Dr. Marie-Claire Moreau

Educator, Coach, Life Strategist

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Aug 15 2017

Florida field trips your homeschoolers will love!

Ready to hit the road? Remember you were saying you wanted to do more field trips this year?

When it comes to Florida field trips, I’ve got you covered. You’ll definitely want to hold on to this list…maybe print it and store it in the car?

The more I search, the more incredible Florida field trips I stumble upon every year. With a day off and a tank full of gas, there are literally thousands of destinations in the Sunshine State you can share with your family, too!

What I love about field trips is you can correlate them with your studies. But, what I love even more is that it’s okay to just drop everything and have fun on field trips, too! You don’t have to prepare or do follow-up learning unless you want to. For the best experience, just let field trips stand alone, allowing yourselves the pleasure of days off from lessons without the pressure to do anything more.

The List

It wasn’t easy, but I’ve identified some of the best field trips in the state. These are those can’t-miss destinations you’ll definitely want to mark on your calendar!

My criteria was simple — these field trips check all the boxes. But, if these choices aren’t your cup of tea, I’ve got an entire 40-page directory of Florida field trips  you can check out instead!

The Florida Museum of Natural History (Gainesville) is an incredible field trip for every member of the family. You can learn about the flora, fauna, fossils, history and people of native Florida, while enjoying amazing displays and interactive exhibits. My favorite exhibit at the museum is the Butterfly Rainforest, where hundreds of butterflies fly free as you walk along a winding path, thru lush landscaping, enjoying waterfalls, flowers and other small animals who call the rainforest home. With Gainesville also the home of the University of Florida, there are lots of great eateries and other fun places to explore in this area, too. Make a day of it, and explore everything Gainesville has to offer.

A visit to WonderWorks (Panama City Beach or Orlando) is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.  Think of WonderWorks as an amusement park slash arcade slash science center, where people of all ages spend hours creating, imagining, and simulating using hundreds of hands-on interactive exhibits organized in zones throughout the facility.  From the moment you walk through the inversion tunnel, you’ll know you’re in for something truly different. Experience natural disasters firsthand, perform physical challenges, feel what it’s like in outer space, and much more. Hundreds of centers make this a full day activity. Schedule larger groups in advance if you want to explore it with friends.

The Cummer Museum (Jacksonville) is another of my favorite places to visit in the Sunshine State. The Cummer appeals to art enthusiasts, obviously, with its world-class display of over 5,000 pieces dating from 2100 B.C. to the present day. But, the Cummer also has several outdoor acres of stunning historic gardens for strolling, gazing and contemplation. If that isn’t enough, there’s also a large interactive center for creating, touching and listening. If membership interests you, joining the Cummer will also get you in to another 150 other museums throughout the country. Bring a camera and plan to spend at least half the day at this destination. Remember to budget time to visit the trendy cafe and check out the curiosities in gift shop, too.

If you think Disney Springs (Orlando) is nothing more than trendy restaurants and overpriced shopping, think again. While there is no shortage of expensive eateries and designer brand names, the real surprise of Disney Springs comes from discovering all the family-friendly areas and attractions peppered throughout this expansive, newly renovated mall. As a portal to all things Disney Orlando, Disney Springs is a great way to sample Disney and get introduced to Disney on your own terms, with or without passes to the theme parks. At Disney Springs, you can visit family friendly spaces like the carousel, the LEGO store, the splash pad, and enjoy outdoor entertainment pretty much all day, too. Because transportation from all the resorts converge at Disney Springs, if you happen to be staying anywhere at Disney, you’ll avoid navigating the parking facilities and save a whole lot of walking that way, too.

The St. Augustine Visitor’s Center (St. Augustine) is both the launching pad to the rest of the Old City, and a a destination in it’s own right. As the hub of activity in the center of historic St. Augustine, and the area’s largest parking garage, the Visitor’s Center itself also houses varied exhibits of local and historical importance throughout the year. Located just across the famous Castillo de San Marcos (a standing masonry fort), next to a huge public playground (SWING Park) and surrounded by hundreds of attractions of historic and educational significance, the Visitor’s Center is the best place for homeschoolers to start their visit of historic St. Augustine. Check the docket of daily activities, collect as many maps and brochures as you need, and speak to one of the knowledgeable representatives at the Visitor’s Center before setting off for an exciting day of fun and learning around the Old City.

One of Florida’s best kept secrets yet most phenomenal experiences is the guided tour of the robot factory at Sally Corporation (Jacksonville). Sally Corp is a 40,000 sq. ft. facility dedicated to designing, engineering and manufacturing “animatronic” figures for theme parks and attractions like Six Flags and Nickelodeon. Tours take audiences through real life ride simulations and explain the inner workings of their real-life humans, animals and fictional characters. Small groups (reserve in advance) are able to view projects currently in progress as well as participate in interactive games and programs on the factory floor. There is something for everyone at Sally Corporation, and best yet, tours are absolutely free.

A visit to Everglades National Park (Homestead) should be on every Florida family’s list of destinations, perhaps every few years for how much this park has to offer. A visit to the Everglades allows exploring a vast diversity of flora and fauna in many different eco-systems, including freshwater sloughs, wet prairies, tropical hammocks (habitats), coastal lowlands, marine, estuarine, and more. Visitors are exposed to the history of the peoples, conservation, scientific research, and more. It’s important to plan this visit wisely, as it changes with the seasons and covers so much ground. The web site is a great source to start planning, and it contains lesson plans to help explain and/or extend the learning, too.

Driving down the coast toward the Marine Science Center (Ponce Inlet) is a treat in itself. Upon arriving at the Marine Science Center, you’ll be able to choose from different several areas to begin your tour of the area. The turtle rehabilitation area is where sea turtles are cared for to be later released back to the ocean. In the sea bird area, you can view previously injured birds as they recover before being set free, or meet some of the permanent ambassadors who call the center home. The indoor area consists of viewing exhibits, touch and feel centers like a 14,000 gallon stingray pool, other specimens, and a gift shop with someone for everyone.  Nature trails surround the park plus the Center is also within walking distance of Lighthouse Park where your family can enjoy a breathtaking view of the lighthouse while sampling the sand and views along the shoreline.

It’s hard to beat a day at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (Clearwater). With so much to see and do, you’ll want to plan a full day to take in all the activities and exhibits, including otters, nurse sharks, sea turtles, and any temporary residents who live there while awaiting new homes. The aquarium also houses a surgical center, where visitors may get the chance to witness life saving procedures being performed on injured animals. Can’t-miss exhibits at the aquarium include the homes of Winter, the Dolphin from the film “Dolphin Tale”, and Hope, a rescued dolphin who was unfit to return to the wild, but is now flourishing at the center. Boat adventures, close up encounters and behind-the-scenes tours are also available.

Nothing says ‘Florida’ like the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (Titusville). You’ll learn the history of space exploration and hear of modern-day expeditions up close and personal. With so much to do at Kennedy Space Center, I recommend looking at the sample itineraries before deciding how to plan your day. From guided tours to bus tours to personal experiences and even an IMAX, there’s a lot to take in on this field trip. If traveling in the summer, keep an eye on the weather, too, because exhibits may close when skies are particularly stormy.

Check out this awesome list of Florida field trips!

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What I love about this list

What I love about this list is these destinations are great for the whole family. You’ll never have to worry about boredom (yours) or eye-rolling (your teens), since these are great for all ages.

 

For the largest state-wide field trip directory in Florida, check out my latest book, The Ultimate Guide to Florida Homeschooling. It contains another 40 pages of Florida field trips just waiting for you and your family to discover.

 

Know somebody traveling to Florida? SHARE this with them, too!

Happy travels!

