Thursday, 17 June 2021

Know Yourself - Stop the Comparison Game

Welcome to week 11 of  Blogging through the Alphabet 2021! This challenge has stretched me a little more than I anticipated it would.  Some weeks it's been difficult to find a topic to talk about.  This week the letter is K.  

My co-host Desiree is sharing K is for Kitchen in her Lego ABC. I'm looking forward to seeing what the family will build.  I had no idea that lego made some of the sets that Desiree has showcased over the last three months.  

Today I would like to encourage you to Know Yourself and STOP the Comparison Game.



 

  This is far harder than it sounds.  For some reason their is a secret fear that seems to lurk within the homeschool journey. That secret fear is that we will do something wrong and then do a disservice to our children.  This in turn drives us to constantly be watching other homeschooling families and comparing notes with what they are doing.  This in turn results in taking on more and more thing that are unnecessary.

Knowledge is Power. That power is either in your hand or in someone elses. If you don't know what you think or what your goals are then there will be someone out there who is only too happy to lead you a merry dance and convince you to spend your money with them.

Knowing why you are doing something 
is the first step in being empowered 
to follow through with your choices.


Even if you are a seasoned homeschooler and you don't have your thoughts and focus set, then every single time you see something new or meet a new homeschooler and hear what they are doing you will feel as though you are somehow failing your children or they are missing out which in turn will drive you to choose to add more to an already busy homeschool.  The danger of this is that soon you will be doing a great many things with mediocrity and become overwhelmed and exhausted.

STEP one form the cornerstone of your homeschool by Knowing What You Think & Why.


Unfortunately Covid and Quarantine Schooling has really put a spanner in the works and add a pressure we've never had to experience before. 

Remain committed to being true to yourself. - Stop comparing what you are doing to what other homeschooling families are doing.  

Remember social media and blogs are not a true reflection of what others are doing nor are they a a list of "I need to do this in order to succeed..." It is better to do a little with excellence than a multitude of things incompletely.

For Further Reading and Tips on how to cope each day 

  1. Become Equipped: Know What You Think and Why.
  2. Finding Your Rhythm  and keeping to it.
  3. Buy some Ice Cream - Dealing with difficult days.
  4.  Tip FOUR - One Step at a Time 
  5. Dear Mom Who is Feeling Overwhelmed
  6. IF you are a new home educator and have just brought your students home then I encourage you to read: From School to Homeschool
  7. House Cleaning and Home School ? Just how do you balance the two??  
  8. Homeschool Daily Schedules Sally Clarkson says: "There are many varieties of personalities and possibilities of home organization, Each of us simply has to find the combination of routines that suits our lifestyle and desires."The Mission of Motherhood.
  9. Our Rhythm - Year Round Schooling 
  10. How Important is Alone Time and Home Schooling ?  
  11. A little Word on Homeschool Record Keeping  
  12. Homeschool Burnout
  13. Take a Break when YOU need it ... Do not underestimate the power of rest.  Rest at night, rest from school and mini rests throughout your day.
  14.  The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Daylight.

Be TRUE to yourself and who He has made you. When He formed you He placed within you all you would need through Him to succeed at the task He has placed before you.

Blessings 

Chareen

Find the other ABC posts in this series here:

  1. A is for Art Lessons at Home
  2. B is for Books Where do You Purchase Yours? 
  3. Charlotte Mason a Round Up of Posts 
  4. Delight Directed Education
  5. Encouragement for Weary Homeschooling Mothers
  6. For the Children's Sake  
  7. G is for Geography
  8. Homeschool Bloggers  
  9. Instagramers to follow who are homeschooling
  10. Joy in Your Homeschool Journey
  11. Know Yourself - Stop the Comparison Game 

Featured from Week 10 all things 'J'

 This Week over at Our Homeschool Notebook the topic is K is for Kitchen

 

Please link up your posts starting with the letter K for this weeks ABC Blogging

Monday, 14 June 2021

Take a Break when you need it ...

