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The Well Prepared Mom Homepage

Hey, I'm Elizabeth! A 30-something blogger, wife, and mom of 2 sweet boys! Proud born and raised Jersey Girl, foodie, lover of music, great deals, and all things fun! Helping families to spend more quality time together with the help of awesome resources, tips, and experience.

Click here to learn more about me.

FREEBIE! Get our Affirmation Coloring Sheets! Click here

Whatcha looking for? Take a look around and see how The Well Prepared Mom can allow you and your family to spend more quality time together with the help of our resources, tips, experience, and more! These kids are only small once, so we gotta make the most of our time together, right? Pick a category.

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These articles below are pretty popular now

image of a 9 year old boy in the kitchen with ingredients to make refrigerator pickles from the That Homeschool Family article "Kids in the Kitchen: How to Make Refrigerator Pickles" written by Elizabeth Dukart

Kids in the Kitchen: How to Make Refrigerator Pickles

Image of a child practicing his handwriting and a set of markers nearby for the 4 Reasons Why We'll Continue Homeschooling After the Pandemic Ends article from That Homeschool Family written by Elizabeth Dukart

4 Reasons Why We’ll Continue Homeschooling After the Pandemic Ends

Homeschool Geography with Universal Yums image with various snacks and young boy holding Cadillac gummy candies from That Homeschool Family article written by Elizabeth Dukart

Homeschool Geography is Delicious with Universal Yums!

Image of a child reading a book form the Pizza Hut BOOK IT Summer Reading Program for Kids is Back article from That Homeschool Family written by Elizabeth Dukart

Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Summer Reading Program for Kids is Back!

Our Must Haves Homeschool Supply Checklist featured image with images of a stapler, markers, laptop, colored pencils, pencils, post it notes, globe, scissors, and a tape dispenser from That Homeschool Family written by Elizabeth Dukart

Our Must Haves: Essential Homeschool Supply Checklist

One of our favorite homeschool field trips is visiting our local farm! Image shows a young boy sitting on a pink tractor in a farm field.

25 Budget Friendly Homeschool Field Trips

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Jane closet cleanse - shop Jane basics

Read on Epic! Anywhere. Anytime. On any device.

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It's possible we have a new family hobby 😆 The

It's possible we have a new family hobby 😆

The boys and I had our very *first* homeschool playdate yesterday. It was AWESOME. We stayed at the (empty except for our group) playground for 4 hours. All the kids played together, the parents chatted. It was the group community we've all been craving for at least a year.

We're so excited to have made new friends!

After our play date, the boys and I stopped by @mcnaughtonsgardens and, after walking through the greenhouse, decided to bring home this beauty. It's technically called a "Wandering Jew," but we decided to name her "Ursula" because of the purple coloring.

Yep. We're @disney people and all our plants have Disney & @marvelstudios names 😆

Anyways, we got a new plant!! It's very possible I'm picking up another from our @buynothingproject group today, too. Oops 😆😆

What are some of your hobbies?

#wanderingjew #wanderingjewplant #disneylover #marvelfans #ursula #familyhobby #saturdaymornings #homeschoolgroup #buynothing #newplants #homeschoolfriends #homeschoolblogger #homeschoolblog #disneyfan #disneymagic #plantsofinstagram #plantsmakepeoplehappy #plantmom #homeschoolcommunity #homeschoolcollective #playgroundfun

This sweet boy and I made refrigerator pickles yes

This sweet boy and I made refrigerator pickles yesterday and we're sharing the recipe with you! (Link in bio!)

We got a ton of pickles from our @johnsonscornerfarm CSA pickup, so, of course, we turned them into pickles. They're easy to make and are ready to eat by the next day (its possible I've already eaten 4 pickles today 😆😆)

Do you let your kids help out in the kitchen, too? I explain my reasoning in the article, but....really... there are SO many reasons to let them help with creating meals and recipes.

