Kara S. Anderson

Homeschool connection, not perfection.

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The More Than Enough Audiobook is LIVE! (and even more fun news!)

by Kara S. Anderson Leave a Comment

You guys!

Yesterday was kind of the best day …

Because yesterday, The More Than Enough audiobook, which is officially out now, hit No. 1 in homeschooling new releases on Audible!

It also hit No. 1 in new Motherhood books on audio!

And No. 3 in ALL Motherhood books.

I could barely breath most of the day, and I am just so grateful.

Honestly, this has been so encouraging for me. It’s incredibly reassuring in a process that is definitely scary and at times overwhelming.

So I wanted to share a little peek behind the scenes for a minute …

That Cover Art

First you may notice that the cover art looks different than the paperback and Kindle versions of More Than Enough.

Some of you may remember this cover – it was the original book cover, but then we had to go with something else for the paperback and Kindle versions.

I love that cover too, but I’m glad to get to return to this original cover for the audio version. Isn’t it cozy?

Wait – you wrote a book?

Yes – in case you are as newer friend here, yes! I have a book. It’s called More Than Enough, because I honestly believe that we have everything it takes (more than enough) to homeschool our kids well.

That doesn’t mean it’s always easy or that we never worry – but I actually have become pretty convinced during the past 13 years of homeschooling that worry just means that we are invested – so invested, that we really can not fail.

To learn more about my book and how to get it, you can head here.

You can also grab a free chapter …

OR

Listen to a free chapter!

And finally, you can grab these free bookmarks that will remind you that you and your family and for love for one another are really what counts in this journey together.

A huge favor

Thank you so much to each of you who has purchased my book, or now the audiobook. I am so grateful for the support, and I promise, more fun is coming soon.

I do have a quick favor to ask!

If you have read my book and have a moment, please leave an honest review here. Reviews help SO MUCH. It also helps to tell you pals!

And if you listen to the audiobook, I would love if you left a review here.

Thank you again for all of your continue support!

Much love,

Kara

This post contains affiliate links.

Stop trying to do it all in your homeschool

by Kara S. Anderson 5 Comments

Well first, let me apologize for the bossy title.

I’m not normally so forceful, it’s just that I happen to have encountered a lot of moms lately who are dealing with burn-out.

Like, drag-me-up-off-the-floor-to-make-a-quesadilla level of burn-out and exhaustion.

I think a lot of things can cause us to burn out, and right now, I think a lot of us are still coping with pandemic exhaustion.

Yesterday I was talking with some friends and we decided that the pandemic has made everything at least 15 percent harder.

Everything.

Some things are even harder than that.

  • My son opening a bank account –  at least 40 percent harder than it used to be.
  • Our family just bought a car – minimum 50 percent harder than it was two years ago when we bought a car.

And this applies to everything right now.

Enough

Yesterday on the way to physical therapy, I realized I forgot a mask, which is still required at the clinic. I found one ON THE FLOOR OF MY CAR, picked it up, inspected it, and put it on my face.

Near my mouth.

Where the food goes.

(Speaking of food – food is just always hard. Forever. Send Doordash.)

So if you are like me, you are always looking for ways to make things a bit easier.

That’s where this post comes in.

And my bossy tone.

Giving up?

Because none of us feels like it’s OK to give up, right?

Our culture tells us moms are supposed to work hard, be exhausted, surrender to the messy house and messy bun, and then start drinking wine at 4 p.m.

Yikes. (Yikes about the wine being the answer – I have proudly rocked a messy bun pretty much every day of my life since college).

We’re constantly told that to BE ENOUGH, we have to DO “ENOUGH.”

Now, I wrote a whole book about how this is not true, but still, I get haunted by the lies. They sneak up on me like ninjas whispering: “your bathroom sink is gross right now, you Complete Failure As a Human Being.”

Doing less in your homeschool

A while back, I sent out an email to my blog friends (you guys!) asking about your Number 1 struggle with homeschooling.

It was kind of incredible – the answers varied, but many, many of them said the same thing: being consistent.

Now I’m not saying I have all the answers, but I definitely think I have an answer to this:

Do Less.

Doing less it just easier than doing more. It’s a lower barrier to entry. It’s attainable and therefore less intimidating to start.