Dr. Marie-Claire Moreau is a college professor who traded in her tenure to become a homeschool mom 20+ years ago.  A homeschooling pioneer and the founder of many groups and organizations, she works to advance home education, and is an outspoken supporter of education reform coast to coast.  Her book, Suddenly Homeschooling: A Quick Start Guide to Legally Homeschool in Two Weeks, is industry-acclaimed as it illustrates how homeschooling can rescue children and families from the public school system, and how anyone can begin homeschooling within a limited time-frame, with no teaching background whatsoever.  A writer, a homeschool leader, and a women’s life coach, Marie-Claire mentors in a variety of areas that impact health, education and lifestyle. A conference speaker, she has appeared at FPEA, H.E.R.I., Home Education Council of America, The Luminous Mind, Vintage Homeschool Moms, iHomeschool Network, and many other events. Her articles have appeared in and on Holistic Parenting, CONNECT,Homefires, Homemaking Cottage, Kiwi, Circle of Moms, and hundreds of sites and blogs nationwide.  Marie-Claire can be reached at contactmarieclaire@gmail.com.

Written by Marie-Claire · Categorized: Homeschool · Tagged: calendars, car and travel, elementary, florida, high school, history, lesson planning, middle school, Outdoor classroom, preschool, relaxed, unit studies, unschooling

May 19 2017

The art of slowing down

 

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There once was a woman raising a houseful of delightfully inquisitive children. The woman chose home education for the children, and it soon became her full-time job. Despite her new job, she continued performing the other jobs she had prior to starting her own school. And, because no one ever told the woman she couldn’t do it all, she never said no, never asked for help, and just kept adding more things to her calendar. To be productive, the woman was always in motion, and she was continually juggling many things. Her days were spent rushing from one task to another, morning until night, with never a break in between. Because her life was successful, it never dawned on the woman to lighten her load, not even one bit. Until one day, when things started going wrong. The woman’s health showed signs of stress (though she had no time to notice). More serious symptoms developed (but there was no time to figure them out). Until finally, the woman broke. Her body had grown very sick from being ignored for so long. It screamed so painfully, she had no choice but to finally listen. So, she did.

When I tell the longer version of my story, there’s a part where people in the audience begin nodding their heads. That’s because busyness and rushing through life rings true for many people. Brave women will come up afterwards, finally realizing what they’ve been doing to themselves. Every one of them wishing they’d known this sooner, rather than spending years of pain, frustration, doctor hopping, and thinking they were a tad crazy.

The good news, I tell my audiences, is this madness can be stopped. As in 100%. That’s the message I’m sharing with you, now. You don’t have to live like that. No one does.

Want to un-create a life of stress & busyness? Simple instructions found here:

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This lifestyle I’m referring to — this crazy one of busyness and rushing – is one created by ourselves. Meaning, if we can create it, we can un-create it. No one needs to suffer as I did, and as 50 million other Americans suffering with autoimmune dis-eases do. With a simple mind shift, we can change our jam-packed lives, and no longer be sick from putting so much pressure on ourselves.

The Secret

What’s the secret to creating this new life? In reality, there are many secrets, each depending on the circumstances and symptoms of the sufferer. But, there is one universal secret I can share freely, since it’s a prescription that helps everyone who tries it:

~ Slow down ~

Sounds simple, right? And yet, if you’re used to operating at the heightened levels I’ve described, slowing down can be the hardest thing in the world. We’re resistant to change, plus our belief systems like to be right. Slowing down assaults the ego, speaking poorly about our ability to cope and handle it all.

Not an easy change to make.

But, How Exactly?

Slowing down means different things to different people.  In general, it’s about lightening your load, taking on less, and especially making space in your life to be still. It takes guts to cancel long-held commitments and start saying no more often. If you’re like others who do this to themselves, it takes even more guts to sit still for more than a few minutes without guilting yourself into thinking you should be doing something else.

But, slowing down also means physically slowing down, something some people have never known. It could look like a leisurely walk in the park or a yoga class in the evenings. It could mean observing with consciousness every move you make, and deliberately slowing it down, which is what worked for me.

Whatever slowing down means to you, it’s important to find it and start doing it right away. You’ll be surprised how the simple act of slowing down can make such a difference. In health, emotions, relationships, and in all other aspects of life. And if  you’re worried about losing your edge or sacrificing excellence, I can help you with that, too. Let’s talk.

Be warned though. Slowing down may take years of practice before letting go of old patterns. Remember, we’re programmed from an early age to do it all, and our powerful belief systems will fight us all the way. But, I have seen the miracles of slowing down in myself and so many women around me. Isn’t it worth exploring in your life, too?

