My kids have spent the last two weeks like sloths, hanging off the edge of the couch, barely able to support their own body weight. There has been complaints of boredom, tiredness, and and a lack of purpose that could drive an adult with a mile long to do list batty.
Cue, routine. School. It’s starting earlier than planned. Not as punishment but because we need some routine to make our days work again.
Exercise that homeschool freedom
Last year (our first at homeschool) we roughly followed the local public school calendar. My kids participate in sports so we are somewhat tied to that schedule anyways. This year we are going to switch things up and really exercise the freedom that homeschool gives us.
School is starting a week early and then we will plan an entire week off in September when it is cool enough to enjoy being out. Last year my kids were offended at the idea that they might ever be “doing school” when their public school counterparts were not in session. It was difficult to make them see any benefit, it just seemed like extra work. We were fully immersed in public school culture.
Learning in the summer? Who does that?
But this past summer we didn’t take the whole summer off. We worked a little here and there; some math, writing, and science every week. The payout is coming.
Last year was our first year of homeschooling. We kept a somewhat rigid schedule because I felt like I had to in order to ensure we got done what we needed to. With four kids, family and outside obligations I felt like if we didn’t have a scheduled “school time” there would always be something else that got in the way. And we weren’t sure homeschool was for us, forever. We had approached homeschool as a one year adventure. If we reentered the public school the following year I didn’t want my kids to “be behind” their peers.
Homeschool 2.0 means confidence that we can do this!
But this year we are starting from a whole new place. We have less to do each week so we can take advantage of local opportunities without putting any pressure on our daily routine. And I may feel a teeny bit more relaxed as well. Leaving the framework of public school I felt pressure to do exactly what they would have done in school plus more.
While I’m certainly not a homeschool veteran yet I can see what all the veteran homeschool moms were telling me last year when I was at their house with my legal pad diligently taking notes. They will learn. They don’t need to learn everything at one time. Just keep moving forward.
So we are starting. Moving forward with excitement over this new year of more freedom, more relaxed schedule and more confidence knowing “we can do it!”
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