Yes, here is my confession. I am struggling to hold on to my joy as we homeschool. We just started our new school year. Everything has been in place. I am excited about the new things we have planned. I've let go of several leadership responsibilities this year and will have more time for all the fun stuff....
But we are more than three weeks into our year and my joy is missing. Help!
If you've educated at home, I am sure you know what I am experiencing. It happens in life just as it does in home education. I am still moving forward in all of our plans. I am watching to see what adjustments if any need to be made. I see that I have been maybe too relaxed in my approach of our days which may be leading to my frustration that is trying to steal my joy. My older two are in middle school and involved in online education within our public school system. They are both doing well. My youngest is struggling which reminds me that I've seen this before with my son. It isn't exactly the same, but those fourth grade blues are trying to overtake my baby girl. Hmmmm...
When you find yourself in a place of frustration and no joy in your journey, don't immediately throw in the towel. Take a few steps to restore your joy and rid yourself of frustrations.
1. Stop. Sit back. Evaluate.
If you need to take time off from school, even if you just started, go ahead and take the time. Think about what is causing you frustration. Is it the curriculum? Is it the time frame? Is it something more personal: lack of sleep, missing your goals, spiritual unrest?
2. What can you do?
Depending on your children's ages and your own financial status will structure how you do this. Some people will automatically know that the curriculum they are using is not working. Easy fix. Get rid of it and use something else. (I'll have to blog about choosing curriculum.) Maybe it is the curriculum, but you can't get rid of it. You can adjust how you are using it. You don't have to do everything that a curriculum guide tells you to do. Choose what will work for you and your family. But maybe it isn't the curriculum. Maybe it is your time schedule. Maybe it is the "classroom set-up" that is causing problems for you. Maybe it's you. Yes, sometimes even the parent needs adjusting. Rethink your goals and pray about what is best for your family.
3. Talk about it.
My husband pretty much leaves all homeschooling decisions to me. Every once in a while, he will say something. (I make sure I listen since those occasions are so few.) But talk to your husband whether he is involved or not. He doesn't have to have any answers. He just needs to listen. Talk to your children about what you see that isn't working. Ask if they have suggestions on how the goals you have set can be accomplished. Talk to another homeschooling mom. Locate this person carefully. You want to ask someone who may have the answer; someone with a gentle spirit who can listen to what you need to say.
4. Restore your joy!
Our joy is not really stolen by things that are going wrong in our home education programs. Our joy is stolen because we are focusing on the wrong thing. My joy comes from the Lord. So, in the end, I give all that has gone on and all that will go on, to Him. He will restore my joy and my confidence, that yes, I can do this. I can homeschool with a smile on my face. I can laugh when things go awry. I can have a redo by his grace. In doing these things, I will teach my children to hold on to their own joy!
I hope you will find and keep the joy as you journey through homeschooling and through life!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Organization
I am a planner. I try not to be one at times, but it still kind of just happens. I think by planning I will be sure to accomplish something. I have become more laid back, but the planner and leader in me always seems to make its way out.
As a home educator, I was recently asked by a friend what kind of lesson plan book I used. Hmmm...I don't use a lesson plan book. I can say that is one thing that I pretty much hated when I was teaching in the public schools. It does help to know what you are going to do and have a plan. But I remember having to look up standard numbers for everything I was doing and turning them in to be reviewed. Ugh. So I've rebelled against the lesson plan book. I do, however, love my calendar. I used to spend hours in the office supply stores looking for the perfect planner. I wanted it to have the blank month and then daily areas behind each month. I also had to have a year at a glance page. Then to top it all off, it had to look good. It was almost like picking out a purse or shoes that you would have with you most of the time, because I did have it with me. My planner was an accessory.
A couple of years ago I broke from the planner mode. I now carry a cute three ringed binder with colorful birds all over it. I have dividers in it for all the different activities we are involved in. The first spot is my calendar pages. I design them myself with quotes that I want to see regularly. I print them in colors I like and put them in the front. Then I have a divider for my homeschool group where I put my membership directory and any other tidbits of info I may need. Then the 4H group with any project paperwork that is needed. I thought about getting pocket divider so I could collect those bits of paper with notes or fliers from another, but for me, it had disaster written all over it. I jot notes on the back of calendar pages and such as I need. It works for me.
If you are going to home school, please have a calendar that you can access at any time. I have a few friends who love the electronic ones. Me? I like to write; it helps me to remember. I also like the paper trail. In our home school group, we always have field trips and socials going on. I write in my calendar what we have committed ourselves to. If payment is due at a certain time, I put that in my calendar too. I even print out a public school calendar to carry. We have friends and family that are in public school, so it helps to know when they will be off. Sometimes we will take those days off, or sometimes we will take full advantage of a place to visit knowing most of the other kids are in school.
Organizing at home is important too. There are different ways to organize your house. I am in favor of bookshelves and baskets, the bigger ones that hold books or craft supplies. My hubby and fil just made me a large built-in bookshelf. Yes, I am happy and blessed. I am still organizing it. I have all this space. It's wonderful. My kids keep the books and notebooks that they personally use in backpacks in their bedrooms. They bring them out to do their schoolwork and put them away when we are done. I also joke that they are very convenient for "car-schooling." We are on the go a bit during the school year, so it makes sense for them to be able to take work with them in the car. It works for our household organization too. I have a shelf of school books that they are to ask to use. Then plenty of shelves with reading books and reference materials. We have done our history as a family since we began this journey. I like to keep all the history materials in a basket to pull out to use. It works well for us. I know where everything is. One of my children can get the basket if they need to do so.
