Leah McDermott

She's LIVE!! 🥳 Our biggest sale event ever has officially started (a day early!) and is ready for you to shop and save on all natural learning resources. Comment FRIDAY to get a link now. 👇🏼 All purchases also receive a free Holiday Morning Magic Guide. 🎄

I’m logging off the socials for the day, but wanted to share two things with you today - 1. THIS. It may be scary. It may be hard. It may be new and different and the strangest thing you’ve ever done. But you will never regret the way your life will change. 💚 2. There are two days remaining to save 50% on 24-25 Bridge Academy enrollment in our 1000 Child Challenge. Link and info in pinned post, stories, and bio. Enjoy your Sunday, friends. 🫶

When you can find the amazement and joy in your 3 year old, 6 year old, 12 year old, 15 year old, and even your 20+ year olds, life becomes a lot more about LIVING and learning than meeting benchmarks to please an arbitrary timeline. 💚

In case you need this for your holiday weekend arsenal: Whether it comes from a stranger in the checkout lane, Grandma, the neighbor, or even within your own home, nothing is more uncomfortable than when an adult starts quizzing your child or crossing personal boundaries. Here are some responses that you can bookmark for when you are in this situation. Any of them work- do what’s most comfortable for you in the specific scenario you find yourself in. 1- Respond to the CHILD instead. Something reassuring like “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.” or “Would you like me to tell Grandma that you don’t want to talk/hug right now?” This puts the power in their hands without forcing them to be the ones to speak up for themselves if they don’t feel prepared. Follow through with whatever your child decides. The benefit here is that the adult hears clearly for themselves what the boundary is. This works best with adults who will not press the issue. 2- “Child’s name, would you like to tell person about your new pet?” Casually changing the topic of conversation to something your child WANTS to talk about can bridge the gap of discomfort. Most adults are well-meaning. This gentle pivot can help both parties. 3- “I would prefer if you didn’t quiz/touch them right now. That’s a boundary we are working on holding safe for them. Thank you.” This is a gentle, but firm reminder of the boundary and gives the adult a way to feel helpful in contributing to the child’s well-being. 4- “Please stop quizzing them. We have asked this before and need you to respect child’s and our boundaries.” When you’ve been repeatedly asking gently for this to stop and it is repeatedly ignored, firm and serious reminders are needed. If it continues even after this, limited time with the child should be considered for their emotional well-being (and yours). I hope this is helpful if you are navigating these boundary holding waters right now. As uncomfortable as it might be, remember that you are setting the tone for how your child will respect THEMSELVES and their boundaries later. 💚

Almost every conversation I have with new homeschooling parents begins with some question about pressure from others. 👉🏼 What will my mother think? 👉🏼 My sister-in-law is a teacher and doesn’t think it’s a good idea. 👉🏼 None of our friends do it this way. And when we trace it back, usually the people with those fears have been giving into peer pressure for a long time. Pleasing their parents with college and career choices. Pleasing friends with life choices. Pleasing other people with choices about their health, their lives, their relationships, their free time... everything. If you want to teach your children to do the things in life that feel right and that light them up, then parents listen up.... THEY NEED TO SEE YOU DO THE SAME THING. They need you to be strong enough to set boundaries. To make the right choice even if it’s the hard one. To not worry about the opinions of those who aren’t directly affected. Want to raise independent, free-thinking adults? BE ONE! 💚 —— 🌟Black Friday Sale is Live! Save thousands on all of our natural learning resources in our biggest sale event ever. Comment FRIDAY to get the link. 🌟

And yes, he’s selling them too. Lots of them. 🫙 Teach your kids to do what makes them happy, help others, and watch them thrive. Bridge Academy is your biggest supporter of this revolutionary way of looking at education (i.e. NOT focusing on checkboxes to make every child exactly the same, but focusing on the unique skills and interests that make us who we are - and giving your child academic credit for it 😍). Enrollment for the year is still open and $100 off during our epic Black Friday sale this week! Get the info on all the goods by commenting FRIDAY 👇

