Category: A Simpler Childhood

Our first formal year of homeschooling is in the books.  Complete. Finished.  Done.  All the praise hands, people!

While I loved and cherished and was so thankful I had the opportunity to teach my kids this past year, Momma is ready for a little break.  We are taking two months off before we jump back in again come July and I forsee lots of playdates and time spent in the sunshine these next several weeks.

This past year, my oldest, Luke, worked and completed kindergarten, while my middle child, Lily, completed her first year of preschool.  (Take a peek at our A Day in the Life.) It was a year of challenges, trial and error, good days and hard days, and lots and lots of learning for all of us, me most of all.  It was humbling, convicting, and sometimes straight up magical. There were days I wanted to quit (mostly in January and February) and days I couldn’t imagine doing anything else (mostly in September and October).  Above all, I am thankful I get to do this gig.  It is a dream and a responsibility I am grateful for and I remind myself of this on the hard days.  

This past year I learned some things along the way. My hope is these thoughts will serve as a reminder to keep persevering and not let the little things become big things.  

Flexibility is imperative.

I am a type A person, meaning I crave order and consistency and a plan.  While these things served me well this first year, there were also times I needed to remember to be flexible.  Sometimes order isn’t necessary for learning.  Sometimes consistency can deter creativity.  Sometimes a plan needs to be abandoned for an impromptu nature hunt or zoo outing or playdate.  

My inflexible nature had to bend and stretch this year to accommodate my little people’s wills and minds and learning opportunities.  Most days, I wanted to start school by 8 if we were leaving the house and 9 if we weren’t. We probably did that half of the time. On those mornings when my kids were playing nicely together, I didn’t want to interrupt their free play.  Those early morning hours seem to be my kids’ best hours and sometimes I let them play a bit longer if all was going well. Other days if we needed to get somewhere, I pulled the reigns and we started on time.  Flexibility allowed my kids to have more productive free play (which is one of the reasons I wanted to homeschool) and made more room for unplanned learning opportunities.

Weekly timeline > Daily timeline

During Luke’s second year of preschool at home, I had a daily to-do list we would do together.  It stressed me out more than a little.  This year, I used more of a weekly timeline and it changed our lives.  It was less stressful for everyone.  Some days we had more time to get things done, while other days we had less.  We got as much or more done with a weekly timeline verses a daily timeline AND it was a lot less stress for everyone.

Outings matter.

Many factors play into why it’s a bit more difficult for us to get out of the house to do things.  We live about 25 minutes from town, 45 minutes from where we do a lot of life.  Naptime is a priority, thus we strive to be back home between 1:00-2:00 every day. Getting school in and doing an outing in the morning sometimes rushes us.  And, well there are three little people.  All of that being said, this last year taught me we need outings.  Outings to see friends, outings to experience different places, outings to do life outside our home.  Although they can make ‘getting everything in’ a bit more challenging, the kids value this time away from our home and I do, too.  

Routine matters.

Outings matter.  So do routines.  Our morning school routine and reading lesson routine in the afternoon for Luke is what made our days run more smoothly and made them more manageable.  

Our morning routine started with circle time in the playroom with calendar, our letter of the week, poetry, and reading a few picture books.  I then worked with Luke completing his seat work which included Language Arts, Science, and Math while Lily and Jude played.  Then Lily would come work with me and Luke and Jude would play.  After I put Lily and Jude down for nap in the afternoon, Luke would do his reading lesson and his reward for the day.  This routine kept me sane and helped the kids know what to expect day to day.  There is a good chance we will keep this routine, with a few tweaks, when we start school back up again.

Another thing I discovered I needed was at least two days completely at home each week in our normal, slow routine.  Knowing I had two days at home helped me complete more items on the weekly timeline and also gave all of us all more room for the slow days we crave.

Finished doesn’t mean successful.

There were times I tried to rush and push Luke too hard to get things done and it’s probably one of my biggest regrets from this past year.  Just because something is finished or complete, doesn’t mean it was successful. I want all of our kids to love learning and really internalize the things we read and do.  And I’ve learned rushing them through an activity or worksheet just won’t do that.  

This year Luke didn’t finish his math workbook.  Although he completed all his other school work, he has five weeks left of lessons in math.  As a type A momma, I struggled with this, but a month ago when I set our last day of school, I decided we would slowly finish his workbook over the next 8 weeks and possibly carry it over when we begin his first grade year in July.  Everyone is still breathing and an asteroid won’t hit the earth because we didn’t finish the workbook. (There is a lot of talk about asteroids and dinosaurs at our house right now.)

When I was teaching first grade before kids, there were many things I wanted to squeeze in, but didn’t have time.  This is life and although it would have been nice to get those amazing projects, learning opportunities, etc. in, I knew finishing something wouldn’t make it successful.

I could probably come up with a hundred other things I learned this year like peanut butter and jelly is an okay lunch (5 days in a row), we can survive an unbelievable amount of days solely inside (thank you, winter), and fall and spring are the loveliest times of year because school can be done on the patio.  I know I will continue to grow and learn year to year. Learning alongside my littles is joyful and humbling and something I hope I never take for granted.  

