(Rich took these on Monday.)
I had such a day yesterday! Blame it on the rain? I don’t know. . . .all I know is that I was spinning around the house in several directions at once all day long! I was so grieved by the end of the day, after the kids were in bed, that all I could do was wonder, “Am I doing the right thing?” “Are my children going to grow up to be uneducated?” “Is homeschooling really the best choice?” ect. Fears and doubts. Bad.
Rich and I were both asleep before 9pm last night and I even dreamed about home-schooling.
When we got up this morning, the second I was fully-awake I grabbed the nearest homeschooling book (Easy Homeschooling Companion, by Lorraine Curry) and dove right in, searching for the solution to my problems:
1. The preschoolers—what to do with them?
2. Math–takes forever and usually causes tears
3. Not completing my day’s schedule, therefore a constant feeling of “making up” for missed work.
4. Juggling many tasks at once–housework, preschoolers, dog, 3 schoolchildren w/their own set of needs.
5. Finding myself content with less than quality work from the children, too busy, too tired to “stay on top” of things.
So, I was reading in the book, but then my husband came in with our coffee and I told him all about my struggles. No tears, just letting him know what was going on. Talking to him made all the difference. There is no book on earth that can make me feel as good as his approval/advice.
He encouraged me and helped me come up with some solutions.
1. Keep preschoolers busy during school, using videos, educational toys, and gating them in their room. David joins us for some subjects (Bible, handwriting, art).
2. After about an hour of school in the morning, play/read all together until lunch. This will help me with feeling guilty about “neglecting” preschoolers during morning schooltime.
3. After lunch, put preschoolers down for nap. Use naptime as schooltime for older children.
4. Math–During the day, I am to use 1/2 an hour to drill flashcards, mult. tables, etc. DH will do their math worksheets w/them at night after supper while I am spending quality time with the little ones–giving them baths, reading, quiet play, bedtime. Huge major relief for me.
5. Pay attention to mastering the important subjects, if I have to skip a subject on a certain busy day, let it be an “ornamental” subject like art, nature notebook, music. Keep consistent on Bible, Reading, Writing, Arithmetic.
6. I ordered more supplies. I ordered the preschool/kindergarten pack for my 5 yr. old from Rod and Staff. This will give him something important to do while he sits at the table with us.
7. Keep studying and learning for myself all about homeschooling. The more I learn, the better and more confident I will feel about it.
8. Stay close to God and beg Him for help, repent of bad attitudes ASAP, get the strength I need from HIM. Remember that I am doing all for HIS GLORY.
9. STAY POSITIVE, focus on what we did do, what we did learn, instead of what we didn’t accomplish.
Please Pray for Me!
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Dirt and water pics:
Books that I got this week in the mail (ordered from amazon):
Good to be Home 
I don’t know much about homeschooling, but it sounds to me like you are on the right track ~ be encouraged. Blessings to you ~
This post really clicked with me. If we can focus and make a plan it makes the whole thing less stressful. Prayers? Yes, me too.
Thank you for writing this!
From your post…as a strand woven into a pattern of living…..a pattern to remember….of order and beauty…..Your children are so blessed! They are learning so much more than any school could ever teach!
I think even the “pros” who are school teachers have days when they feel like they have accomplished very little. I know I did. There is always the push to finish curriculum so the material will be learned before testing time in the Spring, yet you feel guilty about moving on when you know there are still those kids who aren’t yet “getting it.” You try to give the quick ones enrichment activities and the ones who need more time plenty of attention and drills to improve skills. It is such a challenge! You have to teach ONE lesson and it has to hit the mark (hopefully) with 28 students! I think you have come up with a goo plan here. And, of course, you have our wonderful Lord’s help, too! He can “Make your paths straight!” I would say if math is causing tears and frustration, maybe you should be on the lookout for some fun, hands-on math activities. I hate it when kids hate math! It was a challenge for me, because I hated it! LOL! I was always looking for ways to make it fun and relevant. Bless you my dear! You have a BIG job, and a high calling as a wife/mom/teacher/servant/child of the King! May He equip you for every good work. Prayers and hugs!