I know – we think homeschooling isn’t supposed to be easy, because then we aren’t “doing enough“.

But I promise you, that isn’t the case.

And if trying to do it all is causing you to feel exhausted and burned out, you’re kind of shooting yourself in the foot, friend.

Simplified homeschooling

The past several weeks, my daughter and I have been doing a pared down, simplified version of homeschooling.

And amazingly, we’ve been really consistent about it.

Here’s the thing: Less is more when you do it more often.

 

  • Math: Math Mammoth
  • Math update 8/2021: We’ve switched to Mr. D Math now that live classes have started.
  • Language Arts: This workbook
  • Geography: One of these workbooks, paired with these two books:
    • Hungry Planet
    • Material World
  • History: This series
    • we use the audio + the books
    • we also pair them with boxes from History Unboxed
  • Science: Working our way through a Home Science Tools Forensics Unit Study using these kits

Of course lots of other stuff is getting sprinkled in here and there. We’re constantly sharing books, but overall, this is our simple structure since my surgery back in March.

NOTE: We don’t do hard-core writing in our homeschool. My kids write, but we don’t do a formal curriculum – honestly, most of the homeschool writing curriculum I have found has taken the joy out of writing for my kids.

But, I did use this book with my son, and it set him up for college writing really well. I plan to use it for my daughter as well and it is for grades 9-12 – in ONE book!

And you know how I know it’s enough?

Every day Almost every day, we get through most of these. (Except we save one day a week and do a science deep dive with our forensics kits.)

Almost every day, I can cross off subjects in our planner, and move on feeling good.

Is it perfect? No.

Is it fancy? No

Is it infinitely Instgrammable? Gosh no.

Do those things really matter?

Hell to the No.

***

Here’s a walk through video of a few resources we’re loving right now:

A mindset shift

So as you plan our your days and weeks, I have a few resources for you to simplify things:

  • My book, More Than Enough: Grow Your Confidence, Banish Burnout and Love Your Homeschool Life.

 

  • Two workshops:
    • Why You Can’t Do It All (and you shouldn’t even try)
    • Cactus Schooling 101: Purposeful Planning with an Open Hand

If you aren’t familiar with the idea of Cactus Schooling, you can head here.

  • My favorite homeschool planner

  • Blog posts:
    • 10 Ways to Start Easy This Homeschool Year
    • 77 Resources to Help You Take Better Care of Yourself This Year
    • Planning This Year: That’s Not Your Thing
    • And if like me, you have anxiety, this post about my anxiety tool kit

 

Sending virtual hugs friends, and a reminder that you don’t have to do it all to homeschool really well.

I promise. 💙

This post contains affiliate links.

How I know that you’re enough, homeschool mom

by Kara S. Anderson Leave a Comment

I can still remember the day that I quit homeschooling.

I was on our cordless phone (this is an old story), pacing in my dining room. I was talking to the woman at the nice Montessori-esque school, and she was walking me through how to enroll my son to start in January.

And I’m going to tell you, in that minute, it didn’t feel like giving up. It felt like such relief. It felt like getting good news from the doctor.

If we’d had any extra money then, I might have celebrated.

Because I had tried homeschooling for an entire semester, and I couldn’t hack it. But in a few weeks, all the responsibility wouldn’t be on me anymore.

Hi there, Doubt

Our homeschool story doesn’t end there, of course.

My son attended the Montessori school for 5 months, and it was great, but the next year, they wanted to move him into the 6-9 year-old classroom because he was an early reader. We were sent home that summer with instructions to work on handwriting every day.

In turned out that trying to force a kid whose fine motor skills were not ready for handwriting to practice handwriting EVERY DAY was a fairly miserable way to spend a summer, so we gave that up pretty quickly, and in the fall, I registered him for Kindergarten, but then panicked and decided to try homeschooling again.

Now we’ve been at it for almost 12 years, and we love homeschooling, but let me tell you, I have dealt with some doubt.

What’s interesting is that I haven’t doubted my kids.

But I’ve doubted myself A LOT.

When a particular homeschool method didn’t work 100 percent in our home, I blamed myself.

When a certain curriculum wouldn’t work for my kids, I figured I was doing it wrong.

Maybe I wished for a minute that my kids weren’t so wiggly? Or that they didn’t dislike timed tests quite so much?

