When Homeschooling is Hard…

Are you feeling flustered trying to keep track of your kids’ lessons and materials? Getting settled into the new school year can be challenging even with great organization strategies, but sometimes a few tweaks can make all the difference in a smoothly running home!

In this post for homeschool parents, I hope these strategies can breathe calm and order into your home. I’ve implemented these strategies in a public school classroom and tweaked them with my sister-in-law, who homeschools five children, ages four through fifteen.

Questions & Problems (scroll as needed)

Help! My kids’ school supplies are everywhere
My kids aren’t focused on their work
How do I create a schedule that works for our home?
My kids aren’t getting along, or my child has a negative view towards learning
I don’t know if my curriculum is working or if I’m using the right one
Where do I find extra resources to supplement what I’m already doing?

Help! My kids’ school supplies are everywhere

You might try…

Color-coded bins that your kids keep their books and lessons in. Your children need to manage their own materials. Before transitions, like lunch or play, make sure they’ve put everything away.
Personal reading book boxes or a specific spot for books to stay.
Weeding out all the extra markers, scissors, and glue, and returning to good-ole pencils. When your kids can keep their pencils in a place you’ve designated, in one piece, then they can earn back other materials.

*Color-coated bins organized for each child and their subjects*

Help! My kids aren’t focused on their work

You might try…

Setting a timer that everyone can see. Your child needs to have a clear goal they’re working towards and a limited time to do it.
Coming up with a positive goal together. Something that is doable for you and not costly of your time or resources. Ex. Maybe your child earns stickers towards a favorite movie, a sleepover with friends, or a trip to the museum when they can consistently finish their work for a week. I encourage you to start small in your goal and work towards greater stamina (maybe your child can focus for five minutes at a time, then ten, then twenty). If the goal is too hard to reach, your child will become discouraged and you’ll be frustrated.
Ask yourself why? Are they not focusing because they’re bored and the material is too easy? Or is it too hard and they’re giving up? Is it because the environment is too loud or distracting? How’s their eyesight?
Change the environment: try different seating, silencing headphones, relaxing music, reading glasses, more body breaks and time outside. If you have the freedom to, have your child do their hardest subjects in the morning or when they’re least fatigued.
A clear daily schedule helps students know what’s expected and keeps them accountable to managing their time well. With multiple kids, this can be especially helpful. See below…

How do I create a schedule that works for our home?

*Mama and son working below weekly/daily planner*

Figure out how much time is needed per subject each week.
Allow time for body breaks, lunch, chores, and naps.
Try to schedule the subjects that are most challenging when you and your children have the most energy, such as in the morning.
It helps to create a schedule that is accessible for you and your children at any time. Below is a close-up of the schedule the Bell family uses for their two oldest boys (ages fourteen and fifteen). At the beginning of every week, mom updates the assignments on their calendar while the boys copy it in their planner.

Decide if a personal planner works for you. I personally prefer a simple, printable overview of the entire week on a clipboard instead, so I can do a quick glance and know what’s next. You may prefer an in-depth planner instead. Sometimes it takes experimenting to figure out what works best.

Help! My kids aren’t getting along, or my child has a negative perspective towards learning.

Consider…

A daily morning meeting, 5-10 minutes to check in with your child(ren) before the day starts. It should be a warm, friendly time that is focused. Conversations may include…
- highs and lows (or roses and thorns) for the day — a great way to identify how your child is feeling and what they need today
- discussing a goal to stay accountable to, or discussing the schedule — especially helpful on an usual day, like a field trip or dentist appointment
- a bible verse and prayer
- reading a Community/ Classroom Charter

A Community (or Classroom) Charter is an excellent socio-emotional tool. It encourages children to take responsibility for their own learning and each other’s learning, too. Instead of an adult-chosen, generic list of rules, kids are part of the rule-making process. They’re way more interested because of this. Together, you identify how they want to feel during the school year and how you’ll work together to make that happen. (Of course as the adult you have the final word on what goes.) As kids meet their goals every day, praise them! When they need reminders, return them to the charter. Here are some different examples.

Above, classroom charter for five homeschool kids, ages four through fifteen. **Three** feeling words and less descriptions about how to achieve them are ideal, but with such a broad age range this worked for us.

If you would like the lesson plan to make an amazing charter, please comment at the bottom of this post.

Help! I don’t know if my curriculum is working or if I’m using the right one

Sometimes parents fall into the trap of “the more the merrier.” More curriculum is not always better. So how do you discern what is best?

Go deep, not broad. Better a child who carefully reads two classics and writes a killer persuasive essay than a child who flies through six classics and barely gets five paragraphs together. You want kids to learn how to think, even if that means scaling back sometimes. Good, deep thinking will serve them for a lifetime, not mass-production.
If you find something that works well for you, stick with it. On a deeper level, this relates with being honest about your strengths and weaknesses. You’re not going to be perfect at teaching or managing every subject, and that’s okay. Embracing our limitations is actually very freeing.
Return to the objective. What does my kid actually need to learn? What’s the goal here? Where you have flexibility, use it. If the goal is to memorize the Declaration of Independence, consider if your child is able to memorize all or part. Both options meet the goal of memory work and understanding U.S. History. The difference is each individual child’s needs and abilities.
Assessments: Are you consistently using the assessments that come with your curriculum? It’s normal to feel intimidated at first when learning how to do them. But assessment is critical. Otherwise, you can’t be confident you’re teaching your kids what they need and that it’s working.
Utilize your community: If you’re still spinning, it happens to us all! It takes a village to raise a child, right? Reach out to people in your community or homeschooling co-op and ask them how they’re approaching lessons. *Remember, parents have different children and styles, so beware comparing or putting yourself down. Still, you can learn some helpful strategies or new ideas. As you filter through advice, be honest with yourself about who you are and what your child(ren) need.

Where do I find extra resources to supplement what I’m already doing?

Christian homeschooling — Hubbards Cupboard
Coding — Code.org — free computer coding classes that feel like fun games
Dance — Go Noodle — do your kids need a body break with some fun dance instruction?
Hip-Hop for all subjects — Flocabulary— “standards-aligned, video-based lessons and activities that leverage the power of hip-hop, storytelling, and emotional connections.”
History: Mission US — An award-winning educational media project that immerses young people in transformational moments from U.S. history.
Math: ST math — register for free homeschool access. I worked for this company for a summer and taught it to my students, and can’t praise it enough! Unlike other math programs that are flashy or language-heavy, ST Math is accessible to students regardless of language or ability. It encourages kids to think critically instead of relying only on route memorization.
Estimation180— Estimation tasks that make mathematical reasoning
accessible to students and enjoyable.
Printables — Teachers Pay Teachers — teacher-made, printable and digital resources for any subject you can think of.
Reading — Get Epic — Read books online for free, and Hubbards Cupboard literacy for early readers

On another note, you still have ONE WEEK to win a FREE book and meal! Check out the GIVEAWAY here: