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Homeschooling is Hard!
We were able to put my daughter in a lovely private christian preschool last year. But our finances for this year were tapped out by medical expenses. My husband ended up in the hospital overnight for fainting while driving. My daughter had to have surgery to correct her bilateral ureter reflux, and right after that my toddler son got a double inguinal hernia! So we decided to homeschool … just for a year … how hard could kindergarten be?
REALLY HARD!!! I’d really like to make a long list of complaints I have, but I feel so foolish when so many have tried so hard to help us. We have an awesome charter school as part of the Paisley Program, so we didn’t have to buy curriculum. I think the biggest problem I encounter, though, is time management. And I don’t mean just juggling my day, I mean juggling my year.
The kids got sick. We changed curriculums and had to wait for it. My son had surgery. We had to travel. I launched an online fitness studio to make ends meet, because I can’t really teach outside the home right now. The kids got sick again. The holidays came. The kids got the stomach flu! We have relatives visiting …
How do you moms do this!!!???!!! I am tearing my hair out! When we do manage to get a couple days in row of homeschooling done, it’s a constant fight because we’re trying to establish the routine all over again. Did I mention that the lovely calendar I have on my kitchen wall is never up to date (and I personally hate how it clashes with my decor)??? Help Please!
I can only imagine! I have a terrible time keeping up with Norah's monthly homework from school, much less trying to do all the schoolwork myself!
I'm not personally cut out for homeschooling, but I am very impressed by all of you brave souls who make it happen somehow. : D
It is definitely an adjustment. I have 5 and have been homeschooling for 8 years and I still have my days – and quite a few of them – where I want to pull my hair out. It's hard juggling "life" with "school", but that's what is nice about homeschooling – you can do whatever works for you!
That is the only thing that keeps me going, Jennifer! Remembering that it doesn't have to be perfect. That I will have my days. That I can adjust. I need to be less hard on myself … and on her 🙁
I would say have fun with it. Give the curriculum idea the boot. Read together, go outside, even when it is raining. Cook together, create together. My daughter is in second grade and some days are challeging, I find myself having to say sorry for grumpy overload. I find if we just sit down with a good book or go for a walk it can turn everything around.
Be easy on yourself- sounds like you've been through a lot. There is a learning curve involved here as you figure out how you guys learn together. I myself have found tremendous growth (work!) in the way I approach my organization/ time management. I realized how unconsciously programmed I was in my thinking that homeschool looked like public school. It doesn't. Sometimes we snuggle and do reading immediately upon waking. We do our work right after breakfast when everyone's brain is fresh, and leave the rest of the day for flexible learning. And definitely have fun with it! It's kindergarten– which is "typically" an adjustment year to schooling anyway. 🙂
Good Luck with this. I'm going to enjoy following along! Following you now from a blog hop.
Michelle
http://www.heartfeltbalancehandmadelife.blogspot.com
Ha! So glad that I am not the only one with frustrations!! Today has been a better day, but I am so glad to hear someone speak honestly about the pitfalls of homeschooling. Although I love this time with my kids…it's not easy!
I agree that it is hard. I gave up trying to juggle and for the most part we wing it. She loves her online curriculum so she will sit down in the morning and cruise through that and then the rest of the day we learn together by just doing stuff that needs to get done. Cooking, cleaning, errands, reading, playing. It all teaches something and doesn't cause a lot of undo stress. Hang in there you have been dealing with a lot. You will find your rhythm and next thing you know it will just be second nature.
I totally understand what you mean!! I'm debating right now about whether or not to homeschool my son next year (2nd grade) and I'm just not sure if I have the nerves or patience required for that.
nerves and patience … yes! That's what it takes, and I often don't have them. Or maybe I have to many nerves and not enough patience. I need less nerves and more patience. Is it a personality thing? Because I look at my successful homeschooling friends, and they have very different personalities that I do. Their children are different than my children … sigh. I want to be good at this. But maybe it's not about being "good" or "succeeding." Sounds like another blog post 🙂
I agree with Darla. Boot the curriculum. Relax. They're young. I would concentrate on loving them and just involving them in your day – and read to them. That's all I would do. That's all I DID -to start with. Read some of Charlotte Mason's thoughts on schooling. http://www.amblesideonline.org/00.shtml
Don't stress it out – kids this young need more bonding time than formal education. 🙂
We all have bad days, but when the bad start outnumbering the good, it's definitely time to start asking questions.
Maybe your expectations are too high?
I have no idea; I'm new to your blog.
I have found when things aren't going well, I am usually expecting too much or I am using an approach which is inconsistent with my son's learning style or we haven't been outside enough or some combination of the above.
Kindergarten should be fun. Here are some examples of good days during kindergarten (last year) at our house. Sometimes when I have had a bad day it helps me to go back and look at these posts and others to remind myself what it's all about:
Kindergarten–Day 1
https://livingandlearningnow.blogspot.com/2009/07/kindergarten-day-1-or-just-another-day.html
Kindergarten–Day 10
https://livingandlearningnow.blogspot.com/2009/07/kindergarten-day-10.html
It takes time to find our own special groove, and with all the stuff you guys have had going on it is no wonder you are still looking for yours.
Hang in there! It'll come.
Just breath. Take each day one at a time. Move slowly. It doesn't matter how long it takes to complete each grade. Some do it in 180 days, some do it in 365. No worries. That's the wonderful thing about homeschooling. You can do what works for you, and your family each day. We've all been there – I promise!
You will be in my prayers.
I'm so glad that you joined the Hip Homeschool Hop today.
Blessings to you,
Sue 🙂
Totally know how you feel! Finally we've had 4 full weeks of school this past month. But my kids have not been sick nor have we had visitors. We are still behind though and will need to work through the summer. Oh well! Once some of the "extras" are finished we can double up on the core curriculum and maybe not have to spend all summer on it. Core is what is really important anyway. Your curriculum may not be the best fit, as was said before. But if you get it free….. maybe tweak it to your liking! Also, you may have to schedule your school time into your day. Maybe an hour a day or something. Sit down, start with a new subject than you did the day before, and just do school for the next hour (or half hour). Alternate sit down/reading with hand work or active work. When your time is up, put school away, even if you didn't finish all subjects. At least you'll be getting through some school every day and hopefully hitting all subjects throughout the week. And also able to keep up with your business and other life activities. Everyone has a different style that works for their family, and it takes a while to find that groove. I will pray for you to find joy and success in your current homeschool venture, Bethany!
I hope your week got better! I've thought about you off and on all week hoping it did.
I read that kindergarten should only take around 45 minutes of "real" instruction per day. So have fun because there will be so many days ahead when your little ones are older that you have to school. I try to remember this myself with my 5K vs. my 6th grader.
Here is the link to school times for homeschoolers that I referred to above:
http://www.raisingarrows.net/2010/07/how-many-hours-a-day-does-it-take-to-homeschool.html
Big hugs and prayers too…