Not gonna lie, I don't mind the quality time we spent together, either 😍

#refrigeratorpickles #pickles #diypickles #kirbycucumbers #csabox #csashare #farmfresh #kidsinthekitchen #littlechef #futurechef #teachthemyoung #teachthemwell #homeschoolperks #homeschoolkids #homeschoolkid #boymomsrock #teachermom #recipeidea #summerrecipes #picklerecipe #dillpickles #dillpickle #lifeskills #lifeskillsforkids #reallifeskills

We went to our first public event - an outdoor con

We went to our first public event - an outdoor concert - in over a year and a half the other day!

We were all SO excited! We took the boys to @wawa and let them pick out their own hoagie, a bag of chips, and a drink (yes, even soda! 😲) to bring to the show. They were in their GLORY.

"Can we really get SODA, Mommy?!"

The summer's just beginning and I already know this trip to WaWa is going to be one of their favorite memories. 😄

After we paid for everything, we headed over to @perkinscenter in #moorestownnj. After parking, we set up our seats and enjoyed a night of live music from a live band.

These are the experiences we should've been having last summer, but you can bet that we're going to do our best to make up for lost time 💙💜

What's something you're looking forward to this summer?

#livemusicphoto #perkinscenterforthearts #alltunedup #burlingtoncountynj #moorestown #summerwithfamily #homeschoolfamily #wawa #makingmemories #makingmemoriestogether #summer2021 #thathomeschoolfamily #thathomeschoollife #musiceducation #raisingthefuture #raisingtinyhumans #homeschoolcollective #njmom #njmomblogger #jerseygirl #njkids #thingstodowithkids #thingstodoinnj #supportthearts

We stopped by our local farm to pick up our CSA sh

We stopped by our local farm to pick up our CSA share and decided to head out to the fields to pick some fruits and veggies ourselves, too!

One of my favorite perks of homeschooling is that we can take little trips like this! The boys and I chatted about farm irrigation (we saw workers installing a sprinkler!), observed plant sprouts and made plans to pick those fruits & veggies later on, and...obviously... picked ripes berries and radishes.

On the way back from picking our "harvest," my oldest was grinning ear to ear and kept saying "that was SO much fun." 💙💜 So glad we were able to do this!

Also - I never liked radishes before, but have found out they're delicious when roasted! Just wash, cube, and lightly coat with some olive oil and the seasoning of your choice.... then, roast in the oven. Absolutely delicious - they're pretty much a low-carb version of roasted potatoes. 😍

Our strawberries were turned into a (very much NOT low carb 😆) strawberry shortcake.

@johnsonscornerfarm #medfordnj #njfarms #farmfresh #radish #strawberries #njkids #learneveryday #learnsomethingnew #tractorride #farmtotable #homeschoolonthefarm #thathomeschoollife #thathomeschoolfamily #strawberryshortcake #freshveggies #southjerseymoms #southjerseykids #njmom #njhomeschool #njhomeschoolers #homeschoolrocks #tuesdaytip #recipeoftheday #csabox #csafarm

It's National Chocolate Ice Cream Day, so we have

It's National Chocolate Ice Cream Day, so we have to ask you: is it OK to replace a meal with ice cream from time to time?

If you ask us...it's totally ok!

It's supposed to be super hot over here in South Jersey today - there's a heat advisory warning for temps to to 100! 😲

Who knows, it could be a good day to have ice cream for lunch AND dinner 😉

#celebrateeveryday #nationalchocolateicecreamday #chocolateicecream #icecreamtruck #icecreamforlunch #icecreamfordinner #icecreamcone #icecreamsundae #southjerseykids #southjersey #njkids #njmom #njmoms #southjerseymom #southjerseymoms #makingmemories #mondayfeels #schoolsoutforsummer #summervacation #summervacay #homeschoollife #homeschoolblog #mountlaurelnj #bloggermom #jimmiesorsprinkles #sprinklesorjimmies

It's National Ketchup Day! So, tell us, how do YOU

It's National Ketchup Day! So, tell us, how do YOU pronounce the red condiment that tends to be a star in so many of our summer cookouts?