But again, I saw that as my own failing. Better moms would be better at getting their kids to sit still. They would be better at instilling perseverance!

For so long doubt was my companion in our homeschooling journey.

 

What changed?

So what’s changed?

I think things began to shift when I started writing to you.

Of course it helps that I’m actually seeing my children succeeding. At 13 and 16, neither of them have become bank robbers or Mob bosses.

But what really changed things for me was writing here – sharing our struggles and wins, and all the bumps and U-turns.

Because homeschooling is anything but a straight and simple path – but that’s kind of a benefit, isn’t it? We get to chart our own course.

Like Magellan.

Or Oprah.

Of course, any time we do something different from the norm, it’s a little scary. So doubt still creeps in for me.

It’s just that now, I know I’m enough.

And I know you are too.

I know because I feel my intense, overwhelming love for my kids, and through talking to all of you, I’ve learned you have that too.

In fact, for so many of us, it’s that intense love for our quirky kids that led us to homeschooling in the first place. It’s that love that keeps us going, even when we hit rocky patches – days, weeks, even months.

But I believe in us and our love for our kids – so much that I wrote a whole book about it.

It’s called More Than Enough: Grow Your Confidence, Banish Burn-Out and Love Your Homeschool Life.

It’s for all of us who feel scared and overwhelmed sometimes. It’s definitely for all of us who doubt ourselves – for those of us who wonder if our family is cut out for this.

(Can I tell you a secret? The very fact that you worry means that yes – you are equipped to homeschool. Because that worry is just our intense love peeking out.)

I truly believe that you are enough, your family is enough, and your love for your kids is more than enough to homeschool well.

So if you need that reminder right now, I hope you’ll check out my book, available here.

I KNOW that you love your kids endlessly – so how could you possibly fail?

‘Cheerful nonchalance’: Or how to homeschool without losing your cool

by Kara S. Anderson 2 Comments

I first heard the phrase “cheerful nonchalance” from my friend Meg.

In her mid-20s, Meg was an old soul. She was one of those people who seemed “considered,” you know what I mean?

She was basically the opposite of willy-nilly. She would not be flying by the seat of her pants, no matter how many people around her flapped and shouted.

For instance, Meg taught a group of us about a parenting technique she termed “cheerful nonchalance.”

I can’t remember exactly the way this came up, so this is the example I offer:

Let’s say that you’ve noticed that your toddler has not had a vegetable since last month.

Kids go through stages like this, but when we are young mothers, our beloved child neglecting a couple of bites of broccoli is enough to send us into a tailspin.

Meg, in her infinite wisdom, pointed out that hand-wringing, hair-tugging and weeping aren’t likely to make our kids suddenly develop a love for greens, and won’t help us navigate the situation with much aplomb.

Instead, she offered practicing cheerful nonchalance.

OK, you say to your vegetable denier. More broccoli for me. Or the dog. Or the compost bin.

Maybe you just keep serving vegetables and keep eating them but not making a big production of it and it’s just that simple?

Sounds better than the crying thing, right?

What you do not do is freak out.

Because our children, although they be small, are mighty wise. They sense our emotions like tiny sponges in dungarees, and at a certain point in their young lives when they are learning about independence and the word no, we can find ourselves on dangerous turf.

It’s better, then, to be cool.

Be cool. You be cool.

This advice carries over way past the toddler NO stage and food refusal, of course.

In fact, just recently, when I shared with my mom that a certain teen here has a “special friend,” my mom gave me some advice.

“Be cool,” she said.

But … I said.

“Be cool,” she said again, like a 65-year-old Shaft in nursing shoes and Snoopy scrubs.

And I know she’s right. This is another place to practice cheerful nonchalance.

She’s a year older? No sweat.

She drives a car? Sure.

She wants to meet you downtown for coffee like you’re both 52 and met on Match.com? Who am I to say no?

Of course, I’m the parent, so I reserve the right to say no, but I think my mom has a point. If I can just manage to be cool I’ve got a lot higher degree of likelihood that he doesn’t jump out his window in the night and head to a state where you can get married at 16.

What we don’t want in a Romeo and Juliet situation here.

Cheerful, nonchalant homeschooling

I believe that cheerful nonchalance has helped my homeschooling, because it has helped protect my relationship with my kids.

