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26 of the BIGGEST Gripes about the Homeschooling Lifestyle!

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As homeschool families, we’ll be the first to defend the homeschooling lifestyle. We can easily sing its praises, talk about the wonderful choice we’ve made to educate our kids at home, and how happy we are with that decision. However, that doesn’t mean things are always perfect for us. So today we’re going to get real and share some of the biggest gripes about the homeschooling lifestyle.As homeschool families, we'll be the first to defend the homeschooling lifestyle. We can easily sing its praises, talk about the wonderful choice we've made to educate our kids at home, and how happy we are with that decision. However, that doesn't mean things are always perfect for us. So today we're going to get real and share some of the biggest gripes about the homeschooling lifestyle.These are the common struggles from my own experience, as well as talking with other homeschool moms. The complaints usually fall into one of two categories — pressure from others or the pressure we put on ourselves.

Gripes about the Homeschooling Lifestyle: Pressure from Others

  • Interference from the non-homeschoolers who think they know better, even though they aren’t informed about the realities of homeschooling
  • Family members who disagree with homeschooling
  • Family members and/or strangers who constantly grill children with trivia questions to test their knowledge every time they see them
  • Other homeschoolers who think their way is the only way
  • The paperwork!
  • The “socialization” conversation… because apparently being homeschooled is the same as having no human contact
  • That moms who don’t homeschool think we’re judging them for it just because we’re excited to homeschool
  • When others think we’re free to run errands, visit, or babysit just because we’re at home
  • Talking about socialization with total strangers or family members
  • Pinterest-perfect expectations from everyone
  • Kids being excluded from sports programs associated with the school system
  • Criticism from in-laws and others who ask if our kids are “behind level”
  • People who say that public school is the only way kids can learn and be “socialized”

Gripes about the Homeschooling Lifestyle: Pressure on Ourselves

  • No downtime because the kids are at home all the time instead of away at school
  • The mid-winter slump that steals our motivation and energy
  • Overachievers that make us feel like I’m not doing enough
  • Never having ME time
  • Feeling like I just can’t manage the individual needs of each child in a large family
  • Doubting ourselves and wondering if we’re doing enough or doing it right
  • Being a single mom busting both ends of candle and winter is hard for us because of the cold. We do lots of arts and crafts in winter
  • Stretching ourselves to give enough attention to each child at all times
  • The realization that we’re totally responsible for EVERY part of our child’s development and education
  • Not having friends or a social life to interact with other moms due to lack of time

Look at a few of these resources!


Gripes about the Homeschooling Lifestyle: Inconveniences

  • Being unable to afford outside activities on a single income
  • Hard to manage the housework with kids at home all the time
  • Making appointments for ourselves and trying to find childcare during the day

As homeschool families, we'll be the first to defend the homeschooling lifestyle. We can easily sing its praises, talk about the wonderful choice we've made to educate our kids at home, and how happy we are with that decision. However, that doesn't mean things are always perfect for us. So today we're going to get real and share some of the biggest gripes about the homeschooling lifestyle.As much as we may love the homeschooling lifestyle, there are challenges as well. Sometimes we just need to accept these things and take the good with the bad. Sometimes we need to allow ourselves to take a break when needed to avoid burnout.

The important thing to remember is that it will all be worthwhile in the end. Take it from someone who has stayed the homeschool course and finished strong. You’ve got this!

Look at these other tips you’ll love:

 

How to Survive Homeschool Sick Days

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Cold and flu season comes to everyone eventually, even homeschool families. Moms rarely get a day off, but sometimes sick days are necessary for both you and the kids. So what do you do when it’s time for a homeschool sick day? As with anything else in life, having a plan in mind can help when the time comes. Here are some tips to help you survive the homeschool sick days.How to Survive Homeschool Sick Days. Even homeschool families need sick days sometimes. Here are some ideas for how to cope when you need a homeschool sick day. CLICK HERE to grab these sanity saving tips!

Homeschool Sick Days

If you need to take a homeschool sick day once in a while, it’s not the end of the world. That doesn’t mean the kids will “get behind” or stop learning!

