Fall 2010 Circle Time, Part I

By Kendra | August 28, 2010

Leah recently sent me a link to her post about their family’s Circle Time. Great ideas there (thanks, Leah!) and it got me to wondering if more of you have posts about Circle Time up on your blogs. Would you consider sharing with us?

I have lots of fun Circle Time plans in the works, but boy howdy are things looking different for us this year. Our oldest son has a job detailing cars and taking care of the shop at a car dealership. He is gone three days a week, and on the other three days he studies (he takes a day off).  This means he’s only around for our morning Circle Time two days in the week.

Our next-in-line son is going to a friend’s house three days a week for Algebra tutoring (God bless willing friends!), and his at-home mornings are different days than his older brother’s. We have ONE day when we’re all home together. Makes for major schedule tweaking!

On our one day together, we’re reading Britt Merrick’s Big God. Oh, yes He is a big, big God!  Does it go over the littlest one’s heads?  Probably.  Is it simpler than my oldest guys or I can handle reading?  Yup.  But the simple truths of God’s love and grace and mercy and BIGness can never be outgrown or under-heard.

We have guests from San Antonio here this week, then we’re off to Washington D.C. with our oldest three. Yippee! When I return we’re starting school whole-hog then tearing our kitchen out. I want to post more about our fall Circle Time soon, but in the meantime if you’re looking for resources, check out the Circle Time page on our Amazon store.

I’ll also be giving away some Circle Time ebooks soon! If you like free stuff, be sure to become a fan of Preschoolers and Peace on Facebook. I like to sneak little giveaways in there :)

Topics: Circle Time, Resources | 17 Comments »

That’s a Bad Attitude

By Kendra | August 21, 2010

Recently found on a notebook

Awhile back I asked on the Facebook Preschoolers and Peace Fan Page if anyone had questions they’d been wrestling with.  The subject of bad attitudes came up: How to deal with bad attitudes at school time. You know, when they cry about having to sit down, be still and get to work?!

My children have never, ever had bad attitudes pertaining to schoolwork.  They just dig right in and smile the whole time.  HA!  We’ve had our share of bad attitudes over the years, and they tend to manifest themselves when a disliked subject is on the schedule.

I have had two approaches: 1. “Just do it/Get over it/This is life/You can’t always get what you want”, and 2. “Go ahead and go sit on your bed until you attitude changes because until it does, I really think you need to be on your bed”.

Interestingly, the second approach tends to work every time, and in a much shorter time frame than one might imagine.  You would think that given the opportunity to put off schoolwork, a child would choose to sit on their bed for the entire day, but that’s not what’s happened here.  Every time I’ve done this, the child has returned within a half hour.

That’s not to say you wouldn’t have a child who’d stay in their room for hours.  You might.  But in that case, my back-up plan was always to announce to Dad at dinner, “Well, so-and-so didn’t want to do her math today, so she chose to sit on her bed instead”, to which Dad would inevitably reply, “Bummer.  Guess you’ve got to do it now”.  No one wants to spend the evening hours doing schoolwork here; the clear benefit of not going to school is the complete lack of evening homework.

Hope that helps!

Topics: Educating at Home, Training Little Ones | 12 Comments »

Exercise and Preschoolers: An Interview with Christy Henry

By Kendra | August 10, 2010

Awhile back I wrote about losing 60 pounds and how I’m keeping it off.  I’ve actually lost 65 now, and would like to drop at least another 10.  We’ll see.  I feel great- strong and healthy and energetic, but I’ve put in a lot of hours and said no to a lot of junk food.  It takes work and time to really get into shape, and I know many of us struggle to add one more thing on top of preschoolers, older kids, homemaking, and homeschooling.

