Back to school season is looking very different this year. Even those who are planning to do the same school plan as years past will have to deal with changes.  Those planning to go back to traditional schools will have to adapt to changes schools are making in attempts to keep students and staff – safe and healthy. Those planning to go back to their homeschooling plans will find their  CoOps are changing and curriculums and supplies are sold out because of all the new homeschoolers this year.

I hope you feel you made the best decision for your family, whether or not you choose to homeschool or send your kids to a school building. I hope your family is able to adapt and find supports if the covid chaos continues to change school plans. Supports help us go from surviving to thriving. If you are planning to homeschool take time to look up local groups/programs to help your family thrive.  Even if you have homeschooled forever there are new options popping up around the world for homeschoolers to utilize!

new homeschool option

Homeschooling options include different style curriculums, co-ops, and supportive resources.  Some resources are supports through your local school district.  Some schools are offering virtual curriculums for easier transitions in and out and back in to their classrooms.  Some families prefer no school supports and unschool their children – which can be as extreme as that term sounds with no schooling or just meaning a flexible schooling approach guided by children’s interests.  Before jumping into the homeschool plan take time to look up different types of homeschool approaches and decide what will work best for your family.

Where does your family learn best?

What works best for your family during the covid crisis might not be what worked before or what will work after.  What works best for your family might not be what will work for others.  What works best for each family and each child depends on a lot of factors.  While looking into what homeschool approach will work for your family and your children consider factors such as if your family can afford a parent to stay home and focus on being the children’s teacher or if you’ll need to work requiring a non traditional school/work schedule. Maybe hiring a tutoring-nanny would work best. Does your child have any special needs that require specialized tutoring or therapeutic services? Is your child old enough and mature enough to stay home and work independently? Does your child work and learn best on their own or in a group? Does your child learn and focus better with music or in a bouncy chair or using hands on materials or through an online program? There is so much to consider it can be overwhelming!

learning online / visually

learning by listening in a sensory safe place

learning by doing – hands on approach

Try to not get overwhelmed.  Try to have a family meeting to consider the schooling plan and talk through what would make a plan like homeschooling work.  Even if you plan to send your kids to school consider how you’ll make homeschooling work should the world close down again.  If you homeschool for any reason learn the laws in your state to help you decide if you’ll truly homeschool or do school from home.  Homeschool is more flexible and can utilize unschooling methods or explore different curriculums.  School from home is using a set curriculum, often online and provided from a school which may require you to log on at certain times or document hours spent working.

My family works somewhere in the middle with our flexible curriculum schedule. My kids work best when they have a schedule to know what to expect when, but they also need to learn that sometimes schedules change and even though the plan says it’s math time we might go pick apples instead that day.  Learning flexibility is important, and so is learning that you can learn and do “school” anywhere! Picking apples or going on field trips can be a part of the learning process.  If you need ideas how to teach on the go or what curriculums are out there or just want more information on the homeschool processes feel free to email me at Christi@MiFamilies.com.

Mi Families provides consultations, individualized developmental services, tutoring and classes for homeschooling families, as well as programs for families that don’t homeschool … You can learn more about our programs by visiting www.MiFamilies.com or by liking our Facebook page.  We’ll be adding program updates soon about our fall programs including a park preschool, Early Ed Explorers, Fit and Fun, Family EDventures, and tween/teen programs such as outdoor ed, morning muscles & martial arts, D&Drama and more! CLICK IMAGES BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SOME OF THESE PROGRAMS.  SIGN UPS START NEXT WEEK AND HAVE LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE.

Sorry this blog wasn’t updated this past spring … I blame the covid crisis! All our spring and summer programs were canceled so we stuck to family fun at home most of the time, but found lots of safe ways to visit extended family and friends outdoors throughout the summer. Here are some pics of our “lock down life” which has been peaceful!

As summer comes to an end we’re planning our FALL 202o programs with hopes there are no covid cancellations this semester. In the event things do close back down ALL PROGRAMS will have online lessons to follow at home and supplies will be provided for families to continue their education-through-recreation adventures separately, but together! All in person programs will be limited to a dozen participants, but more people may sign up with understanding they will only get the online experience, unless someone drops the program opening a spot.  Spots this fall will go towards those who pay first for services. Services will include many fun take home items for each class families signed up for.  Classes to sign up for include an ED-venture (education through adventures) hiking program for families and coop program for tweens and teens.  Tweens and elementary explorers are invited to sign up for Fit&Fun through our coop, and kids ages 2-grade 2 can join us for “Park Pk + PLUS” at 2 different locations.  PLEASE CLICK IMAGES BELOW FOR CLASS DESCRIPTIONS!

