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Raising Sawyers

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Motherhood

How Having Another Baby Changed the Way I See Motherhood

Our Journey to Homeschooling

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@raising_sawyers

When I first started homeschooling, I thought what

When I first started homeschooling, I thought what I needed most was the perfect curriculum.

I was wrong.

The books that changed our homeschool weren’t curriculum at all. They challenged the way I thought about childhood, education, motherhood, and what it actually means to teach.

They gave me permission to slow down, trust my children, pursue wonder, and build a homeschool that reflected our family’s values instead of trying to recreate school at home.

I still come back to these books again and again.

✨ Comment “BOOKS” and I’ll send you the complete list with links.

I’d also love to know…

What’s one book that changed the way you homeschool?

My firstborn baby turned 13 yesterday. As I watch

My firstborn baby turned 13 yesterday.

As I watched him blow out his birthday candles, I was instantly transported back to his very first birthday.

I remembered how young we both were…. There was me, learning how to be a mother, and him, discovering the world one tiny step at a time.

Looking back, I realized he hasn’t just grown over these last 13 years.

He has grown me.

These are five lessons motherhood has taught me through loving him. Lessons I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. ❤️

#motherhood

If I could only keep a handful of nature study boo

If I could only keep a handful of nature study books on our homeschool shelves, these would be it.

Comment “NATURE” and I’ll send you links to all of our favorite homeschool nature study books.

Whether we’re heading outside for a nature walk, adding a little wonder to morning time, or following a rabbit trail that started with a simple question, these are the books we reach for, time and time again.

Save this post for your next library trip or homeschool planning day!

I have a lot of people, dreams, and to-do lists co

I have a lot of people, dreams, and to-do lists competing for my attention during this season of motherhood. Taking time for myself has seemed almost obsolete, with my family, my children’s activities, and daily chores always coming first. (And I don’t say that with a badge of honor.)

As I reflect on where my time was spent this past week, I realize I accomplished quite a bit.

* I refinished a dresser for Noah’s room.
* I wrote a blog post that was near and dear to my heart.
* I cleaned my house at least 18 times.
* I deep-cleaned my bathrooms.
* I updated a product in my shop.
* I took my big kids to camp and maximized my alone time while they were gone.

I checked off a lot of items on my to-do list, but they aren’t the things I’m most proud of.

The ten minutes I spent on the floor with Noah yesterday, playing with his toy animals and giggling together - that was time well spent.

Answering my sister’s call and inviting her over during naptime so we could sit on the back porch and talk together - that was time well spent.

Putting my computer away to talk to Lucas about the projects he’s been working on and what has been bringing him joy lately - that was time well spent.

Going on a much-needed date with my husband, laughing together and simply enjoying each other’s company - that was time well spent.

As a mother, I’ve become quite an expert at working within timelines, maximizing naptimes, and getting three things done at once. But I’m humbly reminded today that the small moments are what truly fills my cup up.

With a brain and world that values productivity, my desire is to spend more time prioritizing those priceless moments and remembering that not everything valuable looks productive.

#motherhood #homeschoolmom #parenting

If you’re using your summer break to plan how you’

If you’re using your summer break to plan how you’ll do everything different next year, listen up….

If all truths were on the table, I’d tell you this:

I get burnt out a couple of times every year with homeschooling. One of those times is usually around February, and the other is at the end of the school year.

Yet when it happens, I don’t always realize it.

Instead, I start thinking I need a new schedule, a better system, a different curriculum, or more discipline.

I convince myself that I need to try harder… or that maybe I shouldn’t be homeschooling my kids at all.

But homeschool burnout is rarely solved by pushing yourself harder.

Usually, it’s a sign that something needs tending.

Maybe we’ve lost connection.
Maybe our days have become too full.
Maybe I’m carrying too much mentally.
Maybe everyone simply needs more rest.

And as a mom homeschooling two middle schoolers while caring for a baby, I don’t have the capacity to reinvent the wheel every time things go off the rails.

So instead of doing more, I do the opposite.

I pause.

I create space to pay attention to what’s actually going on beneath the surface.

And almost every time, the same truths rise to the top:

Slow down.
Be present.
Enjoy your children more.
Lower the pressure.
Manage your expectations.
Return to the things that made homeschooling feel life-giving in the first place.

Because sometimes the answer to homeschool burnout isn’t doing more.

It’s remembering that connection matters more than perfection.

#homeschooling #homeschoolmom #charlottemason

If I could go back and give myself one piece of ho

If I could go back and give myself one piece of homeschool advice, it would be this:

Keep it simple.

For a large portion of our earlier homeschooling years, I thought I needed more.

More curriculum.

More subjects.

More plans.

More activities.

More books.

More everything.

I thought a complete language arts education meant finding the perfect reading curriculum, writing curriculum, spelling curriculum, grammar curriculum, unit studies, educational games, and a stack of very old novels.

I was constantly searching for the next thing that would make our homeschool better.

But what I didn’t realize was that the more expectations I placed on myself, the more expectations I placed on my children.

The more I tried to cram into our days, the more stressful homeschooling became. My stress quickly became theirs, although it was difficult to see at the time.

Over time, I learned that my children didn’t need me to reinvent the wheel.

They didn’t need six different programs to learn language arts, or the most rigorous Charlotte Mason curriculum out there.

They needed consistency.

They needed good books.

They needed meaningful conversations.

They needed time to grow.

And perhaps most importantly, they needed a mother who wasn’t overwhelmed.

The greatest gift I ever gave our homeschool wasn’t adding more.

It was learning to do less.

#homeschoollife #homeschooljourney #homeschoolencouragement #intentionalmotherhood

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