Reading Unlocked ( Review)

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

My kindergartner has been fighting me on learning how to read, so I was excited to review this 12 month subscription to Reading Unlocked. This program is online and designed to be used three to five days a week for 10 to 15 minutes each day. Reading Unlocked uses what they term, ‘simplified phonics’ to teach students to blend sounds into words. They start with simple three letter words that have three sounds and build up to four letter words.

reading unlocked 1

During each lesson of Reading Unlocked the student goes through a series of activities related to the letters that are being worked on and reviewing the letters that have previously been covered. The student has an opportunity to hear the sounds, say the sounds, write the letters and words, match the words with pictures, and at the end of each lesson the parent reads a poem and the student reads one or two words that they learned that day as you reach them in the poem (they are noted in red).

Each lesson has ten to thirteen different short activities that the student completes. There is a series of open dots at the top of the screen that are filled in as the activities are completed to show the student their progress. A student that was very motivated and grasping the concepts could finish this in about fifteen minutes. However, if a student is struggling it could easily take thirty minutes or more. For example, my son was learning a lot about writing his letter and the letter sounds but really struggled with remembering from one day to the next how to blend the letters to make words. This meant that some of the sections were very challenging for him. to help keep him motivated, some days we only did part of a lesson and then finished it up the next day.

A student could complete most of this program unassisted which is helpful for a busy mom trying to juggle multiple children and lessons. However, I do think it is important to note that on most of the activities they can select multiple answers until they get the answer correct. This is good for building confidence; however, I also sometimes found my son just clicking answers until he got the right one and not trying to figure it out.

I think this simplified phonics approach of Reading Unlocked could be very beneficial for some students. Particularly those that are really ready to learn to read and just need some basic instruction. For my son, it moved a bit too fast for him because he struggles with the letter sounds. However, I saw huge improvements in his writing skills because of this program. He diligently practiced the letters that he was learning and was finally able to write his name independently and have the confidence to copy words that I would write for thank you cards and other tasks.

Be sure to check out the Reading Unlocked website if you have a student that is learning to read, they even have a free trial so you can see for yourself if it is a good fit for your student. Don’t forget to click on the graphic below to check out the reviews from other Review Crew members.

History on Horseback ( Review)

History and books are one of my son’s favorite combinations, so we were excited to get a chance to review History on Horseback: The Early Years. This nonfiction book, published by Sonrise Stable Books, shares great stories from history through the eyes of the horses that were present for the events.

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The book was written by Vicki Watson. The illustrations included a variety of pictures and drawings of horses from various sources which are credited at the end of the book. The book is a study paperback book with a full colored cover and black and white illustrations on the interior of the book.

The book is recommended for ages 12 through adult and is good for an independent read or as a supplement to a history curriculum. They are also currently working on a study guide that would allow it to be more of a stand alone history curriculum. My thirteen-year-old son chose to review it and used it as a fun read and not a part of our history curriculum.

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History on Horseback: The Early Years includes stories from the years 1493 through 1866. There are 53 chapters and each chapter is a short story about a different horse or event. For example, one chapter focuses on several different important horses in the Confederate army, another focuses on a horse named Copenhagen from the battle of Waterloo. Each chapter is relatively short with most of them ranging from two to six pages in length, for a total of just over 180 pages.

“One of my favorite stories is the story about George Washington and his horses Nelson and Blueskin. One of favorite things in this is why he rode the horses for different occasions. He rode Nelson on campaign and in battle because he was much calmer under gun fire. However, he almost always rode Blueskin to formal events as he was a nicer looking horse. I think this would be a good read for anyone who likes history or horses. I think the book is a great book for people between 10 and 15.” Matthew, age 13

While my son enjoyed reading the book for fun, I think it would be a great book to use along side of a history program to help give a different perspective. It would also be a great way to engage a student that loves horses but may not be as interested in history. With the chapters being short and specific to a certain horse or event, you could easily read the chapter or chapters that coordinate with the topics in your history curriculum as an introduction to the various events. You could also use it as the basis for creating your own history curriculum by adding some extra research or projects to the reading.

The book is recommended for ages twelve through adult and I think that is a fairly accurate recommendation. The chapters are interesting but contain a lot of factual information that might be a bit dense for younger readers. If you had a younger student that really enjoyed horses or history, you could use it as a read aloud.

