The 2020 School Year has come with a new normal — working and teaching from home! Yikes! Many weren’t ready for the culture shock of COVID-19. The good news is (with a few years of homeschooling experience under my belt) I believe I can be of some help.
For this month’s blogging, I wanted to go around the fluff and pretty photos that show the beauty and precious moments of homeschooling and dive into the raw mistakes you want to avoid. Sometimes, when you’re creeping on new territory, it’s best to know what to be aware of before it hits you all at once.
1. Don’t Set Unrealistic Expectations
Although homeschooling may look like an elephant you have to eat all at once in order to get your kids on the best learning level possible, you don’t have to tackle it all this year! Create a list of achievable goals and relax any stiff standards. Sure, keep following your favorite homeschool mentors (as myself) but take on what you know you can comfortably handle this year. Then, make room to give both yourself and your kids some grace.
2. Plan, Plan & Plan More!
Even if you’re being gracious to yourself and your new students, tossing caution to the wind and going with the flow every day isn’t practical. Create a realistic schedule for your school days, choose your favorite curriculums, and stick to it. Kids thrive on a schedule, and it helps to know what activity or subject is coming next. Plus, this means you can pencil in some daily quiet time for yourself. There are great templates on Pinterest and similar sites to make your schedule both functional and pleasant to look at.
3. Don’t Be Too Rigid
Now that you’ve laminated your gorgeous schedule and pinned it to a wall in your Instagram-worthy home classroom area, it would be a total fail to miss a single time slot, right? Wrong! The world is changing every day, and it’s a fair expectation that things in your new classroom will change, too. Perhaps your child just isn’t feeling it today and needs a break. Maybe math takes place in the kitchen while baking, or your spouse takes over helping with English. Take a breather and relax. The word of the year is definitely “grace”.
4. Don’t Ignore Your Kids’ Emotions & Learning Styles
Check in with your kids. They may not have the correct language or say all the right things, but open your eyes and ears to their little needs. Make a point to actually listen to and acknowledge their feelings. Sure, schoolwork has to get done and those projects have deadlines, but be mindful of their learning styles and their emotional needs. Maybe they miss their friends or the fractions are kicking their butts today. Work together, versus bulldozing right over their needs.
5. Don’t Ignore Yourself
Just like you check in with your kids, check in with yourself! I’ll say that again: Check in with you! Take time to examine your emotions and assess your stress. You cannot be emotionally or mentally present if your own needs aren’t met. There’s nothing wrong with taking a step back to recharge yourself and come back totally refreshed.
Growing up, it was my heart’s greatest desire to become a wife and a mom. I chose a career path in Education because I believed it would allow me to spend the most time serving my family while making a decent living. I say all of that because I’ve always felt called home. Once Demario was drafted in the NFL, it felt best for me to stay home, full time with our family. As we began planning for a family, I was impressed to begin homeschooling, which was foreign to both my husband and me. The more I attempted to dismiss the idea, the more I felt it tugging on my heart, so we went for it! This journey has been difficult at times, but God has shown up endlessly to remind me he’s called me to this, for this season of life!
In Called Home: Finding Joy in Letting God Lead Your Homeschool, Karen DeBeus does an exceptional job espousing her personal experiences and challenges, reminding readers of the importance of staying connected to God throughout their homeschool journey. He is the one who has called us home to serve our families, and He wants the ultimate glory from it. While reading this book, I felt the need to minimize all distractions and press into the One who called me to homeschool!
Frequently, I’d be exhausted, frustrated, and running on fumes. I can vividly recall the week I found this book. Life was chaotic! We’d recently relocated, and football season was rolling. I was attempting to do all the mom, wife and teacher duties solo. One kid was acting bat crap crazy, another one we believed was experiencing hearing loss, while the other child was suffering from anxiety. Did I mention I was also hosting various guests for a month? When everything is threatening my sanity, God shows up and exposes me to gems like this read.
Ultimately, my children’s relationship with the Lord is most essential; therefore, it’s vital I display and teach Jesus’ truths! Curriculums are amazing and needed in increments but submitting and surrendering all that we do to the Lord is vital in order to run this race! I paused our homeschool for a few weeks, and we had fun, studied God’s truths, and reset! Reading DeBeus’s book “Called Home” and spending time with God gave me the bravery to refocus our homeschool structure to make our time God-centric.