Some homeschool families do sick day “make-up” work on the weekend or on what would usually be a holiday vacation time. Others homeschool year-round so they can take a planned week off every month or a few weeks off every six weeks or some variation. This allows for time off built into the schedule so there’s no pressure when you need a sick day.

If need be, remember that half days count, too! If someone isn’t feeling well in the morning, try a later start. If you hit an afternoon slump due to allergies or headache, just end your studies a little earlier on those days when you need to.

When you’re just dealing with a minor cold, you can cut back to just one or two subjects for the day so you don’t get worn out. Remember that part of learning is life skills, which means knowing how to listen to what your body needs and getting some rest when you’re not feeling well.

Some homeschool moms have a backup plan that includes getting a friend or family member to help out when they’re sick. Do you have someone who could take over your lesson plans if you’re not well enough for an extended time?

Learning Never Really Stops

There are still learning activities you can do when the family is feeling under the weather. If Mom is sick, there are independent learning activities to consider. If the illness has hit the whole family, here is a list of things that can be educational even while recuperating:

  • Reading in bed
  • Watching educational documentaries together as a family (Don’t forget about Amazon Prime and Netflix!)
  • Doing Mad Libs
  • Listening to audiobooks
  • Educational games on the couch or in bed
  • Making lapbooks
  • Coloring

Don’t forget resting and snuggling!

Remember, you don’t have to replicate school at home. Take the time you need when you need it. That’s one of the advantages of homeschooling in the first place!

Starting Back Up after Homeschool Sick Days

One of my best tips for starting back up after homeschool school days is this:

Just like when you were sick, you needed soup. So now that you’re well, you need a different diet until you boot up to 100 percent. I would do two subjects like math and maybe reading. Then call it a day as you rest more and get the house in shape. Do that for a few days, then fold in another subject. It’s almost like starting a new year. Ease into it.

Also, never underestimate the value of books, games, and hands-on learning. Apps and computer games can be learning supplements when you’re not up to par yet.

You can also use an educational movie or documentary that directly ties into whatever you’re learning. It can supplement your unit study and spark rich discussions. Map work is another great thing to try as you gain strength after an illness.

Some Perspective on Homeschool Sick Days

We all know that it’s tough on the family when mom gets sick, but when you’re also the teacher it can make things even more complicated. If the flu or a cold strikes the whole family at once, don’t worry about taking some needed time off. A little bit of planning ahead and lots of TLC can help you get through those homeschool sick days! How to Survive Homeschool Sick Days. Even homeschool families need sick days sometimes. Here are some ideas for how to cope when you need a homeschool sick day. CLICK HERE to grab these sanity saving tips!Look at these other tips for sick days:

Hugs and love ya,

 

How to Cope Successfully With Homeschool Mental Stress

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Jumping into homeschooling with ways to reduce negative mental stress is crucial because homeschooling takes a toll on your mental health. Having some tried and true techniques at your finger tips is absolutely essential to coping with homeschool mental stress; the power of a mental hygiene homeschool routine can’t be underestimated.

I’ve learned to accept happily that struggling and being stressed doesn’t mean that the homeschool lifestyle is not worth it. For my family, it has been a superior way of education.

The right view of stress, which is that not all of it is negative, is necessary to categorizing the type of stress we encounter in homeschooling. There is good stress and there is bad stress.

There is no way to eliminate stress totally from our life because stress can be an energizing and motivating force to do school day in and day out successfully.

The release of energy, the highest sense of accomplishment, and the gratifying feelings deep down in our gut we get when we teach our kids to read, to cook, or see them positively engaging with adults is hard to explain to those that have not experienced it.How to Cope With Homeschool Mental Stress. Jumping into homeschooling with ways to reduce negative mental stress is crucial because homeschooling takes a toll on your mental health. CLICK HERE to grab them!

Ten Tips to Manage Homeschool Stress

However, today I’m not talking about the good side of stress. We don’t talk enough about the bad kind of stress which can take over our mind, affect us, and affect those we love.