Be sure to check out the History on Horseback: The Early Years if you have a horse lover that would enjoy learning more about history. Don’t forget to click on the graphic below to check out the reviews from other Review Crew members.

Easter Resources and Ideas (at Home)

Easter is important in our home. It typically involves church services, big meals, and family time. We primarily focus on the religious aspects of Easter and celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus but we also enjoy some of the other fun aspects of the holiday. This year Easter will, of course, need to look a bit different but our reason for celebration remains the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

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If like our family, you are looking for meaningful ways to celebrate Easter from your home during this time of isolation and social distance, I have compiled a list of ideas and resources that may be helpful. I pray that no matter where you are and how you celebrate, it will be a blessed day of worship for your family.

This year we will be using our Resurrection Eggs each night for the twelve days before Easter to go through together as a family devotional along with the book Benjamin’s Box. If you are getting a late start, you can do several a day or even do them all in one sitting.

I ordered crescent rolls and marshmallows in my grocery order last week, so that we can still enjoy our Resurrection Rolls. These are always a lot of fun, but also a great visual reminder for my younger children.

We are going to use Alas, and Did My Dear Savior Bleed (At the Cross), as our hymn study this month to help us focus on the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In addition to our regular Sunday morning service, we are going to be enjoying a Good Friday service and an Easter concert streamed by our church. There are many great opportunities available virtually.

Throughout this week we are going to be enjoying the Free Easter art lessons by You Are an Artist. We are also blessed that our church is providing a small craft idea along with a memory verse and song each day this week as we lead up to Easter. I highly encourage you to check and see what your local churches are offering virtually.I have also found these free Easter videos that I want to watch.

Finally, we are going to use this as a reminder to serve others however we can. For our family, that means some encouraging Easter cards being sent to those that might be lonely or discouraged, cookies dropped off to neighbors (on the porch with not touching), and face masks being sewn and delivered to those in need.

I have included a variety of resources below to incorporate Easter into your school day or family celebrations for students of all ages. I have also included some links to some other blog posts that have other creative ideas. I hope that you find them helpful and that you have a Blessed Easter. Please share in the comments your favorite Easter tradition or resource.

Blog Posts:

Natural Food Coloring for Eggs

Eggshell Mosaics

Easter/Passover Resource List

Easter Books

Resources:

Easter Chalk Pastel Art Course

Videos, Music, Art, and Literature Lessons (Schoolhouse Teachers)

Easter Videos

Easter Story Cookies

Resurrection Rolls

Easter Science Experiments

Easter Resurrection Pack

Resurrection Day Preschool Pack

Easter Family Devotional

Resurrection Lapbook

April Hymn Study: Up From the Grave He Arose!

Magic Watercolor Art

‘Stained Glass’ Cross

Easter Bible Lapbook

Easter Notebooking Page

Books and Movies:

Resurrection Eggs

Benjamin’s Box or on Kindle for only $1.99

Tale of Three Trees

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This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

Misfits Market Box, finally if you are having a hard time getting fresh produce in your area or you would just like the convenience of food being delivered to your door you can use code: COOKWME-IW0OPU to get 25% off your first Misfits Market produce delivery.

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Hymn Study: Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed (At the Cross)

I always learn something new when I start putting together these studies and today was no exception. As I sat down to find out more about this history of the song the refrain kept playing in my mind. However, when I first found it on hymnary, the refrain wasn’t there and I thought somehow I was mixing up two songs. However, a bit more research showed that the verses were originally penned by Issac Watts in 1707 without the now popular refrain. The refrain was added in 1885 by Ralph Hudson who also changed the tune. The song goes by both Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed and At the Cross.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

Alas, and Did my Savior Bleed

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!

When Issac Watts wrote this song, it was viewed as sinful because it did not take its lyrics straight from scripture. However, he believed that just as we can pray using our own words, we should be able to sing using our own words.

As we celebrate Easter this week, this song can be a helpful reminder of the power of the cross. I would encourage you to talk about the meaning behind this song and how Jesus’s death on the cross changes our eternity. The link on hymnary will help you with the many scripture references that accompany this song. There are many craft projects and art lessons that you can use as a hands-on component to this study. You can gather sticks from your yard and fashion them into a small cross, you can spend some time talking as a family about ways you can share Christ’s love this Easter even while we are apart from others, and here are a few free art lessons you can use this Easter week. The rainbow cross seems to really connect with this song and seeing the light at the cross.