I would recommend this book for any parent who finds themselves questioning their decision to homeschool. Veteran and beginner homeschool teachers alike will find all the information in this little book necessary. The book is a quick read, with relevant truths. DeBeus shares encouragement and reminds readers to shift their focus back on God and keep Him at the center of their homeschooling journey.
Right now, many parents have found themselves in the role of teacher, as well as caretaker and entertainer with no warning. It’s daunting to take on a new responsibility when there’s been very little time for preparation. Naturally, I started looking for some guidance, and found a gem that I think will help you, too.
I started reading Homeschool Bravely: How to Squash Doubt, Trust God, and Teach Your Child with Confidence by Jamie Erickson. As a mom who has spent some time homeschooling young kids, this book changed how I approached teaching my children, and it really made a huge difference in our little classroom. Frequently I struggle with self-doubt, especially when it comes to homeschooling. As a parent, you desire what’s best for your children, and although I strongly believe that during this season of life having them home with me is best, I often question if I made the right choice.
Homeschool Bravely offers homeschooling parents the encouragement to boldly approach homeschooling as a calling from God, rather than a chore. Erickson offers tips on routines; she shares curriculum ideas and provides activities that will fit right into your lessons for the day. This book is grounded in faith and has scriptures woven throughout the pages. Having strong words of comfort with God’s own Word there to reinforce it did wonders for me. This book granted me encouragement and refreshed my confidence on this homeschooling journey.
I closed the book, reassured that I’m not ruining my children or preventing them from experiencing something greater than what I provide. My perspective shifted tremendously, and I realized the importance of speaking life into myself and our homeschool classroom.
Additionally, this book is different from the other homeschooling books I’ve read because it provided direct insight on issues I am currently juggling—having kids with different learning challenges, ages and interests. I also love that all the content is pointed back to trusting God’s plan throughout this journey despite all my fear, doubt, failures, and even victories!
Teaching From Rest: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unshakeable Peace, by Sarah Mackenzie
Those who have made the decision to homeschool their children have done so out of great love for them and a desire to provide them an excellent education in the context of a warm, enriching home. Yet so many parents (mainly mothers) who have taken up this challenge find the enterprise often full of stress, worry, and anxiety. In this practical, faith-based, and inspirational book, Sarah Mackenzie addresses these questions directly, appealing to her own study of restful learning and her struggle to bring restful learning to her (six) children.
My Review:
Teaching From Rest was an unbelievable read! In this short-read, the author did an amazing job summing up lessons that every homeschool mom-teacher should know. After completing this book, I felt both convicted and inspired. As a perfectionist (or as some say, control freak), I was becoming anxious and burnt out when I first decided to homeschool my children. Can you believe that I had to take 2 weeks off after barely even starting? It was during that break when I came across this book from another homeschool mom.
Reaching the end, I was immediately encouraged to rest mentally, physically and emotionally — renewing my strength in God alone.
Remaining connected to Him always provides me with refreshing confidence, strength and endurance. Being a homeschool mom is not easy, but if I stay grounded in my faith, refresh my soul, let go of my own idols of homeschooling, and trust that God has placed me on this journey — I can be confident that God will be faithful every step of the way.
Teaching From Rest helped reveal so much to me and more! It showed me the importance of lending myself and my children grace, just as God grants us all daily. Now, when things don’t go according to my “master plan”, I’ve learned to panic less and embrace exactly where God has me. There’s always teachable moments that point back to Him.
This is now a book I’ve added to my reading list, twice a year! Check it out on Amazon here.
There was once a time when I felt equipped to teach other people’s children but not equipped to teach my own. I guess there’s the pressure of being responsible for everything versus one subject. Also, there’s the “balancing mom and teacher” thing. I must say, God has been faithful. Almost every time I become so discouraged or overwhelmed with homeschooling, He provides grace, rest, conformation and reassurance that this is what He wants me to do during this season of life. I am fulfilling the vision in His will, not my will! And I’m grateful, to say the least. My heart is full even at the end of the most stressful days.
