Tami Fox

Getting Organized this Summer – Week 1 Day 2

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Tami

Today I want you to work on your morning routine. You can see from your Home assignment below that we are working toward instilling the habit of a Morning and Before Bed Routine. These two routines make my days go so much better. I recommend you do the Before Bed Routine right after dinner.

The first thing I want you to do this morning is fill your water bottle. Try to drink 60 ounces of water today.

The FlyLady’s Morning Routine

Tuesday – Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School assignment

Home: Make your bed when you get up. Shine your sink.

School: Pull books from your bookshelf that you no longer need. Put them in a box to give away. Put the box in the car.

(If this is your first year, read about Charlotte Mason and nature journaling.)

Family Fun: Play some water games outside with your children.

The FlyLady’s Before Bed Routine

The goal this week is to sort through your books and make room for next year’s books. Take it slow and steady. Set the timer for 15 minutes, and after the buzzer goes off, do a different task. You are going to organize your books in small steps. That will help keep you from burning out on doing a big project at one time.

I am giving you ideas for summer fun with your kids because I know a lot of you try to get a lot of things accomplished in the summer. You need to work in fun and rewards, too.

Let’s Get Organized this Summer

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Tami

Do you want to get organized this summer and don’t know where to start? I wrote up a little series of tasks that you can do to help you get organized around the house, with your school books, and to help your kids, too.

I will have a post each morning of the week. I won’t have any tasks for you on Saturday or Sunday. After today’s post, I will have these pre-loaded, so they will be ready for you first thing in the morning.

Week 1 – June 1-5

Monday – Have a timer handy for your assignments. They need to take 15 minutes or less. I am going to help walk you through The FlyLady’s system to help you get ready for your new school year in the fall. We are going to Baby-Step our way to better routines and less clutter in our homes.

This week I want you to work on your morning and before bed routines. We will add in the afternoon routines next week.

The FlyLady’s Morning Routine

Home: Empty your sink and make it shiny

Load dishwasher or put away clean dishes

School: Start purging this year’s papers and books

(If this is your first year, start reading about curriculum options. DON’T buy anything just yet.)

Family Fun: Go to the Library and sign up for the Summer Reading Program. Let your kids pick the books that interest them to read.

The FlyLady’s Before Bed Routine

As you can see in the picture below, I am dressed all the way down to my lace-up shoes.

Tomorrow, we will add on a few more tasks. The Habit of the Month with The FlyLady is to Drink Your Water, so have your water bottle ready tomorrow. If you are not on The FlyLady’s email list, go over to her site and sign up now at www.FlyLady.net.

Dream the Impossible Dream of an Organized Home

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Tami

Join me on Friday, May 29, 2015, at 4:00 pm Eastern for a FREE webinar about my new book.

Title: To Dream The Impossible Dream of An Organized Home

Description: Does the idea of organizing and cleaning your home seem like an impossible dream? Homeschooling mother of six Tami Fox shares how she uses routines in her home to make it a haven for her family. She’s taught her children these routines, so they’ll be able to take their wings and fly into life as prepared adults. She shares positive methods for organizing and cleaning. Tami wants to help you give your children wings, so they can FLY, too! Available in digital format on Amazon, iBooks, Nook, Kobo, Scribd, Page Foundry, and Tolino. Print edition coming soon. Tami lives in rural North Carolina with her husband of more than twenty-five years and their children. She has been a home educator since 2000. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Information Systems and uses her education to be a better teacher for her children. Tami is a writer and speaker to encourage moms. She writes reviews and other details about her life with her family at www.TamiFox.net. She is in the trenches just like you and takes life one step at a time with mercy and grace. You can contact Tami through her blog or through email at Tami@TamiFox.com.

Date & Time: Fri, May 29th, 2015 at 4:00 pm EDT

Registration

Please register for the above meeting by visiting this link: http://paul109.enterthemeeting.com/m/NCEVC7C4

Once you have registered, we will send you the information you need to join the webinar.

