The new year is here and the lesson plans are ready to go. The textbooks and workbooks all shiny and new. It’s the time of year I must admit that I tend to have hopes so high reality is going to crash in, at least partially, at some point. That’s okay because I have been homeschooling for well over a decade and I am prepared.
I have 5 ways to stop stressing about the beginning of the homeschooling year. Now and in the coming months.
Just as a foundation if you are starting to go into panic mode than stop! Take a deep breath we are all in the same boat and together we can all get through this year. Let’s not waste time breathing into a brown paper bag.
I know this anxiety. This rush of guilt mixed oddly with the pleasure of a new year.
My first year of homeschooling started off rocky. No matter which curriculum I chose or how I taught it my child wasn’t learning to read. I panicked but the teacher that helps guide our journey said calm down it will come.
- Calm down each child has their own internal rate of maturity and learning curve. Honor it not the graph of what they should, would, could be doing at X age.
Let your child grow at their own speed!
The next year my now 7-year-old wasn’t reading. She could sound out a simple word but not string them together. She was trying but reading just wasn’t coming. My teacher pointed out how eloquently she spoke and how fabulous her listening comprehension was but I was focused on the act of reading. It wasn’t there, again my teacher said calm down it will come.
2) Look for progress not problems! I fell into the trap of looking at all that we didn’t get done or where we should be on May 31st. I should have been more focused on our own unique path and allowed that to develop naturally.
Years 8 and 9 went by. Some improvement but not what I expected. Not what I had in my lesson plan. Not what the snazzy dyslexia aimed curriculum said it would get us. In this race towards fluent reading, the snails were lapping us.
A unique child often takes a unique path to learning
3) Let go of the guilt. You are not your child’s grade. Do not wrap your self-worth around your child’s grades. You will be let down at some point and if your worth is tightly tied to your child’s ability/ disability you will be more likely to get angry at your child. You don’t want to be that mommy.
Year 10 came and there was a shift. Like icebergs shifting around a cutter the letters made sense. Slowly the word families clicked. Then seemingly overnight my daughter was reading!
Yes, let me say that again she was reading!
My daughter was older and had developed logic and critical thinking that aided her in advancing in reading by leaps and bounds. She also still loved books. The end of the year came and our teacher sat down with my daughter. My daughter brought a chapter book to the table and announced proudly that she had read it all by herself. The teacher smiled and gushed over the marvelous accomplishment then looked at me and said I told you she would get there.
How? We READ, READ, READ, and allowed audio books whenever she asked.
Focus on what you want your child to learn and don’t allow weaker abilities to create a frustrating roadblock to learning.
Keep alive the love of learning for your child. Even if that means thinking WAY outside the box for a teaching method.
4) Choose Subject Specific Learning. Keep firmly in mind what subject you are trying to teach your child. If you are trying to teach math but your child has dyslexia don’t get a language heavy math program. If your child has trouble writing like dysgraphia don’t force them to write out every single section of history.
Year 10 came and there was a shift. Like icebergs shifting around a cutter the letters made sense. Slowly the word families clicked. Then seemingly overnight my daughter was reading!
5) Consider my book, Homeschooling When Learning Isn’t Easy (book) the downloadable version is HERE. I have graduated that lovely young lady that struggled reading when she was young and am still homeschooling our younger children. I was open about our good, bad, and out of the box ideas and experiences that helped us.
Each year has brought new hope and joy. I am so excited to start homeschooling yet again. I love watching and participating in helping my child learn. Sure there will be ups and downs but if I remember my 5 tips then at least I am not fighting my stress as well.
Mom take a deep breath and enjoy the new year. Your children will follow your lead!
Happy New School Year!