Tami Fox

Teaching Life Skills – Kids in the Kitchen

Posted on May 15, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

How often do your children cook? Teaching your children to menu plan, cook, and clean up is a big set of life skills. As you are transitioning into summer, you can assign a Head Chef of the Day. Involve your children in the whole process of menu planning and shopping. Let them learn to cook what interests them. You will be raising good eaters and helping them gain life skills.

Teach them to clean the kitchen as they go. Fill up one side of the sink to place dirty things. Then rinse them and put them on the dish rack or in the dishwasher. When we load the dishwasher after dinner it is only the dishes and bowls that we used at the table. The rest of the pots and pans have already been washed and put away.

Teach them to cut vegetables in a safe manner. Until they are teenagers, I do most of the vegetable chopping. But they do need to learn this skill, too. We make a lot of salads, and if you eat many salads, you know how much time can go into chopping vegetables. I do buy the organic mixed green salad mixes in a big container each week. That helps a little bit, but I buy seasonal vegetables that require washing, peeling, and chopping.

Teach your children how to use leftovers creatively. Browned ground beef can be fixed in many ways. We use it for tacos, taco soup, chili, beef noodles, beef and cooked cabbage, and more. It is a menu stretcher for me.

Breakfast can be a fun meal to learn how to cook. There are so many ways to cook eggs. We also enjoy waffles or pancakes. We eat different kinds of breakfast meats. I work hard at providing a balance of carbs and proteins for their breakfast. Oatmeal and fruit or yogurt makes a great meal, too.

Lunch planning usually happens at dinner for us. We see what we have leftover, and we talk about ways it can be used for lunch the next day. We also make cheese quesadillas, grilled cheese, soup, subs, or other sandwiches.

Your children need to learn the balance of the different types of foods we need for a healthy diet. Teach them while they are young.

It’s a great time of year to teach your children about gardening. Let them pick some vegetables to plant. They will be invested in the process and may try vegetables that they do not normally eat.

Your Zone Mission today is to clear off the bathroom cabinets.

Your Home Blessing for today is to wash sheets.

My menu plan for Monday is hamburgers and salad.

Have a great day!

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Declutter and Donate Weekly

Posted on May 12, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Happy Friday! It’s the end of the week and errand day for me. One of the things I do on errand day is donate the items that are in the give away box in my van.

Throughout the week, I find something daily to add to that box. Some days, I put 5 or 10 things in the box, and some days I put one thing in the box. It does not matter as long as you are getting rid of something daily.

Encourage your children to declutter in their rooms, too. Kids like to collect stuff, and when you go in their rooms, you are appalled at the amount of stuff they have accumulated. Teach them through example that you do not have to hold onto stuff to be happy.

Challenge everyone in your house to declutter 3 items a day for the whole week. Have them put the items in a box in your car. You want it out of your house.

You can also challenge them to find 3 things a day to throw away from their rooms. Kids have trash and paper clutter in their rooms, too.

Since we are decluttering in the kitchen this week, I want you to look at your appliances on the counters. Do you use them all? If not, find a place to put them out of the way or give them away.

As we are entering summer, you can declutter a little at a time in the areas that are hard to get to during the school year. Make a list of those areas. Assign one area for each week of the summer. If you have to spend more than a week in an area, you can come back to it.
Just spend 15 minutes a day for 5 days in an area. This is not open season to spend all day decluttering an area.

Today’s Zone Mission is to declutter unused kitchen cleaning supplies. Replace dishcloths and sponges, if needed.

Your Home Blessing for today is to empty the trash, sweep, and mop.

My menu plan for Friday is pizza and a salad.

Have a wonderful weekend!

You Can Make Moving Fun

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

How are you doing with the Habit of the Month? Are you getting in some movement each day? This is an area that you can make fun for yourself and your kids!

My kids are so used to movement and playing hard. It is something that I have always encouraged. My two young adult children are also very active. It is a habit that has become a part of their daily routine.

As I am writing this newsletter, I am sitting ringside at the skating place. They are enjoying the $2 skate night, and I am enjoying watching them.

Yesterday, they went for a walk with me on a trail at a state park. They are accustomed to my being active as well. If I miss a day of running, they want to know what is going on with my running plan.

Over the past four years, each of my children has participated in one race. Four of them have done 5K’s, and the others have done one mile races. They have fun at these distances, and I pick races that have safe courses. I encourage them when they train for a race. Finishing is winning, even if you walk the whole thing.

We go bowling as a family, and it is a lot of fun for all of us. It gets us out and moving.

In the summer, we like to go swimming.

We like to play basketball in the yard, too. The boys frequently toss the football in the yard, too.

There are so many ways to be active and have fun as a family.

Make a list of fun, active things for your family to do. Pick one a week.

Each day, do one active thing at home, even if it is walking around the yard. Encourage your children to participate with you.

Your Zone Mission for today is to do a 27 Fling Boogie in the Kitchen.

Your Home Blessing for today is to declutter paper and magazines.

My menu plan for Thursday is chicken and veggies.

Have a great day!

