This has been one crazy year for my family. Some of it has been great, some not so great. In the middle of our year, my mom died. To say we have had ups and downs this year is an understatement. We’ve definitely had tons of learning going on in and out of our home, but I still am at this point in the year where I feel I need to play catch-up and wondering if I did enough.
Do you feel the same way?
Now don’t get me wrong. I do “know” that learning takes place 24/7 for homeschoolers and that we could “technically” do lessons year-round, but that’s not how my family rolls…yet. I’m still a big fan of a regular school year. 180 days and then you get a break. And if I can manage it, a rather long break. We like to start sometime in August and end sometime in April, with very little time off in between. We do travel within those times, but we always count those days because they are never just a vacation.
We use a box curriculum for math and reading and I oftentimes get caught up in the lesson numbers. I know I am not the only one who does that. If our curriculum says 170 days of worksheets, then 170 we will should do. But once again, as we near the end of the year, I realize how much learning has taken place outside of a workbook and I have begun the yearly process of weeding through what is left. I realize repetition is the mother of skill, but there is also a point when you know your children get it and one more worksheet or set of problems that goes unfinished will not scar them for life.
So I decide to round file them. And then the panic sets in.
Have I covered what I needed to cover? Did they learn what they needed to learn? Did I do the correct number of days for science and history? Did I forget to document something? Then in my state of panic, I head to my homeschool group and hound them with questions and the one thing the wise moms tell me is… BREATHE and give myself a break.
Are you with me weary homeschool mom? My friends are right. I need to breathe and realize I am doing an awesome job. My children are learning, they are highly socialized (because we know how important that is!), and most importantly, they love the Lord. Sure, our year has not gone as planned, but it never does. Something is always bound to happen. As a former teacher, I can tell you, nothing ever goes as planned and curriculum is rarely finished. The beauty of what we do as homeschoolers is that we are not bound by the four walls or a set calendar and everything matters. Everything.
The moment you shared this morning with your children when there was a gorgeous sunrise. The discussion you had in the car about why someone might be sleeping on a park bench and how grateful we should be. The time when your family helped pack Thanksgiving dinners for those in need. The nature walks you went on where you listened for birds and tried to identify them and all the trees around you.
Those moments matter. THAT is true learning and that is not something that will ever be found in those 170 pages of curriculum.
You are doing an awesome job! You have made it this far and even if you have doubted your ability, questioned your decisions, and maybe even wanted to quit, it’s ok. Know that we have all been there. We will all be there and most importantly, we understand.
I understand. Completely.
So, weary homeschool moms unite…and breathe.
It’s all good.
Join in on the conversation on my facebook page!
