The Homeschool Sanity Show

Melanie Wilson, PhD

4,6 (104)
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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.

-3 ДН.

How To Homeschool Through The Holidays

Hey, homeschoolers! How will you homeschool through the holiday season? There are many approaches that can work for you, but you're most likely to feel good about the season when you're intentional about it. I invited guest Katie Trent back to share with us some ideas for adjusting our homeschooling during the holidays. I also asked her about her new book that is a must-add-to-cart title. Watch on YouTube Before I get to our interview, I want to thank NOW Programs for sponsoring the podcast. Sponsor: NOW Programs http://nowprograms.com Resources How to Homeschool Through a Move with Katie J Trent A Merry & Bright Adventure KatieJTrent.com Katie on Instagram Katie on Facebook Have a happy homeschool week!

31 мин.
5 НОЯБ.

Teaching Reading The Active Way

Hey, homeschoolers! When I began homeschooling, I thought I would have to teach reading on the couch. That's a lot more comfortable for kids than at desks, but I didn't know that I could do better--especially for my boys. Before I introduce my guest, I want to share this message from our sponsor, NOW Programs. Sponsor: NOW Programs https://www.nowprograms.com Podcast Guest: Stefanie Hohl Stefanie Hohl is an experienced educator specializing in early literacy and movement-based learning. She is passionate about finding innovative ways to save parents' sanity while still engaging young learners. She developed a fun and effective program called ABC See, Hear, Do. This program is designed to help children develop essential reading skills through a multi-sensory approach that incorporates visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. I really enjoyed hearing her ideas, and I know you will too. Watch on YouTube Resources ABCSeeHearDo.com Stefanie on Facebook, Instagram Have a happy homeschool week!

27 мин.
29 ОКТ.

Finding Homeschool Rest In The Gospel

Hey, homeschoolers! When it comes to seeking a more relaxed homeschool, we can find numerous tips for adjusting our schedule and curriculum. But there is only one source for true rest. My guest today is going to share how we can find it. Watch on YouTube Before I introduce her, I'd like to thank our sponsor: CTC Math. Sponsor: CTC Math Are you looking for a new Math Curriculum? CTCMath specializes in providing online video tutorials that take a multi-sensory approach to learning. Favorably reviewed in Cathy Duffy's 102 Top Picks and The Old Schoolhouse Crew Review, the lessons are short and concise to help your children break down concepts and appreciate math in a whole new way! The lessons are taught the traditional way, not to a "test". Each one of the video tutorials is taught by an internationally acclaimed teacher, Pat Murray, who is renowned for teaching math concepts in a simple, easy-to-understand way (and in only a few minutes at a time). Using a multi-sensory approach having the combination of effective graphics and animation synchronized with the voice of a friendly teacher together with practical assessment. This three-pronged attack makes learning so much easier and more effective. Even students who struggled with math are getting fantastic results! And ones who were doing OK before are now doing brilliantly. Visit c-t-c-math.com today to start your free trial. Guest: Amy Sloan My guest for this episode is Amy Sloan. Amy is the host of the long-running Humility and Doxology podcast, where she shares her passion for classical homeschooling, family discipleship, and joyful, restful learning. As a second-generation homeschooler, Amy brings years of experience not only as a student but now ...

26 мин.
22 ОКТ.

What To Teach Kids About Heaven

Hey, homeschoolers! I was so excited about heaven as a little girl that I wasn't afraid to die. My mother was freaked out and realized she needed to change her approach. What are you teaching your kids about heaven? As believers, we want what we teach to be biblical, but which aspects of heaven should we emphasize? Watch on YouTube I chatted about this topic with former guest Jordan Raynor, who has authored a new picture book for kids called The Royal in You. The YouTube version of our interview includes some beautiful artwork from the book. Before I share our discussion, I want to thank NOW Programs for sponsoring the podcast. Sponsor: NOW Programs https://www.nowprograms.com Takeaways Many Christians dread the thought of heaven due to misconceptions.Cultural views of heaven often misrepresent biblical truths.The new earth will be filled with the best things from our current world.We will work and reign with Christ on the new earth.Understanding our future in the new earth gives us hope today.The Bible emphasizes a physical resurrection and renewed earth.Work in the new earth will be fulfilling and joyful.Parents can cultivate hope for eternity in their children.Scripture provides clarity on the nature of heaven and the new earth.Engaging activities can help children understand their faith better. Resources The Royal in You Jordan's Podcast Jordan on Instagram Have a happy homeschool week!

34 мин.
15 ОКТ.