Giving Your Children Wings Without Losing Yours

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Tami

Does the idea of organizing and cleaning your home seem like an impossible dream? Homeschooling mother of six Tami Fox shares how she uses routines in her home to make it a haven for her family. She’s taught her children these routines, so they’ll be able to take their wings and fly into life as prepared adults. She shares positive methods for organizing and cleaning. Tami wants to help you give your children wings, so they can FLY, too!

Available in the Kindle Store on Amazon now!

Giving Your Children Wings Without Losing Yours

About the Author

Photo: Shane Greene Photography

Tami lives in rural North Carolina with her husband of more than twenty-five years and their children. She has been a home educator since 2000. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Information Systems and uses her education to be a better teacher for her children. Tami is a writer and speaker to encourage moms. She writes reviews and other details about her life with her family at www.TamiFox.net. She is in the trenches just like you and takes life one step at a time with mercy and grace. You can contact Tami through her blog or through email at Tami@TamiFox.com.

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Balancing Home and Homeschooling

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Tami

I saw this today as I was looking online, and I think it IS possible to both homeschool and have a clean house at the same time. It takes persistence and routines, but it is possible to do both of these. They are not mutually exclusive of one another.

If you have read my About Me page, you know that I have homeschooled for more than 14 years and have six children. I have used routines I learned from The FlyLady to help me have a clean home and homeschool, too. The key for me has been my perspective on how tasks are handled in my home. I do not look at it as doing chores, and I share this philosophy with my children. I use the team work approach with them, and together the house stays picked up and orderly. I don’t strive for perfect either. There is a balance between a picked up home and one that is treated like a museum.

If you are struggling with getting all of your homeschool plans and home keeping tasks accomplished daily, you should start off with the Baby Steps with The FlyLady and set some routines in place one step at a time. You can find The FlyLady on Facebook, too. I highly recommend her emails.

Studying the Human Body

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Tami

During our second semester, the younger boys and I are studying the Human Body using Apologia’s Human Anatomy and Physiology student book and notebooking journals. I also have the student workbooks for Considering God’s Creation, so I have some great resources as we learn about the systems of the body, and how they work together.

Here’s a glimpse as we put the skeleton and internal organs in our project.

I laid out their outline bodies and the stack of bones and organs for them to sort through and place.

They did a great job with the skeleton.

There was a lot more discussion on where the various internal organs fit in the body. At one point, one of the bodies had an extra pancreas. Another one of the bodies ended up permanently missing a kidney. We decided that a person can live with only one kidney, so we didn’t get too upset about missing one.

This was a fun activity that helped us review the parts of the body.

Homeschooling with Toddlers and Preschoolers

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Tami

Since I have been homeschooling for 15 years, I get lots of questions from people about homeschooling. One question I get often has to do with homeschooling older children while having preschoolers and/or toddlers in the house. I thought it would help if I put together some things I have done over the years that helped me juggle the needs of school-age children and my little ones.

When I am planning lessons for my older children, I try to find simple ways to include my younger ones. For instance, when my older children learned about flight and the physics behind flying, I read picture books about flight to my little ones. We made paper airplanes. I would provide simple craft supplies for preschoolers to make picture while talking to the older children about flight. I also found that it helped if I had “stations” for the baby to play safely in different parts of the house. Fortunately, there is not a rule that you have to do school in one place in the house. We move around the house doing school, and the baby is more entertained by a change of scenery from room-to-room. Here’s a picture that is several years old, but it shows examples of how I included my babies and toddlers in our homeschool day.

As you see from the picture above, I had several little ones participating in the read aloud time. Not pictured are my two elementary-aged children who were reading books on their level about flight. By using the hands-on method of learning, I can plan activities for a very large age range.

When the older children studied the Boston Tea Party, we included the younger ones in the craft part of making the “tea” boxes. The baby was also included in our “tea party.” I found so many easy to read picture books for the American Revolution time period. Of course, we read and acted out Paul Revere’s Ride by Longfellow.

