6 Things I’ve Learned from Homeschooling

As I mentioned yesterday, I am far from a veteran homeschooler. But, after six years of homeschooling, I have learned a thing or two about not only myself, but also my children. In fact, I have probably gained more from these past six years than my children have.

Homeschooling has taught me so much about myself that I didn’t want to know and some things I didn’t care to know. No matter how much I think I know about my children and homeschooling, there are always lessons to be learned. For instance, I have learned that none of my children have the urge to get up and get their work done. I was always an early riser and one who would get right to work, so I could have the rest of the day. My children; however, take after their father – who is not a morning person.

I have also learned that two of one of my children loves math – like, seriously loves it. Another thinks a perfect grade is the only option and therefore puts undue stress on himself. And another who loves Science and History – two of my absolute least favorite subjects. And my youngest is the most creative, artsy person I have ever met – which is so. not. me. But there are six things I have learned over the past six years of homeschooling.

6 Things I Have Learned from Homeschooling

• I need to throw out the plans! I know this is contrary to what I wrote yesterday about large family homeschooling, but for me its important. I found that while I enjoyed the rigidness of having a plan, it also took the enjoyment out of learning. I was so restrained by the schedule that I couldn’t let them fall behind or heaven forbid, ask questions. Once I quit worrying about what was next or how long we took on a subject, our days were much more enjoyable.
• Don’t stress. In the beginning I stressed over how much we were doing, learning and the grades on what we completed. While we still work on a graded scale and I have a minimum they must get or they have to re-do the assignment, I am more lenient knowing they are learning and actually retaining the information – regardless of speed or grades. Stressing out over our schooling only put more pressure on me and my children and it made our days miserable.
• Make learning fun. While I love having fun with my children, when it came to homeschooling it was all business. As I mentioned in the previous two points, I had a daily plan/schedule to keep and we needed to do it all or I failed. This left no room for fun. As I watched my oldest begin to hate doing school work and I saw the smiles fade, it finally dawned on me that he was missing the fun. Even though we don’t do a craft project every day, I try to bring in some fun during the week. Sometimes its a field trip, sometimes its a fun craft project and sometimes its a science experiment. I know my kids well enough now, that I have to be careful to keep us on task with certain subjects or we’ll never finish. But they now know, if we finish our work…there will be fun time!
  
• Know your child’s learning style. When we first started homeschooling, I had no idea what my son’s learning style was – other than full force. He loved learning and wanted to know everything…now. Over time, as we both got frustrated with different subjects, it dawned on me that maybe, just maybe, this didn’t fit his learning style. As soon as I figured that out, things changed and have been so much better – for both of us. AND…he has just thrived in his learning, which makes everyone happy.
• Go with your child’s interests. In the beginning I chose our curriculum based on subjects I thought my son would enjoy, for instance Astronomy. And while we both found it fascinating, it was a little too in-depth for his kindergarten brain to completely comprehend. Since then, I have learned that while he enjoys Science, he loves more hands-on activities and physics-type activities. And as for history, he is not interested in all history, but more specifically WWI and WWII. In particular, he loves the weapons and machines used in those wars. So, we have read and studied a lot about those wars. This year we will have to expand our history, but this really clinched his love for history and I couldn’t be happier.
• Don’t be afraid of change. When we started homeschooling, I was warned not to change our curriculum too soon. And while I understand that philosophy and waiting to see if you can “find your groove,” there are times it just needs to happen…and in the middle of a school year! This year we changed math curriculum for our middles and it has been the best decision I could have ever made! Now, I am not saying you need to switch after a week of frustration, because many things can contribute to getting frustrated. However, pushing your child to use a curriculum that is clearly not working or that they are struggling with isn’t going to win you any homeschool mom awards. It will only lead to anger and resentment on both ends. My best advice is to just pay attention to why they get frustrated and see if it really is the curriculum or a clash with their learning style or something else.

What have you learned in your years of homeschooling? I would love to hear in the comments!