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Finish What You Start! Now Doesn’t That Feel Good?

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As parents, one of our jobs is to teach our kiddos to finish what they start. I know, I know, doesn’t it just drive you nuts when they don’t follow through! If you’re a “starter,” it’s hard to follow through with your projects and jobs too. Hmm, are you thinking the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? It can be really hard to teach your children to “finish” something when you are not a finisher.

Think about how much easier our lives would be if we made just one commitment in our lives: Finish What We Start!
How about this? Make a new commitment that any “new thing” you start will be completely finished… either by declaring an end to it, doing it yourself to completion or assigning the job to someone else.

So how do you completely clean up projects, ideas, etc from your past that still nag you. Be patient with yourself, but “persistent.” Persistence to me means to be continuously determined. That’s what I want to be, how about you?

Make a list of projects or ideas that you need to finish. You can usually identify these projects by how they make you feel when you think about them… do you feel guilty, embarrassed, angry or sad when you think about them? Deal with each one by choosing to end it, following through to completion or outsource the job to someone else.

Doesn’t it feel good to be a Finisher! You can do it. Go for it!

Filed Under: Home Education, Raising a Leader

The Beauty of Mathematics and The Organization of God

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It’s Supposed to Be Educational

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This really makes me chuckle. My favorite quote today is

“Try not to have a good time…this is supposed to be educational.” -Charles M. Schulz

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Homeschool Tall Tale #3: Your Close Friends and Family Will Be Your Biggest Homeschool Supporters

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There are people in your life that love your children just about as much

as you do – - Their grandparents, aunts and uncles and close family friends.

Surely they will support your decision to homeschool, right? Well, not necessarily.

Some friends and family members will totally understand why you want to homeschool your children and many of them will wish they they had taken that step to homeschool also. Be thankful for them; they are a blessing.

But there will be other people in your life that do not understand and feel you are making a

big mistake. Be thankful for these folks too. They will make you strong!

These well meaning people may feel like you are sheltering your children too much and you

are keeping your children from experiencing the real world. What exactly is the “real world?”  We’ll talk about that next time.

When your children are young, people may think homeschooling is a cute idea, but you’ll outgrow

this foolishness as your children get older. When your children reach middle school, you may be told

that you are keeping your children from making good friends and that your children will be restless

and bored.

When your children are ready for 9th grade, you will hear, “You’re not going to try to homeschool

through high school, are you?”

During these times is when you need to remember why you began homeschooling.

Why did you even consider home education? What were your reasons then? Do you have the

same reasons now?

Remembering those original reasons will help you when times get tough. Remember who you are;

why you decided to homeschool. Write those reasons and goals down and refer back to them often.

Filed Under: Home Education

Homeschool Tall Tale #4: My Child Must Do Every Single Exercise In Every Single Textbook

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homeworkCan a homeschool student experience “homeschool burnout?” Absolutely, homeschool moms can experience burnout, why should it be any different for the homeschool student?

What causes us to “burn out”?
• Overextending ourselves
• Not being prepared
• Spending too much time away from home
• Choosing too many “good” activities instead of the “best” activities

If you demand that your homeschool student completes every exercise in every textbook, you may be the reason for their “homeschool burnout.” Why would a curriculum put so many questions, assignments and activities in each lesson, if they did not expect your child to do them all? Because they expect the teacher a.k.a. homeschool mom to be discerning and reasonable.

People learn from repetition so having an abundance of questions, assignments and activities can be a good thing. The publisher is supplying you with options, not requirements. That’s important to remember.

If a child is having trouble understanding a concept, he may need to do some more of the problems to understand the problem solving process. However, don’t just assume that more of the same thing will fix the problem. This is where our discernment comes in.
• Maybe he didn’t understand the directions.
• Maybe he doesn’t understand the underlying concepts and YOU need to teach it in a different way instead of repeating more of what he didn’t understand.
• Maybe he learns better by discussing the concept with another person besides just reading about it.

Remember, more is not always better. Yes, sometimes repetition is needed. However, if a student is repeatedly having a problem, doing more of the same thing won’t help. You need to find a different way of explaining the concept to them.

If your student already understands a concept by reading, discussing or answering a few questions on the topic, why make them do more and more of the same thing. It’s one thing to teach your children to follow through with their assignments and projects, it’s quite another to be redundant. Don’t be a slave to your teacher’s manual, use it as the tool that it was meant to be.

Filed Under: Home Education

Homeschool Tall Tale #5: There Is a Perfect Curriculum; You Just Haven’t Found It Yet.

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1211494_one_wayUnschooling, unit studies, self-directed learning, traditional curriculum, delight-directed learning, classical studies, principle approach. Homeschoolers use all of these educational methods successfully. How can all of these methods work? Surely, there has to be the “perfect” curriculum and you just haven’t found it – yet.

If you are struggling with the curriculum that you’re using, it could be you are using the wrong curriculum approach with your family. But could it be that the frustration is not with your choice of curriculum, it’s with your attitude about your children, homeschooling, yourself and that attitude is rubbing off on your children?

Most homeschool moms are “idea” people, but we have a problem with follow through. (Ask me how I know this!)

Yes, some curriculum options will work better for your particular family, but there is no perfect curriculum. Each one has its benefits; each one has its draw backs. Choose the one that best fits your family’s lifestyle and be consistent with it.

Remember the joy and excitement you had when you first started homeschooling. Recapture that attitude. You will find that you enjoy homeschooling again and so will your children.

A positive or negative attitude is not a feeling that we can’t do anything about. Attitude, whether good or bad, is something we choose.

Filed Under: Home Education
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