Homeschooling is hard! Of course I knew that before I started. It’s no wonder many people are paid, although not well, to educate the youth of today. They are shaping minds, introducing values, setting standards, creating functioning and contributing human beings to our society, showing them how to be individuals, but also how to get along with one another, which are just a few reasons why we homeschool. I like the idea of having a large input in these areas of my children’s lives.

I guess I should be a little clearer. The act of homeschooling, the teaching, isn’t all that difficult. I’ve taught before, although adults, so I am easy when it comes to presenting material in a way for each student to understand. What has proved to be a challenge for me the past few months has been scheduling and squeezing everything I want my children to learn into a 24-hour period. Since sleep is required by both them and me, I’ve had to do a little whittling or make a few adjustments to our schedule to create what I believe is a well rounded academic program for them.

My children are early in their academic years, but are also at a point where a little more structure is required for them to properly learn the material they have to for satisfying not only state standards, but also my standards for them. I take all this into consideration, but also don’t want to make school a chore with time schedules to meet and check-lists to be marked. I want their learning experience to be enjoyable, something they look forward to, and also wake up with the excitement of everyday being a chance to do and learn something new.



I’m a list maker and a scheduler although I don’t often follow a schedule. At times, I’m a walking contradiction, but have yet to change. So, at the beginning of the school year, I put together a schedule. I truly had absolutely no intention of following it second by second or 30 minute segment by 30 minute segment, but rather wanted to use it as a guideline for how an orderly day of school would flow in a “pretend homeschool land” – the place where birds sit chirping outside the classroom window, students never complain. I needed some direction.

What I discovered, or already knew, is that life doesn’t always happen the way you plan and when you go crazy and start adding homeschooling to the mix, things can fall apart.

I was determined to not let that happen this year, so I’ve been a little easier on myself. I have a schedule, but rather than following it day-by-day or minute-by-minute. I have set the children’s course study up into assignments to cover over the course of the material rather than one week or one day. If we’re using a book, then we work until completion of all of the assignments or chapters. If we miss history on Monday, then we’ll pick up on Tuesday what was missed and so on. We’re never behind (what a relief)! The only material we cover every school day is Bible, math, language, and reading.

We’ve had sickness twice this school year, taken a few unexpected field trips, and spent some fun and exciting times w/Darling D that were not to be missed because life is too short. Since we homeschool year-around and are on a four-day a week schedule, this has worked for us and we’ve been able to complete the necessary lessons to stay on top of our work. We have about two days a week to recover or catch up if needed.

So far, this has worked for me. I don’t feel the pressure of not completing a Tuesday lesson on Tuesday or having to complete the Tuesday and Wednesday lesson on Wednesday. It was difficult on the children and hey, mommy wasn’t having much fun either.

Now that the pressure is gone, it’s time to have some school.

After being in the trenches of a new school year already, what adjustments or changes have you made to make teaching for you and learning for your children more fun, interesting, and reflective of the reason why you are homeschooling in the first place?