The Homeschool Sanity Show

Melanie Wilson, PhD
The Homeschool Sanity Show

Your prescription for happier, healthier homeschooling with Christian psychologist and veteran homeschooling mother of six, Dr. Melanie Wilson, who interviews experts on the issues that drive you crazy.

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    How To Get Everything Done And Still Have Time To Play

    Hey, homeschoolers! I recently read Mark Forster's book How to Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play and I absolutely loved it. It's been another of his books that has been life-changing for me. In this episode, I want to share principles from the book that can help you accomplish your homeschool and other goals this year and have plenty of free time too. Watch on YouTube Sponsor NOW Programs for students with special needs. Defining Everything How can we possibly get everything done? We can't. Mr. Forster is very clear that by everything, he means everything we have decided we can and must do. Most of us are trying to do way too much--too many curricula, too many activities, even too many fun things. Until we limit the number of tasks and projects and commitments we take on, we will continue to struggle. With that caveat out of the way, let's talk about the struggle to get everything done. I would say that all my life I have had the same issue: I do a good job accomplishing a few top priorities, but everything else seems to get put on the back burner until it becomes a crisis. For example, when I create a task plan for the week, quarter, or year, writing curriculum like Training Aliens or preparing for a Great Homeschool Convention is the top priority. Publishing this podcast is the next highest priority. But what about social media? That gets pushed aside along with website changes and home projects and I don't even want to talk about taxes! I have a feeling you can relate. Approaches for Getting Everything Done For you, maybe it's math and English that are prioritized, meaning that science experiments, foreign language, or art get put off. I've shared before about loop scheduling being a great option for this. You have a day or a time block that you assign two or more activities to. Then you loop or rotate through them in order. If last time you did a science experiment, then today you'd do foreign language. Theme days are another way of dealing with these lower priorities. If you never get around to decluttering your art supplies, you might dedicate Saturdays to decluttering. Or you dedicate the last day of the month to deep cleaning. These approaches have worked for me for a time. But when I missed enough of my looping or theme days, I would usually determine that I needed to give up the activity altogether and focus on my top priorities. The negative cycle would begin again. Enter Mark's book, which sets the stage with a fairy tale. Story-based inspiration? I'm here for it. This fairy tale has the hero, Hans, seeking wisdom for getting things done so he can focus on his top priority--winning the princess's hand in marriage. I found myself relating to Hans as he tried many recommended approaches to getting things done. They worked for a while and then led to the same problem of lower priority tasks becoming a crisis. Poor Hans struggled to be successful AND win the princess. The Get Everything Done Approach Enter Mark Forster as our wise guide. He suggests an approach that reminds me of what I had recommended years ago in a blog post I calle...

    15 min
  2. JAN 14

    How To Teach Leadership

    Hey, homeschoolers! I used to be of the mind that leaders were born, not made. What I mean is, I thought you needed to be a Type A extrovert to be a leader. There didn't seem to be much point to teaching my introverted kids how to lead. But my opinion has changed as I've watched my introverted, Type B child become a leader. I've also changed my thinking after interviewing Kerry Beck for the podcast. Her definition of leadership motivates us to teach every child these skills. I'm thrilled to be joining Kerry for the Raising Leaders, Not Followers conference starting February 25th. You can sign up now for free if you know you'll be able to watch live or register for the VIP option at homeschoolsanity.com/leaders. I'll be sharing how to help your child make and keep friends. I would love to have you join me. Kerry Beck helps you get past the perfect Instagram image & move on to real-life ways to raise your kids to lead, instead of follow. She offers practical tips to encourage your kids to love learning, think critically and influence those around them as adults. She inspires moms with her personal & spiritual stories of moving from overwhelmed to peace & resting in God. Kerry homeschooled her three (now adult) children for 10 years. She has a free homeschooling ebook for you at HowToHomeschoolMyChild.com. Watch on YouTube Sponsor NOW Programs provides services to benefit special-needs learners. Leadership Resources Homeschool Coffee Break Podcast: https://howtohomeschoolmychild.com/podcast2024/ Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/groups/HowToHomeschoolMyChild Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/howtohomeschoolmychild/ YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpuF_qVYrSVUUZrL8mWhYfA Pinterest  https://www.pinterest.com/howtohomeschool/ Leadership Summit http://homeschoolsanity.com/leaders Have a happy homeschool week!