I will be praying for you. You are very lucky to have such a supportive & loving husband. It helps so much just having them understand & offer to help like that. I don’t homeschool, but it sounds like you have a wonderful plan.
Wow you are going to be busy reading:) I just ordered 2 off of Amazon.com yesterday. One is Flylady sink reflections & one for Houseworks, that Tara had on her site. Have a great day!
I’m so glad Rich is so supportive and helpful. Praise God for him!!! I’ll pray for you today. So, did you get my card and are you laughing at my pile of questions??? Especially after such a day you had!!! LOL. You are loved, Shanda, by your Father, your family, and me!
I will definitely pray for you, Shan. It sounds like you have come up with a good plan for getting things back on track. You will have to let us know how it works as time goes on.
I will definately be praying for you! I have so much respect for a woman that takes charge of her childrens education!!! I am still in question weather I want to homeschool or not…I was homeschooled for 7 years and i LOVEd it though!
AH I wish my mother had a xanga…she homeschooled all 4 of us and I know she felt the same way! She could be such an encouragement to you =)
I hope you have a fabulous day Shanda! xoxo ~Heather =)
I just have to say Diddo! I am teaching my two oldest while my 2 year old begs for a drink, or up or climbs on the girls. It is not easy, and I too am always feeling like I have missed one subject or something where we are always playing catch up. I have definitely been wondering if I should just be sending them to “real” school. (Honestly I am a bit jealous of moms who send their kids to school!) But then I see a tiny piece of fruit from the labor we have put in and I know that this is the right choice….I think I am going to have to do a similar post today! Sorry to be a copy cat!
This was such an encouraging post for me! Thank you so much for sharing your struggle as well as great solution! Priority! Ideas!!! This has been a big transition year for me having just 1 home! I can’t imagine doing what you are!! Have you read those Grandma’s Attic books? I grew up on those and I just loved them!!! 🙂 I have them for my daughter now. What a great stack of books! 🙂 and adorable pictures of your son! The song that plays on your site is one of my favorites! Thanks for brightening up my day! and encouraging another homeschool mom! 🙂
Praying for you today. I think, especially as women. no matter our situation we all have days where we feel like nothing got accomplished. Where we feel inadequate be it with schooling our children, raising our children, housework, being a wife, being a friend, work outside the home, ministries, etc. I think that God allows these overwhelming feelings to wash over us in order to remind us of our need for Him, without Him we surely will fail. This is something that has been near to my heart lately. I have felt that I have so much going on in my life that I am not doing a good job at anything. Like you, my husband and I sat down and talked and prayed, and this week has been much more peaceful. Praying you find that same peace – even today. Grace to you . . . .
I will be praying for you! It must be very hard work.. no doubt that it is the hardest job! Keep working at it and don’t give up… God will give you all of the grace and strength that you need; and he will bless you for your efforts
Looks like you got some good books! 🙂
On Homeschooling………You are so right. You just need to go to God on this. He will give you the wisdom, strength and discernment that you need to make your kids and you successful in their education. Sounds like your hubby was really wonderful during your talk! Yeah for supportive and loving husbands!!!!!! Sounds like you guys worked out some great solutions to your issues and insecurties. All of us homeschooling parents are in this together. Most of us didn’t go get our education degree so we are all learning as we go! So, keep your head up! Not only do you have God and your family in your corner……..you have a whole network of homeschooling parents backing you up too!
Oh girl, we all face these struggles, in so many ways (for me it’s all of us eating healthy, keeping the house clean, loving all of my kids and filling up their “love-tanks”, teaching them preschool stuff and keeping their imaginations going, storing up enough energy to greet my husband with a smile when he gets home and fix a meal he would like and ….maintain a godly and loving attitude through all of that). We will always feel inadequate until we reach heaven with our glorified minds and abilities, but aren’t husbands the best when they help us with good solutions and we are willing to listen! By the way, the Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer is such an amazing book and so is her book “what is a family”, that is a terrific one as well. Happy reading and hope you are encouraged! Many hugs to you.
