{"id":8332,"date":"2023-04-24T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T09:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicalconversations.com\/?p=8332"},"modified":"2025-05-02T03:29:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T03:29:51","slug":"homeschool-tips-from-a-returning-mom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalconversations.com\/blog\/homeschool-tips-from-a-returning-mom\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Homeschool Tips from a Returning Mom"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Ever wish you could write a letter to your younger self or go back and take the lessons you\u2019ve learned and use them when your kids were younger? Well, that\u2019s me! Here are three homeschool tips I’ve learned after eighteen years of homeschooling my two oldest children and the changes I\u2019ve made ten years later with my youngest.<\/p>\n

The Do-Over: Homeschool Tips from a Returning Mom<\/h2>\n

My first two children made it through their homeschooling experience alive and (more-or-less) intact. My oldest graduated from college and is married. Meanwhile, my daughter is graduating this May and going to college in the fall. Both are happy and on a path toward their life\u2019s purpose. Still, over the years, I\u2019ve made plenty of mistakes\u2014I\u2019m only human!<\/p>\n

But I have the rare opportunity for a do-over. There\u2019s a ten-year gap between my secondborn child and my third, and now I\u2019m starting the homeschooling (and parenting) journey all over again. There are things that I wish my younger self knew back then that would have made life and homeschooling much easier, and I\u2019m thankful I can apply these lessons with my youngest son now.<\/p>\n

Tip #1: Learn in Layers<\/h3>\n

One of the amazing things about homeschooling\u2014especially with Classical Conversations\u2014is that we learn in layers<\/strong>: everything students learn in their early years will be brought back up again and again. For example, I now know that we will have ample time to come back and learn about the Cold War and thermodynamics later. I don\u2019t worry that my seven-year-old doesn\u2019t quite grasp those concepts just yet. There\u2019s time to do more activities and experiments when we revisit this cycle.<\/p>\n

I rest in the fact that each Foundations<\/a> cycle makes it possible to pick a few topics the first time around, so that the next time, when he\u2019s ten, we can do even more with them!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve learned to keep everything super simple by staying in the grammar stage. Don\u2019t try to overdo it. Embrace the trivium<\/a> and stay in the appropriate stage of learning\u2014the grammar stage, in my son\u2019s case. Work on memorization, recitation, and narration. Sing songs and play games while learning the basics. Don\u2019t do it all now. Save some for the next trip through the cycle. This has reduced so much frustration for both my son and me.<\/p>\n

Tip #2: Stop Comparing Yourself to Others and Find Your Own Joy<\/h3>\n

When I was homeschooling my younger children, I thought I had to do things a certain way. Fortunately, we didn\u2019t have Instagram (and social media was new), because I really can\u2019t imagine how much harder homeschooling would have been for me with that added pressure. I already felt hounded by books, friends, YouTube, and the beginning of Facebook. I wanted my home school to look like others\u2019 and worked hard to set up my space, spending money I didn\u2019t have at Ikea because if I had it set up just right and beautiful enough, then we would be successful\u2014according to the voice in my head, at least.<\/p>\n

The same was true for our schedule. Video after video, I\u2019d see these moms do their \u201cday in the life of our homeschool\u201d routine, and I just felt defeated. I had to work my day around my own personality, the personality of my children, and the fact that I hate mornings. And\u2014you know what?\u2014that\u2019s okay too. I\u2019ve learned that there is no perfect day, but I can make each day feel as peaceful as possible and that\u2019s the important thing. That\u2019s what I felt in those videos I watched. Peace. Quiet. Stillness.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry about the little things. It\u2019s okay that puppy just chewed up your kid\u2019s soccer cleats. It\u2019s okay that the bathroom looks like three toddlers were let loose (because, hey, you have three toddlers). It\u2019s okay that Bible time, math, and phonics look like herding cats in a mouse factory. Here\u2019s what matters: Are you at peace inside? Do you emit joy in the midst of chaos? Because your children won\u2019t remember that the bathroom was spotless, but they will remember that you always grabbed them up and covered them in kisses and snuggled on the couch when it was time to read a Bible story.<\/p>\n

Tip #3: Follow \u201cEasy Plus One\u201d<\/h3>\n

With my first two kids, I had all these lofty goals, and frankly, most of them were not realistic. The pace I set for them was too fast and filled with stuff they didn\u2019t enjoy. Now I know that the important thing is to put the important things first. I learned the \u201ceasy plus one\u201d technique from Andrew Pudewa<\/a>\u2014every learning activity should be easy except for the last, when the difficulty should be ramped up a level\u2014and that\u2019s something that carries over into all my homeschool subjects now. Now I ask: Where are we? What\u2019s the next thing we need to accomplish?<\/p>\n

Make small goals and keep your focus on that. When we try to stack too many things, we lose sight of what is important. For me, it\u2019s currently teaching my son to read. I\u2019ll only frustrate myself if I add so many other activities that we don\u2019t have our focus on his reading. Keeping that focus lightens the load on my son and the pressure on myself.<\/p>\n

Gentle Reminders for Moms with Littles<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re a mom with littles all around trying to succeed at this homeschool thing, do yourself a favor. Write down what\u2019s important to you. What are your goals for your children over the next few months? Maybe it\u2019s learning to tie their shoes, read, or count to ten. Maybe it\u2019s bigger, like learning to write a paper, give a speech, or learn Latin. No matter what, remind yourself to focus on \u201ceasy plus one,\u201d to make your journey your own and find joy in it, and to remember that we learn in layers. Then grab your kids, cover them in kisses, snuggle on the couch, tell them they have your undivided attention for the next hour . . . and see what happens.<\/p>\n

I hope these homeschool tips from a returning mom help you and your family out!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not yet a Classical Conversations member and interested in our community-based approach to homeschooling? We\u2019d love to hear from you! To learn more about us, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever wish you could write a letter to your younger self or go back and take the lessons you\u2019ve learned and use them when your kids were younger? Well, that\u2019s me! Here are three homeschool tips I’ve learned after eighteen years of homeschooling my two oldest children and the changes I\u2019ve made ten years later […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":8336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[3304],"class_list":["post-8332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-encouragement","tag-jaime-gravitt"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n3 Homeschool Tips from a Returning Mom - Classical Conversations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ever wish you could get a do-over? 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