How to Embrace a Slower Life-3 Tips!

At the beginning of my homeschooling journey, my main goal was to have school at home. My vision and my viewpoint were very limited. I had attended public school my entire life. For me, school was “school time” and home was separate from my school life.

Thirteen years ago when I took my first child out of first grade and started homeschooling, I strived to replicate that divided lifestyle.

It wasn’t until later down the road (when I met Charlotte Mason) I realized the beauty of living a slow, educational life.

We are Used to Charts, Tests, and Fast-Paced, Grades…

We are all conditioned to use charts, tests, and quick “fix it” methods in our lives to show value, worth, and how good we ( or our children) are… I am speaking in a broad sense. Not just in regard to education. This is just the way we are conditioned. In my first three years of home education, I looked more to test scores and grades than I did true education. It was when my view of what true education really was, that I began to slow down… began to have new values.

I need to say this before I begin…

I am not promoting a lifestyle void of hard work. In fact, I believe ( AND promote) hard work within your home and community.

My high school children have been through rigorous testing, studied hard for thesis papers, and have pushed themselves to work hard because of the passion within their hearts to do well.

Our educational lifestyle here at home has been a place where they were able to prepare thoroughly for future tasking academics… and they have done well.

How to Embrace a Slower Way of Life

Small steps towards a slower lifestyle is so freeing!

Instead of rushing through a cold breakfast, spending time with your children making a new breakfast menu that you can work on together ( or any meal) is a lovely way to start slowing down.

True story: I used set breakfast “things” out the night before so we could get through breakfast and on to teaching as fast as possible. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Talk about a stressful home life. Now, I DO promote rhythms in your life and home. And I do talk about teaching children the habit of attention…however, we can’t be mothers that are so frantic that we lose ourselves and stop enjoying the moments. Because at the end of the day… that’s what life really is about…moments.

How can you make meal times more meaningful? Meal times offer a beautiful time of connection and learning. Children learn so much in the kitchen with you. ( including memories that last a lifetime)

Look back over the last few years of your life…what would you like to really savor and enjoy in your home?

My personal story includes years of a constant ache to cultivate a home that feeds ( physically, and spiritually) the people that live here within these walls and our community. We bought a small slice of land and are continuing to work hard to make this a place of education, health, beauty, conversations, lots of reading, and hosting guests regularly … all possible because we chose to embrace our life and slow down.

I like our world to revolve around our home because out of your home flows life… life to those around you.

Charlotte Mason Mama exists to encourage homemakers and home teachers to cultivate a life that not only serves others but YOU as well.

I believe in this slowing down, you, yourself will also finally catch your breath. I believe the fast-paced lifestyle we are fed in culture is literally fogging our minds and souls.

It’s time to sit back… and start a brand-new lifestyle.

Prioritize Your Home

Establish a new rhythm for your home. Work on your priorities first ( things that must happen every single day) … (I talk more about this in Rhythms of Home) Use coupon 10OFF to get $10 off the course until January 31st!

Prioritize your peace. Establish true boundaries in your life.

Right now we are in the middle of our summer season. We do not homeschool year-round anymore. It is too hard for me. Instead, we live by the seasons and school by the seasons. ( MORE on that in a future post)

During our formal homeschool time ( fall, winter, spring ) I am very careful where we need to go. My rule of thumb is one day per week that we can be out and on errands. Otherwise, we are home.

I strive to have lessons completed by lunch. Of course, we have the freedom to decide our own routines. For us, this has worked well. During our lessons, I put my phone away. I don’t take phone calls. I prioritize what is happening in my home. Your home is a special place. If you honor your time, and honor the time your children are learning-that spirit flows through the home.

Plan for Rest

Everyday plan for a period of rest. For us, that is “quiet time”. Time to hush the house down. I lay down with my baby and rest. My little ones all have a designated spot to rest. Our quiet time is after we clean up lunch.

Before I started having quiet time, I remember feeling like all I did was respond to problems all day and never get a break 🙁 Quiet time became ( and still is ) something we all crave in our house.

Plan for rest. ( I talk about quiet time in rhythms of home)

Time for Books

Allow your lifestyle to revolve around books 🙂 Reading is such an important tool for education. I encourage families to have home libraries. I converted our living room to our home library.

Creating a lifestyle that revolves around books is giving yourself and your children a constant opportunity for self-education. Yes, there are times I do encourage reading. Sometimes I start the beginning of a book for my children and get them excited about the topic, then I will see them finish it.

Encourage reading by having a booklist for yourself.

A Personal Note from Me, Jenny

I haven’t always lived this way. As I’ve said many times, it’s been a journey but a very freeing journey. I sometimes say it feels like a thousand pounds is off my shoulders.

A slow, educational life has given me:

• My own opportunity for education ( I have personally learned so much at home!)
• The chance to be with my children all the time. I see everything and have the opportunity to be there for all of it.
• Study new things along with my children…we all are amazed at life.
• Started a business with my children because we embrace free afternoons of productivity. ( More here on that)
• Serve my community and form true friendships.
• All my new babies that have been born, just kind of fit right into our lifestyle. Everyone loves and helps new babies learn.
• The unrushed life. Period. ahhh.

There is much more… and as I think of them, I will likely add to this list.

I want you to feel encouraged. You don’t have to live in a rat race. We have had to sacrifice in many ways to have our life. We didn’t have two incomes.. but we learned to be much more efficient with what we do have. It’s been worth it.

I talk more about routines in my course Rhythms of Home. There are a bunch of free resources to get you started in planning a rhythm for your home. * USE COUPON CODE 10OFF to get $10 off the course until January 31, 2023