 I recently joined LinkedIn (if you are on there do pop on over and connect with me) and saw this post this afternoon which has had me contemplating my daily rhythym.

As homeschooling Mothers how often do we hear the catch phrase "I'm so tired...  I'm exhausted..." or we have children who are really tired and strung out. 

One of the questions I'm often asked by homeschool Mom's is "My children keep on zoning out and I can't keep them on track.  What must I do?"

 Dr Mark Hyman shared this insight "Take natural breaks when you are tired. Our bodies function best on ultradian rhythm cycles of 90 minutes of activity punctuated by a few minutes of resting or zoning out!"

Our brains need time to process the information we are working on and zoning out is the way in which we accomplish this.  

Concentration spans vary with the age of the child.  A general rule of thum is twice the child's age.  So for a six year old that equates to twelve minutes.  Maxing out at around 30 to 40 minutes.

There was great wisdom when Charlotte Mason encouraged short lessons for the students.  This safe advice is just as valuable today as when she gave it over a centuary ago. 



Thursday, 10 June 2021

Joy in Your Homeschool Journey

I can't believe it's week 11 of Blogging through the Alphabet 2021! Thank you to everyone who has been joining int the fun each week.  This week we are looking at the letter J and how to find Joy in your Homeschool Journey. My co-host Desiree will be blogging about J is for Jurassic in her alphabet lego series.

I had been homeschooling for around two years and was feeling like I was living in survival mode and begining to loose my joy in homeschooling.  I had taken on far too many expectations from others upon myself and had lost sight of the road.   

The year 2000 saw me introduced me to the wonderful Waring Family who were touring New Zealand sharing Beyond Survival with us.  Oh I am so glad I attended this home school seminar.  Diana is an enthusiastic encourager and her family were an inspiration and encouragement to keep schooling through the high school years. Diana's passion and Bills gentle encouragement recharged my batteries.



It was Diana who inspired me to get Beyond Survival in my homeschooling and enjoy the abundance the lifestyle has to offer.  At this conference I learned about learning and teaching styles and the impact this has on our school at home how it causes a lot of frustration both for the teacher and student and it did not have to.  

Arm yourself with this treasure from Diana and discover some excellent tools for your homeschool today. This book is available from: The Book Depository and Amazon.

I discovered that Diana has uploaded an encourageing clip on YouTube called Getting Beyond Survival in Homeschooling, here it is for you to enjoy


About the Author

Diana Waring is the author of Beyond Survival, Reaping the Harvest and Diana Waring’s History Revealed world history curriculum. You can find out more about this at Diana Waring Education that's Relational.

She discovered years ago that “the key to education is relationship.” Beginning in the early ’80s, Diana homeschooled her children through high-school—the real life opportunities to learn how kids learn. Mentored by educators whose focus was honoring Him who created all learners, and with an international background (born in Germany, university degree in French, lifelong student of world history),

Diana cares about how people learn as well as what they learn. Audiences on four continents have enthusiastically received her energetic speaking style.

For those of you who would like to know more about Diana you can read a full author interview over at  Ben and Me. 

Connect with Diana on Social Media

What are your recommendations for finding JOY in your Homeschool?

Blessings 

Chareen

Find the other ABC posts in this series here:

  1. A is for Art Lessons at Home
  2. B is for Books Where do You Purchase Yours? 
  3. Charlotte Mason a Round Up of Posts 
  4. Delight Directed Education
  5. Encouragement for Weary Homeschooling Mothers
  6. For the Children's Sake  
  7. G is for Geography
  8. Homeschool Bloggers  
  9. Instagramers to follow who are homeschooling
  10.  

Featured from Week 9 all things 'I'

 This Week over at Our Homeschool Notebook the topic is J is for Jurassic

 

Please link up your posts starting with the letter J for this weeks ABC Blogging.