Best Tips for Overwhelmed Homeschool Moms
Are you doing the right thing? Can you really teach your kids well? Will you screw up your kids futures? Yeah, that’s what we’re all thinking before we decided to homeschool our kids.
I know you’re worried, so I asked other moms what the best tips for overwhelmed homeschool moms they ever received. They’re amazing.
We will never be perfect, it’s not expected, but we can show up everyday to do our best.
When your day is hard and you want to give up, look around you. You get to spend your days with your kids. All day, not a few hours before they head off to school or after while they have dinner and get ready for bed. You get to enjoy them and are blessed to be their teacher.
I love my days at home with the family, it doesn’t make it less hard, but it does make you fight harder to make it work.
When your heart is heavy and you think that sending them to public school would be easier, find encouragement in know that we’ve all been there. Can you say hello puberty?
It’s a fight for sure but you will know if it’s the best course for your family.
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Must-read Homeschool Books
There are a ton of homeschool resources available online now, it’s so easy to get overwhelmed. Take this slowly. Read what you can and slowly implement what you find. You’ll go through a period of trial and error as you learn what works for your family.
Homeschool Planning Guide for the Unorganized Mom: An easy-to-follow plan for successful homeschooling when you don’t even know where to startTeaching from Rest: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unshakable PeaceThe Unhurried Homeschooler: A Simple, Mercifully Short Book on HomeschoolingThe Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child’s EducationHomeschool Bravely: How to Squash Doubt, Trust God, and Teach Your Child with ConfidenceThe Brave Learner: Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning, and Life
I’ve been homeschooling for 13 years now and I’m still learning new things, you need to adapt. As your kids grow, you reach a new point in their development that can change everything.
My advice to you:
You only need to be a week ahead of your child when you’re creating your homeschool plans. Don’t feel like you have to plan out everything for the entire year. Because chances are, 3 weeks in, you’re going to change your plans.
MONIQUE – LIVING LIFE AND LEARNING
These wonderful bloggers have offered their best advice and encouragement to you and I’ve found some great tidbits in here for myself as well.
Whatever He has brought you to, He will bring you through.
JENNA FROM CENTERED AT HOME
Just do the next thing.
Relax, it will all work out okay.
Take a break!
Clarissa from Clarissa R. West
Remember that homeschooling is not a replica of what takes place in a school classroom. Be encouraged that YOU have the freedom to teach your children by what YOU have determined is best for them. By realizing you are not teaching to a whole student body but to your individual children-meeting their individual needs-Homeschooling becomes *life* schooling, embrace it and you will fall in love.
Sarah from Holistic Homeschooler
What I’ve learned is:
1. Nothing will ever be perfect, so don’t focus on trying to chase perfection. You’ll just end up frustrated and probably burned out.
2. I’m fricking amazing! I don’t always get everything done, but I do get a lot done. And I’m raising a human who is happy, loved, and enjoys learning.
3. Kids learn at different rates. And this applies to different subjects. If your kid is slow to read, but is a math whiz, don’t beat yourself up about the reading. Just do what you can. Try new things. It’ll happen one day. In the meantime, celebrate the fact that you’ve found at least one thing he/she excels at.
4. Take care of yourself! It may seem cliche’ to say that you can’t pour from an empty cup. But guess what, that shiz is true! Try it. It’s literally impossible. And figuratively, it’s on point and a good thing to remember.
5. Taking breaks is a good thing for everyone. Just like parents get tired – so do kids. One of the perks of homeschooling is that you CAN take breaks. Don’t waste that privilege.
6. Try new things! If one thing doesn’t work (whether it’s your routine, the curriculum you use, or your homeschool setup), try something else. That doesn’t work? Try something else. Rinse and repeat until you hit the jackpot.
Tiffany from Single Mommy Warrior
My advice: When your kids are all grown up, you will care a lot more about what kind of men and women they are than you will care about whether or not you get all the worksheets done. Don’t feel like a failure when you lose school time to discipline and character-building. Those are the school days that will really make a difference in their lives.
Melanie from Raising Real Men
The best advice I personally received was to let kids be kids. I spent so much time stressing out when my oldest was little (like before compulsory age). I wish I could tell homeschooling mamas to not worry about it at that age! Just let them play, they are soaking it ALL up! I recently wrote an article on this topic (encouragement) if you want to link to it as related content.
Andrea from Townsley Times
Best Advice I Received/Added To: You’re relationship with your children is the most important part of homeschooling…put it first. I’ve never regretted putting off a frustrating lesson until later. There’s always more time to learn things. But I have regretted angry words with my child because I pushed on when we were both spent.
Gale from Imaginative Homeschool
Don’t be afraid to let Netflix/YouTube/Prime Video take over teaching for a day!
Heather from Fearless Faithful Mom
I have just started to Homeschool for the second time due to Bullying. The best advice I was given was that we can go slow and remember to breathe. You don’t have to teach everything the school does. Go by what your child is interested in.
Glenda from Mommies Reviews
Don’t be a slave to your curriculum. You are the boss, so don’t try to check off all the boxes!
Anne from the Learning Table
Be flexible with your planning. Don’t feel like you have to do it any certain way – do what works best for your family!
Jennifer from Helping Hand Homeschool
Learn what to let go and what to hold on to.
Erin from Homeschool Balance.
There are seasons in which it’s nice to know the overview of what needs to be done, and then instead of writing it in ahead of time as “plans”, write it in after the fact as “what we did.” Evaluate periodically to be sure you’re meeting any requirements, but keep the “doing” and the “recording” happening w/less pressure and less guilt than when “planned” didn’t get done.
Katie from Paradise Praises
These days with your kids at this age will be so short, enjoy it, it’s not a chore but a blessing and choose to make the most of it. If that means putting math aside to sit on the couch to finish a wonderful read aloud, do it.
Not sure how to get your homeschool back on track? Sometimes ensuring that we have a set schedule that works for us will get everyone on the same path.
Need more help getting started in your homeschool? Grab the Homeschool Planning Guide for the Unorganized Mom for more help.
Take a look at the rest of the posts in this 5-day series – Homeschool Planning Tips for the Unorganized Mom
I’m glad I stumbled across this post. It really helped to see input from different viewpoints. Thanks for this! I shared it on Pinterest because I know other homeschool moms need to see it!
Glad it helped you and thanks for sharing!