How to Begin Homeschooling: Getting Into the Swing of Things Whether New to it or Continuing
Episode 45: How to Begin Homeschooling: Getting Into the Swing of Things Whether New to it or Continuing
We talk about beginning the “school year,” either as a new homeschool family or a continuing family from the perspective of both connection and practical ideas. It can be an exciting time of year, but it can also be daunting! Even a new age or stage our child has reached can make this time of year full of feelings and concerns. We base the bulk of the conversation on Hayley’s blog post, New to Home Education: Your First Week and my Instagram post, If you’re beginning homeschooling or returning to homeschooling and feeling uneasy in the midst of Back to School season, here are some ideas as you get into the groove. We talk about ways of easing in and just putting “one foot in front of the other.” We hope you’ll join us and have a listen!
We Discuss:
How home education advice, particularly unschooling, can sound overwhelmingly vast and almost too open
Finding a few ideas to anchor our days and weeks
How helpful it is for some children to map some things out on a calendar
Choosing how we see the seasons and how expansive it feels when we have the option of really enjoying those last weeks of summer into September
Recognizing that not everything has to be packed into holiday time when we spread things out beyond the school schedule
How nice it is not to rush
That sometimes when families have been on a fast-paced “wheel,” it takes a few years to enter the new “school year” more comfortably
Planning meetings with our kids, Joy Lists, kids having their own planners and calendars as being ways to plan together with our kids BUT not assuming all kids will be engaged with that
The visual representation of timetables and schedules as being really helpful for some parents and kids and overwhelming for others – we can experiment with what works
Coming at the new year with a playfulness, knowing that if we begin with either a strong routine or a lot of openness, either of those can be changed if not working
That our modern lifestyle can muddle the ideas around unschooling or whole life learning
How mealtimes together at the table can be anchor points for conversation and connection BUT may not feel necessary or preferred for homeschool families, who are already spending large amounts of time together
How even planning a picnic or choosing a chip truck or a pizza and movie night can be a form of meal planning
Celebrating being with our kids and remembering that we can focus on what we “get” to do, rather than what we “have” to do
Rough days and supporting our kids with ideas for “turning the day around”
Hanging out with our kids
The role of parents in play, involvement and engagement with children
Whether home education is not just a lifestyle, but also a job
Beginning our time together with a “What shall we do today?” kind of energy
Reading alouds as great ways to offer common context and also shift the energy on a difficult or bored sort of day
How as kids get older, their learning may not be as visible
Coming to understand that we will not always see evidence of learning (especially as children get older) and that sometimes children need a chance to rest and integrate what’s happening for them – and that’s learning and development too
Different types of rest, the value of rest as a whole
How “scheduling” things in can sound very schoolish but might be the gentlest way to make sure we and our kids get enough of the good things we want and need
Going outside as a great way to feel “enough” and how it’s almost impossible not to get curious and make discoveries once out there
That even though it can take a while to find a home education group that fits, why not make the first week a time to explore and see what different groups are about?
Looking at trying out groups and meeting new people as a fact-finding mission and being clear that it often takes time to find friends and community
Getting some “back to season” supplies and doing a seasonal set-up
Libraries and how they offer not only an abundant place to be, but also a place of potential connection to home education activities and non-home ed families as well
Keeping in mind that this time of year might be triggering for us as a parent and that it can be helpful to find alternative things to do those first few days that take our mind off the idea of school entirely, whether that’s a bit of travel or just something entirely new
Giving it some time and fullness … sometimes there are periods of time that just don’t feel smooth and are difficult and it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not still a good choice. School doesn’t need to be the default
That it’s fine to ease into a new season
Curricula and resources as good tools and a support system and that we don’t need to have an attached or outcome-based relationship with them
Resources:
New to Home Education: Your First Week, Taking a Kinder Path
Fear of Missing Out, Episode 26 , Virtual Kitchen Table
Lists or Not – How Do We and Those We Love Keep Organized?, Episode 16, Virtual Kitchen Table
Stories of an Unschooling Family, Sue Elvis
Fablehaven Series by Brandon Mull
The Seven Kinds of Rest You Actually Need, Psychology Today, Claudia Skowrow