I’d still like to encourage you, though.  Taking the time to do this for myself has been one of the best decisions I’ve made as a homeschooling mom. I have had the help of two wonderful coaches from Beachbody (Beachbody coaching is a free service, by the way) who’ve helped me choose the right workouts for me and who’ve been excellent cheerleaders.  Today I’d like to introduce you to Christy Henry, Beachbody coach and homeschooling mom:

Hi, I’m Christy.  I’m a Christian, Navy wife, Beachbody Coach, and homeschooling mom to three kids under the age of eight (four kids in October!).  I’d add that I’m a blogging mom and scrapbooker, too, but the cycle of deployments and moving and then pregnancy started sucking up my time over a year ago, and I’m just starting to get my mojo back (just in time to lose it again when the baby comes!).  I still blog occasionally at After a cup of coffee…or two.

Have you always been fit or is this something you’ve eased into as a mom?

Growing up I was never very active, as I preferred to sit and read and be air conditioned instead of sweaty.  I wasn’t overweight, just soft.  But that caught up to me once I graduated from college and the natural activity of youth suddenly ended.  I slowly and steadily gained weight, but didn’t really realize it.  I’d think things like, “I should really stop drying my pants.  They keep shrinking.”  It wasn’t until after I had my first baby and three months later still weighed over 200 pounds that I faced the fact that I was plus-sized, and taking the baby out for a short walk in the stroller wasn’t getting me very far!

Are you working out now that you’re expecting?

Doctor’s orders are no working out for me right now.  But in the beginning I was doing Turbo Jam.  It’s one of my favorite home workouts.  The music always gets me into it, and I love that every move can be modified for people with injuries, newbies and even pregnancy.

What does a typical workout look like for you?

Being a busy mom means that I really like to keep my workouts less than hour, and I like to do them in the house where I don’t have to worry about childcare or naptimes.  I’ve wasted too much money on gym memberships that didn’t get used enough.  I usually do weight training three times a week and cardio two to three times a week.  Beachbody has all of my favorite workout videos, so you can usually find me doing one of their 90-day programs, or mixing and matching their programs to suit my goals and time limits.

What kind of motivation do you find works best for you?

The best kind of motivation is to find your soul mate workout!  If I don’t enjoy it, I’m just not going to stick with it.  I can make too many excuses.  Finding support, whether from a workout partner or online is also a huge motivator for me.  Once I became a Beachbody Coach, I found that helping others with their fitness journeys also helped me on mine!

How do you think homeschooling moms of preschoolers can practically make fitness a part of their lives?

I think we really have to schedule it in, because there’s always something that comes up to suck up your time!  I’ve always loved using naptime for a workout.  There are less interruptions and less chance of accidentally kicking a child in the head while kickboxing (oops!), and a baby will usually take at least one 45 minute nap each day.  If that’s just not possible, then finding a partner to work out with can help.  The ONLY way I get up at 5:30am to work out is when I know that my friend is going to be knocking on my door to work out with me!

What are the workouts you’d recommend to a mom who’s just starting to make fitness a priority?

Walking is always easy when you’re new and you can dig a little deeper by using wrist and ankle weights.  For workouts to do in your home, I LOVE Turbo Jam and Turbo Fire from Beachbody.  Both have great music that make the time go by faster and push you to work harder, which means more calories burned in less time.  Both include a 15 or 20 minute workout that helps you to burn max calories in almost no time, which is great for those days when you know you just can’t fit a full workout in.

What are your favorite grab-and-go snacks?

My go-to grab and go snack is the P90X Protein Bars from Beachbody.  It’s actually good for you and not just a glorified candy bar, although it hits the spot when I have a chocolate craving!  If I have a minute to make something, then I like to top a brown rice cake with natural almond butter, sliced banana and a few drops of honey.  It’s a balanced snack but still filling and just the few drops of honey are enough to satisfy my sweet tooth without adding too many calories.

My Beachbody page is at beachbodycoach.com/afteracup, and I love to support moms (and others) on their fitness journeys!  I have plenty of space to coach anyone and it’s absolutely free to get me as a coach.  You can sign up at my Beachbody page, or email me with questions at afteracup@beachbodycoach.com

♥

Thanks, Christy!  I appreciate you :)   By the way, everyone, if you watch the little promo video on the Turbo Fire page, note the very first brunette in the dark blue top.  She’s a mom of seven!

