These guest posts have been so encouraging and they just keep on coming. We were high school classmates who reconnected on Facebook…..both beginning a homeschool journey at the same time! I love how God works like that. What an encouragement we have been able to be to each other. I am not alone for sure! You rock Sandi, oh and check out her blog Never Say Never, and btw I LOVE that title, don’t you?
My journey into homeschooling…
My name is Sandi, and I homeschool. That statement sounds like I need help, and trust me I DO! I’m
new at it only about 8 weeks into the making as I write this. I am a wife, mother of 4, and office manager of our construction company.
It pretty much occurred to me one night at 9pm while sitting at the kitchen counter. After 3 hours of working on homework with my 8th grader it struck me that I really would rather be doing this in the a.m. hours! Said 8th grader has always had struggles in school. I won’t go into it all, but let’s just say anxiety and lack of confidence gets him “stuck” in so many ways. This in turn has manifested into slowly maturing emotionally, being academically challenged, and all out frustrated. (Wait…maybe the frustrated one is me.) Anyway, I’ve gone from the mom who makes the comment, “Oh, I could NEVER homeschool”, to one that realized at this time of his life I have no greater choice, but to.
Our schooling is centered on “catching up”. Our focus is on reading, writing, & arithmetic. Because my son is behind in some areas, and only struggles a bit in others, I have had to pull together my own worksheets, books, & curricula to meet his needs. I for one would LOVE to just have one program that says do this on this day and check that box off! But, it doesn’t work that way for him so I must improvise.
I struggle all of the time with the thought that I’m not doing enough. He should be spending more time. I should have more books, worksheets, plans…you get the picture. Constantly being reminded that we are doing all we can right now. I know it’s a process that will continue to change and have different look to it all of the time, sometimes day-to-day.
A few things I’ve come to learn:
- Be willing to continually research and learn, but don’t overwhelm yourself.
- Talk to other homeschool families even if you never meet them face to face.
- It’s O.K. to use DVD’s and online streaming for teaching certain subjects. If you child learns from it then it is working
- MAKE A PLAN. One mistake I make continuously is not having the week at least sketched out.
- Give yourself (and your student) a break on days that are just not going smoothly! i.e. take a time out!
- Look into community classes. My son goes to an incredible science lab for an hour and a half once a week with other homeschool kids. It’s hands on and he loves it!
- Know when to hover and when to back off. For moms this is a delicate balance at times!
- You don’t need a special room or a bunch of “stuff” to homeschool. We sit at the kitchen table, use a white board and one portable file box. I love storage things, and setting up spaces, but our house does not lend me that option and I had to come to terms with that and move on.
- Ask your student what their expectations are for homeschooling if appropriate. Let them have a voice.
- ENJOY YOUR STUDENT!
It was important to my son that he stay connected to school. So we compromised a bit and he attends school for the last period of the day and takes an elective. Win-Win I say! He goes to school at 1:50 and rides the bus home every day which gives me just about an hour and 15 minutes to myself in the afternoon.
My 3 other kids attend public school. This makes it difficult at times when I’ve done school in the morning, driven my student to school in the afternoon just to have the others come home and need help with their homework. Can you say CRAZY? Some days one of them will say, “I want to be homeschooled!” because they’ve heard about something fun we’ve done that day. I do feel guilty sometimes, but when it comes right down to it I’m not ready to take on anymore, and they would probably find out they don’t want to be with me that much! Although, I do see there may be a possibility that my 4th grade son could benefit from homeschooling in the future as well…we’ll address that at another time!
My ultimate goal is to homeschool for the duration of 8th grade to raise my son’s confidence level and at least master some of the basics in math. As the freshman year approaches we’ll see what transpires. I can’t imagine having him home for the next 4 years because I want him to have a high school experience, but I realize that may not be what is best for him.
This journey has just begun!
Love it Sandi! Thank you so much…
Now there are just 73 school days left until summer.
