? “I get by with a little help from my friends” ?
– The Beatles
Sing it, Ringo! So true!
Homeschooling parents have a lot on our plates and, depending on the day or our stage of life, the help we need often takes different forms.
But there are also kinds of support and encouragement that are universally helpful to all homeschoolers. The following three categories of help have been consistently valuable to me in all stages of our homeschooling so far.
To the tune of Auld Lang Syne…
Christmas gifts strewn all around,
Party messes still piled high,
Decorations to repack…
I think I’m about to cry.And add to this the pressure felt
– words by Sensible Homeschool
To analyze your life,
And come up with some lofty goals
That will solve all of your strife.
That’s how the song goes, isn’t it?
In the previous post, I shared how Daniel Tiger reminded me to be grateful and stay positive. We’ve started using gratitude journals in the evenings to help us focus our thoughts on our blessings before bed. So far there haven’t been any complaints about the extra writing – a Christmas miracle!
Daniel has been teaching me other things lately, too.
Our God is so good.
He knows what we need and he meets us where we’re at… even when “where you’re at” is buried under three loads of laundry, surrounded by a hopeless mess in every direction, with a crying toddler hanging on your leg, an oven timer beeping, and older kids who are fighting instead of finishing their math.
It was in a moment like this a few days ago that He caught my attention through the (unbelievably incessant) singing of the PBS character, Daniel Tiger.
“When something seems bad, turn it around and find something good.”
There’s an ongoing debate as to whether or not reading incentive programs are a good thing. (Just so you don’t get your hopes up, this blog post isn’t going to settle the matter).
Some parents and educators say reading incentives have absolutely helped motivate their reluctant readers. The kids just needed a little outside motivation to get them started and now their love of reading has taken off.
Others point to the dangers of external motivation and warn that incentive programs backfire. They say the programs are essentially bribes and when the incentives stop, so does the reading.
In my experience, there’s truth on both sides.
It’s tempting to think that homeschooling, by default, ensures you’re spending enough time with your kids. However, as you’ve probably heard, quantity doesn’t make up for a lack of quality.
And here’s the kicker…
Even a large quantity of quality time may still feel inadequate to your child if the time isn’t “quality” from THEIR perspective.
What do Panera Bread and my homeschool have in common?
(I mean besides hungry people who are constantly demanding food, tables that need to be cleaned dozens of times a day, and occupants who splash water on the bathroom mirrors.)
We both have used names to define things or activities to improve our establishments and our productivity.
Home sweet home…
The place we feel warm and cozy and free to be ourselves.
The place we live and laugh and love and create beautiful family memories.
The place where naked toddlers run through the middle of the lesson on the Byzantine Empire singing “I’m a Little Teapot” and throwing Cheerios in the air like confetti.
*sigh*
While there’s a lot to love about the freedom a home-based learning setting provides, there are definitely some unique challenges that homeschooling parents need to navigate. Many of these challenges stem from two fundamental characteristics of a homeschool.
Homeschools are often multi-AGE and multi-USE settings.
These two aspects can equate to high levels of distraction unless some thought is given to managing them well.
WARNING: Homeschooling may cause your schedule to look different than the rest of society. This can lead to serious side effects such as nasty glares from strangers, self-doubt, and upheaval of existing routines.
When you have the freedom to tailor your routines to the unique needs of your unique family, your schedule begins to look… well… unique.
In many ways, my family’s daily and weekly routines are backward from our non-homeschooling friends. And guess what?
THAT’S OKAY!
Necessity is the mother of invention, right?
Or, to say it another way, desperate homeschooling mothers sometimes balance a hose on a chair with a rake to occupy the toddler so the other kids can finish their science.
