Calm Parenting Podcast - Help For Homeschoolers Part II: 10+ Tips For Your Kids

Episode Date: October 25, 2023

Help For Homeschoolers Part II: 10+ Tips For Your Kids In Part II of this series, we discuss more than a dozen ways to jumpstart your strong-willed child’s brain to help them complete their work more quickly, with less frustration. Play this podcast for your kids so they can learn how THEIR brains work best. Please share with other homeschoolers and learn more at https://www.CelebrateCalm.com/homeschool Kirk is available for Phone Consultations. Click here to learn more. This episode of the Calm Parenting Podcast is brought to you by Hello Fresh. Go to https://www.hellofresh.com and use code 50calm for 50% off plus FREE shipping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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no multiple step protocols, just simple scientifically validated solutions. The secret is One Skin's proprietary OS1 peptide. It's the first ingredient proven to switch off the aging cells that cause lines, wrinkles, and thinning skin. OneSkin is the world's first skin longevity company. By focusing on the cellular aspects of aging, OneSkin keeps your skin looking and acting younger for longer. Get started today with 15% off using code Kirk at OneSkin.co. That's 15% off at OneSkin.co with code K-I-R-K. After you purchase, they'll ask where you heard about them. So please support our podcast and tell them we sent you. Do you have a bright, strong-willed child who should be able to buzz through his or her schoolwork in a couple hours, then have the rest of the day to explore? But in reality,

this child spends that entire day battling you over even simple worksheets, even though you've cut the expected work in half? Good, you're not alone. On this second special episode of the Calm Parenting Podcast for Homeschoolers, I'm going to show you a dozen or more ways to jumpstart your child's brain. And I'd actually let your kids listen to this podcast and then ask them, hey, how do you want to use these ideas? This is your schooling. You have an opportunity to have some ownership here.

And it's a good way to teach them how their brains work. So welcome, this is Kirk Martin. I'm founder of Celebrate Calm. You can find us at CelebrateCalm.com. If you need help with anything, reach out to our son Casey. C-A-S-E-Y, CelebrateCalm.com. Let us know about your family. We will reply to you, help you out. If you need help with any of our programs, just reach out to Casey. So let's jump into this right away and try to make your homeschooling day less stressful and even a little bit enjoyable. And if you haven't listened to part one of this series, go and listen to that now because it's very foundational. Okay, here we go. Number one, let's wake your strong-willed child up to some kind of challenge or mission, something they're

good at doing, right? But you can't solve this Rubik's Cube in less than X minutes. Hey, think you can find your breakfast because I hid it outside in the backyard. I love waking kids up to treasure hunts. It gets them moving. It gets their brain working on problem solving. It gets some blood flow moving to their brain, which helps what? It helps with concentration and focus. Plus it's positive. You're starting the day by creating a success rather than starting with a battle. And when we homeschooled even other people's kids, I always, the first thing in our day was we're starting with a success. I always woke Casey up to some kind of mission or challenge that he was good at doing. Finding something in

the backyard, connecting over something he was interested in, creating a success to start the day on a positive note. Look, sometimes it was just quietly sitting and not talking in the morning because some of your kids, they need a little time to wake up. Some people are morning people. Some people are not. Those of you who are like me, I'm an irritating morning person. Respect the fact that not everybody is like that and it'll go better for you. Number two, get your kids outside early as often as you can. Look, we had 1,500 Strongwell kids in our home over the course of a decade. Many of these kids were on the spectrum. Some of them were kind of addicted to screens. And the one constant of every day that I spent with these kids, because we had these little things called Lego camps.

