Lisa Ehrman

Lisa has been blogging since 2013, and loves sharing resources and ideas for living a simple life. To get free printables, bonus words, and more - sign up for the newsletter.

Don’t Forget The Arts

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The curriculum is ready.  The lesson plans are in order.  All core subjects are covered.  It’s going to be a great homeschool year.  Please, don’t forget the arts!  As a homeschool mom who also holds a degree in music, I’m here to stress the importance of music education. Music and art can be very easy to add to your homeschool, but don’t let them just be an add-on.  Learning and training in the arts is very beneficial to your children.  Numerous studies show that learning music is wonderful for the developing child.  Music Education leads to greater academic success, this includes the verbal and auditory development.  Learning to play an instrument helps to develop fine motor-skills.  There are many other benefits. Adding music to your child’s education can be easy.  In the early years, parents naturally sing little rhyming songs to their children.  As they’re growing, you can add rhythm to the songs.  Teach them to clap along to the beat, or get a little drum.  If you can’t sing well, you can use sing-a-long tapes with your children.  These are free to check out at your local library.  You can make some homemade instruments or purchase them. Until the age of seven or eight, teaching children songs is a great way to learn music.  They may also participate in a children’s choir or class.  They don’t need private lessons yet.  Children’s choirs use a lot of rhythm with hand-motions, etc.  When your child reaches the age of eight, they may be ready for private lessons on the piano.  If they learn to play the piano, they will also learn many technical things that will carry over into all of their musical life.  They will learn to read notes and understand how music is composed.  They may want to make up their own songs. As they grow older, children can train to play other instruments or consider vocal training.  Choirs are still a wonderful way to learn and provide fun, too.  Many cities have homeschool choirs, city choirs, and your church choir.  Instruments can be purchased “used” for a more frugal beginning.  Let your child explore their musical side, even if they don’t appear terribly musical.  They will probably improve a great deal.  Unless your child is a rare prodigy, they will need to be taught.  Learning to play an instrument takes work and dedication.  This discipline that they learn in music education will carry over into their academics. Art education isn’t my specialty, but teaching art in your homeschool can still be easy.  The beginning years, of course, can consist of paper and crayons.   Don’t worry about the talent, just let them draw.  Get them paints and brushes and brag on their art.  They can sculpt things with some play-dough, and when their hands are stronger; beautiful clays.  The sky is the limit with children and art!  Keep an art center (or at least a box) filled with creative stuff.  You could have colored paper, white paper, crayons, paints, clay, feathers, little odds and ends, toilet-paper ends, etc.  Add scissors that are appropriate.  Children will get very creative. In upper grades, I found that the Charlotte Mason style of art education was very good.  Simply Charlotte Mason explains the method very well.  We tried to do this often.  If your child seems to have great artistic talent, it’s important to help them pursue that.  They may want art lessons.  At the least, provide them with good quality brushes and paints. I hope you’ll explore the arts in your homeschool.  The benefits are worthy and the best part is the fun!@ 2016,copyright Lisa Ehrman

Margin: Book Review

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I was once a homeschooling mom who wanted to do it all.  I taught my children with a full load of curriculum and then taught dozens of music students in the afternoon.  It looked great on the calendar.  All the little boxes were filled in with different colored ink.  There was just enough time to fit it all in, and take the kids to their baseball games and ballet lessons, too. But, in reality, too many days we threw a frozen pizza into the oven at 7pm or went out to eat.  The extra money from the music lessons was going for the extra food.  I was getting more and more exhausted and the kids were grumpy.  After a while, we realized this wasn’t a great plan for our family. We hadn’t left any margin on the edges of the paper. Someone introduced me to this wonderful book, Margin,  by Dr. Richard Swenson, a Christian author.  When I read the book, it made so much sense.  You can’t just push and push your mind and body the way I was doing.  Let me show you what the back of the book-jacket says: “Overload is not having time to finish the book you are reading on stress. Margin is having time to read it twice. Overload is fatigue. Margin is energy. Overload is red ink. Margin is black ink. Overload is hurry. Margin is calm. Overload is anxiety. Margin is security. Overload is the disease of our time. Margin is the cure. Margin is the space that once existed between ourselves and our limits. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. In Margin, Dr. Richard Swenson provides a prescription against the danger of overloaded lives. Focusing on margin in four key areas-emotional energy, physical energy, time, and finances-he offers an overall picture of health that employs contentment, simplicity, balance, and rest. If you yearn for relief from the pain and pressure of overload, take a lifelong dose of Margin. The benefits of good health, financial stability, fulfilling relationships, and availability for Gods purposes will follow you all your days.” from the desk of Dr. Richard Swenson After this turning point, we made changes.  I stopped teaching the music lessons and spent all the time with my husband and children.  I scheduled margin in my life, and it made a huge difference!  As I got older and my health got worse, the times of margin grew longer.   I recommend this book to all homeschoolers, young and old.  I think it’s important that we teach our children to also have margin in their lives. @2016, copyright Lisa Ehrman

