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homeschoolchallenges

How to Survive Homeschool Sick Days

October 13, 2018 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Cold and flu season comes to everyone eventually, even homeschool families. Moms rarely get a day off, but sometimes sick days are necessary for both you and the kids. So what do you do when it’s time for a homeschool sick day? As with anything else in life, having a plan in mind can help when the time comes. Here are some tips to help you survive the homeschool sick days.How to Survive Homeschool Sick Days. Even homeschool families need sick days sometimes. Here are some ideas for how to cope when you need a homeschool sick day. CLICK HERE to grab these sanity saving tips!

Homeschool Sick Days

If you need to take a homeschool sick day once in a while, it’s not the end of the world. That doesn’t mean the kids will “get behind” or stop learning!

Some homeschool families do sick day “make-up” work on the weekend or on what would usually be a holiday vacation time. Others homeschool year-round so they can take a planned week off every month or a few weeks off every six weeks or some variation. This allows for time off built into the schedule so there’s no pressure when you need a sick day.

If need be, remember that half days count, too! If someone isn’t feeling well in the morning, try a later start. If you hit an afternoon slump due to allergies or headache, just end your studies a little earlier on those days when you need to.

When you’re just dealing with a minor cold, you can cut back to just one or two subjects for the day so you don’t get worn out. Remember that part of learning is life skills, which means knowing how to listen to what your body needs and getting some rest when you’re not feeling well.

Some homeschool moms have a backup plan that includes getting a friend or family member to help out when they’re sick. Do you have someone who could take over your lesson plans if you’re not well enough for an extended time?

Learning Never Really Stops

There are still learning activities you can do when the family is feeling under the weather. If Mom is sick, there are independent learning activities to consider. If the illness has hit the whole family, here is a list of things that can be educational even while recuperating:

  • Reading in bed
  • Watching educational documentaries together as a family (Don’t forget about Amazon Prime and Netflix!)
  • Doing Mad Libs
  • Listening to audiobooks
  • Educational games on the couch or in bed
  • Making lapbooks
  • Coloring

Don’t forget resting and snuggling!

Remember, you don’t have to replicate school at home. Take the time you need when you need it. That’s one of the advantages of homeschooling in the first place!

Starting Back Up after Homeschool Sick Days

One of my best tips for starting back up after homeschool school days is this:

Just like when you were sick, you needed soup. So now that you’re well, you need a different diet until you boot up to 100 percent. I would do two subjects like math and maybe reading. Then call it a day as you rest more and get the house in shape. Do that for a few days, then fold in another subject. It’s almost like starting a new year. Ease into it.

Also, never underestimate the value of books, games, and hands-on learning. Apps and computer games can be learning supplements when you’re not up to par yet.

You can also use an educational movie or documentary that directly ties into whatever you’re learning. It can supplement your unit study and spark rich discussions. Map work is another great thing to try as you gain strength after an illness.

Some Perspective on Homeschool Sick Days

We all know that it’s tough on the family when mom gets sick, but when you’re also the teacher it can make things even more complicated. If the flu or a cold strikes the whole family at once, don’t worry about taking some needed time off. A little bit of planning ahead and lots of TLC can help you get through those homeschool sick days! How to Survive Homeschool Sick Days. Even homeschool families need sick days sometimes. Here are some ideas for how to cope when you need a homeschool sick day. CLICK HERE to grab these sanity saving tips!Look at these other tips for sick days:

  • Homeschool History Teaching Ancient Civilizations Using Netflix
  • How to Cope Successfully With Homeschool Mental Stress
  • 7 Educational Movies for Kids About Westward Expansion
  • 35 Hands-on Geography Activities to do in 15 Minutes or Less

Hugs and love ya,

 

2 CommentsFiled Under: Be an Exceptional Homeschool Teacher, Homeschool Simply, Homeschool When Nobody Wants To Tagged With: homeschool, homeschool anxiety, homeschool challenges, homeschool crisis, homeschool sick days, homeschoolchallenges, homeschoolcrisis, teaching multiple children, teaching tips

Is Homeschooling Making the Grade? It’s in and the Grade is ALL Fs!

