CAPITALIZE the fun

If you're officially homeschooling or doing what I am now naming home educating (educating at home as a suplement to what they learn in a school outside the home), the raising of children is a big responsibility and can be daunting. But I have also discovered it can be fun! That's right. I said it. Even after a comment to my husband about wanting to put my head through a wall, I have come to the conclusion that there is a big difference in the forced structure and the fun structure. Notice, the word structure is in both. In this one week of homeschooling, I have learned the following keys to my sanity which may or may not be of help, depending on the plans and personalities of those involved in your own home school.

1-- Eat first.

Don't try to do too much before breakfast, if anything at all. This may sound like a no-brainer, but I did wake up once to my daughter wanting to do lessons before eating. It turned into a very short lesson with an excuse that she was tired and hungry when things turned whiny. Forcing things to continue when she indeed probably was both tired and hungry was certainly no fun and turned out to be rather counter-productive. If they wake up wanting school before breakfast (and if you feel the desire to accomodate their desires), I recommend a short book, song or simple activity. Keep the heavier learning for soon after eating.

2-- Take breaks. You have all day, so no need to overwhelm yourself. You are probably teaching life AND academics, so involve them in your breaks, or set up an independent activity so that you can breath. Have them color something related to your theme, see what they create on their own if you leave them with paper and markers, set up a physical activity (I like to put on Just Dance Disney on my xbox and she LOVES it), or take the time for a science lesson courtesy of Netflix.

3. Play games. Some of the simple, traditional games are both fun and don't take much, if any, prep. My daughter, for one, loves when we play Memory (and it helps that it was a toy she got in a Kid's meal from Wendy's). That, in fact, is a side note. Research what restaurants are giving out more educational toys and take advantage. I LOVED when Chik'fil'A was giving Berenstein Bears and Franklin books in their kids meals and now MEMORY in the Wendy's meals. It's good stuff.

4. Take family field trips. The spring, summer and fall are GREAT for this, and I was surprised at how much fun we could have hunting down local farms and picking our own produce. A lot of farms open to the public have educational tours where they show how things are grown or produced. I haven't personally gone on any of these tours, but plan to go on quite a few when it gets warmer. *Museums can get tiring (the Smithsonian museum of natural history was very interesting to my daughter, but she didn't quite make it through the whole thing without complaint), so bring a stroller if you plan on tackling everything with younger children or try to break it up into smaller trips/lessons.

5. Sometimes it's okay to follow. While I believe respect for authority is essential, some of our best learning has happened when Audrey initiated the lesson. If you look at my calendar, you may notice some later lessons or less of a schedule than most may have. That is because often I am not afraid to drop what I'm doing if she says, "Mama, let's do a lesson!" and I then find something beyond what I'd already had planned or sometimes we will start later or have larger breaks (usually because I am more tired or taking care of my husband's business).

The structure is there. Many of the activities are repetitive and we are working at a fairly consistent pace-- all things (by the way) that I thought I would struggle with. But capitalizing on the times when both of our brains and nerves were best ready to learn has meant that she has learnt so much more in a short period of time (and much of her own choice-- we are going faster than I thought we would or ) than I thought possible.