Effective Way To Handle Anxiety in Homeschool

The previous post shared about how anxiety has been a problem for us during homeschool:

To read previous article, click here.

HANDLE ANXIETY BETTER

One of the main things we started doing to handle anxiety better on purpose at the start of our homeschooling days is by opening up with praise and worship. This one thing helps us in so many ways. The main thing praise does is to prevent anxiety before it can even get us going each day, but it can also help sweep it away after it has started.

3 Truths Praise Helps You Remember

Praise and worship helps you remember who and whose you are.

1. Stay Grateful

Praise reminds you to keep an attitude of gratitude, instead of complaining when things don’t go as expected. And with all the unexpected that happens daily in homeschool, praise has become a NEED for us. It is not just a good idea, but an actual craving and need. Ever heard of the hymn that says…

“As the dear panteth for the water, so my soul longs after you…”?

2. Father God Loves and Never Forgets You

Praise reminds you that you belong to the Great and Only Wise and Loving Father God who never leaves you and never forgets the details about your homeschool or life needs.

3. God’s Love Flows Through You For Others

Praise as a group reminds you that you are not just connected by blood, but also by the blood of Jesus. This helps us live out the True Love Walk. Being reminded of our divine connection with Him and each other helps us walk in grace and love with each other. This shapes how I parent, how I teach and how I partner with my husband. It sets the atmosphere of our home and homeschool and reduces anxiety not just for me, but for the children, too.

Resources For Praise And Worship

Vevo.com

We are creating our own video playlist of songs that include the lyrics to help us sing along. I have to set this up for them because this site has other music that is not parent approved, too. If you use Apple TV, you can show your video playlists on your tv and enhance the worship experience for yourself and your children.

WeAreWorship.com

The children have found some songs that they love on this site which is totally focused only on providing worship music. They have been able to find some great videos as a result of using this site. We prefer not to use YouTube directly, but using the weareworship site helps us find great YouTube videos that don’t have the ads and other video previews and thumbnails that we don’t want the children to see.

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Music Education

The children enjoy making their own instruments (usually they’ll use closed containers of grains or salt as shaker noise makers). They also love using instruments that they have received as gifts to play along during some songs. They also sing along, sometimes by using videos that include the lyrics on-screen. And, of course, they love to dance, too. For the most part, I step aside and let them enjoy this experience together, but sometimes I join in with them. However, if I take part, I try to stay in the background as a participant and allow them to lead it out. Each child is required to choose and lead one song.

How Do You Celebrate God’s Love In Your Homeschool?

Please use the comments area to share how your family stays reminded of God’s love and grace and mercy over your lives. What works well for you and your children to stay focused and avoid anxiety … or to deal with anxiety after it has started rearing its ugly head?

THANKS. PLEASE. SHARE.

Thanks for stopping by. Please use the sharing buttons to let your friends know about this discussion, too.

~ Donna Marie, The Mommy of Butterfly Homeschool

Please follow our blog at ButterflyHomeschool.com for inspiration and information that can help you in your homeschooling journey.

Summer Learning – Swimming and CPR and More

 

PHYSICAL EDUCATION SEASON BY SEASON

SPRING

Our spring activity for #ButterflyHomeschool was tennis (click here to read about it).

SAMUEL SAYS (middle 11 years old – 7th grade):

I like playing tennis. I liked hitting the ball. I liked learning how to serve the tennis ball.

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SUMMER

And now our summer activity has been swimming. We have been learning during June. This was just so right in time for our vacation. We were able to use our new skills during our Father’s Day Family vacation. The oldest girl has taken to the water like a fish (she’s the one with her head under water in the picture).

JUSTINE SAYS (oldest – 12 year old 7th grade):

Swimming was the number one thing I wanted to do for the summer. I feel that everyone should learn how to swim because it is so much fun. I was not scared to swim, but floating didn’t work for me because I could only float on my face, instead of on my back. I also like helping my brother and sister learn how to float when I hold them on their backs.

LEARNING SAFETY FOR THE SUMMER

Just right in alignment with our summer activities is learning how to help ourselves and others be safer if there is an emergency. Read on to learn more about the training that we received from the local firefighters.

Click Image To Download CPR AED Class Registration Flier

CPR AED TRAINING SPONSORED BY THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

In addition to learning how to swim, we were able to get CPR training at our local firehouse.

If you’d like to register for a class, click here to download the CPR AED Class registration information.

At Firehouse No. 1 in College Park, Georgia, Officer Taylor taught us CPR AED and helped us become comfortable with driving more than half of the chain of survival. I had no idea that an informed citizen could make such a huge impact on someone else’s survival rate. 

CHARITY SAYS (youngest – 8 year old 2nd grade):

I liked the CPR class. I liked pushing the hearts of the mannequins. And the baby mannequins looked so cute! I liked talking with the firefighter officers. 

Become Part of the Chain of Survival with AHA CPR AED Training

I highly recommend that you get yourself and your kids certified, too. If you’re in Atlanta this summer, you can get training for free because it is sponsored by the American Heart Association. If you want the certification option, you pay only $20 at the firehouse after you have passed the test.

To register, call 404-766-8248

Their goal is to get people comfortable with the process of helping the EMT’s out before they arrive on the scene. Training took the fear out of it all for my kids, and I know it will for you, too.

One great perk of our training was the tour of the firehouse. Officer Taylor was wise to tell the kids about that before class started, it gave them something to look forward to. And, of course, the firehouse tour didn’t disappoint. Check out our tour pics below.

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Sincerely,

Donna, The Mommy Butterfly

http://ButterflyHomeschool.com

Exciting Spring 2014

Over the past month, our family has had some interesting adventures. We will summarize them here and share a bit.

Before we do, can we ask you for a favor? Will you leave a comment and let us know about your family’s adventures, too? We know we are not the only folks who have fun hanging out together and want to hear about your stories, too.

Okay, so, here is what we’ve been up to:

In April, our very generous friend, Kamilah, founder of the One Talent org for girls, invited us to her very generous employer’s headquarters offices in Atlanta. We had a blast, and the food was way beyond our expectations. Thanks, Kamilah and Chick-Fil-A!

#FieldTrip #ChickFilA #ButterflyHomeschool

We also started our Tennis Co-Op / Physical Education Co-Op so that we can have fun while learning with other families. One of the awesome things we learned helped us to get started now, instead of waiting until we have all of our gear in place: when tennis was first invented, it was played by hand. So, no tennis racquets were needed on our first day. However, we are planning to buy them as a group with the other families so that we can save on the price a bit.

#WeLoveTennis #ButterflyHomeschool

We were so happy that our local Atlanta-Fulton Public Library system had so many books about tennis on their shelves. We recommended a couple on the PE Co-Op page (click to go see what we are doing in the co-op and the books, too).

Speaking of the library, one of the main things that we do every season of the year is to read, read and read some more. Here is a snapshot of less than half of the books we checked out last month.

Book reports have already been written, and the kids are now learning the basics of blogging so that they can start sharing them with you, our readers.

What about you: what are you reading right now?

I hope you like our brief update. Leave a comment and let us know what you and your family has been doing and reading this Spring.

Sincerely,

Donna Marie, Mommy at the ButterflyHomeschool.com