Tuesday Tip #2 Do not try to fit everything into one day!

Overwhelmed With Your Homeschool Schedule?

If I start thinking about all of the subjects I want my children to learn or expose them to, I can make a long list.
Bible, reading, math, science, history, government, music, art, writing, nature study, foreign language, poetry, spelling, geography …..
That list could keep going, but there is no way we can fit all of those things into a single homeschool day and, honestly, even a single homeschool season. This can make scheduling our homeschool days challenging.

The Homeschool Scheduling Solution

One solution might be to narrow down the list, but alternately we can remember that we do not have to teach everything in a single day. While there are some subjects (Bible, math, and reading) that we try to make sure we include in almost all of our homeschool days, there are others that we cover once or twice a week.
There are also subjects that we do not cover every year, but that I still make sure to incorporate as we can fit them into our days. For example, one year, I might make sure to include geography in our morning time so that all of my children get geography that year. The following year, I might do some poetry studies or focus on economics.

I get easily overwhelmed if I try to fit everything into a day, a week, or even a year. However, I have eighteen years to teach my children, including thirteen years of ‘formal’ schooling.
When I look at their education from a long-term perspective, I realize that I do not have to stress covering every subject every year.

Homeschool Goals

I also have to keep in mind that my goals for them:

First, to raise them to know and love the Lord.
Then to prepare them to be productive citizens who can think critically about the world around them.
Next, I want them to have a solid education that allows them to follow whatever path God has put forth for them and be able to provide for their own families one day.
Finally, I want them to love learning and the skills needed to be lifelong learners.

When I remember that last goal, I can remind myself that I do not have to teach them everything. If I expose my children to art history and show them what is available, they will know how to learn more if they are interested. The same applies to poetry, music, classical literature, and many more subjects.
When considering what you need to cover, consider your overall goals, your children’s interests, and the needed content.

Real-World Examples

For example, we cover music more often than necessary because it is enjoyable for my children. I also do math very regularly because there is a lot of content to cover to prepare them for a job or college upon graduation. When they are young, we do phonics regularly. However, once they can read well, our literature studies can vary a bit more because they strengthen their reading skills with their personal reading.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed trying to teach your children everything you want them to learn? How do you break down your homeschool schedule to make them work?

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

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Resource Library

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Last Minute Back to Homeschool Solutions and a Giveaway

Every year, sometime in August, I get at least one family who decided last minute to homeschool and wants to know how to make the switch. Maybe school starts in a couple weeks (or days) and you just know it isn’t right for you or maybe you started back to school and really want to bring your children home.

You CAN do this!

Take Your Time

First, take some time to breathe. Do what you need to do to register as a homeschooler in your state, bring your child home, and take a few days to enjoy time as a family and get prepared to start. You do not have to keep the same schedule as the school system and it is OK to take a few weeks to prepare.

Spend some time making goals for your homeschool, researching homeschool styles and philosophies to see how you want to set up your curriculum. Talk to your students and get their input. It might make you feel like you are getting behind, but the time you spend preparing will save you time and frustration moving forward.

Curriculum

I am often asked, “What is the best homeschool curriculum?” There is no single right answer to that question. The best is the one that works for your family. I have spent hundreds of hours reviewing curriculum and I can tell you that there are many wonderful programs available and what works for one child may not work for another.

When you are getting started, I recommend buying used curriculum. When you buy used, you can resell and get most of your money back if you find it does not work for you. This often helps give families flexibility as they determine what will or will not work for them. I also highly recommend doing a little research into homeschooling philosophies to help you narrow down your options. There are some great free tools to help with that in our How Do I Get Started Homeschooling? post.

Find a Flexible Program

Another great option is to try a program like Schoolhouse Teachers. We love Schoolhouse Teachers because with only one membership we have access to a wide variety of courses (over 400 from preschool to high school). If we try one course and it is not a good fit for us, we can simply switch to a different course with-in the membership.

The membership is also good for the budget because it covers all of the students in your household. There are text based courses, video based courses, grade specific courses and family style courses all included. We are using our membership for several courses for each of my students this year.

Final Thoughts and Encouragement

There are links to some great homeschooling resources at the bottom of this post, but mostly I want to leave you with the knowledge that you can homeschool. If you are being called to homeschool, God will provide you with what you need to make it work. You taught them how to eat, speak, and walk and you can teach them academics.

Reach out if I can be of any help getting you started and make sure to click on the graphic below to read the posts from all of the other Crew Members and enter the giveaway for a free Schoolhouse Teachers Membership.

Resources:

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

If you have not tried SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you don’t want to miss this sale: Buy One Year Get A Second Year Free!

Homeschooling for Newbies

First–you can DO this!

What is available online these days for homeschoolers is SO much more than I had starting out. I remember feeling rather lost and overwhelmed, even with the few options that were offered at the time! Here are my suggestions for getting yourself off the launch pad:

Decide why you wish to homeschool. Write those reasons down and put them somewhere that is easily accessible. This will be your version of a “mission statement”. The days will come when you question yourself, and you need to have these for reference! Trust me on this.
Check with the Home School Legal Defense Association site, so that you know what the requirements are for your state.
Get yourself a supportive network. You need this. Of course, I’ll recommend my group, Schoolin’ Swag, on Facebook! You need a place to talk with veteran homeschoolers. A place where you will feel safe to ask any question, and voice your concerns.
Do a learning style evaluation for your child(ren). I wish I had done this at the start. It would have saved me some frustration and also some cash! Find out how your child learns best, so that the purchases you make will be investments and not wasted money. I also suggest that you do this evaluation for yourself, because your learning style affects your teaching style. You may very well have to think outside your own box to most effectively teach your kids.
Get shopping! 🙂 This is the fun part. I love free resources, because if I find along the way that something is not a good fit, I’ve not lost anything except a little time in trying it out. There is SO much available now online that is free and also good quality. I will be posting many items here as I have time. For now, scoot over to Schoolin’ Swag. Every day we post freebies and blog posts that are guaranteed to bless your socks off. We have many knowledgeable people there, including my three Admins, to help you sort things out. Click on the Files tab, because there are lots of wonderful things there…and you can also use the search option at upper right (use it just like Google) to look for topics of interest.

There you go! You are already off to a great start! Stay tuned for more great encouragement!