We have to come clean...a recent study by Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute says that research participants scored an average of 94% on memory accuracy. This high level of accuracy was observed regardless of the participants or the time that had elapsed since the event occurred.

However, we have 6% to work with and add to memory-stacking!

Memory-stacking is all about filling our children's memories with good and beauty from their upbringing and their family, and not memories of "we-nevers or I-nevers" or fighting with siblings...or being forced to gasp do chores ALLLLL the time.

All jokes aside, the human brain has a major slant toward the negative. It's a protective mechanism, and it has an important job...but it shows up even it when it isn't needed.

It's easier than it should be to get to the end of the year and question whether or not you've even done anything this year. 

It's easy for kids to just complain about what they didn’t get to do, or what they don't have...and it to REALLY FEEL like that's true...even when we know it isn't.

So …. in comes memory-stacking...

Mostly, homeschoolers must do one of three things to close their year with the state...

A Portfolio

A Evals

Testing

Depending on where you live and what flavor of homeschool you follow the requirements will be different...check HSLDA to see what your state requires.

But let's look at some out-of-the-box ways to say goodbye to this year's homeschool adventures:

Be careful what you mention in front of your father-in-law…that's all I'm saying…that's how I ended up with a metric ton of mushroom compost in my driveway, and many wheel barrow trips back and forth later…a garden.

But gardening doesn't actually have to look like that. It can be manageable, it can be small, and it can still make a big difference for your family...

Nicky Schauder and her husband Dave are on a mission to help families grow their own food.

Their garden journey began when their kids were diagnosed with “failure to thrive” due to multiple food allergies. Because of these health issues, they felt called to grow organic at home... and since they have supplied 25% of their fruits and veggies from their tiny townhouse backyard. 

From their permaculture gardens, to speaking at Green Festivals, to their most recent project: A Permaculture Garden Designer App (which successfully launched on Kickstarter last year!), to growing their family of 8...they are doing some pretty amazing and beautiful work in the world.

So…

The thing about raising 'whole' children is it isn't actually about raising children at all…it's about raising adults!

Our job as parents is to teach our children how to hone life skills (from everyday living basics to critical thinking) AND to instill and grow holy characteristics in their little hearts.

 ...And Our guest today has taken the idea of teaching life skills to kids to a whole new level. 

For years now, she's been helping to change kids’ relationship to food, both through work in the kitchen and helping parents of picky eaters.

She’s a former teacher, two-time TEDx speaker, writer, and mom of 4.

She created the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, which was recommended by The Wall Street Journal as the best online cooking class for kids.

And, if that wasn't enough, her blog, Kitchen Stewardship, helps families stay healthy without going crazy.

She’s on a mission to connect families around healthy food, teach every child to cook, and instill those all-important life skills!

It's nearing the end of year for us homeschoolers...it's time to choose a DONE day.

Deadlines are essential because they provide structure, direction, and motivation to complete tasks efficiently.

They prevent procrastination, foster accountability, and create a sense of urgency.

Meeting deadlines boosts confidence, tracks progress, and improves time management skills 

HOW… grab your calendar, open it up to May or June…you choose.

Close your eyes…

 Kidding! Kidding…

How ideal does it sound to have a teen that meal plans for your family...all the way though from looking at sales....to choosing good meals...to then making said meals...and even cleaning up after them...

Here's the thing...Moms suck at delegating...our brains are hard wired to see all the things that need to be done, to do the things the way we want or need them done, and do it as quickly & efficiently as possible.

We're getting closer to the end and most of us are feeling pressure to double down on finishing curriculum...worksheets...checking all the boxes that tell the world (and sometimes our husbands or nosey do-gooders) that we're doing a good job teaching our kids.

But we're here to remind you that you already are doing enough.

That even if you've skipped days, or haven't finished that math book (who has?! No one in school does!), or you "FEEL" like your kid is behind...you're doing a good job.

Your child is right where they are meant to be.

Homeschooling is a long game and they HAVE learned a lot already.

So instead of filling your bucket stressing over the final things that need to be finished this year...we want to encourage you to let go and give one of these activities a try instead.

It's no secret we love the tickets...but as with everything...it can get out of hand...

Okay...even a LOT out of hand.

Here are the boundaries I've set to keep our ticket system working FOR us and not the other way around.

Caveat: Listen...if you're deep in a survival season...if you're putting your underwear on inside out because you're getting dressed in the dark and only half alive...if your idea of a well-rounded meal looks like a cup of coffee...that's been cold for hours...

This podcast is for future you...and we promise she's coming...

If you're coming out of the fog...

If you have a little more energy and capacity

If you feel like you're ready to lay some great foundations for your kids (and frankly...for you!)

