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Why the Hectic Pace in Homeschool? What’s the Rush Girl?

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Why the Hectic Pace in Homeschooling @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

What’s the rush? Why the hectic pace in homeschool?

Homeschool curriculum options have literally exploded in the market.  Instead of simplifying homeschool it seems like the huge amount of curriculum choices have complicated homeschooling.

We are constantly bombarded with more deadlines, stress and a growing list of of homeschool subjects.

Pressure to perform has mounted. Constantly expecting too much from our children and ourselves is not good.

We can’t slow down the hectic pace of this world when it comes to educating our children, but we can make changes in our everyday journey.

Is Your Homeschool Teaching a Trickle or Torrential flood?

One thing we have control over is the pace we set each day for our school.

The pace we set in teaching our children made me think about a point we learned in science.

When there is a quick down pour, rain runs off  the ground because it’s too fast and the ground doesn’t have time to soak it up.  Digging down the surface a bit, you can see that the ground is still dry.

However, when there is a soft, gentle, rain that trickles slowly throughout the day, the ground soaks up the water and nourishes the plants.  The slow trickle saturates the ground.

Do you tend to flood your children with lots of information and busy work or is your day of teaching more like a soft gentle trickle so that your children can soak up what you are teaching?

 Realistic Tips that Work

Besides understanding that a constant hurried pace is not good for you physically, here are some doable tips that will help to reduce the stress in your day.

Routine is vital.

Routine is a habit and instead of stressing each day about how to start the day, there is no pausing for thought, we just do it.

Progress and routine are inextricably linked.

Progress reduces stress and helps to slow pace down but it only comes if a routine is formed.  Routine can be  anything but hum drum if we allow a gentle unfolding of our day that suits our family.

Organization (the realistic kind) is a must.

I have said it many times throughout the years and that is as homeschoolers the way we organize has to be different.

We can’t follow the organizational tips given by many well-meaning books and blogs of stay at home moms who do not wear the teacher hat or who don’t share learning and living spaces.  Those kinds of tips makes  the already overwhelmed unorganized homeschooler run the other way from organizational tips that will breathe calm into her day.

Organization takes on a different meaning as homeschoolers.

When time is wasted fumbling for lesson plans, kids don’t have a place to put away their papers or books or when kids don’t understand their morning routine, this starts our day off at a hurried pace.  We seem to spend the whole  day trying to catch up.

Equally important to choosing curriculum is choosing a plan of action.  Take as much time writing down how you want your day to flow and where to put away your homeschool things as you do mulling over curriculum choices.

Homeschooling and life blend together the longer you homeschool.

When you have a plan for cooking and laundry as much as you do for chemistry and language arts, then you have balance in your day.  Tension starts to subside.

Breaks should be meaningful.

I love walking and physical exercise has always been a time for me to rejuvenate and be re-energized for the day.

Stepping away from the chaos and doing something physical always has helped me to put things back in the right priority.

If I am stressing that I am not doing enough, then I ask myself why? Is it because life happened like a sickness in our family that went through all five of us or was it because I was helping one of the boys deal with a lot of hormones?  Then we need to bless and release it because that is part of school.

If I am stressing because I planned too lightly then learn from that lesson and move on.

Dwelling on things that we can’t control brings stress.  Stress breeds chaos and an inability to cope.  It’s a vicious cycle and will consume our time if we don’t break it.

Constant reminders are needed about why we are homeschooling and how an unhurried pace year after year infuses our children with a massive amount of knowledge that has time to saturate not only their minds, but their hearts.

Too, plan for the unexpected by preparing your mind for things that will come up and cause stress.

There is a cost for trying to do too much.

Take a look at your pace. Does it need to change before you hit burnout?

Also, look at these helpful tips:

Hugs and love ya,

How Can I Achieve Simple Homeschooling? Dynamic Reader Question

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Some days it is hard for me to write because I always prefer the weight of a spoken word over a written word when it comes to telling you things that are important to me, like your heartfelt questions.

How can I achieve simple homeschooling is a reader question and I always make time to change my blog posts to talk with you about things that are heavy on your heart.