There are 82 billion ways to fix math, but it is infinitely harder to fix a broken relationship; broken trust.

So when a kid arrives at our dining room table cranky and out of sorts, the last thing I do is slap down a math worksheet and tell them they can’t get up until it’s done.

Homeschooling isn’t easy, but one huge advantage is that we don’t have to do things the traditional school way. Giving up that old mindset changes everything.

So instead, I attempt to stay cheerfully nonchalant, while also not letting my kids play Mario Kart all day and eat nothing but Hot Cheetos. It’s a balancing act, but worth the careful navigation.

Strewing 101

One way I do this is through strewing.

If you aren’t familiar with strewing, don’t worry – I just wrote a whole ebook about it!

But here’s the short version: Strewing is just placing educational materials in your child’s path for them to discover.

You can strew for pretty much any homeschool subject – my book gives you more than 100 ideas to get you started in language arts, math, science, social studies, art and more.

But I have to tell you my absolutely No. 1 strewing tip, and that is to practice strewing cheerful nonchalance.

When we get ideas to share with our kids, it’s only natural to get invested in and excited about those ideas.

But we need to be careful. Our enthusiasm can easily spill over into pushing, and that’s not what strewing is about.

In fact, some things you strew, your kids just won’t love. Trust me! I’ve been strewing for years and have strewed some real dud projects.

I’ve also strewed some stuff that turned into unit studies and long-time passions.

It’s kind of like Cactus Schooling.

We must strew GENTLY, and without a ton of emotion in order to be more successful in the long-term.

Learn More

To learn more about strewing, and my low-stress method, head over to check out my brand new ebook: Strewing 101: An Invitation to Play, Learn and Grow.

Inside you’ll find:

Answers to frequently asked strewing questions like:

  • How to do it
  • When and where
  • How to balance it with more formal academics
  • What to do when strewing goes wrong

Plus:

  • A printable for keeping track of strewing ideas
  • More than 100 strewing ideas for all subjects
  • Directions for 3 next-level strewing projects

Remember – be cool. You’ve got this.

Head here for more information and to get your copy today!

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Hey there!

I’m Kara – writer, tea drinker, yoga-doer and girl with the overdue books.

 

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karastephensonanderson

kara s anderson
Hi. I finally wrote a thing about transcripts fo Hi. 

I finally wrote a thing about transcripts for when you are unschooly.

This is just based on my experience with one kid, but I’m happy to try to answer any questions.

But two important things: first, our homeschooling here has been messy/successful - succmessful 💙

It’s worked for us. But it isn’t fancy, and so this transcript style isn’t either.

Second, for the love, remember - if you’ve been hanging out for me for any amount of time, the most important thing is our relationship with our kids.

So keep college in its place.

It’s not a contest. What you really want (I bet) is a place your kid will thrive without having to morph into some Bret Easton Ellis character, right?
 
Too far? 😉 

Post: karasanderson.com/transcripts/
Before. And after 🥰🥰 And a lil grid with h Before.

And after 🥰🥰

And a lil grid with headbands from our dear Jen - @thequirkydaisy 💜

(I ended up being able to donate 14 inches. Thank you for the advice about where to donate!)

P.S. Yes, @vanessanwright is also wearing our twin sweater today. 😂💟
OK. That was fun. Everything feels so different t OK. That was fun.

Everything feels so different than it did just 24 hours ago - in the best way. 🎓

I think we needed to do a thing. 🤷‍♀️ I think we needed a stop-point. 

Anyway, it was good, and I’m grateful and man, I love this kid. 💙🧡

P.S. Very glad I bought sparkly hats and a themed teddy bear.

I don’t know much about party planning, but these were wise investments, I think.
Hi. I’m totally fine, except tomorrow is my son Hi.

I’m totally fine, except tomorrow is my son’s graduation party and I’m not even close to fine, like … I find myself just sort of stuck here again, unable to do normal things like eat the salad I just made.

I was talking to my friend Jenn about this launching kids thing, and she said to be OK with both parts - to feel both parts.

The two parts are that yes, I am happy for my son and excited and this is true. This isn’t me trying to be happy. It’s real.

But also, I feel like I’m in a slow motion “emotional plane crash” - Jenn’s words.

