Hey! Welcome back!
If you remember in our "What? Me, Homeschool?" post, we listed a bunch of questions that come up when someone is considering homeschooling their child. We answered the easier ones in that post, but there were a few that need a little extra time, a little extra explanation.
So, without further ado, here is our first hard question: Question #2, Is It Hard To Homeschool?
No, it isn’t!
Well, it can be.
But it doesn’t have to be.
It kinda depends.
See why that’s a hard question?
Seriously, though, homeschooling, like any other task we do, can be a slog sometimes. We’re not going to lie about that. I mean, even eating chocolate cake gets wearisome after the 5th day (um…err…moving on).
A lot of the difficulty depends on how much you choose (yes, choose) to pressure yourself and your kids. In this case, the more laissez faire moms have an easier time of it.
If you homeschool with a sense of fear of the future (which we aren’t supposed to have!) then yes, it gets very hard. That fear makes you question yourself, pressure the kids, and is sort of like revving the engine at a stop light—it gets you nowhere faster.
But let us paint you a picture from a homeschool mom:
“People wonder if homeschooling, being around the kids all day, is tough. Honestly, it never was for me. In fact, I think it was actually much easier on me. Lots of families have stress because of the mad rush to get out the door in the morning and crazy, hangry chaos after school until supper. These moments of GO GO GO never appealed to me at all, and having everyone reconvene after they are “tired-wired”—mentally brain fried but physically understimulated—seemed like a recipe for disaster.
Instead we ease into our days and out of our days. It is actually really peaceful! The kids get the sleep they need. I know my kids best, I can see when they are getting overstimulated or understimulated. I know when they need fresh air, a snack, more math problems. By taking the long view of homeschooling, and not getting bogged down in minute-by-minute perfectionism, we, thank the Lord, had a very peaceful homeschooling experience. Oh there were some days where I wanted to look up bus schedules—pretty much all of us do at some point—but overall, it was the best thing that we could do as a family.”
More than curriculum choices, more than pressure from outside, more than health issues is the family attitude toward each other and homeschooling. Love, patience, respect for each other all make homeschooling much easier. Working on mending relationships, setting boundaries, bonding as a couple and a family, learning good conflict management skills, all are so important to a thriving home and homeschool.
If you have any questions or want us to address something, please let us know. We are here to help and support you!