How Can I Achieve Simple Homeschooling @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusLook at Anne’s question. Do you feel the same way?

“How can I achieve a simple homeschool ? The amount of available options and materials are overwhelming.

Even after 1 1/2 years into it. I just love all the fun and creative ideas out there and get “side tracked” by it all.

I would love to be more minimalist in my homeschooling so I don’t have to do so much sorting, organizing and constant revisiting of plans!

And your amazing blog and Facebook posts are not helping! So many wonderful things, and so much of it free. Who can resist? I look forward to your blog post. Thanks from an unintentional unorganizer who is overwhelmed.”

Satisfied with Simple Homeschooling

Certain times during my homeschooling journey, I envied the pioneers of the past, like my mother, who had very little to choose from when she started homeschooling my youngest sister.

Though I was in high school, I took notice of her home made flash cards, learning games and books she collected.
Her choices for learning products to choose from couldn’t even begin to rival with all the things that you and I have today.

My younger sister’s schooling days were simple, filled with creative learning techniques and fulfilling.

Less is more sometimes.  However, there are many times I remember too that my mom was not allowed to choose from the things we have today because back then she was not viewed as a “real” educator.  She couldn’t receive access to the same learning materials as other teachers.

Things have changed significantly during my homeschool journey because we have access to so many free things that just were not available to those that went before us.  I wouldn’t trade our options today for those limited options back then.

We face another problem today, which is curriculum options overload.
So what I am saying is that though free is available, it doesn’t always mean that it may fit our homeschool plans.
Today, we need to develop the ability as educators to reach back to the simple times of those homeschooling pioneers without giving up the options that we have now.
How do we do that?

Homeschool Teaching Goals vs. Curriculum

Struggling is something no homeschooler likes to do.

Out of struggles at times can come a clear plan of action. From my struggles of deciding which free resources to use, I had to balance them with with my teaching goals.

Along the way, I had forgotten what I was teaching that year, that week or a particular day when I was swimming in a sea of free resources.

Getting caught up in curriculum hype and teaching resources is easy to do.

Trimming those overwhelming resources to usable resources for our family is done way easier when we don’t forget our teaching goals.

Think back to the past again to the one room school houses.
Teachers had very limited resources for multiple ages. Resources were not the teaching tools but teaching goals were primary and resources were built around them.

Coming full circle today, that is why you see many seasoned homeschoolers tout over and over that curriculum is just a tool.  When free resources are used to embellish the direction we are going, those teaching resources just become tools that we are glad we have.

Just because our toolshed is full of unique tools that we may need someday, it does not mean we will use every tool when we simply want to weed a garden or trim the sidewalk.

However, when it comes to time for a big project or a unique project that suits our family, I am always glad I have unique tools on hand and organized in a way that I can find them.

Homeschool Organization – Simple is ALWAYS Best

After determining your teaching goals and being determined to stay on focus, you want to develop an organizational system that works for YOU.

Forget all the crazy notions of things you would never do, develop a simple system for immediately putting that tool where it belongs so you can retrieve it easily when you lesson plan.

A super complicated fancy organizational system does no good if you can’t use it.  It can go from useful to useless real fast.

Think of a system that does not slow you down, but one where you can download the freebies, organize them, put them in the place they belong in the beginning and that can be retrieved easily when you lesson plan. And the best part, it can be done in a few clicks with minimal time.

When I set up my homeschool files on my computer, I knew I didn’t want a kajillion different topic files because that would be hard to retrieve and hard for me look at when there are too many files.

I start with very HUGE general sweeping topics.  For example, SCIENCE, is one big main file.

I am not hunting on my computer for rocks, animals or chemistry.  All of that can fit under one topic.

File: SCIENCE.

Main Science File
I want one go to place for planning science when I get ready. Easy Peazzy.

Then next, I don’t just dump all the freebies in that ONE big file.

I took time to organizes sub-files so that “everything has a place”.

A little side tip about freebies.  Normally freebies come in either one of two ways when we get them.

One way is by grade level and the other way is just by subject.

Think about that for a few minute and it really tames all the freebies. They have a subject matter and are either grade level or not. Simple.