Reading to babies and toddlers is foundational to their communication skills. It is so easy to include them during the homeschool day with easy-to-read books. If you have children who still read out loud to you each day, the babies and toddlers can be a part of that time of your day, too. There is no such thing as too much reading to babies and toddlers.

Other ways to engage learning in young children while older ones are working on school is dependent on the age and skill level of the toddler or preschooler. As soon as my children are past the stage of putting everything in their mouths, I provide tactile activities for them. A little one can sit in his/her high chair beside of you and work on fine motor skills by eating or playing with toys.

I kept a pack-n-play near our school area for the little one to have a place to move about and play while we work on school work. I didn’t want to always contain them in a high chair or by holding them because I wanted them to be able to move around and learn skills.

As my toddlers grew into preschoolers, I would provide matching games, sorting blocks, salt dough, chunky crayons, and other age-appropriate craft materials. If I didn’t mind a mess, I would give them non-toxic paints or paint-with-water books.

Toddlers and preschoolers also need large muscle play time. Often, the older children would take short breaks from school work to play with the little ones. This is such a beneficial time to build relationships with siblings. Babies and toddlers should never be made to feel like they are in the way of your school day.

Don’t be afraid to let your little ones experience arts and crafts. You need to provide lots of opportunities for them to be creative and learn how things work.

Field trips are another great way to involve little ones in what the older children are studying. Some of our favorite homeschool memories have come from field trips. It amazes me what my children remember from these trips.

I realize that you also need one-on-one teaching times with older students. One year I had from preschool through 12th grade, so I know this fact very well. What I can tell you that I learned is that you can be creative in where you fit in the one-on-one time for each student. A a homeschooler, you are not constrained to doing school work between the hours of 8:00 am and 3:00 pm. If your high school student needs you to help with algebra or writing, then work that time in during nap time for the little ones. You might have to work with your older students on difficult subjects when your husband is home and can help. One year, we had some “night school” times when I focused on teaching the older children difficult concepts while my husband played with the baby. It is not ideal to do it that way because I think Moms need a break in the evenings from school work when possible, but you have to find a way to works for your family.

Schedules and routines are very important for children, especially young children. I tried to keep our outside of the house activities to a minimum when I had a lot of little ones in the house. We had certain times of the day where everyone knew what was supposed to be going on. We were not slaves to the clock. But we had regular times to get up, eat, do household tasks, do school work, rest, and play. It helped everyone to know what was coming up next. Of course, there were days when we really needed a change of scenery, and we would pack up and go to the park, library, or science center. Sometimes we just needed an outing.

There are lots of other ways that people have successfully balanced homeschooling older children while also having little ones in the house. I welcome comments and questions.

Recap of our School Year 2014-15

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Tami

Since we are well into our second semester of this school year, it is high time I talk about the resources we are using this year. I know many of you are starting to think about the new school year and making book lists. We’ll start with my high schooler and work our way down through the other grades I am teaching this year.

Grade 10:

Notgrass World History – This is my second child to use this program, and it is one of my favorite history programs for high school. It combines history, Bible, and language arts in one curriculum. His reading, writing, and research topics are all related to his history reading. It also contains lesson and unit quizzes. There are also recommended readers that go along with the program to add literature to the language arts. One program. Three credits.

Apologia Biology – This is my third child to use this book. I love how it is written for them to understand biology concepts. The experiments are usually easy to do with items from around the house. The main difference in some experiments is that you need to purchase dissection specimens that you usually do not have around the house. Having access to a microscope is handy, but I have also used the Internet to look up pictures for the microscope experiments. Each module takes two weeks to complete. There is an integrated study guide and test for each module. They can keep a lab notebook for questions within the module and for experiments completed. This is a one-credit course with a lab component.

