I’ve read and heard numerous posts and comments like the following: I can’t get Timmy to sit. He won’t do his work and he’s giving me attitude. He whines over everything. Homeschooling isn’t working. He wasn’t like this for the teacher. I cannot presume to know when someone’s homeschool is or isn’t working. But inevitably, I find some similarities in the stories each time I hear of one. For many of us parents who are products of the school system, it is hard to get out of thinking that school must include a desk, a certain amount of rigor, handwriting … Continue reading →

I am on a lot of homeschooling lists. The question I hear most often is “I need ideas or curriculum suggestions for my 2 or 3 or 4 year old,” or something to that effect. Another popular one is “I homeschooled my kids for preschool and kindergarten. Now that we started first grade, they are fighting all the way.” This is usually followed by a quick explanation of the curriculum. They say for preschool and kindergarten it was mostly hands on and playing, now they are trying to “get serious.” Children love to play. There is no doubt about that … Continue reading →

In this past week and a half, life has been on a direct collision course with home schooling. Nothing has gone right in the home schooling department and frankly, not too much else has gone right in the life department. It started two Fridays ago, when my husband tore a calf muscle. A torn calf muscle is not a slight injury but in his case it really is a big deal because he coaches preschoolers for a living. No working legs. . .no work. So he was on bed rest. During his bed rest, I became acutely aware of how … Continue reading →

Being that it’s the beginning of a new school year, there will be several new homeschooling families joining the ranks. Congratulations! One sad fact that comes along with this is some of you will not be homeschooling next year, or even later this year. While the excuses will vary, the most common reason behind all of them will be burn-out. Many new homeschoolers will have never heard of burn-out, but even the most experienced homeschooler can go through it once in a while. What exactly is burn-out? The definition is fatigue, frustration, or apathy resulting from prolonged stress, overwork, or … Continue reading →

Every single certified teacher in America at least, has written a philosophy of education paper. This means that if a teacher is certified, they have put significant thought into how kids learn best, how to create an effective classroom environment, and how to teach best. I really think that homeschoolers should do one too. In fact, I’d much rather see homeschoolers write out their philosophy of education than hand in endless reams of paper work–but of course that’s probably because I have a philosophy of education and I hate handing in my endless reams of paperwork. What exactly brought this … Continue reading →

Monday we will start school again from a three week break. The break comes at a very odd time in that it is in the middle of my quarter (my quarter ends September 30) and everyone else on the planet is going ‘back to school.’ In that, actually lies the real genius in taking a break now. You see, my husband still has off–he doesn’t have to return to work until mid-September, and places are not crowded because everyone is back into their old routine. But I will be ‘behind’. In fact, since my quarterly reports are due September 30, … Continue reading →

I was recently discussing the following issue with some fellow homeschoolers: what do you do when your child doesn’t want to do the work? Andrea just wrote about this very topic last month and offered some great practical suggestions for how to deal with a child who is unmotivated to work at home. If you have not read her blog yet on the topic, I highly recommend it. I am always amazed at the number of parents who use classroom discipline techniques (or even innovative at home discipline techniques) to get their children to do school work. Suffice it to … Continue reading →

Gasp! We do on occasion–ditch the school day. After all, it does not take 6 hours a day, 180 days to accomplish even half of what is accomplished in public school. We don’t waste any time getting in line, waiting for everyone to have paper and pencil, etc. So you have to figure all those minutes that would otherwise be wasted were my children to be in school. . .can accumulate into a free day for my kids. Or at least that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. 1. Go to the mall or a giant toy store. I … Continue reading →

We’ve been talking about burn out. We’re trying to change our perspective from seeing burn out as something that just happens to seeing burn out as a choice that we make. You can choose to focus on things that will likely lead you down the road to burn out. Or you can choose to handle what comes you’re way, and then move forward, leaving what burns you out far behind. Today, we’re going to explore the Doldrums–which in my opinion is the precursor to burning out. You see, we hit a patch of “doldrums” and then home schooling becomes a … Continue reading →

I mentioned in my last blog that I am not a self proclaimed supermom. But I know many a mom who look at me and think that I am. I admit that I have a prevailing calm air but I promise you it is a conscious choice to be this way–not my personality at all. One Reason We Get Burnt Out We talked last time about how we get burnt out because we fail to deal with the little things and move on. We stress and stress over this and that, letting “mole hills” become mountains. Another reason, however, that … Continue reading →