Shift, Adjust, and Go With the Flow

When we first began this homeschooling journey, 10 years ago, I was a major box checker.  I had to make sure everything got accomplished in proper order and in a timely manner.  If things went undone or we got off schedule, I would be stressed.  The perfectionist in me would get all twisted in knots and I would embark on a sacred mission to get every last minute detail back into its proper place.

It had to be that way, right?  Certainly my children couldn’t have a well rounded education if I didn’t keep on with the strict schedule I had picked out at the first of the year. 

What I found, though, was that it was making me so TENSE.  I worried about getting this and that and all the other things done.  I squeezed stuff into our days which made my boys who aren’t big fans of excess book learning, despise school more.  I wanted to try all the neat stuff like lap booking, note booking, nature journals, and art.  My boys…not so much.  I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t love that stuff when it wasn’t really hardcore textbook learning, really, I loved it, shouldn’t they? 

Now that I am older and so much wiser (ha, a few years can really change things around mentally and physically for a gal)!  I have come to the conclusion (yeah it takes me a while) that these things are not for my boys, at least not in large doses.

That’s the beauty of homeschooling and as the years have come and gone, I have learned to shift, adjust and go with the flow.

This past week I put those words to practice.  We took Friday off from school and headed to my sister, Marisa’s, house for a weekend visit.  And when Monday morning rolled around and we were all so exhausted from the late nights of weekend fun, we slept in.  We didn’t even start school until 10:00 that morning. Gasp! (Hands raised to mouth in shock!)  You know what?  It was okay!  Nothing shocking happened and the earth didn’t stop turning because we didn’t stick to our prearranged schedule.

It’s the beauty of homeschooling, my friends.  Tweaking and arranging until it fits the educational and daily needs of your family.

I’ve learned to deal with, live with, and accept some things over the past couple of years

• It’s okay if my boys don’t LOVE school (my daughter makes up for that) and would rather be outside exploring, hunting and imagining. Who wouldn’t?

 

• It’s okay to make them do the work even though they dislike it. As I told my son just today, “Well, you can’t go through life as an ignoramus, so I guess you’ll just have to do the work!” (Said jokingly and with a smile)

 

• It’s okay if we don’t lapbook and notebook every day or even hardly at all.

 

• It’s okay if we only do art and nature journaling on Fridays and sometimes we skip it.

 

• It’s okay if we start school late or even take a day off here or there.

 

• It’s okay if I’m doing schooling differently than others.  It’s okay that our subjects are literature based, that we don’t do tons of workbooks, yet we are more traditional than some.

You see the beauty, don’t you?  Homeschooling is individualized!  Even within our own homeschool, each child has their own individual plan. No cookie cutter education to be found here.  I teach to the needs and abilities within each of my children. 

And it’s okay!

I’m glad we have found our niche. And I’m glad I can change that niche whenever I feel the need to!