Let go of old patterns and create a simple life of balance. Find out how.

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For your inspiration, I’m including 2 powerful TED talks that target this issue in very some personal and profound ways. The first is a talk by Carl Honore, the author of “In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed” (see the book here). The second is a talk by Katrina Alcorn, the author of “Maxxed Out: American Moms on the Brink” (see the book here).

Let me know how you’re doing in a COMMENT today. This is an important conversation, and I’d love to share it with you here.

To your health and healing,

As a coach, writer, recovered over-doer and busyness addict, I understand the challenges of creating a balanced, healthy lifestyle while the mind tries to sabotage your success. In my journey to vibrant health, I created a personalized health system of nutrition and supplementation, lifestyle changes, and I retrained my mind and the energy of my body. I view my success as the formula to my happy, healthy life. I now empower other women to create their own personalized formulas, including the tools and strategies just right for them! Amazing life shifts come from our relationships. I look forward to helping you, too!

Written by Marie-Claire · Categorized: Women's Mind Body & Spirit · Tagged: large families, relaxed, scheduling, support, time management, Women, work-at-home

Apr 01 2017

Letting Go of What No Longer Serves You

Why do we hold so tightly to things that no longer serve us? Whether physical objects, thoughts or emotions, it’s common to carry “stuff” that has long outgrown its purpose. Though it  may have been valuable at one time, some things are simply no longer needed in our lives; not now, and probably not ever. Still, out of habit or genuine belief, we cling to the familiarity and false sense of need, frequently to the detriment of our physical and mental health.

Examples of unnecessary stuff could span many pages. It includes both tangible objects and emotions, too. Things like old grudges, false beliefs, clothing that has become too tight, and clutter displayed in plain sight are all examples of “stuff” it might be wise to finally let go. Physical objects are easy to clear as they’re a matter of discarding or donating unwanted items. It is the emotional attachment for the stuff that is different, warranting a deeper clearing of the emotions not visible on the surface.

Storing unwanted stuff begins at any age (some believe is inherited, too) and continues gradually over a lifetime. Affecting much of what we do, mental baggage remains in the background, ever present, growing heavier and heavier until it is no longer bearable. Layer upon layer, the stuff may even become entangled, causing situations more frustrating to unravel. The common expression, “carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders” is more accurate than you might realize. Though tipping points vary from person to person, the weight of old stuff eventually becomes intolerable, manifesting into the many ills and woes experienced by those unable to let things go.

Though letting go isn’t always easy, I have found it a necessary step to achieving balanced emotions and vibrant health. It isn’t a process that is completed overnight, but once becoming part of your awareness, can be worked on gradually over a period of time.

Even after feeling lighter, I find it crucial to frequently scan myself for unnecessary baggage, too. In this way, shedding no-longer-serving beliefs and other useless baggage becomes a lifelong process. I choose what to allow in my life, and which things it is finally time to let go. This liberation and freedom can be highly addictive. It becomes something most people welcome in, knowing the rewards are well worth the effort.

Some baggage can be difficult to release, requiring help from a coach or experienced practitioner to get to the root of blocks that are hard to let go. But other stuff is easy to clear, taking just a few minutes of your time.

How to let go and start feeling a whole lot lighter:

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A list of some of simpler things to release is found below, and you can use this list for some initial clearing and practice. See if you don’t feel a whole lot lighter after working through until the end, and be encouraged to continue the process after knowing how well you feel.

Work on letting go of the following of…

Trinkets, nic nacs, and unwanted collections

Unless collecting is your joy and passion, get rid of things that clutter your physical and mental space. Chances are you rarely look at much of it anyway, and feel a tremendous sense of lightness once it’s gone.

Books, board games, DVDs or unused media

Not all of them, just ones you no longer need. Creating space in a closet also creates space in the mind. More importantly, it rids the guilt and pressure of feeling the need to do those things, too.

