Find Your Way Home School

Registration is open for enrichment classes for 5-7 year olds with Find Your Way Home School! The enrichment classes are weekly or biweekly opportunities for your children to share in the wonder of books, experimentation, problem solving, games, art, and of course, PLAY while building relationships with other children in our homeschool community. Caregivers are invited to stay or drop off.

Check out the link in my bio to learn more and feel free to reach out to me with any questions!

Delicious lemonade and cookies this Saturday to benefit 😎☀️🍋 Join us for a fresh morning cup or an afternoon cool down…or both!

If you’d like to support Foster Village but can’t make it to the lemonade stand, text LEMONS to 53-555 ❤️🍋

We’re finishing up the precious book series Heartwood Hotel. It has played a central role in our reading experience this year and I’ve watched my little pod of kiddos fall in love with book characters. It’s been so special for me to walk alongside them in these first experiences of being swept away by a good book. I will treasure these memories forever and it is my heart’s desire that these memories provide fertile ground for a deep and long lasting love of reading to grow.

In the final chapters of Heartwood Hotel, (spoiler alert!) the hotel owner must make the difficult decision to stay at the hotel as the risk of a forest fire draws closer, or join his dear mouse friend Mona as she retreats to safety outside the forest. Mr.Heartwood initially digs his heels in, refusing to leave his beloved hotel.

As we’re reading, Q interjects,”He’s clinging to the hotel! What you cling to, you lose!”

She’s made a connection to another book we’re re-reading, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. This sage advice appeared on a magical piece of paper as someone else, a king, faced a difficult decision, like Mr. Heartwood.

My teacher friends out there know this is a golden “text-to-text connection” and it happened naturally, beautifully…and with a lap full of kids in the rocking chair, in a rare moment of silence as they clung to every word of the story.

My heart fills to overflowing with gratefulness that I get a front row seat to these moments. That I can see the delight and sparkle in my daughter’s eyes as she comes alive with passion for stories. Just…so grateful.

If you’re looking for a special reading experience this month, there is still plenty of time to crack open your own copy of Heartwood Hotel and join us later this month for our first community book celebration!

Heartwood Hotel is a lovely series centered around Mona, the beloved mouse. She faces many forest adventures and finds friendship along the way.

My homeschool pod of 4 and 5 year olds is finishing up the 4th book in the series and we’d love to celebrate with others who have read or are currently reading books in the series. All ages are welcome!

What to expect:
⭐️ Dress as your favorite character! Make your own costume or just use what you already have at home. It’s the process that makes it special!
⭐️ Heartwood Hotel inspired snacks (Did someone say seedcakes?)
⭐️ Crafts, games, music! A simple and fun time celebrating the joy of a good book.

This week, Q was finishing telling me a story about a conflict she’d had with a friend. Her face scrunched up as she indignantly remarked, “And THEN, they tried to cheer me up!” As if to say, can you believe someone would do such a thing?

She went on to tell me that when someone tries to cheer her up before her sadness has finished “getting out,” it actually makes her more sad.

“That makes sense to me,” I said. “I imagine your friend was trying to be a good friend because they wanted you to be happy. Some people think it’s better to be happy all the time. But that’s not true, because we also feel other things, like sadness, and it’s important to let those feelings out too.”

“Yeah, we can’t just feel one thing all the time,” she replied. “I want to feel all my feelings.”

From the mouths of babes.

Our children are whole, unique, complex people that experience a full range of emotions. Rushing our children out of emotions that make us feel uncomfortable does not make the feeling go away. It doesn’t make it better. It’s an effort to relieve *ourselves* of our own discomfort and in many cases, like Q shared with me, it actually just makes things worse.

What resolves a difficult feeling is allowing it actually be…felt.

In my own personal growth journey, I’ve come across the idea that we can accept the feelings of others to the degree that we can accept the same feelings within ourselves. Accepting the difficult feelings of others begins with our relationship with our own feelings. Our eagerness to change difficult emotions into more cheerful ones is a call to look inward. To see which of our own feelings are asking to be seen.

