Homeschooling is difficult.
My kids are ages 6, 4, and 1. My 6 year old is cruising through the work that I bought him. I knew I was starting him at a place where he would be reviewing quite a bit, but that has proven more difficult than I realized. I've already skipped half of the language arts book that I bought him, and instead of taking a couple weeks to accomplish a math chapter, he is doing one chapter a week. He's really ready to move on with his math, but when I had him take the assessment, it showed that there were things in this book that he still needed to learn. I'm so glad that with homeschooling you can go at your own child's pace because if Wade was in school right now and had to do this work without the ability to skip ahead, I think he would go crazy. Can I just tell you how much energy a 6 year old boy has? He's bouncing off the walls! I'm really trying to find the balance between all of his subjects, making sure he's challenged enough while still allowing him to have the time to let out his energy and creativity. It's not easy.
My 4 year old is doing a preschool curriculum, as well as a government funded program called Upstart that essentially teaches children how to read. He is doing really well with both, considering he already knew all his letters and most sounds. He's learning how to write, though, and that's been great. My biggest challenge has been trying to get him to believe in himself. He compares himself to his brother, and if Wade is doing something better, he wants to give up. If he thinks something is hard, he wants to give up . I've really had to make a theme of "We can do hard things" because of Owen's attitude. He will throw a tantrum and refuse to do what I'm asking, simply because he's scared of failing. This is something I really want to help him overcome, so I'm praying for inspiration and really trying to teach him to have a growth mindset. It's not easy.
My 1 year old is all over the place. He is climbing on the table or on the art easel. He's pulling out all the crayons, all the pencils, anything he can grab. He takes papers and rips them up. It's all I can do to keep him entertained. I'm trying to have different activities for him to do, but he's only 1, so his attention span is quite limited. I try to keep him from distracting his brothers, but it's not easy.
Homeschooling is rewarding.
I love the little moments when my kids get excited about what I'm teaching them. Our science unit right now is about arthropods, and we've been studying bugs and looking at pictures and videos of squid, octopus, and other animals, and my boys have loved it. They get these excited eyes that tell me they think what they are learning is amazing. It's a beautiful sight to see those eyes lit up with the excitement of learning. We've been learning about maps, so we did a little treasure hunt, and it was thrilling to see my boys excited and loving being with their mom and with each other. These moments are what make homeschool so worth the challenges.
Homeschooling is daunting.
I honestly haven't decided how long I'm going to homeschool. Sometimes I think we'll only do it through elementary school, and sometimes I can see us doing it through middle school or longer. My biggest motivation to do homeschool was the prompting from the Lord that I should do it, so I guess in all truthfulness, I'll do it as long as He wants me to, and that's a little daunting. It really is a lot of work and a lot of pressure to make sure my kids are learning all that they need to learn for their future success. I know that with God, all things are possible. If He asks me to homeschool, I know he will help me to accomplish what He has asked me, but I still get overwhelmed on occasion at the vastness of it all. I'm trying to just take it a week at a time and sometimes just a day at a time.
Homeschooling is eye-opening.
I already feel like I've learned so much about myself, my kids, and teaching in general. I'm learning what it takes for me to be prepared enough to teach. I'm learning mine and my children's weaknesses, which is so important to be aware of so that I can work around them and also try to improve in those areas. I love the idea that because I'm learning more about who my kids are, I'll be able to teach them better and better, year after year. That's something you don't get in public educations. Children get a different teacher each year, and it might take the teacher half the year to really understand your child, if they ever do at all. They don't have the time or energy or capacity to be able to treat each kid individually in the way that they learn, but I do. I have the time; in fact, that's my whole purpose, and I'm so happy to have the opportunity to help my kids become who they want to be by really learning about who they are and reflecting that in their schooling.
Homeschooling is exhausting.
Homeschooling is exhausting because of all of the above. It takes all my energy to accomplish homeschooling as well as trying to keep and run my household. I'm constantly trying to make sure that I'm prepared for what's coming up on my schedule, because if I'm unprepared, I know what needs to happen.... won't happen. There's a balance that must be achieved, and I don't think I've figured it out yet, but I'm trying. The trying, though.... is exhausting.
Homeschooling is exciting.
I love all the different things I get to teach my children: language, math, science, geography, history! To me, it's so exciting to be able to remember things that I've learned and teach my children in the process. I love being able to explore the curriculum and learn new things about not only the subjects my kids are learning, but also about teaching in general. I feel like I'm really going to be able to build some great skills through this homeschooling process, and that's very exciting to me! I also am loving learning about all the homeschool support groups out in the world. I'm amazed at how many resources there are and how many people are willing to give their time and talents to help others be able to homeschool. It's an amazing community of people out there in the homeschool world, and I'm loving learning about it!
I'm still really excited about homeschooling, challenges and all. I love my boys, and love all the time I get to spend with them. I'm learning all that I can, and like I said, I'm just so grateful for all the homeschooling parents who have put so much information and resources into the world that I can glean from. Thanks to you all!
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| Dean watching Baby Einsteins while I hurry and finish up our science lesson. |
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| The boys drawing bugs as part of their science lesson. |
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| Dean stuck on the art easel - during the science lesson :) |
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