Kids didn't know they were coming to a camp where we were working on social skills and emotional and self-control, impulse control. They didn't know that. We just called it Lego camp because they thought they were just getting together with a bunch of other kids that were like them. But in reality, we were kind of doing a form of play therapy, but it was a whole lot better than that because therapy doesn't work for most of your kids. They're just going to manipulate the therapist and just say, I don't know. I don't know. And you'll waste thousands of dollars. So the one constant of every camp day is we began by doing something physical outside. And this could be walking through the woods, building a fort, walking across a creek,

throwing things in some water, whatever it is. Sometimes kids would help me shovel mulch and plant things. They like that physical activity. Sometimes we played sports or games or we put Mentos and Coke bottles and blew things up. We even used to race in shopping carts. And one day we got actually pulled over by a cop coming down our street while we were racing in grocery store shopping carts. You know what? That's very stimulating for our brain. And that's really good for kids. Fresh air changes moods.

Exercise stimulates the brain. Try to get your kids doing some harder physical work. Even breaking a sweat, it releases endorphins, which are awesome for learning. Your kids, but know this, your kids are not going to want to go outside. You have to lead them there. Make it fun. Make up games. Let your little landscapers do some yard work. Have kids challenge the kid who loves shoveling mulch to move a load of mulch across the yard. Some of you live on a farm. Use that to your advantage. Get outside. It's really important. Number three, related to that,

do schoolwork outside as much as possible. When we did school with kids, we climbed down into these drainage ditches in our neighborhood. And I told the kids it was the sewer because kids love anything that's disgusting. And they liked it even more. Why? It was different. We were underground where we weren't supposed to be. It was dark. So we did schoolwork with flashlights. It was wet and fun and different. I like riding bikes to somewhere interesting and doing one subject in that spot. Have a snack and then ride to a different spot. We used to ride to construction zones because a lot of these kids are very good at tinkering with things and building. So they would watch the diggers and they would do that. We'd do a subject and then we'd get some exercise and ride again or walk somewhere. I don't care.

Just get out and explore and take the schoolwork with you or just throw a blanket on the lawn and do it there. Or if you're in a cold place like Minnesota, just make an igloo and go out there and do your work. But be flexible with this. Number four, this is really, really important. With a strong-willed child, and a child who learns in different ways, you have to manage their energy, not their time.

Now, I don't have a ton of time to go through this in all of its glory, but it is a really important concept and crucial insight for your kids. And this is part of the ADHD University program. Please go through that because it teaches you how your kids' brains work and then how you can use that to your advantage. Look, time management, traditional time management, tends to be linear. It doesn't work with our kids. Our kids work in spurts.

They hyper-focus. They work on momentum. So learn how and when your most challenging child focuses best. Is this in the morning? Is it after exercise? Is it in the evening when you can hand this off to your spouse for help? Case and I both have distinct work patterns and we flow with that daily and weekly. You've got to really understand this thing of how their mental energy works. And look, if

your child is crushing it in math one day, well, just keep going with that. Do three days worth of math work that day. It's very unnatural and difficult to switch back and forth between five different subjects each day. Your kids may want to work extra hard one day. Then go for it. Focus on, look, I hyper focus. I tend to, I'll tell you another thing that I do. I do the opposite of what everybody else is doing. It is a Sunday. I'm doing this podcast on a Sunday. I often work best on weekends when everybody else is off. And then I go and play and I do shopping and we have our fun during the week.

I get a ton of work done in the opposite flow of everybody else. And I'll often knock out several podcasts at a time. Why? Because do a podcast, my brain is in a certain space. So do that with your kids. They may want to work. Look, I said work extra hard. For your strong will kids, that means just work. But some days when they're focusing well, I'd rather pound out and do three or four days of good work each week than try to elongate it into five days. And they may do better work on the weekends. They may do better work at night. So try to think about that because they often do work better when the world slows down your older kids, teenagers. That's why they often do work better after the parents go to sleep

at night. It's just a little bit odd, but roll with that. Manage their energy, not their time. Number five, use time compression to your advantage. Now, this is another really interesting concept. Sometimes homeschooling families are at a disadvantage because you actually have too much time to get schoolwork done. Because in a regular school, there are artificial time limits, 45 minutes to a class, and then the bell rings, and we're done at three o'clock in the afternoon.