Knowing this, I set up my sub-files by grade level and by topic.

I go one tiny step further and even number them or label the sub-files so they stay in the order that I want them to.

For example, I put zero on Kindergarten sub-file so it stays in grade level order in front of 1st grade and so I don’t think that I missed overlooking making a file.

File: SCIENCE > Grade Level or Topic.{Life Science}

Science Files Organized

Too, you see I have the 4 main branches of science so that if a resource is not specifically grade level, it goes in there.

Then going even further, my sub, sub-files under LIFE SCIENCE are even labeled by plant, animal or human body alphabetically.

I won’t make your eyes pop out, but even under human body, I have sub files for each body part if I find those resources.

File: Science > Life Science> Topic.

Subfile under Life Science

You notice under Life Science that I have a file marked “Animals”.
Sometimes I may come across one free resource and I won’t make a sub file on that animal until I have a few more to put in a file.

This is just my system because until I make a file for it, I know I don’t have that many “tools” for that topic.
It is just MY system but it works for me. You may want to create a sub-file for each freebie you get.
Again, this is just my way of glancing quickly when I am planning and knowing that I don’t have much on that subject when I don’t have a sub-file.

You can see quickly that under many of the sub, sub files like Flowers, Insects, Dogs, Frogs and Human body that you can have many sub,sub,sub files.
Please don’t get overwhelmed with all of this, because you can create files as you go.
In the beginning, all of my files were general files like Animals until I started collecting an overwhelming amount of free resources. Then I slowly set up each file.

Phew. Back to the beginning, can you see though that a good place to start is with GENERAL CATEGORIES?

History, Science, Language Arts, Art, Music and Bible.  That’s it. Start there to organize your freebies as you plod along. Don’t spend time going back over things you already did.

Too, with the overwhelming amount of free online storage, there is no need to worry about downloading and storing your “tools”. Grab them all because homeschooling is a long journey and you’ll be surprised at how many freebies you will cycle through.

Now that I have homeschooled for quite a few years, I have items also stored on a Toshiba, external portable slim drive.

 

I love this baby.  It is so very slim and I can plug it in a second and it goes with me in my purse.

I prefer it sometimes over online storage because of how fast I can retrieve what I need.

Achieving simple homeschool means to not give up all the free resources we have today, but it means to use them to enhance, embellish and make our teaching come alive.

It means to be satisfied with a simple homeschool day like times pasts where kids eyes lit up when the teacher introduced a new tool.

Lastly, it means to set up an easy, non-time consuming system for storing and placing tools right then in their permanent place so that they can be retrieved instantly.

What are some other ways you keep your homeschool simple that Anne could use?

Hugs and love ya,

Tina 2015 Signature

Also, check out these tips for simple homeschooling:

When Homeschooled Kids Are Not Excited About Ordinary Days

Eliminating 3 Non-Essentials in Homeschooling

 

When Homeschooled Kids Are Not Excited About Ordinary Days

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Hearing other homeschoolers say how excited their child is about a new unit study, a new curriculum or the new school year when you may feel your child is not can certainly make you feel alone.

Do you have a child that is only thinking about what is required so he can spend the rest of the day playing, on the computer or his device?

Facing head on potential road blocks in our homeschool journey like when homeschooled kids are not excited about ordinary days or about anything pertaining to learning is the way I always prefer to tackle hurdles but I didn’t always feel so confident.

Do you feel that homeschooling is like choosing  the lesser of two evils? You are in good company and not alone.
When I started homeschooling I had conjured up a vision that because my education lacked in many areas that my sons would be bright-eyed and eager to learn every day.

I was excited to learn about all of the things I never did in school, but also I was determined to make my sons’ experiences different than mine.
Back to reality, I have had many times when the only thought on my boys’ mind was when is school going to be done so they can get on the computer, turn on the game or eat the left over pizza in the refrigerator.

Guess what? That is why they are not in charge. Let me share a few of my coping techniques.

Whose job is this anyway?

Early on I made it clear to my sons that it is their job to learn even if I am the most boring teacher.