May 8, 2018 | 5 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Successfully homeschooling is not easy. Ask a homeschool mom and she’ll admit many days are tougher than she thought in the beginning. Is homeschool worth it? Is homeschooling making the grade?

After 20+ years of homeschooling and having my third homeschool high school graduate this year, I’m here to tell you that the grade is in and it’s all Fs.

Is Homeschooling Making the Grade?

What is there to not love when emphasis is put on Family-style learning? Public school only Feigned an interest in our child.

Children are not Forgotten or left behind. There is no worrying about the no child left behind law because your emphasis is on the individual needs of your children ahead of standards for the masses.

Successfully homeschooling is not easy. Ask a homeschool mom and she'll admit many days are tougher than she thought in the beginning. Is homeschool worth it? Is homeschooling making the grade? After 20+ years of homeschooling and having my third homeschool high school graduate this year, I'm here to tell you the grade is in and it's all Fs.

At first, you don’t appreciate your new Found Freedom or Flexibility.

Trying to follow the public school schedule is normal albeit Foolish. You left the public school because it didn’t Fit your educational philosophy until somebody Finally asks you why would you mimic something that is not working. Is that the meaning of insanity?

Then, you Figure out that there are no homeschool police lurking around the corner. Determined to Face the odds and not overly worry about ruining your child’s Future, you learn to savor precious moments, relax, and take one year at a time.

Homeschooling is about doing what is right and Fine for your family. You have choices to homeschool with an attitude Full of Faith or use Faith-Free curriculum.

It takes a Few years to get past the guilt you have because your Firstborn was your guinea pig. Instead of playing and nurturing a Fidgety child’s need to move you made the Formative years too Formal.

Understanding that you First learn to parent a 2 year old or 3 year old by Focusing on Fun, you have to Forgive yourself for new bee mistakes.

Always worrying if your children are behind is Frightening and Finally you let go of Fear.

Doubters told you that homeschooling wasn’t for the Fainthearted. Embracing a Feisty and Ferocious attitude, you learned to squelch the naysayers, embrace the years when everything went wrong, and to be energized and Fortified when your kids moved ahead two grade levels in a Few months.

After many years of homeschooling you know that you’ve Fueled your kids love for learning although you felt like a Fool. It took a while for the Feelings of Failure to leave, but through homeschool Friendships you gained a new homeschool Family and a renewed Focus.

Reflecting isn’t easy, but you learned to stretch Forward and measure success through every day interaction with your kids. No longer looking to public school as an option for education, you’re absolutely sure that your mommy curriculum you Fussed over year after year Fosters a true love of learning.

Sure, you try to Fuel that same can-do spirit of how to teach in new homeschooling moms, but you realize they only want to talk about choosing curriculum. Finding answers for their family is their job.

From Fanatical to Formidable Homeschooler

Helping to Fortify new homeschool educators is what I can do. Learning is not a small window of time that quickly closes and progress is a journey measuring year to year and not day to day. Through all the Fatigue, Frustration, and Financial strain you wouldn’t change one Fiery moment.

When you Finish the Formal part of your homeschool years, you know how Fulfilled, Fantastic, and Fearsome you truly are now!

Don’t forget to join my FACEBOOK group where we talk about ALL these things and more!

You’ll also Find these articles inspiring:

  • Deschooling: Step One for the New Homeschooler (the Definitions, the Dangers, and the Delight)
  • Transitioning from a Public School Mindset to a Relaxed Homeschooling Lifestyle
  • Blurring the Line Between Living and Learning When Homeschooling

Hugs and love ya,

Successfully homeschooling is not easy. Ask a homeschool mom and she'll admit many days are tougher than she thought in the beginning. Is homeschool worth it? Is homeschooling making the grade? After 20+ years of homeschooling and having my third homeschool high school graduate this year, I'm here to tell you the grade is in and it's all Fs.

