Vintage Homeschool Moms Felice Gerwitz

Homeschool Secret Weapon ~ Episode 491

The homeschool secret weapon is not the perfect curriculum, perfectly run home, or peaceful household. While all of those things are great, the true secret lies in the little-known information, and once you get it right, the rest falls into place. Join veteran homeschooling mom Felice Gerwitz as she shares her homeschool experience with you.



Visit the updated MediaAngels.com website for classes, books, and planners to help you on your homeschool journey.



If you missed my last podcast, Homeschooling Secrets, check it out here.



So...it's time to dig deep, and I need your full attention. Sure, homeschool moms are great multi-taskers. You may be driving, folding clothes, or perhaps even painting a wall with your kids. (I've received emails telling me the favorite activities of my listeners.) But, seriously, I need your attention today because the information I am sharing with you will take some convincing.



It is not that my information is incorrect or that it is flawed in some way; the issue at hand is that humility may get in the way.



I'm not trying to be vague if you have listened to any of my past 490 podcasts a ridiculous number, I know, and I'm still at it; I normally get right to the point.

The Real Secret Weapon

The truth is the secret weapon is you, mom, or dad. Not to put pressure on you more than you possibly put on yourself, but the simple fact is you are it! You are the head of your home, classroom, discipline, and organization in your family, the head honcho, or whatever title you give yourself. Who gives the final word on what happens in your child's education? You. In regard to your child's physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being in the palm of your hand. Literally.



How did I come to this conclusion? Carefully. Over the years, I placed blame on various sources, entities, and even my own shoulders for what I considered academic or character struggles my children went through in their life. The curriculum was easy - if my child didn't "get" Algebra using one book, no worries - we purchased another. Character struggles were the result of a young age (they are too young to get it), too little knowledge (we haven't covered that yet) or lack of information (we are working on that). But at some point, I had to stop and say, "I can't blame their teacher because I am their teacher."



Instead of that statement being a burden, I embraced it. I realized that I could not address the issue without acknowledging my shortcomings. If my child was misbehaving, I had many options, but I had to do something to correct that behavior, or I'd see it again and again. I'd turn into the nagging, repeating parent.

Word on the Street

At every convention I attended, I found the next best thing. Yet, upon implementation, I found that this next-best thing was not what I was looking for, whether it was a book, workbook, video, game, or even a book on scheduling and organization. I discovered that I needed to be "all in" in order to embrace what we were learning and be there to support my child in the process. As homeschoolers, we tend to want to set it and forget it. Give your child a book and walk away and then become frustrated when they walk away from the table and never come back, lose their book, or fail to complete an assignment. This all happened in the course of my 32 years of homeschooling.



My discovery came from many discussions with my husband, homeschool friends, and children. First, my husband shared information he learned from listening to a homeschooled dad of a large family,

Easter Traditions ~ Episode 464

What are those special Easter Traditions you share as a family? In this episode, with Felice Gerwitz and Crystal Niehoff, you will learn that many Christian families have a diversity of ideas on how to celebrate this holiest day of our Lord's resurrection.



Welcome to Crystal Niehoff who along with her husband, Kevin, an Army Chaplain hosts the History For Christian Teens podcast on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network. Be sure to subscribe to their wonderful show for teens (and tweens can listen in as well!).



What makes Easter special? Remembering the time of the life, death, and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ! This is a day of celebration for many families and it is more than cute Easter bunnies and chocolate. What makes Easter special in your family? If you have not given it thought think about this, and brainstorm with your family.



* Some Easter Traditions:

* Lent (celebrated by Felice's family 40 days before Easter).

* Resurrection Eggs - Tokens with the remembrance of Easter for children. Plastic eggs contain a symbol the depiction of something that represents Easter with a guidebook.

* Good Friday - suffering, and death of Christ.



* Felice's family fasts from all meat on Fridays leading up to Easter. We also attend church on Thursday and Friday before Easter.





* Sunrise Service. Crystal's family attends (her husband officiates)

* Easter Vigil - Saturday evening before Easter. Evening service with Scripture readings from Genesis to the Resurrection.

* The best Resource is the Bible



* Four Gospels have a different perspective

* Older teens can read the Gospels and compare the Bible account





* Thankfulness is not just for Thanksgiving - Easter is a great time to be thankful.

* Easter is the eternal lesson for celebrating the gifts of the sacrificial love of Christ.



Easter Traditions do not need to take much money (See Easter on the Cheap, last week's Vintage Homeschool Moms episode). The most important thing to remember is the time we spend with our family can not be replaced.