If you haven’t lived our homeschool life it’s hard to know what we experience day to day. Look at these 10 tried and true tips that have worked with me as I’ve homeschooled over the past 20+ years.

 ONE/  Lowering your expectations is NOT equivalent to lowering your standards.

In many ways homeschooling back before all the devices exploded on the homeschooling scene, which are suppose to free up our time, was easier than today.

We didn’t have so much content thrown at us; we weren’t bombarded with information overload to wade through.

Pushing back and resisting the urge to cover every possible facet of a subject has not meant lower standards in learning. My sons high college grades prove otherwise. I view myself as a normal home school mom who didn’t always push her kids academically.

I was consistent each day and that was key to lowering the stress for the day and not overloading my mind with worry if my kids were performing well enough.

If you find that you keep piling expectations, extra subjects, or longer homeschool days on you and your kids ask yourself is it worth it?

TWO/ Step away from the online world and into the real world.

One of the best ways to help me rejuvenate quickly is to be around close friends or family and stay completely off my phone and off online.

Do you remember the time when we all didn’t carry phones? Some people had to actually wait for a reply.

As much time as I spend on my blog and online schooling for my kids, I realize that I’ve always had intermittent times when I’m completely away from the online world.

I find myself with instant calm for my mind when I have face to face conversations with warm individuals. It reminds me that slowing down for day to day interaction is the key to a healthy mental hygiene.

THREE/ Simple physical activities. I do mean simple.

Don’t get me wrong, if you want to knock yourself out at the gym go for it. My problem is that it takes me a while to recover from strenuous workouts and then it defeats my purpose in easing my mental stress. From there I go to worrying about what has not been done for the day.

What I have found that works for longer periods of time or through the years is a simple nature walk. To this day, I still take nature walks even in my neighborhood. I think doing it at the crack of dawn and seeing the sun rise sets the right tone for my day.

I’ve always been an early morning person, but if you’re not a morning person the evening sun or night skys is just as gorgeous. I have no favorites.

Being outside reminds me of what is important each day, it fills up my tank when I have to deal with others especially my kids, and it just reminds me to be grateful I’m alive.

FOUR/Easy activities with the kids eases mental tension.

I always read about self-care and getting away from the kids. While this is true on occasions, the truth of it is we homeschool because we love being with our kids.

Not every solution involves isolation. When I feel overloaded I change our plans for the day.

A simple walk or hike with kids, an all day reading day, or even something simple like watching a movie are all easy activities that can ease mental tension. A shift in focus, rest, or stepping back are all options depending on your needs.

Sometimes it’s just not possible to be alone and when you can’t, take steps now to have ideas in place for when you need a different pace. Besides, you are also modeling to your kids how to cope with days that are mentally taxing.

FIVE/Humor in big doses throughout the day.

There are many reasons to laugh during the day while homeschooling.

If you’ve taught for any length of time, you know your kids say funny things, think funny things, and do funny things.

Treasure those moments and don’t forget to laugh when it’s time to laugh. It’s a quick fix to alleviate stress in the air and your kids will love the stress free atmosphere you create. Better yet, write down all of those funny sayings in your planner and come back to them.

I also save pictures in one file of funny things my kids did and I have some picture of myself that ares absolutely awful while homeschooling which I would never share with the homeschooling world. But every time I look at them, I laugh so hard it’s hard to stop. It keeps me balanced of how I view myself.

SIX/ Do we really NOT have time for a hobby? Count the mental cost.

I was wrong when I started homeschooling because I gave up some of my hobbies. Okay, my thinking was a bit off. It took me years to find balance; I hope it doesn’t take you that long.

My thinking was off because when I thought of a hobby I thought of something that gave no value. A hobby could keep you from doing the more important things if it’s not kept in balance. Why do we think it has to be all or nothing?

How did I adopt such an extreme view? I know it was to prevent me from not giving attention to what I needed to do each day which is to be sure my kids get the best education I can give them. Again, I try not to go too hard on myself because I had set the right priority.