There will also be smaller group activities available at our homebase: such as music, language/literature, social studies, art, science … as well as one-on-one tutor time core subjects and developmental service options.  If you have any questions regarding programs, payments, schedules etc please emailChristi@MiFamilies.com

This schedule is TENTATIVE as we finalize fall plans, but a realistic goal of what to expect from Mi School options.

CLICK IMAGES FOR LARGER PRINT DETAILS on schedule and individualized services.

Sorry there hasn’t been an update in months… In February it was recommended that we wait to release the spring schedule when the world figured out this corona-virus issue.  It’s now April and the world is still figuring it out, so sadly the spring events and activities are canceled.  This spring we will be planning some great summer programs through.  Let us know what programs you’d like offered once the social-distancing ban is lifted.  By then the weather should be warm and sunny and ideal for many of our outdoor adventure programs!

As I type this the last of our snow is melting away with ” April showers.”  Soon we’ll plant ” May flowers ” and open up outdoor education and our summer studies activities and events.  Until then those who were in our Fit/Fun family classes, Self-Defense programs, Game On, Explore/Experiment, All the Arts, Art Smart, Illustration, Robotics, etc can access our online education services and/or contact us to pick up spring-supply packages. We are looking into supplies and online opportunities for our D&D drama club, but sadly there will be no opportunity to finish the winter semesters “movie making” class.  Although we couldn’t finish our winter semester as planned we hope everyone was enjoying the classes, groups, and activities.  The order to discontinue all group activities will not last forever.  Until we can get together again enjoy the pictures from this winters activities and check back soon for updates on summer programs, which will include homeschool-helpers for those considering continuing homeschooling even after the covid-chaos.  Our homeschool and community groups are fun and full of resources and opportunities for members – just take a look at what we were up to these past few months:

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the things we did over the past winter.  Hope to see you later this spring or at least this summer!

To make a long story short(er) we had a very busy fall! As we prepare for our winter programs take a look at what we’ve been up to – and what we’re doing next…

We had a wonderful 2019…Time to prepare for our 2020 programs! Mi Families will be facilitating so many amazing multi-age and multi-generational programs this year! Parent partnerships, provider trainings, hero trainings / 1stAid, Marital arts & self defense groups, team building / game on clubs, Robotics, Social-Science courses, STEAM & sensory events,  Homeschool events/field trips/classes… “Arts & Action, Art Smart, All the Arts, Illustration, Movie Making, Drama / Rollplaying…”

For more information – and for information on when/where programs are held please email Christi@MiFamilies.com!

I can’t believe we’re heading into our 2nd half of this fall semester already! It’s time to start planning winter programs!

This fall we’re facilitating a self defense course for families and a  “Hero Training” 1st aid course for tweens and teens.  Older students are enjoying computer programming, Pixar animation, Illustration, and roll playing classes. Elementary students are learning about film making and participating in  “Game On” team builders.  Little learners are doing a social science program, and learning their ABC & 123’s thru “art smart.”

Besides our large and small group classes, we also offer one-on-one tutor-time sessions.  Our tutoring sessions are individualized, as is our “reaching out with resources” program. We’ve helped families find resources for developmental therapies, health care, food programs, holiday assistance… Email Christi@MiFamilies.com if there’s a resource your family is searching.

At this time of year many are searching for holiday assistance or simply ideas for holiday gift giving or looking for someone to take their family Christmas card photos.  Did you know that one of the programs we offer is family photography? We have a professional photographer booking fall family photos and senior pictures now.  He also does wedding photos and videos.

Our photographer / videographer happens to be an award winning director of photography/editor for films, documentaries, commercials etc – if you are searching for a someone to meet your video / photo needs let us know.  Some of the pics on this page are examples of his work.  Some are just fun pics from the last couple weeks of Mi Families and my family’s adventures.

My family invites your family to look into Mi Families program and let us know about programs you’d like us to add to our winter list.  Check out www.MiFamilies.com to see what we currently offer.  Network with us on LinkedIn and Facebook.  Follow us on Pinterest and YouTube.  You don’t want to miss our updates about the programs coming soon : youth classes, family events, parent workshops, provider trainings, resources … field trips … and more!

and 1 more thing / a few more pictures … of senior pic examples just taken :

Email JeffMorganMovies@gmail.com to schedule photography / videography sessions.

Mi Families (“my families”) facilitates programs for families and those who work with families.  My families facilitates provider trainings, parent workshops, family events, youth classes, tutoring, & developmental services. All programs have been uniquely designed based on requests and observations.

While working in homes, schools, and centers – as a counselor, teacher, curriculum writer, ABA tech, coach, etc… I have been able to observe what programs are needed and listened to what programs were being requested. I listened to providers, parents, and tots thru teens.  If I couldn’t reach out with the requested resource, I formed partnerships with people who could.

