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Great Homeschool Convention – Round Rock, Texas

(This event is not hosted by TSG. Nicholeen will be a featured speaker.) An “Individual” or “Family” registration to the 2022 Texas Great Homeschool Convention includes access to info-packed workshops, admission to browse & shop the HUGE homeschool curriculum exhibit hall, exclusive hotel discounts, admission to the Teen Track (for both teens and parents!), admission to Comedy Night with Andrew […]

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Great Homeschool Convention – St. Charles, Missouri

(This event is not hosted by TSG. Nicholeen will be a featured speaker.) An “Individual” or “Family” registration to the 2023 Missouri Great Homeschool Convention includes access to info-packed workshops, admission to browse & shop the HUGE homeschool curriculum exhibit hall, exclusive hotel discounts, admission to the Teen Track (for both teens and parents!) and admission to Comedy Night with

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Great Homeschool Convention – St. Charles, Missouri

We’re sorry, this event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus. (This event is not hosted by TSG. Nicholeen Peck will be a featured speaker.) Experience a Great Homeschool Convention packed with Homeschooling Resources & Workshops. Great Homeschool Conventions are theHomeschooling Events of the Year, offeringoutstanding speakers,hundreds of workshopson today’s top parenting and homeschooling topics,

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Great Homeschool Convention – Greenville, South Carolina

We’re sorry, this event was cancelled due to the coronavirus. (This event is not hosted by TSG. Nicholeen Peck will be a featured speaker.) Experience a Great Homeschool Convention packed with Homeschooling Resources & Workshops. Great Homeschool Conventions are theHomeschooling Events of the Year, offeringoutstanding speakers,hundreds of workshopson today’s top parenting and homeschooling topics, and

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Great Homeschool Convention – Fort Worth, Texas

(This event is not hosted by TSG. Nicholeen Peck will be a featured speaker.) Experience a Great Homeschool Convention packed with Homeschooling Resources & Workshops. Great Homeschool Conventions are theHomeschooling Events of the Year, offeringoutstanding speakers,hundreds of workshopson today’s top parenting and homeschooling topics, and the largest homeschool curriculumexhibit hallsin the USA. Featured Speakers Each

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HouseFire

Feeling The Heat: Anger Issues

2 Comments / All, Relationships, Using TSG Skills /

The west is on fire! Islands, mountains, and farm lands are burning all over. Even in cities where there are no fires burning there is smoke which looks like winter fog. What should we do? What can we do? Many people stop and stare. Many people complain. But, only a few are working to stop the fires from burning. As I think about fires, it occurs to me that more than the west is on fire. The world is on fire!

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motherDaughterAgeSix

Improving Self Esteem: How To Build Self Confidence In Children

1 Comment / All, Children (4-10), Relationships, School, Using TSG Skills, Youth (10-18) /

A Mother’s Question About Building Self Esteem In Children

“Emma said to me at bedtime that she thinks that she’s ugly. I’m not exactly sure where she heard this since I’m always telling her how cute she is, but what would you say to your kids if they said that?”

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family playing outside

Family Night Ideas: Our Top Ten Affordable Activities

2 Comments / All, Announcements, Relationships /

10 Favorites for Family Night

Family activity nights are big deals at our house! Not that we spend a lot of money or anything, but we do keep them a big priority. We know that having regular family activities keeps our family relationships fresh. The night gives us something to talk about and look forward to.

Here are is a list of our top ten activities which don’t really cost anything:

1- “Knock Your Socks Off”

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Real Control! -Help For Parents

Leave a Comment / All, Home Culture, Relationships, TSG Principles, Using TSG Skills /

So many people ask me how to control their out of control children… A man I really admire named Jeffrey Holland said, “…the only real control in life is self control.” I couldn’t agree more. You can control the settings on your computer, and control the television choices that come into your home. You can control all the things on your Family Standard and you can control what your family eats for dinner, but you can’t control another person. No matter how hard you try and how much power you try to look like you have, the only person you can control is yourself. Since that is the case, we should capitalize on that power we have to control ourselves, or govern ourselves. If we

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Too Much Play Time?-Solving the Boredom Problem

12 Comments / All, Children (4-10), Home Culture, Relationships, Youth (10-18) /

My two youngest children are best friends, and play a lot with each other.  It is so fun to see them enjoy each other.  This summer we have noticed that they are getting a bit too much play lately though. The sun comes up and someone is at our door asking to play.  The children do their chores and run outside.  They would stay there day after day, all day, if I didn’t ever call them in. 

The other day my husband and I noticed some very distracted behaviors.  My six year old was showing off a lot and acting a lot more “crazy” than usual.  He was also trying to be the “funny guy” by popping off. We looked at each other and both knew something needed to change

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Teaching Honesty: What About Gray Area?