Balance is the key to doling out increments of time doing something I enjoy whether it’s photography, cooking, or blogging.

Not thinking about the teacher mom at present, but about the person and woman I am has always revitalized me.

You’re the only one to answer to if you have become unbalanced with your hobby. At times, depending on the level of stress in my homeschooling, I’ve needed more time to step back and focus on who I am. Other times, not so much.

Avoiding critical judgments of how others spend their time off from school helps. There is no time to be critical of others when you homeschool positively and care for your mental stress.

SEVEN/The power of 15 minutes.

I mentioned earlier that unless you experienced our homeschool lifestyle it can be hard to appreciate the tips. I know oh so well how at times we just can’t get away from our kids.

When I had that time period in my journey, I had to learn the power of a 15 minute shift in focus.

If your kids are old enough to be left alone or to go to another room for that long, then implement that daily tip.

I set the timer on my stove because it was the loudest and because my boys could run into the room to see how much more time was left. It was an easy timer for them to read.

Of course I explained to my kids they didn’t have come into the room to see the timer and that they would hear it.

Staying in their room was a game in the beginning because they wanted to be near me to see what I was doing. However, the more I did it, the more they enjoyed it and stayed in their room or another room to play.

Also, looking back, I realized I also taught them how to have a pause in their day for relaxed mental time. This world can be extremely stressful and our kids need tips as they grow too.

Whether you decide to lay down and read, bathing (if you can), or just do nothing, you decide. Don’t keep engaging your mental person when it needs rest.

EIGHT/Your spouse or a trusted friend are priceless.

We know that we do a majority of the homeschooling, but if your husband is like mine, he’s interested in how you’re coping.

Don’t shut him out because he may not understand completely.

Just relaying to my husband what I have been dealing with helps me to articulate it orally and I find it refreshing to get it out of my mind.

I’m all for date nights if you can.

One more technique that my husband and I have implemented is although we may not be able to get away from the kids, we make time to talk alone and teach the kids to respect that time.

Time alone with my husband while the kids were present became absolutely necessary as each kid hit the teen years and we had to deal with unique stressful situations.

We had already implemented daily or weekly management of that type of stress.

NINE/Organize it, throw it out, and kick it out.

Another huge mental release for me is being able to clean, organize, or kick clutter to the curb. This is especially good if part of your mental stress toll stems from a cluttered home.

Don’t ignore your need for a more efficient working area.

Homeschooing is about teaching kids how to cope with daily life.

So many homeschooled kids are not taught that taking time to organize is as imperative as doing their school work. Is this because some homeschool families don’t view it as essential?

It’s unbalanced to do a whole workbook of math while kids live in a monumental mess.

Why is being good at math so much more important than being a person that people want to be around as they grow into adults? I would never want to live with anyone that didn’t pick up after himself. I want my kids to be the kind of persons that others can roommate with or live with.

Did I mention they are? If you find that your mental stress comes from a cluttered home, then STOP homeschooling and declutter.

You’re not getting behind on homeschooling when you clean, you’re getting ahead of it.

TEN/ Make time for the little things. Chocolate, chat with a friend, get out of the house, or listen to music.

Lastly, make time for what refreshes you mentally.

Creating time to soothe your mental health needs to be part of daily management of homeschool mental stress.

Whether you find a bit of milk or dark chocolate helps bite by bite, a chat with a close homeschool friend which understands your feelings, getting out of the house, listening to your favorite music, exercising more, or doing like I did one time binge watch a Netflix series, they all count.

Make Daily Stress Management Part of Your Routine

Accepting the fact that I can’t do all I want to do and having daily routines has helped me to cope with negative stress.

Learning how to say no to things I can’t be involved in and recognizing stress triggers like avoiding explosive personalities in my homeschool world helps me to manage too. Some people bring unnecessary stress on themselves and those around  them.

Have tips ready at your fingertips for when you need a mental break; your journey should be memorable for the right reasons.

