homeschool

When You Feel Like a Homeschool Failure

February 28, 2015 | 12 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Admitting homeschool failure is not easy. Homeschooling has always been the right choice for our family although many years I wasn’t sure if I was the right teacher for the job.

When you feel like a homeschool failure as a teacher, it can be a pretty gray period because you feel like you have really messed up your children.

I was a contributing factor for Mr. Senior 2013 getting behind in math.

Yep I did, I messed him up. First, let me tell what I did and then tell you what I learned.

Homeschool Failure or Wrong Ways to Homeschool?

We had been using Math U See and I didn’t think he was absorbing the formulas as well as I thought he should; I switched him to Teaching Textbooks right before high school.

Shortly after we started using it during high school, I realized that Teaching Textbooks put him behind and that he was actually ahead of where I thought he was.

So we switched back to Math U See.

Can I just tell you how bad I felt?

Although I had been homeschooling for a while, I still didn’t recognize that Mr. Senior 2013 was just at a plateau and that some of the concepts he would soon understand.

Look at some of these tips that helped me to sort through the feelings of failure I had and get us back on track.

What if they are not just getting it?

This is a tough one because each child is different and many factors affect whether or not your child is understanding a certain subject or curriculum.

Looking back now, I should have backed up to the point where Mr. Senior 2013 understood the curriculum and isolate the math concept instead of right thinking it was the total curriculum.

When I did this later on after I made the switch of course, I realized he was getting most of Math U See, but had only reached some upper level math that required a bit more time to understand.

Questioning Your Homeschool

I knew Mr. Senior’s 2013 ability to work at higher levels and instead of accepting his difficulties as part of his development, I thought he needed to keep sprinting forward. Pushing was the mistake on my part.

I knew Mr. Senior 2013 excelled at math and did not need constant repetition.

Instead of trusting his learning style, I was afraid that I was going to hold him back and in the process I did.

What I am trying to say is that his learning style was not going to change over night and I should have looked at other things that affected him instead of just the curriculum.

What do I feel like we are going backwards? That was another question I had to ask myself.

I had to analyze everything we were doing. Was I not spending enough time with him because the younger boys were tugging at my time?

Was his schedule too full?

Knowing that Mr. Senior 2013 flourished with routine, was I allowing too many outside activities to interfere with our routine. These were all questions I had to go back and answer.

As I have learned now, one solution would have been to take off a month and do review and go back over previous mastered material.

I could have easily grabbed one of those inexpensive work texts and just let him sat at his comfortable level for a bit until the frustration passed.

It was hard for me to come up with that solution because math is one of his best subjects.

I just didn’t realize then that my kids would even need to step back in subjects they excelled in.

Last thing I wanted to do was to bore him with previous mastered material.

That was just the thing he needed as he was going through a period of physical growth.

School had to to take a second seat to allow time for his physical and emotional development.

Is the problem in just one subject? This is another tell-tale sign of how I knew it was developmental.

When we had problems before, it was normally one subject and that is a clue that maybe I needed to switch out that one curriculum.

Other things were going on in my son’s life that helped me to see that the curriculum was not the culprit.

He pretty much struggled with the everyday basics of doing school.

I didn’t take this lightly because this was my kid who was such a joy to teach because he loved routine and didn’t have to be told to start school.

Again, it’s easier to look back now. At the time I felt like I pretty much was failing my child because I didn’t have the luxury of looking forward.

Mr. Senior 2013 was going through changes when I did a honest self-evaluation.

He was getting real mouthy, disagreeing pretty much with everything I said, started looking for a job and expressed his concern about supporting himself.

I finally understood that when I felt like a homeschool failure that my son needed me more than ever. Not all failures are a “curriculum thing”.

He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with our homeschooling because of his inexperience.

I needed to step up and help us sort through it without my son feeling like I was going to send him to public school or throw in the towel either one.

Instead of feeling like a homeschool failure, I realized the time was closing in on how much time I would have with Mr. Senior 2013.

Mistake I Will Never Make Again

I focused on the satisfaction of knowing that his changes in puberty was a part of his life that I was proud to be part of as me and my husband guided him along.

Experiences like feeling like a homeschool failure build a deep down resolve and dogged determination to keep on homeschooling when you come through them and can finally pinpoint the problem.

