Blog - Julie Naturally | Teen Health Coach

One of the best businesses to start as a teenager: Upcycled crafts

April 12, 2024 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Are you looking for businesses to start as a teenager? One of the easiest and most inexpensive businesses is selling upcycled crafts. Because of the unlimited availability of supplies, the only limits are your imagination and your marketing skills. As a health coach for teens and a homeschool-mom-turned-high-school-educator, I frequently encounter teens who want a money-making alternative to retail and service jobs. They want to do something different. The gig economy is very attractive to them, but they don’t know what the best businesses for teenagers are. They also don’t know the basics of entrepreneurship. But, the best ways to …

20 Uplifting Bible Verses for Healing to Treasure

September 20, 2023 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Bible verses for healing offer comfort when we don’t understand why we are suffering with pain, chronic illness, a nasty infection, or trauma. They can also teach us about God’s character and promises during suffering and what God might be teaching us. When I coach people with chronic illness, we talk about Bible verses for healing on which clients can focus to help them renew their minds and set their hearts on Jesus. This empowers them to have the self-discipline to do the hard things they need to do to recover. I offer these Bible verses for healing to you …

Want to learn music production? Do this!

August 24, 2023 by Julie Brow-Polanco

As I shared in my post about learning to sing better, music is a big part of my life. Worship is very important to me and I enjoy many creative ways to worship. But, singing has been a passion of mine since I was a small child, making up my own songs. Now, I still have melodies on my heart and write lyrics, but have never learned an instrument well enough to play the music that is in my head. Secretly, I want to learn music production. This has been a secret frustration of mine for a very long time, …

A great tool to learn how to sing better

August 16, 2023 by Julie Brow-Polanco

First, you might ask yourself, “How can I learn how to sing better without a live vocal coach?” Well, I asked myself that, too. See, I’ve been singing all my life and I am currently a worship leader at my church. It is my firm belief that music has many health benefits, in addition to worship. But, I noticed that as I got older, my voice got a bit lower. Now, I’m no longer able to hit notes that I could when I was in my 20’s. It also frustrates me that I have trouble finding and singing harmonies. That’s …

Homeschool Vocational Program Gives Your Teen an Edge

June 9, 2023 by Julie Brow-Polanco

I love promoting entrepreneurship for teens, but sometimes I find that they have trouble coming with a viable idea. A YouTube channel about playing Minecraft might have taken off a decade ago, but today? Not really. You know I’m always on the lookout for the unique. So when I stumbled on this homeschool vocational program, my ears perked up. I mean, how many people do you know can repair automatic doors? But, I bet you see automatic doors nearly every time you go to the grocery store. That’s why this comprehensive course from Bruce Cloney Door Institute will launch your …

How I Cured My Fibromyalgia With Food, Faith, & Fun

May 17, 2023 by Julie Brow-Polanco

First, I just want to say that no one is truly cured of fibromyalgia. There is no cure. If I stop doing what I’m doing, all my symptoms come back. So, I cured my fibromyalgia through lifestyle and dietary changes that have become permanent. I don’t take any medications, either. However, I do use some natural supplements, which I’ll talk about later in my post. Just remember, my story is just that, my story. Do not go off medication without medical supervision. Remember, my story is not medical advice and should not be taken as such. How I Cured My …

Being a mom with fibromyalgia: survival tips from the trenches

May 3, 2023 by Julie Brow-Polanco

So, I received my fibromyalgia diagnosis back in 2015, but the triggering event happened in 2014. In fall of 2014, I had two teenagers, a girl and a boy, ages 16 and 13. I also had two other children–a girl, age 10 and a boy, age 7. On top of it all, I homeschooled. All.of.them. And, all of them had issues like ADHD, Asperger’s, anxiety, dyslexia, sensory issues, food allergies, and regulation problems. Looking back, I marvel at how I survived all of that being a mom with fibromyalgia. Maybe that’s the real reason I practiced Christian unschooling, haha! But, …

Chronic fatigue and stress management: 12 Tips for better tomorrows

April 21, 2023 by Julie Brow-Polanco

In my post about chronic tiredness, I talked about ten reasons you might be feeling tired all the time. One of the reasons I mentioned was an overstimulated HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenals), which many people call “adrenal fatigue.” People call it adrenal fatigue because prolonged stress means that the adrenal glands are constantly producing cortisol and catecholamines. These hormones, however, are directly affected by the HPA axis, which is connected to the adrenal glands. That’s why I said it was more a HPA axis issue. At any rate, stress can cause chronic fatigue and stress management techniques can potentially help. Chronic …