But as a homeschoolchool, you have all day and all night to get things done because at school you leave, the kids leave the school. Here, they never leave the school or the teacher. And that actually leads to more procrastination. And one of the ways I learned this is this. Early on, Casey would travel with me to speaking engagements, and we'd do homeschooling on the road. And he'd literally do some of his work while we were driving, which was really awesome. But let's say we had a speaking gig at a church or school, and we had to be there at 6.30 p.m. So we'd roll into this new town at, say, 5.47, and we'd go right to a Panera Bread place. We now had 43 minutes to eat and get our work done before leaving for the live event. And what I discovered is that that definitive

time limit, that 43 minutes compressed the time he had to get, his writing assignments done, that helped him focus. Because if he had three hours to do a writing assignment, which he struggled with, and I show you on that ADHD program, university program, how to do writing assignments with your kids. It's really, really cool. It's very, very different, but it's very, very cool. But he struggled with writing assignments until we learned how to do this. And that 43 minutes, it's like it focused his energy. It was the defined limit. So he also knew it wasn't going to last forever. That's another key. It forced his brain to hyper focus. It also worked because we were eating, music was playing, and there was activity going on there. See, the rhythm from the eating and music

actually creates rhythm in the brain and that was very stimulating. So I use this for myself all the time. I give myself a defined time limit to write a newsletter or a podcast. Use that at home. You can jumpstart your child's brain and get a success by saying,

okay, in the next 17 minutes, let's knock out this assignment. Play some music, get some movement. I'm a realist. Some of your kids are so resistant, you could do the following. Hey, don't tell anyone, but we're going to do this worksheet together. We're knocking it out in 17 minutes. You do the odd numbered problems and I'll do the even numbered ones and you do it together. Well, isn't that cheating? Well, I have two responses. No, when you're doing the even-numbered math problems,

you're actually showing your child how to do the work, and you're actually teaching. And number two, you're just getting your work done, and that's called being smart. By the way, if you have or you get the Calm Parenting program, let your kids listen to Casey's Straight Talk for Kids program Because Casey shares how he learned how to control his own emotions and impulses And how he learned how to use his brain most effectively

And your kids will like this because it's another kid talking to them Not some boring adult lecturing them You can even have them do a writing assignment based on three things they can begin doing differently in the homeschooling day or two ways they learn how to deal with disappointment from Casey's program because he goes through that. You could give him a challenge of like, hey, Casey talks about coming up with a code word when you're upset and when you're, instead of yelling at me, coming up with a code word, what's your code word going to be? I've got a lot of homeschooling families that listen to our programs and they use them usually as curriculum. Go to celebratecalm.com

slash homeschool because you get a big discount there just for you because you're homeschooling or email Casey and he'll help you out with it. Casey at CelebrateCalm.com. Okay, number six, use rhythm, use music, choose snacks, let them tap pencils if they're doing it alone, right? Because some of you, I want your kids to actually, if you can, let some of your kids spread out and do their schoolwork in a different room. So your kids usually have very busy brains and it feels like there's chaos inside their brains and that's why they always want to control things. It's why they control conversations,

why they're bossy. It's why you can't get them to, you can't play board games with them because they're gonna cheat, change the rules or quit. It's all about creating order because they don't have it inside of them. Look, the reason they cheat is because that's a way of controlling

the outcome of the game. It's all about control. And that's why we talk about a lot with kids when they get upset and have meltdowns, the first thing isn't to try to get them to calm down. It's to give them something they're actually in control of. So one of the other things you'll learn

in the ADHD program is about the need for rhythm. Think about this chaotic brain that's not all that organized. It's got thoughts and feelings and ideas tumbling around like socks in a dryer. But now you introduce some rhythm through music, through chewing, through tapping on something. And that creates rhythm in the brain, and it can help your kids focus better. So I'd experiment with allowing your kids to listen to music and especially intense music. Look, when I was writing this, I was listening to intense music, a live. I often find myself listening to a live concert. Why? Because there's extra energy to that and that focuses my brain and that can help with writing projects and other subjects. Let your kids eat

