Motivation Monday: Starting the School Year with a New Baby

It's a brand-new school year.  You want everything to go perfectly. 

Oh, and did I mention you have a brand-new baby. A precious bundle of joy that lights up your life. And keeps you awake all night. You are sore and your body is still recovering. 

Is that you?

This school year can still be the best ever! 

For the beginning of the school year, I recommend delaying the start or modifying it. 

School can start a month late and go a month longer, or you can skip most breaks and still have it end on time.

If you have high school and middle school children, have them do the work they can do independently. Have them check in with you two or three times a day and just give you a quick summary of what they've completed. 

For younger children, if you must school, focus only on reading and math. Have them read aloud to you and read on their own. If they can do math independently, let them do math and have an older sibling check it. Or dad can check it each night when he gets home. 

Then, it's time for movies. So many educational movies and documentaries out there that would be fun to cuddle up and watch. We love the Drive Thru History videos, as well as Dave Barton's government sets. There are so many educational cartoons like Liberty Kids or Peanuts This is America. You can watch a few sessions each day for the first month.

My memories of teaching children to read always include me nursing a baby as I went over letter sounds or blending with them. I worried that I was somehow robbing my children. 

​Here's what the Lord showed me. 

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The most important thing in life is relationships. Our relationship to God and to people, especially our ever-expanding family circle is what shapes us into who God called us to me. 

I don't have to be Wonder Woman. I can be weak and let Jesus and my other children help me when I have a new baby. My other children will learn compassion and develop a heart to serve. 

And that has been true in our home. My children love to serve others, especially Moms with new babies. They have such tender hearts for them. So baby wasn't an interruption in our school year, but a blessing to teach them godly character. 

I remember reading to my children while I was nursing and the lull of my voice...put ME to sleep. My oldest daughter would often say, "Maybe I should read, Mom." Though it made me feel dumb at first, I learned to laugh at it and today those are funny memories we joke around about. 

Life is full of curve balls. Homeschooling with a new baby teaches our children to be flexible when the unexpected happens to them later in life. 

Relax and enjoy your baby and your children. The years go quickly. How grateful I am for a month or so of lazy days as we welcomed a new little one into our precious family. 

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God called me to homeschool and it's been a blessing to me and my children. Not only that, buy my children have been a blessing to others as they let their lights shine. 

If you would like motivation and practical help in your homeschooling journey, I have several books just for  you! Written from one homeschool mom to another, these books are filled with practical wisdom and tips from almost 30 years of homeschooling. 

For the basics of what is most important in homeschooling, The Seven R's of Homeschooling shows you how to "Major on the Majors" and what those majors, or 7 R's are: Relationships, Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic, Rhetoric, Research, and Right living. Read more about Seven R's of Homeschooling here. You can purchase Seven R's of Homeschooling at Amazon in print. The E-books are available at PayHip and Currclick. There is also a Kindle version here. 

Joyful and Successful Homeschooling is the big "how-to" book jam-packed with everything you could possibly need to homeschool. Written to help beginners and encouragement veterans on their journey, Joyful and Successful Homeschooling covers how to teach, how kids learn, philosophies of education, setting up your homeschool, choosing curriculum, managing  your home, family ministry, easy recipes for busy days, and how to teach every single subject. WOW! That's a lot stuffed into one book. You can purchase Joyful and Successful Homeschooling at Amazon in print or purchase the E-book at PayHip or Currclick. You can learn more about Joyful and Succesful Homeschooling here. There is also a Bible study workbook for parents to go through together to process and apply all the info in Joyful and Successful Homeschooling. This Bible study, Joyful and Successful Homeschooling: Your Journey Workbook is available at Currclick. 

Are you preparing for the high school years ahead or already in the thick of the homeschooling high school adventure? Laura Nolette and I have logged many hours helping parents get started homeschooling high school. This book is a compilation of all those talks and more with all kinds of samples, book lists, and directions to make your own transcripts. Unlocking the Mystery of Homeschooling High School is available at Amazon in print. You can purchase the E-book from PayHip or Currclick. Learn more about Unlocking the Mystery of Homeschooling High School here. 

Homeschooling is a blast! I love teaching and learning right along with my children and teens. One thing we love in our house is unit studies. We create unit studies centered around living books. If you want to take the unit study plunge or just add a little hands-on fun to history, science, Bible, or English courses, this book is for you! Quick & EZ Unit Study Fun is available from Amazon in print. The E-book is available from PayHip or Currclick. You can also purchase Quick & EZ Unit Study Fun for you Kindle. Learn more about Quick & EZ Unit Study Fun here. 

Also, check out our website Joyful and Successful Homeschooling packed with freebies, classic books you can download, Free Lesson Plans, high school help, pages loaded with homeschool and family helps, and our ever-popular FREE Reading Lists. 

Because my homeschooling journey has been such a blessing to and my entire family, I want to pay it forward and bless  you with resources and tools to make your journey joyful and successful. 

Be blessed in every way! 
​Meredith Curtis

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