5 CommentsFiled Under: Be an Exceptional Homeschool Teacher, Begin Homeschooling Tagged With: fearless homeschooling, homeschool, homeschool challenges, homeschool joy, homeschool joys, homeschool lifestyle, homeschoolchallenges, homeschoolingcosts, relaxedhomeschooling

Homeschooling Stubborn Teens: Not for the Faint of Heart

November 8, 2017 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

While homeschooling through the years we confront with dogged determination many scenarios which makes us weak at the knees or makes our heart skip a beat. But, nothing comes even close to the enemy in our own midst – our sweet child turned stubborn, unmotivated, and seemingly lazy teen. Homeschooling stubborn teens is not for the faint of heart.

I’ve learned that although it’s easier to blame my teens for everything that went wrong, I too had to learn how to parent differently. As each of my sons reached the teen years, I’ve had to become more resourceful and creative in how I homeschool them.

I've learned that although it's easier to blame my teens for everything that went wrong, I too had to learn how to parent differently. As each of my sons reached the teen years, I've had to become more resourceful and creative in how I homeschool them. Click here to grab these SUPER helpful tips!

Avoiding drama in your house is not all together impossible, but you can curb it and cope with it by learning from my mistakes.

3 PARENTING TECHNIQUES FOR HOMESCHOOLING STUBBORN TEENS

Whether your teen has been homeschooled from the beginning, came willing to homeschool after many years in public school or had no choice, he wants choices now.

One/ Focus on the teen, not the school.

However, before you can get to choices, the number one mistake made by many homeschooling families is to focus on homeschool. Yep, wrong focus right now.

The teacher in us is ready to go, but the mom in us should lead right now. Problems, whether academic or developmental, signal something is wrong.

Although a teen can now vocalize that he hates math or writing and is seen as unmotivated, that’s only the result of what is going on inside.

Before assuming it’s a lack of motivation, step back, and deschool. You can’t move forward until you and your teen are both ready.

Coming into adulthood takes a toll daily on your teen and he needs you now more than ever.

Two/ Deschool now before it’s too late.

Look at ways you can step back, deschool, and focus. Move forward by stepping back instead of butting heads:

  • If he hates math, ask him which subjects he does like. Use that knowledge to plan a routine. For example, get the worst subjects out of the way at his peak time and in a place he chooses. Explain to him that he can make those choices, however, if he is not doing his math because he decided to lie down on his bed, then it’ll have to change. I had one son that just because he could sit on his bed, he was in the right mindset to do math which was a subject he hated. He did well and eventually later in high school, he moved to the table. Give him some choice. BUT, first take time to not do school while you question him (few questions in the beginning) about subjects he likes and doesn’t like. Help him to make a routine for the day he loves while satisfying your requirements.
  • Next, do something he wants to do. For us, it was skateboarding, bicycling and watching movies. I told my teens to not do school for a few days while they played. My teens praised me as the best homeschooling mom ever (ha, but I had a motive). Like all smart moms who want their sons to do well in academics, I knew that they had to see first that I was reasonable. After they played for a few days and I could see it winding down, I discussed with each one how to work in what they liked doing while balancing their academic load. It worked. They knew I was reasonable, but had expectations. Including them in the discussion gave them the control they wanted.
  • Focus on when the rebellion occurs. For example, I knew our problem was an over scheduling problem with one of my teens. The rest of the day he was pretty compliant barring a few bad moods. Over all, the sulking and back talking happened only during school. Stepping back and allowing my teen to rest gave me time to understand how many credits I wanted for middle or high school teen. I reworked his schedule. However, if your teen is complaining pretty much the whole day, then it’s a parenting or rebellious issue and homeschooling is getting a bum rap.

Three/ Over ambitious homeschooling can backfire.

It’s easy to say when your child is five or six years old what he will and will not do as a teen, but it’s quite a different thing scheduling for him at 15 or 16 years old.

While it may be true that a teen doesn’t have to love learning because work places or colleges don’t care if he does, it never worked when I told them that.

I’ve never made progress with my sons when I vented and I normally had nothing helpful to say when I lost it.

Pushing my sons to do college courses early while in high school, having them take jobs too early, and do heavier maths because they were hardworking could’ve backfired.

Stepping back to reaffirm that heart schooling was just as important as academics helped me to solidify the fact that homeschooling is a lifestyle. I want my sons to homeschool their sons because I believe it’s the best way to teach a child.