their breakfast or lunch or snack while doing school work instead of it being separate. Chewing brings blood flow to the brain. It's relaxing and it's often just helps your kids with this. So I'd encourage you to try this. Let your child stand at the kitchen counter where he or she can rock back and forth, chewing on a snack, listening to their music. Just try it. Number seven, use movement to stimulate and focus the brain. One of the reasons you homeschool is so your kids aren't stuck sitting in a chair for seven hours a day. So take advantage of this flexibility. Look, review vocabulary words and quiz your kids while they're jumping on a trampoline, while you're kicking a ball back and forth, while they're shooting hoops, while they're spinning. Some of your kids spin because they're trying to meet a vestibular need.

So instead of getting upset, stop your spinning. Instead say, hey, I'm going to review vocabulary words while you're spinning. And I bet they'll do it really well. We taught kids how to read while swinging on a swing. It's weird, but it works. Do you have a child who likes hanging off the sofa upside down? Good. Use that to your advantage. Why they do that because it brings blood flow to their brains and it probably needs a sensory need that calms them. So walk into the living room and say, hey, bet you can't do your math worksheet upside down. Then you lie upside down next to your child and quiz your child. You bond that way over weird things. Do you have a child who likes confined spaces? Good. Let that child do school work under the kitchen table. You put a blanket over the table. You now have a fort. Forts are

cool. They can do their schoolwork under there. Give them a flashlight. Let them lay on the floor. Let them sit in a closet, even in the car. I have a lot of teenagers that will do their schoolwork in a car. It's like their home office, but it's private for them. Experiment with the movement. It's really, really helpful. Number eight, experiment with doing work in different parts of your home, like the attic, the basement, a tree house, even the car, or out in public. And it may sound weird, but try it. We used to take kids to the local Caribou coffee shop to do one or two subjects. They liked it because there were antlers on the walls. There was a fire going in winter, so it was cozy. Plus, you know what else it was? They were at an adult place while all the other kids were stuck in school.

Then we'd drive to the local ice rink where they would do some more work. They'd skate a little bit at the lunchtime skate. Got the endorphins flowing. And then we'd finish up with a little bit more work. We just packed lunches and snacks to avoid paying for food. So, trait number nine, just practice that. Do it in different parts of your home. Go out in public. Number nine, trade kids with another co-op or homeschooling mom, right? Some of you attend a co-op or you know other homeschooling families. There's other parents out there who also have strong willed kids who are great for other people, but resist their own parents. So why not team up with that

family? You get together a couple times a week for a couple hours of work and then let the kids play together. And perhaps the other mom or dad teaches your child math because they're good at that while you teach their child writing. Try swapping kids with other people for a couple hours. Then your kids get to listen to someone with a fresh perspective and a different voice. Number 10, you're going to resist this, but it's probably the best idea out of all of them. Find an older couple in your neighborhood or your church to help you. And I know you're going to resist this at first, but think about it. You have this older couple, or maybe it's an old guy or an older lady in your home or in your neighborhood, and you know them.

They're safe. They've already raised their kids. They're safe. They're patient. Look, they're a lot more patient than you are because they don't have anything to do all day except wait for Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune to come on. I'm kidding, but they have missed having their kids around. Some of you even have retired school teachers in your neighborhood or church. So use them. Simply ask them, look, I homeschool my kids and I've got one in particular who's really, really bright, but he resists me all the time, but he's got a huge heart. He loves helping other people. Would you have him over to your house sometime? Maybe once a week?