Saxon Algebra II – I have the older version of Saxon Algebra I and II, and it contains Geometry as well. When he completes Algebra II, he will have three credits from both textbooks. The newer version of Saxon Algebra I and II has a separate Geometry book. We have used Saxon math from the beginning, and it works for our family. Credit for this book is 1.5 credits.

Grade 8:

History and Geography were done in the fall semester. We studied the 50 states and created state notebooks. We also cooked a meal from each of the 50 states. Some reading and writing were assigned to go along with this.

Language arts is pulled together from various resources with heavy emphasis on our topic of study.

Saxon Algebra 1/2 – As I mentioned previously, we have used Saxon math from the beginning. This is my 4th child to use Algebra 1/2. It works for us.

Science is being done second semester using Apologia’s Human Anatomy book and journal along with hands-on activities.

Grade 6:

Language arts is pulled together from various resources with heavy emphasis on our topic of study.

Saxon Math 7/6 – As I mentioned previously, we have used Saxon math from the beginning. This is my 5th child to use the 7/6 book, but I do supplement this with the Saxon DVDs. It works for us.

Science is being done second semester using Apologia’s Human Anatomy book and journal along with hands-on activities.

Grade 3:

Language arts is pulled together from various resources with heavy emphasis on our topic of study.

Saxon Math 3 – As I mentioned previously, we have used Saxon math from the beginning. This is my 6th child to use this. It is the last year that Saxon has a consumable student workbook. There is actually a set of two workbooks for this grade level.

Science is being done second semester using Apologia’s Human Anatomy book and journal along with hands-on activities.

Running a Marathon and Other Running Things

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Tami

We’ve all heard little sayings throughout life that living life is a marathon and not a sprint. Well, I can say that I don’t have anything to compare to actually running a marathon. I ran my first marathon on January 17, 2015, in Charleston, SC. This was a long-awaited race for me. I have been running for two years, and I love running. I love running in races. I love how the running community treats one another. I have seen runners stop to help another runner. I have heard runners encourage one another on difficult runs. I have had friends come alongside me and encourage me and run with me on long runs. There is something special about the running community that I have not seen in a lot of other sports.

My husband is not a runner, but he has been supportive of my running lifestyle. When I started looking at dates and locations for my first marathon, I wanted a race that was fairly flat. I have completed 3 half-marathons, and all of them were hilly. I wanted something a little less hilly for a 26.2 mile race. I finally decided that Charleston, SC would be a great place to run a marathon, so I signed up. I had already been training and running every day. So I was prepared to up my weekly mileage and increase the distance in my long runs on the week-ends. I also had to stop running shorter distance races to keep my focus on the long run each Saturday. I missed my week-end running buddies at the races. But I had a plan, and I stuck to it.

Leading up to the race I had been doing a running streak, which meant I ran at least one mile per day. By race day, I was close to 400 days of my run streak. Most of these miles were outside in all kinds of weather. I ran in heat, cold, rain, sleet, snow, hurricanes, and everything in between. The hardest training run in preparing for the marathon was my 20 mile run in late December. That was a hard run mentally and physically. I knew that I could finish the marathon, and I had set a goal for my finish time. I worked diligently on my pace and endurance.

The morning of the race I was up early and ready to go to the start line. I had a quick breakfast in the hotel and chatted with a few other runners. I got my gear together and my bag to check at the start line. Who knew running marathon would take so much thought and preparation for physical needs along the way? I had a bag packed with a change of clothes because the race started on one end of Charleston and ended at another. I also had my runner’s pouch packed with chapstick, extra water, and several Huma gels for energy to get me through the race. The race course had water / gatoraide stops every two miles, and they had a few stations with snacks and gels. I enjoyed the experience of walking around the check in area and start line. I took pictures. I checked my bag. I realized I left my iPod in my checked bag. OOPS!

