Whether you homeschool in a dedicated room, on the couch, or at the kitchen table, essential oils can play a big part in the success of your homeschool day and add to your family’s health and emotional well being. But do you know how to use essential oils in your homeschool to get the most benefit?
I’ve shared in the past some of our favorite ways to use essential oils every day in our home, to help with ADHD, and for a more peaceful child, but today I want to share with you how to use essential oils in your homeschool.
How to Use Essential Oils in Your Homeschool
There are a few reasons you may wish to try aromatherapy/essential oils in your homeschool and a few ways that essential oils can be used during the homeschool day. From diffusing to topical application, focus and stress control to cleaning your homeschool room, school-age children from kindergarten through high school can easily and economically reap the benefits of essential oils. Here are a few things you will need to know if you wish to learn how to use essential oils in your homeschool.
Diffusing Essential Oils in Your Homeschool
We diffuse essential oils nearly every morning. It has been part of our daily ritual for several years, and if I don’t get the diffuser started right away, Ben is quick to ask for it. Diffusers get the essential oils and all their benefits evenly dispersed throughout the air so you can reap the benefits passively. If you don’t already own one you can pick one up at a reasonable cost from Amazon to use in your homeschool area.
Three of my favorite essential oils to use in our homeschool are Lavender, Peppermint, and Rosemary. Nearly every blend that goes into our diffuser contains one of more of these oils. But there are many wonderful oils that alone or combined help create the perfect environment for learning! So don’t be afraid to experiment to see what works best for your family.
Lavender Essential Oil is well known for its calming and soothing properties. Ben likes for me to add lavender to almost any other essential oil we diffuse because it helps him relax when he’s doing math, his most stressful subject.
Peppermint Essential Oil is great for focus and clarity. Peppermint also helps keep Ben more alert when he hasn’t had enough sleep the night before (which is almost every day).
Rosemary Essential Oil is known for boosting memory. Ben loves when I diffuse rosemary when he’s studying for a test or reading chapters in one of his textbooks.
Rarely do we just diffuse one essential oil at a time. The synergy between oils can boost the effects of each one. It’s not an exact science, and sometimes we just go with what we enjoy the scent of most, knowing that pretty much any essential oil combination we blend is going to have amazing properties.
However, when you need or want to be more purposeful, what you choose to diffuse may differ from day to day based on what those needs may be. If everyone has a hard time waking up and getting moving you may want to use an energizing blend. Is everyone fighting off a virus? Then you might choose something to help boost immunity. Just as one size does not fit all in homeschool curriculum, neither does one size fit all for any particular homeschool day when choosing essential oils. You can mix and match every day or even different times of the day to meet your family needs.
Here are a few blends that you may find helpful for different situations. As a reminder, using a diffuser is simple. Just add distilled (or sometimes tap is okay) water to your diffuser and 2-3 drops of each of the oils listed for each blend. Diffuse your essential oils intermittently throughout the day, 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off. Using a diffuser with intermittent settings is helpful.
Wake Up Blend
Calming Blend
Headache Relieving Blend
Memory Blend
Stress Relief Blend
Immunity Boosting Blend
Test Taker Blend
Topical Application of Essential Oils in Your Homeschool
Besides diffusing oils you can add single oils or blend several to create powerhouse combinations that are safe for your children to use. There are some great pre-made blends out there already like the KidSafe Line from Plant Therapy. Ben has always enjoyed having his own blends in the school room to apply as needed. Most blends that are safe for diffusing are also safe for rolling on. If you choose to make your own roller bottles, you can purchase a pack of roller bottles for about $1 each. Simply add about 6 drops total of essential oils to a 10ml bottle and then fill the rest with a carrier oil, such as jojoba or fractionated coconut oil.
If it’s been a hard day for mom don’t forget that essential oils can help you too! Make a roller bottle for yourself with a few drops of peppermint essential oil and roll onto the back of your neck to help soothe away tension. This one is also great for after lunch time to give you and the kids a boost from the sluggishness that a filling meal can often bring.
Mixing Essential Oils into Playtime
If you have younger children, you can add a drop or two of your favorite essential oils to fun things like sensory bins, play dough, homemade slime, kinetic sand, paint, etc… These are not only fun for art and fine motor skills but they are also great for brain breaks and quiet time and can either be blended with essential oils that calm and soothe or boost brain power. Be sure you understand which essential oils are safe for younger children, or use some of the ideas below:
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Orange, Grapefruit or Lime to wake up those sluggish minds
Cleaning with Essential Oils in Your Homeschool
At the end of the day, I give our desks or table, wherever Ben happens to be working a wipe down with a natural disinfecting cleaner I make from water, vinegar, and a few of my favorite germ-fighting essential oils. For a simple all-purpose cleaner, in a glass spray bottle, combine ½ cup of distilled water, ½ cup of white vinegar, and 10 drops each of Tea Tree and Lemon essential oils. It not only makes the room smell amazing but it helps to eliminate any bacteria, viruses, or other germs that have tried to take up residence in our space.
Do you use essential oils in your homeschool? What are some of your favorite ways you add essential oils to your homeschool day?
Simply Earth Recipe Box
New to essential oils? You don’t have to have 25 bottles of essential oils to get started and you don’t have to buy an expensive “starter kit” through an MLM company to begin using essential oils. There are many essential oils that serve multiple purposes, such as lavender, lemon, and peppermint. Start with some of those.
One of my favorite ways to build an essential oils collection is with the Simply Earth Monthly Recipe Box. For just $39 a month, you’ll receive a box valued at about $150 with 4 bottles of essential oils, 6 recipes with recipe cards, and little extras needed to make the recipes. Each month has a focused “theme” which means you’ll be receiving oils that work well together. They also provide video instructions for each of the videos, and they have a free “Essential Oil Hero Course” where you can learn even more about using essential oils.
With your first box (and every 6 months thereafter) you’ll also receive their Big Bonus ,ox containing carrier oils, coconut oil, beewax, roller bottles, and dropper bottles (a value of over $40) absolutely free. There are no contracts to sign, you can cancel at anytime. And if you use my special code: MARCYFREE with your first box, you will receive a $40 gift certificate to use either with your next month’s box or to purchase anything you wish in their store.
I vetted this company well before I began receiving their monthly boxes. I feel confident that their essential oils are pure, and they supply GC/MS proof on their website. I love their mission to “make your home more natural” and that they back up that mission with teaching you how to do just that.