Lesson 10: Relax, you have got this! {Season 3, Episode 59}

As our homeschooling journey comes to a close with our daughter, this final lesson is one I remind myself of when homeschooling our son. He’s 8 years younger, so in a lot of ways, I get to have a do-over.  In this final lesson, I am sharing three things I told myself that helped me to relax as we embarked on our second homeschooling journey.

Welcome to Season 3 of The Tips for Homeschool Science Show. This season, I am sharing 10 lessons I have learned in my ten plus years of homeschooling.  I hope that all of them will help you on your homeschooling journey!

{Disclaimer - I don't claim to know everything there is to know about homeschooling, but these ten lessons are ones that I have found important and useful in my homeschooling journey. And I trust that you will too.}

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Lesson 10 Transcripts

The final lesson I want to share with you all this season is to relax because you have got this!

If you have been listening to this podcast for a while, you know that we have two children that are 8 years apart in age. So as our oldest is in her last year of homeschooling, while our youngest is just ramping things up!

It is a bittersweet time – to be getting ready to send our oldest off to college. It’s a time when we really get to see the fruits of our homeschooling labors and get to enjoy seeing her spread her wings. But it’s also tough because mamma bird would love it if her baby would just stay in the nest awhile longer!

But my homeschooling journey is not over, in many ways I am back at the beginning again, but this time around I have the benefit of having been there and done that.

These three pieces of advice are what I reminded myself off when I stressed about homeschooling our son. Yes, I still needed to remind myself to relax about homeschooling the second time around!

I originally shared the three pieces of advice that are a part of this lesson on my old blog, Elemental Blogging, almost five years ago, but I thought they were a perfect way to wrap up this season of homeschooling lessons.

#1 – You can teach your child to read.

When I first started homeschooling our daughter, teaching her to read seemed like an insurmountable mountain. There was so much to teach – like letter sounds (she had the hardest time differentiating the sounds of “o” and “u”), consonant blends, phonograms, and more.

I was part of the learning-to-read-by-sight pilot program in elementary school, so I never learned phonics. And, there were days when I questioned whether or not I could really teach my child to read.

But there came a magical day when everything clicked – all the sudden all the phonics I had been trying to drill into her head suddenly dropped into place like a puzzle and she could read.

The second time around – we played more games and added in some movement to our phonics instruction. But when our son had difficulty distinguishing between the sounds for “e” and “i” I didn’t panic. I knew the pieces would fall into place and he would read.

And I am sure that if you put in the work, one day your students will learn to read, too. So relax, you can teach your students to read!

#2 – Don’t become a curriculum slave.

At the beginning of our homeschooling journey, I let curriculum be my master. I had to check every single box – no exceptions. I didn’t want to add in things or follow rabbit trails because that would throw off the schedule.

My fear was that if I didn’t do everything that was suggested, I wouldn’t get the desired outcome. As it turns out – fear is a nasty and usually destructive motivator. We had too many tears in our early years as a result of the curriculum master.

I have learned that I, the teacher, direct how we use a curriculum. I adjust it to fit our needs. I can throw out the unnecessary things that won’t work in our house. I can add in things that will enhance what we are learning.

Never forget that curriculum is a tool in your homeschooling journey. It can shore up weaknesses and enhance your strengths as a teacher.

Go ahead - wield your curriculum instrument with the precision of a fine sculptor. And relax, you are not a slave to your curriculum.

#3 – Take time to enjoy the journey.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the destination that we forget to enjoy the journey – the process of getting there. My goal has always been to produce a well-rounded student who knows how to learn.

It is good to keep that goal in mind when planning our school year and evaluating our progress. I need to know where we are heading in case I need to make course corrections along the way.

However, you can be so focused on next week, next year, and the next stage, that you forget to enjoy this week, this year, and this stage. As I near the end of my homeschooling journey with one child, I regret that I didn’t slow down and savor the journey more.

Relax and take time to embrace the miracle of having the opportunity to nurture a child’s intellect.

In a Nutshell

Have confidence in your ability to teach.

Wield your curriculum tools.

Slow down and enjoy your journey.

These three things will help you relax in your homeschooling journey, knowing that you have got this!

Thank you so much for listening to this season. I trust that these ten homeschooling lessons will encourage you on your journey. I’ll be back in two weeks to share what’s ahead for the Tips for Homeschooling Science Show!