Our first year has been a great year! There have been so many great experiences and new things that we have done with our son and daughter at different times because she was still in public school at the time. While I can say now that the year has been great, I will also say it was hard to get to this point, for me. My son adjusted well to being homeschooled, he has always been apart of the homeschooling talk and it's what he has chosen and of course what we think is best, but it was a transition for me. I already had/have a busy schedule so then adding something in the mix that I was so focused on left me playing catch up in work, my personal business, and even stopping my boutique opening because when was I going to have time to build and do that also? {Day by day and baby steps, it will get done}but I was a little overwhelmed.
We made it through the "first semester" which I consider the first half of the year- up to Christmas and we did some reevaluation over our Christmas break and thought about things that weren't working and what was and what we wanted to do and do more of. I will say this year was more of a finding our schedule, what we liked, didn't like, basically finding our groove. You can read all the articles you want on making your homeschool schedule and how other families do it but the truth is and you will hear it over and over again, you have to find what works best for you and your family. Once you find what works best because every child is different, works better at different times, and does things differently and this needs to be taken into account too. When we found what worked for us it was smooth sailing through the end of the year and not only did my son enjoy it but I enjoyed it!
My number one tip to anyone considering homeschool or are currently in their first year of homeschooling.
Take time and read, learn, and find as much as you can about your child's ways, how they learn, and curriculum that will help with the way they learn. Take time to learn more about homeschool and by no means am I saying don't read about other homeschoolers/ homeschool moms, or the ways other do things, because that's so important for us {newbie homeschool moms} to learn. I'm just saying don't compare and don't dwell if it does not work for your family and you.
Here are some photos of our first year homeschooling!
Graphics: @Charlotte Braddock 2013
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Charlottes-Clips-4150
2 comments:
So great to hear you had such a great first year. I know most moms feel very overwhelmed their first year. It seems as though you pulled it off with flying colors. Congratulations! As a 10 yr homeschool mom, each year always posses its challenges. You tips are right on track. One of my absolute favorite reads for encouragement is "The Old Schoolhouse" magazine. You can read the whole thing from their website or download the app. When I'm feeling discouraged, have questions, or just need to hear another great homeschooling story, I can always depend on the great folks at TOS to come through. Thanks for posting and can't wait to hear more!
Thank you Dee Dee, by the grace of god we were able to pull the year off with flying colors. I appreciate the information for the magazine! I will absolutely be checking it out. Thank you so much for sharing. As a 10 yr homeschool mom, what is one thing (if you could only pick one) that you would recommend? We are starting our second year (my daughters first) and I'm a little nervous about doing two different grades. I kinda feel like it's the first year all over again. Thank you again for your words of encouragement!
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