My Top 5 Homeschool Challenges

Hey, homeschoolers! As we are solidly into the school year, you may be experiencing some challenges. I want to share the top five struggles I dealt with in my 25+ years of homeschooling and how I dealt with them or would deal with them today. My hope is that you will feel normal if a psychologist and mother of six had the same issues that you do. My hope is also to encourage you that you can overcome these difficulties. You absolutely can! Watch on YouTube 1. Keep the house in order My first struggle, as most of you know, was keeping my house in order while actually homeschooling. When I started I was accomplishing neither. I cared for my three kids, but it seemed like that was all I could handle. I knew I couldn't homeschool or have any more children the way it was going. That's when FLYLady changed the way I thought about routines. I thought they were enslaving when they were really liberating. Doing the same things in the same order in the morning and evening in particular helped me feel on top of my house and my homeschool. I'll put links to some episodes on this topic in the show notes. But today I want to stress one aspect of our routine that helped me keep our home in order over the years: kids doing chores. I don't have a specific chore system to recommend to you. I tried them all--chore boards, badges, apps and various approaches. And they all worked for a while. What I learned was that it wasn't the specifcs of the chore plan that mattered as much as expecting and needing my kids to help. Without their help, our house would have been a disaster and I would have been stressed out. But with their help, everything else in our homeschooling went more smoothly. I reminded them constantly that I needed their contribution. Did they do the chores perfectly or even well every time? No. Did they ever complain about their chore assignments for the day? For sure. But having the kids help carry the load allowed me to overcome this challenge in my homeschooling life. It had other benefits including preparing my kids for a job, living with a roommate, and running their own home in the future. A routine and having my kids do chores enabled me to focus on teaching. For help with this, I recommend the Organized Homeschool Life. After getting my home in order, I ran into another challenge: 2. Fit it all in Trying to fit it all in. I wanted to teach everything in part because I wanted to learn everything. Learning along with your kids was one of the unexpected blessings of homeschooling for me. I wanted to learn how to make new kinds of bread. I wanted to learn how to code. I wanted to revisit calligraphy. And I wanted to learn all of these things on top of the core subjects this year. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fit it all in. Can you relate? At first, I thought we had to do school longer. That was a separate challenge I'll discuss in a minute. Loop scheduling was a big help. I could do multiple subjects by not trying to do them all every day. I had a block of time devoted to three subjects. We would do the next subject in line, rotating through them. But I needed more than that. I couldn't loop schedule 20 subjects! I had to accept that I couldn't do everything this year. One thing that helped was realizing that some subjects like science and history don't have to be explicity taught every year. You'll always be learning science and history along the way, but you may not have to have a formal curricul...

18 мин.
8 ОКТ.

How To Handle Homeschool Detours

Hey, homeschoolers! If you're not where you expected to be in your homeschool, I've got you. In this episode, you'll learn why we find ourselves on a detour, how we can get even more off track, and 5 tips for reaching our destination quickly. Watch on YouTube First, let's define a homeschool detour. Detours for our purposes can be taking the same route we planned, but it's taking far longer than we thought. This was the most common detour for me. I experienced a version of it every one of my 25 years of homeschooling. We didn't get through the curriculum as quickly as we thought we would. Or we didn't even start it. That happened more times than I'd like to admit, too. The character issues that I thought my kids would master right away were still being learned in high school. A classic detour, though, is taking a different route to the destination because the intended route wasn't available or workable. Homeschool detours can be anything new that you weren't planning: classes, schedule, approach, baby, job, home. Why do we find ourselves on these detours? One obvious reason that applies in the wake of Hurricane Helene is events out of our control. Illness, a facility closure, a job loss. Other detours are more the result of a family member's choice: your spouse needs you to work, your teen wants to go to school, your child wants to compete at an elite level. Finally, there are detours that are the result of our choices. I do think detours can have all three characteristics at once. Something happens that's out of your control. Your spouse wants to do something about that. And your choice solidifies your direction. Years ago, I was driving my family home from the beach, a 12-hour drive with stops. I entered our home address into my phone's GPS and was on my way. My husband was in the back of our van, watching movies with the kids. After the movie was over, he said, "I don't recognize this town." I waved him off, telling him that I was taking the route the GPS told me. But the truth was I didn't recognize it either. I figured I just hadn't paid attention on our last trip or the GPS was taking me on a better, faster route. The first reason we find ourselves on a detour of our own making is because we aren't paying attention. I wasn't looking at the surroundings as I drove. I also didn't check my son's math homework for weeks, only to realize he hadn't been doing it. I wasn't checking my son's laundry, so I didn't realize he'd been putting his clean laundry in his dirty clothes hamper just so he wouldn't have to put it away. I was on a coming-home-from-vacation detour primarily because I wasn't paying attention. But the second reason we find ourselves on a detour of our own making is because we trusted but didn't verify. I trusted my GPS to navigate me home but I didn't verify that it was giving me the fastest route. I trusted my kids to do the right thing and didn't verify. But I also trusted homeschool and parenting experts that if I did everything they said to do that my kids would be giants of the faith with full-ride scholarships. You won't be surprised to hear that I haven't yet arrived at that destination. The third reason we find ourselves on a detour of our own making is our pride. "I know what I'm doing!" I thought, as my husband expressed doubt in our direction. He didn't know what was going on, I thought. He's too busy watching a movie! When someone questions our homeschooling or parenting, we may dig our heels in and do even more rather than admit to our weakness.

