I’m very sorry for not updating this as frequently as I should.  We have been busy lately with our children and some other complications.  While we had suspected that our youngest was an ADHD child, it is starting to look much more like an Autism Spectrum Disorder. We are hoping to know a final diagnosis by March but in the meantime are traveling to the doctor’s office to meet with different therapists 2 times a week.  It will be a very long road, but we have enjoyed a lax homeschool environment lately with the main focus just being trying to survive the new more stressful schedule.

I will get back on track in the very near future and apologize for the long absense.

Tags: about me, complications, reasons why

For many parents the idea of exactly when they should begin homeschooling is really simple.  From the moment they find out that they are having children they already start thinking about curriculum choices and other special things.  Going to the effort of teaching your child at home might sound like the easiest decision in the world but for many it is something that they wrestle with for a very long time.  In order to ensure that you really are making the right decision for you and your family you need to look at your overall situation.

Do you think that you can really teach your child at home?  Many parents don’t think they can, they believe that a lengthy education at a formal school is required in order to actually teach and this is far from the truth.  Most parents can easily teach their children at home successfully.

Do you have the time and pateience to look for suitable resources?  This is an area that become hectic, many parents spend years, if not their child’s entire educational career looking for the right curriculum to use.  You need to have the time and patiance to actually keep searching until you find the perfect choice for you and your child.

Tags: curriculum, getting started, reasons why

Every family has a different way of homeschooling.  Some take the time to start out each day following a rigid schedule and others are much easier and loser to deal with while tossing schedules right out the window.  It is a matter of choice and most families eventually settle into a pattern and routine that works well for them.  In order to easily and simply move along many families opt to use a scehdule.  There is nothing wrong with this, but many families find that going by a schedule makes them nervous and they simply cannot function.

Trying to decide if you are best using a schedule is not always easy, there are plenty of different factors that you need to take into consideration. You need to always consider your own attitude towards schedules, do you view them as your friend, or just something that is a hassle.  You also need to consider the personality of your children as wel.  Not all kids are the same, one child might not work well with a schedule while another child may thrive using it.

Taking all of these considerations into account will help you to ensure that you are making the correct decision, rather than simply trying to force a solution on your family that just will not work.  Always feel free to make some changes if necessary to things if they are not working.  You are in charge ultimately and you need to be happy with the solution or it will be a complete disaster and typically fail.

Tags: getting started, reasons why

You know that there are days when you feel like doing nothing more than getting up, packing the kids into the car and driving to the nearest school that you can find.  These days are when the burnout has set in.  You do not feel like continuing your homeschool journey regardless of the benefits that you know exist.  The reasons for burnout vary significantly but almost all families will experience it at one point.  The success of your homeschool program depends heavily on how you actually react to it.  If you are not willing to make some changes you will find that your burnout is growing, rather than getting better.

You should first take some time to really determine what you are upset about.  Many people are unhappy with a specific type of curriculum, others are not pleased with the progress that they are making and still other parents dread subjects more than the child does.  These can all add up to some serious reasons behind the burnout.  Taking the time to really determine why you are burned out will be useful in trying to establish ways to improve the situation so that thigns can get back on track.

You should also take a bit of time to get away from it all.  A few days without school work is a great way to help beat burnout.  Taking a trip to the beach, aquarium or part just for fun without trying to focus on always packing in a full day of educational activities can help yo uto really rediscover the simpler things that drew you to homeschooling as well.

Tags: complications, reasons why

Perhaps there are times when you really start to question why you are homeschooling.  This is perfectly natural and to be expected.  If you are able to read over the reasons that some other people have, you are often able to reinforce your own reasons as well.  Waiting until you are completely exhausted to start looking for reassurance will find you thoroughly run down, which creates huge problems in your schedule and routine.

1. I am able to control exactly what my children learn and how they are learning it.

2. We can move as quickly or as slowly as we want.  There is no huge schedule that we have to stick to aside from our own.

3. I have never failed a state inspection of my home, nor has it ever been needed because children are being mistreated, failing, abused, or harmed while at school.  I’m not quite sure that the public schools in my area can ALL say this without lying.  Several in my area are on probation with the state for poor performance, and many others see police officers and lockdowns on a typical day.

4. We are able to enjoy some time away from school whenever we want, we can also have school whenever we want.  Reading lessons at 8p.m. anyone?

5. Rigid schedules have never been my best friend.  Often I find myself up working into the wee hours of the morning. Homeschooling allows me to adjust my schedule to easily accomidate these occurences withouthaving to worry about the kids being late for school.

6. There has never been a gun pulled in my home that results in dozens of people running for their lives.  This is occuring in far too many schools, and frankly schools are not responding appropriately.  The occurances of guns in schools is increasing, rather than decreasing after all of this time.

These are only a few of the reasons that I am choosing to homeschool, I will likely share many more as time goes on.  Deciding the exact reasons you homeschool as well is important to actually structuring your goals as well though, which is critical to a successful homeschooling experience.

Tags: getting started, history, math, reasons why, science