Update 2020: As I write this, my three kids have graduated and are now adults. I’m mentoring a preschooler.

All the tears, all the worry, all the stress pales into comparison to how well-rounded and successful each of my kids are. What I’ve learned is that teaching my kids about defeat, how to get up, and move on have been of way more value in their every day life than being behind.

I’ve learned it was IMPOSSIBLE to teach everything, but I taught them how to research everything they wanted to know. When they have perceived gaps now as adults, they are not intimidated. I can’t hold back my happy tears.

Moms, you GOT THIS!

Look at these other tips about how to find solutions when you feel like nothing is working.

What about you? Does this resonate with you?

Hug and love ya,

When You Feel Like a Homeschool Failure @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Skill Subjects vs. Content Subjects: What’s the Difference?

February 24, 2015 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I can’t help it, but my heart sinks each time I read or hear about a family sending their kids back to public school.

t’s true that we don’t really know another family’s problems or struggles and that may be their only choice, but a lot of times it’s because we all struggle with how to simplify our homeschool day.

Sharing about skill subjects vs. content subjects: what’s the difference, I don’t want to weigh you down with one more must do in your day, but I want to show you how to lighten up without compromising on your standard.

I don’t say this thoughtlessly either, but homeschooling does not have to be stressful, time sensitive, and always overwhelming.

Uncovering the secret to a simple and relaxing day with your younger kids and teens is to understand the difference between skill subjects and content subjects.

Skill Subjects vs. Content Subjects What's the Difference

Getting down to the nitty-gritty of teaching is what lightens your load because then you will be able to prioritize subjects.

For example, when a struggling homeschooler shared with me her list of school subjects for the year, it looked like this: (a real case example)

Composition, singing class, gymnastics, penmanship, science, Bible study, math, violin practice, learning Spanish, phonics, history, co-op class and Spelling Power.
She asked me if she had missed anything.

I wanted to reply, “Uhmm, you may be missing out on a good night’s sleep from now on with that list.”
I don’t say things like that though because I can sympathize with the tug on us as home educators to fall into the trap that more means more meaningful. It does not.

Too, children are just like us in a lot of ways when it comes to mounting pressure. They long for a simplified day or list.

Homeschool Zen – Skill-Based Subjects Versus Content Subjects

The secret to covering more in the day is to organize or separate the skills-based subjects from content subjects.

They simply do not have the same importance or can be covered differently.

Just what exactly is the difference between skill-based subjects and content-based subjects?

Skill-based subjects are those subjects that without them they could possibly handicap your child from learning anything at all or impair your child from learning about other subjects.

They are the very essentials, backbone and framework of any education.

For example, it’s hard to learn about history or the Bible when you can’t read.

Too, our children will have very little appreciation for the wonder of science if they can’t write anything in a science journal.

How will a child learn to budget or secure a well paying job if he doesn’t understand the basic 4 operations of arithmetic?

Can you take a guess at which subjects should rule your day?

Reading, writing, and arithmetic are considered your skills-based subjects.

Too, another identifying mark of the skills-based subjects is that they need to be presented in a sequential order. Introducing a letter of the alphabet, with the sound it makes to stringing the letters together to form a word are the foundational skills to learning to read.

Math is similar. We teach from basic operations to meaningful formulas.

Can you see that every other subject, other than the three Rs, is a content subject?

That slices your schedule to just about half the subjects that you may think your child needs to cover.

Now that I explained the difference, I don’t want you to think that the other subjects are not important or that you shouldn’t cover them at all.

However, I am here to tell you from experience now that Mr. Senior 2013 is pursuing courses on his own that covering less history, less science, and less art with him have not been hindrances at all.

Because of his love for reading and learning, he has continued to learn about subjects that he is interested in or that we may not have had as much time to cover.

It’s his job now to continue to self-educate, I just gave him the foundational tools and did not get sidetracked.

Understanding the difference between the two types of subjects does not mean that I would encourage you to spend the whole day on just those subjects.

The point of explaining this though is for you to try this before you give up or feel like a failure because you may not be the bomb mom.

