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Instant Credit, Instant Baby Food – Why Not Instant Homeschool?

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

We have instant mash potatoes, microwaved food and yes even instant baby food, then why shouldn’t we have an instant education?

Today, reality is that our lives are very different than our parents and grandparents.

Life is more hectic, faster and along with that folks have become more impatient, even about their education. How about you? Are you impatient with the progress you are making?

A lot of us try to move quickly in our first, second, third and even into our fourth year.

We believe we can instantly give our children a good education.

To try to right all the wrongs of public school, but yet follow the same methods used by the public school is a contradiction.

Instant Credit, Instant Baby Food - Why NOT Instant Homeschool @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

In public school there is no room for individualism. If a child veers off the curricula, he is behind. If he wants to supplement, it has to be approved.

We try to look for shortcuts like online schooling, boxed curriculum and co-ops that function more like private day school than families who actually meet together to benefit from the strengths of others.

Before I go any further, I want to let you know I don’t have anything against the things I just mentioned as I sometimes encourage ones to use them off/on during their journey. We need short cuts and helps.

The Art of Slowing Down

The truth of it is, that homeschooling is nothing more than plain old work and determination. There are no shortcuts to success.

It takes time for children to grasp concepts like math and reading comprehension.

It takes time to teach penmanship. We can have both beautiful penmanship and computer typing skills.

It takes time to build science projects together or reenact history. It takes time to build the character of the child through every day involvement with the family, Bible study and by serving others.

How about us as teachers? Are we taking time to learn how to teach?

We need to focus on ourselves too. It takes time for us as teachers to get off that public school treadmill.

It is easier sometimes to abdicate a majority of the teaching to somebody else, but is that what brought us to homeschooling in the first place? Will we have the same results as somebody that has spent years and years personally and tenderly cultivating the hearts of their children?

Does your child want to learn from you? Are you prepared when you sit down to teach him or does your lack of organization frustrate your child? Are you the kind of person that exudes warmth and tenderness when conveying knowledge to your child?

The interaction you have with your child on a day to day basis draws your child closer to you. Problems can be revealed gradually and solved slowly.

This takes time. Folks today just don’t have time. Although we want to utilize every convenience made available to us through the internet, interactive classes and skills of other parents like at a co-op, we want to never forget that our children need us.

Just like we would be careful about the type of instant and convenient food that we serve our family, education is similar. Quick fixes may serve in a pinch or for a change, but for long term success, we don’t want instant anything to be the norm.

Our children’s education is no different. There is no substitute for the time we as parents can give our children. Our time and hearts with our children is one of the most valuable things we can give our children. Don’t cheat them.

Keep on keeping on!

Hugs and love ya,

Tina Signature 2015c

Check out these other helps:
Why the Hectic Pace in Homeschool?
Controlling the Time Spent on Homeschool Subjects or Running a Homeschool Boot Camp
Biggest Challenges to Homeschooling

Linking up @ these awesome places:

Sharing Time|Tell It to Me Tuesdays|Good Tips Tuesday|

New Homeschooler – Mustering the Courage to Face THE 4 Homeschool Biggies Part 2

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

Today, in new homeschooler – mustering the courage to face the 4 homeschool biggies part 2, I want to clue you in on two more areas that you want to take time in your first few years of homeschooling to address.

In New Homeschooler – Mustering the Courage to Face THE 4 Homeschool Biggies Part 1, I shared tips on taming the curriculum colossus and defending against the socialization hype.

Can You Really Afford to Begin Homeschooling Without Knowing This?

But the next two homeschool biggies, which I will share in a moment, are equally important to try to tame early on in your journey.

It has been my experience that when new homeschoolers hop on the curriculum roller coaster, they don’t seem to get off until they have exhausted the ride, which is normally several years down the road.

By then, they have lost valuable time in learning how to address other important areas of homeschooling, which will be of more lasting value only if they had taken time to address them earlier.

Try to balance becoming acquainted with homeschool curriculum with making time to be an organized homeschooler, which is the next homeschool biggie to tame.

3. Organized Homeschooler – Yes You Can! Organization means something different when we homeschool.

I have found that explaining what it is not helps to bring relief instead of you becoming stressed out to the point that you don’t think you can.

This way you adopt organization that fits your family and not adjust to the way somebody else does things.