This Easter, as we deal with a pandemic, many of us are facing a lot of changes in our normal Easter routine. It can be challenging to realize that we cannot visit with family, attend our sunrise services, or even go into the church building on Easter Sunday. However, I pray that we all remember that the church is not a building and we can worship and celebrate our Lord and Savior from wherever we are. Events may be canceled but Easter cannot be canceled. May this song bless you and your family as you celebrate together this year.

Hymn Study Resources:

Hymn Story

Sheet Music and Information (without refrain)

Gaither Vocal Band

Red Mountain Church

Video with Lyrics

Congregational singing

Contemporary Worship

Download Your Freebies Below!

Hymn Study Fact Sheet

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

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Deals and Freebies

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

The Easter Storybook Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links. See disclosure below.

Last summer when I asked my five-year-old son about his goals for this year he told me he wanted to learn to cook, climb trees, and more about Jesus. While I thought we should add in a few other subjects, I was certainly happy to help him learn more about Jesus. When I found out about the The Easter Storybook: 40 Bible Stories Showing Who Jesus Is published by David C Cook, I knew it would be a great way to continue working on that goal.

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When The Easter Storybook arrived in the mail my son was excited to open it and had me read the first story that very night. Each story was approximately one page and includes a full page illustration on the opposite page. The book is hard bound and colorful, which works well to engage children and to help it hold up against the not so careful use of children. The Easter Storybook was written by Laura Richie and Illustrated by Ian Dale.

About The Easter Storybook

These short but powerful stories, tell about Jesus and his life and works. They are short enough to keep the attention span of a young child. We used the predominately at bedtime, although he would also sometimes bring it to me to read when we had time for an extra read aloud during the day.

At the top of each story is the Bible reference for the story as well as one key verse that relates to the story. At the end of the story there are one or two discussion questions. For example, day 15 was Jesus and the Rich Man. The Bible reference was Matthew 19; Mark 10, and Luke 18.

The related scripture verse was Romans 3:23-24, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift.” At the end of the story the discussion question is, “What is impossible with humans but possible with God?”

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The stories start when Jesus is a young boy in the temple (Luke 2) and finish with Jesus’s Ascension (Matthew 28). Benjamin’s favorite story was Day 3, Jesus is Tempted. This was the story of Jesus being tempted by Satan in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. It described how Satan tempted Jesus with food, power, and his faithfulness to God.

Our Opinions

All in all, we found that this storybook was a great way to help us focus on Jesus and his life and ministry as we prepare for Easter. You can read one a day for the 40 days leading up to Easter or since they share a great deal of the life of Jesus they could be read anytime during the year.

I would recommend this book for preschool through elementary students as a read aloud with parents. It could be read independently by elementary students but the discussion questions with the parent really add to the learning.

Be sure to check out the The Easter Storybook if you are looking for a great way to focus your family on Jesus during this Easter season and you can find out more about all of the wonderful products at the David C Cook,website. You can even check out my review of David C Cook Action Bible Anytime Devotions (Review) to see another one of their great products. Don’t forget to click on the graphic below to check out the reviews from other Review Crew members.

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Parenting Beyond the Rules: Spring 2020 Online Book Study

I am excited to be getting back into book studies! Life had gotten really crazy and I just couldn’t fit it all in. However, I am really excited to be going through Connie Albers’ book Parenting Beyond the Rules. This book is designed to help parents who are “trying to raise a responsible, godly teenager.”

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My oldest is 13 and while he is overall a great son, I notice the parent/teen friction at times. I am looking forward to learning some practical ways to keep us closely connected during these years while also helping direct and guide him. I had purchased this book back in January, but sat it to the side as life was busy. I then had the opportunity, in February, to hear Connie Albers speak at an online conference. It was a great reminder and confirmation that I needed to pull this book back out and start reading.

Each week we will read and discuss one chapter in the book, so it won’t be a huge time commitment and we will have time to work through some of the strategies and support one another. We will start this week by getting our books and introducing ourselves and then plan to have read chapter one by next Wednesday, April 8th.

