Well, friends. The Summer has come to an end. The Summer that started during Spring break and felt like it was four years long, but at the same time flew by in the blink of an eye.
I wanted to share two things with you guys today. First, for those of you who love your essential oils, a round up of my favorite Back To School Diffuser Blends! This works for those of you who are sending your kiddos in person, doing online or fully homeschooling, and bonus, for teachers who might want to use in their classrooms!!
Let’s start with why these blends. When you inhale essential oils, the tiny molecules interact directly with the “feelings” area of your brain. This is how they can affect your mood, your emotions, your energy levels and so much more! We use playful diffuser blends with Citrus Fresh or Peppermint for high energy activities like waking up or playing, diffuser blends that contain Orange, Cedarwood or GeneYus for focus, concentration and creativity, and diffuser blends with Frankincense, Peace & Calming or Lavender during rest or reading time.
Our girls love to fill up the diffuser and I plan to print this out and keep it in our homeschool room for them to pick blends based on what time of the day it is. Harper already does this in her room at bedtime and she loves it!! I will also be slathering myself in Peace & Calming morning til night, because patience in a bottle.
If you don’t already use oils and want to learn more, follow along over on my wellness page or grab a starter kit here!
Second, lots of you have been asking what our daily schedule is going to look like when we go back to school in a few weeks. Let me preface by saying we are not super organized people. Like, at all. But I think my girls will thrive in knowing what each day will look like, so tentatively it will go something like this:
8:00-10:00 // Slow mornings, breakfast, coffee, walk with neighbors or friends up to local playground just like we normally would if we were walking our kids to school. Get them out in the sunshine every single morning until the weather says no. Fit in any parts of lessons that might involve nature, scavenger hunts, drawing, physical activities, etc.
10:00-noon // Language Arts, Reading & Math. This will be our hardest part of the day, but we plan to have both Brandon & I teaching/helping them and getting the core subjects down. We will work with the girls individually but also try to do a lot of it as a family.
Noon-1:30 // Lunch, free time outside, us hiding in our office chugging coffee (in our pajamas, IYKYK) and working.
1:30-3:00 // Science, History, Arts & Crafts.
3:00-4:00 // QUIET TIME. Nobody is allowed to talk to each other for at least an hour. Kids can read, draw, play in their rooms, or finish school work if needed.
The rest of the day will be our normal family time, go on a walk, ride bikes, make dinner, play games, watch movies, or whatever else we have going on. The girls will continue to do soccer & gymnastics, assuming they continue happening (fingers crossed!!!) AND we are so lucky to have one of the girls teachers coming in on Fridays to help supplement & do projects with the girls!! Last but not least, Harper saved her money all summer to buy a sewing machine, so we are super excited to introduce that as part of her “learning” this year where she will go work with my mom a few hours a week away from her little sisters and hopefully learn how to make tote bags and all sorts of other things by next year!
Ok typing that all out is already overwhelming, so hopefully living it will be a little more chill. Only time will tell! As of right now, our district did decide to go full time distance learning/online, so we hope to find lots of ways to see friends and make their days feel as normal as possible!
How are you guys feeling as we head into the school year?! Whatever your situation, we are praying for you & sending all the good vibes your way! XO
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This sounds so wonderful and peaceful compared to virtual learning we are doing at the current time. I wish we would’ve gone the homeschooling route. Enjoy thee new school year!
This is our 3rd year homeschooling so not much has changed for us, thankfully. 2nd and 1st grade this year We like to knock everything our before lunch. We take full advantage of baby’s nap time!
I started school at home this week. I was surprised that we were able to get through our looping basket(geography, French, read aloud, and safety), math, spelling, grammar, and reading from 9-12.
When it’s nasty outside I’ll add in crafts, games, and more activities but for now we are using our afternoons in the sunshine for swimming, hikes, and combing the beach for treasures.
Honestly, some of my favorite memories from being homeschooled was those crisp, fall mornings where I would hang out in our apple tree or tree house and read with the wind blowing my hair and the sun on my feet.
Love your layout of your day. Sunshine and playtime is a must! There will be days where you deviate because it works best for you and everyone’s sanity.
More than anything – enjoy it!
Cheering you on! Thank you so much for the diffuser blends. Your graphics always make oiling up extra fun! ?
Love it! This is so cool!
Hi! I commented on IG but I don’t know how you prefer to communicate! I’m super interested in a starter kit but prefer the diffuser you shared a week or two ago on your page. Did I miss the boat on being able to get that w a starter kit? Will it be available again? Thanks for any help! Mama over here trying to do better!