Homeschooling Secrets ~ Episode 490

There are secrets, and then there are homeschooling secrets that you should know. This podcast is not for the faint-hearted! Here we will discuss the truth that, as the Scriptures say, will set you free! This podcast is brought to you by Felice Gerwitz, who will share her top tips for her thirty-two years of homeschooling. Buckle up!



Would you like an open-it-and-go unit study for the entire family? Try Media Angels, unit studies, and great planners to get organized. These can be found on the store page at MediaAngels.com

Considering Homeschooling

As a young married woman with my first child on the way, I didn't consider homeschooling, nor was it on my radar. Many years later, I found myself at playgroups with a toddler and hearing people discuss the possibility, so I did what any sane person would do and talked them out of the idea. After all, did they have teaching degrees or certifications as I did? I wasn't planning on homeschooling but returning to teaching once my school-aged children were enrolled.



What happened instead was after some frustrating meetings with the school system, it turned out my oldest child had mild learning issues and was speech delayed. I placed him in a private school and my daughter in a high-end-high-dollar preschool. I began to research and met a friend whose husband was a doctor, and she herself had a master's in education and began homeschooling her daughter. She helped me put things in perspective.



After my first frustrating year, I found that I had to make my own decisions and what worked best for my family. Other than following whatever the laws are in your state (and I would have moved if our laws were like some states which mandate what books you can use), we were free to learn in a way that was best for my kids.



I've broken these secrets down into various categories. The first is just general information about how to look at homeschooling, the second regards parenting, the third is practical, regarding curriculum, and the last is important in regard to household chores and meals.



So here you go some top-secret tips to help you in your homeschool planning:

Homeschooling Secrets 101 ~ General



* Decide your homeschooling philosophy - just like a business has a slogan, come up with one for your family. This will help, I promise. We brainstormed as a family and came up with things like: We are stronger together, Gerwitz Strong, and what we decided upon: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)

* Know why you are homeschooling. Is it academic? Is it to help your child with their worldview? Is it to give your child a stable family life? Is it to help your child spiritually or psychologically? Is it for a reason, learning advanced or learning delayed? Is it to avoid the issues plaguing education in our world today?

* Get a support group, whether it is a best friend who has your back, your spouse, or a good homeschool support group.

* Ignore well-meaning extended family members who think they know what is best. Polite responses include, "Bless your heart; thank you so much for sharing your opinion with me." It goes a long way instead of arguing your point. (Tell the story of tongue twisters.)

* Select a time frame to homeschool. I am going to do this for one year, etc. Time Management for Parents.



Homeschooling Secrets 101 ~ Parenting



* Create Memories - Family Bonding Time

* Know you are the parent and are in charge.

Faith Building Activities Episode 325

Having fun and learning while teaching the faith, yes! Faith-building activities are discussed, as well as ways to help your children see the spiritual connection between faith and the Bible.



So, we all want to help our children grow in the Lord; in fact, the Scriptures tell us this Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. And of course, Deuteronomy 6:5-9 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

Scriptures as Faith Builders

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart: And thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising. And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and they shall be and shall move between thy eyes. And thou shalt write them in the entry, and on the doors of thy house.



There are so many more Scriptures as well! However, the most amazing thing I’ve learned, and I am sure you’ve experienced this, is that our kids pick up our worse habits! And, I’m sure it is because it is the ones that are modeled the most – yes, I’m talking to myself here as well. But the good news is that if we model great behavior, praying, reading our Bible, and doing Bible Study, the kids will also pick up our habits.

Prayer as a Faith Builder

First, stop and pray. Ask the Lord how best to teach your children. Ask the Lord to help you to find those teachable moments that bring home the love and compassion the Lord has for each one of us and especially His unconditional love for us!



You know, when you look at other religions outside of Catholicism and Christianity, you find that the gods that these faiths worship require different things. Some require obedience and submission, others require worship or ritualistic sacrifice. Our God only requires our obedience and love, and He returns His love to us.



Christianity is the truth. It is the real thing. It is not a falsehood. And, with that comes an amazing responsibility to teach our children and share the good news.

Here are my top 10 favorite Faith Building Activities:

The First 5 Faith Building Activities



* Attending Church

* Praying as a family – before meals, in the evening.

* Daily praise reports – what are we thankful for each day? We do this every evening after our evening prayers or devotionals

* Reading the Bible – and add a journal for older kids, be sure to check out this podcast on Teaching the Bible

* Listening to good Christian audios: Such as Christian music, or teaching audios like Adventures in Odyssey



And 5 More Faith Building Activities



* Watching good Christian films, for example, on sites like PureFlix.

* Story Starters: make a list of questions such as: What would Jesus do? Give them different scenarios, such as when mom asks you to pick up your clothes, help with the dishes, or do chores in general.