Chronic tiredness: 10 surprising causes and best solutions

April 7, 2023 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Are you suffering from chronic tiredness? I know how you feel. I have fibromyalgia. For years, I felt lethargic and heavy, like moving through water. At first, I thought that was just how it was going to be for me. I was young and believed that was just my luck. I was never going to be good at sports or athletic activities. But, as I got older, I doubted. I researched and asked a lot of questions. Through my persistence, I discovered that it wasn’t just fate that I suffered chronic tiredness. After seeing a chiropractor and a functional medicine …

Are nasty household toxins making you dead tired?

March 31, 2023 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Every time I cleaned the house, I felt tired and sniffly afterwards. You might think, “Well, of course you’d feel tired after doing all that work!” But, it wasn’t an exercise type of tired like what happens after a good workout. No. It was a lethargy that set in, almost like trying to move through water. I didn’t know then that every time I cleaned, I exposed myself to household toxins that can cause those symptoms. After all, I was a teen cleaning my parents’ house using the popular foaming bubbles bathroom cleaner, wood polish, and pine floor cleaner. Back …

Is it simple allergies or dreaded sick house syndrome?

March 17, 2023 by Julie Brow-Polanco

When I started college, my parents built a new house two hours away from where I went to college. Trying to stay within their budget, they chose cheaper materials whenever possible, from flooring to cabinets. That meant lots of synthetic fibers and particle board. In addition, they also owned a lot of furniture made from particle board. What’s so bad about particle board? Well, the glue off gasses fumes. So does new carpet. So does new paint. You can imagine all the toxic fumes floating around in that place. As a result, when I stayed there during my first summer …

Top reasons to choose this secular homeschool option

August 16, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Even though there are many Christian homeschooling companies offering great products, sometimes Christians might want a secular homeschool option with a neutral stance. There are several possible reasons for this. For an unschoolish mom like me, I like living books. Sometimes I appreciated the convenience of a living books curriculum rather than DIY it. However, many of them don’t include hands-on projects and the supplies to do them. And there are times when I’d prefer to use my own Bible resources and not the ones someone else chose. That’s when BookShark can be an ideal choice. My own kids are …

Exciting Online Homeschool Lessons That Shore Up Worrisome Gaps!

July 29, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

As an unschoolish family, we like to use a variety of resources. Sometimes, we use online homeschool lessons and sometimes we use more analog type living history resources or language arts resources. But, even though I know better by now (I have been doing for 20 years…), I still sometimes worry about knowledge gaps. It came up recently when we were considering sending our youngest son to private high school. He took the MAP test and his lack of life and earth science showed. Alternatively, he did very well on the physical sciences, his favorite. Anyway, I felt like maybe …

Beautiful, Creative Ways to Pray with Drawing Near Art

June 23, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Have you ever felt like your prayer life was a bit stale? Or, have you struggled to teach your kids creative ways to pray to develop their relationship with the Lord? I know I have. I have tried creative worship ideas to bring new life to praising the Lord. But other than prayer journals, guided prayer, or prayer cards, I didn’t really know what else to do. And, my kids thought some of those things were a bit contrived, not really speaking to their creative, out-of-the-box selves. Most of them are grown now, but when I came across the Draw …

The Best Literature-Based Curriculum to Encourage Life-Long Learning

May 26, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

As an unschooling mom, a literature-based approach using the best living books I could find seemed like an awesome idea. I admit, though, that I did add in educational videos, crafts and other hands-on projects, field trips, and other teaching tools. But, the one thing I pretty much avoided was textbooks. Even for math. I used a variety of math resources until my kids reached high school. Then, I used more formal lessons with either a textbook or an online curriculum. Anyway, you might wonder what literature-based even means and why you would use that approach. What is a literature-based …

Seeking an Online Class Alternative to Outschool? Check out Allschool!