If you’re a homeschooling momma, what did you learn this year?

‘Mom, did you get my T-Rex shirt washed?’ Luke yells from his room. I think back to last night and if I did indeed transfer the laundry from the washer to the dryer…crisis averted, I did. I walk to our master bedroom closet which also doubles as a laundry room and there sits his beloved shirt. I tell him it is in his laundry basket as he says, ‘Oh good’ and comes to put it on.

Luke recently went on a date with his Daddy and they picked up that T-Rex shirt in honor of his love for dinosaurs. He has worn it almost every day since. If your kids are anything like my kids, they know what they like. They have favorite shirts, favorite pants, favorite shoes, favorite underwear. They wear what they love as often as they can and that’s why a kid capsule wardrobe just makes sense, at least it does for our family.

About a year ago I started creating capsule wardrobes for my kids and ever since it has been a sanity saver. My big ‘aha’ moment was when I realized my three year old didn’t need 15 pairs of pants or 20 tops for one 3-4 month season. I don’t own 15 pairs of pants, so I’m pretty sure my three year old doesn’t need to have an entire drawer dedicated to the things that cover her legs.

Since then, I have pared down each child’s wardrobe so it is manageable with just enough pieces for variety, but not to the point of being overwhelming. Each kid’s closet has only what they can wear at the moment which means clothes that don’t fit or are out of season are in tubs put away rather than in their closets. With three littles, it has helped me to manage our laundry situation (there is always a laundry situation) and has allowed my older babes to dress themselves easily. Here is the process I used to create each child’s capsule wardrobe for this winter…

Decide what you need

Think through what your kids need, what they really need. Some questions to ask yourself:

How many outfits do they need clean at all times?

How often do I do laundry?

What type of clothes do they need for this current season? (Do they need clothes for play? daycare? church? special events? playing outside in the snow?)

After you have answered the above questions, make a list of the items you need including tops, bottoms, dresses, socks, underwear, shoes, outerwear.

See what you have

Now it’s time to sort. Chances are, you have more than enough. Sort through the clothes your child has and choose the items needed for your list you just created. If you have an older child (around 4-5), you might ask for their help here. There might be a few things you do need to purchase, so make a note to start looking for those pieces online, on swap pages, or when you’re shopping.

You could find you have pieces you can donate or sell. If so, put them in a garbage sack or tub and put it on your calendar to get to your donation site sometime in the next week or post on a swap page.

A good friend just told me about a local organization that picks up donations, so if that is a struggle for you, find an organization in your community that will pick up your donations right from your home.

Put together the capsule

When I am putting together a capsule for my kids, I have a few rules. My first rule is I make sure a pair of pants will go with 2-3 tops and a top will go with at least 2 pairs of pants or a skirt. This makes it easier for my kids to choose an outfit to wear without me hovering over them. Another rule is all the clothes get worn. If I know my daughter never wears a certain long sleeve shirt, I might decide to let it go to someone who will wear it. I want all the clothes in the capsule to get worn.

For our family and our lifestyle, our two boys need far fewer clothes than our daughter. Let’s just say the boys are more minimalist (read: they don’t care about clothes) and she is well, a Fancy Nancy (read: she cares about clothes).

Here it an example of what is in our six year old son’s winter capsule wardrobe:

3 pairs of jogger pants

2 pairs of jeans

4 long sleeve t-shirts

2 button down shirts

1 sweater

3 pairs of pajamas

1 jacket (He has snow gear as well.)

1 pair of boots

1 pair of high top sneakers

Here is what is in our daughter’s capsule wardrobe for this winter:

4 dresses

5 tunics

2 skirts

3 long sleeve t-shirts

4 pairs of leggings

5 pairs of pajamas

2 jackets (She has snow gear, too.)

2 pairs of boots

2 pairs of high top sneakers

(5 dress up dresses that might as well be considered part of her capsule because she wears them almost daily.)

18 pieces for Luke as opposed to 34 pieces for Lily. And I’m absolutely okay with it. Some people get hung up on numbers when it comes to capsule wardrobes, but I think it’s more about having what you need than a number.

Make the clothes accessible

Maybe you have been binge watching Marie Kondo on Netflix and are currently folding your clothes standing up. Good for you! Or maybe you are like me and are just happy if clothes get sorted by category. Whatever your method, make your clothes easily accessible for you and if you have kids who dress themselves, make sure your littles are able to get them. This means they can reach the clothes both in the closet and in their dressers.

Enjoy your kids’ simplified wardrobes

Your kids should be able to find and dress themselves painlessly without too much fuss thanks to their capsule wardrobes. And you can rest easy knowing your kids have exactly what they need, which usually means less laundry for you. It’s a win-win.

If you’re looking to create a capsule wardrobe for yourself, check out this post.

Tell me, have you curated capsule wardrobes for you or your kids this winter?