Vacation day
After less than a week of homeschooling I am so excited to have a day to myself that I could cry. I’m spending my days teaching my kids to be independent thinkers while I do not have enough headspace to have thoughts of my own. I miss the wide, expansive thoughts I had in cubicles. I miss the constant worry that I was not spending my days doing things that matter.
Pace yourself! It’s a long haul.
Most of homeschooling is being a parent. If there’s space in the day for a parent to think, you can have space to homeschool and think.
The first week can be really hard. There is a weight to carrying the sole responsibility of your child’s education that – initially – can feel really heavy.
Thanks, Alison. Your advice reminds me so much of the advice I got right after having my first baby. The days seemed incredibly long – like they would never end and how would I do eighteen years? And people kept telling me that the days get easier, and the beginning is the most intense. And they were right. Thank you for reminding me.
Penelope
Maybe the reason you don’t worry that you are not spending your days doing things that matter because you already DO things that matter greatly to a hell lot of people every day. You are not only being a parent but also the greatest teacher a kid could have and on top of that you are writing interesting, thought provoking stuff every week that often change peoples lives. Seriously, what else can you reasonably expect of yourself? The day only has 24 hours in it and yours is full. You can’t add more without giving something up. You are not Superman you know ;)
There is no more important job than being a good parent which involves giving generously and freely of your time to your children.
We have worked out a bit of a compromise for our homeschooled boys (7 and 10). We have a tutor (well two actually – they share the job) who comes in for two hours a day.
Critically, our tutors are not qualified teachers – they are smart young men in their early twenties who go to the university up the street.
We don’t have a strict curriculum – reading, writing, arithmetic plus history, science, obscure board games, rhetoric and a fair bit of history of science. The tutors are there to walk the boys through the math and assign and mentor writing projects.
We are actively looking for an art student as neither my wife nor I can draw a straight line. In another year we will bring on a French tutor a couple of days a week.
Now, this is somewhat expensive; but compared to private school it is very cheap indeed.
As it happens, the public schools in our neighbourhood are excellent. But they are industrial and have all the politically correct rubbish which has little to do with education.
Adding a tutor to the mix has meant that my wife can, for at least a few hours a day, engage in her own life. (The fact I work at home helps as well.) Plus, the tutor(s) bring a different perspective and can remember the algebra I have long since forgotten.
As well as their parents, children need other adults to add to their lives. Tutors do just that.
You can do this. It’s a load road, homeschooling, especially secular homeschooling is tough.
Tap in to the networks others have created. If you need any link to good secular blogs, drop me a line. I’m happy to send you the ones I frequent when I’m smashing my head in the (colourfully decorated with elementary age art projects) fridge door.