If you are interested in joining us, you can purchase the book here and then join the private facebook group to take part in the discussion. I look forward to having you join us on this study. Please let me know if you have any questions.

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Deals and Freebies

Play Beside Me Challenge — Hands on As We Grow is offering this FREE 5 day challenge to help out with activities that can keep younger kids engaged in play for 15 to 20 minutes while you get something else done. Great for those with toddlers and preschoolers.

Fit2B Sale If your gym is closed or you can’t get out to do your favorite workouts, you can try my favorite online program. They are having a great 41% off sale on March 26th and 27th!

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Some of my favorite homeschooling people are joining together to do a FREE gala all about one of our favorite book series! I highly encourage you to sign up for the Green Ember Gala that is happening on April 2nd at Noon! You will get an art lesson, a nature lesson, and a chance to hear from the author himself!

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

Read All the Books: Free and Discounted Online Literature Resources

I’ve always loved books and reading! I have tried to pass that love along to my children. We try to always have them reading their own books (if they are old enough), be listening to an audio book, and have a read aloud going. Reading in our homeschool ranks second only to Bible in importance. With that in mind, I was thrilled to find all of these wonderful free and discounted resources available right now and wanted to make sure I took time to share them with you.

*Some of the links in my posts are affiliate links see below for more information. *

wingfeather

First, a friend shared with me that Andrew Peterson was doing a nightly read aloud of the first book in his WingFeather series. You can find those videos here on his Facebook page (but hurry they are only available for a short time). We started doing those at 8pm (ET) live but have found it works best for us to do them earlier so we are watching the one from the day before each evening. We had not heard of him before but my kids have already purchased more books in the series to keep reading.

Green Ember is one of our family’s favorite series and the final one is releasing this week! In honor of that release some of my favorite homeschooling people are joining together to do a FREE gala all about one of our favorite book series! I highly encourage you to sign up for the Green Ember Gala that is happening on April 2nd at Noon! You will get an art lesson, a nature lesson, and a chance to hear from the author himself! If you have not tried the Green Ember series yet, you need to check it out.

One of our places for family literature studies is offering a FREE study right now! All you need to add is the book (and many of the titles are classics that might already be on your shelf). Get your FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

Another free resource that we are excited to try is this free set and audio readings from the Growly Series! They are adding chapters each day to include the entire first book in the series. We are just getting started with it but I think my six-year-old is going to enjoy it.

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time. This book is great for working on skills and concepts for reading as well as other subjects.

Finally, Audible has released a new website just for this situation. It is called audible stories and you can listen to dozens of books for FREE. There are some great classic books that we want to enjoy. Do note that unlike a regular audible book you cannot download these so you will need internet connection and to use the same browser in order for it to hold your spot.

There are so many other resources available but those are the ones that we have been utilizing. I would love to know what other resources you have found helpful for literature right now.

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Deals and Freebies

Fit2B Sale If your gym is closed or you can’t get out to do your favorite workouts, you can try my favorite online program. They are having a great 41% off sale on March 26th and 27th!

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Adding Music To Your Homeschool (When You Aren’t A Musical Mom)

Anyone who knows me well, knows that music is not my gifting. I love to listen to music, but I do not have a talent for making music. I took piano lessons as a young girl, audited voice lessons in college, and had to learn the recorder for my Elementary Music course in college. However, I was never proficient at any of those and my ear just doesn’t hear tone the way some people can.

*Some of the links in my posts are affiliate links see below for more information. *

My children, however, decided that they really enjoy music and wanted to work at becoming proficient musicians. This put me in a situation where I needed help them learn content that I myself was not proficient with, but there are some wonderful resources available to help me encourage them in their musical passions.

It all started with a three-month review of Practice Monkey violin lessons. My daughter enjoyed the lessons so much that she has continued for about 18 months and just passed her assessment to move to level six. In addition, both my five-year-old and thirteen-year-old sons are taking lessons. My daughter also began piano in January. These online lessons have been a real blessing to our family because they offer the musical structure my children need, but the time flexibility that we needed for our busy schedules. Their teacher, Mrs. Sarah Van Kleeck is wonderful!

We had been taking the children to local symphonies for years to give them exposure to a variety of music. However, once the children started playing, they really developed a deeper interest in music. Since they had such an interest and passion, I have been working to include music into our home and school in a variety of ways.