Summer Routines and Fun

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Summer Routines and The FlyLady’s CampGonnaWannaFLY

As we are wrapping up our school year and thinking about the summer, I want to encourage you to find fun ways to keep your routines moving.

In the summer, your children may want to relax on routines. This is the time of year to keep their routines going. You can use the summer to work on new skills.

The main thing is to make it fun for them. You will need to decide on rewards to motivate them to do their routines without dragging their feet or whining.

The FlyLady has a Control Journal called Camp GonnaWannaFly. It has ideas to help you plan a week of things to do with a camp theme, but you can add in new skills as a part of the camp experience.

Just scroll down on the page and click on the download link for it.

http://www.flylady.net/d/control-journals/

During the summer, I reward my children with different activities, such as fishing, swimming, kayaking, hiking, bowling, or skating. We don’t do a big activity every day, but I try to incorporate at least one or two of these per week.

One summer, we did the library summer reading program, and the reward was tickets to a minor league baseball game.

On hot days, I have rewarded them with an ice cream cone or a water balloon fight in the yard.

Electronics are used sparingly in the summer for my children. I monitor their screen time. It is not a reward for them.

Another fun activity for them has been to have something to take apart and fix. For girls, it might be a pampering session with doing facials or pedicures.

The goal is to teach them their routines, and for them to do them independently as much as possible. That usually takes up the morning, and after lunch, we have a reward time.

Start thinking about the routines you want your children to have this summer and make a list of rewards.

Your Zone Mission today is to declutter leftovers from the fridge.

Your Home Blessing for today is to wipe your windows and mirrors.

My menu plan for Wednesday is spaghetti and salad.

Have a great day!

Planning a Unit Study

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Tami

Good morning! Some of you have asked for more details on planning a unit study. If you want to end your school year with a little fun study, here is how I plan a unit study:

Pick a Topic – Astronomy is a fun warm-weather topic.

Look for resources – Look for online worksheets for a notebook journal, check the library for books, look for videos on the topic, check your area for a field trip.

Research anything pertinent to the night sky.

Print a few pages on constellations and phases of the moon.

Check the library for books on astronomy and NASA and the astronauts.

Pull up a few videos on solar eclipses and lunar eclipses.

Check the local science center for exhibits related to astronomy or go to a planetarium.

For a project, you kids can make a display board or put a notebook together. They can make a solar system model. They can use a shoe box and construction paper to make a representation of the night sky. They can draw the phases of the moon. They can draw and label some of the constellations.

One book I like to read to my younger students is Follow the Drinking Gourd. It talks about history and how the constellations were used in the Underground Railroad during the time of the Civil War.

This is a simple way to plan and execute a unit study. The more complicated that you make it, the less likely you are to get it done. You can incorporate independent reading and writing for older students. For my younger students, I have drawing journals. They can draw at the top of the page and write a few sentences at the bottom of the page. I try to find biographies for them to read when we have any unit study and books on the topic itself.

Today’s Zone Mission is to clear your kitchen Hot Spots.

Your Home Blessing for today is to dust and vacuum.

My menu plan for Tuesday is Taco Soup and a Salad.

Have a blessed day!

You are doing a great job with your homeschool.

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Tami

Have you enjoyed your school year? In the past few weeks, I have talked to several moms who were discouraged about their school year. They did not feel that their year compared to some of the posts and pictures they were seeing on social media.

They felt like they had failed their children.

Please do not compare your homeschool to anyone else’s homeschool. You are doing a great job!

Each homeschool is unique. So many factors come into play with our school schedules and curriculum choices. As a teacher, we each have unique talents and gifts.

Our children have different gifts and learning styles. With six children, I have found that to be true just within my family. When you compare your family with another family, you cannot factor in all of the differences that you encounter between the two families.

The ages of your children and how many children you have is a big factor in what you are able to accomplish with your students.

If you have a student with any learning delays, you have to realize that you are teaching to that child. This child would not get the attention you are able to give him or her in a traditional setting.

When you see your friends post pictures of these great educational things they are doing, you can certainly glean from it. Just don’t let it discourage you if it is not your season to do some of these things.

Later this week, I am going to share a small sample on planning a fun unit study. It is something that you can do for some educational fun as you lead into the summer.

You are doing a great job! Enjoy learning along side of your children.

Your Zone Mission today is to clean your stove top.

Your Home Blessing for today is to wash sheets.

My menu plan for Monday is hamburgers and salad.

Have a great day!

Keep Your Bedtime Routine Simple and Consistent

Posted on May 5, 2017 by Tami

Yesterday, I talked about the Morning Routine. All of your routines are important, but the Before Bed Routine is the most important. It sets the tone for how your morning starts. You want to keep your bedtime routine simple, so you can do it on a consistent basis.

The Before Bed Routine gets pushed off into late into the evening, and then you are too tired to even do one thing.

You can start your Before Bed Routine right after dinner, and it will help you start relaxing into the evening.

There are 6 simple steps:

Check your calendar for tomorrow.
Shine your sink.
Pick out your clothes for tomorrow.
Set items out at your Launch Pad
Wash your face and brush your teeth.
Go to bed at a decent hour.