Homeschooling Without The Rose-Colored Glasses

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Because I’ve completed my years of homeschooling, I have the benefit of hindsight.  I also like to be completely honest, and not just write to get lots of readers on my blog.  So, today I would like to talk about some of the negative things that can happen as a result of homeschooling.  They may or may not happen in your home. Some children can grow up to be unhappy with your choice to homeschool them.  They may seem happy when they’re young and at home.  When they’re older and look back on things, their opinion may change.  Maybe they might feel that their education wasn’t adequate to prepare them for the job market or college.  They might feel that they missed out on other things in life.  I’ve personally seen these things happen.  Some children aren’t provided a top-quality education and therefore miss out on job opportunities.  I’ve seen this happen far too often, and it’s very sad. One other thing that is a negative is that mom is also a teacher.  It’s hard to wear two distinct hats with your children.  For me, I was a certified teacher.  This made it even harder.  I felt the teacher within me very strong.  I come from a long line of teachers, and always wanted to be a teacher.  So, was I supposed to “Be” a teacher until 3, and then “Be” Mom after 3? This was a little weird.  Over time, it got easier.  Homeschool moms have to find that middle ground.  We need to be mom, but also a firm teacher.  There should be a plan in which your “students” succeed in learning everything that is expected of them.  The student must be accountable for what needs to be learned.  And, we do it with the love and understanding of a mom who really “knows” how they learn.  This enables us to teach them better than anyone else.  What a job! No rose-colored glasses here.  It was tough job, but I loved homeschooling my children.  God bless you as you do the same. @2016, copyright Lisa Ehrman

Student Lesson Planners

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One of my intentions as a homeschool teacher was to prepare them to be self-directed learners.  This would help them be able to take any course or syllabus and learn on their own.  I intentionally tried to prepare them by teaching them basic study skills and having them use their own lesson planning book. In their junior and senior year it was very easy to begin giving the kids their own lesson planning book.  You can spend money on very nice planning books.  There are numerous types all over that you can purchase.   I just made a template with columns and squares using Office, which gave us the exact number of squares we needed per week.  I printed out the sheets that we needed and punched holes in them.  Then, we added them to a notebook. Now, each kid had their custom planner.  Adding each class and assignment in pencil, they could see what was to be done.  They took pride in checking off their assignments.   This took the load off of mom/teacher nagging about lesson completion.  It encouraged maturity, too.  It prepares kids for college self-directed learning.  There won’t be a mom there asking, “have you done your homework?” I noticed there was no transition for my youngest when he went to college, concerning his homework or completing things on time.   He knew how to schedule and plan his work.  I’m so glad now that he was prepared.   Lesson organization and keeping up with assignments is one of the many things that high school students need to learn before they graduate from homeschool.  This is a life skill that is important whether or not they decide to attend college. @2017 copyright Lisa Ehrman

Migraine Glasses From Theraspecs

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I have been given this product as part of a product review through the Chronic Illness Bloggers network. Although the product was a gift, all opinions in this review remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company. Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.  My migraines started in my forties and intensified for a year, before leveling off.  The worst migraines were triggered by flickering florescent lights.  Those were the ones that made me throw up and get a shot at the doctor’s office.  I learned after that to run out of any room with flickering lights.  But, I also avoid florescent lights if I can.   Most people can’t avoid them, because they are everywhere.  If you have migraines or have light-sensitivity, you need a way to protect yourself from this awful pain.  Theraspec offers an answer!  I was one of the very lucky ones who was chosen to review a pair of glasses from Theraspecs! The style I selected is similar to the Haven, but is not available now.  They have many beautiful styles that come in and outdoor lenses.  They also have wrap-around frames that go over your prescription frames.  Children’s frames are available.  You can even send in your personal frames and they will make a custom prescription for you. Theraspecs can do many different custom glasses for you.  They can do any prescription and can also make the color extra light or extra dark.  Sometimes people know that their trigger for light is very sensitive and want to block out most light.  You will know what works best for you.  Theraspecs will work with you to get the perfect custom pair. Some people need a pair that works for specific lighting, such as, their job lighting.  If your office job or work place has lighting that bothers you or brings on migraines, Theraspecs can relieve this awful pain.  They are also very good for staring at computers.  I am very sensitive to computer light.  Because I blog and am using the computer all day, I turn my screen down to the lowest setting.  The light still bothers me.  These Theraspecs glasses really help my eyes to relax and feel great.  There is no glare, either.  I love them! Theraspecs are designed to wear when using computers, and are tinted lighter than sunglasses.  When you wear them indoors, people can still see your eyes.  The outdoor Theraspecs are designed to be worn in bright sunlight and can block more light than great-quality sunglasses.  Both indoor and outdoor glasses will block UV rays.  These powerful glasses were started by research that helped a woman fight her chronic migraines.  After Kerrie had tried everything to stop her headaches, her doctor advised that certain light wavelengths were causing the pain. Florescent light pulsing seems to cause the most pain and it took a while to find just the right glasses with just the right tint to stop her pain.  But, when they did, Theraspecs was born.  For Kerrie, the wrap-around frame kept the light from entering the sides of her eyes.   It’s important to try them for a while.  Some people get immediate relief and some people need more time to find their level of pain relief.  When I tried the Theraspecs glasses, I immediately felt my eyes relax.  My eyes always feel strained and tired.  I have many floaters and the beginnings of cataracts.  My eyes are also dry from auto-immune disease.  They stay blurry, too.  These glasses caused my vision to be better and less blurry.  My eyes just felt better. Since my migraines aren’t chronic anymore, I didn’t have one during this time of review.  That’s a great sign.  My other headaches are tension, and caused by neck pain from scoliosis.  I love the Theraspec glasses and would encourage anyone with light-sensitivity or migraines to try them.  There’s nothing to lose, because of the money-back guarantee.  You’ll love these top-quality Theraspecs! @2017, copyright Lisa Ehrman

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