One of the most encouraging sayings I have heard is by Maria Gracia of Get Organized Now when she says “organization is a decision, not a disease” and I couldn’t agree more.

Empower yourself!

Simply put, organization is communication and we all have the need to communicate. What do I mean by this?

Well, if you think about, if you want your children to begin school at a certain time, then not only orally communicate it, but set up a chart where they can see what is expected of them.

If you want your children to check mark items on a food list, which they have used up in the kitchen, then prepare a grocery list and put it in a highly visible place in the kitchen. This keeps the guesswork out of what groceries you need to buy each month.

Communicate to them by preparing a system that works for your home and makes your job as home educator much more satisfying.

If you want your children to be responsible for picking their room up and doing chores each day, communicate to them by setting up a system, like a chore chart. Communication equals organization.

Organization is not for people who have it together, but it is for people who do not expect their family to guess at what their expectations are. Does that make sense?

Then with communication comes calm and organization in your home. It brings relief to chaos because you implemented a system and it also makes homeschooling a delight instead of drudgery.

Organization does not require some super human feat, but it requires the desire to change what is not working.

Get off the curriculum roller coaster because you will have many years to learn about curriculum.

Right behind taming the curriculum colossus, defending against the socialization hype and setting up a communication system are concerns over lesson planning, record keeping and testing.

4. Lesson Planning, Record Keeping and Testing.

Along with worries about curriculum comes the nagging worry deep down that our children will be behind or get behind if we don’t test or learn to lesson plan.

What I have learned along the way after teaching all of my sons how to read and write is that anytime I have felt that something is not working, I could change what I was using instantly.

Too, one-to-one tutoring is the best way of learning. This means that after a few years, I didn’t worry about testing my sons in the early years because I didn’t need a test telling me what they did or didn’t know.

Teaching them each day, I could tell you the strengths and weaknesses of each child.

Testing was a method introduced when you have to teach masses or a class, which generally is about 12 kids. Do you have 12 kids? If so, drop me a line, but otherwise for the rest of us, our  one-to-one time with our children gives a clear picture of their skills.

Oh sure, you can test anytime you want to and at the bottom I will add some of my posts about testing to help you.

As far as record keeping, from junior high to high school is when you need to be concerned about saving work. I have saved all of Mr. Senior 2013’s work but realized later I didn’t need near that much. New Homeschooler Mustering the Courage to Face the 4 Homeschool Biggies Part 2 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusJournaling was so much better for me in the beginning as I learned to lesson plan.

Journaling what we had actually done for the day was a precursor to lesson planning. Why? Because it gave me a realistic picture of what we could actually do for the day instead of some glamorous looking lesson plans on paper that we couldn’t accomplish in two days let alone one day.

Stepping back from even just one of these homeschool biggies and focusing on each area in a balanced way will put you miles ahead of the homeschool learning curve.

Not only that but you will be able to savor your first couple of years instead of meeting each day with stress.

Which areas do you think will give you the greatest concern? I’m listening!

Hugs and love ya,

Tina Signature 2015c

Grab some more ammo to arm you for the new homeschool year. Check out these tips:
The Ultimate Guide for New Homeschoolers
What Do You Fear Most About Homeschooling?
Read my 31 Day Free Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers

New Homeschooler – Mustering the Courage to Face THE 4 Homeschool Biggies – Part 1.

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

Key to conquering all the topics you will be faced with in your first few years of homeschooling is identifying what they are.

Today, I want to infuse you by sharing some tips on facing THE 4 homeschool biggies.

When you are new to homeschooling, sometimes you just don’t know all the questions to ask and it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what is bothering you.

No need to stress about it because I will help you to round up what I call homeschool giants to slay.

When the homeschooling biggies are clearly identified, then your energy and time can be well-placed.

1. Curriculum Colossus.

As new homeschoolers, we are proud to show off to all naysayers or even to the Mr. that we have now made curriculum choices.

However, what can be daunting just a few short weeks into the year is that the curriculum choices we made may not be working.

Excitement turns to anxiety for both mother and child and curriculum seems like it becomes an almost insurmountable hurdle.

Facing the Homeschool Giants

Look at a few of my tips that can help you to analyze how to make choices for curriculum.

1. Did you pick the textbook approach just because that is the only one you know about and feel comfortable with?

I know it’s hard right now with so many things being thrown at you, but try to take time to educate yourself about learning styles.

