5 tips for homeschooling newbies:

Hi Friends,

A few weeks ago I was asked to participate in an interview about what brought me to homeschooling, my homeschool journey, & to share some tips and resources that have been beneficial for us as a homeschool family. I'm honored to have a featured spot on her "How We Homeschool" series that includes interviews of other homeschool families all over the USA and many countries around the world. You can read her interview here:  https://www.vegaskidszone.com/adversity-and-action-create-opportunity-for-homeschool-family-in-oregon/.

When I began homeschooling my hope was to spend more time with my kiddos and to have more say in what they were learning; I never imagined it would become a lifestyle that would have such an impact on my family, and help shape and mold my children into the amazing young adults they are becoming. We are so grateful for all the opportunities that homeschooling has created for our family and how it continues to be the best fit for us.💖

If it's something you're considering (perhaps for the first time in light of all the changes in the public or private school spectrums due to the pandemic) I hope to offer you some hope and encouragement here on this page! :)  

**My top 5 tips for newbies to homeschooling & those considering it:

1) My first thing I want to encourage you with is to know your WHY. Why are you choosing to homeschool? Is it because you feel lead to, because it is the best fit for your family? A life long desire to teach your kiddos? Religious reasons or due to the current situation that unexpectedly caused the role of distance learning/homeschool parent to fall into your lap? All of these or none? Whatever your reasons are, I encourage you to write them down and place your reasons somewhere that you can refer to often. It will be your reminder and serve as an encouragement on the hard days. I also encourage you to add to or remove things over the year(s) as you maneuver your way through your homeschool journey. My list has evolved multiple times over the years and been narrowed down to 5 main reasons. It has served as both encouragement and a list to reference when chatting about many of the homeschool benefits with others. 

2) The next thing I'd love to impress on you is that homeschooling really can be as simple as you make it! You don't need all the bells and whistles to make your school/teaching/learning days successful. Sometimes in fact it's better to pull back a little on all the "things" and activities and just focus on the basics.

 3) Give yourself some time to adjust and create a pace/schedule that works for your family and not the other way around! I've seen so many families end up with homeschool burnout and I urge you to set yourself up for success by easing your way into it. 

4) Choose a curriculum that is simple, easy to follow and that isn't confusing or stressful for you or your kiddo(s): Some examples might be: Story of the World for history (offers easy to follow along stories & activities that kids love and you can use this curriculum for a wide range of ages. Another option would be the Apologia Exploring Creation series, young explorers. Our favorites were the Exploring Creation zoology series, anatomy & astronomy. These are fun interactive series that provide numerous activity suggestions as well as suggestions of extra curricular activities and reading to tie into the studies. We also really enjoyed explode the code for our spelling curriculum while they were younger, my kids loved the interactive lessons and it really grew their vocabularies each year. 

5) Enjoy the journey! Homeschooling is a marathon not a sprint so plan accordingly ;) Seriously though, if you go into it with the mentality that you are preparing for a year or years and remind yourself you don't have to try and squish "all the things" into one year everyone will appreciate the experience so much more! ;) Speaking from experience, you and your kiddos will be so much happier if you pace yourself and focus on achieving a little bit at a time (think, how would you eat an elephant. One bite at a time! ;) ). For example: You could start with doing morning reading time (check out Morning Basket @ https://pambarnhill.com/homeschool-morning-basket/  for ideas), then move into science or history and follow with some math or spelling. Depending on the ages of your kiddos lessons for each subject should/could range from 20-30 minutes for younger kiddos and around 45mins-1hour in upper elementary and middle school. High school students of course will have varying schedules depending on which courses they are taking and should be able to regulate them on their own (for the most part anyway haha). However you plan your days schedule in some time for breaks and fun activities to keep your kiddos motivated (perhaps fieldtrip Fridays?) and to give you all something to look forward to. :) Most importantly though, relax and remember your schedule is just a rough outline, try to avoid turning it into a must do list or allowing it to create stress or tension if you don't manage to tackle everything on the list. Tomorrow is always another day and you can add to it anytime you want ;) 

*Lastly, I strongly encourage you to find a tribe of other families that are on their homeschool journey's as well, to bounce ideas off of, learn alongside, build friendships & community with and to encourage & support each other through each portion of your journey.

*For everyone new to homeschooling, enjoy this time with your kiddos, take things one day at a time, try to keep it simple, enjoy the process & the journey and remember to have fun! 

For the most current posts, updates, tips & insights follow me here & on my insta page at: https://thishomeschoolerslife/

Happy Homeschooling friends!

~K