I'd love to be able to start this post with a New Year's resolution goal focused mentality. I'd say something like: The secret to homeschooling without stress is to pray often, describe God's purpose for your family, write down your family's goals, work hard, and trust God. For which, we have some great tools to help you. However, we've all had those days where although we know the truth, we don't necessarily live the truth. Frankly speaking, we don't practice what we preach because we get overwhelmed and our sin hinders us.
Instead of regurgitating the high-minded objectives that create a 'teaching from rest' environment, let's look at 5 practical steps you can take to reduce your homeschooling stress:
- Inspect what you expect : If you want your student to produce a decent essay or finish his math homework. Take time to check his work. Here's a math teacher time saving trick: don't check all of the problems, just pick a few at random.
- Involve your spouse : You know that whole inspection thing? When my guys enter middle school they have a weekly inspection meeting with me and another one with my husband. We both look at everything, but focus on slightly different goals. Between the two of us, we give our children accountability and encourage them to do good work.
- Combine as many ages as possible : Can a 6th grader and 3rd grader do math together? yes! Can you practice writing skills for a 4th grader, 8th grader, and sophomore in the same discussion? yes you can and doing so will significantly lower your stress level.
- Encourage and reward independent learning : Why do my boys start their school as soon as they can? Because after they finish they have free time, to do anything they want. How do they know what to work on each day? They use a customized grid that I've assembled for them and have included as a pages or excel for you at the bottom of this email.
- Practice mutual respect : I respect my boys' efforts, work, and time. They respect me. It's a mutual relationship in which we serve and respect each other. If you want healthy boundaries then practice mutual respect.
There it is! 5 simple practices that you can start now whether you are starting a new semester this week or not. Stir these together, cover in prayer, and trust God to lead the way!
What's the one tip that you'd give a new homeschool family? Is there something that you practice in your home that eliminates many moments of stress?