Be an Exceptional Homeschool Teacher

Ever heard the quote by an unknown source which states, “Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience.” They must have been a homeschooler. I am not patient enough to homeschool is a common myth about homeschooling.

Whether you are patient enough o homeschool is a valid concern whether you’re new or if you have been homeschooling for a while.

Seasoned homeschoolers would probably agree with me when I say that not many of us feel like the shining role model of patience.

It’s not because we are not great moms, it’s just that we are humbled by this process of homeschooling.

As homeschoolers we get told a lot that “I could never have the patience to homeschool.”

I am NOT Patient Enough to Homeschool

When I first started homeschooling, I felt ill equipped to answer that valid concern.

I feel differently now that I have graduated two of my sons.

Look at some ways to help moms who have that concern. Maybe, you can grab a bit of encouragement for you too.

Patience in my homeschooling journey was learned right along side teaching my sons.

It has to be developed and nurtured. Patience is just as much a skill in teaching as any other skill.

It takes patience to restrain yourself or in delay giving your children the answers.

It is NOT a virtue that you should have instantly, but it is a virtue that you want in your homeschool journey. Why? Read on, I will explain in a minute of its ability to stick through tough times.

More than anything, patience has to be modeled by YOU, the teacher, the educator.

If you either have had a preschooler or teenager one day that is misbehaving or acting up (I promise you some days you can’t tell the difference between the two) they are watching your every movement, body language and tone of speech to see if they are worth of your patience.

It is then that patience is learned by the teacher. The quality of patience teaches our children that they are worthy of our patience because you are really being a servant of them by teaching them.

Patient Enough to Homeschool

Children, even teens, are extremely sensitive to harsh criticism.

Teens are dealing with hormones and physical changes and this can add to the chaos of the house hold.

If we are constantly short on patience, then how can our children respect us as teachers? It won’t happen.

It is important to be firm, not give in and correct their behavior when you see negative attitudes or rebellion from your children.

From the time our children are babies they mimic us and it really doesn’t stop when they are teenagers.

Patience (not skill) is the secret to sticking to homeschooling.

Many new homeschoolers are on the right track though when they think of patience as a must-have in homeschooling, but not necessarily for the right reasons.

You’ll love my book!

Patience is the key to sticking to homeschooling for the right reasons. What are the right reasons?

You are not overly upset when something is not working in your homeschool. Having patience, you can sort through curriculum or teaching tips that are not working for your family.

The most rewarding of things though is that you do not lose your joy so quickly in homeschooling either. Patiently, you don’t get upset at the slightest thing that is not working right in your homeschool.

Also, you avoid making rash decisions like switching curriculum quickly. Look at my article, Stop Switching Your Curriculum, Switch Your Course of Study.

Many times it is not the curriculum that is the problem, but it can be the attitude toward a change in your lifestyle, a change in the mood of your child and just the pressure of everyday life that tug at us.

Is Your Homeschool Missing this?

The beautiful beaming quality of patience knows how to sort through all those ups and downs and doesn’t give in so easy to pressures.

When we exhibit patience and kindness in our teaching, then our children will have something to learn and worthy of imitation.

Look at my tips, What Does It Mean To Be Family Focused Instead of Curriculum Driven When Homeschooling.

Patience is more than the willingness to wait, like the very wise saying above states, patience is proactive and it is the ability to keep going on when the going is tough or slow.

I am still working on those parts. How about you? Do you feel the same way?

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Are you just in awe at all the amazing teaching ideas that homeschool moms come up with? I am.

I hope that I am not alone in feeling that when I first started homeschooling the wheels of creativity turned slow for me or so it seemed anyway.

Not only did I fight my own preconceived notion that crafty people were more creative, (you know what I mean – thinking that because they loved crafts, they must be more creative than others who did not like crafts) I didn’t know if I could make a connection with my sons with the creative idea that I wanted to teach to a meaningful purpose for learning.

Help in overcoming my insecurity and giving me a nudge forward was the way my children responded positively to my new teaching ideas I tried.

Results boosted my confidence and I marched forward.

Today, in sharing the creative process: 5 ways to cultivate inspiration & ideas as a homeschool teacher, I hope to boost your creativity confidence by sharing things that worked to help grease the creativity wheel

■ Follow Your Children’s Lead – it’s natural.

One of the first and easiest places I looked to when looking for creative teaching ideas was to look to my boys.

Watching them while playing and noticing what they naturally took an interest in, I followed their lead and expanded on it.

For example, early on I recognized the love my boys had for creating with lego and playing with play dough.

For some of my earlier writing assignments because my boys loathed writing, I would have them create a “masterpiece” first with lego or with play dough and then write about it.

This hands-on approach worked with writing.

 ■Follow Your Passions.

The next thing I looked at was my own passion.

Which homeschool subjects did I feel comfortably teaching and that I spent more time poring over was the next question I asked myself.

Knowing that I have a love for teaching both history and geography, ideas could flow on how to teach those subjects in a fun and entertaining way.

Presenting ideas from what I loved deep down spilled over into enthusiasm for the way I wanted to teach.

■ Visit an unfamiliar place.

After visiting a beautiful ski resort in Colorado, my mind was infused with more ideas of how to teach reading.

There was no rhyme to reason when the ideas came, but when they did, I wrote them down fast.

The trip to the mountains in Colorado was to rest up. An unexpected benefit was that it boosted my creativity.

I let my mind explore teaching ideas that I thought might work.

It wasn’t about being critical of myself if an idea didn’t sound so remarkable, but it was about accepting whatever creative idea I had even if it sounded absurd.

What I have learned is that even a not so remarkable idea can be tweaked to fit when you do have a stroke of pure genius. The point is write it all down.

You don’t have to travel far either.

Activate Your Imagination

After a local field trip to a historical reenactment, I came back with hands-on ideas of how to teach history.

It did have something to do with going in and out of the vendor booths as I know only loved history, but could see books, crafts and hand work from a certain period in history.

■ Dr. Seuss said it best. “Oh the Places You’ll Go!” Read to Go Places.

Reading is an oil that can well grease the creative wheel.

Reading creates ideas; ideas boost a sagging imagination.

Many of my ideas for hands-on projects or lapbooks were born out of an idea that I read in a book.

Never give up your time reading as a teacher. Whether you are reading for pleasure or to find out about teaching, all of the input will fuel the fire of creativity.

■Internet – Pinterest, Homeschool Forums and Blogs.

I almost cringed as I typed the above because though you can google just about anything you may want to look for and I  know that information overload is just waiting to devour your time. Don’t let the internet do that.

It was almost better for creativity when Pinterest didn’t exist because now we think we have to entertain our guests with food made in jars.

With that being said, like all the new tools that come along in our homeschool, it is just a matter of sharpening them to our advantage.

Take an idea from Pinterest, but tweak it to make it your idea.

Simple and uncomplicated are two things that children welcome. A small tweak and an idea you saw can become your idea.

If you see a teaching idea that you want to do with your family, then no problem, just give credit if it is due.

Learning that creativity is really about tweaking an idea to fit your need, I know now that creativity really exists in ALL of us.

You are just as equipped as the next homeschool mom to come up with strokes of creativity.

The only difference between creative homeschool moms and those who are not is fear.

Creative teachers have taken the time to feed, nurture and stoke their ideas.

Letting go of the fear of failure or that your teaching idea is not remarkable is the only hurdle.

Listen to your inner voice and unleash the overflowing amount of ideas burning within you.

Take time today to feed your passion and watch the ideas multiply.

Hugs and love ya,

Check out these articles.

3 Tips From the Pros Before You Become a Homeschool Educator.
Time Tested Teaching Tips