To get into more details, here are 5 specific reasons my husband and I felt lead to homeschool:
The Opportunity to Teach
We get the opportunity to shape and mold our kids full time at such an early, vulnerable age. While doing so, we have to opportunity to control their influence and focus on building their character, faith, and other skills morals & values that we have as a family. Character and Faith are extremely important to us. While you don’t have to homeschool to have these traits, for us I love that I GET to nurture and build my children up in these areas frequently.
Meeting Individual Needs
We get to cater to each kids’ learning style. Although my kids are all still very young, it’s extremely evident that each one of my kids have different learning styles and I get the opportunity to observe that regularly and make adjustments based on trial and error. Most schools have a one shoe fits all policy when it comes to learning and testing. In my opinion, that’s unfair and NOT true. During my brief experience in public schools, it was obvious to me why children were not making good grades or passing the state tests.
No Need to Rush
We get to go at our own pace. Sometimes it takes kids longer than a week to grasp/master new material. I honestly didn’t retain much of what I learned in school because I simply memorized the information for a test, then never saw it again. I desire for my children to learn the material not briefly memorize it. Therefore, if it takes us 2 weeks to learn to add vs subtraction, nouns vs pronouns, we get to take the time and focus on just that.
Flexibility
We’ve literally moved 10 times in 7 years. Therefore, my kids’ school would have changed just as much. Also, since our schedule is different than most–Homeschool provides us flexibility in school time, curriculums, locations, etc. We typically do school year-round to make up for the slow or missed weeks—and when we travel we can take our work with us or plan hands-on learning experiences for the kids in whatever city we’re visiting.
Quality Time
We get to spend a ton of time together as a family. It is my desire for us to be a close-knit family. Because we spend most of our time together, we get to love on each other constantly. Work out our issues in the moment, and do team-building exercises that will enhance our oneness.
If you’re considering homeschooling your children, I encourage you to do the following:
Seek God first. Pray with fellow believers.
Don’t be discouraged by what your friends and family members may think. They probably don’t have their life all together anyhow.
Establish your why! Have no fear of being exposed to the world.
Start. Just start. Give it a try and understand that public or private schools are still always an option in the future.
Know that there are extremely rough days and extremely amazing days — they can both be rewarding!
Know that you are not alone. There are endless amounts of curriculums, communities, and resources available to assist on the journey!
Stay connected with us at the F Word! I’ll be providing lots of resources along the way.
If I’m completely honest, being a wife and mom is HARD, and homeschooling… well, that’s even harder!
I’ve actually questioned myself every single day…
… Am I a good mom?
… What am I doing?
… Am I enough?
… Am I doing them a disservice?
… Do I yell or use my spoon too often?
… Will I regret it all later? … Is God pleased?
The sign reads “First Day”… but it’s actually our 5th week. The date is printed wrong, and we’ve had a rocky start. My initial vision for this was everyone being dressed similar, nicer hair cut/styles, and a different background.
Why?
Because I wanted them to be “picture perfect“ for my 6-year-old scrapbook collection that’s still inside a box. If they didn’t take the photos today, I risked my superhero shattering the frames or never getting around to them being picture perfect.
Today, however, God knew I actually needed encouragement…
I absolutely love how God works. The children’s tutor took the photos for me while I was at a Bible Study. I didn’t instruct her on where to take them; however, I love that she chose a spot next to the scriptures I placed on my front porch to encourage our visitors. Since I’m usually in a hurry, I often overlook them, but today, God knew I actually needed the encouragement myself…
I am with you ALWAYS (Matthew 28:20).
As I sip on my 8th espresso shot of the day, I rest on this scripture.
I am reminded that regardless of if I’m having an awesome day or a crappy day — feeling confident or defeated, the kids are behaving like nutcases — The Lord is with me, and His GRACE is sufficient for me.
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me ( 2 Corinthians 12:9).
Enjoy a space to connect, be empowered and educated to seek Jesus wholeheartedly, identify blind spots, seek growth, learn to love, forgive, laugh, cook amazing food, and understand that living the in the spotlight is not always roses & candy.
