Simply Stay Home

Let’s face it 2020 is a hot mess, no other way to put! As we roll into August most of us are still uncertain what the 2020-2021 school year is going to look like and we are trying to make a game plan. I don’t know about you but this has 100% been the biggest stressor during this entire pandemic. Do we go back to private school? Do we start public school? Online? Homeschool? SO MANY CHOICES! 

Like everything in parenting this school choice, sadly, doesn’t come with a step by step manual. That’s why I’m sharing what I’ve learned during my 4 months of researching the best option for our family. Remember there is NO wrong choice here and we are all navigating new territory! We all want to keep our kids safe and give them an environment that they can flourish in. Whatever you decide is best for your kids will be just that, the best for them. I think now more than ever we need to show our fellow moms compassion and love because this is not an easy choice for anyone! I’m gonna break down the 5 options we had and were bouncing around from, your area may not offer all these options or they may offer more! I can only speak on what I’ve researched for my girls. 

Private Schools:

This is our current path we are on. We have actually been in the same private school since Noelle started Prek 3 and we love it. Every year we bounce back and forth with if we want to stay in private or enroll in public school. Our current school goes from Prek 3 through 6th grade. After that, you’d either go to public school or apply for the private high school. We actually made a huge pros and cons list this spring and decided we would maintain in private school through 6th grade and then reevaluate it, then COVID hit and threw us for a loop. A reason is that private school is expensive and we worry about paying tuition and then school ending up closing. Another big reason was we knew our girls wouldn’t do well with starting and stopping. Our oldest is a creature of habit and it really messes with her when her routine is switched.

Why we love private school: 

We love the private school for a lot of reasons but these are our top 3. 

• Small class sizes
• One on one support
• Family environment 
• Faith-based education 

Public Schools:

My husband and I both went to private schools and have a lot of family who work in the public school system, we are NOT anti-public school by any means. Like I mentioned we went back and forth between private and public for a really long time. I can’t speak for all public schools but the ones around us all seem to be offering the same 3 options. 

• In-class learning
• Virtual learning
• Cyberschool 

In-Class Learning 

This is your standard public school setting. Kids may or may not be wearing masks all day, depending on how well they can social distance. Our schools are saying lunches will be in the classroom at their desks to allow social distancing. Some are saying no recess some are saying recess with masks, so that is still up in the air. Also, these regulations could change at any time depending on the cases and what the state says. 

Virtual learning

This is the one I’m least familiar with because it’s pretty vague. From what I’ve gathered your kids will be on a zoom type call but part of the actual lesson the teacher is giving to the kids in class. Again this one is still pretty vague. 

Cyberschool

Most public schools offer their own cyberschool, which I had no idea about until we started exploring. For the district we live in their program seems amazing. Lessons are pre-recorded and your child can do them at their speed. They also offer select hours after school if your child needs extra help. The other great thing is your kid is still a full-fledged member of their district, meaning they can attend field trips and participate in any clubs or activities the district offers. The other thing that we really loved what if at any point you wanted to send your child back into the class, they only needed a 24-hour notice. 

Online Charter Schools 

These are public schools that are offered online and are free to you, due to school choice. The district you pay tax too has to pay for your child but that’s an entirely different blog post. Do some research and decide for yourself on this topic. Since we already attend a private school we were okay with doing a charter school. However, if we planned to send our kids to public school next year or if they were already enrolled in one, we would lean more towards the cyber school provided by our district. 

The PA cyber charter school we plan on using is called PALCS. There are lots of options and they all offer different things, so I won’t go into detail since this really should be a personal choice. However, they are all free and send you the needed supplies: laptop, printers, textbooks, ext. 

Online Private Schools 

I’ll be honest I stomped my feet during all of this and was adamant the girls would be enrolling in a private online school. To me, integrating faith into their studies is very important and if we planned to keep them home forever we probably would probably go this route. Like any private school, there is a cost and we ultimately decided that since we plan to send them back to their private school, it wasn’t worth it. I plan to add a bible curriculum into our day. If you are looking for a great Christian based education though I’d urge you to look into Liberty Online Academy. 

Homeschool

This is your traditional homeschool approach. After looking into it I was shocked how much is offered and all of the different ways to school. My sister in law, who I admire because she’s basically supermom, has done this for 6 years and loves it. I also have tons of friends who homeschool and it’s something I’ve always been interested in. I was just very, very, overwhelmed with all the curriculum choices. Since I already have so much on my plate I wasn’t ready to tackle this. I did however buy a preschool curriculum for Lennon. 

I hope this helps you begin to navigate all of the choices out there. Please give yourself some grace and remember that no one knows your kid as you do and whatever decision you make will be best for them! To me there is no wrong answer, all of these options are great ways to give your child the education they deserve!

