As a Homeschool Mom you are responsible for the entirety of your child’s education. If the world perceives your child as not knowing a certain fact by a certain time then you take the fall and endure scorn. Note the word, “perceives”. We both know children learn at different rates and in different ways. We know this, we repeat it to all who will listen-yet at 3:00 in the morning a jolt of panic can awaken us from the most slumberous of sleep.
This self-induced panic causes us to bolt upright and start mentally calculating math pages. Yes, math pages. How many pages will we need to do this week to be “on-schedule”? How many pages should be averaged out per week to complete the year? How many problems per page are adequate for full understanding?
After your mind endures mathematical manipulations you move on to essays. Has the key word outline been completed? Of course it has, you know these facts, yet they race in your mind. If you work on a paragraph a day how many days will it take for the essay to be complete? A full moon illuminates your room as your mind continues with curriculum calculations.
You move on to grammar, reading, spelling and more while mentally evaluating progress. You resist the urge to awaken everyone and administer a test to see if they are learning what you think (and know) they are learning. Yep, a full moon does indeed do strange things to the mind.
Slowly you realize what is going on. Steadily your senses come back to you. You start to laugh at the idea of giving a 4 am test. The system of learning based upon “one size fits all” had merely creeped into the recesses of our mind and overtaken it. Common sense floods back.
It’s time to put the “Mom” back into “Homeschool Mom”. The curriculum focus on homeschooling can be overwhelming. You are the source point. As the organizer of teaching, outsourcing and event planning the world can saunter into your mind and whisper sweet nothings of comparisons. It’s at this point we need to play our “Mom” card and win the game.
In reality, learning math is not linear. A page a day does not keep the math doctor away. Math and grammar and spelling and… can only flow into a mind eager to learn. It’s up to us to cultivate eager minds. It’s up to us to fight the battle of comparisons and allow our children to be who they were created to be. They need to know more than a prepackaged curriculum.
They need to know love.
Fortunately, we have many ways to show it.
Kindness. Offer them random acts of kindness. Surprise them with a special breakfast. Place a note of encouragement in a book they are reading. Assist in a chore they dislike. Let them listen to “that song that drives you nuts” in the car without turning it off or pleading for mercy.
Hope. They need to know failure is not the endgame. Defeats are a reality of life. It is their response to defeat which defines them, not the event itself. Share your failures, share your successes. Warm chocolate chip cookies come in handy during these conversations.
Time. They need your time not embedded in an lesson. When running mundane errands around town, meander the long way home. Great conversations arise from traffic jams and scenic drives. Not eager to spend gas money? Go on a nature walk, leave the field guides at home and enjoy the journey.
Presence. Your attention is needed. Turn off the phone. Shut down the technologies. Nothing beats a book with real paper. If needed, write your own book together!
Support. Fully support them. When the world thinks their ideas are crazy, be the fish swimming against the current and support them. Stand by them. Encourage them. You are never to old to wear face paint and chant cheers of encouragement.
Words. Tell them you love them. Over. And. Over.
The moonlight curriculum panic has ended. I (ahem, I mean you) promise yourself to never. tell. anyone. about the 4 am test. Of course, it would make a great conversation over a warm chocolate chip cookie!
Love.
Be present.
Be attentive.
Smile more.
It is okay to just be Mom.