20 Lessons From Our First 40 Days | Homeschool Diaries
No need to send a search party, we survived the first eight weeks of homeschooling! I consciously made the decision to step back from my blog and focus on working through the growing pains of our brand new lifestyle.
After only a week, I'd learned quite a bit. After two months, it's quite incredible to see how things I worried about (difficulty balancing the kids differing curriculums) never materialized and other things that I never considered (like spelling difficulties) took center stage.
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| Crazy Hat Day at VBS #DisneySide |
Here are the twenty random things we learned during our first forty days of homeschooling!
1.) Let It Go.
2.) Seriously, something's got to give and I am okay with priorities shifting.
3.) Schedules are necessary.
My kids need to know on certain days they will be doing certain things at certain times or they will never get anything done. Likewise they do best knowing camp is in three weeks and a friend is coming over tomorrow afternoon. We keep a pretty consistent family schedule Monday to Friday. For unusual things, we keep a family calendar where the kids can see it.
4.) Flexibility is necessary. If someone is sick or just has the blahs, sometimes it's okay to just skip a day, or push it off to the afternoon, or do it in an entirely different way. If the weather is beautiful, feel free to head to the park.
5.) Balance is necessary. See 3 and 4.
6.) Listening to my kids is not the same as letting them be in charge (just like steamrolling over their opinions is not good sound leadership.) If I'm getting good feedback 80% of the time but spelling always gets groans, is there another way to teach it?
Feedback as constructive criticism is muy importante.
7.) Budget (both time and money)
8.) Don't be afraid to schedule in lots of "nothing goes here" time.
9.) Listen up. There are some awesome podcasts out there specific to homeschool. I LOVE Fletch and Kendra of Homeschooling IRL. They are hilarious and honest and refreshing and just fun.
10.) The library is my friend.
Free DVDs? Sure thing! My kids love watching Bill Nye and Mythbusters and National Geographic DVDs. Never mind the dozens of books my kids read for fun.
11.) Sharing my work with my husband.
I always feel like sharing at the end of the day helps me refocus. It's nice to get another (adult) perspective on the longer view of things. Ben will suggest things and reaffirm my choices.
12.) Without inundating him with every detail of the day in the first five minutes he walks in the door.
Ben drives upwards of an hour each way on his commute most days. I've finally learned to give him a little space to unwind before I launch into a laundry list of schooling highlights.
13.) Teach my children to respect him too.
After the kids greet Ben, I (TRY TO) carve out a little quiet time where we both head back to our room so Ben can tell me about his day and relax for five minutes from commuting. I love hearing about his day and it helps us reconnect before we jump into playing with the kids.
14.) What's a motto? (Nothing. What's a-motto with you?) Time to enjoy some pie in the sky big picture vision-casting. Pick a mission statement, a motto, a quote or a life verse for your school. If you're the do it yourself type, write your very own mission statement. Either way putting it in writing helps you shape your future decisions. It's good to do this when you still remember why you want to homeschool.
15.) "If you can dream it, you can do it."
So we've come up with our dream/motto/verse, but how does that translate this year?
We wrote Chris and Kylee's name at the top of a page and created sections for different parts of their growth this year (educational, physical, spiritual, etc.)
In each section we wrote things from the tangible (join kids choir, read cursive, learn to carry in addition) to the more abstract (love school, enjoy reading on your own, improve spelling). This was when we correlated goals to curriculum.
So how do you eat this elephant? One bite at a time.
This is the plan for this month? This week? This part of the plan breaks down the 36 weeks of literature curriculum and 160 math lessons into manageable chunks. I get a planner and a pencil (and an eraser.)
16.) Have a Plan.
A clear plan for the time being includes a current curriculum that is working for my kids and all the school supplies to carry it out. We have some idea of when we will take breaks over the next six months. Part of the beauty of homeschool is that if we wake up one Monday and want to take the day (or week) off we can.
17.) Don't try to see the future. It doesn't work.
My second grader, Chris, started launching into how he wants to homeschool college the other day. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. He realizes (somewhat) college is 10 years away but I think he, like me, enjoys having a goal and a plan. I've researched enough to realize it is possible to plan out our curriculum through 2024. I've also realized it is not the wisest to put my hope in my own plans. I plan to reevaluate far too many times between now and then to worry about college for my second grader.
18.) Fun for me, for the kids, for our school and our afternoons too!
It is important that I loved the curriculum we picked because at kindergarten and second grade, I'm involved in reading aloud most of their lessons. My love turns to enthusiasm spilling over to share with the kids.
Even with this enthusiasm, some days we need a break and head over to a friend's house. All of our kids just play with each other and we visit.
Or we go to SkyZone.
Or the pool.
Or we do school in our pajamas or super hero costumes or pirate gear or in a tent.
19.) Research a little, pray a lot, make your curriculum decisions and then Let It Go.
That one perfect curriculum that is custom made for your family? It doesn't exist. Instead hundreds of really great curriculums exist. Many will work great for us. Some won't. Our current choice is working great.
20.) One can never have enough socks.
Or sharpened pencils, erasers, underwear or peanut butter. Doubling up on purchasing these little everyday items just makes life easier.
Do I still feel hopelessly green from time to time? Yes! Especially listening to homeschool mom podcasts where the hosts have been teaching their homeschool students for (literal) decades. The difference is I have confidence now that I did not have back on the second of June when this homeschool adventure began.