* Games that teach Christian concepts - https://childrensministry.com/10-active-indoor-sunday-school-games/ One we use to play as kids focused on the need to trust. What you would do is have someone stand in front of an adult and tell the kid to fall back. Most of the time, kids just can’t let go. The idea is that God is there all the time for us, and we need to let go to feel his arms around us, His embrace. Another fun game that was in the handout link on the show notes is giving two different kids a set of combination locks. One is given the combination, and the other isn’t. One will struggle,

Family Bonding Time ~ Episode 489

How can you create that special family bonding time when everyone has different schedules? In this podcast, Felice shares some ways that are more than playing games together.



Check out MediaAngels.com and the wonderful books and products on the website. Check out the Character Planners that are geared for the entire family. They are written specifically to involve the family in demonstrating the character trait throughout the month and are more than just worksheets. They contain many group activities.



A few weeks ago, I attended a wedding for the son of some dear friends with a large family. During this time, I was able to catch up with the children who are now grown up! One of the sons, who now has two children of his own, shared how he remembers catching his first fish in our pond and all the good times our families had when we camped together. He said he had such a happy childhood that he was now creating memories with his family.



As parents, we crave close ties with our spouses and our children. If you had a good childhood growing up, you want to recreate that experience, or if you feel your childhood was lacking in some way, you want to remedy this with your own children. However, as parents, we often fail to work at our relationships, and for most of us, it is enough to crawl into bed with the thought, "Glad I made it through today!" When my children were little and mobile, I told my husband they were all safe for one more day. It was a daily struggle to corral little ones and homeschool the older children. If any of these experiences mirror yours, you understand that a family that gets along and is close is sometimes an oddity.



Most of us spend our time correcting and working with the children in one area or another that closeness and relationships take a back seat, especially when you have so much filling your day. I realized at different times in our lives that we needed to work together as a family. This was especially important as my children were getting older, and our lives would soon take different trajectories.



Family Bonding took place over read-aloud books in the evening, with camping, with short day trips during a time in our lives when longer trips were not possible. Family bonding happened over the campfire in our backyard or my husband building a tree house and the kids making me lunch so we could do "school" in the treehouse loft. Bonding occurred when my husband made the kids breakfast and let me sleep in. I woke up to a stillness and quiet that had me bolting out of bed, only to find the four of them by the edge of our pond, out front, eating a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast.



Sometimes our family forged bonds when we least expected it, and even with the age gap between the older two and the younger three, there is something there that is more than siblings but true friendship. How do you recreate this experience in your own homes? I will share with you some of the activities that worked well for us.



When you enjoy family time together, you are creating a legacy. A tradition that may be passed down from generation to generation. This is something to consider when gathering ideas for future use. In our family, we were unable to take a long vacation. We took one ten-day vacation that was coupled with a wedding and two other shorter trips of about five days each, one in a rented RV. Yet even though our vacations were limited due to my husband's work constraints, we still forged memories. We took day trips on Saturday to visit nearby museums, parks, notable historic structures such as an old library and a historic train, and activities such as the Strawberry Festival in a nearby town every February.

Let's Talk About the Best Ways To Nurture Relationships With Your Child



Special Replay | Podcast # 157

The experts are in the house!



We will learn about the best ways to nurture relationships with your child! S



Whether you have one child or multiple children, we all want a good relationship with our kids. We want children who grow up wonderful, happy, and settled in life - and what better way than beginning their journey at home. In this broadcast, we discuss some tips as well as some ideas.

with Felice Gerwitz and Special Guests - Israel and Brook Wayne ~ Family Renewal ... and Hal and Melanie Young ~ Making Biblical Family Life Practical



Special Sponsor - Media Angels, Inc. - by homeschool moms for homeschool moms











Show Notes: Best Ways To Nurture Relationships With Your Child



Felice Gerwitz - Tips on the Best Ways To Nurture Relationships with your child



* Your relationship with your spouse (single parents - your relationship with the Lord)

* Love your kids enough to do what you need to do

* Be available

* Threatening and repeating parent

* Be the type of parent you wish you had



Israel and Brook Wayne - Tips on the Best Ways To Nurture Relationships with your child



Authors of "Pitchin' A Fit" 



* Bring your child close to you when you discuss issues

* Correct in a different environment like outdoors on swings (Brook explains this on the audio)



Hal and Melanie Young - Tips on the Best Ways To Nurture Relationships with your child



* Little ones are real people

* Listen and interact

* Show delight

* Parenting styles change as they age

* Teens - talk them through

* Authentic praise

* Need to be there for them

* God gave us these children - He'll provide

* Pray, repent, and apologize when needed - we all mess up







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