Homeschool 101
You’re back! I knew you would be….oh how I love my community that checks back in, shares their success stories; especially when it comes to this homeschool thing. 🙂 Guys, I’m on the struggle bus when it comes to our current school schedule.
I shared on my Facebook page yesterday how it makes me super sad to have to wake my littlest up from her nap, to go pick one up that didn’t want to go to school in the first place. What in the world am I doing? This is not peace in the home!
My (Rebekah’s) Answer to “Why Homeschool?”
I run a business from home and now I need to schedule time for work and school. I have no problem admitting that perhaps this will not be such a great idea after all. If that is the case, we will start over again with a new plan. What I do know is that our current situation isn’t working out.
Why you ask? The never-ending homework, the fact that they have 3 different uniforms to wear on different days, the rigorous schedule which prevents sports, the 50 minute time difference in pick-up times between my pre-schooler and the rest of the kids…I could go on, but I digress.
It is a lot for someone with just a couple of kids! For a family with 5 kids, it’s just too much to manage. 🙁
Our Family Plan
- 5:00 AM – 8:00 AM // Mommy time – This is where I workout, have coffee, read, pray… LOTS AND LOTS OF PRAYER! And power though the most important parts of my business.
Q: What happens if kids wake up?
A: I fully expect children to wake up during this time. They will be given a quick snack and will learn that this is mommy’s time and they have to play quiet, read or watch a show until breakfast time. I’m no fool. It won’t be perfect, but over time they will learn.
- 8:30 AM // BREAKFAST – Hot Breakfast and kids get ready for the day
- 9:00 AM // SCHOOL STARTS – They will each have a work station near my desk. This way they can work on their lessons and if free time permits for me, I will work on my tasks for the day. This is school time though. I have no expectations to do work. If it happens great!
Q: What about your younger kids? What will they do during this time?
A: My 2 year old is great about getting in her play yard and playing independently. She will be here for much of our morning work. SHe will also have art time because she LOVES coloring.
- 11:30 AM // LUNCH BREAK
- 12:00 PM -1:30 PM // COMPLETE LESSONS – Younger 2 children will nap
- 1:00 PM -3:00 PM // MOM WORKS – Work time for me if I have things I still need to do.
I plan on homeschooling for a month and re-evaluating our plan to determine adjustments and bring in help as needed. I suspect some extra hands for the little ones, cleaning and meal prep would be helpful. Anyone have help in a specific area that helped ease the day to day? I am so open to suggestions!
Final Thoughts
We are excited! We know that the chaos of life won’t change, but what I love is that it is chaos that we create.
- My days won’t be determined by the agenda of the school.
- We can travel.
- There won’t be piles of makeup work from sick days.
- There will be no more runs to the school because of lunches or instruments left behind. Don’t judge… I take their stuff to them because I honestly feel they have so much to keep track of that I understand how things get forgotten.
- They will play sports… and going to practice won’t mean they are up until 11:00 PM doing homework.
- They get to sleep in! No more fights getting out of bed.
- No more looking for lost shoes, belts and ties… yep, they wear ties once a week.
I already feel calmer when I think it through. I know it sounds nuts. There have been many times when I have said, “Heck no! I can’t homeschool.” I am positive there will be days I say it again. I mean, what mom out there doesn’t repeat herself about 2.5 million times a day? Yeah, I know I’m going to come back here and be whiny, but that’s where I need YOU, my community of friends to help walk me through those days, with your stories of homeschool mania!
Life is hard and imperfect! There is no getting around that. You just have to find your own way of getting through it all with grace and success. 🙂
xoxo REBEKAH
PS Share your homeschool stories or comments below!
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