Eight more weeks of school left until summer break. This thought causes music to ring in homeschool moms' ears while at the same time riping right through their hearts! Summer--time to sleep in. Read lots of books. Enjoy the outdoors while nature studies naturally happen. A time to catch up on chores and organize the house from top to bottom. And best of all-- time to plan next year! A lass that is where the fear comes in. Only eight more weeks left!!! Those plans from last summer have not been fullfilled! The two science programs. The one and half math levels. The extended unit studies covering every last detail of ancient history. The mastery of spelling and the English language. The exploration of nuclear fission or was it fussion?
Why do homeschool moms place so much pressure on ourselves? Why is it that we have so much trouble setting reasonable goals and being satisified when those goals are met? Why is it not okay to have average kids--that sometimes struggle with reading, only finish one math program each school year, and misspell the same words over and over? These same kids may excell at swimming or music or thinking outside the box. Or perhaps, they exude kindness for their fellow man? They may read all the Judy Moody books and never become experts on the Civil War.
It's that time of year again. Time to plan next year. What are our real goals for next year?
Why do homeschool moms place so much pressure on ourselves? Why is it that we have so much trouble setting reasonable goals and being satisified when those goals are met? Why is it not okay to have average kids--that sometimes struggle with reading, only finish one math program each school year, and misspell the same words over and over? These same kids may excell at swimming or music or thinking outside the box. Or perhaps, they exude kindness for their fellow man? They may read all the Judy Moody books and never become experts on the Civil War.
It's that time of year again. Time to plan next year. What are our real goals for next year?
I can't tell you how much I have struggled with this in the past few weeks. I need better goals, particularly for my high schooler. World History has not been fun for us. I did have a moment this week when he asked if he could summarize his current chapter by creating a samurai suit of armor and creating Chinese poetry. I had to stop and realize that those two projects would have far more meaning to him that memorizing and testing on the information.
ReplyDeleteAnd I would take Judy Moody over the Civil War any time.