HOMESCHOOLING TEENS WITH THE FUTURE IN MIND

Homeschooling with a future generation in mind helped me realize that I wholeheartedly believe learning is a privilege.

Curbing my desire to sock it to my boys with their academic load while being teens helped us to not only lap up the precious teen years, but love every minute of it.

Sometimes the solution to a problem was to just stop. And remembering each teen is different helped me to see problems from each kid’s perspective. Can you relate?

What kind of problems are you trying to overcome with your teen?

When your teens are grown and look back at how you didn’t give up on them, all of the hard times will be memories. You’ll only see the beautiful man or woman thanking you. Your knees will then be weak for another reason – overwhelming happy emotion.

I've learned that although it's easier to blame my teens for everything that went wrong, I too had to learn how to parent differently. As each of my sons reached the teen years, I've had to become more resourceful and creative in how I homeschool them. Click here to grab these SUPER helpful tips!

Also, you’ll find these other articles super helpful. Don’t give up now. You’re almost there.

  • 4 Reasons Your Homeschooled Child is Uninspired To Learn (and what to do)
  • Homeschooling for the Love of Learning – Does It Really Work? 
  • Teach Your Homeschooled Teen the Art of Studying (without nagging) 
  • 9th Grade Homeschool High School – Avoid the Sock It to Them Attitude

Hugs and love ya,

2 CommentsFiled Under: Graduate a Homeschooler, Homeschool Boys, Homeschool Teens _ From Teen to Graduation Tagged With: fearless homeschooling, homeschool, homeschool challenges, homeschool highschool, homeschool mistakes, homeschoolchallenges, middleschool, teens

4 Undeniable Reasons People Hate Homeschooling (Keep It Real)

July 19, 2017 | 10 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

After homeschooling for about 19+ years, I've given up thousands of hours of free time, a lucrative career, put my health on the back burner, and some years I regrettably spent way more time with my kids than my husband. I felt like quitting homeschool many times, hated homeschooling more times that I can count, and many times I've felt like all I was doing was arguing with kids. If I wasn't debating with one of them, I felt like my brain cells were being agonizingly sucked out!After homeschooling for about 19+ years, I’ve given up thousands of hours of free time, a lucrative career, put my health on the back burner, and some years I regrettably spent way more time with my kids than my husband. I felt like quitting homeschool many times, hated homeschooling more times that I can count, and many times I’ve felt like all I was doing was arguing with kids. If I wasn’t debating with one of them, I felt like my brain cells were being agonizingly sucked out by doing another mind-numbing math algorithm.

I’m pulling back the curtain to reveal the ugly side of homeschooling. Today, I’m sharing just 4 undeniable reasons people hate homeschooling because you and I both know there are more. In the spirit of keeping it real and because I want you to know that I’m not a supermom, I hope by exposing to you the overwhelming struggles that homeschooling moms endure, you’ll be prepared to confront them head-on.

I need to tell you a story first. It won’t take too long, I promise. But you need to know where I’m coming from.

In my last weeks of pregnancy with Mr. Senior 2013, he was breech. The doctor told me he wanted to perform a version, an external procedure where the doctor turns the baby. With both hands on the surface of your stomach, one hand is by the baby’s head and the other by his butt. The doctor pushes and rolls the baby to a head-down position.

Is Homeschool Fatigue Really Okay?

With my husband beside me and a staff of doctors ready to do the procedure, my doctor gently reminded me again that this procedure is one of the most painful procedures in childbirth. By not sugarcoating it, I could somehow prepare my mind and body or so I thought.

Though the experience was one of the most agonizing of my life, the result was that my son was born healthy and headfirst after the procedure. Nothing could of prepared me for the pain. No mindset even came close.

Some years of homeschooling are similar. No amount of mental preparation seems to make you ready for the fact that homeschooling takes over your life.

Like that procedure, I needed to have my mind and body ready for the task ahead.

Homeschoooling is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and there are more times than I can count that I hated it.

I’m hoping by sharing these 4 not so glamorous things about homeschooling and a few ways of how I coped that you’ll also be ready when you have times when you flat out hate homeschooling.