Drop a colored heart in the comments with your answer!

Check out the website for even more National Days to Celebrate in June!

#celebrateeveryday #nationalketchupday #ketchup #itsadayreally #catsup #nationalday #howdoyousay #homeschoolfamily #itsaday #june5 #saturdaymorning #summerbbq #foodiesofig

Starting this week, all those books your kids are

Starting this week, all those books your kids are reading could actually help to answer the "What's for Dinner?" question the family seems to ask every.single.day.

The @pizzahut Summer Reading program @bookitprogram started this week! Remember earning free pizza for reading books in the 90s? Well, it's back!

Read all about it on the blog: https://thathomeschoolfamily.com/free-pizza-hut-book-it-summer-reading/

#pizzahut #summerreading #summerreads #summerreadinglist #summerreadingprogram #summerreadingchallenge #firstgrade #secondgrade #thirdgrade #fourthgrade #fifthgrade #elementaryschool #readingteacher #readingteachers #teachingreading #smartkids #kidswhoread #childrensbooks #childrensbook #readabook #teachermom #teachermomlife #teachermommy #teachermoms #freepizza #bookitkid

Do you agree? I can still remember making notecard

Do you agree? I can still remember making notecards and studying vocabulary words when I was in middle school!

😍PS - today is National Repeat Day! Plan ahead for an entire month of National Days on the blog! Just search for "June" and the article will show up 😉

#celebrateeveryday #nationalday #june3 #nationalrepeatday #jackcanfield #jackcanfieldquote #itsadayreally #learningathome #learningisfun #learningbydoing #learningeveryday #learningresources #learningnewskills #educationforlife #educationalresources #educationcalactivities #elementaryteacher #elementaryschool #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolfamilylife #quoteoftheday #homeschoolblog #homeschoolblogger

Today is National Bubba Day which means...we're ce

Today is National Bubba Day which means...we're celebrating family nicknames! Do you or your kids have any special family nicknames?

Our family has quite a few, but one of my favorites is the nickname my oldest son inadvertently gave to my youngest son.

Sam was just about 2.5 years old when Matthew was born. He was the best big brother, but had a heck of a time saying "Matthew" and instead pronounced it "Baboo." We, of course, thought this nickname was adorable and ended up calling him "Baboo" as well.

"Baboo" has since been shortened to "Boo," so I guess you could say he got a nickname FROM his nickname! These days, we tend to call him "Boo" more than "Matthew," and, for now, he's totally ok with that <3

#celebrateeveryday #nationalday #nationalbubbaday #nicknames #june2 #itsaday #itsadayreally #brothers #brothersforlife #brotherslove #brothersforever #boymomlife #boymomadventures #homeschoolingboys #homeschoolingmama #bubba #momofboys #momoftwo #momof2 #schoolathome #teachingkids #boymomma #boymomforlife #siblingslove #mombloggers #mombloggersofig #momblogging

Happy June! ☀️ It's been a while since I've do

Happy June! ☀️ It's been a while since I've done a "getting to know you" post, so let's do one!

Hi - I'm Elizabeth! 🙋‍♀️ Proud Jersey Girl, foodie, wife, and veteran special education teacher turned homeschooling boy mom. Oh, I'm a 🐶dog mom, too! You can see my family in my in the pic below - it was taken during our last vacation to Walt Disney World. We can't wait to go back one day soon!

🤩Here are three facts about me:

1️⃣ I love music. When I'm down, listening to music makes me feel worlds better. The Beatles will always and forever be my favorite band.

2️⃣I NEVER thought I'd be homeschooling my kids yet, here we are after about a year of homeschooling and I can't see changing our ways anytime soon. Homeschooling has been a positive experience for our whole family.

3️⃣ I have had a severe hearing loss since birth. I can still hear, but being able to read lips is a huge help. I credit this experience with being one of the reasons I became a teacher.

