How to homeschool without going crazy 😲

Posted on by JustAskMaia

Today started out a little to early for me. My oldest had to be to work at 7 and while some may think 7 a.m. is not early, first of all, YES IT IS! But more importantly, we are no small family so just dropping him off at work calls for me to not only rise earlier to get the RushBunch together but STAY up. In this house, once I get them up, there is no laying back down.

Getting them up means extra time needed to wash faces, brush teeth, wash, make beds, get dressed and grab a snack on the way out the door. Yes, just to drop #1 off. These tasks usually take me about an hour and that’s if I don’t do the girls’ hair.

I was literally dragging and absolutely moody. In case some of you have forgotten, I am six months pregnant. And while McRush usually helps with the ease of getting out the house, he had long been gone for work.

There are several ways I lift the weight of homeschooling without hassle. Today I am going to share with you one of them. But first, let me just state that every morning they have to write the creed and study their spelling words. That takes no effort from me at all. The purpose in the creed writing is to work on their handwriting, in the event that you were wondering. While they do this, I am making breakfast.

Packet Privilege.

This is something that is an absolute life saver to me. Usually, prior to the start of the year, I print out grade appropriate worksheets for each child. In my case its head start to 12th grade. I make packet that contains anywhere from 5-10 worksheets. I do at least 20 per person, so make sure you have paper for your printer. (In the event you do not have a print, I will get to that.) I put these packets away! Packet Privileges can be earned or used as a “substitute teacher” for the day. 🤗

For days like today when I just did not feel like adulting, it was a substitute. I hand out the packets and let them work at their pace. Here is the thing though, the packet must be more like review work because, as with a substitute teacher, you are not available to “teach” so should not introduce new works you may have to explain. It should also contain learning games like word search puzzles or sodoku. With that being said, that is why I say packets can be “earned”. It can count as a free day to the children. We work on a bonus system. Following the rules of both school and home and doing at least one thing ‘above and beyond’, you can earn a packet privilege for a day.

This is one of the many ways I keep my sanity on school days when I want to call out and binge watch Netflix or even work on my business.

For those of you who do not have a printer, for the younger, elementary school children, you can find workbooks at Dollar Tree for them. Tear out all of the pages, shuffle them and staple. Voila! Packets. For parents with older children, you may have to spend more than $1 but go to Wal-Mart or Target and get the more advanced workbooks (in the books section) and do the same thing. (You can also find these in book stores like Barnes and Noble but you WILL spend at least $20 per book and you know I like my budget 🙂)

I hope this was helpful and hit the follow button for more homeschooling tips.

iRush.

Caught in the middle.

Posted on by JustAskMaia

There is a man that I look up to very much, yes someone outside of McRush. He is a very wise man and a very prosperous business owner, which is why I look up to him and have been even before Rush Consulting Firm was thought of. He keeps me on my toes with his creative ideas and desire to continue to move forward. He gave me some advice awhile back and I was hesitant yet equally as eager to take it. For those who know me or my Facebook page, I am very vocal when it comes to Reflections, whether it be for self accountability (which I blogged about and if you didn’t read it, you should) or for the injustices and/inequalities of Reflections. I am very unapologetic and dedicated to moving forward in what some would call the revolution, but I call Stand up.

This amazing man told me that I should clear my Facebook of things on my personal page that would be deemed as biased which in turn would potentially turn away clientele. I thought that he had a point and so I tediously went through my Facebook page and deleted all of my ‘controversial’ posts. I was compliant and I did not feel as sad about it as I would have thought. HOWEVER, moving forward as well as thinking back, I should have left it although I still agree that in general it was a very wise decision, just not for me.

Let’s think back first. Rush Consulting Firm, rather the intent for Rush Consulting Firm, was for the empowerment and building along with self sufficiency FOR Reflections not the general population. Yet going along with the general conception, I was quickly seen as an asset to ‘other’ communities rather than that of Reflections. Business is business and I rarely turn it down so I found myself oftentimes promoting to all as opposed to some which is where fine tuning my very public Facebook comes in.

Now let’s look at moving forward. The goal for Rush Consulting Firm still remains, in my heart, one of the biggest assets to Reflection’s community. Although it’s like pulling teeth, I will not lie, to get Reflections to support, I still have much confidence in my vision for my company. It is a matter of showing that Rush Consulting Firm is indeed an asset.

As I look through my Facebook feed, It really breaks my heart all of the stories I hear about police brutality towards Reflections. As a mother and wife I cannot take the pain of so many people lost at the hands of police. I want to yell and scream and cry and fight.  Therefore I find myself here, knowing the advice is very good advice but do I post about it?

Let me say that I know posting means NOTHING! Nothing! You can post and cry, you can post and march but change will not come until we stand. I am so tired. Everyone is waiting for a leader, someone to follow, but that is what is wrong with the community of Reflections, we are not taught to lead ourselves. We are so busy fighting among one another; who is more black, is Jesus real, black on black crime vs police on black crime. We are literally fighting the injustices of our people, the injustices for our people, AND our own people. When will enough be enough? What is wrong with us?

I know the revolution isn’t for everyone, but are we really this naive as a people? I do not know about you but I will NOT die with my hands up and I will NOT die on my knees.

All power to the people.

-Rush

Where we are.

Posted on by JustAskMaia

Hello my loves. I have not been blogging as of late because everything seems to be on a whim right now and completely unstructured. If you think your life is hectic, try running a business where you are consistently running other peoples businesses while maintaining your household, homeschooling, packing, and self evaluating simultaneously with 9 children and NO schedule! Ugh. it is literally a madhouse around here. I can’t ever find what I am looking for until I am no longer looking for it but have moved on to looking for something else. Dinner often slips my mind and we wound up eating out, which I absolutely hate. and sleeping in has become a staple for my sanity however I am usually abruptly awakened by screaming hollering babies and children whom have clearly lost their minds because they are running through my house. I oftentimes, lately, feel like I am in a prank reality show.

But alas, all is not doomed. We recently bought a house, in case you did not catch the memo on my personal social media. I have started taking classes on the side to further advance my platform for Rush Consulting Firm, and we have finally closed our Social Services case so no more back and forth to court. That alone was a weight lifted off of me and McRush because though it was not the path we chose to take, we took it in stride. Sometime soon we will be back in court to further finalize the decision for good. I am sure I will get a lashing from family but, you cannot please everyone so, I digress, I only know how to do what I feel is best and have prayed about. (If you have no idea what I am talking about, red back some and you will be filled in.)

Homeschooling.

Homeschooling the RushBunch is still exciting and new everyday. On my extra hectic days we choose the Montessori approach. I always have what they should be learning for the day, usually the week, and they have to work together as a unit to get their works completed. However, I cannot wait until we move into our new home an get situated so we can get back to class as usual. I am trying to convince McRush to paint the wall in chalk paint in the classroom. I don’t believe I am even considering such a task. Years ago I was adamant on not doing such as thing as I felt it would promote writing on wall. But alas, I have evolved. I lift my wine glass and shout, “write away children! Write away”. It is really something how you watch your children grow and evolve only to realize your own evolution in the end.

Speaking of evolution, McRush and I have found ourselves on a new Spiritual journey.

Life really has a way of making you reevaluate life. I love it and I am excited for the growth. I won’t be keeping you updated because (shhhh) there may be a book. I may post a question to ponder here and there for general purposes so be ready to have a discussion.

-Rush

mengirls