2 Take-Aways from A Term of Homeschooling Done and Dusted

With the summer holidays on the horizon, it feels like a good time to look back on all we’ve achieved on what, for most of us, has been an initiation-by-fire homeschooling experience.

Anxiety and Self-Trust

I would guess many of you might have felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of delivering your child’s education. I know I did. When I’ve homeschooled in the past, I’ve been in charge of my own curriculum. This came with its own set of anxieties, but at least it gave me the freedom to adapt when I felt things weren’t working. 

This time, with both my children in school before lockdown, we felt more connected to the school timetable, core subjects, and learning objectives. It took us awhile to give ourselves permission to do art everyday of the week if we felt like it. 

While it was useful having the learning objectives as a guideline, overtime we began to feel the need to follow our own interests and trust that we may have different outcomes in this term, but we have still been learning. 

Nothing is perfect, however, and this too comes with its own anxieties. It can be challenging to go against the grain, even when you feel your child needs the space to do so. We all want to do what’s best for our children, but when you’re new to being in the driver’s seat it can take time to develop self-trust. 

I know I’ve struggled with this, and I’ve come up with two reminders for myself to keep in mind. Even if your kids are going back to school in September, these are helpful reminders, since wherever they go to school, we will still be their first and most important teacher.

Photo credit: Daniel Kuperman via Flickr Creative Commons

Reminder no.1: Know That The Work Will Never Be Finished — and that’s OK

The house will never be clean enough, the kids will always be “behind” in something. If they’re amazing at art, you’ll worry they’re no good at sport. If they’re amazing athletes, you’ll worry they’re no good at math. It’s true for adults too. We can’t be everything to everyone. 

That doesn’t mean your athlete shouldn’t do sums, or your artist shouldn’t play football. It’s just that expecting our kids to “shine” in all arenas is a huge amount of pressure for them and us. Our work will truly be endless if that’s the standard by which we’re navigating. 

So I’m going to commit to working on nurturing the passions of my children, identifying where they need support, and being gentle on myself when we don’t cross the finish line on any given day. 

Reminder no. 2: The “Little and Often” Rule

The best advice I’ve gotten in this area is “little and often”. I’ve seen it work in my kids’ music lessons. We do just 10 minutes a day. But at the same time, we rarely miss a session, so they’ve become musicians just by following through. 

At first I thought I had to come down really hard on them and that if I didn’t they wouldn’t progress. But it just wasn’t true. If I lavished them with joy at their progress, they were more motivated to come back the next day, and that’s all they needed to move forward.