It’s August…. The END of August….
If you’re being thrown into homeschooling unexpectedly (due to COVID-19 or for any other reason), this might be the moment you start to panic.
Or, it might be when the panic you’ve felt rising for months turns into full-blown freaking out.
As a friend of mine says to lighten the mood when her kids are stressed out, “don’t worry… sausages!”
Take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay.
I can’t bring myself to send out “just another post” this week. There’s too much unrest. Too much turbulence. Too much to process to move forward without pausing.
Before we can even attempt to reflect on the last school year or make plans for the next one, we simply must stop and acknowledge all that 2020 has brought so far.
You never imagined yourself doing school at home. Or maybe you did, but not yet… and definitely not because schools closed suddenly during a pandemic! You don’t have the luxury of researching and planning over the summer months – this is happening NOW!
But for now – right now – you want to make the most of this. For the next three weeks or three months or however long it lasts, you want to take the lemons and make lemonade.
Homeschoolers have gained back a lot of time with their kids by keeping them home. But it still seems like it’s never enough! So, in the spirit of not wasting any more of this precious commodity, let’s get right to the tips!
The list below includes the top ten ways I’ve learned to save time in our homeschool. It’s organized from very general to very specific – hopefully there’s an idea for everyone!
WARNING: Just so we’re all on the same page, the following post is facetious and dripping with sarcasm. Please read it with this in mind.
If you’re looking to anger, alienate or distance yourself from the homeschooling family down the street but just don’t know where to start, look no further! Here are 7 easy ways to judge them unfairly and really annoy them in the process!
I love autumn. The older I get, the more I prefer autumn to my previous favorite season, summer. Apple picking, cider donuts, colorful scenery, veggie garden harvests and cozy sweaters on crisp fall days…. yes, there’s a lot to love about this season!
Except, of course, the inevitable cold or flu that someone catches and brings home to share with the family.
Has the word “homeschool” caught your attention lately?
Are you curious about it? Feeling called to it? Wondering if it’s something you should explore more?
Do you feel a little crazy for even considering such a counter-cultural concept?
That’s exactly where I was not too long ago.
Not too long ago, if you asked me if I like gardening, I’d have answered…
“No way! I kill plants!”
(I didn’t mean to kill them – it just happened. I’m pretty sure it had to do with forgetting to water them for months at a time…)
If you’ve been following this series (if not, start here), you’ll probably have noticed a pattern by now. We seem to keep ping-ponging back and forth between work-focused summers and play-focused summers, always trying to find the sweet spot.
Year 3 was a summer of virtually no advanced planning and no academic work. So, you probably won’t be too surprised when I tell you that Year 4 was the complete opposite.
(And, according to my oldest son who was just reading over my shoulder a minute ago, Year 4’s summer was “horrible!” Can’t win ‘em all, I guess.)