►You’re never alone. You can’t even hide out in the bathroom.

Oh sure, homeschool moms will tell you to hire sitters. I did. And when my extended family live closed, I got help. The truth of it is that a lot of homeschool moms don’t have the luxury of family living close or knowing a lot of people in the beginning that they would trust with their kids.

Homeschooling is pretty much about being around your kids most of the time. From the time they were babies, even getting a shower for the day was a major feat. Many days, I cried in frustration because I was not able to homeschool, let alone clean my house. Those years were very hard. They didn’t equal to anything I had coming up though in the preteen years. More on that in a minute.

However, the time did come when my sons were old enough to respect my alone time. At first when they were little, I used a timer. I set it for 25 minutes. The rule was they couldn’t come into my room to talk to me. Like all moms that love their kids there is always exceptions for emergencies and fighting kids, but for the most part they knew to leave me alone. They thought it was a game and I didn’t care. But making a plan for self-care propelled me through that time.

Now, when my young adult sons throw their big hairy arms around me as young men, drive me to places, cook food for me and tell me how much they’re glad I homeschooled them, the hard years seem like a fading mist.

Words can’t even express the love I have for them and how very, very grateful I am that I didn’t get bitter, give in and send them to public school.

No, but homeschooling is not easy.

►Kids are unmotivated, lazy, back talking, and disrespectful.

I’m not talking about other homeschooler’s kids, but about my own kids. Yes, I’ve experienced all of those things.

At the time when those things were happening, I thought it was because we were constantly around each other. It wasn’t.

Instead of being a homeschool issue, it was a discipline issue. It’s hard to see that at the time because homeschooling gets blamed for everything.

I learned homeschooling brings out not only the good in your kids, but the ugly too. When habits haven’t been formed for learning, then you can’t go forward. Homeschooling gets blamed because that is how we spend most of our day.

The truth of it is that negative behavior exhibits in homeschooling because it’s hard work.

The easy thing in parenting is to not deal with the disrespecting at the moment and to blame homeschooling because our kid’s attitude toward any work is much pretty crap all the time.

First, I had to correct their attitudes and save my energy for those upheavals in our day. No amount of homeschooling or excellent and superior curriculum will correct that.

Homeschooling is not for the faint of heart. When you have to diligently parent and meticulously homeschool in the same day, it makes for many rough years.

Because I did both parenting and homeschooling at the same time instead of sending my kids away where bad behavior may possibly be nurtured or overlooked, I’m grateful that I could deal with it as it came up.

I won’t win the parent of the year award now that two of my sons are adults, but I have won their hearts and have a wonderful relationship with them. It’s built on mutual respect, dignity and love for each other.

►People are going to think your kids are “weird” regardless of what you do and how well-rounded out your kids are.

Although two of my sons have graduated with high grades, are successfully pursuing their interests, and have tons of personality, people still look at them and me weird.

And no, we don’t milk goats, raise chickens, or homeschool my kids under a rock. But I don’t have a problem either with people who choose to do that.

It’s important for you to know that I’ve never cared much about what people think about me or my choices. And I’m PROUD that my kid’s don’t get their chains yanked by people who are mindless and bend to every current whim or ideology by the masses.

What will not ever go away is the stigma attached with homeschooling kids. That they are awkward and social misfits. Some days you just don’t want to see the eye-rolling or hear the muttered, “Ohhhh”.

What are the Benefits of Not Quitting Homeschool?

► Many times, the house just doesn’t get cleaned. Easy to deal with when it’s not your home.

I’ve heard a lot through the years about the house cleaning thing. In the beginning, I didn’t have the right attitude either or I thought, again.

As a neat freak, overbearing, critical about the details person, I had to do a lot of soul searching if I wanted to survive homeschooling. Balance is not easy when you already don’t get any time to yourself or have hormonal teens.

Looking back now, I’m so glad that I didn’t give up the need to have clean surroundings, but learned that I was not balanced in how much I needed to do.

All that matters is what you and your husband want when it comes to a clean house. Now, a lot, but not all of our friends are homeschool families like us. They understand books strewn about, projects growing on the counter, and science projects with foul smells in the refrigerator.