Status symbol of any kind (car, home, membership, designer anything)

Discovering the why of a purchase aids greatly in the process of letting it go. Purchases made to satisfy the ego or impress others might need to go right away. Ridding symbols makes it easier to come home to one’s true self, bringing peace and calm with the new reality.

Old relationships, friends or distant relatives

Only those you realistically no longer see, nor want to see. This doesn’t mean you no longer care, just that you’ve let go of the effort of staying in touch. Releasing the burden of maintaining old and outdated friendships is tremendously liberating. Forgive yourself the guilt and strain of relationships that no longer contribute to your present life.

The need to be right, or have the last word

Remember back to the last time you engaged in a heated conversation or argument, and begin to tune in to the physical sensations you feel in your body, or shift in your emotions. Feel it? That’s why you need to let that stuff go.

Anger or resentment

When you feel anger or resentment, ask yourself whether the other party is worrying about the situation as much as you are. Upon discovering you’re the only party allowing in these emotions, realize it’s time to let them go. Why let someone else take up residence in your mind?

If happiness is a state of mind, just imagine the effects letting go can have on happiness! Your physical and body and mind will begin to say, “aaahhh” and you’ll be on track to being and feeling a whole lot better.

With much love,

As a coach, writer, recovered over-doer and busyness addict, I understand the challenges of creating a balanced, healthy lifestyle while the mind tries to sabotage your success. In my journey to vibrant health, I created a personalized health system of nutrition and supplementation, lifestyle changes, and I retrained my mind and the energy of my body. I view my success as the formula to my happy, healthy life. I now empower other women to create their own personalized formulas, including the tools and strategies just right for them! Amazing life shifts come from our relationships. I look forward to helping you, too!

Written by Marie-Claire · Categorized: Women's Mind Body & Spirit · Tagged: moms, relaxed, support

May 13 2016

Beliefs and their impact on well-being

There’s something so powerful about beliefs.  Guiding and empowering, our belief system follows us throughout our lives. Quietly, subtly, it’s always in the background, like an invisible coach both cheering for us and advising what to do at any given moment.

In simple terms — our belief system tells us what to do.

When beliefs are positive ones, we experience desirable effects. Think of a little girl raised to believe there are no limits to what women can accomplish. Or a young boy filled with unshakable confidence in his abilities throughout his childhood.

Beliefs fuel us. They make us unstoppable.

Positive beliefs can propel us to do big things.

When beliefs go wrong, however, is when they’re troubling.  Whenever false beliefs — really just inaccurate, limiting stories – become lodged in the mind and body, life takes an entirely different turn. Though limiting beliefs don’t have to impact negatively, very often they do. Scarier still, these lies have the potential to impact most anything, from self-image to health to physical capabilities to relationships to finances and so much more.

No aspect of human life is immune to the effects of the lies we tell ourselves, and constantly reinforce, via limiting beliefs.

No aspect of life is immune to the effects of the lies we tell ourselves, and constantly reinforce.

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False beliefs can potentially cause a range of symptoms and behaviors. Acting nervously, fearful, sickly, loud, timid, stupid, incapable, or unworthy, are just examples.  They can lead us to stay small, feel inadequate, resist change, or refrain from speaking up in life, too. Imagine the lifelong impact of our thoughts! As they remain stuck in the subconscious, they literally have the power to keep us stuck and unable to move past them as adults.

Insidious in nature, perhaps the most dangerous characteristic of limiting beliefs is we usually don’t know they’re there. True or untrue, they can impact lives profoundly, causing behaviors that continually validate the beliefs themselves! How? Like the silent cheer leader I described, our inner coaches utilize beliefs as the basis for giving advice. Thus, if our coaches have nothing but limiting advice on which to draw from, they dole it out as truths. False truths lead to bad coaching. And bad coaching reinforces limiting truths. Thus, the cycle continues.

Unless it is interrupted.

That’s where looking inward is crucial and clearing is essential.

Often, limiting beliefs take root during childhood. Sometimes, depending upon your openness to looking beyond the present life, one can even begin looking in the womb, or at beliefs carried forth from past lives, if this feels right to you.

False truths lead to bad coaching. Bad coaching reinforces limiting truths.