So tickets...let's talk about using them with the clipboards...or even without

I don't think I've met anyone yet who doesn't like earning things and getting prizes.

This, in particular, is handy when spicing up your homeschool groove.

Let's discuss what has become one of my favorite mom decisions of 2024—and possibly the last five years.

There was a big movement after the Yes Day movie came out to incorporate being a YES mom into our lives. I don't know about you, but I'm already a yes mom. I say yes to 1,000 requests a day.

Neither my kids nor I needed me to find more ways to say yes each day or to create a day where I give in to every whim my kids have, but it did make an adorable, albeit impractical, movie.

What I really needed for my sanity—and I would say, for my family—was a day when I could say no, guilt-free, to the extras we're always squeezing in and instead say yes to the things on my to-do list that weren't red-tag items.

It might be a little brutal if you don't know the theory behind red-tag items, but you'll get the reference to motherhood after I explain it.

We bought the thing.

We probably even started…

But then we got stuck…

This podcast is your unstuck podcast.

Here are 3 things you need to get you started with your clipboards today.

We'd be lying if we didn't admit we've giggled over our guest’s business name.

It's actually downright brilliant. Equal parts funny and straight to the point.

Jenn Lormand is bringing some fire today mixed with humor, hope, and healing.

She's a published researcher, exercise physiologist, and author. AND she's been living and thriving with Stage 2 prolapse for the last ten years.

After being told an invasive surgery was her only hope following her third birth, Jenn was determined to create her own solution. Together with her Tighten Your Tinkler cofounder (PT + manual integrative therapist Christina Walsh), Jenn developed a new movement-based protocol that allowed her to reverse her pelvic floor symptoms.

Jenn and her business partner Christina helped hundreds of New Orleans women reduce and eliminate pelvic floor issues before going online in 2019.

The Journal of Women’s Health Physical Therapy featured their research, confirming the effectiveness of their protocol at ending pee leaks, back pain, and painful sex – WITHOUT kegels or trendy internal vaginal devices.

The Tinkler mission is to inspire hope and healing – helping women to heal holistically so they can show up fully present for their lives through at-home programs that are non-invasive and kegel-free.

Britt & I had a good, long conversation about this one…

Listen to learn how to get your laundry done without losing your ever-loving mind!

Everybody knows the excitement of a brand new curriculum...a brand new year...all that hope...

But in reality, the honeymoon phase ends for everything. Even the very best of relationships...because we grow, we learn, we mature...and so does our homeschool.

But growing pains are a real thing and so is homeschool fatigue.

So how do we combat that...come February when we've picked ourselves up after the holidays and we've gotten into a groove finally, but we're all still dragging.

We all want life-changing habits...don't we?

I KNOW you got excited when you saw that title, and don't worry—we're going to deliver on this one.

We'll tell you what they are, how to start them, and how they will change your life and your family.

One of the biggest issues we've not only faced in our own homeschools but also hear about all the time from other moms is the overwhelm of getting to all the things each day and fighting kids to do them.

Now, we're not just referring to arguing and outright fighting, but the silent fight of mentally competing with all the to-dos in our heads and kids who have gone to the bathroom 10 times already or sat for 37 minutes just making doodles on their page, or left to "get something" only for you to realize they've been missing for 2 years.

It's all these silent little fights that will wear down a homeschool mom to her very core.

We know. Believe me.

The best way to combat this is to simplify.

Simplify not only what's on your plate but also what's on your children's plate so they can work without you being the belly button.

Here is the BEST way we've found to do just that...

It's January, give yourself a high five...we've made it this far mommas!

It's funny when you become an entrepreneur as a mom because it's amazing how much overlap there is between being the CEO of a business AND being the CEO of your home, family, and in our case our homeschools as well.

We are always looking at how we can learn from these overlaps and how good practices in one can serve in the others.

In this case, we were looking at how annual reports and statements could actually be really powerful in our homeschools as well.

It's the halfway mark...and there are probably a few of us (or maybe all of us) are wondering, "What on earth have we accomplished in our homeschools this year?" Or worse...feeling guilt over everything we HAVEN'T accomplished. 

We know we've spent HOURS on math, language arts, and allllll the activities, field trips, and projects, but it's still completely normal to feel like we haven't done enough... 

Enter the profit and loss statement...

Traditionally, a profit and loss statement includes a business's total revenue, expenses, gains, and losses, arriving at net income for a specific accounting period.

But put your teacher glasses on and it really makes sense to do the same for our homeschools.

Raise your hand if you've ever yelled at your kids...

So... that's all of us...

And if it's not you...you might be on the wrong podcast.

We're talking to the momma hearts who want so desperately to be calm, and who have tried again and again, only to "fail" and end up exploding on your kids yet AGAIN...