Looking back at my example of the struggling homeschooler, look at how I sliced and diced her day:

Cover Each Day	Cover When Your Routine Returns Back to Normal from Insane
composition	singing class
penmanship	gymnastics
phonics	science
Bible	violin practice
spelling	learning Spanish
	history
	co-op class

Sure, kids may be a bit disappointed if we have to cut back some of their activities. However, helping them to learn the value of priorities and modesty, which means understanding limits, will be a valuable life skilled learned better earlier than as an adult.

When Homeschooling is Challenging

Too, help your kids to appreciate that circumstances are mostly temporarily and that you will try to return to the normal schedule soon.

After all, missing a dance class or piano lesson or two is a small price to pay when our homeschool foundation is threatened.

If you are thinking about returning your children to public school, please shoot me an email or post your concerns here if the reasons are not private. I am here to help you stay the course because homeschooling is a superior education in every way if you have the circumstances to do it.

In an upcoming blog post I want to expand more about when and how to fold in content subjects because the knowledge gained from those subjects make up the very necessary skills that our children need as adults.

Can you see where you may need to lighten your load for a while at least?

Grab some more tips here:

Hugs and love ya,

Home Management Binder and Free Important Dates Printable

February 19, 2015 | 27 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

This is the first time in a long time I have not had some kind of home management binder, but then again moving here to South America with only two suitcases and not all the baggage (I’m on a corny pun roll) you have with owning a house, it has been a nice change.

However, we are now settling down to our new home and finding new doctors for the Mr. and there are now things to start keeping up with in our new house as we get the swing of living here in Ecuador.

So I am excited about setting up my binder again. Today I’m sharing home management binder and free important dates printables because I want to slowly set back up my binder.

Too, not all of my printables have made their home to my main page for my home management binder (this is my sister site) that I have on New Bee Homeschooler so I wanted to be sure you got all of them that I have created so far.

Home Management Binder @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PLus

I think I still prefer just a plain white notebook like I had back home in Texas and I have several color cover choices on the Home Management Binder page at the New Bee Homeschool site.

Free Home Management Binder Printables

This printable, which I loved and have been using didn’t make its way to the main home management binder page either.

The printable is an annual date and events page.

Don’t you find that the dates you need to remember for special occasions seems to grow longer each year? Maybe not every year but sometimes it needs to be updated.

Whether I need to buy gifts, plan for a party or just send a card, I like seeing the annual dates at a glance.

When creating this form, I fussed a little bit more over this form than usual.

I have shared dramatic stories of my blogger printables and curriculum planner about how I use them for several months before I release them, right? I do this because I do use my forms and I know if they don’t work for me then they may not work for you.

My original form didn’t have a line between the date and the event. It bothered me because it all seemed to run together.

I like this one much better because I have a place to write the day and then a slight separation before I write the event. The little things on forms means a lot to me.

Download Important Dates Form Here.

Hope you like the form and I will be sharing my blog posts as I slowly set my home management binder back up.

Also, I love this quote today. It reminds me of how I still love to write things down and still love my lists.

“If you have a goal, write it down. If you do not write it down, you do not have a goal — you have a wish.”

~Steve Maraboli~

Look at what else I use to stay organized when meal planning!

Also, look at these posts.

Hugs and you know I love ya,

When Homeschooled Kids Are Not Excited About Ordinary Days

February 11, 2015 | 6 Comments
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

Free Middle and High School Homeschool Language Arts

January 30, 2015 | 28 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I am sharing free middle and high school homeschool language arts resources. Also, look at my page homeschool middle school and how to homeschool high school page for more fun tips

Update: You know I love ya so when I round up freebies, I round up everything I can find.

I do not have the answer keys to these free resources below.

Free Middle and High School Homeschool Language Arts

Kindly said: Please do not email me asking about the answer sheets, other teacher guides or tests. If and when I find them, I will post them for you and me.

These workbooks are ones that I have kept up with and used through the years with my sons as enrichment.

The links have changed and as I have found them, I have updated my links.

Too, I have found new resources to add, but never had them in one place.

Middle and High School Homeschool Language Arts

After using some of the books, they are pretty nifty enough to almost be used as stand alone curriculum.

Too, kazillion (new invented word alert) resources exist for helping you out in preschool, kindergarten and early elementary and after that, free resources seem to thin out.

Determined to have plenty of free homeschool language arts program through middle and high school, I hope you can use a few of these with your kids.