Look at my post Homeschooling:Learning Styles – What’s the Difference Anyway to start down the road in pairing curriculum with your child’s learning style.

2. Also, don’t fall victim to public school mentality which is that just because your child is in a grade level that equates to the same grade level curriculum.

Guess what? You are not alone if you are already having curriculum problems if you chose your curriculum this way. New Homeschooler - Mustering the Courage to Face the 4 Homeschool Biggies Part 1 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusThough the grade level your child is in when he attended public school can be a starting point, you will want to use free online tests, read the scope and sequence of a curriculum and look at free samples to make a more informed choice.

In addition, if your child has been in public school before then you probably have an idea of which subjects he struggles in.

For example, does it make sense to push him on to the next grade if he struggles and suffers terribly in math?

When a new homeschool teacher does this, it can have detrimental effects on a child.

Instead of getting the help he needs by you choosing a lower level to promote mastery, both your child and you may now blame the stress on homeschooling.

Don’t push through concepts in a curriculum that your child is not familiar with.

Learning overlaps and he wants to be somewhat familiar with some of the basic concepts so he can build on them this year whether the subject is math, writing or reading.

Encourage a love of your new homeschool routine and curriculum by allowing your child to feel like he has some mastery over what you are introducing.

When he connects with something he knows, he then knows he can go on and tackle the rest of it.

2. Socialization Hype.

I never get tired of touting about how well connected homeschoolers are. But year after year, we still have to defend against the same mind-set.

Somewhere, someplace, somebody is thinking that our children are poor lost souls, wandering aimlessly and without friends.

Never mind the fact that a doubter of homeschooling has not truly sat down with a well rounded out youth to only discover the idiosyncrasies he has, but that we all have.

Sure, if you look hard enough you can find the weird in me too.

So unless you plan to not ever be around other homeschoolers which I know is probably not the case, then your children will turn out “normal” like everybody else’s children.

New Homeschooler Empowered

Look at my post Socialization – A Homeschool Hallucination to grab some gracious ways to respond to those that think you are going to lock your kids up in a closet to only emerge at graduation.

Also, look at my post here Homeschool Hangouts & Socialization Situations on creative ways to find other homeschoolers in your area.

Believe me, homeschoolers are oozing everywhere and you can’t live in a city small enough that does not have homeschoolers. Okay, okay, you may have to drive a bit, but we are everywhere.

If you and your kids want friends, true, lifetime homeschooling friends, then a little bit of effort is needed.

And just a few more words of wisdom to help you muster up the courage to be around all those weird homeschoolers, look at my blog post Homeschool Field Trips – An Important Piece of the Educational Puzzle Part 1 and Homeschool Field Trips – An Important Piece of the Educational Puzzle Part 2.

Of course, you know my wordiness love for words, so I will share Part 2 of Mustering the Courage to Face THE 4 Homeschool Biggies next.

Can you guess what the other two biggies are?

Have you hit a wall yet with curriculum and socialization?

Hugs and love ya,

Tina Signature 2015c

Homeschool Confession – My Homeschool Mistakes

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

Homeschool confession my homeschool mistakes. Besides mistakes are part of learning how to homeschool. Do you want to hear about some of my blunders?

Homeschool mistakes are part of learning not what to do when homeschooling. However, in the beginning it’s hard to view it that way.

Too, nobody wants to do the trial and error method with their kids.

We have a few short years to homeschool our kids and we want to maximize our efforts.

Homeschool Confession - My Homeschool Mistakes

If I share just three of my mistakes maybe they can save you some grief.

Not leaving the public school mentality.

Isn’t that hard to do? Especially because I was the product of public school.

For example, I never questioned why I needed to test, I just blindly followed the masses.

I realized that leaving the public school mentality didn’t mean not using some of the practical tips that did work in public school at home. 

It just meant to leave behind what I didn’t need because I was not teaching my kids, not a classroom.

New Homeschooler

Because we live in this world, it’s hard to not be affected by the pressure of test, perform and out do.

My sons are just normal boys who have been privately tutored by me. That’s all.

I left public school because I didn’t want to model it at home, not just change geography.

Comparison to other homeschool moms, dad and oh yes their children.

I am guilty. It seemed like some other mom had this whole homeschool thing figured out.