⏬⏬Please share an interesting fact about yourself below! I can't wait to get to know you better!

#jerseygirl #southjersey #southjerseyfamily #homeschoolmom #happyjune #june1 #homeschoolblog #homeschoolblogger #homeschoolingfamily #homeschoolingrocks #homeschoolfun #howwehomeschool ##homeschoo #homeschoolcollective #njmom #njfamily #thisishomeschool #njblogger #njbloggers #nj #njmoms #njmomblogger #njteacher #hearinglossawareness #beatleslove #teachersfollowteachers #teacherspayteachers #homeschoolfamily #homeschoolfamilylife

If you chat with your kids about anything today, c

If you chat with your kids about anything today, consider chatting with them about the meaning of Memorial Day.

Not just the unofficial start of summer or a day to grill burgers with our friends and family, today is a day to honor those who have give the ultimate sacrifice.

Today, we remember and honor those who never made it home while fighting for our freedoms.

Today, we remember and honor who said "see ya later" to their friends and families before deploying, but didn't get to celebrate a safe return home.

Enjoy the day with your friends and families, but also take a moment to remember, and teach about, the reason today is called "Memorial Day."

#memorialday #memorialdayweekend #memorialday2021 #homeofthebrave #homeofthefree #homeofthefreebecauseofthebrave #allgavesomegaveall #allgavesome #starspangledbanner #teachthemyoung #teachingkids #teachersofig #usa #homeschoolmama #homeschoolcollective #homeschoolideas #homeschoolfamily #redwhiteandblue #homeschoolers #homeschoolingideas #homeschoolersofinstagram #homeschoolcommunity #homeschoolfreedom

Another week means more National Days to celebrate

Another week means more National Days to celebrate!

Grab our freebie and plan ahead for June's National Days here: https://thathomeschoolfamily.com/national-days-to-celebrate-in-june-with-kids/

#celebrateeveryday #nationaldays #nationalsmileday #nationalcreativityday #nationalsaysomethingniceday #nationalbubbaday #nationalrepeatday #nationalketchupday #june1 #june2 #june3 #june4 #june5 #may30 #may31 #homeschoolcollective #teacherblogger #tptseller #celebratelife #enjoyeverymoment #nationalday #lessonplans #planningahead #homeschoolfamily #findthejoy #findthegood

Don't mind us, we're just working on our self-este

Don't mind us, we're just working on our self-esteem 😍

The boys started doing postive affirmation coloring sheets a few weeks ago and have been loving them! Each week, they color one sheet, hang it up, and repeat the affirmation each day.

With 60 coloring sheets, it's designed to be a year-long activity and would be great for both homeschooling families and elementary education teachers with classrooms of students 💙💜

Get your set here: https://thathomeschoolfamily.com/60-powerful-positive-affirmations-for-kids/

#positiveaffirmation #happykids #happykid #selfesteemboost #selfesteem #confidentkids #positiveparenting #positiveaffirmationsforkids #elementaryteachers #elementaryschoollife #homeschoolmom #homeschoolers
#njbloggers #southjersey #southjerseykids #njhomeschool #njhomeschoolers #homeschoolsupport #charactereducation #teachersofinstagram #schoolcounselor #schoolcounselorsofinstagram #selfawareness #teachersofinsta #socialemotionallearning #socialemotionaldevelopment #homeschoolfamily

One of our favorite perks of homeschooling is gett

One of our favorite perks of homeschooling is getting to spend more time together as a family.

Yesterday, we played hooky and took a drive down to Ocean City, NJ. It was freezing cold, but we still had so much fun.

We got to watch our beloved @playlandscastawaycove being rebuilt through a plexiglass wall, went shopping on the board walk, played in the sand and searched for shells, enjoyed pizza from our favorite @preps_pizza (also, first time doing outdoor dining at a restaurant in over a year!), and got some wild game jerky from @beefjerkyexperienceofficial.

