We homeschooling parents can sometimes put ourselves under enormous pressure to provide our children with a rich, thorough, rigorous, and well-rounded education the likes of which humanity has never beheld. In our grand quest, we purchase the best curricula, stock our libraries to the brim, gather multitudes of art supplies, research every method and philosophy, decorate, prepare, and exhaust ourselves before we’ve even gotten started.
Our intentions are good. Our hearts are in the very best place. However, after a month or more into the year, the rubber has hit the road. The reality manifesting may be falling somewhat short of the magical picture we envisioned of our pixie-dust-laden homeschool days, complete with freshly baked bread and oh-so-delighted children.
Cutting Out the Unnecessary
Step back for a moment and recall the highest priorities of your homeschool. Why are you doing this? What do you hope this experience gives your children in the long run? How can you ensure that you make progress towards those while making each day much easier?For example, perhaps you’ve deemed it important to study art and music history. You may be trudging through a cumbersome curriculum or spending far too much time researching the lives of classical composers, and your kids are finding this subject to be a drag rather than the delight it’s meant to be. Instead, what if you simply named a composer of the week and listened to the work of that composer in the background of your day as the week transpired? That’s it. No curriculum, no busy work, no assignments—just consistent listening. Might they gain some familiarity with each composer’s work, style, and even the period in which they composed? Today’s streaming services provide on-screen information about each piece as it’s played. Might that be enough?
Similarly, what if you displayed a famous work of art each week in your homeschool space? Would consistently doing this all year be simple but worthwhile in your pursuit of teaching your children about the arts? Would it be much better than giving up altogether? Might it be something you could choose to expand upon in more detail from time to time, but would still be great even if you didn’t?
What else can be made easier?
Take spelling, for example. Spelling is something that comes naturally to some children and is more of a struggle for others. One way to make spelling fun is to have your children make their own spelling lists each week. Have them look through books in your home library, searching for words they deem challenging. Once their list is full (10 to 15 words), you can have them write out definitions, practice writing them in print and cursive, or simply spend the week on their own trying to remember how to spell each word. At the end of the week, give them a spelling test. Whatever words they misspell return to the spelling list to try again next week. Rinse and repeat.
Morning Basket
Search homeschool morning basket online and you’ll find many resources and ideas surrounding this topic. If you’re not familiar with the concept of a “morning basket,” it’s basically a way to joyfully share subjects as a family on a consistent basis. It need not be a basket nor be done in the morning, but it’s a gathering of the whole family where you share different books and resources together on rotation. Many families center this time on their religious studies, read-alouds, and creative projects. It can be anything you make of it, but simply adding this activity to your day ensures that you enjoy what you hope to enjoy without feeling a lot of pressure to do so.Combine Subjects
Similarly, consider combining your students to cover as many subjects as possible. This can be challenging with skill-level subjects like reading or math, but content-based subjects like history, science, the arts, and more can be shared across different age ranges. Wherever you can, combine.Checklists
As children get older, they can manage more of their work independently. Utilize checklists and written instructions to encourage their autonomy and free you up to fix everyone a snack or help younger kids. Encouraging independence while, of course, maintaining your full support is a great way to foster your children’s growth.Four-Day Week
Just because your local school is in session five days a week doesn’t mean you have to homeschool on that schedule. Consider a 4-day school week with one day for fun family activities. The younger your children are, the easier this is to accomplish, but with some planning, even high school students can enjoy the freedom of a flexible schedule.Prize System
A fun way to encourage productivity and fun for your kids is to institute a prize system in your homeschool. Perhaps they get a prize for every score of 100 percent, or when they go above and beyond the basic requirements, or when they read an extra book, or when they fulfill a challenge like staying screen-free for a day or mastering their multiplication tables.Call It School
Homeschooling is an outside-of-the box endeavor. Don’t underestimate the amount of learning your children are enjoying in activities that may not look like traditional schoolwork. Lego builds, field trips, making their own videos, art projects, spending the day with family, gardening, decorating their room, building a birdhouse, vacations—it’s all part of homeschool. The world truly is your classroom. Don’t worry too much that your children aren’t doing enough. Instead, rejoice and celebrate all that they are doing.Find learning everywhere. Call it all school.