What mental coping techniques do you use?How to Cope With Homeschool Mental Stress. Jumping into homeschooling with ways to reduce negative mental stress is crucial because homeschooling takes a toll on your mental health. CLICK HERE to grab them!I know you’ll love reading these other ways to empower your sticking ability to homeschool:

Hugs and love ya,

How to Use Summertime to Put a Foot in Homeschooling

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Be sure you join my ► Homeschool Dynamics by Tina Robertson facebook group ◄ for awesome free resources and ideas!

Summertime conjures up lazy days at the pool, a trip to the beach, and more relaxed schedules along with a family vacation or two. Summertime homeschooling is not only a great time to begin, but a way to have a relaxed start to the new year.

6 Ways to Use Summer Time to Kick Start the Homeschool Year

Whether you want a break from a more rigid schedule, feel like last year’s curriculum left you feeling less than inspired, or want to use summertime to put a foot in homeschooling, you’ll love these six tips.Summer time conjures up lazy days at the pool, a trip to the beach, and more relaxed schedules along with a family vacation or two. Summer time homeschooling is not only a great time to begin, but a way to have a relaxed start to the new year.

Mix and match these tips or use one to put the spark for learning in your new homeschool year.

ONE/ Focus on one element of language arts.

Although many new homeschoolers think they have to wait until the fall to begin their year, it’s so much better if you get a feel for teaching by focusing on one subject.

It may be a subject your child is struggling with or a subject that interests him.

When I have summertime with my high school teens, focusing on one subject like their writing keeps it from being overwhelming when they have a heavier load at the beginning of the year.

For example, one year we focused on strengthening writing skills through a course set to my teen’s pace. Focusing on a subject like composition encouraged my son’s love for writing; it allowed him time to pursue his passion of writing without the pace of a hectic schedule.

TWO/ Focus on a subject that gets overlooked like art.

Art is a subject that can easily get overlooked during the year.

Until we started using Atelier Homeschool Art, art was a struggle for us. I’m not an artsy person, but we love art.

Summertime gives us a time to indulge our love art because it’s video based and we can go our own pace.
AWESOME Homeschool Art Video-Based Program

Look at my posts How To Teach Homeschool Art Like a Pro (When You’re Not) to see how we love it and use it.

THREE/ Use nature studies as a way to pique your kid’s interest for learning and kick-start your new year.

Children learn best through hands-on. And there is no better way to push back at what the educational world thinks the first of our year is suppose to look like than to do a hands-on nature study.

From observing the richness and variety in the colors of nature to showing how everything in nature is interdependent your kids won’t easily forget the start of their new year with nature studies.

Look at some of these ideas for easy (always my standard) nature studies:

Also, look at these nature living books I use below – NaturExplorers.

Our Journey Westward

Living books for multiple ages is also a great tip when your budget is limited.

FOUR/ Watch educational movies.

Educational movies make a great start to school. It’s easy after pulling your kids from school to jump straight into book learning.

You may think that is what homeschooling is about. Beginning your year with educational movies puts the whole family in a relaxed mood.

Pop some corn and grab one of these movies from the list below to begin your learning journey.

Grab one of these movie sheets and you’re off to an engaging start.

FIVE/ Don’t forget refreshment and education for the educator.

The worst thing you can do in the beginning of your school year is to focus solely on the needs or your kids. Taking time to educate yourself about homeschooling or just grabbing some refreshment will give you the boost you need for the new year.

Besides joining my facebook group where we like to stay on fire as we encourage each other about different homeschool issues we face, look at a couple of these free things below.

I love the fact that Fortuigence has a free course for parents about writing. It it a subject lot of us struggle to teach.I

In addition, I have my free 31 day Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers right here on my blog.

Take your time going through my free new homeschooler boot camp because you’ll need time to deschool.

SIX/ Homeschool unit studies nurture a love for learning.

When children have control of their learning, school can go a lot more smooth. Unit studies have a way of nurturing a love of learning because you can pick topics that pique your children’s interests.