Even though the boys saw it "just" as a day of fun, they were still learning new things with every experience. 💙💜

#oceancityboardwalk
#oceancitynj
#ocnj #ocnjdaily #jerseygirl #njhomeschoolers #homeschoolcollective #dayatthebeach #travelwithkids #travelingwithkids #familydayout #njbloggers #njkids #southjersey #homeschoolmom #homeschoolblogger #oceancityphotos #fieldtrip

Do your kids play with cardboard boxes, too? Never

Do your kids play with cardboard boxes, too? Never underestimate the power of creativity and pretend play!

Backstory...our dishwasher died like 2 months ago. Ugh. An expense we weren't planning, but who wants to hand wash dishes?? Big fat ol' NOPE from me!

I did some shopping around and found a deal on a @whirlpoolusa dishwasher from @costco. Sweet!

It was delivered about a month ago, but we've had the boxes ever since. Why? The boys are living out their pretend play DREAMS with the box.

So far, the box has been:

- a prehistoric cave complete with cave drawings (to go along with our @curiositychroniclescurriculum lessons!)

- a castle with a lookout tower

- a restaurant

- a hotel

- a quiet reading area

- a chill out area

- a "Tony Stark boxfort" 🤷‍♀️ We love our @marvelstudios characters and @robertdowneyjr is a favorite of ours!

A cabinet box (yay for homeschool renovation!) and popcorn tins have joined the collection, too.

Who knows when all this will get cleaned up, but at least they're having fun, learning, and being creative, right??

#boxfort #creativekids #creativelife #tonystark #whirlpool #whirlpoolappliances #newdishwasher #costcolife #homeschooldays #curiositychronicles #learnandplay #learnathome #learnthroughplay #pretendplay #brothersforlife #cardboardart #cardboardcrafts #cardboardcreations #cardboardbox #momoftwo #boymomlife #bloggermom #mombloggersofig #teachermom #unschoolinglife #creativelifehappylife

We're just about 2 weeks in from starting our herb

We're just about 2 weeks in from starting our herb garden in our Aerogarden and things seem to be going well, huh?? I started this with the boys since we're doing learning about plants in Science. We also love having our outdoor fruit & veggie garden, so we're trying this out in hopes of having a fresh garden of veggies available year round 😍

We have the unit in the basement, so there's hardly any natural sunlight down there - it's all coming from the Aerogarden light! Amazing, right?

All of the herbs are flourishing except for Thyme. Who knows what happened to Thyme, but there's been no growth and no roots are visible 🤷‍♀️ Plenty of Dill and Basil to go around, though!! I bought some potatoes while grocery shopping yesterday, so I have plans to make some dill potato salad 😍 Basil will, of course, be turned into a caprese salad.

Have you grown fruits or vegetables before? I'd love to see pics of your gardens if so!! Let me know!

#aerogarden #aerogardening #aeroponics #aeroponic #diyherbgarden #herbgarden #herbgardening #freshherbs #homeschoolscience #plantscience #homeschoolkids #homeschoollessons #thathomeschoolfamily #firstgradescience #thirdgradescience #elementaryscience #scienceteachers #scienceteachersofinstagram #homeschoolteacher #teachermom #learnsomethingnew #learningnewthings #learnwithus #scienceexperiment

Homeschool Rule #137: Don't be afraid to get your

Homeschool Rule #137: Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty!

The boys have been learning about early civilization and, when learning about hunters & gatherers, the topic of archeologists come up pretty often! Instead of just chatting about archeologists, the boys BECAME archeologists! Kinda sorta. 😉

I put 2 mugs each in their own plastic bag and then smashed them into the ground breaking the mugs into smaller pieces.

Then, I filled up 2 reuseable bags with dirt and put the mug pieces inside. I mixed it all up so the boys would have to put some effort into finding all the pieces.

Then, I gave the boys each a pair of yard working gloves (ya know, so they wouldn't cut their fingers on the broken mug pieces) and let them dig for their artifacts!