    32 min
  3. 12/10/2024

    Special Replay: Redeeming Your Time: How To Make The Most Of Every Moment As A Homeschool Mom

    Hey, homeschoolers! I’m a time management/productivity enthusiast, which you know if you have my book, A Year of Living Productively. That book is the result of my experiments with more than 80 different productivity approaches. I did the reading and the experimenting to make the process of creating your own productivity formula faster. What I’ve discovered about has enabled me to write, speak, run a business, homeschool, maintain relationships, keep a home, and enjoy hobbies. But I’m never done wanting to improve. Sponsor: NOW Programs If you have a special-needs learner, check out NOW Programs! Introduction Every season of our lives presents new challenges for using our time. I have just two high school students at home now and they both work. I’m done teaching public speaking at our local homeschool academy. Now I want to provide YouTube videos to help homeschooling parents. So it’s a good time for me to reevaluate how I’m doing things. That reevaluation led me to read the book Redeeming Your Time by Jordan Raynor. Honestly, I was prepared to be disappointed. Most time management books are basic. You know: Your time is valuable. Have a morning routine. Plan your day. Christian books about time typically emphasize spending time in prayer about your priorities. These practices are so important, but they aren’t new to me after years of focus on productivity. So I was surprised by Jordan’s book. I needed it. Maybe you do, too. So I’m going to share six lessons from Redeeming Your Time that will help you make the most of every moment as a homeschool mom. #1 God will finish the work we leave unfinished Too many time-management teachers imply that we can get it all done. Just say no to things, trim down your extracurricular activities, use practical curriculum and you’ll finish your homeschool plan early. Yeah, right! This idea has left me feeling like a failure. Sometimes I give up. I quit putting effort into activities or I stop using the curriculum. Other times I try harder. I commit to getting up earlier, being firmer with my kids about meeting deadlines, or working faster through lessons. Because that’s a recipe for joy, right? There are so many lessons and subjects I wanted to teach my kids before they went off to college but didn’t. I have honestly schemed about how I could talk them into doing the lessons when they’re home for college. “Hey, guys, let’s watch this amazing video together. Here’s a fantastic book that I’m going to read aloud to you.” Yeah, that won’t happen. As a writer, I have so many ideas for books. I want to write them all! Truthfully, I’d like to write them all this year. But Jordan gently helped me see that I won’t write them all this year. I may not write them all in five years. I may not write them ever. But it’s okay. God knows that we won’t get all the work done even if we’re still in denial about it. He will finish the work that He wants done. Our kids will learn the lessons they need to learn without us. Hard to believe, I know. They’ll hear a message in church, get it through experience, or will seek the knowledge themselves because we have taught them how to learn. I have seen this in my kids time and time again. So, take a deep breath, and know that God will finish everything on your to-do list that He wants done, even if He uses someone else to do it.

