Ahh, the fresh, clean wintertime! It is Monday morning for your homeschooling family and every-thing is PERFECT. Your kids love their math curriculum, they ask for more spelling words, you remind them about their co-op class assignments and they show you the work already done, they want to do extra copy work…
Yeah. Now for real life.
It is wintertime and the kids are already a bit stir crazy. They are confused by the hip math text that is working so well for all of your other homeschool-mom-friends’ kids. They are bored by their spelling text even though it got 5-star reviews on Amazon. They ask if you HAVE to stay in this co-op next year…AND they hid their copy work books.
Some things are great about your homeschool, but some things just aren’t working like you thought they would. What can you do with it all? What will your friends think if they find out that a well-respected, super-popular homeschool curriculum isn’t working for your kids? What will YOU think if you admit it to yourself – your kids just might have different learning styles and interests? Is this homeschool adventure failing? Are you a failure?
Of course you’re not a failure – and your homeschool adventure is not failing, either.
Can we share with you something important that you should remember when you notice that your kids (or you) are somehow different from other people? Here it is —
There’s not ONE right way to homeschool!
We’re not just offering our opinion! After all we’ve been a part of the homeschooling community for 20+ years. We’re pointing out this truth because it is something God put into place, and His way of doing things should be trusted. God created every individual to have different:
• Gifts
• Abilities
• Interests
• Learning Styles
• Circumstances
• Challenges
• Temperaments
It’s our job as homeschooling mothers to model for our kids a trust that God got it right, that He created each person in a unique way, and that way for that person is right! It was not designed to be ONE-size-fits-all in the kingdom of God.
Are you ready to trust in His design and apply that trust to your homeschool this winter? Get ready to have fun with your wintertime homeschooling! Shake things up if they need shaking-up. Have an honest conversation with your kids about what they are loving, what they are hating, and why they feel that way this year. You might even decide to give away curriculum that doesn’t work and try something new.
You certainly don’t have to chuck everything that isn’t working perfectly, of course. Here are some ideas for tweaking the curricula you want to keep so that it fits your children better:
• Try unit studies
• Try a notebooking approach for a subject or two
• Try read aloud
• Try a different textbook
• Try a co-op, group class or online class
• Make a trip to the library and explore; can you find real books that cover what you’re studying?
• Get creative with some hands-on learning
Pinterest offers a wealth of information for fun things to try during the wintertime homeschool do-overs. (One warning: Don’t fall into the trap of believing that you MUST make something as Pinterest-awesome as what you see online!)
You can also get great encouragement and practical inspiration from us at 7SistersHomeschool.com.
The most important thing to remember is this: you can trust God and know that He has good plans for your unique homeschoolers!
Allow yourself and your kids the adventure of creating new educational experiences and remember…
There’s not ONE right way to homeschool!
What is one thing that you’ve learned that does NOT work for your homeschool?
Vicki Tillman, Sabrina Justison and Kym Smythe are 3 of the 6 at 7SistersHomeschool.
What do you get when you take 6 homeschool moms who have helped each other make it all the way to high school graduation, throw in relationships with a few hundred other local homeschoolers who have partnered with them in all sorts of community endeavors, and allow those ladies to share what they’ve learned with the rest of the homeschooling world via the internet?
7SistersHomeschool.com AND The Homeschool Highschool Podcast– providing curriculum, coaching, and encouragement for homeschool-ing all the way to high school graduation.
Wait! It says there are 6 Sisters. Who is the 7th Sister? YOU are!
