Nutrition during homeschooling

For many of us homeschooling is a very new, unexpected and rather unwanted experience. We are all busy creating a new routine to make the best of the current situation.

But this morning I couldn’t help but feeling happy about the opportunity at hand. This is a great time to form new habits together with our kids.

Why not optimizing our family´s nutrition to boost immunity?

While being quarantined with the family for weeks at a time might not always feel like a blessing. It is a fabulous time to bond and reconnect with our kids. This way we can boost their emotional well-being. We call this primary food, it nourishes us, yet you won´t find it on a dinner plate. Primary food means being present in the moment, being present around our kids, giving hugs and kisses, it means positive reinforcement and a save framework in these crazy times.

Many of us are in lock down and quarantine so let´s make the most of it.

I admit, I do enjoy our new improved routine away from the daily stress.

And even better, I am now 100% in charge of my kid´s nutrition.

Bye, bye lunchboxes, canteens, birthday parties and cañastitas.

So, here is our new routine:

We wake up with the circadian rhythm, that is when it´s getting daylight and our body clock naturally wakes us up and not the alarm clock. I feel that is a 100% mood enhancer for everyone.

Bye, bye morning stress. No more hassling to get dressed, having breakfast and be all ready before the school bus arrives.

Instead, we have breakfast together. Emphasis on: together.

We usually have oat meal for breakfast. Cornflakes and their likes are banned from casa Boons.

To add a nutritional twist to plain oatmeal here is what you could do:

-add fruits preferably banana or berries -add nut butter for extra protein -use milk of choice -add a spoon of coconut oil to make it filling -add seeds such as hemp seed powder, and flax or Chia to get a boost in Omega fats which have great brainboosting qualities

Nutritionally upgraded oat meal is filling and easy to digest. It keeps brain activity going for a while. It maintains a steady blood sugar that means the kids don’t run on a sugar high and neither get tired and irritated from when that level drops. Click here to join the Facebook group Nutritional upgrade by Nina Boons

For snacks I always prepare two pieces of fruit. Always one banana and then we rotate between apple, papaya, pineapple, watermelon or whatever else the season brings. The second snack would be a yogurt or nuts. We like to keep food groups separated as both require different kind of digestive mixes. Especially these days we like to work with the body. We avoid as good as possible to put more strain on the digestive system so we can leave more time for its job to boost our immunity.

Now that the kids are at home, I can include the fruit and veggies in smoothies, self- made juices, soups or veggie finger food with dips. Of course we do eat the family´s favorite such as pancake, waffles, pasta and pizza just they are nutritionally upgraded.

Before we even enter our class room the kids will play outside. There is no better way to boost immunity with some play outside in early morning sun. Sun, fresh air and playing in the soil is our natural path of detoxing. It´s called grounding.

We are outdoor living plants just with more complex feelings.

Jumping, running, catching a ball, riding a bicycle and getting dirty is part of our curriculum.

Homeschooling can be intense for everyone involved. Our school is not quiet as advanced, we literally do it old school with book and paper.

The advantage is that we don’t have presence time in front of the screen. This allows us to work at our own pace. Having little to no guidance nor content the start of homeschooling was frustrating. But now, we can cater much better to the kids needs. When they have a bad day, we can simply switch the gears.

In average kids spend 3 hours in front of the TV, now add homeschool screen time. Lets not forget playtime.

Sadly, the snacks they are fed are of no help in terms of sitting down and concentrate for long periods of time. Snacks such as juice, soda, chips, cookies, and cracker are empty carbs and contain zero nutrition. Other than jerking up the blood sugar and causing your kid to be hyperactive followed by wanting to snooze, it doesn’t do much.

Even worse most of the snacks contain: -food dye and colouring, which is linked to ADHD -added sugar and syrups, including their 60 evil siblings, causing diabetes and future diseases -preservatives and additives

None of these ingredients are natural to our body. They keep the stomach occupied by having to digest toxic and poison opposed to boosting immunity.

How do you expect to have healthy cells if nothing healthy comes in ?!

Don’t blame it on ´it runs in the family´.

What does run in the family are poor microbiomes in the gut and eating habits.

1 in 5 kids enters primary school obese. Obesity sets the tone for chronic disease such as heart disease, diabetes even cancer.

25g of sugar is the recommended daily dose for kids, here a little math task for you:

Breakfast cereals up to 15g sugar

Yogurt 10g added sugar

Sandwich 15g sugar

Juice 100ml 15g of added sugar

Your kid´s health is ultimately in your hand.

This is the time to say: Bye, bye empty carbs.

Personally, I don’t even shop in the sweet section anymore.

You don’t buy it you can´t eat it.

Why spending money on food that doesn’t nourish us anyways?

If you must buy, then at least opt for the lesser harmful version of it. Instead of pringles try the local version such as platano or yucca chips. But drop the soda and juices and eat the whole fruit instead.

Why spending money on empty carbs that make us fat and unhealthy?

Let´s return to the primary food. We don’t do sweets as reward.

Just think about what lesson we teach our kids with sweet rewards?

I would like that the kids learn voluntarily without bribing.

So what could we offer?

A reward chart, where we work towards a goal, for example. The kids can make a bucket list, where they trade their cooperation for a joined family activity. Or simply, a hug and encouraging positive words.

Did you ever think about it, that sugar very much just looks like Heroin and Cocaine?

No surprise that up to a hundred years ago it was only to be administered by pharmacists. Sugar was treated like a drug. It is medically proven that sugar appeals to the same parts of a brain than drugs do. The sugar in chocolate makes us feel good, pure dopamine. When we are emotionally stressed, we crave that comfort. This is where emotional eating or drinking comes in play. Rewarding kids with sugary treats plays exactly into that concept. Craving sugar is the equivalent in the brain of craving drugs.

Is that what you are trying to teach your kids?

Why am I telling you all of this?

My kids are rarely sick besides the occasional running nose or cough. In the past 4 years we have not used antibiotics. This is not a coincidence. Nutrition is important.

If you like to upgrade your family´s nutrition and like help please contact me directly.

Stay healthy.