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Regardless of their origin, clearing limiting beliefs is essential to well-being. Clearing can lead to a greater sense of freedom, greater successes, and greater fulfillment as we move toward becoming our true selves. For without clearing the lies, we continue living within their restrictions, never fully expressing ourselves as we are meant to be.

Different practitioners advise different methods for clearing these lies. Energy movement, emotional clearing, and guided meditation, are just a few of the ways one can begin recognizing and removing (clearing) blocks and limitations. Other ways include daily affirmations, hypno kinds of therapies, and positive self-talk.

In my own life and research, and in helping other women, some techniques tend to delve deeper, and seem to be more successful than others. But like anything else, what works well for one may not work as well for another. It can take many attempts and exploring many different modalities before finding one that feels right.

Bottom line, it may be time to begin recognizing it’s the inner subconscious (your silent coach) who is really in charge of what’s happening in your life. Only by noticing the power of past experiences can we even begin to understand our daily challenges, behaviors and frustrations.  Taking steps to begin clearing these beliefs can help pave the path to freedom.

Standing with you as you reflect on the possibilities!

As a coach, writer, recovered over-doer and busyness addict, I understand the challenges of creating a balanced, healthy lifestyle while the mind tries to sabotage your success. In my journey to vibrant health, I created a personalized health system of nutrition and supplementation, lifestyle changes, and I retrained my mind and the energy of my body. I view my success as the formula to my happy, healthy life. I now empower other women to create their own personalized formulas, including the tools and strategies just right for them! Amazing life shifts come from our relationships. I look forward to helping you, too!

Written by Marie-Claire · Categorized: Women's Mind Body & Spirit · Tagged: me, moms, relaxed, scheduling, time management, work-at-home

Feb 15 2016

Secret to unlocking homeschool success

Photo: Pixabay under Creative Commons

Like many of you, I’ve learned so much homeschooling my kids. Understanding how they learn best, tricks for organizing our home, and choosing just the right products are just a few the skills I managed to pick up along the way.

But, there is one lesson that sticks out above the rest. Really, when it comes to homeschooling, at least in our home, it’s probably the single largest contributor to our success.

It has to do with me.

And this one secret I’m about to share is what made all the difference in my kids’ learning, their productivity, their happiness in our homeschool, and my satisfaction with the whole process.

Getting out of my own way

There it is. The greatest lesson I’ve learned while teaching my kids at home is how to get out of my own way. Turns out, learning to spot my own behaviors and how, in fact, I was threatening our homeschool, was a critical realization I had early on. Thank goodness I spotted that, too. Because recognizing the background and mind-set I brought into our homeschool, and realizing how those could sabotage my kids, turned out to be the crucial step to leveraging the power of homeschooling and achieving a level of success.

The greatest lesson I’ve learned while teaching my kids at home is how to get out of my own way.

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Today, I’d like to share some examples of this self-sabotage, where ones background and way of thinking can potentially undermine the homeschool, thus, the kids. In my work, I’ve noticed these are common in other families, too. So, while you’re reading, I’d like you to consider whether these threats also speak to you, and whether maybe this kind of sabotage manifests in your homeschool, as well.

Your Previous Background

What’s your background? What kind of training and experience do you bring to your homeschool?

I am a college professor and school teacher by training. I taught on campuses and in classrooms for many years before becoming a homeschool parent. When I tell my ‘teacher-turned-home-mom’ story in public, I get lots of acceptance and support (since non-homeschool audiences assume I know what I’m doing). However (long-time homeschoolers may understand this) I was actually at a great disadvantage by bringing my teaching background into our homeschool.

Let me explain.

You see, my education and my training was all about institutional school-type stuff. I learned to follow textbooks, organize lessons, deliver material, issue exams and check off daily boxes. I learned to treat all the students in my classrooms equally, and I was taught to expect the same outcomes from every one of them, too.

As you can imagine, my background in teaching to large groups of people at one time did little to prepare me to be an effective homeschool parent to a small group — specifically, my very unique children, who were all different ages, all with differing needs and habits, all at the same time. If anything, my classroom experience worked very much against my goal of providing an extraordinary homeschool education. Looking back, I was doing a lot of ‘bossing everybody around’ and telling everybody how to think.