Topics: Nurturing Moms, Resources | 14 Comments »

Summer

By Kendra | August 1, 2010

Kick your feet up and swing!

Topics: Musings and Miscellany | 5 Comments »

What Are Your Most Helpful Posts?

By Kendra | July 23, 2010

Hi Kendra-

I recently discovered your website. I’m working on making a “battle plan” for our upcoming school year. I’m homeschooling a rising 3rd grader as well as raising and caring for my twin two-year-olds. What a blessing! I need all the help I can get to figure out how to attend to my preschoolers while homeschooling and maintaining for my home (among other things). Please point me to some of your favorite posts on the topic. I’ve listened to your MP3 downloads and they helped tremendously.

Thanks!

Wendy

♥

Hi Wendy-

Welcome to craziness!  I wouldn’t trade this life for anything, but it is crazy and exhausting and sometimes downright frustrating.  I don’t think it’s helpful to pretend every day is a walk in the park.  I do think it’s helpful to try and give you some tools to make the days more peaceful.  In that spirit, here are some you may find most helpful:

A homeschooling mom needs help with the housekeeping, because kids who are home all day long make messes at home all day long. They’ll also gain great skills if they’re taught to help out.  Start with a chore plan. 

Read the next chore post.

And then this one.

And then finally this one, which gives you free chore charts to download and use in your home.

♥

Circle Time is the biggest weapon in my arsenal. You can read all about Circle Time here, and link to copious posts on the subject.  You can learn some little tricks for keeping those busy two-year-olds occupied during Circle Time here.

♥

If you’re looking for school help, learn my BIG SECRET here.

♥

But most importantly, bring your children to the Gospel every day.

Hope that’s helpful-

Kendra

Topics: Chores, Circle Time, Educating at Home, Home Organization, Life with Preschoolers, Resources, School Organization, Training Little Ones | 10 Comments »

Summer Reading- the Best Kind!

By Kendra | July 18, 2010

Well, that’s because I am partial to summer and tend to think of anything we do in summer as the best kind. If you’re reading Preschoolers and Peace in a reader, please click through to see the titles and links.

I’m reading…

They’re reading…

We’re reading aloud…

Topics: Educating at Home, Resources | 14 Comments »

Pray for Daisy

By Kendra | July 14, 2010

My heart is heavy and I’ve been weepy since I heard the news yesterday that Daisy’s tumor is back.  It is the size of a grapefruit and inoperable, but she is in surgery right now for a biopsy.  Please pray for Daisy Love and the Merrick family.  You can read her blog at Pray for Daisy.

Hear her daddy’s sermon When My Heart is Overwhelmed by clicking through and watching it on the right sidebar.

Topics: Musings and Miscellany | 3 Comments »

What’s on Their iPods

By Kendra | July 9, 2010

So I said I was sticking with preschoolers, but I know some of you have teens on the other end of the spectrum so I will toss out some teen-related ideas as well. In the spirit of creating peace :)

I recently started adding sermons, broadcasts, and music into playlists for our oldest two sons. These guys like to listen and discuss, and I like that I can hear something and pass it along even if we can’t listen together. This has been a very good tool to open discussion on certain topics or to stretch them in their spiritual and academic lives. I’ve added songs I want them to be exposed to- strong male vocalists for my singing son and excellent guitar playing for my guitar player.

This is their current list (but my goodness, there is such a vast wealth of resources that you could add anything!)-

Topics: Resources | 14 Comments »

Will Having a Perfect Family Make You Happy?

By Kendra | July 5, 2010

I’ve been blessed to be part of a weekly book study this summer, reading James MacDonald’s Lord, Change My Attitude (Before It’s Too Late). Pastor MacDonald shows us how our attitudes can place us in the dry wilderness, and how we can replace them with Biblical truths.

