chelsea jean | vegan + homeschooling interview | paia family photography

chelsea jean is an inspiring mom of four living in Hawaii. we talked about raising a vegan family, her favorite healthy places to eat on Maui, and what homeschooling is like on the northshore.

name: Chelsea Aaron

                 Jack- 2 years

what is your favorite part about homeschooling your family?:
My favorite part of homeschooling is the time I get with my kids. There is no time lost. We tried traditional public and private schooling and I missed the littles everyday. Now we get to spend each day together while enjoying what they learn and doing things they love to do. Our classroom is different everyday. We are almost always found outside exploring and adventuring utilizing everything we can towards learning. I get to enjoy them more, and get to know them on an entirely different level individually.

Our favorite meals are always changing but right now we’re really into Vegan Enchiladas by Cissylala. It includes a potato black bean filling that the kids won’t turn down. We have lots of taco nights. Mostly consisting of mushrooms, beans, a delicious tahini dressing, guacamole and fresh homemade salsa. Another staple in our family is Vegan Macaroni and Cheese.

what is a typical day like:
I don’t force the kids to wake up if they’d like to sleep in. I feel like they’re so young and need the sleep their bodies are asking for. We’re all normally up by 8 and make a smoothie or some banana nice cream for everyone. I do a quick 30 minute work out.  Then I set up all the kids schooling.  We do some work-book schooling, reading, writing and then we choose what we’d all like to do that day. Maybe a hike, a day at the beach, a bike ride or a stroll into town. When we come home I tend to lay out some paper on the table and have them write three questions they’d like answered from the place we visited. We all look up the answers and then do a small project on it. We almost always take a nightly stroll into town, the kids on the scooters and bikes saying hi to all the locals we pass. We come back home prepare dinner together and wait for dad to get off work. Finishing the night with reading our favorite books or a family movie if we feel like it.

My number one recommendation for vegan or vegetarian visitors on Maui would be Choice Health Bar in Lahaina. They have very friendly and helpful service and they always have fresh, local and healthy choices to pick from. I’d also recommend Maka by Mana in Paia I love their Kiawe Chili and Veg Out in Haiku.

Ryans IG: MauiRyan