Homeschool: Another Year, New Expectations
As August is coming to a fast close, I look back on our first couple of weeks of homeschool. We started out slowly, adding a new element to our schedule each week. We found new ways to organize our day. Overall, we’ve only hit those annoying half size speed bumps—you know the ones that you think you can straddle and drive mostly around, but you inevitable just make it worse than if you had just driven over the durn thing.
For our homeschool schedule, I like to work on a more year round schedule. This allows us to take a more relaxed pacing to our learning and living. It allows us to go out more and do fun learning activities, while also participating in field trips with our Homeschool Group. The other reason I prefer to go on a more year round schedule, is it easier to transition for our family.
We work well when we have a schedule, we know what the plans are, and we all know what is expected. Having children who are any type of neurodivergent, it is so much more important to have consistency. Since both of my girls are two very different types of neurodivergent, it is that much more important to me as a mom or a teacher to meet their needs in learning.
This is one of the biggest positives to Homeschool learning is the ability to fully understand your kiddos and meet their needs. Homeschool is also important to our family because it allows us the opportunity to teach our girls more life skills—such as budgeting, cooking, self-care, etc—but also those areas that neurodivergent children may needs more guidance in—like impulse control, interacting with other, social emotional learning.
I believe that we were all most excited to start school this year—let’s be real, it’s just me, I’m excited—because this really is the first year I feel like I’m fully beginning to see what and where both my girls need help as well as guidance. We all took stock in choosing our areas of learning this year. Obviously, some areas are a given, but I have found that giving as many choices as I can, when appropriate, is how I get everyone invested in our activities.
The girls are most excited to start our science studies this year with The Good and the Beautiful! They have already been sourcing library books to supplement our reading. We are a reading household, so creating a reading rich environment with cozy nooks is important. We didn’t finish our books from last years Brave Writer, so we’ll be finishing that up and reading some Roald Dahl books. We love Singapore Math for its colorful books, it’s simple lessons, but most importantly the learning videos.
Everything else workbook related is from Evan-Moor. I just love the ease of their books, while covering all pertinent facts. We use a lot of their daily workbooks for the simple fact that the self-paced, digestible information is perfect for the shorter attention spans of those with ADHD. One of my girls gets bored, very quickly. A full 15 minute lesson (I know, that’s even short!) just would never happen with her. She is a fast mover, a sponge that’s always thirsty, and has ears that never stop listening, so having curriculum that she can work through fast, is the key to success for her.
On the flip side of that coin is my other daughter who is slow and steady, could spend hours on one activity, but absorbs information much more slowly. The Evan-Moor workbooks give her the chance to focus however long she needs to understand something, while offering her extra practice on subject areas when it’s needed. I love that the same curriculum is easily tweaked for how each of my girls needs to use it to learn their best.
Games are an integral part to our Home Learning each week. We have utilized games to tell time, learn parts of speech, math facts, life cause and effect consequences, and so much more! (Keep an eye out for a special post on just games.)
As we begin to work through the new learning year, obstacles will inevitably arise, we will have good and not the best of days, but what counts is how we meet their needs in those moments. To support them in listening to what their needs are—whether it’s a break, a snack, or help—is so important for setting them up to checking in with their selves as they move through life.
As a mom, my goal is to cultivate a relationship between my girls and their intuition. As they continue to grow and we have to let go more for them to go their path, I want them to feel empowered in at least knowing what their needs are in each day. This, above traditional school knowledge, is most important to me.
Homeschool is an opportunity for you, as a family, to decide what is most important to you and your family moving forward on this journey. It allows you to flow learning in so many different directions and ways of teaching.
If you are on a homeschool journey, I hope this inspires you to let go of a little bit of the stress and fall more into ease and grace, for your self as well as for your kiddos.
