Ep. 126 - How to Homeschool a Child Who Won’t Sit Still

You've said "sit down, please" about twenty thousand times this week — and it's starting to feel personal. It isn't. Homeschool expert Christy-Faith unpacks what's actually happening in your child's brain, why the wiggling may be how the learning gets in, and the small shifts that make the morning stop being a fight. 🎁 Free Resource: 20 Questions to Kickstart Your Deschooling Adventure Twenty honest questions that help you spot the school-shaped rules you're still carrying — so you can put them down, one at a time. 👉 Free Download In this episode, you'll learn: The attention-span rule of thumb every homeschool mom should know — a few minutes per year of age on a grown-up-chosen task Why a 45-minute lesson is quietly asking your six-year-old to hold on three times longer than they can The three expectations strangling your homeschool mornings — and permission to put all three down What 54 studies and nearly 30,000 kids revealed about movement and learning How to shorten and split lessons without falling behind Why doing the hard subjects first changes the whole back half of your day How to rescue your read-alouds — a still body was never the point Loop scheduling and trimming your list so a lighter day actually gets finished How to build the focus muscle one minute at a time How to tell the difference between a kid being a kid and something worth investigating Sponsors: BJU Press Homeschool ✔ Flexible curriculum to fit your family's needs ✔ Biblical worldview and critical thinking built in ✔ Hands-on learning for every grade level 👉 View Samples CTC Math ✔ My favorite online math program — a real teacher walks them through every lesson ✔ Adaptive lessons so kids build confidence at their own pace ✔ Teaching, grading, and testing — all done for you! 👉 Free Trial 👉 Get 50% Off for Homeschool Families Summit Healthshare ✔ Save 40–60% vs. traditional health insurance ✔ See any doctor — no networks, no permission slips ✔ Free labs, office visits, prescriptions on select plans 👉 View Health Plans & Savings Resources mentioned: 20 Questions to Kickstart Your Deschooling Adventure — Spot the school-shaped rules you're still carrying Sample Homeschool Schedules — Real, doable rhythms you can borrow, including loop schedules Quote of the Week Notecard — A free printable of this episode's quote Homeschool Rising — Christy-Faith's book, including the chapter on deschooling The Christy-Faith List — Find homeschool-friendly providers: christy-faiths-list.com Thrive Homeschool Community: Get on the waitlist All of Christy-Faith's free resources Related episodes: Ep. 82 — How Long Should a Homeschool Day Really Be? Ep. 64 — Overwhelmed by Homeschooling? How to Make It Manageable ⭐ New to Homeschooling? Start with Episode 101 — the New Homeschooler Series is the best place to begin. Connect with Christy-Faith: Instagram: @christy_faith_homeschool TikTok: @christy_faith Website: christy-faith.com Book: Homeschool Rising 🎧 Love the show? Follow, subscribe, and leave a review wherever you listen — it helps more homeschool families find us! (00:00) - The "Sit Down, Please" Morning (04:16) - Expectation One: What Focus Actually Looks Like (05:40) - Expectation Two: Redefining What "Done" Means (06:35) - Expectation Three: The Wiggling Isn’t Disrespect (07:50) - Shorten and Split the Lesson (09:00) - What Deschooling Actually Means (14:10) - Let Them Move on Purpose: 54 Studies, 30,000 Kids (15:30) - Do the Hard Things First (16:45) - Rescuing Your Read-Alouds (20:51) - Trim Your List and Loop Your Subjects (22:06) - Build the Focus Muscle Slowly (23:00) - Check the Inputs Before You Worry (27:30) - Is My Kid Normal, or Is Something Deeper Going On? (31:55) - Where We Started, Where We Landed