 

Back in November I bought a subscription to Faster Way To Fat Loss during their Black Friday sale but kept pushing it off until I finally joined in April. However joining a program that involves healthy eating during a pandemic wasn’t my smartest move. Where we lived it was near impossible to get my hands on a lot of produce or healthier meats, making the whole thing way more difficult than it needed to be. Plus I didn’t handle quarantine well basically I ate out of bordem and complained anytime I had to exercise, hi I’m trying to homeschool, work, keep a toddler from losing her mind…when am I going to exercise? I only worked the program to maybe 1/4 of how I was supposed to and still lost 6 1/2 inches. WHAT! When I sent my coach, Tess, my ending measurements I was sure they were going to have stayed the same or gone up. I was completely blown away that I had actually lost 4 pounds and 6 1/2 inches. That really lit the fire for me to do another round and give it my all.  PS wanna know a secret? I HATE exercise, like I don’t enjoy it all, but when I would workout I felt so good!

What exactly is the Faster Way To Fat Loss?

The Faster Way To Fat Loss is an intermittent fasting, fitness, and most importantly, nutrition program. I’ll tackle all 3 parts to try and explain them better.

Intermittent fasting 

Chances are you have heard of this already since it’s becoming very popular. Basically your body is either in eating mode or fasting mode. At FWTFL they encourage you to fast and man does it make a difference! Okay, okay at first I HATED everything to do with fasting. I was hungry and once I broke my fast I would be hungrier than ever. I almost totally wrote it off but I learned that I wasn’t actually fasting. Sure I was eating anything but to remain in a fasting state you can’t consume more than 50 calories. Turns out my beloved coffee creamer was breaking that fast for me and was why I was so hungry! I cut out coffee completely (because I can’t drink it without a pound of sugar and cream) but black coffee is fine or just keep your creamer calories below 50. Starting my fast was simple I just stopped eating at 7pm and then I didn’t break my fast until 11am. Once I got into that rhythm I was golden. 

Carb Cycling 

The other element to the program is carb cycling, which sounds much more intimidating than it is. You will have 2 low carb days, 3 regular macro days, and 2 low macro days. Counting macros seems scary or way to much work but the reality is it was the easiest part of the program! I used the My Fitness Pal app and my coach helped me set up my macros for my body. You can use the free app or get the premium. I went with the premium because it let me set my low carb days and I didn’t have to monkey with it. I’m all about less work over here. 

Fitness 

My least favorite part, just keeping it real! I’ve never been someone who loves to exercise, it’s just not something that brings me joy, but you do get daily workouts as part of the program! I’d follow them somedays then swap over to my beloved pvolve workouts on other days. They offer home, gym, and low impact workouts so it really does fit with everyones style. They are also SUPER short, like 30 minutes or less and are created to go along with your nutrition schedule! I also want to note that most women don’t even workout during their first found, they focus solely on nutrition and still see amazing results! 

Here are some of the other FAQ I get asked a lot about the program! 

Is this for women only? 

I’m not going to lie most on this program are women but their is a mens option and if you and your spouse sign up together you get a discount! Use this link for men because their nutrition is a bit different. ‘m gonna have Matt do it with my in August! 

How much does it cost?

This is probably my biggest FAQ and I get it! If you are like me you’ve probably spent thousands of dollars on weight loss programs/pills/videos and have seen little to no results. Or maybe you saw results but the lifestyle was too hard to maintain and you ended up throwing in the towel. Trust me I have been there! To sign up for your first round is $199 but that gives you 6 weeks of education/coaching, 6 weeks of workouts, 6 weeks of meal plans…it’s basically a no brainer! If you have done FWTFL before but want to join me in June you can sign up for $160 plus a bonus pack full of goodies. You don’t need to buy anything else which is amazing! 

Do I have to give up everything I love? 

Nope! Isn’t that beautiful? A lot of coaches and members recommend going dairy & gluten free while you are in your 6 week program because a lot of women have issues digesting them. I’ll be honest, I know I have a gluten sensitivity so I already watch that but I LOVE cheese so I didn’t cut that out. I did scale back a little but I saw great results without going totally dairy free. Other than that you are free to eat what you want, just be mindful of your macros. This was a big selling point for me. If I try to follow a diet or lifestyle that is too restrictive I end up failing, this was easy to still eat what I love! 

What happens after the 6 weeks? 

Once your session is up you can enroll as a VIP which is $79.99 a month. You’ll get weekly meal plans, daily workouts, access to the workout vault, and tons of fun challenges and incentives. A lot of people choose to go this route because they feel so good! 

Is it time consuming?

Nope! I think I spent less time now cooking than I did before. Theres so many amazing recipes or a lot of your favorites can be tweaked to work well with the program. I LOVE That Bowl Life by Beth Chappo from Seersuckers and Saddles. It’s full of amazing recipe that are SO easy and quick! You’ll get a weekly meal plan with recipes but you don’t have to live and die by it. Once you get the hang of counting macros you’ll see there is so much freedom! 

Do you have a coach?

The other part of it that I really love is that you get a coach and a group to help hold you accountable. My coach is Tess and she is AMAZING, so knowledgeable about the program and easy to work with. In the group will be other people who are starting on the same date as you. You can cheer each other on, shares tips, and build some great friendships! I really love that the groups are small and you can’t get lost in the crowd like you do with bigger programs. The other cool thing is if you fall madly in love you can actually take the training to become a coach. Thats what my coach did and I’m so glad!

 

I really think if you join us June 1st you’ll see why thousands and thousands of women have fallen madly in love with the program! Plus it’ll be fun to cheer each other on! Join today

 

Oh PS: I also have a free workout guide for you! Just download it here.