In this episode of At Home, Brianne Busy leads the discussion on Mom Guilt.
We’ve all seen those pictures of kids eating ice cream at the kitchen table, with the caption, “let my kids have ice cream for breakfast! #momguilt”
And we all laugh about it, and go on with our day.

But we’re wanting to dive in a little deeper to the whole #momguilt thing. So we spend some time deciding what  mom guilt even is, and whether or not we struggle with it in our own lives.  We also discuss the possible sources of mom guilt, when we need to ignore it, and when we need to take it seriously.

Despite the somewhat heavy topic, this episode is still a lot of fun. We hope you’ll come away with some things to mull over as you walk this road of mothering. And we won’t even pour on any mom guilt if you don’t listen until tomorrow. Or the next day. #podcastlistenerguilt

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In this episode of At Home, Kristin Rogers leads the discussion on sibling bickering. Like Kristin says, bickering is something that can drive an otherwise sane parent absolutely bonkers! And since this is something we all deal with in our own homes, we thought you might be too. That’s why we’re talking about it today.
Our discussion ranges from why dealing with bickering matters, to common causes for bickering, and some of the ways we handle it.

None of us profess to have the magic answer. But knowing we’re all in it together helps a bit. And we hope our own experiences and ideas will help too. Especially in those hard moments, when you’re tempted to throw in the towel.

And as much as we don’t like to be faced with this truth, we know us mamas set the tones in our homes. Let’s make these words from Proverbs our goal, as well as our children’s: “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

Don’t give up the fight friends! A peaceful home is worth fighting for.

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In this episode of At Home Jen Dees leads the discussion on “Serving in Motherhood”.  Jen begins by asking us if busy moms can really serve others. It’s a good question, and one we ourselves wrestle with, just as you probably do.

We talked about being on the receiving end of service, the many different ways we can serve others, and why its valuable for our children to see us serving others, even in the midst of our lives as busy moms.

If you are contemplating adding acts of service to your home school life this year, this episode will offer you not only food for thought, but also practical ideas for ways you and your children can serve others together.

Ultimately, we hope that you’ll remember that even if your act of service is small, it is better to do something for others than nothing at all. We’re inspired by the words taken from Mark 14, and written on the tombstone of the hymn composer Fanny Crosby, “she did what she could.” May we all do what we can to help others.

Show Notes
Articles: Fanny Crosby, Four Women Who Worked Hard
Resource for writing letters to prisoners : Prisoner Alert Through Voice of the Martyrs
Resources for writing letters to soldiers : Operation Gratitude, Veterans United, Operation Shoebox
Resource for providing Christmas gifts to children in need: Operation Christmas Child

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This week on At Home we are replaying one of our favorite episodes, Hands on Nature.
When we first aired this episode, it was a big hit. So we hope you’ll find inspiration here again, as you head out into nature with your kiddos for nature study, or to simply enjoy the abundant beauty to be found there.

In this episode @brebuskey leads a spirited discussion on the value of getting kids out, and into, nature. We share lots of stories, some funny and others frustrating, of times our kids have been chastised for things like climbing trees, picking wild flowers, or collecting sticks.
We confess our struggle with the mindset that tells kids that they can look at nature but not touch.
We talk about how we manage teaching our kids respect for authority, but also allowing them to experience nature in the way we believe teaches them best. Because ultimately we all agree that getting our kids closely connected to nature is one of the best things we can give them. This episode will give you plenty to think about, as well as practical advice for different ways to experience nature with your kids in a hands on way.

Now that you know some of our favorite ways to enjoy nature with our kiddos, we were wondering, how do you spend time in nature with your kiddos? Do you camp, hike, visit your local nature center, read books about nature, or something else entirely? We’d love to hear what your favorite hands on nature activities are!

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It’s time for another back to school episode on At Home! Today we’re talking all about School Day Schedules. We are often asked what our school days look like, how we create our schedules, and how we get all the things done. But, full disclosure, we weren’t entirely sure how interesting a whole episode on scheduling would be.
Turns out, it was a winner!

If only for the life changing piece of information that Brianne shared with us about editing our Ambleside online schedules. Maybe every other Ambleside online following mom knew this already, but it was revolutionary for Greta and Jenn.

We also spend time talking about the nitty grity details of our schedules, what kind of planners we use or don’t use, what we prioritize when we create our schedules, and even how we fit in errands and home keeping. A big take away was that none of us ever accomplish everything on our schedule, and we’ve all learned to be ok with that.

Hopefully this episode has some helpful tips for you all too. At the very least, we hope you’ll feel at peace about having a flexible schedule on the day to day, and from year to year. There should be freedom to move in your schedule. It’s a guide, not a straight jacket Remember, you’re the boss of the schedule!

Happy home school planning, from all of us At Home mamas!

Show Notes:
Ambleside online
Note booking post by Read Aloud Revival

Jen Dee’s Sample Schedule

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In this episode of At Home, Brianne Buskey leads the discussion on all things home school. That’s right, we’re doing a homeschool Q and A!

