For the first-time ever homeschooling mom- a "Manual"
If you've never homeschooled a minute in your life (until this week) and you're feeling any amount of stress about it, I have a word of advice for you— a word I didn’t hear from a fellow homeschooling mom until we’d been doing it an entire year, and I had experienced much too much stress over it.
That word is:
Unschool.
And here’s the most updated, March 2020, COVID-19 version of that advice.
All of the old ways, the ways of last week, are quickly falling away.
Instead of plunging right in, consider taking two, if not three or more weeks to UNschool your children, to reverse the conditioning of what school is "supposed to look like" and "supposed to accomplish".
If you are the slightest bit anxious about this new normal, guess who will absorb all of that anxiousness? Mhhhmmmm.
Never has there been a proper time to shove children into the same-sized teaching box and of course, there’s never been a time to shove any child into any box.
Never will there be a time for that, especially not now in this Age of Aquarius.
The public school system was mandated to provide some sort of container for the majority of children. There are just too many children to serve, and too few resources to create a completely-unique container for every single child.
Millions of parents have now been forced to move, and be, and teach outside the box and I for one am excited about it!
The best thing I ever did for my children was to learn to know myself in ways I never had before, which lead to honoring, appreciating, and loving myself in ways I never had before.
I did this through a consistent practice of speaking to myself in my primary and secondary love languages, re-parenting myself, and healing some deep wounds, using insights gained through astrology, human design, and more.
If you're wide open to something new, I invite you to go to my body graph dot com, all one word, and identify your child's aura type, strategy and authority.
Then take the next several weeks, and the rest of your days, to parent Jimmy and Jane according to their unique design Here are a few basics to get you started if your child is a
Manifestor
These children thrive on freedom of movement and solitude. Let them run “wild” as much as possible. Resist the urge to control these children. You simply cannot. And if you try, you’ll push them into their not-self theme of Anger. Teach them to ask for permission to do what they want to do and you’ll save yourself a heap of struggle. When you’re ready to tackle more formal teaching, ask this child, “If school could be anything you wanted it to be, what would that LOOK like?” Encourage their natural ability to create a vision, and honor their inherent independence and gifting related to manifesting that vision.
☮️ 4-word summary for Manifestors: Give freedom of movement.
Generator
When they’re using it all up, these children have energy for days. So like Manifestor children, give your Generator child freedom to move, and get really good at asking yes or no questions. “Do you want to…?” “Are you ready to…?” Then give your Generator child full permission to answer withOUT a spoken “Yes” or “No”, but instead, with a guttural ah-huh (for yes) and uhn-uh (for no). Do not force naptime on these children. If they haven’t used up all their energy before your idea of a good naptime, they just won’t sleep and will drive you up the wall. When your Generator child is ready to sleep, you’ll know it, because they will generally crash. Do not rush these children into making decisions. You simply cannot, and if you try, you push them into their not-self theme of Frustration.
☮️ 4-word summary for Generators: Give freedom of non-word responses.
Projector
Good luck trying to get these kids up early. Let them wake up naturally, and you’ll all be much happier campers. Projectors are not natural initiators; they simply don’t have that energy. They thrive on the recognition of their gifts and the presentation of a formal invitation. You will save yourself heaps of struggle when you learn to express these four magic words to your Projector child, “Would you like to….?” And top off that formal invitation recognizing their unique strengths and skills. Then give your child the freedom to accept or reject the invitation. Try pushing your Projector child into accepting all invitations or coming up with the energy to make shit happen the way a Generator or Manifestor would and you push your Projector into their not-self theme of Bitterness.
☮️ 4-word summary for Projectors: Give freedom to rest.
Reflector
Every child thrives in a uniquely supportive learning environment, and most especially Reflectors. Give them space and time to absorb and process information in their utterly unique way. These children will naturally reflect back to you the state of the environment they’re in— so take notice if your Reflector child is reflecting health and happiness or sadness and disappointment. Push these children to be anything other than who they are and they will reflect their not-self theme of Disappointment. There’s no pushing or rushing a Reflector child. These children require a full lunar cycle to make major decisions. Yes 28 days. Create a safe haven (space) for your dear Reflector. They thrive in that space where they can shake off what others are trying to hurl on them.
☮️ 4-word summary for Reflectors: Give freedom of pace.