Episode 61: The Enjoy Life Philosophy

This episode, Jodi speaks with Chana Voola, creator of various Jewish educational workbooks. Chana and Jodi also talk about homeschooling and how Chana’s “Enjoy Life” philosophy of homeschooling has changed the way her and her family views education. Chana also shares about finding a balance between her different responsiblities.

About Our Guest:

Chana Voola is a former Jewish preschool teacher and the creator of workbooks focused on Jewish education. She has a Masters in Social Work from Rutgers University and is the wife to Shlomo and the mother to 5 amazing kids. 

When Chana took a break from teaching, she realized that being home educating her children was a gift. She saw their creativity and saw that regular Judaic curricula did not fit with it. The Lubavitcher Rebbe said, "If you see what needs to be repaired and how to repair it, then you have found a piece of the world that G-d left for you to complete." That message drives Chana’s work, and she started creating Jewish educational workbooks and journals from scratch for the thinking, creative, out-of-the-box Jewish kid (along with teens and adults)! Chana works with her family to create these journals that she hopes nurtures and encourages the creative powers inside all children. You can find more of Chana’s work at society6.com/chanavoola where she sells art and on her family’s YouTube channel, Jewish Education at Home. 

Show Notes: 
9:35 Why homeschool?

"I started because we all needed a break from school..   It was just stressful to get out of the house. It was stressful coming home. We were just always destressing. So I needed to get out of that stress. "

12:10 Sending Children Back to School

“You don’t know what will be.. So never close your head off to something.” 

12:45 The Approach to Homeschooling: Enjoy Life Philosophy

“Don’t lose sight of what needs to get done. Stay focused, but there’s other things also in life that they’re gonna remember. 

18:20: Being present when destressing and finding a balance

“The number one tool that we can use to destress, and it might be one of the hardest, is to just do one thing at a time and just be present.”

21:53 Workbooks and Parsha Journals - for all ages!

“There is no right answer, there is no wrong answer. It is just whatever is meaningful to you.”

You can find Chana and her work on Society 6 linked above and from her Amazon shop.

Credits:
Host: Jodi Fried
Guest: Chana Voola
Editor: Isabel Leyva and Ilyana Castillo