Homeschool Help: Overcoming The Overwhelm

When The Questions Keep Mounting

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

While on the homeschool path, there are phases that come along with the journey.

Phase 1: The new homeschooler

Phase 2: The growing homeschooler

Phase 3: The culmination homeschooler

Each phase can certainly bring about excitement, but additionally, can tend to overwhelm.

All the many resources to navigate through, the curriculum to choose, the legalities to follow, the records to keep, the progress to show, the transcript to prepare ...

feeling overwhelmed?

It's understandable, and it brings comfort to know, all homeschoolers experience this overwhelmed feeling in whichever phase they are in or entering.

But don't fear!

This overwhelmed feeling will pass, and soon you'll be homeschooling with confidence.

As fourth year homeschoolers, we're quickly approaching into phase 2, where learning topics are reaching beyond the "scaffolding". Deeper looks into concepts and topics are happening, and with that, the ease and comfort of our years prior is being outgrown. Questions within start to arise;

What will next year look like?

Am I going to be able to cover it all?

Should I look into a charter now?

Will I still prepare our own curriculum?

Questions and questions, which inevitably results in research, research, and more research, which can quickly lead to

THIS IS OVERWHELMING!

Whether you are just beginning, in the middle of, or nearing the end of your homeschooling journey, there are ways to ease that overwhelmed feeling, and find the right track for you and your family-

AND without wanting to throw in the towel!

Are you in phase 1? I've got your back! Find all the steps you need to getting your start HERE!

Reach Out

Encouragement is key! While sorting through statistics, affidavits, curriculum, and more, don't forget to surround yourself with others that will encourage you. The homeschool journey takes commitment, motivation, and determination which can be draining at times. Counter feeling drained with reaching out for encouragement from family, friends, or homeschool groups.

Also, feeling that you have to do it all on your own is extremely overwhelming. Overcome this by outsourcing areas or subjects that need more support. This will be especially true as your learners grow. We each have our own set of strengths and weaknesses, so relieve that pressure of being the sole provider of every aspect of their education, and find like-minded people who can bridge the gap.

I believe in you! Find more homeschool encouragement HERE!

Reduce The Content

With homeschooling growing in numbers, that makes for an absorbent amount of resources, learning aids, and shared personal experiences. While this can be of great benefit, I found that the more information I reviewed, the more overwhelmed and clouded my homeschool plan became. I grew more indecisive, and spent valuable time trying to determine which resource was best, most useful, and of best value. It's important to realize that your choices aren't set in stone, if a method you are using isn't working well, it can change at any time- one of the benefits to homeschooling. Knowing this will alleviate much of that overwhelmed feeling and pressure of knocking it out of the park from day one. Try reducing your information sources to a few that resonate with you and end your search. You could spend a lifetime in search of that perfect curriculum, learning techniques, and homeschooling methods, that simply aren't out there. There is no "one-size fits all" or rarely a "total package" to homeschool, but count this as a gain, because that means that your homeschool is tailor made to suit you and your family.

Relax

Hard to do, but taking a deliberate pause in all of your planning will help with being overwhelmed. As your questions mount, remember that you are more than capable of teaching and preparing your children for their education, and for their lives. Just as you don't teach your baby everything in their first year, you won't be teaching your child every detail of every topic in your first, even middle, years. As we all know, learning is a process and a cultivation that takes a long time, and requires a strong investment. Reduce the feeling of overwhelm by recognizing progress, instead of perceiving education as a checklist. You have time, which we often forget while in the thick of this race. Rest in knowing, you and your children will get there, same as everyone else.