5 Tips for New to Homeschool Families
Exploring the idea of homeschooling? Or have you recently made the commitment to school at home and are overwhelmed with the where/how to start? Here I’m sharing 5 tips for new to homeschool families..
Before I begin and in full transparency our family is not a seasoned homeschool family nor am I an educator beyond the 4 walls of our home. I am a mom, in a temporary season of schooling at home, hoping to alleviate the initial stress I felt wading through the options, resources and tools etc for families new to or considering homeschool.
The more I share of our journey the more questions I get about what we’re doing, how we decided, what works and so on. I put together answers to these questions in a few posts to hopefully help other families in any way I can. (For more on how we came to homeschool read here.)
Quickly before I share my tips for reducing stress in our school days below are some links to more in-depth information which can further explain the styles of homeschooling, benefits, links to resources and more.
Following are the 5 things I credit most for helping us shift from stressful days of overwhelm to enjoying school at home while also helping us both be more successful:
School at Home VS Homeschool: I heard this in an online community somewhere and it was a gamechanger. It might seem overly simple but it was the first and possibly the most transformative thought this year. I started this year trying to replicate her previous classrooms, mirroring a 6 hr school day, and structure. We were both frustrated and burnout immediately. Take the pressure off both you and your child(ren) and fully embrace the flexibility homeschooling offers. Also understand, school days are filled with transitions, breaks that occur naturally in your home, attention to a classroom of students, different learning styles & speeds etc. The demands won’t be the same at home.
Community: our community, especially since moving, is small but growing! Having others who understand or maybe just support your journey can make all the difference. In finding other families I can support and find support in has helped me build confidence in how I navigate our journey. The right community with supply you with ideas for activities, resources, information as well as endless encouragement. The only thing more stressful than feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing is feeling like you have no one to help you find your way!
(Free) Resources: this was a tough one for us because there are so many resources. There are style specific, subscription, costly resources - the list is long!! We do have a single subscription (education.com - $16/mo). It was the first resource we committed to and while we rely on it less now it has an awesome library of worksheets & online games that support our lessons as review and has been worth keeping.
That said, there are some really great resources available! Apart from being cost effective, they have allowed us to pivot in our approach, when necessary, without either financial commitment or waste. Possibly our favorite is GoNoodle. They have everything from curriculum, movement routines, music, sensory & motor skills, NTV (think MTV meets KidzBop with choreography that doubles as cardio) and more! There are videos & activities for indoor recess, exploring outdoors, cooking and so much more. There are even bilingual resources (in Spanish/English)!!
A Consistent but Flexible Schedule: kids thrive on structure, true! Knowing what to expect alleviates stress for most - children and homeschool parents alike. Likewise, flexibility has been our bread and butter. Instead of building a daily schedule here we work from a routine - which probably sounds like the same thing haha let me explain!
Structure for us looks like routinely moving through what we do and how we do it and not so much when. So, things like sleeping in or having a late breakfast doesn’t derail our day or upset our routine. When our day begins the tasks look the same and what is expected is understood.
FUN: this also probably seems overly simple, but I feel like this is one of those “hidden in plain sight” kind of things. Children learn more than you’d imagine when they’re having fun versus being “taught to”.
For instance, we host an academic relay every Thursday. We mix our vocabulary, math, art, science and writing lessons into a “race” designed to test her comprehension & retention of the topics and skills from that week. (I’ll create a separate post with details and idea samples to share next week.)
Again - we are not a seasoned homeschool family nor am I an educator.
You know your child(ren), what is important to their learning for your family and the ways they’ll learn best. My hope is only to encourage those new to homeschool, help them seek simple ways to approach learning at home and share the ways we’ve found success. I hope this serves you well, if you find anything shared here helpful, please let me know!