The most important thing I learned was that unless I was feeling calm about the house mess, I couldn’t be at my best while teaching. However, I too had to compromise. Instead of doing everything I wanted to do on my house cleaning day, I learned to do the important things to me, like a clean toilet, clean linens, and clean floors.

House cleaning is about compromise and that means it will never be done your way as long as you homeschool.

I’m not finished yet, do you want to know a few more things that you will face in your homeschool journey? Have you encountered any of these things so far?

Look at my 31 free Boot Camp for New or Struggling Homeschoolers where I keep it real, Why My Homeschooled Kids Are Not Given the Choice to Go to Public School and Homeschool Quitters, Dropouts and Wimps (Want to Join Me?).

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

10 CommentsFiled Under: Be an Exceptional Homeschool Teacher, Begin Homeschooling, Homeschool Simply, Homeschool When Nobody Wants To, Homeschooling Tagged With: fearless homeschooling, homeschool, homeschool challenges, homeschool crisis, homeschool lifestyle, homeschool mistakes, homeschoolchallenges, preventinghomeschoolburnout, reasonstohomeschool

10 Biggest Homeschool Burnout Triggers (and how to cope)

December 9, 2016 | 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

10 Biggest Homeschool Burnout Triggers (and how to cope)

No matter what you do, positive person or not or how well-organized you are, homeschool burnout looms because the 10 biggest homeschool burnout triggers are linked to life. Avoiding the unexpected is not possible, but you can plan for the unexpected.

Look at these 10 biggest homeschool burnout triggers and a tip or two on how to cope. Besides, instead of telling you how wonderful homeschooling will be, I want you prepared to dig your heels in when times are tough.

One/A pregnancy (complicated or not).

It may seem obvious that a pregnancy causes burnout, but when you have pregnancy brain it can seem otherwise. Somehow I thought I could keep on pushing because we were in a school year.

It took my third pregnancy before I actually planned activities when I would have to stop and rest.

Laid up on the couch and on bed rest for a few weeks, I pulled out activities for my preschooler and kindergartner, which nowadays are called busy bag activities.

Key to keeping your kids entertained and learning is to have everything they need for an activity in a bag. I could get up once, pull down several activities from the closet and have my two boys sit at my feet on the couch while we learned.

Two/ A long term sickness whether it’s your immediate or extended family.

In addition to pregnancy, I have experienced an ICU stay for my husband, an ICU stay for my sister and a long-term facility care for my mother-in-law.

At the time, it can seem that your life will never return to normal. It might not and may be changed. But change is also part of homeschooling.

I did four things to cope with what seemed like insurmountable stress.

  • I divided our school subjects in half and did half one day and the other half the next day.
  • I bought each kid a backpack so that we could learn on the go and moved our schoolroom into the backpacks.
  • I purchased easy workbooks because this is the time to use them.
  • I purchased an online subscription to Time4Learning.

Avoiding Top Homeschool Burnout Triggers

Three/ The transition to high school.

You will eventually get to high school and hear my heart when I say that is not the time to quit, but it may seem like it at the time.

If you have a rebellious teen it can make this time period worse.  One tip I learned was to be sure that your teen has a say in what he wants to learn and pursue.

Don’t feel like you have to give up everything you have dreamed of for your child, but know that they are entering adulthood and are a unique person.

Part of being a unique person is recognizing their interests, strengths and weaknesses and then allowing them explore them. When you’re at this point in your journey, remember what brought you to homeschooling, which is being able to raise a unique individual.

Instead of throwing in the towel and sending your kid to public school, work with him and decide whether or not an online high school is an option. Some kids do better by answering to somebody else.

My boys never had to experience this, but we also homeschooled from the beginning, which I have learned makes a huge difference.  If your child has had other teachers besides you, he may view that as normal.

Be willing to compromise, but not give up your standards always makes for a fair way of getting through the high school years.

Four/ When homeschool planning is overly ambitious.

Guilty as charged. I can always tell newer homeschoolers or homeschoolers who will burnout quickly by the exhaustive lists of homeschool subjects they think they will cover.

Writing it down is key to being sure your list is doable.