She said I need to feel both, and *show* both - let both out - and that’s been the problem, I think.

I’m afraid to show the sad part. The scared part.

I’m afraid of those feelings being downplayed or dismissed by people who don’t get the complexity. 

I’m afraid of those things overshadowing the joy.

But then Jenn, without me saying any of that, saw it and got it and I realized maybe it would help to share all this, because maybe another mom will read this and feel seen and understood and know that she’s not alone in the beautiful, heartbreaking both of it all 🤍
I wanted to introduce you to my new pal, this Morn I wanted to introduce you to my new pal, this Morning Sidekick Journal.

A while back, I was talking to someone about needing a schedule, and she said, I think what you really need is to set your priorities each day 🤯

So I bought this journal I’ve been eyeing for a while that helps you create a consistent morning routine.

Then, the last step of my morning routine is to plan out my day in my bullet journal, and star the 3 most important things.

This little journal has already helped so much. I feel so much more focused and that helps me feel less anxious.

I highly, highly recommend this system, especially if like me, you like/ need accountability + have a hard time creating realistic routines and making them stick. 🌟

I’ll put a link in my bio for you! 

P.S. my erasable Frixion Color Stick pens pair perfectly with this. 🌟
I don’t really have anything to say except my fr I don’t really have anything to say except my friend Kym sent me these amazing Wonder Woman cuffs and I’m not taking them off.

I shall sleep in them.

They are so cool that my teens like them.

Also, some people see us.

Today we went to drop off a gift to one of my son’s college professor because she is special. She *gets* him. 

And fun fact: I was in one of her first classes when she started teaching.

Back then, she admits she tried to be tough, but it didn’t work. Caring was better.

Caring is better.

Let the people who care in and love them like crazy. 💙

Signed, 
My 5-year-old self who is still part of me and having the best day of her life.
Hey-o! It’s my birthday, and I always like to c Hey-o!

It’s my birthday, and I always like to celebrate by having a thing over at my site. 🧁💗🥳

➡️

The secret password is MAYSALE22

OK. Love you. Bye!
It turns out, getting into college isn’t actuall It turns out, getting into college isn’t actually the hard part.

I mean it is. Sure. There are visits and applications, and I guess like 18 years of helping your child turn into a college-ready person, but now that my oldest has been accepted to college, I’m learning that the hoop-jumping only increases as we get closer to August.

Part of me wants to go back to that day in February, the day before his 18th birthday, as we all stood around his phone at 4 p.m., waiting for the email telling us whether he got into his college of choice, and then the joyous relief.

It’s weird how memories work, because in truth, that day was mostly terrible.

I spent the morning crying in my office, certain that if he didn’t get into his top choice school that it was my fault; that I had somehow failed him through homeschooling.

***

And now I find myself here again, wanting to help, but not wanting to push – wanting so much to set him up for success as he prepares to leave home.

Wanting.

New post: karasanderson.com/launching 🤍
Getting into a walking routine with @vanessanwrigh Getting into a walking routine with @vanessanwright 💚

#karaandvanessawalk30 

LINKS:
Headbands: @thequirkydaisy 

Sweater @stitchfix ( Cotton Emporium)

Sarah (We LOVE Sarah naps! 💚) @rayzenenergy 

Walking app: @99walks 

Yoga with Adrienne: @adrienelouise 

Leslie Samsone: @walkathome

Ellen Barrett: @ellenbarrettfit 

Podcast: This Morning Walk
@alex @thismorningwalk @parkhere

Love you! Bye!! 💚💚💚
“Last night I made risotto for dinner. I know e “Last night I made risotto for dinner.

I know every step now. It’s autopilot. I zest my lemon and the little yellow curls land right in the cup I used to measure my rice.

That’s how it goes when you’ve done something for so long – you figure out all the short-cuts and ways to keep clean-up at a minimum.

Maybe in a few years, I’ll feel confident enough to tell you that’s what I did with homeschooling my kids – that my method wasn’t about my own grand failings, but instead about finding a way that worked for us – (shortcuts + minimizing emotional clean-up.)

But I’m not there yet.”

New post today about risotto, spring, and the bittersweetness of graduating a kid:

karasanderson.com/risotto 🤍
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