They set aside all the pieces of the mug they found, cleaned them off with brushes, and then had to do their best to put the mug back together...kind of like how we see ancient pottery pieced back together in museums.

When they found pieces that fit together, I used Krazy Glue to affix them to each other. You can see their finished pieces in the last pic!

The entire activity took about an hour. The boys had a great time, worked hard to clean and match their pieces, and got a chance to somewhat experience the work of an archeologist!

100% totally recommend this activity!

#curiositychronicles #ancienthistory #huntersandgatherers #archaeology #archaeologylife #homeschoolhistory #momofboys #historynerd #historygeek #teachersofinstagram #makelearningfun #handsonlearning #learnathome #invitationtocreate #invitationtolearn #unschooling #projectbasedlearning #projectbasedhomeschooling #homeschoollookslikethis #homeschooliscool #homeschoolcommunity #homeschoolideas #schoolathome #homeschoolmomlife #homeschooldays #intentionalmotherhood

When you're learning about Life Science, there's g

When you're learning about Life Science, there's gonna be some blood, right?! 😫

We haven't delved into looking at ACTUAL blood, but we made some "blood" using corn syrup, red hots, lentils, and pinto beans. It was messy, it was sticky, it was MEMORABLE! The boys have been talking about this project for days, so I'm considering that a win.

Do you do science labs with your kids often? They totally require a little extra work, but I feel like they give us the most bang for our buck. Hands on learning is certainly our preferred way of learning, so lots of labs happen over here.

If you're interested in doing the same lesson, we use Real Science Odyssey (by @pandia_press) Life Science for our Science lessons.

#sciencelab #scienceiscool #lifescience #scienceexperiment #scienceexperimentsforkids #homeschoolscience #handsonlearning #handsonactivities #homeschoolthirdgrade #thirdgradeteacher #thirdgradeteachers #teachermom #teachingfromhome #teachingmykids #schooltime #teachingtips #thathomeschoollife #thathomeschoolfamily #homeschool365 #homeschoolfamilylife #homeschoolcurriculum

Learning is more fun with a pup, don't you think?

Learning is more fun with a pup, don't you think?

Yesterday marked 1 year since we adopted our dog Cole! It was around the time when it was hard to adopt a dog - I guess everyone was getting bored in quarantine and decided it was time to get a furry friend.

I'll never forget the lady at the shelter asking us "what will you do with him once life goes back to normal?" and we were so happy to say we'd be homeschooling and we'd be home more days than not 💙💜

Over the past year, he's become my shadow, a friend and playmate to my boys, and sofa buddy when we're relaxing. We love him so much... and we have a hunch that feeling is mutual.

#blacklablove
#blacklabsofinstagram #adoptadog #adoptdontshop #homeschoolpet #homeschoolfamily #doggram #blacklabradorretriever #labradormix #labradorlife #dogmomlove #dogmoms #dogmomforlife #homeschoolmom #bloggermom @awa_nj #animalwelfare

It's National Weather Observers Day, so we're writ

It's National Weather Observers Day, so we're writing about our favorite weather today! I'm Team Sunshine while Sam is Team Rain. What Team are you on??

We love celebrating the #nationaldays so much that the boys do a writing prompt related to one of them every morning. They're available for the entire year and you can check them out in our Teachers Pay Teachers store at: thathomeschoolfamily.com/tpt

Even better?? This resource, and so many others on the Teachers Pay Teachers site, are up to 25% off TODAY and TOMORROW with the code THANKYOU21.

#ad #tpt #tptseller #tptsale #nationalweatherobserversday #weatherobservatory #writingprompts #writingprompt #elementaryteachers #firstgraderocks #secondgradeteachers #thirdgradeteacher #fourthgrader #fifthgraderocks #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #celebrateeveryday #rainydayvibes #sunnydays #educational #teacherblogger #teacherfinds #elementaryeducation #elementaryschoolteacher #teacherappreciationday #teacherappreciationweek

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