Consistency is to parenting what flexibility is to homeschooling. When one endeavors to homeschool one needs to remain flexible or break. A house is not a building or a school. A house is a home. A home is a place where families live, grow, cry, celebrate, and laugh. An environment so full of life will be effected by life unlike the neutral ground of a school building. A home experiences loss, gain, sickness, and joy. Life is unpredictable and as routine as your homeschool may be it can be rocked by a joy or a trial. School can be interrupted just as life is interrupted.
The key word is flexibility. A homeschool needs to be prepared to be flexible.
Flexible when the flu bug comes to call.
Flexible when a new addition arrives in the family.
Flexible if job loss occurs.
Flexible if illness occurs.
Flexible if a job transfer happens.
Flexible if curriculum Is not a good fit.
Flexible for an unexpected call during the day.
Flexible if a learning disability is discovered.
Flexible if the curriculum or the year is finished by the first semester.
Flexible if a child’s interest goes beyond the scope of study.
Flexible in the event of a death in the family.
Flexible for holidays, vacation and family visits.
Life is ever changing and those changes will affect our homeschool situation. Staying flexible and adapting to change is a valuable lesson to teach children. We cannot control life yet we can maintain a sense of calm, peace, and routine even in the midst of chaos, the unexpected and change. It is a luxury of homeschooling and one of the hardest parts of homeschooling. We want to plan every second of the day. We want to be sure to get a certain amount of work done in the year. We feel as if we fail our children if history is interrupted or the science project does not get finished by Friday. Remain calm and flexible as your example teaches more than any textbook could ever teach.