When you simply list it, and not plug a homeschool subject into a time slot on your day, it stays as overly ambitious. The next step is hitting a brick wall and burnout follows.

Overly ambitious homeschooling can backfire with sad consequences.

I have known families through the years that have lost their teens because they would not yield or compromise their plans. How sad.

Look at the tips on my three part series What Homeschool Subjects to Teach and When to Teach Them and Divide And Conquer The Ever Growing List of Homeschool Subjects.

Five/ Too many fun activities outside the house.

There have been years that we have been able to do more than other years, but balance is the key no matter how fun are the activities.

This is also exacerbated by how many kids you have. Don’t think that a mom with an only child can’t fall into this trap by trying to be sure her kid gets a social life.

Whether you are a mom of many or an only, your child needs you. There is no substitute for your guidance. Be selective on choosing outside activities and one thing I did when my kids wanted different ones was to alternate them each week.

One week we did art and the next week we did music to satisfy all of my kids. We went slower, but all of my kids benefited from mixing up and cutting back our activities.

Six/ Too many volunteer projects by mom.

When I conducted workshops, many of the moms confessed how many volunteer programs they were a part of.

I encourage you to make your family priority. Even good and worthy volunteering projects can add stress and cause burnout when it’s not necessary. As kids grow older and circumstances change, I have been able to do more things I enjoy.

From Daunting to Doable

Seven/ Failing to plan is planning to fail. It’s true.

The opposite end of overly ambitious planning is feeling like your wings would be clipped if you followed a more scripted schedule.

It takes time to find a middle ground that suits your unique personality. Key to success is knowing your personality and knowing how to rein yourself in.

For example, I know that I tend to be a drill sergeant and have my kids march to the minutes on a schedule (nobody liked me when I first started homeschooling).

All these years I have worked on being more flexible by following more of a block schedule or scheduling zones of times.

If you have the opposite problem, then start by scheduling things for 15 minutes at a time until you find a rhythm to fit your style. You can even use a timer in the beginning as you get the feel for the amount of time needed for a subject.

Training yourself to move through your day accomplishing what you plan without pushing you and your kids will lead to a productive and meaningful day.

Eight/ Job loss or change.

Coping with several of these changes too, I learned to cut back my school to just the core subjects as we adjusted to a new schedule or change in income.

We have owned our own business and my husband has worked 7 days a week for 12 hours days. In all the cases of job changes, I have allowed myself a month or so to adjust to the schedule. For example, when my husband worked 12 hours a day for 7 days a week, I got my kids up early as well so that they were ready for bed at the same time as my husband.

If you don’t get the rest of your household in sync with your husband’s schedule and try to maintain different family schedules, it can trigger stress.

Nine/Moving.

When we moved, I always thought I could keep on homeschooling during that stressful time. I learned that learning to pack and moving can come under Home Economics if you train your children while moving.

My boys always wanted to help pack and looking at the positive, moving is a wonderful time to declutter.

Instead of thinking that our schooling was being interrupted, I viewed that time as our time off of school. Of course we had to make up but it’s so much more easier making up when you choose to take time off to move.

Ten/ Unbending, inflexible, stubborn and immovable and no it’s not the toddler.

Flexible, bending and reasonable didn’t exactly abound in my life or should I say they are not my best qualities. However, homeschooling has a way of seasoning you to showcase those qualities.

Learning to adjust your homeschool course, accepting you and your kids shortcomings and allowing others to help you when you need it, keeps you on the sane road to homeschooling.

By giving you this heads up on things that you may experience in your journey, I hope you can enjoy the high moments that you will encounter and remember that the lows will pass.

Also, look at 4 Reasons Your Homeschooled Child is Uninspired To Learn (and what to do) and 3 Tips from the Pros Before You Become a Homeschool Educator.

Hugs and love ya,

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3 CommentsFiled Under: Begin Homeschooling, Homeschool During Crisis, Homeschool Simply, Schedule/Balance Home & School Tagged With: homeschool, homeschool crisis, homeschoolchallenges, homeschoolplanning, new homeschool year, new homeschooler, preventinghomeschoolburnout, relaxedhomeschooling

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