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Homeschool failures and mistakes happen, and when they do, don’t beat yourself up. If you failed at homeschooling, give yourself grace. Then, make a plan and learn from your failures.
She walked by me as I typed away and asked for yarn. I told her where to find it. She walked by again and grabbed supplies out of the closet. “Do you need help?” I asked, never even looking away from where I was working. “No, it’s okay. I know your working”. I kept typing. Again, never making eye contact.
Later that evening as my husband and I graded papers, I saw her geography assignment. She was making a magnet. It looked like a really cool experiment. I realized then, that I had missed it. Missed doing it with her, missed seeing her eyes light up as she got it. I didn’t even know IF she got it. Why? Because I had my eyes glued to the computer.
This happened months ago, yet it is still hard for me to write. It still makes me tear up. I write about homeschooling, I help new homeschoolers, and lead a co-op.
Yet I failed at homeschooling.
I cried to my husband that night. He told me he had seen it. The distracted glances, the over-scheduling, and the mistakes in the kid’s school work that kept happening. Yet, he didn’t say anything because he knew I would get defensive. Guess what, I did… I began making excuses and then realized there was none.
I had failed, and the only thing I could do was start over, and learn from my mistakes. Moms, I guarantee you at some point in your homeschool journey you will fail too. It is bound to happen, and no one is exempt. When that happens, here is what you can do to pick yourself up and get back on the right track.
Acknowledge your mistakes.
The next day I apologized to my daughters and told them both that I had been distracted and not focusing on the right thing their education. I talked to my daughter about her geography project, what she learned and if it worked. It did! I offered to do it with her again, but she declined. I missed it, and have to say I was disappointed. If you fail, acknowledge your mistakes to your children. Apologize and tell them how you plan on making things right.
Reevaluate your priorities.
At that time I had been working crazy hours. I had way too much on my plate. Between this blog and my freelancing clients, I was working more than my goal of 15 hours a week. I had overextended myself. I had misplaced priorities and needed to reevaluate my commitments. If this happens to you, see what you can mark off of your schedule. What is your priority and how can you make it happen?
Talk to your spouse.
I confessed my concerns to my spouse, he did the same. We made a plan to fix it. He supported my concerns, and we both agreed that I needed to cut back on my hours and clients and focus on homeschooling. He gave me 2 nights a week to work and I no longer work during naptime. Instead, I spend that time one on one with the girls doing Math. If you make a homeschool mistake, talk with your spouse and see what you can do to make things right. Make an action plan, and follow through.
Homeschool failures and mistakes happen, and when they do, don’t beat yourself up. Give yourself grace. Then, make a plan and learn from your failures. You don’t have to repeat them!
Have you ever failed at homeschooling? How did you pick yourself up and start over?
Do you struggle with the fear of failing at homeschooling? Conquer that fear after listening to this presentation from the Southeast Homeschool Expo?
Oh yeah… been there done that. It’s so easy to get caught up with what WE want to do… whether that is a personal project or business, checking social media, or staring at our phones. Thanks for the reminder of how important it is to focus on the BEST thing. Our kids grow up so quickly and they won’t need us as much anymore. We need to take advantage of this time and experience it to the fullest.
Yes! The first year and the second are growing years (IMO). By the third year you have a little more confidence.
I feel like every second day something goes wrong. I am told that the first year is a discovery year for the parent and the child about how to make it work. I just reflect make changes and try again, hoping that eventually it will come together.
Love the part about involving your spouse!
Amen!! I love your words 🙂
Thank you for sharing this! I can’t count the number of times I’ve failed. I’ve questioned my decision to home school time and again, yet always I’m back to “I love doing it”.
I will keep getting back up, I will keep learning from my mistakes because I believe this is the most beautiful journey I’ll ever take in my life.
Marianne
http://www.preciselyhousewifely.com
Thank you SO much for sharing this… OH do I feel like this at least a million times a day! I’m so thankful to not be alone, and I just keep trying! Thanks for your honesty and for sharing!
Your welcome!! Thanks for stopping by 🙂 Be sure to grab my homeschool 101 ebook. It will be free until February 1st and will help you out a lot!
I really appreciate your honesty. I will start homeschooling next year and I am sure I will be back here for encouragement! Thank you.
Your welcome! I try to stay off line on Sundays but working from home makes that hard. I do think taking time to unplug is SO important though.
I struggle with this too. I want to set aside certain times of the day for the non-school stuff that I legitimately have to do (and reserve the “fun” stuff like Pinterest for after the kids are in bed). I also would like to pick a couple of days of the week where I don’t go on the computer at all. Thank you for your gentle reminders in this post!
This is me quite frequently actually. I’m going to make it my goal today to be fully present with them, to stay off the computer during school hours, and stay on top of grading. Thank you for sharing this. We are not alone.
I agree that it is very easy to get distracted when homeschooling! I find especially with outside commitments (or over scheduling) & working from home it can be a challenge to set the priorities & stick to them. Something I am grappling with as well 🙂 One day at a time..
Thanks so much for sharing with us at Mom 2 Mom Link Up! Hope you come join us again, Rachael @ Diamonds in the Rough