Just like I would be working on my teaching skills, I made sure my kids knew what their role was in homeschooling.
Don’t think that parents who pull their kids out of public school in which they may have had a bad experience are the only ones that deal with a spoon-fed mentality by kids.

Learning to learn is a process for our kids. It is cultivated and nurtured through time and experiences.
There are many days our kids want to just play mindless games and sit back while we spoon feed them.  They are really no different than us if we give in to that inner person or side of our personality that just doesn’t want to show up some days to teach.

The difference between our kids and us of course is not only age but the ability to see the disastrous results if we live our life or homeschool in a mindless way.

Like us, the first step in getting children infused with learning is to teach them that what they can control is to show up at school with a positive attitude.

I have found through the years that instead of putting down how they may feel about homeschooling, I give it merit or validate it.

When our children see that we too as adults have the same feelings at times, it not only makes them feel that they are not alone, but that they can share the negative side of homeschooling and not be chastised for it.

Communicating true feelings even when our homeschooling may be boring is a wake up reminder that we might need to change a few things.
Attitude is the first subtle change to making a difference in our learning and that is something that nobody else can control.

If my children are old enough to cop an attitude about learning, they are old enough to start understanding the disastrous results.

I find it is better to be frank, set boundary lines for learning and explain why you have them for your children than for them to think life is going to be about eating their favorite leftovers of cold pizza each day.

A lot of things in life are just about doing things that we find boring and mundane but we will show up.

“I am not an entertainment act.“

We carry a lot of guilt as moms and negative thinking can make inroads in our hearts.

It is hard to carry around the guilt that our day doesn’t look as exciting as another family’s day.

That clear cut line, in that your child knows your expectations, allows them to work on their positive attitude while you decide where you can make improvement.

While I am sharing secrets, did I tell you that my lapbooks and unit studies were born out of my desire to be a better teacher?

I use to think lapbooks where for only young children. I set a bar for myself, like I do for my sons and wanted my teaching and activities to be something that draws my sons to learning.

Sharing my unit studies and lapbooks allowed me to not only set a standard for the type of teacher I wanted to be but it also shoved deep down that tyrannical mother I could be when it came to learning.

I have learned to let go of the fact that it’s not my fault that some days are just well – routine.

Life and school are very similar because life is more about routine than life altering moments.

I have learned that from routine comes the tiny moments I cherish in homeschooling.

Teaching my sons to value routine was also the start of changing their attitude about learning when most people may think that routine is boring.

Establish a routine. 

We all have interruptions in our school.

It can be hard to break the habit of letting things that are nonessential take over our day and break our routine.

I feel all homeschoolers crave routine even though sometimes we don’t recognize our natural desire to have a flow to day that we can predict.

Following our body’s natural rhythm to sleep, eat and move around, we have that same desire to learn and be educated.

When my sons know what to expect each day and don’t wander around aimlessly asking what we are going to do each day, it makes for calm in my home.

Post a visual homeschool schedule if your children are young or post a class schedule in their notebooks if your children are older.

Help them to get started on time by not having so much chaos in the house that it is distracting to their routine.

I still find everything fascinating about learning but more importantly I find happiness in being passionate about teaching my sons.

Enthusiasm is contagious and it starts with you, not them.

It doesn’t mean we don’t require a positive attitude when our children show up for learning, but it means we model the type of adults we want our children to eventually be.

Weaved into that attitude is the reason we are excited about showing up each day to homeschool.

I don’t believe the only reason we should be eager learners is to get a good paying job or to go to college but for the gift of curiosity.
Curiosity has sticking power unlike any career or any college degree.

I have also  learned that it is my job to try to make each day a little better than the next day.
Because I can’t sing, dance or draw my sons will have to accept I will do my best to teach and I will accept that they will do their best to show up for days that are just ordinary.

How about you? Are most of your days just ordinary?

Hugs and love ya,

Check out these other tips!

How To Fake Homeschooling

Biggest Challenges to Homeschooling

Easy Ways to Break Out of a Homeschool Rut

Helping our Homeschool Children Find their Inner Drive When We are Not Sure We Have It