Sounds like you are having a year like I did last year…I’ve made changes this year to focus on the fundamentals of reading writing and arithmatics. We are taking it easy with our Science and History (pretty much we are just reading books about them). I’m glad Rich was such a help finding a solution. You’ll have to keep us posted on your progress.
Love you a bunch! – Hang in there next week will be better. Also I must say that having a school meeting was very helpful for us. I let each of the kids know what I was expecting from them this year. I also pointed out that if they all work together and helped me to get to those goals there would be rewards for them as well (more playtime, field trips, family fun time) It would make me less stressed and more fun to be around etc.
~Colleen~
Oh Shanda I’m so glad you have shared your struggles in homeschooling, and that you not only have God to turn to, but He has also given you such a dear husband as Rich. Do not fear. Do not fear the children are not learning all they need to each day, just keep giving over their education to the Lord for He is faithful. I have seen the Lord’s annointing and blessing on the homeschool movement in our country. Our children are going out into the world with excellent educations that seems impossible if you look at their teachers! I only have Brianna, and taught her from 6th-12 grade, even getting help the last two years by having her take courses twice a week from a local Christian college. There were times I felt I was ruining my daughter’s education, I was letting to many things slip by, not getting what I thought were essentials covered. I’d also make the mistake of comparing her to other homeschool kids or her friends in public school. BUT guess what? Every child is unigue and precious and has their own learning style and talents. She is now in her second year of college and in the top of her class…she knows how to work on her own, and often spends time helping her class mates becasue she’s already finished her work. How did this happen? I prayed a lot. And God helped me teach her the things she really needed.He can and will do this for you too.I love you! Mary
p.s. I GIT YOUR LETTER! LOVE IT!!!!
Me too about the prayers – I will pray for you. The best advice we can get comes from our husbands. You did exactly the right thing (and extra props for doing it the right way ). When we aproach them like that, they have such a way of making everything alright. Carry on.
Dear Shan, First that particular Edith Schaeffer book revolutionized my life forever. I read Hidden Art when I was younger than you and it has been one of the most formative books ever. Here is the thing…you are already a woman who embraces the Hidden Art of Homemaking.. Okay. next: Honey I will be praying for you concerning homeschool. How well I remember those same days. Let me just tell you what our Marty said to me after he started going to a public school after being homeschooled. “Mom one year with you was like two years of this”, He ended up going to Oxford, so I didn’t hurt him too much. Be encouraged. Take it one day at a time but realize this, you are doing a thousand times better than they would be getting ANY other place and with a “world-view” (I hate that overused word) that is Christian and not pagan. Glad you got some tips and a faithful helping husband…that is all important. I can give you the email address of a friend who is one of the pioneers of homeschooling and she and her husband have an organization to promote homeschooling. She is a fabulous resource if you want her. Let me know. Praying, with much love, m in sc
It must be very hard keeping track of everything, I mean all the different grades and still keep up with the house work. I can see how it can start to over whelm you. But don’t give up, I know you can do it. It’s all for your family and god . I know he will give you the strength to do it all. Trust in him. God bless
Kelly
It’s a constant cycle of change with homeschooling. What works today doesn’t work tomorrow. And what works tomorrow may not work next week. Be open to the change and the possibility for change each moment. I think when I’m not flexible is when I feel the most unsuccessful in our homeschooling. I know you’re using Abeka and I know that Abeka can be very demanding. There’s a lot of repetitive work there and you may find that you can leave some of the repetitious busy work out. At the academy, I work with another teacher who homeschooled her boys through high school and has taught for many many years. She used Abeka with her two boys until it got to be too much, she recognized the work load there and realized it just wasn’t working.
I’m glad that you have your husband and a good attitude and faith in God and the drive to continue on with homeschooling.
Oh and your stack of new books looks positively divine!! Happy reading!