For my two younger children, I wanted some additional music instruction. We found another online program, Musik at Home. These are membership based on line kindermusic videos. There are a variety of courses geared towards babies up to about age seven. These lessons help teach rhythm, tone, repetition and more all through fun songs and movements. Some days, I just let them watch and participate as they desire and other days, I work through the videos with them, waving our scarves and tapping our rhythm sticks.

Next, I wanted to focus on exposure to good music and music appreciation to support what the children were learning in their Practice Monkeys lessons. One program that I have loved for music appreciation is SQUILT music. We have used two different programs from them depending on what else we have going on in our school at the time. The first thing that we used was their monthly music calendar. This super simple and inexpensive resource is a calendar with a link to a different piece of thematic music each day of the month. We loved using it at Christmas to hear a variety of pieces from Handel’s Messiah as well as other Christmas music. It only takes about five minutes a day but it exposes them to so much good music. During months when we have had a little more time, we enjoy the SQUILT membership. This gives us access to several live classes that focus on different music each month, as well as recordings, worksheets, and other resources. In January, they did musicals and my children LOVED the lesson on Mary Poppins. If you want easy ways to incorporate more music appreciation into your school, I highly encourage you to check out SQUILT!

Last year, we had an opportunity to review the Zeezok Music Appreciation course for middle schoolers. We enjoyed it while we were working through it but found we were having a hard time making time for the whole course in our busy schedules. However, since it is very literature heavy with biographies on the composers, I am going to use it as the base for my daughters seventh grade literature course. This will combine her love of reading and her love of music for an interesting and personalized course.

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My son is going to be a 9th grader next year. This is an exciting (if a little scary) time for us. Since he is enjoying his violin lessons, we are going to turn that into a high school elective for him. He was very excited to know he could get credit for work he was already doing for fun. In addition to the lessons and practice, he and my other children are playing for residents at a local nursing home each month. This blesses the residents with music and gives me children a chance to practice playing for an audience. I will also be including some music appreciation into his high school course to round it all out.

No matter whether you are a talented musician or, like me, can only play the radio, there are many wonderful resources to encourage your children’s passion for music. I hope you find these resources beneficial and I would to hear about your favorite resources.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

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Deals and Freebies

Fit2B Sale If your gym is closed or you can’t get out to do your favorite workouts, you can try my favorite online program. They are having a great 41% off sale on March 26th and 27th!

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Make-A-State Activity-Pak Home School in the Woods(Review)

For history this year, out family decided to focus on state history. We had covered world history in a four-year cycle and completed a year of American history and we wanted to go more into detail about North Carolina. When I had the opportunity to review the Make-A-State Activity-Pak from Home School in the Woods, I knew it would be the perfect way to round out all we had been learning and give them a fun way to present what they knew.

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The Make-A-State Activity-Pak is a large lapbooking set that includes geography, history, timelines, and landmark components for each state. We chose to just focus on North Carolina because that tied in best with our studies but you could even use it to work through each state if you were covering the entire United States. The project is recommended for grades 3-8 but I think you could use it with younger children if you were giving them more assistance or working on it as a family project.

I printed out all of the different components for each of my two older children (12 and 13) and gave them the instructions. The components are each included as an individual PDF so you are able to chose to print as many of them as you wish to use and leave out any that do not apply to your study. They then had the task of doing the research, filling out the lapbook components, and putting them together in a cohesive way. The instructions included details about how to put them together but I allowed mine to follow the instructions or chose another format that worked for them. My son slightly modified the lapbook layout but stayed fairly close to the original design, but my daughter put most of her components on a poster.

When they finished, they each presented their work to the rest of the family and explained what they had learned. Some of the material was review, but my son said he learned a lot about the way the state government is structured and how many electoral votes North Carolina is allotted. He was also excited about drawing the state seal. My daughter said she really enjoyed the part of learning about the state symbols and finding out that milk is our state drink. She also said that she enjoyed coloring the pieces and making everything look pretty.

There is also a bonus game included in this set to help students learn to recognize and name the shapes, as well as learn other important information like the date the state was admitted to the union.