Then I find out later her beginnings were as humble as mine.

I thought other dads did more of the teaching until I realized that statistics show that about 85% or more of the teaching is shouldered by the mother.

I guess it just sounded good when dad did a science experiment with their sons. My science experiments were not that exciting in the beginning. Can you say boring teacher?

Boring and now a show off. Yes, I thought I had to “show off” my progress to my mother-in-law who was not supportive of our decision to homeschool in the beginning.

I had to prove her wrong and was humbled in a lesson I won’t forget.

Trying to show off my teaching skills to her, I asked Mr. Senior 2013 who I was then teaching to read to show us the long i sound. Yes he did.

He promptly went and got the longest piece of white butcher paper he could tear off the roll.

Laying the paper down on the floor, which was twice as long as grandma, my poor baby proceeded to draw the longest i I had ever seen.  I shuffled off in shame.

What to Expect from the Homeschool Kickstarter

From my struggle, I created a curriculum for new homeschool educators. And taught this course in person to new homeschoolers. I’ve now put my course online for all new homeschoolers

More shamed at the fact that I was trying to show off instead of what really was funny at the time though I didn’t feel that way.

Humble me for I needed it for the road ahead.

With the 6 modules and 29 workshops, I walk you step-by-step through beginning homeschooling, understanding the homeschool lifestyle, choosing curriculum, and understanding how to fit it all in a day.

Look at what you’ll learn.

  • Learn how to identify what is and what is not homeschooling. It can mean the difference in succeeding or succumbing to the mindset you want to leave behind.
  • Choose curriculum wisely instead of using the oh it looks good method.
  • Organize the areas of life that collide when you begin to homeschool.
  • Identify and create the right schedule for your family’s rhythm.
  • Understand what is important to teach from K to High School. (Oh, did I tell you I have kids well past 10 years old?)
Not investing more time in my education as a teacher.

Like many new homeschoolers, I too focused solely on my children and their need for a support group, curriculum, socialization and field trip.

It took me a few years before I realized that the best way to help my children was to become the best teacher I could be.

A public school teacher is required to take continuing education classes. Why shouldn’t I?

If I didn’t take time to read blogs, join support groups, buy teacher helps and attend homeschool conventions I couldn’t say I was schooling for my children.

Feelings of guilt that I had associated with longing to interact with other homeschool moms had to be left behind.

Association has to be a vital part of my everyday teaching. Online forum groups were not a waste of time but needed for refreshment and encouragement.

New to Homeschool

Like all things, the time I took for educating myself and camaraderie had to have a place in my life to be balanced.

Your turn: Do you have a story we can learn from? I hope you can learn from my mistakes.

Homeschool Confession - My Homeschool Mistakes

I thought about this quote today because after many repeated failures, pursuit can turn to passion for homeschooling.

“Life is filled with so many exciting twists and turns. Hop off the straight and narrow whenever you can and take the winding paths.

Experience the exhilaration of the view from the edge. Because the moments spent there, that take your breath away, are what make you feel truly alive.”

~ Stacey Charter ~

You’ll also love these reads for New Homeschoolers:

Homeschool Confession - My Homeschool Mistakes @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter

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

The dynamics of how to homeschool easily and smarter takes time, but you’re sure to find plenty of support and help here at Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

You’ll find tips and resources on how to homeschool on this page. Too, here I’ll share how tos on making school fit life.

Too, your homeschool journey is dynamic or constantly changing. What worked this year may not work next year.

The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter

After celebrating the graduations of three homeschooled children, you’ll love the tips I share based on my 20+ years of homeschooling.

In addition, many homeschoolers begin homeschooling by trying to follow a public school schedule.

This is your home not a classroom so you’ll love understanding the dynamics of how to homeschool easily and smarter.

How to Transition from Public School

Begin first with your public school mindset. You need to change from thinking a classroom to a family living room.

Education for the First-Time Homeschooler

How to Plan Your Schedule & Lesson Plan

Homeschool Language Arts

Next, look at the tips and helps for teaching language arts below.

Homeschool Science

Summer Homeschooling

Homeschool History

ORGANIZING HOMESCHOOL AREAS

How To Determine Grades

Not Back to School Crafts for Homeschoolers

Homeschoolers Teach Life Skills Not School

Teaching Multiple Ages Tips