Shan-I do not know much about homeschooling, but I do know that it takes God’s wisdom and strength to get you through each day. I think your talk with Rich and the solutions you both came up with are brilliant. I think it all sounds wonderful and I am sure you will notice a difference quickly. You are doing a great job, do not beat up on yourself. You can only do so much and I think it’s great that Rich will help with school/math in the evenings. Just take it one day at a time, don’t stress. Do take time for you, when you can. I think your outlook is perfect now and your books look great! I already pray for you and your family, but I will specifically pray about this too. You are always in my thoughts and prayers and you are loved. 🙂 Your friend-Tara
I struggle at times with these same feelings, I think most homeschool Moms do. Your plan of action sounds awesome, kiddos to Rich for pitching in as well. I will be praying for you and your family ((((HUGS))))
Forgot to say the pile of books look awesome, enjoy diving into them.
Sounds like you need a (((HUG))) — I didn’t homeschool my children (it wasn’t as popular then) but I know how busy life was without that added responsibility. Do you have a support group of homeschool mothers in your church or area? Sounds like you and your husband came up with some very creative and good ideas — it’s so wonderful that he is available and willing to help with their schooling. God will bless you for your faithfulness in training your children for Him — don’t beat yourself up! Your books look wonderful — can’t say as I’ve read any of them so I hope you’ll “report” on them. That little guy with the water hose is so cute!! I will pray for your situation —
I teach at a small Christian school. I have days when I feel the same way. It doesn’t matter if they are in a room of 25, 16, 10 or being taught at home. There are going to be days when the teacher is feeling overwhelmed with what isn’t getting done. There are days when I don’t have the time I need to give individual attention to those who need it. Then there are days when everything goes “swimmingly” and I am refreshed knowing that I can keep going. Sometimes we all need to take a nice, deep breath and relax. I know there are days when I feel like there is so much I need to get covered which makes me on edge, which puts my students on edge. At the end of the day the important questions are: Did they grow in their faith? Are they learning? It may not always be “book learning” in the traditional sense, but they are learning to be problem solvers, to be inquisitive, to think for themselves, to share, to wait, to be good human beings. I’m sure you are doing an awesome job!
Praying for ya!
David
Re: Homeschool – I truly believe Bible, reading, writing & arithmetic are most important. I started geography basics this year and bought a globe. My girls have more fun spinning the globe then memorizing continents! I have 3 special needs children and most days it’s a “fly by the seat of my pants” day when it comes to teaching! I use A Beka (have for almost 15 years) and usually don’t make the children do ALL the math or grammar problems in a section. If they can do 5 correctly, fine. If not, that leaves them a couple more to try, and so on.Re: Prayer – It would be a privilege to pray for you. Consider it done!
Shan, I’m so glad you shared this! and I’m so glad that Rich is so supportive and that God, thru Rich, as taken away some anxiety from your life. I hope that as you implement these ideas that things will go smoothly, if not in the beginning, after awhile. You are such a great mother and I know you are a great teacher. We may feel inadequate but its GOOD when we do and we let God equipp us and we can lean on Him for strength and wisdom. Its so awesome to have Christ living in us, the holy spirit guiding us, and God as our Father! I know He will bring you through this challenging time and He will use this so that you can be an encouragment to others who may be in your same shoes now or later in life. Lots of Love, lish
Bless you for sharing your heart and your struggles. You share your family so wonderfully here and such sweet times….it is good for us all to see the hidden seeking of the Lord and needs behind it all. Prayer to our Lord, and your husbands help and support are the most important…and you have those…what a blessing. Your list looks wonderful and wise…and I believe it is a good plan. I homeschooled three…but the older boys were 8 and 10 when David was born …so we have pictures of him wrapped around their necks when they were reading I think as homeschoolers we all feel that struggle…am I doing enough? what about the things I didn’t get done? Two great things to realize : one, that God knew what he was doing when he gave those babies into your family…..you are the parents he intended for them. Two, he called you into this calling as a mom and teacher…so he will supply what you need, what the children need, and HE takes up the slack when we give it all into HIS keeping. He is faithful!! The older two did very well on their SAT exams and got all sorts of funding for college.