May 19, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

As an unschoolish mom, I like to take advantage of online learning platforms that offer interest-based courses for kids and teens. In fact, some of these platforms offer alternatives to college education you may not have considered. And, for younger kids, you may have heard of Outschool. We tried that platform for a few classes, but my kids sometimes found it overwhelming. After digging deeper into the site, I found some objectionable offerings on that platform. So, I started looking for an online class alternative to Outschool. Then, I found Allschool and they look very promising as they continue to …

TEACH by Dennis Dinoia: How to Encourage Independent Learners

May 3, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Recently, I learned that one of my favorite homeschool curriculum providers, Mr. D Math, just published a new book, TEACH by Dennis Dinoia. I had to take a look because I’ve talked with Dennis personally and we have a lot in common. We’ve talked a couple of times about troubleshooting in homeschooling and about self-directed special needs learners on his podcast, A+ Parents. So, I was very excited to get my hands on his book. It was a very easy to read, accessible book written to students and their parents. My Thoughts About TEACH by Dennis Dinoia Full of Great …

Easy, Affordable Online Dance for Beginners: A YouDance Review

April 21, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

As a person who always got picked last for gym class, I grew up dreading sports. I had poor eye hand coordination and struggled to connect my hand with any moving object smaller than a beach ball. It took me for-ev-er to learn coordinated movements, such as sophisticated choreography. But, I loved to move and tried dance for beginners. My bicycle was my friend and so was my record player (yes, I had one of those kids’ portable ones that played 45s). I took it outdoors and hooked it up with an extension cord so that I could dance in …

Economics for High Schoolers That Won’t Bore Them to Tears

March 24, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

When I was in high school, one of the electives I took was economics for high schoolers. I remember the law of supply and demand as a key part of macro-economics. Even though a lot of it was a bit dry, my favorite part was pretending to invest in the stock market. We selected and tracked our stocks and made graphs. Then, we discussed our choices and whether we should sell. This class helped me understand how different economic systems work. Nowadays, I hear a lot of discussions around capitalism versus socialism, especially on social media. Sadly, many young people …

Interactive Homeschool Science Labs that Make Learning Science a Breeze

February 10, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

When my older children were teens, I spent a LOT of money on dissection specimens and chemistry lab equipment. I still have some of that equipment, but not the chemicals. I remember the time and mess involved in doing homeschool science labs myself. Sometimes, I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing, even though I have a science background. On top of that, there was no one to call if the lab didn’t turn out the way that the instructions said it should. Numerous times, the physics labs didn’t quite work. Either the machine parts didn’t fit exactly, …

10 Reasons Why Unschooling ADHD Students is the Best Decision Ever!

January 5, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

I raised a son and a daughter with ADHD. In addition, my younger son shows signs of mild ADHD and/or Asperger’s and my other daughter has an Asperger’s diagnosis. After trying a curriculum-based approach for a couple of years, I hit a wall. It just wasn’t working and I almost gave up homeschooling altogether. But then, God showed me another way and unschooling ADHD students became my new modus operandi. I learned a lot over the past 20 years and although it was hard, it was the best decision for them. Here are my reasons why. Benefits to Learning Great …

10 Goldmines for Awesome Strewing Ideas and Projects

December 29, 2021 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Are you stumped for strewing ideas to inspire new interests in your kids? Need some boredom busters that don’t bust the printer or the bank? Here are some of my tried and true sources of ideas, in addition to using nature to inspire new interests. See if some of these might get your child excited and curious. Look at Badge Programs for Strewing Ideas You don’t need to join a badge program to use their ideas for projects, interests, and skills. When I was a girl, I was part of the Girl Scout program and there were dozens of possible …

How to teach math for K-6th grade in one year!

November 11, 2021 by Julie Brow-Polanco

I learned early on how to teach math for K-6th grade in one year. My oldest son refused to do math curriculum. I made up for this by using Math Facts to the Max, Times Alive:Times Tables the Fun Way, Family Math, and a few other tools you can find in this math resources post. If he wouldn’t do the typical scope and sequence math progression, then at least he’d know his math facts. Then, when he was about age 12, I decided it was time to hone the rest of his math skills, things like long division, multiplying fractions, …

5 Fun Facts About Flowers for Kids Who Love Them

October 17, 2021 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Everyone knows that flowers have petals and smell nice. You probably also know that bees and butterflies land on them and gather their nectar. They also spread flower pollen. But, there are other interesting facts about flowers for kids who really want to dig in to learning about these amazing structures. Here are five things I bet you didn’t know. 5 Fun Facts About Flowers for Kids Flowers Open and Close Because of What Time It Is That’s right! Plants have a sort of “internal clock,” according to research. This research shows that they know when sunrise and sunset are …