THE GIFT OF TIME : FINDING A PEACEFUL RHYTHM BETWEEN HOMESCHOOLING, THE JOY OF COOKING AND HOMEMAKING

In our fast paced world, often pushing children to grow up too quickly, Larson Folkerts is choosing a different path. As the founder of Let's Love to Cook and a mother of three in Texas, Larson has embraced homeschooling as a way to protect her children's innocence, instill lasting values, and savor precious family time. This choice goes far beyond textbooks and lesson plans : it's woven into every aspect of daily life, from morning walks on their farm to the aromatic smell of dinner simmering in the Dutch oven.

For Larson, the kitchen isn't just where meals are made :  it's a classroom where her little sous chefs learn math through measuring cups, responsibility through following recipes, and confidence through creating something delicious with their own hands. 

In this conversation, she opens up about the beauty and challenges of homeschooling, the importance of creating a peaceful rhythm at home, and why she believes saying "no" to over-scheduling might be one of the best gifts we can give our families.  She also shares her beloved Short Rib Ragu recipe, perfect for busy weeknights or cozy weekends.

 We initially met Larson through our dresses and are honored to dress her daughter. Yet the bond extends far beyond that of our shared passion for children's clothing.

What inspired you to homeschool your children?

My husband and I are the first in both our families to introduce homeschooling into our lives making it a brand new and uncharted adventure for us!

We want to let our children "be children" for as long as possible, to be give them a stable foundation of values to grow upon, and to have quality time together as a family for as long as we can.

Letting my children run and play outside all day, use their imaginations to dream and pretend for unlimited hours, enjoy their siblings' company and to not be away from our home for eight hours a day has been a blessing to all of us. We desperately want to protect their innocence and keep them safe from the influence of the outside world before they’re ready to grow up and handle more mature ideas and conversations. 

What does a typical day look like in your home?

Our homeschool routine is structured but not rigid! I usually break up our school work into two set times, one after breakfast and one  after lunch. If we have errands to run, a playdate with friends, one of our weekly activities such as library story time, our church play time or sports, our school time for the day varies.

My youngest is one and takes one nap midday after lunch, so his nap is our consistent school time. Each school session is roughly 30-45 minutes, sometimes more or less depending on how my son, who is five and at a Kindergarten level, is feeling that day. Some days he is thrilled to do school and wants to spend an hour on lessons, other days he’s not as into it or it’s very challenging for him and after 20 minutes, he’s ready to move on. That’s the beauty in homeschool! My daughter is three and too young to really be in a homeschool curriculum, but she wants to be included in everything her big brother is doing, so I have preschool-level coloring books for her.

I try to make sure our school time happens when the children are in the best moods to learn. If it’s towards the end of the day, they’re tired, they’re not as excited to sit down for school and they have a harder time focusing, whereas in the mornings, their energy level is high but so is their focus and willingness to sit down to learn.

A typical day looks like me waking up early, around 5 a.m., to have quiet time to myself in the mornings. I have a hot cup of coffee, I pray, write, do any quiet household tasks such as getting a jumpstart on laundry, catching up on emails or bills, writing any notes... My children are usually up between 6-6:30 a.m. and I try to have breakfast ready for them. They play while I clean up breakfast and then, if we have nowhere to be, we sit down for school. We will do school and then go for a long walk around the farm we live on, followed by watering or tending our little garden we have. The kids play more while I do various chores, then it’s lunchtime followed by another school session and usually some read-aloud time. I love reading aloud to my children! After that, it’s typically playtime for the rest of the day until any evening sports and activities!

How do you balance teaching with managing a household?

This has been a learning experience for me. I struggle with leaving chores or tasks unfinished, such as leaving dirty dishes in the sink or a pile of laundry unfolded. But when it comes to school, I have to prioritize sitting down to teach. When it’s time for school, I drop everything and give teaching my sole attention.

I don’t have downtime until the children go to bed. There is always work to be done and I manage my time as best I can which means no lounging watching TV or mindlessly scrolling! I stay busy and keep my days structured in terms of waking up early each morning, a daily load of laundry, making beds every morning, prioritizing our morning walks for exercise and time outside and cooking a meal. Sometimes that means looking ahead and shifting things around when I know we will be extra busy. I will prep something for dinner at 8 a.m. if I know we have a day away from home or I’ll fold an extra load of laundry at night. I think motherhood requires continued practice of self-discipline and exercising that "muscle" allows you to be balanced in your home!

What role does cooking play in your homeschooling routine? Do your children join you in the kitchen as part of their learning?

Yes, my children are my little sous chefs! They are very involved in the kitchen, especially in making dinner with me. From chopping vegetables to whisking a marinade together to stirring a sauce, tossing something in olive oil and spices, running to the garden for herbs or vegetables, they cook with me on a very regular basis. We also bake together quite often and that involves a lot of licking the spatula and sticky little fingers. I love to cook and doing it with my children is such a joy for me, absolutely an answered prayer being lived out! 

Cooking with your children, particularly when they’re young, is inevitably messy, it does give you more work in terms of cleanup, it’s a juggling act and your meal probably won’t turn out exactly as the recipe says, but it’s absolutely worth it to teach them the lifeskill of cooking. By letting them be involved you’re exposing them to different foods, you’re teaching them responsibility and how to listen or follow directions, you’re giving them the opportunity to feel accomplished and purposeful, you’re teaching them independence and how to do meaningful work. It’s so important to give your children the chance to learn and grow in these ways! As they get older, cooking is a great way to teach math, as well!