In addition to the Make-A-State Activity-Pak, Home School in the Woods has a wide variety of products covering both world and US History. She even has a lapbook to cover the US Elections which is very timely this year. I am considering using that in the fall as we gear up for the Presidential election. You can also check out my reviews of Get Your Kicks on Route 66, Time Travelers , and Project Passport: Ancient Egypt (Review). Her blog also has some wonderful articles to help you as you teach and learn history, like this one on Charlotte Mason and Hands-On History.

Be sure to check out the Home School in the Woods website for more information about all of the wonderful products and don’t forget to click on the graphic below to check out the reviews from other Review Crew members which cover a variety of different products from Home School in the Woods.

Help for the Mom at Home Through the Chaos

Through all of the current chaos there have been hundreds and maybe thousands of wonderful resources shared to help with educating children at home but I have seen less for helping out mothers who suddenly find themselves navigating a challenging time at home. Whether you have been home for years and just lost all of your ‘extras’ or you suddenly find yourself going from working and school to be home together all day, I hope these resources provide you with encouragement and support in this challenging time.

*Some of the links in my posts are affiliate links see below for more information. *

at home amidst the chaos

First, I want to assure you that you can do this. God has placed you here in this time with these children and He will provide you with all that you need to support them through it. Before you worry about academics, focus on the heart of your home. Take care of the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of those you are responsible for and then the academics can fall into place. For some children, the need for routine, structure, and the continuity of academics is really important. Others may need a little time to adapt to this new reality. There is no one size fits all answer.

Right now, you may feel overwhelmed, last week may well have seemed chaotic and challenging. This is not because you were doing something wrong, it is the result of lots of changes and everyone having to learn to adapt. However, you can find a new peace and routine in the midst of this chaos. Your home can become an oasis and safe space for you family.

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I would encourage you to take some time to pray, read God’s word, and sing praises both alone and with your children. This can keep you grounded and strong because it will help you remember that God is still in control and he will provide.

Then as you have time in your day, take some time to utilize some podcasts, books, or other resources that can give you helpful tips and encouragement for navigating these times as well as just for creating a home that is a safe haven for your children. One of my favorite podcasts related to the current chaos is this one Podcast by Sally Clarkson. She has many other wonderful podcasts that you can download, but that particular one is directed at the current situation. I also highly recommend Read Aloud Revival for encouragement on the academic side of things. She is great for helping you encourage reading in your home in a fun and natural way.

There are a couple of great summits/Expos going on right now that have wonderful speakers that can encourage you and help you find solutions to the challenges you are currently facing. The Purpose Driven Mom Summit is going on this week with lots of sessions from setting goals, connecting with your children, meal planning and so much more. You can get a free pass this week or if you want to have access for long you can grab the VIP Pass. The Homegrown Generation Online Family Expo 2020 is a great collection of speakers that will encourage you as you teach your children at home. It does cost $20 but you get lifetime access to some wonderful speakers and encouragement from folks like Kirk Cameron, Heidi St. John, Connie Albers, Todd Wilson, and more. You can also check out a few of the sessions for free to get an idea of the content and style.

Finally, take some time to really enjoy this time at home with your family. It may feel overwhelming trying to work out all of the logistics and I am not minimizing those challenges. However, the silver lining in all of this is that we get precious time to spend with our families. Time to make memories by reading books, playing games, baking together and just catching up with each other while the busyness of our lives slows down for a few weeks. I pray that you can make your home a haven for your family and that at the end of all of this, they view this time in a positive light. If I can help you in anyway, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. If you have resources you found helpful, please share them in the comments.

A Few Other Resources that Might Help:

Play Beside Me Challenge — Hands on As We Grow is offering this FREE 5 day challenge to help out with activities that can keep younger kids engaged in play for 15 to 20 minutes while you get something else done. Great for those with toddlers and preschoolers.
Fit2B Sale If your gym is closed or you can’t get out to do your favorite workouts, you can try my favorite online program. They are having a great 41% off sale on March 26th and 27th!
Misfits Market Box, finally if you are having a hard time getting fresh produce in your area or you would just like the convenience of food being delivered to your door you can use code: COOKWME-IW0OPU to get 25% off your first Misfits Market produce delivery.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

Little Women is only .99 on kindle right now! (Amazon prices subject to change always check before purchasing.)

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

All About Learning has released the best deal of the day: A FREE Snowman Pack with reading and spelling activities for a variety of ages.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)