    17 min
  4. 11/26/2024

    How To Have Happy Holidays As A Homeschool Mom

    Hey, homeschoolers! We wish each other happy holidays, but sometimes it's hard to be happy through the holidays. I have three reasons it can be hard that lead to three steps we can take toward happier holidays. But first I'd like to thank our sponsor for the podcast: NOW Programs. Sponsor: NOW Programs If you're homeschooling a student with special needs, check out http://NOWPrograms.com Listen to the podcast My favorite Christmas movie is It's a Wonderful Life. When I find out that someone hasn't seen it, it's all I can do to keep from dragging them to my couch and playing it because, of course, I own it. George Bailey found it to challenging to be happy through the holidays. That's an understatement if you know the movie. Deal with Disappointment The first reason George and you and I find it hard to be happy through the holidays is disappointment. Maybe your homeschool year hasn't been going the way you hoped. The kids don't love their classes or curriculum. You're already behind schedule. A learning challenge has been indentified. Maybe your finances are stretched even tighter than you thought. You've been ill. Or maybe you've experienced a loss. A loved one won't be joining you for the holidays. A relationship has ended. Or you or your spouse lost a job. George experienced many disappointments like these. He lost his father, a chance to go to college, and the income he hoped for. Thinking about disappointments is depressing, so we may try to avoid thinking about them. Yet they intrude upon our happiness anyway. That leads me to the first step we can take to be happy through the holidays: Deal with the disappointment. Instead of eating or doom scrolling over it, acknowledge it. You're disappointed. You hoped and prayed that things would be different, better. But they're not. The quickest way out of disappointment depression is through, not around. Sit by yourself with no noise and no distractions. Allow yourself to think about the disappointment and feel the feelings. If you cry, you cry. If you get mad, you get mad. Give yourself as much time as you need to think and pray about it. Journaling works too. Write out everything you're thinking and feeling, without worrying about anyone else seeing it. When you're done writing, you can delete it, destroy it, or password protect it. When you've had the time to process it privately, you can then deal with the disappointment by talking to someone you trust who isn't a part of the disappointment. You don't want to worry about hurting someone's feelings as you share your own emotions, unless you're trying to resolve a conflict. Sometimes you'll want to make it clear to the listener that you're not asking them to fix the disappointment for you, just to listen. Talking it out can make a huge difference in your happiness. Invest in People The second cause of unhappiness at the holidays is people. People are hard. They disappoint us. We've already covered that. People also annoy us. Maybe we expect the bad behavior, so it's not as disappointing as it is frustrating. We may struggle to know what to say or do when they're around. Maybe we feel bad about something we've said or done in the past, so we have a serving of guilt to go along with our frustration. George had a challenging relationship with Mr. Potter, who was a constant thorn in his side. He also had to deal with selfish bank patrons and an irresponsible uncle.

    14 min
  5. 11/19/2024

    Combatting Family Consumerism

    Hey, homeschoolers! Pushing back against a consumerist culture is an issue all year but is on our minds even more during the holidays. My guest today has experience in teaching kids to combat consumerism with good old-fashioned hard work. I'll introduce him after this message from our sponsor. Now programs. Watch on YouTube Podcast Sponsor: NOW Programs http://NOWPrograms.com Podcast Guest: Keith Phillips Keith Phillips is a former US Army helicopter pilot who, along with his wife Becky and their six children, is dedicated to building productive families and enduring Christian legacies. He introduces BUNKEYS, small DIY linked log cabin kits to America, promoting family unity through shared meaningful work. Keith believes in the power of family and community with work as the cornerstone and advocates for living a life of biblical producerism. I so enjoyed our conversation. Takeaways * Consumerism thrives on neglecting our inherent call to produce. * Family work fosters cooperation and contributes to family unity. * Saying no to passive entertainment encourages creativity in children. * Boredom can lead to innovative play and activities. * Fear of missing out drives consumerist behavior in children. * Creating space for meaningful activities is essential for family bonding. * Overcoming societal pressure is crucial for resisting consumerism. * Hard work can replace addictive behaviors and foster fulfillment. * Engaging in family projects teaches valuable life skills. * Reading together strengthens family connections and shared experiences. Resources Keith's Substack article on consumerism Bunkies Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5gBadT2mixwLThvz8GqI7z Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-stay-at-work-home/id1762916088 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@TheStayatWorkHome?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stayatworkhome Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stayatworkhome

    47 min
4.6
out of 5
104 Ratings

About

Your prescription for happier, healthier homeschooling with Christian psychologist and veteran homeschooling mother of six, Dr. Melanie Wilson, who interviews experts on the issues that drive you crazy.

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