Combatting Mid-Year Discouragement

Homeschooling is wonderful, most of the time. But, let's face it, some days are tough. Some parts of the year are harder than others. Such is the case with the winter days midway through the school year.

  

This is when the mid-year blues start to rear an ugly head. When, sometimes, we homeschooling moms get discouraged and even start to second guess ourselves or our decision to homeschool.

You know the signs of discouragement.  It may look different for each one of us.  For me, there are three tell tale signs... looking longingly at the school down the street, wanting to call it quits when we've only started the day, and a loss of creativity.

What is a discouraged homeschooling mom to do?

Some successful ways I combat the mid-year blues...

• prayer
• have a heart to heart discussion with my husband
• refocus on why we homeschool
• realize the journey won't be perfect nor will it always be fun
• pinpoint the source of my discouragement and make changes to alleviate it
• seek encouragement and advice from other homeschoolers

Maybe you aren't feeling discouragement right now. Then, perhaps, you could encourage another homeschooling mom.

Whether with family and friends, in a formal or informal support group, on a blog, or in social media you can be a source of encouragement.

A few ways to encourage discouraged moms...

• prayer
• honestly sharing your own experiences and struggles
• meeting her for coffee or tea, or a social visit (without the kids)
• offering to help in an area of struggle or discouragement

Discouragement isn't confined to the winter days midway through a school year. No, discouragement rears its ugly head anywhere, anytime for anyone of us.

If you are in a season of discouragement, know that you are not alone. Probably every homeschooling mom has felt it at one point or another.  I have been there. And, today, I want you to know, you can do this homeschooling thing. You are capable, and you will succeed!

If you are not in a season of discouragement, look around you. Is there a mom you can encourage today? Reach out using one of the ideas listed above, or add another way to encourage in the comment section.  Then, we will all benefit from your ideas.

Feeling Inadequate

We all have it - that one subject that just makes us cringe.  The one subject that we hate to teach.  The one subject that almost makes us want to have someone else teach our children.   For me that subject is Bible Study.  Math, Reading, Science, and Social Studies all excite me.  I love figuring out new and fun ways to teach Abigail the academic skills!  I am never at a loss for fun ideas to teach those skills.  However, when it comes to teaching about the Bible,  I freeze.  

It makes no sense, but whenever it is time to plan our bible lessons, I don't know what to do.  It is almost like I have never taught before.  I am clueless.  I feel so inadequate.  Most weeks, I don't even know where to begin to plan those lessons.  So, sometimes I don't.  Sometimes, we don't do a bible lesson because I am too scared to create it and never get it done.  On those weeks, we just read the toddler bible from beginning to end over the course of the week.  I know that reading the bible is not the same as a planned, structured lesson, but fear keeps me from doing more - the fear of failing as my girls' teacher.

In my mind, anything that I create to teach Abigail and Charlotte about God is not good enough.  It is all inadequate.  I have tried using curriculums that I have purchased, but quickly gave up.  They weren't good enough either.  Nothing meets the standards that I have set in my mind for a quality bible lesson.

Deep down, I know that my lessons and the lessons I have purchased are good enough (and are much better than nothing).  So, despite my fear of failing, I have resolved to try harder - to try harder to ensure that we have a bible lesson each day and to try harder to have faith in my own abilities.  Doing so will only benefit my girls and me.

Homeschool P.E.

This week we asked the bloggers here at Growing Your Homeschool,

Can you share with our readers a little about your homeschool physical education program? One of the beautiful things about homeschool is that you can gear it to your child's strengths or interests. How do you do that in your home? Do you include health/nutrition as part of your physical education curriculum? (Answer as much or as little as you want since it is a lengthy, multi-part question.)

Samantha-We don't do anything really organized. Our home sits in the church parking lot (my husband is a preacher) and our children ride their bikes almost all year long. We also have a trampoline and basketball goal that they use almost daily. Since we homeschool and believe in shorter lessons they get a lot of time to run about and be kids. They also like to join in with me during my evening workouts. We also talk a lot about good nutrition casually, and the kids are very knowledgeable about food choices.

Aurie- Since the girls are little, we run circles around the dining room and dance in the living room when we can't go outside. We are lucky to have parks within walking distance, so when the weather is nice we are outside a lot :) We don't talk a lot about food right now, the girls are both good eaters and very active so they actually eat and drink quite a bit!

Marla- We talk a lot about eating "growing foods". We discuss healthy and unhealthy eating when we cook and when we go grocery shopping. Abigail understands that most of the food we eats needs to be "growing food", but that we can eat other foods sometimes. As for physical education, Abigail participates in soccer and swimming classes. At home, we dance, play t-ball, ride tricycles, go to the park, play in our yard, and spend time at nearby indoor play areas.

Dorie- We strongly believe children should be active and encourage this in a variety of ways. Our children play outside almost everyday. About once a week, we take a nature walk. The children are also involved in seasonal sports like soccer, gymnastics, and football. During the summer, they swim recreationally several times a week.  For food choices, we strive to eat well, but allow treats. We serve lots of fruits and vegetables. Growing a garden in the warmer seasons provides a fabulous learning experience for our family. Also, I have started teaching the children to read the ingredient listings of foods we purchase and those we won't.

Ralene- We don't really have an organized program or anything, but we do discuss good foods and what we need to grow and stay healthy. The kids play outside most days, and when they can't, we dance around or they try to do Mommy's workouts (lol...). Once we move, we plan to enroll the girls in some sports programs to encourage more activity and learning teamwork.

Jessica-  We do not have a specific plan or curriculum for physical education. Our lifestyle is active and we encourage discussion and participation in all things, including this! Our children spend time outside every day, as well as having a weekly sporting activity. It was important to us that our children become comfortable swimmers, so for a long time our weekly activity was swimming lessons. Now we incorporate other interests the children have when our schedule permits. Mostly, we continue to encourage them to spend time outside. I am very interested in eating a large variety of foods in as close to their natural state as possible, so this interest often sparks conversations about foods and wellness. We also have science units about the human body each year, which lends itself to discussion about physical activity, nutrition and keeping fit. So much of education takes place in simply including your children in your life, talking about what you are doing and why, sharing with them as you are doing. This is how P.E. and nutrition has worked into our homeschool.

How do you tailor your homeschool P.E. program?