I have volumes of free unit studies here on my site. Here are some of my science unit studies. Pick one or two and recharge your kids’ love for learning by doing one or two.Summer time conjures up lazy days at the pool, a trip to the beach, and more relaxed schedules along with a family vacation or two. Summer time homeschooling is not only a great time to begin, but a way to have a relaxed start to the new year.

You’ll also love these other ideas to use summertime as  way to put your foot in homeschooling:

Hugs and love ya,

Deschooling: Step One for the New Homeschooler (the Definitions, the Dangers, and the Delight)

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Don’t forget to join my private facebook group where we talk about how to homeschool in a relaxed way! You’ll love my seasoned tips!

Take the kids out of public school one day, begin homeschooling the next day; it’s a common rookie mistake. And it seems almost impossible to change to a relaxed mindset when you jump from one stressful situation into another one. Deschooling is the first step for any new homeschool family.

Public school kids turned homeschooled kids are not the only ones that  benefit from a deschooling process. Parents who’ve never sent their kids to public school need a deschooling period and need to resist the challenge of beginning public school at home.

How to Shove Back at the Rigidity of Public School

Newbies who follow a deschooling process minimize beginner’s stress and maximize the best beginner’s moments and have good memories for a lifetime.

Homeschoolers, on the other hand, who take no time to understand and implement a plan for the transitional period can set themselves up for a hard road. There are a few guidelines you’ll want to follow.

Start with the basics first. Look the definitions below and then I’m sharing the dangers and how to make this time period a delight.

Deschooling Defined – And No It’s Not Unschooling

Deschooling is a process and unschooling is a homeschool approach.

Regardless of which homeschool approach, i.e. classical, unschooling, unit studies, or Charlotte Mason you follow, deschooling is the first step.

Definitions vary, but most of them include these critical pieces of information.

Deschooling is a period of time when all family members rest both physically and mentally from a public school lifestyle. Resting is the first phase. Even if you have a child that has never attended public school, it’s about defining your understanding of what is homeschooling.

It’s the time to unlearn what you think education should be as taught from a public school mindset and to be open to new, natural, and creative ways to teach your kids.

It’s realizing that taking your kids out of school one day and doing the exact thing at home  the next day that wasn’t working in public school is the definition of insanity (ouch).

It’s letting go and letting in something new in your life; it’s accepting the homeschool lifestyle which is opposite of the public school lifestyle.

It’s having humility to start over learning a new educational approach. More important, it means taking time to get to know your child unlike you have before when he was away from you for eight hours.

Moving away from focusing just on curriculum and focusing on the needs first of your family is at the core of the process.

Embracing tears and fears and excitement and eagerness all at once is the norm. It’s not just filtering and embracing raw emotions, but it’s being active in learning everything about how to homeschool.

During the deschooling process, some families take a much needed family vacation, others fill their days with trips to the museum, to the beach, to the library and try to learn another pace.

How to Determine the Length of Deschooling

What to do during the relaxation period and how long to deschool varies for each family, ages of your kids, and circumstances. One rule of thumb says that for every year the child is in public school take off a month.

That may seem excessive to some, but my experience has been it’s pretty close.

During the deschooling period, it does not mean a family is not learning. It does mean they’re learning in a relaxed pace set to the rhythm of the family.

It doesn’t mean rigidity; it does mean routine. Throwing all caution to the wind is not the purpose of deschooling.

In helping many new homeschoolers to transition to the homeschool lifestyle, I know that older children feel more comfortable with a routine pretty quickly. Just don’t saddle them with many worksheets and subjects while you’re investigating together what they want to learn.

A transitional period requires time to allow each member of the family time to unlearn old ways of learning and focus on the interests of each kid.

This also includes you. Stepping back and analyzing what type of teacher you want to be and assessing what are the current needs of each child takes time and you have it.

Part of the deschooling process is not feeling hurried to keep pace of public school to begin in August and end in May.

Many states have relaxed homeschool laws and you have time to start up your school year. Too, as you’ll learn, most homeschool families have a formal start and stop to their year,  but we also know that learning takes place naturally pretty well everyday. There are many opportunities to learn that don’t have to be scheduled.

The longer the child has been in public school, the longer it takes.