As Mi Families continues to grow programs – we continue to grow our partnerships. One of my partners happens to be my husband, who has worked with children thru adults in child and family service organizations and within community mental health.  He also teaches all ages martial arts, drama, film, illustration, computer programming, robotics, car repair, home repair…

My husband’s hat’s are many! He teaches around his film making career and helping me homeschool our 3 kiddos.  We never planned to homeschool, but here we are loving this lifestyle. We’re doing what works best for OUR family.  Each family, each child, is different – so different things work best for different families.

In decades of working with different children and their different families we have found no two families to be the same – and therefore don’t expect families to need the same resources to thrive.  Even in my classrooms no two students learn the same way – so each session there are multiple ways to learn objectives during our time together.

The past couple weeks I’ve been teaching different objectives to tots thru teens.  From all about me, to my family and friends, to our 5 senses and how we feel with our hands and our hearts … Little learners worked on reading “feeling faces,” the colors of emotion, their basic colors and shapes, counted up shape sides, and played number and letter games.

Older students played lots of learning games, participated in team work / communication games, and even survival training games that included shelter building, wilderness 1st aid lessons, and more.  These classes are a part of our homeschool co-op, as are many of my husbands courses. The pictures in this article showcase some of our co-op activities and some of “my life” activities.

If you have any questions regarding our homeschool life or live in Northern Michigan and want information regarding our homeschool co-op email me at Christi@MiFamilies.com … You can also email me regarding any of our programs.  Some of our partners can provide programs and reach out with resources state wide! More about our team of partners, team – members, family members who use our programs, and our programs can be found at www.MiFamilies.com.  We’re also available to network on LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube!

Mi Students have fallin’ into the routine of their fall classes and our Mi Families schedule.

Mi Families (“my families”) LLC facilitates group classes and individualized tutoring programs for students of all ages.

From pregnant-parents to grand-parenting we facilitate parent workshops – as well as trainings for daycare providers and teachers.

We work with those who teach and care for children of all ages/stages, and offer classes for all ages/stages as well.

This week our littlest learners worked on developmental milestones through 1-on-1 services.

Our preschoolers and early elementary students joined us for ABC&123 smART class where we used art to reinforce core subjects.

In My World we also used art to learn school subjects, such as social studies and science, while exploring fall themes.

In all our classes we’re still getting to know more about each other through “All about Me, my Friends and Family” themes.

All students shared more about themselves and their families during our Wednesday classes at our Interlochen homeschool co-op.

Our co-op provides multi age classes where students of different ages/stages work together, like a family.

Like a family, or team, our older elementary and middle school/jr high work together through brain and body challenges in our Game On program.

Our jr high and high school students work as a team in our Hero Training program where we’re learning about safety 1st.

If you have a student in Hero Training please make sure they attend this week as we start our 1st aid lessons!

If you have a student in Game On please make sure you’re playing games with them at home encouraging sportsmanship.

If you have a student in our ABC123 smART class please review the letters A,B&C at home, as well as numbers 123.

In ABC123 smART we’ll also continue working our color recognition and start counting up shape sides.

We’ll use art and stories and music and movement in MY World next week as we continue learning about friends and families around the world.

In all our classes please dress according to the weather as sometimes we head outdoors for learning adventures.

Mi Families utilizes an “education through recreation” curriculum, which means even if we’re not outdoors we’re learning through fun and hands on activities.

Often these activities include painting, gluing, and using other messy materials so please dress appropriately to learn by making a mess!

Students in our programs will make a mess, make believe, and make memories, as they make new friends all semester long.

Students are encouraged to learn by using all their senses and all the supplies around them indoors and outside.

Students are encouraged to connect what they are learning about in the classroom with their studies at home.

If you need ideas on how to connect weekly topics at home feel free to email Christi@MiFamilies.com

Also feel free to email (or visit www.MiFamilies.com) if you’d like more information about these or other Mi Families programs.

Today was 80 degrees, but in a few day it’ll be officially fall. The temperatures will fall and the leaves will follow.  Until the leaves are gone families are busy going on field trips to pick apples and pumpkins … This year Mi Families (“my families”) has added some fun-fall-farm-field-trips to our schedule! Our schedule is already packed with provider trainings, parent workshops, and youth classes!

