[REBOOTED] Breathing New Life into Butterfly Homeschool Blog

Dear Parents / GrandParents / Guardians …

be encouraged during this very unique season in world history due to COVID19 (aka the much hated coronavirus), because…

you are not alone

…as you seek to create a healthy atmosphere for continued digital learning at home for the next month or two. I and many other homeschool veterans in communities worldwide are present online to keep you encouraged and provide helpful tips to help you get through this season day by day by day.

REASON FOR THIS “REBOOTED” HOMESCHOOL BLOG

I call this homeschool blog “rebooted” because I archived it due to all of my children being in rolled in public schools. I “thought” that I was done with homeschooling, but the coronavirus changed all of that very rapidly. I actually had a full 6 months of all of our children being out of the house at school. It was lovely, but that’s over now.

The great thing is that all of us are adjusting very quickly because we are veterans at this. AND, we are available to be a resource for other families as they make adjustments, too.

If you have specific questions, call or text me at __+1(678)861-8121__ … I will use this blog to reply with answers. Sometimes, I may even post videos via Instagram (@donnamarie234grad).

I know their GrandDaddy would be so proud of them now. (Sam Smith on left, Donna on right)

I wanted to start this reboot of our homeschool blog by sharing some vital tips that will help you gain/keep a healthy perspective. This is the first step in having successful schooling at home because YOU are the key to making that happen, or not, even if “success” for your family doesn’t look the same as it looks for us or for others.

So, my most important recommendation is that you 1st gain a healthy perspective about…

ANXIETY…

…it can easily become a silent killer of people’s health and of relationships.

Past articles I shared on how anxiety impacted us in the past  and on tips for how we overcame anxiety can be found below:

• #1 Recognize and overcome anxiety … click here
• #2 What anxiety looks like (hidden danger) … click here
• #3 How to handle anxiety effectively … click here

I am planning to also create videos, based on your questions and feedback… so please send me a connection request via Instagram (currently set to private because I share about family and friends and need to protect the young ones).

Oh, and also, for those of you with older children / youth, connect with me on IG to exchange info and encourage each other about transitioning to that stage of life. On my IG, you’ll also see my other homeschooler veteran friends and their tips/advice for parents “stuck” at home with kids due to quarantine and/or “shelter in place” orders given by state/local governments.

Until we connect, may you enjoy a peaceful weekend/spring break.

God bless you all.

Sincerely,

Donna Marie Johnson, aka @donnamarie234grad

P.S.

Our oldest two scholars are graduating with honors from public high school… and, despite all of my hopes and dreams for them, just like other families, they don’t get the chance to experience the normal senior activities of prom and walking across a commencement ceremony stage. So, we understand just how messed up things are right now. We are praying that all of the high schools and colleges worldwide figure out a way to at least celebrate graduation in person, maybe during the following end of year holidays. Again, God bless you, despite the many disappointments and inconveniences of this season.

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.

[FAITH FRIDAY] Our Story of How We Know Everything Is Awesome

The #ButterflyHomeschool Family Shares Their Story About Learning and Life Challenges And What It Takes To To Succeed. We really believe that #EverythingISAwesome – read on to learn why we say that.

Charity and I, Mom Donna, had an interesting conversation this week. It went something like this (see image below):

If we are not yet connected on Facebook, click here or go to: Facebook.com/AuthorDonnaMJ

Now, honestly, that morning I was a little disappointed that she wasn’t as optimistic as I was. At that moment in time, I was super excited for the older kids, who had the blessed opportunity to go off on a new adventure to a business-work immersion event at the World Congress Center in Atlanta because of their membership in One Talent. (We shared about OT in a previous post. Click here to learn more about it.)

So, after reflecting on what she said to me that morning, I decided to ask her again later in the day after the big kids had returned. At first she said, no, but then I framed it in a different way and asked:

“Right now in this moment is everything awesome?”.

Then she said:

“Yes.”

And this mom was so happy that the Holy Spirit turned around the heart of my little optimist-in-training. Praise God!

In #ButterflyHomeschool, one of the main things we learn every day is that attitude impacts every part of our lives, even though it is intangible… and because it is intangible. Attitude is a spiritual force that is ‘tangible’ as long as you are breathing and have a soul. Attitude is most easily seen physically manifested in a person’s face and body posture, heard in their voice and manifested in their choices. We set the atmosphere of our day and of our entire life by how we choose to carry our attitudes.

USE YOUR WORDS TO CHANGE YOUR WORLD

So, will you say our confession with us, no matter how you are feeling right now, and see your life and world change?

FATHER GOD

IS OUR EVERYTHING:

WHENEVER & WHATEVER

WE NEED HIM TO BE

THEN HE IS THAT

SO WE DECLARE OUT LOUD THAT

RIGHT NOW IN THIS MOMENT:

EVERYTHING

IS #AWESOME

NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON

IN FRONT OF OUR EYES OR EARS.

More of Charity’s Story

If you know us or have been following our blog for any time, you may know Charity’s story, however, for those of you who don’t, we’ll share more below so that you can see why this story about attitude is so very important for her.

Charity began life as a 35.5 week preemie. Evenso, she has always been very healthy with few residual issues after she came home from the NICU. Currently, she is 8 and in 2nd grade, but she looks 10 or 11, and most people are shocked when they realize that she’s tall for her age.

Charity’s Challenging Learning Journey

Charity began kindergarten with a reading challenge that had us both in tears and very discouraged. To make it worse, the public charter virtual school teacher (who was a great teacher and as helpful as she could be) informed us that our state doesn’t test for reading challenges. So, because there is no testing, there is no support. The teacher helped me understand what was going on by providing me with resources and encouraging us. However, there wasn’t anything else she could do or that the system would do. So, we returned to traditional homeschooling, and by first grade, she was a fluent reader.

We shared about Charity’s reading journey in a previous article, too. When we shared, we talked about how her attitude was critical in her learning process (and so was mine). Well, as you can see from what I shared above, this is super duper duper important!

For a child that learns differently,

parents need to be even that more diligent about

managing attitudes and atmosphere surrounding learning,

at home or at school or wherever you choose to learn.

Now, Charity still has more work to do, and so do I, to ensure that she’s able to learn in ways that fit her learning style. Now our focus has shifted to writing. And I expect that, as we enter a new school season, setting our atmosphere now during this summer will be critical as we transition into the Fall learning season. And, everything is going to be #Awesome because Father God is Awesome, and He’s got this. He’s handling all of the details and helping us in our successful learning journey.

~Donna Marie 🙂

 P.S. PLEASE SUPPORT CHARITY’S FIRST TIME PERFORMING ON STAGE

This little cutie will be singing and dancing with all the kids of One Talent on July 26th. Please buy a ticket. And even if you are not in Atlanta, please buy #TheBelieveMovement t-shirts for your whole family.

Preview of #BelieveInYourself Step Dance practice