standards aren’t just applied to learning materials, it is infused al through my home.
My hope is to be able to re-read these books every year for a “refresher” if you will. I will need it, for sure.
The next thing I always advise is to learn your child’s learning style(s) and love language(s). These are crucial for learning to take place, in my opinion. Since we are talking about my opinion, I will add that not only are learning how your child(ren) learn and feel love crucial to their learning, I feel like not giving them love how they feel love and not teaching them in the manner in which they will learn will lead to further detriment and who needs that???
Ok, so I know you want the headlines, what I am using to teach what subjects at what age/grades, how and why? I get it. I’ve scoured the blogs myself for this exact thing BUT I wish someone, anyone, would’ve started with the things above.
Now, for the curricula, I’ll be sharing them in a blog post per subject because, your scrolling limits and attention span matter to me.
The subjects for grade levels I will be sharing are:
“Times are hard and things are a changing!” Can I get an Amen? If you were not a homeschooler before mid-March 2020, I’m guessing you are one now. I can only imagine the flood of emotions that would be storming inside of me right now if this was my predicament!
My advice? Breathe. Breathe. Breathe again. Just keep remembering to breathe.
Next-see the opportunity. I know it is difficult but there is so much good to look at, see and celebrate right now.
Get help and serve, not necessarily in that order.
I’ve got some more tips and tricks for you and one for those with littles (3 and under) over on my youtube channel.
