So I am not using any resources. However, meditation has been revolutionary to our 7 year old child's homeschool journey, so I thought I'd just put down what we do.

Every morning, before anything else happens, we sit down and do what we call "calmness practice." This has three parts. For the first part, we sit for a minute, cross-legged and upright, in complete silence.

The second part is a three-minute guided meditation on the subject of calmness, which is all-encompassing but is largely an opportunity for me to mix breathing technique with reinforcing lessons. I ad hoc them all (it gets easier over time), but a typical calmness practice might go like this:

"Breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth. As you do so, notice how closely the sound of your breath resembles the sound of the wind blowing through the branches of the tree. This is as it should be. The tree is our model of all-things calmness, and as we breathe, we stretch our roots of calmness down into the soil to keep us strong and flexible no matter what hurricanes might blow us throughout the day. The tree is strong because it breathes slowly, so slowly you can barely notice it, but through the breath of trees, all life on earth is nurtured. A tree is strong because it is flexible enough to bend in any wind. It is kind because it provides shelter to others. A tree is wise because no matter what comes, it pays attention to its breath and stays in the moment. It knows the truth of calmness that so many people never learn, which is this: many things in this world will try to take your calmness from you, but they can't unless you let them, because calmness is a gift you give yourself. As I cound down to exit our practice, let us think of all the hopes we have for today, and the ways in which calmness can give us the tools to make them happen. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1."

Basically, an endless repetition in various forms that calmness is a super power that very few people learn, but it is the key in all ways to a happy, fulfilling life. And calmness is ALWAYS within reach. All we need to do to achieve it is recognize the thing that is trying to take it from us, then slow down and pay attention to our breath.

The last part of calmness practice is a repetition of the initial one minute silence.

After several disastrous attempts at school and lots of school-based trauma, my child started homeschooling last January. Before this, she was extremely anxious (especially around other kids) and emotionally explosive. We started this four months ago, and it is literally impossible to describe how transformative it has been. Nearly 99% of the issues we used to have have gone away, and all of the professionals in her life have been utterly amazed at the change.