Avoid these 6 Back to Homeschool Mistakes

Target has had the really cute school stuff in the Dollar Spot for over a month now. The selection is getting sparse, and I once again have bought more organizational bins than I can fill. It’s a mistake I make every year, and this year is no different. When will I learn?

We are entering our 8th homeschooling year and making mistakes seems to be a strength of mine. My inner dialogue sounds just like this exchange between Anne and Marilla in one of my favorite books, Anne of Green Gables.

“Marilla, isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”

“I’ll warrant you’ll make plenty in it,” said Marilla.

“But have you ever noticed one encouraging thing about me, Marilla? I never make the same mistake twice.”

“I don’t know as that’s much benefit when you’re always making new ones.”

Yes, I make plenty of mistakes. Probably more than the average person. But I do learn from them, well, as long as they don’t involve inexpensive and sturdy bins perfect for organizing school books. As my family prepares for a new year of learning together, here are six things I’ve learned from my many homeschool mistakes.

Jumping Right In

After a wonderfully relaxing and unplanned summer, it is so tempting for me to pack our schedule with academics, pick a starting date, and jump right in. Full speed, 100%, go big or go home! However, I have learned that this approach, while symptomatic of my all-or-nothing disposition, does not help my children in the long run. The shock to their system from fun-filled summer to academia is a hard one, and it doesn’t have to be! The week before our official start date, we slowly learn our new routines. Monday through Wednesday we do our morning subjects, and then we add our afternoon subjects at the end of the week.

Thinking I’m Superhuman

I’m the first to combat any claim that homeschooling long-term must mean I have superpowers. We homeschoolers generally don’t have Superhuman patience, creativity, or anything else like that. But there is still one thing I always think I can do, that I never will be able to! No matter how hard I try, I cannot be in two places at one time. I cannot help one child with math while helping another with an essay. I cannot make lunch and read out loud at the same time. So as I put our schedule together,  I must remember to carefully consider where I will be and who I will be helping during the day.

Not Making Room for Breaks

This is related to my first mistake. I easily get overzealous about our new routine and all of the fun learning we will have throughout the day, so I cram it all in. Overcrowding our schedule may work just fine for a few weeks, but it certainly leads to a quick burnout for everyone. This year I have taken care to make sure each of my children has an outside break in the morning and in the afternoon. We’ve got learning differences and a chronic illness to manage, so frequent rests are good for everyone.

Not Writing Down A Schedule for Everyone

Back when I was caring for 4 kids under 6 and only homeschooling two of them, I did not believe in schedules. My stomach would twist in knots whenever I heard the word, and I would visibly cringe (maybe even dry-heave) when it was suggested I make one for my family. But as my kids grew, I started to warm to the idea. It became clear that we all needed more structure. Although it took a lot (A LOT) of effort to establish, the sense of order and expectation has proven incredibly helpful. Now we embrace it. Everyone should know what they should be doing at any given time during the day. After creating our master schedule, I type up a routine for each child. My beginning reader has a schedule of mostly pictures. Fingers crossed that this is the year she graduates to words!

Comparing our Days to Other Homeschooling families.

This is probably my biggest mistake, especially when we were new to homeschooling. I looked at other homeschooling families and wondered why mine didn’t work the way theirs did. Why were things so easy for them? Everything ran so smoothly. What was wrong with us? I’ve since come to understand that each family has its own challenges. Scheduling might come naturally to some, but it was hard work to implement in our family. Having fun and going down many rabbit trails is easy for us, but others may have difficulty with not checking the boxes for the day. Homeschooling isn’t easy for anyone, and everyone has challenges. You just have to decide what is working for you, and what you are willing to work on to change.

Not Recognizing the IG Effect

Before I abandoned social media completely, I mostly found IG homeschoolers to be inspirational. Their perfectly organized school rooms, beautiful pictures of their children enjoying nature, and superb sketches of weeping willows drawn by 8-year-olds, were, on one hand, encouraging. And yet, bombarding myself with those images ultimately led me to second guess everything we were doing. I didn’t see this effect until after I detoxed from my social media addiction. Deleting social media is one of the best things I did in 2020 (maybe the ONLY thing I did in 2020, ha). Nowadays, the only picture I have in my mind is one I’ve put there myself, not whatever is manufactured for me on Instagram.

I hope this can help you avoid some of the homeschool mistakes I’ve made! The beauty of homeschooling is being able to tailor it for your family. You decide how to educate your children in the way that best satisfies both RI state law and your family values. Every person is unique and every family is unique, which means everyone’s school year will look differently. Whether you homeschool or not, I wish everyone a wonderful school year!