Do you have anything that you that you need done? Because my son loves helping other people Could you give him a job at your house? And then if he's down at your house, would you consider doing a subject or two with him once or twice a week? Now you don't want to do this because you don't want to bother that old lady or a couple down the street But you're looking at it the wrong way. This old lady or this couple would love having your bright child at their house. Why? Because your child brings energy and youth into their home, and your child is often really good with older people, and they'll carry on these great conversations, and they'll be helpful, engaging, and it gives this older couple a new mission.

They'll feel good helping a frustrated mom and bright kid, and it gives them something to talk about after being married for 45 years. What are they going to talk about all day? But now they've got this kid coming into their home, and they're energized. I'm telling you, it is a gift to this older couple. And if you don't try it, you're robbing them of joy and purpose and you'll rob yourself of a really valuable resource. And don't, I'm sorry to ask you this. Don't do that. Moms, stop apologizing for everything. You have needs. You're important. You're worthy of being helped. You help everybody else. You're worthy of being helped. So stop asking everybody in pleading tones and apologizing. You apologize to your husband for asking him. Stop that. You're an equal partner and you deserve to be helped and

you're worthy of being helped. You do it for everybody else. Treat other people the way you want to be treated. You already treat other people that way. And that means you're worthy of having an expectation that other people will help you. So chew on that a little bit. Anyway, here's the other part of that. Your child will really, you know, let me go back to that. Moms, I want you to break some of these generational patterns. One of those things that you could do during those 17 minutes that you get, remember we talked on the first podcast every morning at 10 47 a.m to 19 p.m. Work on breaking some of these generational patterns. Work on learning how to be more assertive and being more confident because the reason when people respect you is when

you demonstrate self-respect. That is a lofty and worthy goal. That's your own self-development, your own education. Let your kids see you working on that. Because the best goal teaching you ever do your kids is what you model for them. So back to this older couple down the street that I want you to take advantage of using. You're not taking advantage. You're giving them a gift. Your child is going to like being the center of attention in their home. This older couple is going to dote on and encourage and praise your child. They're also going to be patient with him.

But you know what else they'll do? They'll be tough on your child. And your child will listen to them because they aren't you. And your strong-willed child will come home feeling confident and good about himself, telling you all the things he did to help this older couple. And it gives your child an opportunity to do a service project, to help with them do things around the house. And if you get really lucky, the older gentleman, maybe he's a retired engineer or maybe just likes tinkering with things and he can teach your child how to build and fix things. He'd be an awesome mentor for your strong

willed child or this older lady might be good at working with your daughter. It can be very grounding for teenagers to spend time with older people because they're very grounding and they have a lot of wisdom. You know what else it does? It gives you and your compliant kids time to breathe and work and have peace at home for a couple hours. While the strong-willed child who is challenging is enjoying his time down at the Johnson's house. Please try this. It's really cool. Number 11. Giving you a bonus,

more than 10. Create successes with your most challenging child. We start the morning with a small win. Let's keep getting those small wins. Let them read and write about something they're interested in. Make it a practical thing. When I was a kid, you know what I did? I wrote letters to the Kellogg's cereal company asking for a refund because they didn't give us enough cereal in the box. And I practiced my writing skills. And I also got a check for like $1.32 because that's how old I am and how much cereal box cost back then. And I got something in the mail. It was kind of cool. So let them do some practical real life things, not these arbitrary schooling things that we do. We'll write about this subject that you don't care about. Well, that doesn't make sense. I spent a

year during COVID mentoring inner city kids. And what I learned was if I made their assignments related to something they were interested in, they would do it. So I always had the little kids with math. I'd be like, okay, let's say you make it to the NBA. You get your first contract. Okay. Your agent's going to take 6%. Government's going to take 28%. How much are you going to have left? And they would do it. Give them context. Let them write to someone they respect. Let them write to someone they disagree with, which is probably more likely. Let them read more adult-type books and articles. Write a rebuttal on a political form. Anything that engages their curiosity. It's a practical outlet for them. Number 12. I already mentioned