This semester we’ll continue providing individual tutor-time/developmental classes for tots to tweens, as well as large group classes for infants thru adults.  Some of our classrooms are over in Interlochen on Wednesdays.  On Wednesdays homeschoolers meet up to take all sorts of music classes, Spanish, gym, art … Mi Families is teaching “My World” which is a seasonal study program that that uses art projects to teach social-science.  Our ABC&123 smART class also uses art to teach core subjects

Both smART & My World classes can be modified for preschoolers thru elementary stage students.  For tweens and teens we also facilitate a self defense class and ” Hero Training / 1st aid ” lessons.  Older students also love our illustration course, learning computer programming / Pixar animation, and a roll playing club.

Although Mi Families has a team across Michigan, Christi and Jeff Morgan facilitate most of the northern Michigan programs using their decades of experiences and education in diverse fields.  Jeff Morgan is an award winning professional film maker who lets elementary & jr-high students learn movie-making skills on Wednesdays (besides sharing other hidden talents – encouraging students to find their own talents and strengths).

Elementary / Jr-high (or middle school) students also enjoy  “Game On” where they learn to  play and make games – indoors and outside. All our classes use indoor and outside environments for “education through recreation.” Recreation is what we do for fun – and in our classes we have fun learning! In our classes we have fun learning to love learning! This week we were learning back-to-school concepts at the homeschool co-op since our programs started later then the traditional school schedule. This week we did “Back 2 School” themes along side of “All about me and you” projects to get to know each other.

Since our semester is shortened this year we also squeezed in some lessons on Johnny Appleseed, the letter A, letter 0, the number zero, circles vs ovals … We talked about how shapes, numbers, and letters are made from lines and curves.  Little learners dived right into such core topics through theme based exploration.  Older students worked on individual and team projects and were encouraged to be a part of our school team – and find ways to be a team and conquer goals with their families.

One goal encouraged this semester is staying healthy and safe.  In schools we pick up a lot of germs and sadly safety is a always a concern … Even if we never need to use a fire drill, have a tornado, or experience a lock down – it’s good to talk with kids about what to do at school (or in other locations) during an emergency.  It’s also a good idea to talk about general safety and health lessons – because we stay calmer when we’ve prepared for emergencies AND we stay healthier when we learn to wash our hands and eat our veggies.

If we stay healthy and safe we can help others stay healthy and safe and become a team of happy-healthy-heroes!  Apparently “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” so that’s a smart start to staying healthy this fall.  If you’d like ideas how on how to turn apples and other fall themes into fun learning activities, or would like more information about our programs email Christi@MiFamilies.com

Our Fall article/update will be posted soon! Thanks for your patience as we add our programs to the calendar …

So far we are excited to offer new tutoring options – offered in community locations as well as at our homebase Sunday thru Tuesdays.  We also have Musical Mornings and Art smART classes at our homebase on Thursdays and Fridays.  Saturday Social – Science and Sensory studies are coming back as well!

Wednesdays we are excited to continue classes at the Interlochen school / Homeschool co-op.  Hr 1  4yr olds thru 4th graders are invited to our “My World” Social Science class. 2nd hr 2yr olds thru 2nd graders are invited to our ABC 123 smART class. 3rd hr 10 year old students and older can sign up for 1st Aid / Hero Training. 0-5 year old “little learners” and their parents are invited to a Parent Partnership group 4th hour.  3rd graders and up can come play Game On team builders 5th hr.  Click link below for more about our co-op classes:

coop19marketing

More classes descriptions, times, and information about other community collaborations will be posted soon! The leaves are starting to change and so are our programs! We had a wonderful Summer session, but are anxious to fall into fall fun!

It’s almost time for SUMMER SCHOOL!

Most students think of summer school as a punishment,

except my students! Especially my own kids!

Summer provides fun opportunities to learn about new things,

and explore deeper into individual interests.

Summer is a time for learning about growing!

During the summer months we grow more in our individual interests and talents.

As summer nears we are finishing up our unit on growing gardens.

We’ve been learning about the importance of nature, and especially about the importance of water.

This past week students have explored waterways, water transportation, water life…

Water life lessons have taught us amazing facts about amazing creatures.

Some lessons were taught through the Mother Goose Times “Bubbles, Boats, and Floats” theme.

MGT provides easy lesson planning for the littlest learners, while older students enjoy expanding on the units.

For example: while little learners focused in on what lives in water, older students learned more about animal habitats.

This summer students will have opportunities to learn and explore through top rated curriculums.

Students of (all ages) will discover how they learn best in our small groups and one-on-one programs.

This summer Mi Families will offer “education through recreation” groups,

as well as continue offering our individualized tutoring sessions.

Throughout the summer we’ll be planning our fall classes for homeschoolers,

as well as preparing for our fall provider trainings and parent workshops.

To learn more about our past, present, and future programs visit www.MiFamilies.com or

email Christi@MiFamilies.com to inquire about how your students can enjoy our summer school programs –

through focusing on their individual interests and talents!