You Don't Have to Do It All!

 

As I sat down to plan this morning I was reminded of how this time of year always makes me panic.  Every year I think that feeling will not show up but it does.  I've been homeschooling for 12 years - I should have this down.  In some ways I do, in other ways I still feel like I'm brand new to this.  Every fall I wonder how on earth am I going to teach 4 kids and get everything else done around here.  Every year it works out and we get back into a school routine eventually.  

For those of you new to this journey - let me encourage you!  You can't do it all.  When I started this homeschool thing social media was a pretty new thing.  It was overwhelming just trying to narrow down curriculum.  I can't imagine having the perfectly staged photos thrown at me every day when I started this journey.   Like every part of social media - you are only seeing what people want you to see.  One of the most helpful things I did for our school was to create our rule of six.  

This is the list of our 6 priorities for school. These are the things we want our kids to learn.  It gives me direction when I'm not sure where we need to go.  It helps me to stay focused on what is important to our family.  Because, here is the thing,  your homeschool will not look like any one else's.  Your family is not like anyone else's.   

I started following 1000 hours outside a couple of years ago.  I post my monthly outdoor tracker.  Some times I worry about sharing things like this.  I don't track my kids outdoor time - just mine.  Like I track my reading, it's something I do for me.  This is one of the newest things I have seen in the homeschooling world.  As a naturalist I can give you all the reasons your kids should be outside, but guess what,  it might not work for your family - right now.    In the homeschooling world there are tons of different things you can be involved in.   All of the things are good.   All of the things look amazing.  It can be easy to see what others are doing and think you need to it all.    Decide what is important to  you as a family.  Don't base your day off of what I do or the beautiful Instagram account you follow.  Remember that what is important this year may not be as important next year.  Every phase of homeschooling is just like every phase of parenting.  There are different things for different seasons. 

As school starts remember your why!  Why are you doing this?   If you need a bit more encouragement I'm always happy to cheer another homeschooling mom on!  Just send me a message!