It took a couple of years for me to notice how I was behaving. It really wasn’t until I learned to get out of my own way and trust the possibilities of a true home education that my kids really began to flourish. Leaving my training behind was one of the major keys to our success.

Listening to Others

Do you listen to what others say? Do you have a tendency to believe what you hear?

As with anyone doing something slightly different, homeschoolers are highly prone to receiving advice from others. Between family members, friends, and even total strangers, it seems everyone has an opinion about homeschooling and how we should raise our kids. I could not even begin to count the number of well-meaning (and not so well-meaning) educational and child-rearing tips I have received over the last 20 years. (But, if I did, I’d need to count by the hundreds…)

Now, should you be part of the lucky few who manage to completely ignore these outside opinions, you’re invited to skip this section entirely. But, if you’re like the rest of us, you understand how those darned outside voices can really get into our heads…

It’s a constant battle at times, trying to fight the mental battle of “What if’s” and “Should I’s” when it comes to our kids. Hard as that is, it’s especially why we need to get out of our own way. Homeschool parents have to remember to look upon their own situations and the reasons they chose homeschooling to begin with. They need to personally reaffirm their own decisions, so they can avoid the temptation to adopt the framework used by everyone else.

Listening to our own experience and intuition, is the only way to avoid the self-sabotage.

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Getting out of our own way, and listening to our own experience and intuition, is the only way to avoid the self-sabotage of allowing others to influence what we do. Make sense?

Worrying About the Future

Do you worry about your child’s future? Do you wonder if you’re doing the right thing?

Worrying too much about the future is perhaps the ultimate sabotage to what could be an extraordinary homeschool experience. By constantly measuring children against standards, worrying how kids are going to “turn out”, and continually seeking evidence of homeschool success in the research and literature, we prevent any possibility of really tapping into the potential of homeschooling. The risk of being so fixated on worry is that we miss out on things like customizing the school day or getting creative with the curriculum. We also severely limit our potential for joy along the way.

Though lots of evidence exists for homeschooling successes, we need to get out of the way and trust in the process. After making an informed decision to engage in homeschooling, we need to get to the business of doing it, and just leave it at that. The logical mind has a terrible way of questioning every decision we make for our kids! Worrying too much about the future doesn’t just make homeschooling miserable and difficult, it steals from your kids probably the most influential experience of their early lives.

Your Task

I think a valuable exercise for each of us is to take a few minutes to reflect on what we bring to the homeschooling table. Take a minute to check if your behaviors, actions or ways of thinking could be contributing to the types of sabotage I’ve just talked about.  See if “getting in your own way” is something you manifest, too.

Leave a COMMENT. I’d love to share in your realizations, and encourage you the rest of the way, too.

To your success,

Dr. Marie-Claire Moreau is a college professor who traded in her tenure to become a homeschool mom 20+ years ago.  A homeschooling pioneer and the founder of many groups and organizations, she works to advance home education, and is an outspoken supporter of education reform coast to coast.  Her book, Suddenly Homeschooling: A Quick Start Guide to Legally Homeschool in Two Weeks, is industry-acclaimed as it illustrates how homeschooling can rescue children and families from the public school system, and how anyone can begin homeschooling within a limited time-frame, with no teaching background whatsoever.  A liaison for regional school-to-home organizations, a homeschool leader, and a women’s life coach and trainer, Marie-Claire mentors in a variety of areas that impact health, education and lifestyle. A conference speaker, she has appeared at FPEA, H.E.R.I., Home Education Council of America, Luminous Mind, Vintage Homeschool Moms, iHomeschool, and many other events. Her articles have appeared in and on Holistic Parenting, CONNECT, Homefires, Homemaking Cottage, Kiwi, Circle of Moms, and hundreds of sites and blogs nationwide.  Marie-Claire can be reached at contactmarieclaire@gmail.com.

Written by Marie-Claire · Categorized: Homeschool · Tagged: elementary, high school, middle school, relaxed, struggling learners, support, Women

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