1 Comment / All, TSG Principles, Using TSG Skills /

“Just wondering what you do when a child denies doing something like this even though you know it was them or else they try to deceive you about it even though they know that no punishment will be given out for their mistake or wrongdoing if they are honest about it. How do you confront them and have them face up to their failures and take responsibility for their actions? My ds10 will get defensive whenever he does something wrong or makes a mistake he then will usually compound this by trying to lie or deceive his way out of it to save face. We end up punishing him for the lying and deceit when really it should have be a non issue if he had just been honest.””Any suggestions?”

There are three steps to handling this situation.

Step one; Make sure you are not accusing, but that you look and feel safe to talk to. 

Step two: Pre-teach the situation before you say anything………….”Right now _________ just happened. I am going to ask you about your actions. If you choose to be honest about your actions you will not earn any negative consequences. (or you could have a positive consequence in place for being honest) However, if you are not honest then you will choose to earn

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Depressed Teenager: Hope For Happiness

3 Comments / All, Relationships, TSG Principles, Using TSG Skills, Youth (10-18) /

I have attended your classes at home school conferences and bought the mp3;s.  I am currently purchasing your book, however, I am in crisis.  I have a 17 rd old son that has  been homeschooled since fourth grade.  We originally took him out due to severe depression.  This is something he struggles with.  He has always done well in school.  He went to the public high school for his freshman year.  He was top of the class academically but he hated every minute of it and we allowed him to come back to home school for the past two years.  

About six months ago I could see that he was clinically depressed and we found a counselor to help us through that.  It turns out he was introduced to pornography at school and became addicted and the guilt has caused him to lose about a year of his life.  We are dealing with this issue and he is doing very well and continues to receive counseling with us.  

The crisis is that he cant make a decision about anything in his life and he seems to have no self control.  He wants us to tell him every little thing to do and takes no responsibility.  He takes 8 hours to do simple science due to the fact that if I walk out of his earshot he will immediately waste time doing anything else.  It is so frustrating that we have to literally babysit him and that he needs us to.  I am at my wits end with him and feel like throwing in the towel and sending him to boarding school.  Of course, my rational mind knows that I must clean up this mess with him and no one else.  
Can you please give me some direction on how to get this kid to take back his life and not put us in  the position of jailers.

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Calm In A Hurry?

8 Comments / All, Relationships /

The opposite of calm is hurry. If you feel like you have to hurry all the time, then you will never be calm. Also, if you feel like you have to hurry through your teaching interactions with your children then you will also have a harder time staying calm. Don’t let your desire for being efficient ruin your ability to be calm. The great philosopher William Jordan said:

The first sermon in the world was preached at the Creation. It was a Divine protest against Hurry. It was a Divine object lesson of perfect law, perfect plan, perfect order, perfect method. Six days of work carefully planned, scheduled and completed were followed by,–rest.

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“Mom is on the phone” ~Discipline Problem

4 Comments / All, Home Culture, Toddlers (0-4), Using TSG Skills /

 

“I do struggle and maybe you could give me some advice.  I spend quite a bit of time with my kids in the morning going over little activities like school workbooks and story time and exercising together.  Yet the minute I get on the phone or sit down to nurse the baby, the three boys are arguing or fighting or taking toys from each other or something of the sort.  I have tried to get them to color or do a certain activity together, but that only lasts so long.  It’s hard to discipline when you are nursing the baby.
 
        I know I have a bit of post-pardom and always feel like I am always nursing the baby or disciplining my children.  I have felt discouraged with my 3 boys behavior and realize some of their actions comes from mom spending so much time with the new little one.  Do you have any tips or suggestions for me on how to best help teach my boys and solve the problems.”

 

 

J You hit a common discipline problem right on the head.  I would like to meet a mother who can have a 30 minute phone conversation and not have things fall apart a little bit.  My one hopeful thought to you is that as they grow, they learn to live without you for 30 minutes, or more.  😉

Nursing a baby is also a hard one.  I have been there too. 

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The Dreaded Attitude Problem

8 Comments / All, Using TSG Skills, Youth (10-18) /

As I go around the country teaching parenting seminars and trying to help parents make healthy changes in their family relationships, I notice there are two things which get asked the most.

1.  What do you do for attitude problems?

2.  How do you stop tantrums? 

      I an not going to expound on tantrums today, but I will say that attitude problems are just tantrums at a different level.  The difference between the two are that tantrums usually happen when a person is small and they often include uncontrolled body movements and crying, and attitude problems are usually mostly verbal with abrasive body language.  Attitude problems are usually more controlled than tantrums.  Both tantrums and attitude problems are signs of frustration, anxiety and lack of healthy communication skills.

     I am pretty confident talking about attitude problems, because I was the attitude problem queen of my house when I was in my teen years.  I think my poor parents earned all their gray hairs during my attitude problem years.  Luckily, I had a very insightful young women’s leader who saw my problem and wasn’t afraid to tell me how to change.  

Great Advice

     One day I was at her home telling her daughter that my parents wouldn’t let me go to a youth party because they

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