It has been said to, “sleep when baby sleeps.” This is a common piece of advice given to new moms to deal with the sudden and abrupt changes that motherhood brings. Unfortunately, my advice to moms with little ones does not provide mom with any beauty sleep. Instead, I hope to encourage moms that there is more than one way of approaching the homeschool day. Many times when we start out, we feel the need to mimic the traditional school day found in structured classrooms. We feel like we are not properly doing our part if we don’t at least have a schedule that somewhat mimics theirs. Yet is this essential? Sometimes we feel pressure because non-homeschooling family members or friends might question us on our school day schedule, feeling responsible in some odd way to make sure that we are doing things the way they think is appropriate. We need to get over that. Sure, if a grandparent talks to the kids on the phone and they ask the inevitable, “so, what did you learn in school today?” and your child answers a big, fat, “nothing!” because you decided to have a cleaning day, park day or character development day, it can be stressful. It can make you wonder if you really should do a schedule similar to the public or private school down the road. If you do succumb to this pressure and print out a well-meaning schedule that you honestly intend to keep, if it doesn’t truly line up with where you are in your season of life, it simply will not work. And that is okay.
You have the freedom to be you and you need to take advantage of this freedom.
As your children grow, or as your family grows, your homeschool will not look the same. It can’t. You are adding new students or new grade levels. If a public school teacher were to suddenly be expected a new student, she would make the correct preparations. If she were switching grades that she would be teaching, she would have to change what she would be teaching. So, if you add a new baby to the mix, as a homeschooling mom, life is going to change. You will not be able to teach the older ones the same way as you always have been. If you are a fan of routine and you had a pretty decent one with the older ones then this might be frustrating but it can be done and it will be worth it in the end. Think about it! In a few years you will have another little kid to teach how to read, do crafts with, got on nature walks with and teach the same things that you have been teaching the older ones. It’s exciting, but it will take some time to get there. Until then, consider adjusting your homeschooling schedule. If your baby takes two to three naps a day, homeschool your older children then. As they get older and drop down to one nap a day, reserve the most difficult material that you need to go over with your older ones until then. Don’t try to teach your son algebraic equations while your toddler is needs your attention. There will be many interruptions and it will frustrate you and your older ones to no end. If you child has dropped their naps, consider doing some schoolwork in the evenings.
Be creative. Be flexible and have fun!
