{"id":5508,"date":"2023-10-02T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T09:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicalconversations.com\/?p=5508"},"modified":"2025-03-10T17:21:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T17:21:02","slug":"what-to-do-when-homeschooling-is-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalconversations.com\/blog\/what-to-do-when-homeschooling-is-hard\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Do When Homeschooling is Hard"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What do you do when homeschooling is hard?<\/p>\n

I once posed this question to my friend, a fellow homeschooler. She simply smiled and answered, \u201cI cry.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re feeling the heat of homeschool burnout, I want to let you know that you\u2019re not alone. During the ten years that I homeschooled my kiddos, I cried and cried and then cried some more. But I didn\u2019t give up. Instead, I sought advice from other parents and developed strategies and specific techniques for dealing with difficult homeschool days.<\/p>\n

This is what I\u2019ve learned.<\/p>\n

The 3 Main Reasons Why Homeschooling Is Hard<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s the first lesson that I learned as a stressed-out homeschool mom: homeschooling is hard! That may not sound like much of a lesson, but I discovered that I\u2019d taken an important first step on the road to success by simply admitting to myself that homeschooling is difficult.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why homeschooling is hard:<\/p>\n

1. Homeschooling can take a lot of work.<\/h3>\n

As a homeschooler, you\u2019re a parent, a teacher, a student, a principal, a counselor, and a cook\u2014sometimes all at once! One moment, you\u2019re making a complete mess of the timeline song with your kids while stirring burnt-smelling pasta sauce, and the next, you\u2019re trying to research college opportunities for your eldest when the youngest decides to play a game of bowling in the hallway using an assortment of table lamps and the family pet.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re responsible for preparing lessons, personalizing your curriculum, assessing your students, socializing your children, and managing your time\u2014while still doing the hard work of parenting. You may find that the hardest part of homeschooling is balancing these various commitments.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there are strategies to reduce your workload. I\u2019ll look at those in the next section.<\/p>\n

2. Homeschooling can shake your confidence.<\/h3>\n

There\u2019ll come times when you\u2019ll wonder whether you truly have the expertise needed to educate your children at home. You may feel as though you don\u2019t have the knowledge to teach subjects like Latin, mathematics, or science, or you may worry that you won\u2019t meet expectations (whatever and whosever those expectations may be).<\/p>\n

Everyone struggles with self-doubt, but self-doubt can become a problem when it turns into a feedback loop: self-doubt leads to stress, stress leads to anxiety, and anxiety leads to self-doubt, until you reach the point of burnout.<\/p>\n

Just remember: you\u2019re more than capable. God trusts you with your children.<\/p>\n

3. Homeschooling can test your patience.<\/h3>\n

I love my kids with every beat of my heart, but there were times when they tested my patience. I\u2019m sure the feeling was mutual.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re a homeschooler, you will spend a lot of time in close proximity with your family. And that\u2019s a wonderful blessing! Our God intended the family to be a school of love and joy, and the time we receive with our children is a precious gift. In fact, that\u2019s one of the many reasons why my husband and I chose to homeschool our kiddos. But close quarters lead to friction, and that friction can make homeschooling painful at times.<\/p>\n

Persevere, however, and you\u2019ll only grow in your love for your children.<\/p>\n

\"When<\/p>\n

What to Do When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed<\/h2>\n

Homeschooling is challenging, but there are strategies that can help make homeschooling easier (or at least more manageable). Here’s what to do when you’re feeling overwhelmed:<\/p>\n

1. Set realistic expectations.<\/h3>\n

You can make homeschooling so much easier right now simply by setting realistic expectations.<\/p>\n

Think unique.<\/h4>\n

First, you need to think about your child\u2019s unique needs. Every expectation that you set should be informed by your child\u2019s age, development, learning style, strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Don\u2019t set goals for some other student; set goals for your<\/em> student.<\/p>\n

For example, you may discover that your student needs more time on one strand than another. That\u2019s okay! Factor the extra time into your expectations, and take comfort in the knowledge that you\u2019ve avoided panicked attempts in the future to cram everything into your schedule.<\/p>\n

Think SMART.<\/h4>\n

Second, think SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Vague goals, such as \u201cI want to improve my child\u2019s reading skills,\u201d set us up for failure because they aren\u2019t real goals\u2014they\u2019re wish lists. SMART goals, on the other hand, provide a ladder to success.<\/p>\n

What does that look like in action? Take our vague goal from before: \u201cI want to improve my child\u2019s reading skills.\u201d Let\u2019s make it more specific and measurable: \u201cI want\u00a0 my student to break each word in a sentence into phonemes with at least 70% accuracy.\u201d And now, let\u2019s make this goal time-bound: \u201cI want my child to accomplish this goal by November 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n

This expectation is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.<\/p>\n

Think one-room schoolhouse.<\/h4>\n

Third, remember that homeschooling is a joint effort. Adopt the one-room schoolhouse approach<\/a>, where students are responsible for themselves as independent participants in their own learning. Think of your students as your very own teaching assistants.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also want the support of other homeschoolers, but more on that later.<\/p>\n

Review and reflect.<\/h4>\n

Finally, review your expectations. Review your immediate expectations after they\u2019ve been met, and reflect upon your efforts every year.<\/p>\n

If your expectations aren\u2019t being met, adjust your approach. If your expectations are being met, identify what works and continue to use those techniques.<\/p>\n

2. Get organized, stay organized.<\/h3>\n

You\u2019ll save time, effort, stress, headaches, and heartaches if you organize your home school. Now, this topic is really<\/em> extensive, so I won\u2019t provide step-by-step instructions in this blog post, but rather, I\u2019ll identify some areas in your home school that will benefit from getting organized, and I\u2019ll share some resources with you.<\/p>\n

Organize your curriculum.<\/h4>\n

You\u2019ll want to organize your curriculum. If you\u2019re a Classical Conversations member, then you\u2019re in luck\u2014you have access to the CC Connected platform, which will help you keep your digital learning materials organized.<\/p>\n