Any advice for parents—whether homeschooling or not—on how to create a peaceful back-to-school rhythm at home?

I think one of the best ways to implement a peaceful, comforting rhythm in your home during the school year is by having a consistent, predictable routine that includes spending time at home. Children and adults thrive on predictable actions, there is comfort in knowing what’s coming next and repeating familiar actions. Unexpected events can be stressful but knowing home provides regularity is deeply reassuring. You can’t control all that happens outside the walls of your home but can create a haven inside it. You have the power to make it a place of rest and rejuvenation, one that breathes life back into you and your family.

I think our culture, American culture, has transitioned to one of over-scheduling our children and our family. No one spends time at home as a family anymore! Children are playing every sport, in travel leagues, they’re in multiple extracurricular activities that call for lots of driving, evenings away, hitting a drive-thru for food, rushing here and there, birthday parties every weekend, parents dividing and conquering. There’s this immense pressure for your children to ‘do all the things’ and if you don’t have your kids in multiple activities, there’s an unspoken pressure that they’re not doing enough. Saying “no” to certain events that don’t fill your cup or your family’s cup and not over-scheduling your children is one of the best things you can do for your family, in my opinion. Prioritize time at home together, this helps contribute to that peaceful, restorative rhythm.

What has homeschooling taught you as a parent?

Homeschooling has taught me SO much as a mother! First how to manage and prioritize my own time, second how valuable our time together as a family is. It’s shown me how much our children learn by being around us and watching our daily actions, it’s given me a deeper level of patience and nurturing in being able to meet my children where they are at each day. It’s also given me the deepest appreciation for the life we are choosing to lead and the values we are instilling in our kids. Homeschooling is a journey I never expected to go on, but has been an undeniable blessing in our lives! I am so thankful for the opportunity to be able to homeschool my children, it is a gift.

 

Can you share one of your favourite family recipes?

Short Rib Ragu is a great slow-cooker recipe for a busy weeknight or cozy weekend during colder months of the school year!

Feeds: 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 3+ hours (the longer the better)

Ingredients

2+ pounds bone-in beef short ribs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped 2 carrots, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup dry red wine
14.5oz can beef broth
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped (plus more for topping)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Pappardelle pasta (or pasta of choice), grated parmesan and fresh parsley for serving

1. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper.

2. In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil. Add onion, celery and carrot and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

3. Add tomato paste to vegetables, stirring to combine, followed by crushed tomatoes.

4. Add your short ribs to the pot then pour in red wine and beef broth. Add salt and pepper to taste, as well as thyme, parsley and crushed red pepper flakes. Put your lid on the pot and let short ribs cook for at minimum 3 hours over low heat until the short ribs are cooked and easily fall apart. The longer they can cook, the better!

5. Remove short ribs from the pot onto a cutting board and shred the meat. Set bones aside, you don’t need them! Add shredded meat back into pot and stir everything to create your Ragu sauce. If you need to, use a large spoon to remove some excess fat. I like to leave some for flavor.

6. Serve sauce over Pappardelle (or pasta of choice) and top with grated parmesan and fresh parsley.

Notes

• You can cook this recipe on the stove top, in the oven or even in a crock pot. If you’re cooking on the stove top, follow directions above and really try to let it cook for at minimum 3 hours, 4 or more gets you more tender meat. For the oven, I follow all the directions above, using my Dutch oven, and let it cook at 275 for at least 4 hours. Cooking in the oven is actually my preferred method, as the heat cooks everything more evenly as the heat surrounds the pot, whereas the stove top the heat is coming direction from the bottom, if that makes sense. You can also do this in a crockpot. Don’t be alarmed if the fat from the short ribs rises to the top, you can skim some off and when you shred the meat and stir everything, it will look “normal.” The crockpot method allows this to be a dish that’s doable when you’re not home all day!

• For a busy Sunday, I will prep everything as best I can before church and then when we get home around noon, I’ll get it in the oven ASAP so that it can cook for a good 4-5 hours before dinner. You can see from the clock in the first photo in this post that we didn’t get to eating until 6:30 when I made this, we typically eat between 5:00-5:30 so it was late, but the meat was so tender and the sauce extremely flavorful!

• Add more crushed red pepper flakes for a little extra heat or set some out for serving.

• If you really want to up your short rib game, go to a local meat market or butcher and I bet they have some fabulous beef short ribs available!

Larson's approach to homeschooling reminds us that education isn't confined to scheduled lessons : it's happening in every shared moment, every stirred pot, every walk through the garden. Her commitment to letting her children remain children, to creating a home that serves as a haven rather than just a launching pad, offers a refreshing counter-narrative to our culture of constant busyness.

Whether you homeschool or not, there's wisdom in Larson's emphasis on routine, presence, and the courage to say no to activities that don't serve your family's well-being.  As you try her Short Rib Ragu this season, perhaps with your own sous chefs by your side, remember that the most important ingredient isn't listed in any recipe : it's the time we choose to spend together, unhurried and fully present.

Follow Larson on Instagram @larsonfolkerts

Read all her articles on Substack

Discover her cooking blog and books on Let's love to Cook

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