Can you see where these set your morning up for success?

When is the last time you fell into bed in exhaustion and did not wash your face?

If you need to put a reminder on your phone to buzz you when it is time to start your routine, set it for 6:00 or 7:00 pm. Set it to go off close to the end of your dinner time. As you do your Before Bed Routine, you can remind your children to start their Routine, too.

You are thinking that it is crazy to lay your clothes out for the next day when you will just be at home. By laying your clothes you, you are taking off one more decision you have to make early in the morning. You are helping yourself to feel more productive once you get dressed each morning down to your lace-up shoes. Please try it, if you have not tried it before.

You can be successful with your daily routines. Remember to just keep it simple and consistent!

Today’s Zone Mission is to sparkle up your Dining Room table.

Your Home Blessing for today is to empty the trash, sweep, and mop.

My menu plan for Friday is pizza and a salad.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Do you keep piling it on?

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Do you keep piling onto your routines?

Many times we feel like our routines are not going well because we keep adding one more thing to them. Before you know it, you have extended your Morning Routine into the Afternoon Routine.

Keep your routines simple and do them. After your basic Morning Routine, do school with your children. This can include some life skills with a QUICK Home Blessing or QUICK Zone Mission. Prioritize some of the other things you would like to accomplish in the mornings.

You will feel successful about your Morning Routine if you keep it simple. Then, when you have an appointment in the morning, you can still get your routine completed. If you have to get up 2 hours early to get your Morning Routine finished, you have added too much to it.

Your routines should be like a dance. You know the next step without thinking. If you have too many things on the list, you forget what the next thing is.

Here is The FlyLady’s suggestion for your Morning Routine:

Get dressed down to the lace up shoes
Swish and Swipe
Make your Bed
Check your Calendar
Reboot your Laundry
What’s for Dinner?

Do these six things every morning next week and tell me how you feel about your routines.

Your Zone Mission for today is to plant some flowers or put up a hanging basket of flowers.

Your Home Blessing for today is to declutter paper and magazines.

My menu plan for Thursday is chicken and veggies.

Have a great day!

Not Just a Homeschool Mom

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Tami

How do you answer people when they ask you what you do? You probably do not encounter this question very often, but when you do, what title do you give yourself?

When I am asked this question, I have answered in different ways.

I am homeschool mom.

I am a teacher.

I am a home educator.

In actuality, I have a lot more responsibilities than homeschooling my children.

I could say that I am the Chief Domestic Engineer of my home.

I am also the maid and chief bottle washer and boo-boo kisser.

Of all of the things that I do, I am most happy as a wife and mom. Those are the titles that I embrace with my whole heart.

Today is anti-procrastination day, and I want to challenge you to do something to bless yourself. Pick something that you enjoy, and do it for 15 minutes.

As I talk to homeschool moms, most of them do not rake the time to do something they enjoy regularly. Pick up a book. Go for a walk. Paint your nails. Soak in the tub. Call a friend. Sit and do nothing.

Establish a habit of taking care of yourself regularly. This will help you not burn out so easily. It will help you reduce your stress. It will set a good example for your children that taking care of yourself is a good thing.

If you have been procrastinating getting dressed to shoes and fixing your hair and make-up, I want you to do that, too. Then ask your husband out on date. You know that he is already trying to figure out something for you for Mother’s Day anyway, so plan a date night.

What else have you been procrastinating?

Your Zone Mission today is to declutter in the Dining Room. Throw away anything you do not need.

Your Home Blessing for today is to wipe your windows and mirrors.

My menu plan for Wednesday is spaghetti and salad.

Have a great day!

Graduation Time is Almost Here

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Tami

Getting Organized:

In your home and homeschool

Graduation day is almost here.

When I started homeschooling 17 years ago, it seemed like a long way off before I would have a graduate from my homeschool. In a few weeks, I will be graduating my third child from our homeschool. I will be halfway through my student body!

As I reflect back on the early years of homeschooling, I am glad I took the time to read and play with my children as a part of their school day. They enjoyed learning so much more when we read books together and did activities together. This ignited a love for learning in them. My young adult children all enjoy learning and exploring even now.

Watching my children grow and learn has been a blessing. We have had fantastic school days, and we have had some really tough school days. It is a part of the process. The hard days teach you and your children perseverance.

When I took my children out of public school, I had no idea that I would still be homeschooling 17 years later. It has gone by in the blink of an eye. My youngest is 10 years old, so I only have 8 more years to go.

Last month, I ordered a diploma for my son, and it is with much happiness that I sign it and give it to him this month. He has done a great job as a student. He has excelled in many ways. He is ready for the next step in life. We have provided him with a great home and education. He has the skills to take care of himself. Now, it is time for him to FLY!

If you are homeschooling young children, enjoy the messy, loud, and fun times with them. One day they will be ready to FLY, too!

Today’s Zone Mission is to declutter the entryway and your launch pad area.

Your Home Blessing for today is to dust and vacuum.

My menu plan for Tuesday is Taco Tuesday.

Have a blessed day!