We get questions from our wonderful listeners all the time, and since “back to school” is in the air, we decided to focus on answering some of the home school questions.

We cover a lot of territory in this episode. We talk about everything from inspiring books to get you started on your home school journey, to our favorite math curriculum, defining a Charlotte Mason education, how we organize our school books, and so much more.
This episode is chock full of practical tips.

But we also share our thoughts on some of the harder questions like, “am I really equipped to teach my kids,” and “do you ever feel like you need a break from your kids”.

We hope you find this episode to be helpful and encouraging. And along those lines, we’re wondering what your favorite inspirational homeschool book, podcast, or other resource is? Please share with us what you read, listen to, or do, when you want to get inspired and excited about home schooling. Thanks guys!

Show Notes
Books:
“For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School” by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
“A Charlotte Mason Education: A Home Schooling How To Manual ” by Catherine Levison
“A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning”” by Karen Andreola
“102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum” by Cathy Duffy

Curriculum:
Saxon Math
Right Start Math
Math U See
Teaching Textbooks
Life of Fred
Simply Charlotte Mason
Beautiful Feet Books

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In this episode of At Home, we are continuing our book club discussion on Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death”. Kristin Rogers does such a great job steering our conversation, despite the fact that we all jumped around quite a bit. The book just brought so many different things to mind that it was hard to stay in one place for very long. If you haven’t listened to episode 1 yet, pop back and listen to that one first. Episode 2 will make a lot more sense when you do.

We are excited by how many of you picked up the book to read along with us, and by all those who have decided to read it now because our book club sparked your interest. Sharing the love of good books and then good book talks is so much fun!

We had a lot of fun doing these episodes, mixing it up a little, you know? Now we’re wondering if you all would like another book club in the future? And if so, what kind of book should we discuss? Classic fiction, new fiction, non fiction, biography, a home schooling book, a parenting book, or something else entirely? We value your feedback, so if you have any ideas, please, please share them with us!

Show Notes:

Kristin Rogers
Book: 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke
Book: Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis

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In this episode of At Home, Kristin Rogers leads our first ever book club discussion! This episode is different than any others we’ve done. We have a very free flowing, free form, talk about the book “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman.

This book, published in 1985, is all about the corrosive effects of television on modern society. We all found the topic immensely interesting, especially now, when television is only one part of the mass amounts of media and technology we consume daily.

As we excitedly discussed the ideas in this book we talked about how it applies to us today. And ultimately we all came away feeling challenged to really examine the television, the social media, and all the rest, that we’re allowing into our lives, and the effect it has on us.

In fact, we had so much to say on the book itself and the ideas it puts forth, that this is part one of our book discussion. We’ll have more to say next week!

Show Notes –

Kristin Rogers

Book – 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You – HERE

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In this episode of At Home, Greta Eskridge leads the discussion on “Choosing Joy”.  This is a regular theme in Greta’s own life and she tells us why that’s the case.
We go on to talk about what a joyful person looks like, and why choosing joy really matters. We discuss practical ways to seek joy in times of trial or sorrow. And what we need to offer to our children, our spouses and our friends when choosing joy is hard to do.
This isn’t a light and frivolous episode. But rather a real talk about what it looks like to choose to walk with a joyful heart, even if the path we’re on is one lined in hardships and sadness.
We hope you’ll find this episode uplifting whether your hearth feels heavy or light right now. As always, thank you so much for listening and supporting At Home!

Show Notes:

Greta Eskridge

Article: Joy Is Not Optional  http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/joy-is-not-optional

Scripture: Proverbs 17:22 

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

Scripture: Habakkuk 3:17-18

“Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Podcast: Episode 63 Risen Motherhood https://www.risenmotherhood.com/show-archive/ep-63-jen-wilkin-growing-in-gods-word-as-a-mom-of-little-ones

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In this episode of At Home, Brianne Buskey leads the discussion on “Kids and Money”.  Brianne’s introduction to this topic was eye opening for all of us. She had some interesting, and even alarming, statistics and numbers for us to think about. As a result, each one of us was instantly even more invested in the conversation that we already were.

Brianne went on to ask each of us to share our own memories of dealing with money as children, teens and young adults. We also talked about why teaching kids about money is important, how we handle allowance in our families, and offered a few practical tips for money skills.

And at the end of the episode Brianne surprised us with some special guests! You’ll love hearing from them just as much as we did.

We came away from this episode feeling so inspired to help our kids develop good habits with money. We hope you will too.
And now we want to know, are you the kind of mom who often (or always) forgets to pay allowance? Be honest!

Show Notes:
Brianne Buskey
Book: Your Money Counts by Howard Dayton
Book: Smart Money Smart Kids by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruz

Kristin Rogers
Article: Training Your Children to Manage Money

Budgeting tool and App –  https://www.daveramsey.com/everydollar

Jen Dees
Audio: Church History–Mary Jones’ Bible

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