3 Things Every Homeschooler Needs To Know

Whether you are just starting your homeschooling journey out this year, or you have been homeschooling for awhile now, here are 3 things every homeschooler needs to know!

*Read through to the end for an amazing giveaway that every homeschooler will want to enter!

It’s such a good reminder before the new school year starts, and important to consider as you plan out your year. All of our homeschools looks so different, and that’s such a good thing since we are all unique families. If I could stress one thing to you though, it would be this:

Don’t structure your day like a public school 

When my mom started homeschooling us in the 1980’s she hardly knew anyone who was doing it, so naturally she started out doing it close to how the public schools were doing it. 

We had a room with desks, set up just like a classroom. Her desk was at the front, with our desks facing hers. I remember I felt so special when my desk was moved up beside her, but I later realized it was just because I was the youngest and needed the most help! 

We said the pledge of allegiance every morning. We used Abeka textbooks because she didn’t know of anything else out there. We had a very structured scheduled day. 

There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with that if that’s the type of person you are. She realized after that first year that homeschooling gave her so much more potential to go beyond mimicking a public school. She created memories for us where we snuggled on the couch together, had hot chocolate in the mornings before school started, read books together, and just enjoyed life outside of the classroom she had set up in our house. 

I’m so thankful for her following her instincts and not feeling like she would mess up if she didn’t follow a public school timeframe and atmosphere. 

To create the day you would enjoy, sit and write down a list of things you enjoy, and things you really dislike. 

Do you love: 

• structure
•  schedules
•  charts
•  teacher manuals
• Checking things off a to do list
• Multi Tasking all day long

Or do you like:

• Snuggles on the couch
• A flexible day
• A general to do list, with room for life to get in the way
• Doing one thing at a time
• Learning history through living books make you excited
• A beautiful curriculum, a beautiful atmosphere in your home to learn in.
• Teaching life skills (cooking, sewing, practical skills). 
• Crafty projects. 
• The arts.

There is nothing wrong with checking off anything on this list. Everyone is different and we can’t compare our school day to our best friend’s school day. However so many first time homeschooling moms feel pressure to give their child an education similar to public school, and I just want you to feel confident in doing something that looks different than that. You are not teaching a classroom of 30 children, and how you structure your day can look totally different! 

Don’t over schedule your day

After years of homeschooling I still struggle with this! There are so many amazing things out there that we can do with our children each day; but I would caution you to only choose the absolute best of things to put on your school list. 

You can absolutely have a full and rich school day, but if your child is doing school from 8-5 every single day, you probably have created a day with way to much work in it! Or you just have a child who dawdles over the simplest of tasks! 

I created a list of subjects in The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner for moms to brainstorm through what they will have each child do for the year. It helps to get it all out on paper and see exactly what subjects you are doing. 

Your child needs to have time to simply be a child, especially if they are younger. As they get to high school their day gets much fuller, and it should – they are nearing adulthood! An elementary child needs time to get in the dirt, explore the outdoors and read books that interest them, 

Create a Morning Time and Loop Schedule! 

Believe me, this will be one of the most important things you can do. 

If you want to give your child the best of everything, but feel like you just can’t do it, the morning time and a loop schedule is your best friend! 

A loop schedule is where instead of assigning 10 things to different days to trying and get them done each week, you just simply “loop” through them. Start at the top of the list, see how much you get done on Monday and then keep on going the next day with where you left off. If you only get halfway through the list by the end of the week, it’s ok! Pick back up again the next Monday and keep going. 

This loop schedule page is from The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner. It’s what our loop schedule will look like this year. You can do it for each child (if you want to loop some of their subjects), or just make one loop schedule for your morning time (what I did).

As for morning time, it’s just a great time to do devotions together, have a basket full of read aloud books, art books, flash cards, etc. Things you can cover in the morning with all of your children. It’s amazing how much education you can pass onto your children just in that morning time hour!

I love to use the morning time curriculum from A Gentle Feast. All the work is done for me and my children enjoy it so much!

I’ve never been more thankful for the freedom to homeschool my kids than I am this year. I can’t imagine the uncertainty, stress, and overwhelm that many families are feeling right now with not knowing what the upcoming school year will look like.  As homeschoolers, our plans for the upcoming school year have likely not been disrupted or derailed. Schooling will take place in our homes this fall (or year-round if you are in that camp). Plans may have changed some as jobs and financial situations have changed. So many families, homeschoolers or not, are feeling the strain of the economy’s decline.  Maybe you don’t have the funds to get your favorite or usual curriculum this year, or maybe you don’t have the budget to buy any at all.  Maybe you are brand new to homeschooling; you’ve decided to take your child’s education into your own hands, to have more control in what and how they’ll learn and you had to cut back your work hours or quit altogether to do just that.

Well, I’ve teamed up with a great group of homeschool bloggers that would like to help and bless a few homeschool families this year.  We wish we could bless more, but we will be able to give THREE families $200 to spend at Rainbow Resource Center to buy curriculum, resources, and supplies for their homeschools.

To enter for your chance to win, simply use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.  Now I know this is quite a few entries, but each of these bloggers has generously chipped in their own money to make this giveaway possible, so I hope you will take the time to do all of the entries.  And hey, the more entries you do, the better your odds are of winning!

Giveaway ends July 31, 2020 at 11:59pm ET.  Must be at least 18 years of age.  Must be a resident of U.S. or Canada to enter.  Selected winners will have 48 hours to respond to email notification to claim their prizes or another winner will be drawn.  By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating bloggers (see the Terms & Conditions on the Rafflecopter form for the complete list).

a Rafflecopter giveaway