I am so grateful for the wisdom these children carry and the gift to receive it.

Last week B announced that he wanted to work on tying shoelaces during his “just right job” time. This was one of the first times he had been so forthcoming with something he wanted to learn, so I ran with it. The next school day, we started with the first step. He was eager to participate and excited to share that he had already been practicing at home too.

Fast forward a few days. We’re gearing up for our morning meeting and I asked the kids to pick out whatever shoe they wanted to use for shoelace practicing today. My husband, “Mr. Matt,” is a bit of a celebrity in this house and they really love practicing on his bright red Chuck Taylors. But this time, B’s shoulders slumped, his face got all grumpy, and his hands tucked firmly into his arms. “I don’t want to do that. I’m not doing that today!”

Hmm. What’s going on here? I thought this is what he wanted to learn?

“What’s going on, bud?” I asked, as I sat down next to him. “I just don’t want to today.” I had a lot of thoughts swirling around, including some urges to remind him that this was actually his idea. But I resisted and said, “Oh, ok. Well, you don’t have to. We’re going to practice in morning meeting and you can try too if you want, or you can just watch and listen. Whatever you choose is fine. Go ahead and choose a shoe to bring with you in case you change your mind.”

Reluctantly, he joined the group. Each time he reminded me that he wasn’t going to do it, I reminded him that he didn’t have to. But, as often happens when a child has the power to make their own decision, within a matter of minutes, he was eagerly maneuvering shoelaces in his fingers. All the grumps had seemingly disappeared.
(Continued in comments)

This experience has been a dream come true for me! If you or someone you know has children in the 5-7 year range and is looking to try something different, message me 💕

Do you wish your child spent less time sitting at a desk and more time exploring their own interests, at their own pace? Do you dream of giving your children an alternative schooling experience but don’t have the time or desire to do it yourself? Do you feel that the traditional school system isn’t working for us anymore but you’re not sure what other options there are?

Find Your Way Home School is a homeschool pod for children ages 5-7 that meets in a home environment in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood in Charlotte, NC. Children enjoy a homeschool experience with the added benefit of a consistent social group where they can also build meaningful social skills and relationships. Children are exposed to developmentally appropriate experiences that allow them to learn through play and explore ideas and concepts at their own pace. Jodi, mom and former teacher, builds learning experiences around the children’s natural interests.

We are currently enrolling for the 2022-2023 school year. Please inquire for more information!

Do you wish your child spent less time sitting at a desk and more time exploring their own interests, at their own pace? Do you dream of giving your children an alternative schooling experience but don’t have the time or desire to do it yourself? Do you feel that the traditional school system isn’t working for us anymore but you’re not sure what other options there are?

Find Your Way Home School is a homeschool pod for children ages 5-7 that meets in a home environment in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood in Charlotte, NC. Children enjoy a homeschool experience with the added benefit of a consistent social group where they can also build meaningful social skills and relationships. Children are exposed to developmentally appropriate experiences that allow them to learn through play and explore ideas and concepts at their own pace. Jodi, mom and former teacher, builds learning experiences around the children’s natural interests.

We are currently enrolling for the 2022-2023 school year. Please inquire for more information!

This morning, were singing silly songs and enjoying each other. I modeled playing Miss Mary Mack with Q and then played the song for us all to give it a try. J and B were nearly falling over with laughter as they kept missing each other’s hands as they tried to clap.

Suddenly, J hugs his knees into his arms, buries his head and shouts a firm, “No!” We were caught by surprise but after a few nudges to give it another try, J was not budging. He retreated even further and turned his back.

I’ll be honest - I was frustrated. The energy was fun, we were practicing some new skills, laughter filled the air, and now it was over. B and Q had also lost interest in the game so I let J have some space and helped transition the others.

A few minutes later I sat near J and asked if he wanted to come sit with me. Without speaking, he came to my lap. Q joined us.

“It looked like you were having fun playing Miss Mary Mack and then all of a sudden, you weren’t having fun anymore.” J nodded. “You know what I’m wondering? I’m wondering if you had *that* feeling. The feeling that comes when you’re learning something new and it’s so hard because you don’t know how to do it yet.” This isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation, so J gave me a knowing look and nodded again.

“That’s your body letting you know you’re learning. There may be a voice inside that says ‘This is new! It’s too hard! I can’t do it!’ But there’s always another voice that says ‘You’re learning. Take your time. You’ll get it.’

Q chimed in to remind him of all the times she remembered him learning something new. And how good it feels when you finally get it.
***continued in comments***

This morning I hid some bundles of sticks around the house for the kids to find and count. When J found one near the top of a doorway, he jumped up, stretching his fingers towards the sticks. When it was clear that they were out of reach, Q jumped in and said “Looks like we’re going to need some teamwork for this one!”

They tried many different ideas, each kid having a turn to run the show. I was nearby, but they never turned to me for help. J was eventually successful in retrieving the bundle after a particular suggestion from B.

As J got the sticks, a knowing smile spread across B’s face as he said, “I always think of something, don’t I?”

My heart skipped a beat when I heard him. Those are the exact same words they’ve heard *me* say hundreds of times. When I nudge them towards solving their own problem and they’re inevitably reaching frustration level, I often offer these words as encouragement. “It’s so frustrating when you can’t figure it out right away, but I know you - you always think of something.”

In the moment, these words nearly always go unanswered, save a side eye and furrowed brow. But today I got a little validation that the stories we tell our children about who they are and what they’re capable of really do sink in.

May I be more and more aware, mindful, and intentional about the messages, both explicit and implicit, I give to my children about themselves. ❤️

Today J spent some time chopping sticks in half with a garden spade. After a while, he picked up one of the small pieces and turned it over in his hand, examining it from every angle.

He walked over to me, with the broken stick in hand, and said “I’m interested in this. Can we learn about it?”

And man, if that’s not what it’s *all about*.

Self-directed, life long learners are people who are in tune with and able to identify their own interests. They’re people who are ushered towards, instead of away from, their curiosities. They exist with an awareness of what’s going on around them and resist the efforts of others to distract them away from that.

My dream for our children is that they’re able to know the longings of their hearts and minds and pursue it passionately. If there is hope for that, I can’t spend a lifetime diverting children away from the very thing I hope for and somehow expect it to happen when they flee the nest.

My reply to J was, “Sure. What questions do you have?” He spent the next few minutes wondering aloud as I wrote down his questions. The others shortly joined and added in their own questions as well.

Here’s to believing children when they tell you what they’re interested in and joining them in their path to learning

Last winter, I decided to pick up knitting. I’ve been crocheting for many years now but always wanted to learn to knit and I finally committed to learning.

I started with a kid sized scarf and then moved on to making hats for my family. After many, many YouTube videos, starting and then starting over, I finally finished 3 hats over the course of several months.

A few days ago, I grabbed my crochet hooks and sat down to crochet a hat for my mom. The yarn glided through my fingers and my brain and body sank into the repetitive motions . Unlike the knitted hats, where each stitch required thinking and effort, these stitches were easy, calming, effortless.

As adults, we can sometimes lose touch with the discomfort that is part of the learning process. The bridge between not knowing and knowing, between skill deficit and skill proficiency, is a path laid with frustration, discomfort, repetition, setbacks and uncertainty.

Being “smart” isn’t a prerequisite for being a lifelong learner. Being a lifelong learner is about maintaining a sense of curiosity and learning to sit with the frustration and discomfort that comes when you follow that curiosity into a learning experience. Indeed, learning new things is a practice in frustration tolerance.

It was so lovely to sit and crochet into the evening. As the hat grew, my mind calmed - a meditation of sorts. This is special and valuable. But I would never have this experience without walking that bridge *between* knowing and not knowing. The middle part - that’s where learning happens.

Life long learners are people who are familiar with the learning process. So familiar, in fact, that it’s enjoyable, like an old friend. If we dream for our children to enjoy a lifetime of learning, we must allow them to stay in the process. We must scaffold experiences to build their tolerance for frustration and be careful not to rush them into “mastery.”