Ways To Keep Your Peace
MUTINY!
As homeschoolers, we are often faced with a wide array of obstacles. You've likely been through battles and challenges yourself, each day taking a new spin on what could ensue. From juggling the responsibilities of home along with preparing a great lesson, to a day met with disruption or resistance, times like these may make you feel like all order and peace is unraveling.
OVERBOARD.
It's in these times that I can go overboard because of what is going on around me, but remember that in doing so, I only contribute to the chaos. Hopefully I'm not alone in admitting to the days that were a struggle- where moods clashed, attitudes fussed, flexibility stiffened, and the efforts of getting the day back on track was consuming.
Homeschooling days aren't all picture worthy, and it's first helpful to recognize that fact and accept it. Once you do though, how can we better go about keeping the peace?
Here's some tips I've learned along our homeschooling journey that I hope gets the winds in your sail, and your crew back on board.
PRAYER
Without hesitation, as we know, the most powerful way to finding peace is through prayer. Begin each learning time, along side your kiddos, with a prayer. Together pray over the time spent together, that it be a productive and an effective time of learning. Not just with the material laid out, but in our relationship with each other, and how we are intended to respond to each other. Placing prayer first in each day will set in motion a more peaceful mindset, and remind you and your family of the blessings that homeschool gives.
*Looking for help to establish little ones' devotion time, and learning about the books of the bible? Grab the FREE "My Weekly Bible Verse" activity HERE!*
FIND A FLOW
Whatever the time of day, or what is included in the beginning your learning time, a key to keeping things more at peace, is finding a flow. Within our homeschooling years, keeping a schedule has never been my goal so much as just keeping a gentle rhythm to the way we do our learning. Creating this flow will look different to each homeschooler, which is a great benefit, because it is intended to compliment the routine already in place around your home. As an example, if you're like us and ease slowly into the day, your daily flow won't consist of immediately beginning school, rather it will better find fit after morning routines or outdoor exploration and some playtime. Once you establish a sense of daily flow that involves learning rather than focusing on it, it will be easier to maintain a more peaceful learning time together and set goals.
READ THE SIGNALS
You know your kids best, their strengths and their limitations, so as you homeschool put that knowledge to use. Starting out, my daughter would show me signs of learning fatigue and a mental checking out using her body language. Wiggles and sighs would increase and I learned very quickly to respect those signals. It wasn't the time to force learning or grow skills, as she was inadvertently telling me, "that's all for now" or "I need a brain break". Start slow with increments of learning time to get a better gauge and understanding of just how much should be added to the day, and by so doing, will ease frustrations and push back. Additionally, those growing minds are like growing bodies, and in our experience require plenty of snacks and physical movement to keep in good spirits. So if your little learner is beginning to loose focus or interest, all they may really need is to take a healthy break with a snack.
EMBRACE DISTRACTIONS
Being as how learning is happening in the home, surrounded by other family members and on-goings, distractions are inevitable. Our most frequent offenders for distractions, is Dad and snacks. Although your distractions may look like something/someone different, the best way that I have found to keep at peace while homeschooling, is to embrace the distractions. The welcoming of Dad coming home from work, to the questions that my husband thinks to ask me while in our "learning time", or the curiosity of "what is Dad doing", to "can I have another snack", are certainly interruptions that could cause me to get frustrated. It isn't that I don't want these things happening, it is more so the frequency of these distractions within a small amount of time that test my patience. Embracing a reasonable amount of distractions in our homeschool has improved my inner peace, resulting in me keeping a better outlook and mood during our day.
GET OUTDOORS
One of the many great advantages to homeschool is the ability to take learning outdoors. There is no requirement to sit at a desk, or even in a chair. The opportunity to have your kiddos learn about their world while playing in it, is amazing. If moods and attitudes start to sour in the day, take the learning outdoors. Either by creating a lesson focused on nature, or completing worksheets outdoors, or setting up learning games outside, getting out into the fresh air is going to refresh your minds and bring your homeschooling peace.
*Looking for outdoor learning activities and inspiration? Visit HERE!*
ACCEPT DEFEAT
Yes, you read the words correctly, accept defeat. I think it's important to talk about the days that I feel were complete fails. Where the lesson didn't get completed, the activities I planned didn't work out, interruptions got the better of us, and the day was scrapped. There are going to be days like that, where learning didn't get the opportunity it should have. Days like this can be discouraging, but they don't mean that you aren't doing a good job or that you should give up. All it means is that on that particular day, accepting defeat, was the option required. It means that rather than forcing the day to happen while frustrations and impatience were at a high, you chose peace. Homeschool days come and go, another better day is just hours away, so try not to let these handful of difficult days get the better of you. Wave the white flag on the days where trouble is ensuing, it's better than the alternative, trust me. Start again fresh tomorrow.
*Find more encouragement for the handling the hard days HERE! I'm in this with you!*
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