It’s true too that sometimes it’s harder to take the public school mentality out of the parents than it is to take it out of the kids. Like any other significant change in your life, a job change, adding a newborn to your family, or moving, you can’t fast forward the deschooling or adjustment period. It takes time.

Activities for a Meaningful Deschooling Period 

How active or not a family is when they’ve stepped off the public school treadmill varies according to each circumstance.

If your child has been bullied and you’ve fought daily for him at school, you’ll want more time at home healing and being together. If you have a young child that has not been in public school too long, but long enough to be bored, you may want to find local classes for him to join.

Like I mentioned before, deschooling is a relaxed pace or process and it doesn’t mean a state of nothingness. You want to take back the control of teaching and start by feeding your children’s desire to learn subjects or do activities that interests them.

Rekindle the spark of learning and that doesn’t happen by throwing a workbook at a kid or putting them in front of a computer. It just doesn’t.

Kids need you, they need their family, and they need to take ownership of their learning. Start by asking them what they want to learn. Then, research it on the computer or go to the library – together.

Field trips, zoos, living history reenactments, and museums have a way of igniting that dwindling spark.

Activities don’t have to be expensive. A walk on the beach, a trip the local nature reserve, camping together as a family, taking an art class together, taking a cooking class, going to the movies, trips to the library, lounging around reading stories that interests your children, craft time, and park time are just a very few possibilities all now opened to your family.

When Are You Finally Cured of the Public School Mindset?

There is probably not a time that you won’t think about public school because we’re infected by the educational madness and unbalanced view of how much time it really takes to teach a child.

But there does come a time when you see all family members naturally putting their needs and wants for learning ahead of popular opinion on what a child needs to learn.

We all know kids need the three Rs – reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic. Beyond the core subjects, the rest of what we learn and how we learn it is subjective.

To illustrate: A relaxed homeschool educator knows that learning how to write (a core subject) mixed with reading a history story or doing a hands-on science activity (the fun subjects) makes learning meaningful.

While the core subjects are absolutely essential, it’s valuable to teach them only to the extent they’re practical, useful, and make learning come alive.

When that method for teaching a child is followed year after year, you win over your child as a partner to his learning.

Instead of being passive learners, they’re an active participant in it. Therein lies the subtle, but significant difference between spoon feeding a child to high school ( not recommended and won’t work) and gently guiding your child’s love for learning.

Are You Bulldozing Ahead to Deschooling Danger?

Most all homeschool families have and want rigorous academic standards, but not all of them have abandoned the archaic ways of the past like torture and confinement. Just kidding, although some days I wonder when I read how parents charge ahead to purchase curriculum as if curriculum infuses what was lost at public school.

Curriculum is just one piece of the homeschooling puzzle.

It’s so much easier throwing a workbook at your child than it is to jump in and determine the best learning approach for him, the best schedule, and how to determine the order of the subjects.  I’m not saying we can’t start by using workbooks, but it has to be a tool and not the teacher.

Jumping from one stressful situation in public school to another stressful situation at home equals a great big ole’ heap of unneeded stress.

It’s not a waste of time to step back, relax, and read about homeschooling while learning together.

Deschooling Resources

Look at some of these resources that will help you to deschool.

If you’ll thoroughly grasp the homeschool laws of where you live, fold in family activities that suit your family, begin slowly, read everything you can read while you start slow, you’ll avoid a unrecoverable crash and burn.

Telling you that you won’t have problems or burn out is untruthful.

I’m telling you that you’ll need many times to come back to deschooling to get readjusted and then your journey will be memorable for the right reasons.Deschooling: Step One for the New Homeschooler (the Definitions, the Dangers, and the Delight). Take the kids out of public school one day, begin homeschooling the next day; it's a common rookie mistake. And it seems almost impossible to change to a relaxed mindset when you jump from one stressful situation into another one. Deschooling is the first step for any new homeschool family. CLICK HERE to grab these AWESOME tips from a seasoned veteran!Do you have any questions about deschooling?

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Hugs and love ya,