Welcome to the Wild and Free Podcast, Episode 51.

I'm Ainslie Arment, and this week, Cindy Rawlins, the author of Near Motherhood,

helps us take the perfectionist pressure off ourselves and encourages us to lean into literature.

I always say be consistent on the good days, because the bad days are coming and you're going to get interrupted.

So if we just take advantage of those good days, then we'll be fine.

Plus, we have a new family experience to announce at the Wild and Free Farm Village.

So grab a cup of coffee and join us on the front porch.

Let's get started.

When the bitter cold of winter comes rolling in,

our homeschool takes a form that I affectionately call cozy schooling.

It's where we embrace the state of being housebound due to winter's chill and make the most

of our togetherness indoors. Of course, there is still a familiar rhythm to our days. We do math,

science, and history, and often gather for our favorite ritual of

Storytime Tea. But we focus less on curriculum and more on caring for each other, nurturing our

sibling and family relationships, and cherishing our favorite traditions. This is really a year-long

goal of ours, but this time of year really beckons us to slow our pace and rediscover the joy of simply being together.

Home isn't four walls, but the relationships within them.

Cozy schooling puts the home back in homeschooling. Cozy schooling involves a lot of handcrafting, baking, and reading our favorite festive stories.

Sometimes cozy schooling looks like meeting my kids where they are,

because I can't expect them to be interested in what I want to do if I haven't invested in their worlds.

Other times, cozy schooling looks like starting a fire and piling all the blankets and pillows on the floor

for a day of reading, gaming, and snuggling.

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