How to Get Your Kids to Hate HOmeschooling via www.RaisingLifelongLearners.com

How to Get Your Kids to Hate Homeschooling

Let’s face it, homeschooling isn’t always easy. And sometimes, it’s downright hard, impossible, frustrating, and defeating… for you and the kids.

Over the last few years, I’ve made lots of mistakes and am here to share several fail-safe ways to not only make homeschooling miserable for you, but how to get your kids to hate homeschooling, too.

 

How to Get Your Kids to Hate HOmeschooling via www.RaisingLifelongLearners.com

photo credit: sokabs via photopin cc
 

So, if you want your kids to hate homeschooling, make sure you:

 

Replicate School

Have them file into the school room, say the Pledge of Allegiance, and then start their morning work silently. Make sure you have them raise their hand before speaking, eat snacks and go to the bathroom on a prescribed schedule, and call you ma’am or sir.

In all seriousness, I don’t know about you, but I am my own worst enemy. Coming into homeschooling with a teaching background and ten years of classroom experience should make things a breeze, right?

Wrong.

 

How to Get Your Kids to Hate Homeschooling via www.RaisingLifelongLearners.com

It is too easy for me to remember what it was like in the classroom, and want to have the kids sit and listen — all day long. I get frustrated easily because I forget that they are kids. And wiggly kids to boot. They don’t need to sit at the kitchen table and do workbook page after workbook page. They need to be actively involved in their learning.

And I need to let go of my past experiences, and learn alongside of them.

 

Treat All Your Kids the Same

They’re kids, right? They all do things the same way, so if one can sit still, the others should all follow suit.

Um…no.

One of my kids is okay with those workbook pages. Molly is a people pleaser, and likes the familiarity of a workbook that she can grab in the morning and complete, then check off neat little boxes in a planner.

 

How to Get Your Kids to Hate Homeschooling via www.RaisingLifelongLearners.com

 

Trevor is not a people pleaser…at all. He doesn’t sit still…ever. He acts as if the world is coming to an end every time I ask him to do a workbook page or worksheet. While having those quietly sitting kiddos, slaving over paper-pencil work like they would in a traditional classroom would make my life easier, it’s not my reality.

Easy doesn’t fly around here.

Trevor needs to move while he learns. They all need frequent breaks. Breaks to play, to question, to build, to run, to talk.

Forgetting that they each have individual learning styles is the kiss of death around here, and will result in homeschool-hating kids who make the day miserable. And I’m willing to bet that it would end your homeschool bliss, too.

 

Think That Curriculum is One-Size-Fits-All

Those curriculum companies sell this stuff all the time, so they must know what they are doing, right? They research the market, the abilities of the average kid for each grade level, and design perfect programs for each age. So it should work for your kids, shouldn’t it?

Well…maybe. But, I didn’t pull my son out of public school because he was an average learner. If he had been, he’d likely still be there, and doing just fine.

My kids are asynchronous like many gifted learners. I’d never be able to pull a curriculum off the shelf and meet each of their varying needs.

There is NO curriculum — boxed or pieced together — that is perfect for every child you must teach.

This is the public school model we are trying to break free of as homeschoolers, right? We know that are kid are unique and need specialized instruction, so why do we gravitate towards curriculum that works for someone else without examining our own kids’ needs first? It’s easy and feeds right into our doubts as homeschoolers.

 

How to Get Your Kids to Hate Homeschooling via www.RaisingLifelongLearners.com

 

If I was only allowed to give one piece of advice to new homeschoolers, it would be to slow down. Wait on the curriculum. Get to know your kids and the ways in which they learn best. Then, capitalize on those strengths and interests and pull resources that meet their unique needs, interests, styles, and personalities.

 

Focus on Their Education Above All Else

As homeschool moms, it’s easy to get caught up in the comparison trap. There are blogs to read, Pinterest boards to peruse, Facebook groups and pages to join, and there are the moms in your co-op that look like they have it all together even though they have twice as many kids as you do.

Once you start comparing yourself to others, though, you’ll begin to forget why you’re homeschooling in the first place. You’re doing this because it’s best for YOUR family, right? Your kids need you — and all of those special traits you have.

  • They don’t need the same things as your favorite blogger’s kids do.
  • They don’t need to do every project you come across on Pinterest.
  • They don’t need to go on every field trip that pops up in your Facebook group feed.
  • And, they don’t need you to look like that mom at co-op.

They need you.

Your kids need you to remember that you’re there for them. To raise them to be the best they can possibly be. To love God. To love their family. To love learning and thinking and creating and playing and discovering.

They need you to love them.

When you forget the most important things, your kids will hate homeschooling because you will hate it.

Homeschooling is hard. But, it’s not the academics that is the toughest part. The most challenging part of homeschooling for both parents and kids is that it’s not about the academics.

Ultimately, homeschooling is about life, love, and learning…together as a family. Remember that, and love your kids, making sure that they know you love them. Make sure that they feel that love everyday…

And they’ll always adore their homeschooling — and their family.

 

How to Get Your Kids to Hate Homeschooling via www.RaisingLifelongLearners.com

 

Do you fall into the trap like I do? Focusing on the wrong things until homeschooling is miserable for all of you? How do you bounce back?

This post is part of a new iHomeschool Network blog hop. Click on the image below {after sharing your thoughts with me in the comments} for more posts like this.

 

How to Get Your Kids to Hate Homeschooling

 

 

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