17 мин.
1 ОКТ.

Is It Really A Motivation Problem?

Hey, homeschoolers! September and all of its new-school-year excitement is behind us, leaving us to face a longer October. If you struggled to complete your plan (or to get your kids to complete the plan), you may be feeling a bit concerned. How will this month be better? Should you rely on push motivation? Do you need a new system? These are both issues I've discussed in recent episodes. Today, though, I want to help you determine if you truly have a motivation problem. If not, the solution may be much, much simpler to implement. Watch on YouTube Before we dig in, I want to thank our sponsor: CTC Math. Sponsor Are you looking for a new Math Curriculum? CTCMath specializes in providing online video tutorials that take a multi-sensory approach to learning. Favorably reviewed in Cathy Duffy's 102 Top Picks and The Old Schoolhouse Crew Review, the lessons are short and concise to help your children break down concepts and appreciate math in a whole new way! The lessons are taught the traditional way, not to a "test". Each one of the video tutorials is taught by an internationally acclaimed teacher, Pat Murray, who is renowned for teaching math concepts in a simple, easy-to-understand way (and in only a few minutes at a time). Using a multi-sensory approach having the combination of effective graphics and animation synchronized with the voice of a friendly teacher together with practical assessment. This three-pronged attack makes learning so much easier and more effective. Even students who struggled with math are getting fantastic results! And ones who were doing OK before are now doing brilliantly. Visit c-t-c-math.

15 мин.
24 СЕНТ.

What Are You Trusting In?

Hey, homeschoolers! In 2019, I started a monthly podcast series I called the Trust Project. I wanted us to focus on how to trust God in multiple areas of our lives. Today, though, I’d like to check in with you--not by asking whether you’re trusting God in your homeschool, for your kids, for your health, and so on--but by asking you WHAT you’re trusting in. Life can be very difficult when we trust in something other than God. We may live in constant fear. We don’t have peace or joy. And we are unlikely to be successful in what we undertake. Watch on YouTube I want to begin our discussion of trusting God with the account of King Asa from 2 Chronicles 15. If you end up believing that you’re like Asa and not putting your trust in God, I’ll have a suggestion for changing that. Sponsor: NOW Programs https://www.nowprograms.com 2 Chronicles 15:1 reads, “The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. 2 He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law.” The Israelites were not following God at this time. Homeschooling also became popular again at a time when fewer people were following God. Certainly fewer were following God in public education. And parents like me were distressed about it. 2 Chronicles 15 continues…4 But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, and he was found by them. 5 In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. 6 One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. 7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” When we first begin homeschooling, we need that encouragement to be strong and not to give up because it rarely goes the way we hope and expect. Those of us who persevere believe that our work will ultimately be rewarded. Continuing with 2 Chronicles 15: 8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of[a] Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side. 17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated. 19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign. When we made the decision to keep our kids home, where we could teach them God’s Word, I was relieved. Like Asa, I felt a lot more secure because of God’s blessing of our family. But as time went on,

16 мин.

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из 5

Оценок: 104

We all need sanity

24.02.2023

SydneeRM

As a mom considering homeschooling my littles, I’ve been diving into these podcasts lately, and I love how uplifting this one is! It makes me feel like it’s definitely something my family can handle.
Inspirational and full of wisdom

10.02.2023

Clara @Simply Teaching Spanish

I’ve enjoyed listening to your podcasts as you offer a lot of wisdom. I especially enjoyed listening to How to Combat Loneliness As a Homeschool Mom. You offered a lot of great suggestions as to how to make friends. I especially liked the one about reaching out to retired homeschool moms. This is something I’ve considered doing just recently. Thanks for the suggestions!
Resource and Inspiration Filled Podcast!

17.08.2021

picklesmama

Dr. Melanie Wilson gives families such encouragement and so many resources for their homeschooling journeys! What a great podcast!
Refreshing and inspirational!

28.07.2020

Kristina Danyelle

I can relate in so many ways & she’s always very helpful in different scenarios. Inspirational and Hopeful.