Eco Child’s Play

Home school is always in.

When we first began our oldest daughter’s homeschool education, we thought that we needed to have a full curriculum and study guides and other “teaching” materials before we could really “teach” her at home.

We borrowed a friend’s homeschool curriculum and started exploring what that meant. The materials consisted of teaching guides for different subjects (math, english, science, history), instructions for games that inspired cooperation, materials lists, workbooks, and so on. School stuff, right? You need school stuff to teach, right?

To a non-teacher like myself, it was daunting to look at this pile of material and think that we would need to read ahead, prepare every lesson, and to have to actually know all of this stuff. And only then we could we teach it to our kids.

I was way off base. Read the rest of this entry »

We recently moved within walking distance of downtown, and we’ve been thinking about buying a wagon for hauling kids and groceries home without burning any gas. I have a cargo trailer for my bike, but no kid seat or trailer, so when I have the kids and mama is gone with her bike, I have to drive my truck. At 4 bucks a gallon, just running some errands will burn a big hole in my budget. And I like gear, especially if it’s green and locally made. Read the rest of this entry »

Parenting is a juggling act.

We’re trying to balance our kids’ needs and our own time, our budget and our health, our relationships, our jobs, and our sanity.

It’s not simple.

It’s not really hard, either, but there are some tips and tricks to keeping your parenting fun, healthy, and inexpensive. Feeding your little people on a budget can be challenging, and making time to prepare whole foods seems impossible for parents on the go.

When we were oh, so young and unattached, with no dependents, and the robust health of youth, we could eat pizza and ice cream every day, live on coffee and granola bars, go out to eat for lunch and dinner, or let the pantry stay empty for weeks.

Then along comes baby. Big change. We now need to make sure the fridge is full and the cupboards are stocked. And we don’t want to feed our children junky stuff, no matter how cheap it is. We are what we eat, the saying goes, and our children learn about food by watching us shop for, prepare, and eat the family meals. Read the rest of this entry »