this, but I'm going to mention it again. Let's have dad do a subject or two with the kids or the strong-willed child when he gets home from work or the next morning or even late at night with a teenager because dad's got that fresh voice and he may excel in a couple subjects. Look, it could be on a weekend. It could be late at night. I've mentioned this before in other podcasts. Let's say you've got a teenager and dad has this big project he's working on. He says, hey, teenage son, teenage daughter, listen, I got to cram for this big project. I got some work I've got to figure out tonight. I know when you get to college, you're probably going to procrastinate. You're

going to have to cram at the last minute. Why don't you grab your schoolwork? We're going to go out to IHOP or maybe Taco Bell, whatever. And we're going to do a work session until late into the night. And your child will feel like an adult. And it's way more fun doing work late at night at IHOP or Taco Bell than it is sitting at a desk. And dad gets to take stress off mom. Dad gets his work done at IHOP, and the kid gets his work done. And dad's available. This is important. Dad's available to his child to help with that schoolwork, but he's not just sitting there waiting for him to get it done because he's working on his stuff. Mom, that's a really good tool too, is be busy, especially with your older

kids, doing some of your own work. So you're not just waiting for them to mark down those answers on that page because that's frustrating. Thirteen, affirm your child for what he or she is already doing well. It's so easy to get frustrated with our kids and point out all the things they're doing wrong, but let's break that cycle. For the next week, affirm your kids. Affirm what they're already doing well for their unique gifts, their talents. That's praise for progress, not perfection because that's more motivating than just correcting your kids. Number 14. One of the most important things you must do with a resistant child. Is to discover what motivates your child.

And discover what they care about. Not what you care about. You and I care about good grades and good behavior. And doing your work to the best of your ability. And some of you have a compliant child or neurotypical kids or those who just enjoy doing their schoolwork. And they're already internally motivated to do their best and be conscientious with their schoolwork. But it simply does not work to impose outside motivations on your strong-willed child. They have to own it themselves. They simply don't care and they'll shut down or do nothing. And no consequences will work with this child as you've already found.

And this is usually when parents of older kids schedule a call or two with me because here's what we have to do. Because until you discover what they care about, nothing will matter and it will be an endless struggle. Now, I don't have time to go through this in detail, but do remember the phrase, mission and mentor. I want you to find ways for your resistant child to use his or her particular natural gifts, talents, and passions, doing something he or she enjoys, something they're good at, outside the home, accountable to another adult. This could be working a job, volunteering at an animal or homeless shelter, helping an older couple, working at a daycare because they're really good with younger kids. It could be starting their own business, something they care about, something they have ownership over, helping a local soccer coach because your child's really good at soccer

and they help and they're really good with younger kids. So they help this guy or this lady who's coaching younger kids. See, now they're accountable to another adult who will likely praise them, but who can also speak into their lives in ways that you can as a parent. See, I always made sure that as a teenager, Casey had two mentors and two missions. One, he had a flight instructor and he also had a boss at the ice rink because in order to do those two things he loved, learn how to fly and doing his work because he loved his job, but he didn't love homeschooling. He had to get his work done. See, and that was motivating. And those role models and mentors reinforced all

of those lessons. And other people sometimes can say things to your kids in ways that you can't. So I could keep going on, but this is running long. So let your kids listen to this. See what ideas they come up with. Go through the Calm Parenting Program. It's on sale specifically for homeschoolers at CelebrateCalm.com slash homeschool. There's a program just for your kids to listen to. There's 13 programs to go through. They will change your family life. Let them listen to these other programs because it will help them feel understood

and get on the same page with your spouse. life. Let them listen to these other programs because it will help them feel understood and get on the same page with your spouse. So thank you for doing what you're doing as a homeschooling family. We know it's a big sacrifice and it's really hard and let us know if we can help in any way. Please share this podcast with other homeschoolers. We'd love to help you all out. Love you all. Bye-bye.