A few things that helped: We always started with the Lord…Bible and prayer! I did write out a schedule for the guys as they became more independant so they could work away on the list of items they needed to finish in a day. If they had a question they could come and ask …but did a lot of work such as read pp. from this book, fill in this page etc. and they would check them off the white board as they were completed. We would read together from Read alouds , History, and science during David’s naptime in the afternoon. And you may want to look into doing a unit type study where the different ages can learn together except their writing and math….that helps on the time.
Gotta run….but know you are doing very well and you and your children are blessed! In Him, Jenny
Sounds like you’ve developed a solid plan — hurray for the math help from your husband — do remember to take some “mommy time” for yourself each day (as you seem to donaturally with all those wonderful photographs), as it will refresh you when you feel most harrassed. Take good care!
I totally agree with danishdoll. As an elementary ed major, I have been in dozens of classrooms for several years now, and what she says is sooo true. It is VERY difficult to come close to meeting the individual needs of all those children in the classroom; they all have so many different backgrounds and personal and academic needs. Please know that in the hands of their mother (and father, in your case! ), and in the beautiful place where you live, they are getting the highest-quality education possible, and it encompasses so much more than academics. You’re doing a MARVELOUS job, Shanda; you just don’t even realize it.Hey – I’ve read four of those books: the Grandma’s attic series, and the books by Schaeffer and Norris (I own the latter two). Fantastic! See – more evidence of the competent hands your children are in.
I just know that I am proud of you for taking your children’s education into your hands and placing all of it into God’s hands. I personally don’t have the patience to homeschool. I see the way your children look at the world through your posts, and I see what beautiful, productive people they will be. Keep doing what you are gdoing…cause you are doing things right.Keep your focus on what is important…keep praying (not like I have to tell you, but…)thank you for sharing your family with me. I hope that someday, when I have my own children, that I can be as real with them as a possibly can. (and capture those precious moments in pictures and video….)
I don’t know if it helps, but we all have times when we get discouraged. And it seems thta it is prominent right now. Maybe it’s the time of year. When my children were little (probably until they were in high school), I scheduled every seventh week off from school so that we could all get a break.Yesterday, I wrote a post to encourage another homeschoolimg mom who is having a difficult time. It is a long one, so I won’t reproduce it here. You can read it if you scroll down past today’s post.It looks like you have some wonderful Xanga friends, who are behind you in prayer. Keep up the good work.
What a blessing that your husband is so supportive. That makes all the difference. I remember those toddler days of homeschooling. Some days are more trying than others but it looks like you and your husband have a good plan.
I bet you’re doing great. : ) We all have days like that, homeschooling or not homeschooling, but as a homeschool mom, I don’t want to sound like I’m belittling the difficulties and doubts. I understand, really. One thing that helps me is to just take a step back and focus only on the Eternal. Forget about dishes or anything like that, this day too will pass. But it is hard when we’re in what I call a “whirl”. But you are so correct, our husband’s understanding face does a world of good! : )
Here are some practicalities that help me: 1. My crockpot is my servant. 2. Playdough is a great thing even though messy. 3. Washing plastic dishes in sudsy water is a great thing even though messy. ; ) 4. If one of the children are ill or someone is crying over a lesson, close the books. 5. Retreat, and pray. : )
I’ll be posting a new post sometime today, maybe you’ll enjoy the pics of my older girls. We all survivived! (loving smile)
Prayers and love, ~Amelia
you will love the rod and staff preschool! it’s fantastic! by the way- i love your stack of books- i have read the hidden art of homemaking and learned a lot. 🙂 i need prayers too for the same reason! ~smile~
I love the books! I will be praying for you. Honey if your hubby supports you then your doing the right thing. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. I will be praying for you.
God Bless
I love all the pictures! You will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers as always, concerning your homeschooling too. The ideas you and Rich came up with sound great. Keep us updated on how everything goes!
Good advice above. Take things one day at a time, be flexible, keep the focus on what you are accomplishing. I have done this for 18 years (my 6 year old is reading over my shoulder and insists I should say “23 years” since my oldest is 23, LOL)…one day at a time…and by the grace of God. Things will change with the growth of the children or new babies coming along. Keep looking to Him. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (math, reading, or whatever), will be added to you as well.