School work is kept my each child in their binders in their backpacks. If their binders get too full, they can give me their work, paper clipped together and I will stick it in a file until the end of the year. In our state, Florida, portfolios are kept for end of the year evaluations. Portfolios are to only be a sample of the students work, so at the end of the year, I go through to choose what will be kept. Everything else is trashed. I keep a lot of the writing assignments. I have a hard time throwing those away. But I do throw some of them out.
Some families like having cubbies for each child. They use a daily or weekly folder system for their work to be done. I think it can be a good idea for younger children. I like giving the responsibility over to my children though as they get older. Some parent educators have a basket for each child or even a desk for each child. Just keep it all organized somehow. It will make your sanity and school year go much smoother.
If things do get chaotic and need to be re-organized. Take a day off to get it done. Don't continue in a mess or your work and your children's work becomes futile.
One last hint for organizing your students, have your children learn to write their name and date on their schoolwork, even if it is their workbook. This is a "school skill" that many home educators ignore since they don't have a classroom of 30 students. Yet, it is a needed skill. When they go anywhere else, a co-op, church, a party, an outside class--they need to know how to write their name on their papers. Why write the date? It is nice to know when things were accomplished. In Florida, the law states that we need to show progress for the school year. That can be difficult when dates of work are not established.
As a home educator, I was recently asked by a friend what kind of lesson plan book I used. Hmmm...I don't use a lesson plan book. I can say that is one thing that I pretty much hated when I was teaching in the public schools. It does help to know what you are going to do and have a plan. But I remember having to look up standard numbers for everything I was doing and turning them in to be reviewed. Ugh. So I've rebelled against the lesson plan book. I do, however, love my calendar. I used to spend hours in the office supply stores looking for the perfect planner. I wanted it to have the blank month and then daily areas behind each month. I also had to have a year at a glance page. Then to top it all off, it had to look good. It was almost like picking out a purse or shoes that you would have with you most of the time, because I did have it with me. My planner was an accessory.
A couple of years ago I broke from the planner mode. I now carry a cute three ringed binder with colorful birds all over it. I have dividers in it for all the different activities we are involved in. The first spot is my calendar pages. I design them myself with quotes that I want to see regularly. I print them in colors I like and put them in the front. Then I have a divider for my homeschool group where I put my membership directory and any other tidbits of info I may need. Then the 4H group with any project paperwork that is needed. I thought about getting pocket divider so I could collect those bits of paper with notes or fliers from another, but for me, it had disaster written all over it. I jot notes on the back of calendar pages and such as I need. It works for me.
If you are going to home school, please have a calendar that you can access at any time. I have a few friends who love the electronic ones. Me? I like to write; it helps me to remember. I also like the paper trail. In our home school group, we always have field trips and socials going on. I write in my calendar what we have committed ourselves to. If payment is due at a certain time, I put that in my calendar too. I even print out a public school calendar to carry. We have friends and family that are in public school, so it helps to know when they will be off. Sometimes we will take those days off, or sometimes we will take full advantage of a place to visit knowing most of the other kids are in school.
Organizing at home is important too. There are different ways to organize your house. I am in favor of bookshelves and baskets, the bigger ones that hold books or craft supplies. My hubby and fil just made me a large built-in bookshelf. Yes, I am happy and blessed. I am still organizing it. I have all this space. It's wonderful. My kids keep the books and notebooks that they personally use in backpacks in their bedrooms. They bring them out to do their schoolwork and put them away when we are done. I also joke that they are very convenient for "car-schooling." We are on the go a bit during the school year, so it makes sense for them to be able to take work with them in the car. It works for our household organization too. I have a shelf of school books that they are to ask to use. Then plenty of shelves with reading books and reference materials. We have done our history as a family since we began this journey. I like to keep all the history materials in a basket to pull out to use. It works well for us. I know where everything is. One of my children can get the basket if they need to do so.
School work is kept my each child in their binders in their backpacks. If their binders get too full, they can give me their work, paper clipped together and I will stick it in a file until the end of the year. In our state, Florida, portfolios are kept for end of the year evaluations. Portfolios are to only be a sample of the students work, so at the end of the year, I go through to choose what will be kept. Everything else is trashed. I keep a lot of the writing assignments. I have a hard time throwing those away. But I do throw some of them out.
Some families like having cubbies for each child. They use a daily or weekly folder system for their work to be done. I think it can be a good idea for younger children. I like giving the responsibility over to my children though as they get older. Some parent educators have a basket for each child or even a desk for each child. Just keep it all organized somehow. It will make your sanity and school year go much smoother.
If things do get chaotic and need to be re-organized. Take a day off to get it done. Don't continue in a mess or your work and your children's work becomes futile.
One last hint for organizing your students, have your children learn to write their name and date on their schoolwork, even if it is their workbook. This is a "school skill" that many home educators ignore since they don't have a classroom of 30 students. Yet, it is a needed skill. When they go anywhere else, a co-op, church, a party, an outside class--they need to know how to write their name on their papers. Why write the date? It is nice to know when things were accomplished. In Florida, the law states that we need to show progress for the school year. That can be difficult when dates of work are not established.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)