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10 Best Ways to Help Your Left-Handed Kids Succeed

10 Best Ways to Help Your Left-Handed Kids Succeed

I’m a right-handed mom with two left-handed kids. When I figured out my two oldest boys were both lefties, I was totally unprepared to help them navigate the left-handed-person challenges they’d face in this life. 

In my righty “this-world-was-made-with-me-in-mind” ignorance, I figured scissors and can-openers and garden pruners were one-direction-fits-all kind of tools. I just never really realized the annoyances lefties deal with on a daily basis until I tried teaching my own two left-handed kids. 

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Top 3 Types of Help for All Homeschoolers

Top 3 Types of Help for All Homeschoolers on swimming pool background with flotation ring

? “I get by with a little help from my friends” ?

– The Beatles

Sing it, Ringo! So true!

Homeschooling parents have a lot on our plates and, depending on the day or our stage of life, the help we need often takes different forms. 

But there are also kinds of support and encouragement that are universally helpful to all homeschoolers. The following three categories of help have been consistently valuable to me in all stages of our homeschooling so far.

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6 Homeschool Sanity Tips for the New Year

6 homeschool sanity tips for the new year on wood background with snowflake decor

To the tune of Auld Lang Syne…

Christmas gifts strewn all around,
Party messes still piled high,
Decorations to repack…
I think I’m about to cry.

And add to this the pressure felt
To analyze your life, 
And come up with some lofty goals
That will solve all of your strife.

– words by Sensible Homeschool

That’s how the song goes, isn’t it?

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Grrrific Homeschool Lessons I Learned from Daniel Tiger – Part One

Grrrific Homeschool Lessons I learned from... Daniel Tiger, Part One with cartoon lightbulb on blue fence background

Our God is so good. 

He knows what we need and he meets us where we’re at… even when “where you’re at” is buried under three loads of laundry, surrounded by a hopeless mess in every direction, with a crying toddler hanging on your leg, an oven timer beeping, and older kids who are fighting instead of finishing their math.  

It was in a moment like this a few days ago that He caught my attention through the (unbelievably incessant) singing of the PBS character, Daniel Tiger. 

“When something seems bad, turn it around and find something good.”

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4 Smart Money-Saving Strategies for One-Income Families (Strategy #4)

4 smart money-saving strategies for one-income families strategy #4 with piggy bank

So far in this series we’ve looked at ways to save money by being…

The final 4 C’s Strategy overlaps with #3 but I’ve kept them separate since each one has it’s own main focus. 

Being counter-cultural in our approach to money helps us zero in on our own goals and work towards them without being influenced by what culture says we’re “supposed” to do. Once you’re comfortable going against the cultural grain, it becomes easier to come up with all kinds of creative money-saving ideas that are unique to your own situation.

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4 Smart Money-Saving Strategies for One-Income Families (Strategy #3)

4 smart money-saving strategies for one-income families strategy #3 with piggy bank

If you haven’t yet, check out Strategy #1 and Strategy #2 in this series.

So you read last week’s post and stuck around for more? Three cheers for you!! Honestly, the first two strategies are super-important but not all that exciting. They’re kind of like brushing your teeth. Necessary and effective? Yes. Exciting? Not so much.

Thankfully, once you make some progress with Strategies #1 and #2 – learning more about finances and minimizing your financial temptations – you can save even more by using the final two strategies to reach your family’s goals.

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4 Smart Money-Saving Strategies for One-Income Families (Strategy #2)

4 smart money-saving strategies for one-income families strategy #2 with piggy bank

If you haven’t yet, check out the first post in this series here.

I’ve got good news and bad news. First, the good news…

The fact that you’re reading this means you’re already succeeding at Strategy #1 – you deserve a reward! Go get yourself a cookie! (I’ll wait here)

OK, now that you’ve got your cookie and you’re in a good mood… here’s the bad news. I’ll just come right out and say it…

This next money-saving strategy is the most fuddy-duddy, Debbie Downer, wet blanket of the 4 C’s Strategies. To make matters worse, I’m posting it on BLACK FRIDAY! I’m doing this partly because this is the day when this message is most needed and partly because I’m amused by the irony.

So, brace yourself. What I’m about to say sounds cynical and probably not very cool. But I do hope you’ll keep reading because Strategy #2 has helped us save so much money over the years and I think it can help you, too!

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4 Smart Money-Saving Strategies for One-Income Families (Strategy #1)

4 smart money-saving strategies for one-income families strategy #1 with piggy bank

Many homeschooling families (and non-homeschooling families, too) are living on one income in a two-income economy. 

Our own household income was cut by 50% when I quit my full-time architecture career to stay home with our first baby. We had some savings and made it work for the short-term but once we decided to homeschool we realized the “dip-into-savings-and-just-don’t-buy-stuff” approach wasn’t going to work for the long haul. 

The loss of one full-time salary or the switch to part-time income with fewer benefits is a huge adjustment. In a culture obsessed with money and material possessions you’ll need to muster all your courage and intentionality to stick to a financial plan that works.

But I’m here to tell you it CAN be done! 

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