photo by Tiagø Ribeiro
A reader commented, “I would love to read more on how to stay encouraged and excited about homeschooling on a daily basis.”
I have found that the very best way for me to stay encouraged and excited about homeschooling each day is to avoid discouragement by avoiding feeling overwhelmed. There is nothing like feeling overwhelmed and discouraged to make me want to pull the covers up over my head and snuggle down deeper in my bed when my alarm goes off rather than get up and face the day.
While it seems obvious that one must avoid discouragement to stay encouraged, the key for me has been to identify the ways in which I can avoid discouragement.
How do I avoid discouragement on a day to day basis in my job as a homeschool mom?
Limit Outside Activities During the Day
In my area, there are many wonderful opportunities available for homeschoolers such as classes at nature centers and museums, co-ops, and endless field trip possibilities. In the past, I have enrolled my children in lots of these great experiences and they were usually quite worthwhile. Regardless, I found that I would feel discouraged if we weren’t keeping up with the plans that I had for our homeschool.
Now, we only enroll in classes and take field trips that directly relate to what we are studying at home. This has simplified our days and made them far less hectic.
Limit Other Time Commitments
A few years back I felt like I was drowning in time commitments. We have a family business and I have tasks that I must do each week related to our business. Homeschooling takes up an enormous amount of time. I was a co-leader in a mother-daughter group, teaching Sunday School at church, and teaching a weekly art class in a co-op. I also sold scrapbooking supplies in a home-based business of my own. Then there are all of the endless tasks that are involved in just keeping a family fed and clothed. And, of course, my husband wanted some attention now and then.
There was a point where I truly felt like I was drowning in commitments and I was feeling little joy from any of them. I was cranky and stressed much of the time. Basically, I hit the wall and decided I needed to make some major changes.
After teaching Sunday School for over 10 years, I resigned my position. I felt a lot of guilt at first but I finally realized that this is just not the season for me to be teaching at church. Now, church is once again the weekly renewal of my spiritual self that I so desperately need.
At the same time, I stopped teaching the weekly co-op art class, and resigned my position as co-leader in the mother-daughter group. I also stopped selling scrapbooking materials. Basically, I cleared my plate of everything that I could.
After clearing my plate of so many time-consuming commitments, I felt much less overwhelmed and much more able to keep up with the planning, grading, and implementation of teaching at home. It took me years but I learned that for me, homeschooling was not something I could just add on to an already busy life.
Change Your Expectations Regarding Housework and Meals
My home is pretty clean, fairly organized, and quite comfortable. You wouldn’t be afraid to use my bathrooms!
On the other hand, my house will win no neatness/cleanliness/decorating awards. After years of stresses about the messes, I finally realized my home just couldn’t look picture-perfect all of the time with three children at home actively working, living, and learning in it all day long. Our meals are simple, easy and quick to prepare.
I’ve changed my expectations about what our house should look like and what our meals should look like.
Take Care of Yourself
I can remember being in college and staying up most of the night many times writing papers and burning the midnight oil jacked up on caffeine and feeling fine. Fast forward to now – caffeine leads to an irregular heart beat for me and lack of sleep leaves me literally dragging through the next day.
Perhaps it’s my age, but I have found that I HAVE to take care of myself or I just can’t take care of my family and homeschool without being quite ugly about the whole thing. I need sleep; I need to eat food that is good for me; I need to make time to walk at least several times a week. I need to take some time to relax a bit each day. Taking care of myself is not wasted time – it is time well spent.
In addition to avoiding discouragement, I also try to do things that actively ENCOURAGE me in my role as a homeschooling mother:
- I make it a priority to connect with my husband. I make time to spend time with him.
- I make lesson planning and grading a priority in my days so that I don’t feel unprepared and discouraged during our school days.
- I continue to learn and grow in my chosen profession as a homeschooling mother through attending a yearly homeschool convention, reading books about teaching, and educating myself through classic novels and other materials.
- I find support through homeschooling blogs and lectures.
- I make some time to do things that are personally satisfying and enjoyable for me (like writing for The Homeschool Classroom).
The above suggestions work for me – they are not a list of strategies for avoiding discouragement and staying encouraged that will work for everybody. They are simply the suggestions that work for me. So, what about you?
How do you avoid discouragement and stay encouraged on a day-to-day basis as a homeschooling parent?
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not homeschooling yet (next year) but I loved the article. I think the point about not overwhelming yourself with too many outside activities is a good one. Socialization seems to be the #1 concern of my extended family (those that don’t know anything about homeschooling) and I’ve mentioned to them the tons of activities available to us to keep the kids engaged with others. Every time I list co-ops, classes, playdates, gymnastics, etc I think to myself that I can’t possibly do all that. I appreciate you saying that directly. I feel like it lets me off the hook. If they were in public school my kids wouldn’t be IN everything. They don’t need to be IN everything while homeschooling either.
Thanks! :-)
Wonderful tips on remaining focused and encouraged on this journey!!
.-= Kelli´s last blog ..Peace =-.
Thank you for the kind comments Annie and Kelli about my article! I completely agree with Annie in that I know I had my children involved in SO many activities because I was afraid they weren’t around other children “enough.” So, at this point, my kids have all chosen one sport that they truly love doing and we only attend classes and field trips that directly relate to what we are studying according to my school plans for the year. I have found that not only do too many outside classes/activities/field trips wear everybody out but that as my children have gotten older, it is almost impossible for us to get all of our schoolwork done and be out and about during the day too much. I am certainly not suggesting that all outside activities be given up but as homeschool mothers, I think we have to choose wisely.
Samantha
.-= Samantha´s last blog ..Spring Cleaning Bible Truths Giveaway Contest Winner! =-.
What a wonderful article, Samantha! It’s so great to hear someone else say that it’s okay to do less and be okay with a clean, but imperfect, house and nice, but not gourmet, dinners! We all need to hear this from each other and encourage each other. Thanks for this article.
.-= Tanya´s last blog ..The Lungs =-.
Thank you for a well-written, very honest article. Every point you made rang true for me. This year I’ve finally come to recognize the need to do everything you list, but implementation can be tough and so it’s wonderful to get such encouragement from an outside, unsolicited source.
Part of the struggle for me is accepting my limits: A very good (and supportive) friend is an excellent homeschooling mentor for me, but she also has the energy of at least three normal women. It is a battle not to compare myself to her and find myself constantly coming up short. We are all different with different abilities, and it’s good to remember that while others might have different situations/personalities that allow them to do “more”, God made me the perfect mom and wife for MY family. I’m not supposed to be like someone else, only the best I can be of who I am.
Thank again for the uplift!
These are all things I’ve learned along the way, too. It can be really hard to say “no” to all the opportunities out there, especially if you live in a big homeschooling-friendly community. I found that when we were unschooling, I felt like we had no excuse to say “no.” But what I really missed was just being home with my kids doing our own thing. I’ve found that whatever your method or style, you still have prioritize that quiet time at home for learning together.
.-= Amanda´s last blog ..Springtime books and nature table: Birds and eggs =-.
Thank you for sharing this. I have been trying to reevaluate where we are and what I want for my kids in our schooling and what I need to do to keep it and myself fresh. I like what you said about commitments. I limited our extra curricular and focused more on us this year. What a difference. Thanks again!
.-= Rana´s last blog ..It’s the Law! =-.
Thank you for all of the kind comments. I am so very happy that my article was able to bless some of the readers of Homeschool Classroom. Your comments were very encouraging to me and represent much of why I began blogging in the first place.
Samantha
.-= Samantha´s last blog ..Staying Encouraged about Homeschooling by Avoiding Discouragement =-.
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