As the race time got closer, I was excited. I had decided that it would be ok to run 26.2 miles without music on my iPod, and I would enjoy the sites and sounds of Charleston and of the runners around me. The start line had around 4300 people lined up according to running pace time. We were a mix of people from young to old. Tall to short. All sizes. Some were running the full marathon and some were running the half-marathon. After the starting gun, it took a little time to get the mass of people moving. Being around the middle of the pack, we moved along at a quick walk until we got through the start gate. Even then, it took a little time to get enough space to really start running. But by the end of mile 1, we were running along nicely. My pace felt great. I felt great.

I ran like this for the first 11 miles. I only walked through the aide stations to hydrate. I stayed at the pace I had planned. I didn’t let the excitement of the race push me faster than I was comfortable with. But somewhere around mile 11 my stomach started hurting badly. Maybe it was nerves. Maybe excitement. Maybe the gels upset my stomach. Who knows. But I was dealing with some serious pain. I switched to the run/walk method, and eventually by mile 15, I was mostly walking. It hurt my legs more to walk than run, but my stomach would not tolerate the running. I continued walking, and I talked to the runners around me. I enjoyed the people along the course. I was sad when pace groups passed me, especially the one I wanted to be in to finish at the time I wanted to finish. I was toward the back of the pack at this point. One of the aide stations was out of water by this point, but I had water with me. I was fine, but some of the runners around me really needed the water at the aide station. We powered on, and we did get water and gatoraide at the next aide station.

When I hit 20 miles, I knew I would finish the race. I also knew that I would finish well after my goal time. I called my husband a few times along the way to let him know about my progress. I told him that I would finish. Mile 21 was a hard mile. But when I hit mile 22, something changed. My stomach quit hurting. And I was able to alternate some running with the walking. My pace got better, and I knew I had to beat the clock to get my finisher’s medal. The last finish time to get the medal was 6 hours and 30 mins. I knew I could do it. I just had to stay on pace and keep going. Once I was within 5 miles of the finish line, I knew there were a lot of loops through neighborhoods close to the finish line. I could hear music and cheering. That helped keep me motivated. I just put one foot in front of the other. I cheered on those around me. Those of us at the back of the pack really work on encouraging one another.

I saw the sign for mile 26, and I knew I only had .2 miles left to go to the finish line. At that point, I could not see the finish line. I had to turn a corner before I would see it. But I could hear the music and the people. I knew I was almost there. As I approached the finish line, I ran with my heart. My poor beat up body was trying to keep up with my heart at that point. I could see my husband waiting for me on the other side of the finish line. I crossed that finish line as fast as I could go, and I got my finisher’s medal! My husband took pictures, and he was ready to give me a big hug. I was elated that I did it. It took me 6 hours and 15 minutes to finish, but I did. I wanted a faster time, but I knew I did the best I could do that day.

After the race, I found out that there was a little problem with the lead car at the beginning of the race, and that I ran a little more than 26.2 miles that day. My app on my phone says that I did 26.95 miles. But that includes the space before I crossed the start line, and the space where I crossed the finish line. I loved the race itself. I enjoyed meeting runners from around the world. I met runners who were celebrating birthdays like me, and I met runners from cities not far from where I live. I also saw a local running friend that I did not even know was going to be there. It was an amazing experience, and I will do it again. I actually have my sights set on a race that is longer than a marathon sometime this year.

In the days after the marathon, I still continued my running streak. I watched my intensity, and I just ran for fun. I ran consecutively for 406 days, and then I fell while walking and injured my shin. For the past three weeks, I have done a lot more walking with less running. I have worked on strength conditioning for runners, and I am building myself up slowly after this injury. The initial x-ray did not show a fracture, but I have a follow-up appointment this week to see how I am recovering. At some point, I might do another run streak. For now, I am enjoying a rest day here and there.

What I have found out about myself is that I am stronger than I ever thought I was. I have learned that running is as much a mental process as it is a physical process. I have met a lot of great people who are much better runners than I am, but they encourage me daily.

Here are a few pics from my marathon: