I love finding new math games for kids.
Over the years, we’ve used math games in our homeschool to explore new math ideas, review math concepts in fun and engaging ways, and just have fun as a family!
The coolest part of playing a math game -- as opposed to doing math worksheets or even reviewing online -- is that your kid is engaging more parts of their brain when they play.
And today I want to introduce you to another math game that I find different from all the others AND it definitely will work your mental math muscles.
It’s called Numbers League -- a card game with superheroes, villains, and lots and lots of elementary and pre-algebra math review.
When you combine mental math AND a great game, what’s not to love?
(BTW: They also have an app to play the game as well. You can check out the app here.)
Want to keep reading instead of watch? Scroll to read a transcript of the video.
NOTE: I was compensated to write this review, but my opinion is completely my own and I only recommend things that I absolutely love!
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7 Ways to Create a Homeschool That Works (and you LOVE!)
Transcript
Hello ToriAnn Perkey here and from my homeschool to your homeschool today, I want to talk about a really fun game that helps your kids learn, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction with superheroes. So with the Avengers movies and all the other superhero movies that are coming out these days, superheroes are a big deal. And the idea that you can have a math game that practices all of these basic skills while playing the superheroes is just super fun. I get so, so, so excited.
Okay, so the game is called Numbers League and it has got a lot of fun pieces. So the basic premise is that you build superheroes to capture the villains and your superheroes can have additional help in this in different tools that they get that make it easier to accomplish the task. Which is to capture the villains as the basic premise of the game.
But if it were just that, maybe it would be just so so, but the way this game is put together is so much fun. It is a card game. And let me show you the different pieces. First of all, let’s talk about the villains. The villains come in three pieces. They come in heads like this. And I am going to just tell you right now, I love the graphics. So here is a head. You need to know that all of the graphics are amazing. And then there are bodies and then there are legs. And so as you are getting your different cards in your hand, you are getting various bodies, various heads and various legs. And I do not know if you have ever had one of those games when you were a kid where you could flip the, uh, the different parts of the book and create different characters. Well, it is that kind of concept.
So your first goal is to create a superhero and all the graphics lineup together. So you get this superhero character that looks like this. We can build them any way you want. So you might end up with a superhero that looks like this, or he might have, you know, different heads, different body. And you'll notice on these cards there is a number. See there is a two, there is a one, there is a three. And the numbers vary depending on the card. It is not like all the heads are twos or anything like that. And based on how the numbers line up on the superhero after you have built it, is the numbers that you have to work with. And you can add the numbers together. You can multiply the numbers, you can add two numbers and then multiply them with the third number. There are all kinds of ways to do that.
So you are creating numbers, a full number based on the superhero. So in this case it would be two plus one plus three. So that would be six, right? So this is a number six. Now to capture a bad guy, you have the bad guys are already set out and you have two kinds of bad guys. You have the blue bad guys and the green bad guys. The green bad guys, the pictures the same, but you'll notice that the number is different. And that is because the green side, they are easier to play with. And the blue side, they are harder to play with. And here we have a green side. It is a 15 and it goes all the way into the negatives with this game is the negative four and so we take the superhero which has now been built and we have a six and we can do different things with that six I am not going to go into all the rules, but I will link in with the video to places where you can learn how to play.
But based on different combinations of that six you then capture this 15 card or you capture this 38 card. The one extra card that shows up in this game that I love are these booster cards and they are the superheroes extras. So you have here, you have a ray gun. I think that is, I do not know what that is. And it is a times three who you have boots, it's a plus 10 and these can be added to the superhero. So instead of a six you might have a six times three is 18 or you might have a six plus 10 is 16 so you're constantly doing all this mental math while you play. And I have to be honest, I was playing with my son and my brain was doing this as it was trying to figure out how to make different combinations with my superheroes to be able to capture the villains.
Now let me just tell you a couple of reasons why I really, really liked this game. And again, I didn't go into all the rules and you can check out the link below to check out the links for the rules. But first of all, I love the fact that it really pushes the mental math in a fun, different kind of way and the graphics are so much fun. I love that your brain and their brain is going to have to work really, really hard. It's great for upper elementary and even middle school where they're still learning how to do that. I love that.
There are lots of ways to play with the cards so you can play the basic game, but how do you receive this game? Initially when my kids were much younger, we probably would have started by just building superheroes and building superheroes and we would have practiced just adding the numbers together and seeing what happens when we put different superheroes together.
That alone would have been so much fun. I know that some of my kids would have sought out the cards that match to create the superhero with all the same character traits. You know what I mean? So I love the fact that I can do that. You can play a timed version of the game. You can play an untimed version of the game. You could play where you are just playing collaboratively and you are trying to capture and you are all on the same side. Or you can play the competitive way, which is the way the game is originally set out.
I also really love that the game feels really high quality. This is not, I mean this is built by a family who does not put out a lot of games and so it is not like they have a ton of resources behind them, but they have put a lot of time and effort into this game. And it comes across in the quality of the cards, the quality of the artwork across the board. I love this. I love the effort that they've put into this game .
And I will tell you there are a couple things about the game that as I was playing I thought, mm. There are a couple of things that I just struggled with just a little bit and they are not deal-breakers. I just wanted to let you know. The first one is I do think it is a little complicated to learn the instructions that they sent. We really had to kind of wrestle a little bit with the instructions. Although I will say we did not go watch a YouTube video that just talked us through how to play. I think if we had done that, it actually would have been a lot easier, but we were trying to read the printed instructions and it just took a little bit of time to figure it out.
Once we figured it out, super easy to play and I could sit down and play it again right away. But it did take a little bit of time to figure out. The instructions I was sent, that came with the game I got, were a little tricky to read. Just, because of the way they were formatted, but it could be that they have upgraded it since then based on when you're watching this video. So I'm just going to put that in there as a caveat.
I did find that as you are playing, the more superheroes you build, it gets a little challenging to keep track of all the different numbers. And maybe if you are really good at math, that would not be hard. But I think for a kid that might be a little tricky. So if we, as we continue to play, one of the things that we plan on doing is having some kind of piece of paper with us to just track the numbers, all the different superhero amounts so it moves the game along just a little bit faster.
I do think that a mathy kid will love this game. My mathy kid was like "That was awesome. Let's play again". I think a non mathy kid would benefit from doing a more collaborative style of playing possibly just because it was a little stressful because there was so much mental math and if we had been playing together. I think we could have had a lot of fun practicing those skills and they would have just had a little bit more support as they had played along.
Definitely. Definitely, definitely like this game. I just want to make another side note that they actually also have developed an app that you can download and you can play the game in an app format instead of with cards. So if you are more inclined to want that tech side as opposed to something physical you can hold in your hands. The app is another great way to go and I will leave a link to the app in the comments. All right you guys, this is Number Leagues. This is my review. I think this is a great addition to any family that is looking to do mental math with their homeschooler in their homeschool. I hope you enjoy it. I am ToriAnn Perkey and I make these videos every week so that you can be a successful and confident homeschool mom.
Do you remember learning about the Transcontinental Railroad in school as a kid?
I do. I remember being fascinated by the race between the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific.
I remember thinking it wasn’t fair that the Central Pacific didn’t have to go nearly as far … until I learned they had to blast their way through the Sierra Nevadas.
And I actually remember being super excited as a kid that they met at Promontory Point in Utah to drive the final golden spike -- because I lived in Utah!
But, I ALSO remember my textbook being really boring -- with black and white pictures and dry text.
Which is why I’m so excited to share this new book called Echoes of Hammers and Spikes.
It’s EVERYTHING that I want in a living history book to teach the Transcontinental Railroad to my kids.
Engaging text written by professional storytellers.
Brand new, commissioned songs to go along with each chapter.
Enhanced audio version of the book -- including background music and engaging narrators.
Lesson plans and study guide questions are available to download as well.
Seriously -- whether you’re teaching Utah history or American history, this book is AMAZING!
Want to keep reading instead of watch? Scroll to read a transcript of the video.
NOTE: I was compensated to write this review, but my opinion is completely my own and I only recommend things that I absolutely love!
Register below to watch my FREE CLASS
Confident Homeschool Secrets
7 Ways to Create a Homeschool That Works (and you LOVE!)
Transcript
Hello ToriAnn Perkey here and from my homeschool to your homeschool, today I want to talk about a new resource that's just come out that is amazing at teaching the history -- American history at the time of the transcontinental railroad. It's called Echoes of Hammer and Spikes. And this is unlike anything I've ever seen. You guys, I am so excited to talk to you about this today.
Okay, so this book was put out by a man named Clive Romney, along with Sam and Susan Payne. I want to make sure I said all their names right. And their goal was to teach the history of the transcontinental railroad in a new and different kind of way.
And so I'm going to go through all of the different pieces that are included in this book. And I'm going to tell you, if you're looking to teach this time period of history, if you're looking to teach American history this year, if you're looking to really involve different kinds of learning styles, different kinds of interests, this is going to rock your homeschool.
I can't even tell you how excited I am about this. I rarely get a new resource and every time I turn a page or find one more piece of it, my mind just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. I thought I'd seen it all. This one blows it out of the water.
Okay, so to start with this book, it has 20 chapters, so it covers each piece of the transcontinental railroad in a chapter. And I love that this book does a really good job, because it is so new, it does a good job of covering all the different facets of the history. So each chapter is kind of from a different perspective. So there's a chapter on the Chinese immigrants that worked on the railroad. There's a chapter on the big bosses. There's a chapter on Abraham Lincoln. There's a chapter on the Mormons. And every single chapter covers a different focus.
So first of all, here you go, clear, beautiful design pages. Lovely, lovely text. The first thing I would do is I would just be sitting down and reading this with my kids. I want to make sure you guys get a good idea of what this looks like. The really, really strong graphics. The text is easy to read. It's conversational. Clive Romney and Sam Payne are both storytellers, so they know how to tell a good story.
Now, if this is where this book stopped, then it would just be another history book, but it doesn't. The second thing that they have done is that every single chapter has a song that's attached to it -- a brand new commissioned song by a professional artist. And I fell in love with these songs. Oh my goodness. Different styles. Many of them have kind of a folk song feel because that's the time period.
These boxes in the book go through and talk a little bit about why the artist chose-- who the artist is that chose to write the song. They chose to write the song -- mostly what the artist's inspiration was -- kind of what their creative process was. And then also the lyrics to the song. The book comes with a CD that you can download but you -- that you can put and listen to. Or you can go to the website once you've purchased the book and you can actually download all of the songs and put them on your phone or an mp3 player or whatever.
And these songs are good enough that if you just wanted to put them in the car and play the songs, it would be an engaging soundtrack to listen to for this time period of history. So there's songs that go with each chapter by different artists and then there's the book, but we're not done yet.
They've also put out a series of discussion questions that you can ask your kids that go with every single chapter. So you have a little bit of that educational support after you've read the chapter. If you want to have some questions-- you want to have your kid just look at the questions and then answer them, either writing them-- or you know what I mean? Like if you want to turn it into assignment, they have that piece.
And they also are in the process-- and they haven't quite finished this yet but by the time you're watching this video, they might have -- they're in the process of creating an enhanced audio version of every single chapter where the chapters are not only read but it's also got music in the background, and it's got the song attached to it, and it's all kind of blended together. And I listened to some of the early releases of those, and again, I was blown away by the quality, the intensity, the beautiful package that this book is.
So if you want to explore this chapter of American history, you want to explore this chapter of Utah history, or you're just looking for a really great way to make history come alive in your homeschool, this is going to be a product that you want to get. I promise you, you won't be disappointed.
I'm going to leave a link to access, you know how this works, up above or down below-- you know, wherever you're watching this video. I'm telling you this is one you want on your shelves. It's going to be something you look at over and over again.
I'm ToriAnn Perkey, and from my homeschool to your homeschool, I make these videos every week so that you can be a successful and confident homeschool mom.
Homeschool record keeping … you know you should do it.
But after the homeschool planning and the homeschool doing, finding the time and the energy to remember and want to record what actually happened can feel exhausting and overwhelming.
And no matter how many free homeschool record keeping templates you download, you never quite get around to really making them work.
Never fear! There is hope.
While I’ve never been perfect at documenting our homeschool, I will say that over the years, I have been fairly successful at capturing the overall picture of what we have done.
I’m really lucky to live in a state where I don’t have to submit any kind of records, so the record keeping is purely for me. But I still think keep track of what we’re doing in our homeschool is important.
So today I’m sharing 5 simple ways you can create records for your homeschool. I’ve done all of these methods during the last 15 years, and I don’t necessarily have a favorite.
But I’m so so so glad that I took the time to keep track of what we did along the way. Now that my kids are older, I love reminiscing and remembering our homeschool over the years … from when we were first starting out and I had mostly toddlers and babies, to just last year when I had everyone still at home and they were all teenagers.
Seriously … even if you are super disorganized or overwhelmed, one of these 5 ways can work for you!
Want to keep reading instead of watch? Scroll to read a transcript of the video.
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7 Ways to Create a Homeschool That Works (and you LOVE!)
Transcript
Hello, this is ToriAnn Perkey, and from my homeschool to your homeschool, today I want to talk about 5 simple ways that you can record your homeschool.
So there's a lot of conversation in the homeschool world about planning, about deciding what you're going to do, getting all set up. I don't know that we spend quite as much time talking about recording. And depending on where you live, you may or may not be required to record. And if you're not required to record, then it is something that is easy to not get around to because you're so busy actually doing the homeschool thing.
And so today I want to talk about 5 simple ways to do it. And the reason I'm making this video and I'm talking about this is because recording your homeschool can be really important for a couple of reasons.
Now, first of all, you may live in a state where you do actually have to keep records and turn those in. And if that's the case, then you're going to need probably a more extensive system than something that I'm going to talk about today. But there's a lot of places where that is not required.
So why else would you record your homeschool? Well, first of all, when you record your homeschool, it gives you a place to go back and look on those days -- or even those weeks -- when you're thinking, Why am I doing this? Why am I putting myself through the stress and the struggle and the frustration and ... ? Or you're thinking, I'm failing at this. I'm not doing well. We're not making any progress.
When you're feeling like that, if you have a record, you can go back and you can look at it and you can remember the high points. You can remember that, Oh yeah, it used to be that my child couldn't read and now they can read. Or it used to be that we were struggling and struggling and struggling to learn how to do, you know, long addition. And now my kid is way past that. You know, whatever it is that you have progressed through, a record helps you remember. Because we as human beings are really bad at remembering. We think we'll remember, but we don't. So having a record helps you do that.
The other reason that you might want to keep a record is particularly as your kids get older, they're going to start to apply for things. They're going to want to be in things, and sometimes it's really, really helpful to be able to go back and see what they actually did. And because, again your memory is fallible, which means that it will be helpful if you have something to reference. But having said that, we need to keep record keeping simple, otherwise you can go crazy trying to keep up with the planning and the doing and the record keeping.
So now we're going to get into 5 simple ways to do record keeping. You ready? All right, number 1. Get a journal. Doesn't have to be fancy. It can be the cheap one that you picked up at the discount store, or it can be a nice leather bound one, whatever. And just jot down a few things as many as many times a week as you can remember to do it. You might want to set an alarm on your phone or something. And I'm not talking about pages and pages of journal entry. It could simply be the highlight of the day or one thing you noticed, one success, one thing you wish you'd done differently. So it's more of a reflective journal than otherwise.
Now you can keep a journal like that in paper form, like I said, or you can also keep it on your phone. You could put it in a Google doc, you could put it in any one of those record keeping systems that store it up in the cloud. And then you just add a little bit every single day or as often as you remember. So the first suggestion I have is to do some kind of just mini journal, mini journal. Remember, we're going to keep this simple.
Okay, number 2. The second thing that you could try is take a picture every day with cameras in our pockets and in our hands all day long. Because let's be honest with one another, we all kind of have our phones with us all the time. It's so easy to take a picture. And it doesn't have to be an Instagram worthy picture. It's a picture of whatever you happen to do that day. Maybe it's a picture of the mess after the activity was over. Maybe it's the finished art project. Maybe it's the messy hands. Maybe it's just the kids sitting on the couch reading. Or maybe it's just a selfie that you take with you and your kids as you're driving in the car.
If you take a picture, then you start to have a record of just the dailiness of homeschool and all of the things that go along with that. And then you can store those in the cloud again, or you can put them on one place on your computer, hard drive. And you can just go back through those and they can be a recollection of the memories that you've made throughout your homeschooling. So that's number two. Take a picture as often as you can, possibly every day.
All right, number 3. The third easy way to do simple record keeping is to make comments on your lesson plan. So if you have somewhere that you're keeping track of what you want to do every day, then in the margins or down-- if there's a space provided, you're just going to jot down again, How did things go today? Well, Johnny read four letters, or I was really excited because we actually had an activity where everybody had a good time. Whatever it is, you're going to just jot a few thoughts.
It's similar to number one with the journal except that it's put in the lesson plan. It's combined with the planning so you can go back and you can see not just what you did but also what you had planned to do. The bonus of this particular system is that you can often see how maybe the plan for the day didn't necessarily line up with what actually happened, but maybe it was still good day. And maybe it wasn't. And if it wasn't a good day, jot that too.
Because part of the process of record keeping is to see the good, the bad and the ugly. And if you're able to see that there were not such great days but you got through them and then you had another great day, it helps program your mind to remember there's another good day coming. So number three is to just jot a couple notes in the margin or in a space provided in your lesson planner.
Number four, the fourth way to do some easy record keeping in your homeschool is to do video or audio. So you get your phone out and you push the little record button on the audio record app that you can put on your phone and you just take a journal -- you just talk for a few minutes about the good and the bad and everything in between.
Or you take a video of some of the things that are happening during the day with you narrating in the background. Another way to handle this is to actually hand the phone over to your child or your children and say, Hey, just talk today about what happened. Give a couple of sentences. Again, we're not making this to be a movie. You're making this as a record, as a keepsake.
And one of the benefits is that audio and or video capture so much more than words. They capture personality, they capture the tone of the voice, they capture the stages that your child is in. It's kind of like a big trove of family history, all squished into that little homeschool package. And because homeschool does actually bleed into all parts of our lives, you'll actually get a capture-- You'll actually end up capturing what is going on on a regular basis just in your home.
And again, we're not doing this all the time. We're doing this whenever you remember. And if it's important to do it regularly because you do want that record, you know, set a reminder on your phone or something like that to help you remember. You just want to put five minutes into this at some point during the day. So number four is actually to use video or audio and then to store that somewhere in one place where you can find it. Okay?
Number five, the fifth way that you can do some simple record keeping in your home is to create some kind of portfolio. Now when I say portfolio, sometimes what happens is we think about the kind of portfolio that has to be turned in, which means that it will be beautifully decorated and all formatted and in order. And that is not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about the kind of portfolio where you get a binder and you just have sheet protectors or even a three hole punch and you just throw things in as they're created. This is especially fun to do when your kids are creating lots of things in art or they're sitting down and writing simple stories and as they get older they can put their papers that they write in there or you can print out pictures of things you've done. So it becomes kind of like a scrapbook.
Or even simpler -- I think of this as a portfolio, but I think of it as as a vertical portfolio rather than as a book -- is to get a bin and as people, as people in your home, as children create things to put them in the bin and you store it archaeologically. So if you want to be able to go through and see when that program happened or when that child made that art project, what's at the top will be what was created most recently. And then you go down from there and you just store things. And again, don't store everything, right? As prolific artists, prolific writers, you can't store everything. We are going to store the things that have meaning.
And anything you store, take a minute to just date and write a sentence on it about what it is. Because again, when you look at it five years from now, you think you'll remember, but you won't. So there you have it. That's the fifth one. Create some kind of portfolio, either either in a notebook or a binder or archeologically in a bin.
Five ways to do simple record keeping. Because when you keep records, you remember, and when you remember, you are able to have a better perspective. You're able to have a healthier attitude about your homeschool, and you'll also be able to look back and remember and enjoy all of the good experiences that you are slowly accumulating on your homeschool journey. I'm ToriAnn Perkey, and from my homeschool to your homeschool, I make these videos every week so that you can be a successful and confident homeschool mom.
(Note: This post was originally written in 2012 for an old blog I used to write.)
Despite what you might think, teaching handwriting to your seven year old isn’t as difficult as it might seem. (Ha!)
Just follow these eight easy steps . . .
Decide that your seven year old needs to learn how to correctly form her letters, despite her hesitancy to try anything new and hard. Determine that her resistance to handwriting is actually a product of fear–and not because she is incapable or unready. Determine that this is something you feel ready to require her to do.
Spend an afternoon looking through your boxes and shelves of curriculum for the handwriting workbooks you were given years ago. After a fruitless search, determine that you must have given away that curriculum at some point because you decided you didn’t believe in workbooks any more.
Use several days of free time to research handwriting curriculums online. Read reviews–both positive and negative–of several of the most popular. Ultimately decide that your money is better spent on other materials.
Spend another evening searching for free internet resources for handwriting. Become intrigued by a website called Amazing Handwriting Worksheet Maker and play around with what it can do late into the night. Decide that it’s usefulness is limited by the fact that you don’t want to be tethered to the computer anytime you want your daughter to do handwriting AND you don’t want to waste a ton of ink and paper printing out disposable worksheets.
Realize that you have a whiteboard with handwriting lines printed on it. Why didn’t you think of that before???
Use a Sharpie to write “permanent” letters that you want your daughter to practice. Start with dots that she can trace. Then just a starting dot. Then a blank space. Ask her to also do her work in Sharpie, so it doesn’t accidentally rub off. When she’s done, you can use rubbing alcohol and a rag to erase her work.
Duck . . . as the whiteboard comes flying at you from across the table.
Obviously, you underestimated how intensely your daughter feels about trying new things. Spend the rest of the day thinking up extra jobs for your daughter to do to work through her inability to control her temper.
Smile as your daughter settles into the new routine–trying one new letter a day–while reviewing the ones she has already learned. Praise profusely as she draws a smiley face on each letter she thinks looks the best.
Secretly pat yourself on the back for not giving up despite your daughter’s initial reactions. Realize that sometimes mom’s really do know best.
In a moment of self-reflection, ask yourself why you always have to make things so much more complicated than they actually have to be.
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7 Ways to Create a Homeschool That Works (and you LOVE!)
We’ve always been a fan of using math games in our homeschool to practice math facts. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division … if there was a game, I wanted to play it instead of reviewing in more conventional ways.
I also wanted to find games that weren’t “just” practice … but also were fun and had great replay value.
We’ve tried a lot of games over the years, and only a few have really hit the mark with me and my kids.
Some of these work great for little kids. Others you’ll need your kids to be in elementary math or higher.
And some work great for kids who are all ages with their math. Those are my favorite because everyone can play and have fun!
These are the best math games that we’ve played over and over in our homeschool.
(And don't forget to check out my review page for games and books we love in every homeschool subject.)
7Ate9 is a fast-paced math card game that reinforces addition and subtraction skills.
I love this game because it reinforce mental math in a non-linear way -- great for my “different-thinking” kids. AND it’s fun enough that we pull it out during family game time, not just when we want to do school.
Check out my full review of 7Ate9 HERE or watch the video review below.
Prime Climb is a visually stunning math game that teaches fundamental pre-long division skills, including factors, multiples, and primes.
There’s NO reading in this game so my kids could play easily even if they struggled with words. And the game is so clever in how it visually connects different numbers, I found MY brain learning all sorts of amazing mathematical connections that I hadn’t realized before.
Check out my full review of Prime Climb HERE or watch the video review below.
Zeus on the Loose is a math card game is based in Greek mythology and reinforces addition, subtraction, and skip counting up to 100.
I love how simple it is to play. I love the graphics. I love the history and language arts element. And I love how even my non-mathy girl was willing to play.
Check out my full review of Zeus on the Loose HERE or watch the video review below.
In Sumoku, you review math multiples using a Scrabble-like format.
Not every kid in my home liked this game, but I was surprised that it was my non-mathy but pattern-loving kid who asked to play it the most. Because it focuses on one skill AND because it’s slower paced (read: no speed in this game), I think it appeals to a different kind of learner.
Check out my full review of Sumoku HERE or watch the video review below.
The visually exciting cards in Tiny Polka Dots help build number sense for preschool kids and kids with special needs.
Polka Dots is made by the same game designer that made Prime Climb, so the minute I saw it, I knew that the quality and the graphics were going to be superb. I was thrilled to also find that the variety of cards and the different ways of playing also far exceeded my expectations.
There are soooo many things you can do with these cards -- from learning to count, to visually practicing basic addition and subtraction, to finding number patterns.
Seriously -- I feel like the possibilities are endless.
(I loved this game so much, I bought two copies even though my kids no longer needed to really learn these skills. One I gave to my sister who uses it all the time with her preschool aged kids. The other I’m saving … I’m SO excited to be able to put it to really good use when I start to have my grandkids come over.)
At first glance, Tenzi seems like a simple game ... roll 10 dice and try to match the instructions on one of the cards.
But with so many options (many of which require some kind of math), this is a game that kids of all ages can enjoy playing together.
Some cards require you to color or pattern sort. Other cards require you to add or subtract or find multiples.
You can buy the Tenzi cards separately if you already have dice -- but remember you'll need TEN of one kind for each person playing. I did not buy Tenzi dice when we purchased the cards. Instead, we bought a set of 10 dice like this to save money and to get more dice.
The original game is fast-paced, with you racing against your opponent(s) to get what the card explains. However, not all my kids love competition, so we've played where the goal is for everyone to get their card ... and we all help each other.
And you have the added bonus of acquiring a large number of dice, which opens you up to so many additional (no pun intended!) ways to do math without any specific game. From color sorting for preschool kids to crazy math combinations for older kids, this game has a TON of great ways to play with it!
Superheroes, Villians, and family time! The coolest part of playing mental math games is that your kid is engaging more parts of their brain when they play.
Another math game that I find different from all the others AND it definitely will work your mental math muscles.
It is so much better than trying to teach a skill. This is how to make mental math fun! Love this game.
We don’t own the rest of these games, but they look like sooooo much fun. I wish I had an unlimited budget so that I could just buy and try every game out there.
From what I can tell, these games would check all the boxes for me and are definitely on my short list.
(Some of these are geared toward math skills that are below where my kids are now, but again, I’m hoping that grandkids will be in my future in the next few years … so we get to start the learning fun all over again!)
Proof! is a math game that helps practice mental math skills with all different kinds of equation combinations.
At the most difficult level, you can use all four basic operations, plus square roots and other higher level math.
However, it's easy to simplify the game to only do addition and subtraction, for example, although you might have to removed some cards.
In the easy-to-learn game Clumsy Thief, kids match cards to create piles that add up to 100.
This has a speed element, so not all of my kids would have loved it. But I love the simplicity and learning how the different 5 combinations add up.
This game has been popular enough, that they've also made several variations that may also be interested in.
Monster Sock Factory appeals to me because it review multiplication by focusing on making groups ... which is another way of saying multiples.
You're packing socks based on the the number of legs on your monster, so the variations are endless each time you play.
I love the shape of the cards and the graphics. And I love the name! (What is it about "monster" that just makes things seem like they'll be more fun?)
Superheroes, Villians, and family time! The coolest part of playing mental math games is that your kid is engaging more parts of their brain when they play.
Another math game that I find different from all the others AND it definitely will work your mental math muscles.
It is so much better than trying to teach a skill. This is how to make mental math fun! Love this game.
If you want to check out awesome homeschool resources for other subjects, check out my review page for games and books and toys for every homeschool subject.
Is your homeschool struggling? Do you feel like your homeschool is just not working?
Are you a perfectionist?
I certainly struggle wanting things to be perfect … in my homeschool and in the rest of my life.
I have this vision of what I want things to be. And it can be pretty hard when things don’t go according to plan.
Problem is that when perfectionism shows up in your homeschool, it can completely derail your efforts and make you miserable.
You sit down on the couch with a new read-aloud that everyone raves about -- and your kids proclaim it’s boring within two pages.
You tell your kids to get their math done -- and they spend FIVE hours doing five problems (and whine the entire time).
You plan the perfect activity -- and your kids start to fight as soon as you start to explain how to do it.
You spent the entire morning getting ready to leave for a fieldtrip -- only to have one of your kids meltdown and tell you they absolutely don’t want to go.
Solidarity, Mama … I’ve been there too!
And over the years, I’ve figured out several techniques to help banish perfectionism so that it doesn’t impact my homeschool (most of the time!)
I’ve also created a free download to help you with one of my techniques.
You can grab the Homeschool Declarations here. (It will make sense after you watch the video!)
Want to keep reading instead of watch? Scroll to read a transcript of the video.
Download these Homeschool Declarations -- positive statements that can dramatically shift how you feel about your homeschool everyday.
Transcript
Hello, this is ToriAnn Perkey, and from my homeschool to your homeschool, I want to talk about 3 key ways to banish perfectionism from your homeschool. Because man, perfectionism is going to be the death knell of your homeschool.
Why do I know this? Because I am super guilty of wanting my homeschool to be perfect. I have always just ... I have this vision that, you know, my kids will be perfectly lined up on the couch, and we'll have all the books perfectly aligned, or we'll have the perfect day where everyone will sit and do their homework exactly when I asked them, or the perfect day where we'll do this activity and everybody will love it. I am so guilty of that.
And I've also been guilty of looking around at all the things we're not doing and feeling bad because we don't have that perfect looking homeschool. You know -- we're not taking big trips across the country where we visit historical sites and and stop and read all the plaques and we get to do this big thing -- you know, we're doing big RV road trip. Or you know, I've never mummified a chicken.
AndI look at some of the big projects or the big exciting things that kids are doing in their homeschool. You know, they're building a fort in the backyard. And I think, ah, I'm failing failing my kids because we aren't doing those kinds of things -- even though we're doing other things.
I have so much trouble sometimes looking and saying, okay, that is not us. So how do we banish this perfectionism? Well, I have 3 suggestions. 3 things you can do that will help you shift your mindset just a little bit so that you can feel good about what you're doing and feel better about what you're not doing.
First of all, before I even get into those three things, I just want to remind you, there's actually no perfect way to be a perfect homeschool mom. There is no way to be a perfect homeschool mom. There just isn't. And I know this, even though I fall into this trap, I know this. I can never be a perfect homeschool mom, but there is an infinite number of ways to be a great homeschool mom. And you can figure out one of those infinite ways as long as you're willing to do a few key things.
So the first thing I want to recommend, the first key way to banish perfectionism is to write down what you're doing well, focus on the good. Focus on what you are doing, not what you aren't doing. Don't worry about what you aren't able to accomplish. Spend more time worrying about what you are able to accomplish.
You know, I may not have taken big massive road trips across the country with my children, even though I always wanted to this, that was just never in the cards. But I was really good at creating a system so that my kids could learn how to work. Or I may never have mummified a chicken, but I did build a really cool treasure hunt fort once where they had to go digging to figure out where the treasure was because we were studying tombs in ancient Egypt and pyramids. So if I look at the things I'm doing well, then I can feel less guilty about the things I'm not doing. So that's my number -- My first thing that I recommend is look at what you're doing well and write it down. When you write it down, it becomes concrete and you can look at it and looking at it makes all the difference.
The second thing is remember that your strengths and talents are different than everyone else around you. I remember when I just said that I'm really good at creating a system so that my kids can learn how to work. That's one of my strengths. That may not be one of your strengths. One of your strengths may be letting the mess and the chaos happen while kids are super excited and exploring, and there's goop climbing up the ceiling and you don't care because you're so in the moment with your kids. That's a talent that I do not have, but I honor it in you.
You may be super flexible and so excited and wake up in the morning and spontaneous and say, let's go to this thing that we want to do today. Or you may be really good at sitting on the couch and reading with your kids and snuggling and, and just making everyone feel safe. You have strengths and talents in your homeschool and when you focus on those and you remember those, your homeschool begins to really be the very best version of it. And it's what your kids need.
The third thing I recommend, the third key ingredient, the way to banish this homeschool perfectionism is to focus on growth mindset instead of fixed mindset. And this is something you may have heard of. Fixed mindset is the idea that your mind can't change. That it's fixed. If you are one way, you will always be one way and that can be really, really, really disabling because you feel like no matter how things are, that's how they're always going to be. And growth mindset is this idea that things can change, that you can change, that your mind can change, that the people around you can change.
And when you have that mindset, you recognize that you can learn and grow and continue to do things better and better. I know for a fact that some of the things that I can do now, I could not do 15 years ago when we started homeschooling. It was impossible. And if I could look at myself now and the capacity I have and the things I've learned how to do, I would be amazed. Not because I'm amazing, but because -- or different or unique or special in some way. But because I have 15 years between the beginning me and the now me. And that's because the growth mindset allows me to see how I can grow and change. So if there's something really important, something that's currently missing from your homeschool that you want to start incorporating, then if you embrace this idea that you can, you can start to learn step by step.
You can change, you can grow. It is possible. Now to make this just a little bit easier for you, I have put together a one page set of declarations. I call them Homeschool Declarations. If you don't know what declarations are, they are positive statements that you say on a regular basis. They help rewrite how your brain thinks and they're specifically aligned for that growth mindset and they're totally free. You just need to click on the link up above or down below and you can -- they're part of my Homeschool Help Center. It's totally free and you go there, you find them in that Help Center, and you can print them out. Just something you say every single day to just keep you motivated and going and help you banish perfectionism.
Because remember that you cannot be a perfect homeschool mom, but you can be an excellent homeschool mom in a completely unique way that is only you. I'm ToriAnn Perkey, and I make these videos every week so that you can be a successful and confident homeschool mom.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
When you started homeschooling, you envisioned happy blissful moments of togetherness with your children.
Snuggling on the couch. Finding the wonder in the new things you were learning.
Your kids -- happily around the table learning and growing.
You -- overlooking it all with a blissful, nurturing smile on your face.
And now you don’t know what happened. Nothing seems to be going right.
You drag yourself out of bed in the morning, dreading the coming day. You’re exhausted and ready to quit … and it’s only 10 o’clock in the morning.
There’s crying and yelling and whining.
Maybe you have a homeschooler who refuses to do their work. Maybe more than one!
Maybe you think it’s you -- that you’re failing your children.
And maybe you’re trying to decide if you should stop homeschooling completely and just send them to public school.
If so, here’s the first thing I recommend you do before you do anything else for your homeschool.
Want to keep reading instead of watch? Scroll to read a transcript of the video.
And CLICK HERE if you want to watch Confident Homeschool Secrets.
Register below to watch my FREE CLASS
Confident Homeschool Secrets
7 Ways to Create a Homeschool That Works (and you LOVE!)
Transcript
Hello, this is ToriAnn Perkey, and from my homeschool to your homeschool, I want to talk about the number one thing I recommend to do if your homeschool isn't working.
Now, when you started homeschooling, of course you had these grand visions of perfect days and blissful children sitting on the couch snuggling or doing fun science experiments.
And sometimes the reality is that when the rubber hits the road, it doesn't look like that at all. And that can be really discouraging, really frustrating.
There's tears. The kids aren't cooperating. You think you're failing. Super normal. It happens almost to everyone. So what can you do about that? What can you do so that you feel just a little bit better about your homeschool so that you can keep going?
Well, the number one thing I recommend you do is step back and take a break. Take a deep breath, stop what you're doing and reassess.
So what does that look like? That means that no matter where you are, how far you've gotten, what time of year it is, stop. Because whatever you're doing isn't working. So you need to take time where you're not pushing, pushing, pushing to figure out how to do it differently.
The reason I know this is because I went through this. I'd been homeschooling for a couple of years. My oldest was little, and she had just kind of played. And then I decided we were going to do real school. And we did real school and it fell apart so fast because of the way I was doing it with her.
And so I did the very thing I'm describing. I.we stopped. It was only ... I think the beginning of October. We'd done four weeks or so. We stopped. We stopped doing school. And I just focused on figuring out how I wanted to homeschool. And it's the best time I took. You know, whatever subjects we would have covered in that amount of time was more than made up for in the fact that I actually figured out how to homeschool in a way that was going to work.
And it turned out that our homeschool needed to look radically different than what I had originally planned. Who knew? And I needed to go learn about homeschool styles. And I learned a little bit about her personality and learning styles. I needed to learn those things so that I could create a homeschool that was going to work for her because she was so different, which is why I didn't put her in public school in the first place. But somehow in my mind I got all confused. I was like, "We got to do public school, and it's got to look like this." And I didn't know what I was doing. And so it was only when I got some education and I learned some things, I was able to figure it out. So that's what I recommend. I step back and take some time to figure it out.
Now if you are in this position, I actually have something I would love to offer you to help you. It's a free webinar. It's called Confident Homeschool Secrets. And it's specifically designed to help moms like you who are struggling with your homeschool to figure out what needs to be in place so that you can feel confident and successful. And I go through seven key areas that you can work on and structure differently so you can create a good foundation. It's totally free. You just have to click on the link up above or down below. You know, wherever you're watching this video. Go watch that webinar. It's available right now. You can start right away. And it's going to walk you through those pieces step-by-step.
I'm so excited to offer it to you because I know where you're coming from. I was there. I want you to have an opportunity to feel successful, and this is one of the best ways I know how to do that.
My name is ToriAnn Perkey, and I make these videos every week so that you can be a successful and confident homeschool mom.
Is this your first year homeschooling?
Did you pull your kids out of public school to start this grand homeschooling adventure?
You probably had grand visions of happy kids curled up on couches reading about their favorite subject.
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OR
Gathered blissfully around the table, working through their assignments and asking deep, engaging questions.
And maybe that’s happening for you …
OR maybe you’re finding that many of the issues that showed up during homework time are now showing up during school time.
Why is that?
Because your kid -- your lovely, delightful, beautiful kid who you are so excited to homeschool -- is still carrying all their baggage and issues about learning from their time at public school.
It might be a little baggage -- but it also might be a lot.
It might be directly related to a certain subject. But it might also be related to learning in general.
Regardless, when you are choosing to homeschool, you are choosing a different way of doing things.
That “different way” requires that your kids and you learn a different way of thinking. And it means you all need time to adjust.
In the homeschool world, we call this “detox” or “deschooling.”
What does it mean to deschool or detox?
Check out this video to learn all about deschooling and get several deschooling ideas.
Want to keep reading instead of watch? Scroll to read a transcript of the video.
Register below to watch my FREE CLASS
Confident Homeschool Secrets
7 Ways to Create a Homeschool That Works (and you LOVE!)
Transcript
Hello, my name is ToriAnn Perkey, and from my homeschool to your homeschool, today I want to talk about how to successfully transition your kids from public schooling to homeschooling.
And this is something that a lot of new homeschool moms have to do. You started your kids out in public school and for whatever reason you decided it's time to bring them home. Maybe it's just one kid, maybe it's the entire family. I'm going to talk about some ways that you can think about this so that the transition can be just a little bit smoother.
So first of all, I just know that this transition is not always a smooth ride. It can be bumpy. There's a lot of differences between public school and homeschool, and understanding and appreciating those differences will help you make this transition a little bit better.
You know, public school is very structured. It's very clear that the kids show up at a certain time. They go from point A to point B to point C. They're very directed. You as the mom are more of a support system at home. You're trying to help support with homework. You're trying to help support with projects. But you don't have a lot of say. And for whatever reason, you no longer like that environment.
But when you bring the kids home, the challenge is your kids only know that environment, and you only know that environment. And so ... and probably you're coming from a public school experience yourself. Not everyone. Sometimes you've been homeschooled, but most people who are homeschooling have been public schooled themselves.
I was like that. I never was homeschooled. I only homeschooled my kids, and I've now been doing it for, you know, over 15 years. But when I started I didn't have any frame of reference in mind except for what public school looked like, which was sitting in a desk and being given an assignment with a teacher talking up front.
So one of the first things you can do to help this transition is to recognize that your homeschool will look significantly different than your public school experience. It's not ...don't try to make it look the same. If you do, you'll burn out.
You want your homeschool to look different. You want it to be more organic. You want it to feel like part of ... like an extension of your actual home rather than trying to duplicate school at home. So that's one of the things that I recommend is recognizing that it's different and allowing that home environment to feel more like a home environment and less like public school at home.
Another thing to recognize is that a lot of kids coming from the public school environment are coming out of that with some kind of trauma, big or little. That's probably ... that's often the reason why you're choosing to homeschool. Maybe they've been bullied. Maybe they were struggling in a subject or many subjects. Maybe they -- you recognized that they weren't getting the right kind of attention, that they were smart kids at home, but at school they didn't feel successful because of the way the content was given or the other aspects of that environment. Maybe they have special needs that makes not the learning part hard, but the social interaction or something else, whatever that is.
If a child has not had a perfect experience, and no child has, they're going to need time to adjust. They're going to need time to process and work through the things that they have been through. And so recognizing that means giving time for that to happen.
One of the things that we call that is "detox." To detox from the public school environment -- to relearn how to be at home.
And there's a lot of things that a homeschool kid and a homeschool mom have to learn when you come home. Often these public school kids have to learn how to like actual learning again. Because they aren't forced all the time, they can learn the things that they want to.
Sometimes they have to relearn how to be open and feel safe. Sometimes they have to learn how to interact with material that is actually working for them and to not immediately shut down when you mention a certain subject.
You also have to learn and relearn how to be a mom and a teacher and a student and a child. You're adding different roles in relationships. And so it takes time to make that transition. And when they're coming out of an environment where they have maybe experienced some trauma, they need time to adjust to all of these new things, relearn these things and step into these new roles. So that's another aspect of being aware of that -- will give you time.
Now there's a formula that gets sort of tossed around in the homeschool community. I do not know where it came from, but it seems to hold pretty true, which is for every year that your child was in public school, they will probably need about one month of detox time.
Now what does detox look like? Well, detox doesn't mean doing nothing. Most of the time it means being actively engaged in something, but it may mean not actively engaged in any schoolwork. You may need a child ... may need to spend a lot of time in nature. A detox time may look like reading books on the couch. It may look like ... I knew one family that brought their kid home, and this child had struggled a lot in school. And so for an entire year this mom just had this kid ride horses, and then they just took off and everything was amazing.
Detox can look very individual, but it does mean allowing the child to really step into a place where they can own their education. You can own their education. And together you can figure out these other roles that you're going to play.
Another thing that I recommend is recognizing that learning about homeschooling takes time. You may have been planning this all along, but if you are stepping into this quickly, which can happen, right? One day you're like, "That's it. We're done. We're bringing them home."
You're going to need time to learn how to homeschool. And learning how to homeschool while they're detoxing is a really good match. So be patient with yourself as you're learning these different roles. Be patient as you're learning about curriculum and styles and personality and how to structure your day. Be patient with all of that.
Now, if that is where you are, then I would like to offer you a free class that I've put together. It's called Confident Homeschool Secrets. And I go through a lot of the things we just talked about, structuring a day, creating a vision for your homeschool, pitfalls to avoid. And it's completely free. You just have to click on the link up above or down below, you know, wherever you're watching this video, give me a little bit of information -- you know, name, email, --and I will send that to you, and you can watch it right away.
It's going to lay out how you build a successful foundation for your homeschool so you can feel confident as you step into this new journey that you are going on with your kids. So I'd like to offer that for free. Just click up above or down below.
And you know what? Welcome to the journey. Welcome to this. It is going to be fun and exciting. It will also be hard, but I promise it will be worth it.
I'm ToriAnn Perkey, and I make these videos every week so that you can be a successful and confident homeschool mom.
We LOVE historical fiction in our house! It’s such a fabulous way to make history come alive and for kids to really remember key historical events.
We ALSO love graphic novels …
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Okay - full disclosure - I’ve been a skeptic of graphic novels for years. After all, can it REALLY be great content if it looks like a comic book?!?
But the world of graphic novels is no longer the fluffy “comic book” world! Graphic novels are different kind of storytelling -- using pictures instead of words to give the sense of emotion and setting.
And my dyslexic kids … my visual learners … the ones who struggle to learn through just reading get so much out of graphic novels.
Which is why I was THRILLED to find this series by Nathan Hale called Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales.
This series combines solid history, fabulous graphics, and great sense of humor all in one.
Each book is a treat -- and he is still coming out with new books. So far, the book series includes:
One Dead Spy (Nathan Hale, American Revolutionary War)
Big Bad Ironclad (American Civil War)
Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood (World War I)
The Underground Abductor (Harriet Tubman, Slavery)
Raid of No Return (WWII)
Lafayette (American Revolutionary War)
Major Impossible (Wesley Powell, Exploration of the Grand Canyon)
What do they look like inside? And which are our favorites? Check out the video to find out!
Rather read than watch? Keep scrolling to read a transcript of the video.
Register below to watch my FREE CLASS
Confident Homeschool Secrets
7 Ways to Create a Homeschool That Works (and you LOVE!)
Transcript
Hello, this is ToriAnn Perkey, and from my homeschool to your homeschool, I regret that I must recommend these history books. No, just kidding. I'm super excited to recommend these history books! But I had to start that way because the first one is about Nathan Hale, and Nathan Hale is the patriot at the beginning of the American revolution who before he died said, "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country."
And these books are in fact -- that I'm going to recommend -- are in fact named after him. The very first one is called Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales. You guys, I wholeheartedly just love these books, and I'm so excited to tell you about them today.
First of all, I just want to tell you, they are graphic novels, and I'm a big fan of graphic novels. I think there are a really great way for kids to get information. Obviously you don't want all their reading to be graphic novels, but graphic novels definitely have value.
And for kids who are dyslexic (like mine) for some reason the visual aspect of the graphic novel makes it easier for them to consume the content. So that's the first thing.
The second thing I would do is tell you about the author. His name is actually Nathan Hale, and he is named after the spy that was caught by the British who was then executed by the British. And just as a side note, I feel a personal affinity because I actually went to high school with him. And he was an amazing artist then, and he's an amazing artist now. It's just a little side note.
What I love about these books is the science ... The science ... The history is rock solid. It's so good. The first one is about the American Revolution and the story of Nathan Hale. And what happens in these books ... And the first one sets up the kind of the frame for all of these ... is Nathan Hale's about to be executed. And then he offers to teach history through a big book. And through teaching the history, they decided to stay his execution long enough that he can finish telling his story, kind of like Arabian 1001 Nights.
And so the first one is all about the Revolutionary War. There are eight more books in the series. I believe there are more to come. I'm going to tell you about the two that my kids ... it's their personal favorites, and then I'll tell you the rest.
One is called Lafayette. It's the only other graphic novel in the series that is also about the American Revolution. And this is of course about Lafayette, the French men who came and helped the Americans during the Revolution. The other one is called the Underground Abductor, and it's all about Harriet Tubman. And those two Lafayette and the Harriet Tubman are both ... my kids really do love those.
But there are also books about ... there's a book about World War I. There's a book about World War II. There's one about the Civil War, the Alamo, and there is one about the Donner party. And you guys, this one is called Donner Dinner Party. And here's what's really interesting. It actually gives a warning about a couple of pages to skip if you're extra squeamish about the Donner Party, you know, eating each other. But I didn't find it very graphic at all, which is ironic because it's a graphic novel. It was done so tastefully [!], and all of these books are done so tastefully.
My kids are learning so much history as they read these books. And let me give you an example.
This is the WWI book, Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood, and WWI is a really confusing topic. There's so many countries and so many different things going on, and everybody's aligning themselves with different people.
And he's so cleverly been able to show those distinctions between all the different countries by assigning a different animal to each country. So for example, there's one country that is lions, and one country that's peacocks, and one countries that that's bears. And then as you're reading the book, you're learning about the different storylines that these different ...the roles ... these different countries played in WWI. But you're looking at different animals, you know, dressed up in soldier costumes. You know, look at that. And so you're able to follow the plot plot of WWI much better than if you're just reading about different countries.
So guys, love, love, love these history books. I can't strongly recommend them enough. If they sound like they'd be something that'd be a good fit for your family, go ahead and click on the link up above, down below. You know how this works and check them out. I think you are going to love them.
I'm ToriAnn Perkey, and I make these videos every week so that you can be a successful and confident homeschool mom.
Guilt. Comparison. Envy.
How often do these show up for you as a homeschool mom?
You’ll be taking a break … scrolling through Facebook or Pinterest when suddenly it happens …
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You see some other homeschool mom doing something amazing.
Maybe she’s just posted a picture of how her family of 8 all gathered around the table to mummify a chicken for their unit on Ancient History.
Or maybe she’s showing multiple pictures of their homemade pioneer meal to wrap up reading Little House on the Prairie.
OR ...
Maybe you took a few minutes on Pinterest and ended up saving 50 pins with fun science activities … or tea party ideas … or fieldtrip enhancements …
And suddenly you are feeling Homeschool Envy -- the green-eyed monster that appears at your side telling you that somehow your homeschool will NEVER measure up to all of these other amazing homeschools.
And along with the Envy monster comes his side-kick Homeschool Guilt -- reminding you that you are failing your homeschool kids … that they are not learning anything … that your homeschool isn’t working at all.
In that moment -- what will you do?
How will you battle and win against Homeschool Envy (and get rid of Homeschool Guilt too!)??
You must go back to the beginning.
And this week’s video is all about how to do that.
Rather read than watch? Keep scrolling to read a transcript of the video.
Register below to watch my FREE CLASS
Confident Homeschool Secrets
7 Ways to Create a Homeschool That Works (and you LOVE!)
Transcript
Hello, my name is ToriAnn Perkey, and from my homeschool to your homeschool, today I want to talk about how you can avoid homeschool envy. As long as you're homeschooling, envy can start to creep in.
Envy is when you start looking at all the other things that the homeschool moms are doing, and especially on Facebook or on Pinterest, and you start to just think, "Oh, I want that. I want that for my homeschool. But you start to feel yucky inside because you don't know that there's any way that you could possibly also recreate that in your home."
So today I want to turn the tables just a little bit and get you out of homeschool envy. And the way you want to do that is to talk about the fact that when you are homeschooling, you will always have a buffet of possibilities. You will have so many things in every subject area that you could cover, that you could easily start to feel well overwhelmed or guilty, or just like you're failing because you're not doing even a fraction of everything you see.
And so the cure, the antidote to overcome this buffet overload is to step back and get really, really clear on your priorities, on what's important to you. Because if you can -- if you can look at all of those things and line them up against your priorities, what you think is best for your homeschool, then you'll be able to pick and choose.
Now how do you prioritize? Well, you need to get clear on 1) how your homeschool wants to function. What do you want happening in your homeschool? And that happens through creating a vision. It also happens when you get to know your kids' personalities, their learning styles, all of those things.
And then once you've done that, you can look through and you can say, "Okay, I need to figure out what is the best thing I could do? What's the better thing and what's the good thing? " I like to call it good, better and best. Because there are lots and lots of great options out there. And what you need to figure out is which of the great options fit in this priority scale? And what do I mean by that? Well, let me give you an example.
Let's say you want to study history, and you're looking and thinking about all of the options. Well, "good" for your family, depending on your kids and how they learn, good could actually be doing a really intense, hands-on activity where they're getting their hands dirty and they're making a huge mess. Better might be doing a simple activity that you know you can pick up in 10 minutes and it's not going to make wreak havoc in your home. And best might be just sitting down and telling a story or even watching a YouTube video about that topic.
You see all three of things allow you to accomplish teaching about that subject, but they may not all be the best fit for your family. On the other hand, maybe you know that your kid isn't going to learn a whole lot if they're just watching a video, but they will learn a lot if you do that messy activity, and so you actually swap your good and your best, and your best is the messy activity, and you do less somewhere else.
It all depends on your kid's learning style, your kid's personality, your personality and learning style, your vision for your own school. It depends on all those pieces.
But once you have it, you can prioritize, and you can step out of homeschool envy, and you can feel better because you know that the things you are picking for your homeschool are actually really the best things for your homeschool.
Now, how do you set that vision? How do you figure out your kids personalities and learning styles? Well, I have a free webinar that I'd love to have you check out because I go over exactly those things and several additional things that will help you create a successful and confident homeschool. It's called Confident Homeschool Secrets, and you can sign up for free to watch it right away. Just click on the link up above or down below. You know, wherever you're watching this video, and you can-- it'll shoot into your inbox and you can start watching it as well as soon as right now.
Okay. I just want to end by saying that homeschool envy doesn't have to have you turning green. You can feel confident as you're homeschooling. You can feel good about picking the very best things for your kids. Prioritize, get clear on what your family needs, and you'll be halfway there.
I'm ToriAnn Perkey, and I make these videos every week so that you can be a successful and confident homeschool mom.