I have confidence.
I can work through the problems and struggles and still make sure that everyone eats dinner.
I can laugh and learn and enjoy the process.
I can homeschool.
Now back to your regularly scheduled Disney blogging.
1.) Let It Go.
2.) Seriously, something's got to give and I am okay with priorities shifting.
3.) Schedules are necessary.
My kids need to know on certain days they will be doing certain things at certain times or they will never get anything done. Likewise they do best knowing camp is in three weeks and a friend is coming over tomorrow afternoon. We keep a pretty consistent family schedule Monday to Friday. For unusual things, we keep a family calendar where the kids can see it.
4.) Flexibility is necessary. If someone is sick or just has the blahs, sometimes it's okay to just skip a day, or push it off to the afternoon, or do it in an entirely different way. If the weather is beautiful, feel free to head to the park.
5.) Balance is necessary. See 3 and 4.
6.) Listening to my kids is not the same as letting them be in charge (just like steamrolling over their opinions is not good sound leadership.) If I'm getting good feedback 80% of the time but spelling always gets groans, is there another way to teach it?
 |
| Spelling practice is inexplicably more fun in chalk on the driveway. |
7.) Budget (both time and money)
8.) Don't be afraid to schedule in lots of "nothing goes here" time.
9.) Listen up. There are some awesome podcasts out there specific to homeschool. I LOVE Fletch and Kendra of Homeschooling IRL. They are hilarious and honest and refreshing and just fun.
10.) The library is my friend.
Free DVDs? Sure thing! My kids love watching Bill Nye and Mythbusters and National Geographic DVDs. Never mind the dozens of books my kids read for fun.
11.) Sharing my work with my husband.
I always feel like sharing at the end of the day helps me refocus. It's nice to get another (adult) perspective on the longer view of things. Ben will suggest things and reaffirm my choices.
12.) Without inundating him with every detail of the day in the first five minutes he walks in the door.
 |
| Even when my kids are reading one of my very favorite books of all time. It can wait five minutes. |
13.) Teach my children to respect him too.
After the kids greet Ben, I (TRY TO) carve out a little quiet time where we both head back to our room so Ben can tell me about his day and relax for five minutes from commuting. I love hearing about his day and it helps us reconnect before we jump into playing with the kids.
14.) What's a motto? (Nothing. What's a-motto with you?) Time to enjoy some pie in the sky big picture vision-casting. Pick a mission statement, a motto, a quote or a life verse for your school. If you're the do it yourself type, write your very own mission statement. Either way putting it in writing helps you shape your future decisions. It's good to do this when you still remember why you want to homeschool.
15.) "If you can dream it, you can do it."
So we've come up with our dream/motto/verse, but how does that translate this year?
We wrote Chris and Kylee's name at the top of a page and created sections for different parts of their growth this year (educational, physical, spiritual, etc.)
In each section we wrote things from the tangible (join kids choir, read cursive, learn to carry in addition) to the more abstract (love school, enjoy reading on your own, improve spelling). This was when we correlated goals to curriculum.
So how do you eat this elephant? One bite at a time.
This is the plan for this month? This week? This part of the plan breaks down the 36 weeks of literature curriculum and 160 math lessons into manageable chunks. I get a planner and a pencil (and an eraser.)
16.) Have a Plan.
A clear plan for the time being includes a current curriculum that is working for my kids and all the school supplies to carry it out. We have some idea of when we will take breaks over the next six months. Part of the beauty of homeschool is that if we wake up one Monday and want to take the day (or week) off we can.
17.) Don't try to see the future. It doesn't work.
My second grader, Chris, started launching into how he wants to homeschool college the other day. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. He realizes (somewhat) college is 10 years away but I think he, like me, enjoys having a goal and a plan. I've researched enough to realize it is possible to plan out our curriculum through 2024. I've also realized it is not the wisest to put my hope in my own plans. I plan to reevaluate far too many times between now and then to worry about college for my second grader.
18.) Fun for me, for the kids, for our school and our afternoons too!
It is important that I loved the curriculum we picked because at kindergarten and second grade, I'm involved in reading aloud most of their lessons. My love turns to enthusiasm spilling over to share with the kids.
Even with this enthusiasm, some days we need a break and head over to a friend's house. All of our kids just play with each other and we visit.
 |
| Taking time off with Kylee to teach VBS? Definitely! |
Or the pool.
Or we do school in our pajamas or super hero costumes or pirate gear or in a tent.
19.) Research a little, pray a lot, make your curriculum decisions and then Let It Go.
That one perfect curriculum that is custom made for your family? It doesn't exist. Instead hundreds of really great curriculums exist. Many will work great for us. Some won't. Our current choice is working great.
20.) One can never have enough socks.
Or sharpened pencils, erasers, underwear or peanut butter. Doubling up on purchasing these little everyday items just makes life easier.
Do I still feel hopelessly green from time to time? Yes! Especially listening to homeschool mom podcasts where the hosts have been teaching their homeschool students for (literal) decades. The difference is I have confidence now that I did not have back on the second of June when this homeschool adventure began.
I have confidence.
I can work through the problems and struggles and still make sure that everyone eats dinner.
I can laugh and learn and enjoy the process.
I can homeschool.
Now back to your regularly scheduled Disney blogging.
Looks like you're off to a great start!
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