I needed this. I’ve just plain had a stinky attitude about many things this past year, so when a friend of mine told me she’d be leading the study in her home, I begged to be a part of it. If she’d said no, I probably would have had a bad attitude :D

Sometimes, we homeschooling parents can be so devoted to the raising of our families that we replace our focus on Jesus with a focus on family. Like Pastor MacDonald, I too am grateful for ministries like Focus on the Family (my mom was listening in on FOTF broadcasts when I was a pre-teen) and Family Life Today (I ♥ Family Life Today. Have I ever told you that?). But, our happiness is never, never, never, never wrapped up in a Christian family.

Godliness + Contentment = Great Gain. (I Timothy 6:6)

Godliness + A Christian Family DOES NOT.

“…you will never have a perfect family. At least one of your kids will make sure of that, or you will mess it up in some way yourself. Please don’t put all your happiness eggs in the perfect family basket. Yes! Let’s obey God’s Word. Yes! Let’s do all we can to help our families mature in the things of God. But let’s not set ourselves up for a lot of hurt and heartache in the future by thinking, ‘If I could just have the perfect Christian home, then that would be all I would ever need.’

No. No. No. Godliness plus family harmony does not equal great gain.”

Topics: Nurturing Moms, Resources | 11 Comments »

June Break and Our Goals

By Kendra | July 1, 2010

Thank you for letting me take a much-needed break. I’ve been told by other parents of teens that life amps up exponentially during those years, but I have had to see it to really believe it. Two working sons with jobs in two separate towns, relationship management, school work to finish, band practice, Bible study, our home fellowship group, and yes- I still have six other children. Add golf lessons, VBS, and did I mention I have a two-year-old and a three-year-old?

What the month of June did was give me perspective. Out of that perspective came a lengthy late night conversation with my husband about the goals of Preschoolers and Peace. Zeroing in on what is really important (for the blog and in my home), we’ve decided to implement a few changes based on our goals:

1. I’m sticking to preschoolers.

Increasingly I am receiving questions about parenting philosophy, whether we allow our teens to date, and what my opinion is on someone else’s parenting philosophy and whether or not they allow their teens to date. While I realize it can be helpful to hear others’ perspectives on parenting issues, it becomes sticky when I don’t know you or your children personally. You don’t know mine personally either, and even if I paint a perfect picture with glossy photos, you might hate us if you met us ;)

So unless it’s a nitty gritty issue like potty training or a request for recipes that might help you have a more peaceful dinnertime, I’ll probably refrain from answering. The Holy Spirit is a far better teacher than I could ever hope to be.

2. I want to give you tools.

The original intent of Preschoolers and Peace was to help equip moms who are attempting to educate children at home while at the same time having to manage preschoolers, toddlers, and babies. In that spirit, over the years I have tried to throw a smorgasbord of ideas and options your way so that you might hit on one or two that solves a problem or brings an increased measure of peace to your home.

I’ll continue to do so, but I’ve got to be honest: for at least a year now I have said to my closest friends, “What more do I possibly have to say on the subject?” I feel like I’ve exhausted the best ideas, although I do still have preschoolers and I may have to reach into the very bottom of the barrel to pull out some new tools to use around here. We’ll slowly begin to categorize all the old posts so that you can simply click on a subject on the sidebar and pull up everything on, say, preschool curriculum or sleeping through the night.

3. Either there’s less time in the day, or I have more to do.

Because of this reality, I realize that I cannot keep up the pace of three posts per week. I’ll post regularly, but I’m not sure what that looks like yet. You are welcome to “friend” me on Facebook, and be sure to join the Preschoolers and Peace fan page, too. Lively discussions occur there on a regular basis.

♥

I love what God’s done with this little blog.  I love being available and I love writing.  Preschoolers and Peace has been a gift to my family.

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Topics: Musings and Miscellany, Nurturing Moms | 21 Comments »


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