In my house. it seems a crisis pops up every few weeks which interferes with homeschool. The sink gets clogged. The baby spent the night teething. The kids are feeling run down.
Sometimes the crisis is wonderful. Family and friends from out of state make a sudden visit in the middle of the week. It’s delightful to see them again, but what about homeschool?
When I first started homeschooling, a few friends and I started a homeschool group that revolved around frequent field trips. As my children matured and school required more time, I found that our frequent excursions with our homeschool group were keeping us from completing our curriculum each week.
In an effort to be a more conscientious homeschool mom, I began opting out of the events in order to stay home and do school. In a few short months, my children and I fell into a rut and began to hate homeschooling.
I admit it, verbal sparring is my knee-jerk reaction when I’m asked about homeschool socialization. Even as a seasoned homeschool mom, this topic still puts my emotions into overdrive.
To prevent knee-jerk sarcasm or snarky one-liners, I have prepared 10 quick-witted comebacks. Maybe you can use one or two when you get the dreaded socialization question.
So you have started your new homeschool year. You may be a month or two in, and it’s time to think about how the year is going. Is your homeschool plan working? Some of you may be thinking, “The thought never crossed my mind; everything is great!
Or you might be in the camp of, “I am drowning! It feels as though nothing is going is right! Either way (or somewhere in between), it is good to reflect on what is, or is not working.
I am one of those people who love the first day of school. I have new school supplies laid out ahead of time, the kids are always excited, and I live for the newness of back to school season. But last year our first day of school came and went. And let me say it was less than perfect. The next day was even worse, and by the end of the week I was ready to ship them all off on the big yellow school bus.
But homeschool moms don’t really have that option, do we? Our choice is simple —we have to man up and overcome it! I did, and you can too! Here is how to overcome a bad homeschool day (or week).
If you browse Pinterest for the term homeschool you will undoubtedly run across drop-dead gorgeous homeschool rooms dedicated solely to learning. The cutest ones I’ve seen have small desks and chairs in a perfect row, student work hung on the wall, an alphabet chart running close to the ceiling, orderly book cases or cubbies, and a welcoming rug on the floor. There may even be a cozy reading nook with soft cushions or a bean bag chair. It's enough to inspire jealousy when you compare that vision to your dingy bookshelves crammed with paperwork and a crumb-laden kitchen table that doubles as homeschool desk.
The idea of reading stories aloud to our children is almost as old as the idea of parenthood itself. Long before printed books were available, children learned history, language, and more simply by oral retelling. Now that many of our children are exposed to technology at a young age, reading stories aloud can seem a bit outdated.
But using read-alouds with our children, especially children who have ADHD, can be wonderfully beneficial.
Besides being a wonderful time to relax, swim, and enjoy the hot weather, summer is also a marvelous time to encourage a love of recreational reading in our children. Although summer is usually busy with outdoor fun, family reunions, weddings, and picnics, leave room for plenty of time for lazing about with a good book.
Use these four simple tricks to keep your kids reading all the way through June, July, and August.
No, my homeschooled children are not normal. But it's not for the reasons you think.
One of the most disheartening assumptions about homeschoolers is that they are not normal. They are weird misfits.
What is normal anyways? What does normal look like? Does normal have brown hair and blue eyes? Does normal wear jeans and t-shirts? And why would being homeschooled exclude you from the normal label?
For many of us, reading is not only a way to educate, but also our preferred method of entertainment. As a book lover, it has come as quite a shock and challenge to discover my eight year old doesn’t like reading. What a wrench in my idyllic homeschool vision of home libraries and reading parties!
Unfortunately for him, reading is a necessary part of our school days. While we require our kids do their schoolwork —even the parts they hate—, there are ways to make the homeschool day more palatable for a child who hates reading. And when school is a happy experience for our kids, it's also happier for us!