Some food for thought this morning… I have parents asking me daily how they can motivate their children to learn or engage or care about their learning. Yet we never stop to think about WHY they might be feeling this way in the first place! Our school system and society does not encourage free thinking, creativity, and following your passions - it expects following the line, performing your knowledge, and fitting in with the status quo. So how can we expect our children (especially those who are coming out of that system) to suddenly feel safe enough to be their most creative selves?! 😵‍💫 The answer: we can’t. And we need to step into a space where we are supporting and connecting with our children so they can feel safe enough to rediscover that place within themselves. 💚 This is one of the things Bridge Academy supports parents in doing for their children! Enrollment is discounted this week for Black Friday! It’s a great time to check it out 👇 —— 🌟Black Friday Sale is Live! Save thousands on all of our natural learning resources in our biggest sale event ever. Comment FRIDAY to get the link. 🌟

Once you start questioning, it all starts to make less sense, doesn’t it? Like why do we insist that our 5 year olds learn to read when we know the brain isn’t typically developmentally ready until at least age 7? Or why do we shove calculus down the brain stems of every teenager when it’s a skill very few of them will ever need? There’s a reason so many kids resist this! When they have their entire lives to learn FACTS, why are we not focusing on things like life skills, emotional strength, communication, and empathy? You’re already homeschooling because you felt that pull that something wasn’t right. Now it’s time to take the next step and make sure you’re not recreating these systems at home! —— 🌟Black Friday Sale is Live! Save thousands on all of our natural learning resources in our biggest sale event ever. Comment FRIDAY to get the link. 🌟

Speaking as an introvert, married to an extrovert, with a handful of each kind of kiddo in my care, trust me when I say - YOU DON’T NEED TO FORCE SOCIALIZATION ON CHILDREN. It’s ok to be an introvert. It’s ok to be an extrovert. They’ll use their skills. They’ll seek people out or create their safe, happy space at home. This is just one more layer of trusting your children. Have you found this to be true in your home? ____ 🌟Black Friday Sale is Live! Save thousands on all of our natural learning resources in our biggest sale event ever. Comment FRIDAY to get the link. 🌟

Your child does not owe anyone an explanation for how they spend their time. 👏🏼 So many adults are conditioned to believe that a child’s only job in life is to be in school that they literally don’t know how to talk to children. 😫“Shouldn’t you be in school?” 😣“What grade are you in?” 😩“What are you learning right now?” 😒“What do you want to be when you grow up?” 😤Or my personal favorite: “What did you learn today?” What did YOU learn today, Adult?! Are we holding ourselves to the same standard we expect of our children? How about leading adult conversations like this: 😙“What’s your next career move?” 🤓“Are you doing well at your job?” 😎“How’s your boss feel about your work performance lately?” 🤗“Shouldn’t you be at work right now?” Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Your child doesn’t owe these questions an answer. And neither do you. Come up with a handful of basic responses that will shut down or pivot those conversations when they come up. Some examples: 👉🏼“Oh, we homeschool and just enjoy learning through life.” 👉🏼You can reframe the question so your child wants to answer, like “Wasn’t that fun when we went to the science museum yesterday?” 👉🏼You can even tell your child, “you don’t have to answer that” to show them that they don’t have to justify their time! Help your child set those boundaries and change the narrative. Ask children about things they CARE about!! 🦓Like what their favorite wild animal is 👀The coolest thing they’ve seen this week 🦸🏽‍♀️Their favorite superhero 📱What video game they love to play 🌈What color their bedroom walls are (or what color they WISH they were) Remember: Children are people too. And they are so much more than what they’re learning right now. 💚 —— 🌟Black Friday Sale is Live! Save thousands on all of our natural learning resources in our biggest sale event ever. Comment FRIDAY to get the link. 🌟

🙋‍♀️ Roll call? —— 🌟Black Friday Sale is Live! Save thousands on all of our natural learning resources in our biggest sale event ever. Comment FRIDAY to get the link. 🌟

Anytime we are confronting an uncomfortable feeling with our children, this is a great question to pause and ask ourselves. Is this about your child… or about the beliefs/fears/trauma as that were laid when you were a child? Pausing to focus on where the emotion is coming from… be it fear, frustration, anger, overwhelm…. This reflection will help us decide which child is actually at the root, and help us make decisions accordingly. Parenting and homeschooling is a constant state of unlearning and relearning everything we thought we knew. 💚