A New Way to Do It

I talked to you in my last blog about facing homeschool (and life) burnout!

Today, I want to share how I decided to move forward.

So, I made the decision to end school early for the year and told my husband. Kudos to him for not freaking out, he knows me well enough to know how I work and that things will be just fine.

But, I didn't just decide to end school entirely, I decided to change what we were doing. My kids need structure and focus and purpose, without it they get restless (that's why we only take a 6 week summer break before starting school back up each year) so I knew stopping completely wasn't a productive solution.

I had already decided to change things up in the upcoming school year and add in an element of interest-led learning. My children will have their main required subjects but after that they got to choose for themselves what they want to learn based on their interests. 

I decided to start it, IMMIDATELY. As soon as I decided to finish up our school books, curriculum and stick to following our love of learning I felt a weight lifting and an excitement growing. My kids, every morning, during their normal school hours, were going to get to pick a subject and go with it; politics, history, art, science, music, Spanish, economics, government, and more. My only requirement was that they would be able to then share what they learned by writing it down, drawing, or creating a way to present that information. 

Well, it's been over a month of doing this type of education and it's opened up our world again. It's added back the joy and togetherness that I was missing in our homeschool. We've been doing history tea times again. We took a nature walk and painted flowers with paint we made from the pedals. We get together nearly every morning for my daughters to share what they are learning and for me to learn as I listen to them. It's been a truly rich and beautiful experience that I have no intention of changing.

My encouragement Mamas: Life is hard, the curve balls are harder. We get tired, burnt out, and overwhelmed BUT we don't have to remain in that place and live there. We can tweak and change things to where we are truly focusing on what matters most and that is when thriving happens. 

photo credit: cru.org

We are still very much learning in our schooling. Education is still very much happening here in my home but the weight is gone. The work is gone. It's been one change that has made a dramatic, beautiful difference. I hope when you hit a wall, Mama, that you will think outside of the box and move toward thriving.

Much love,
-Joy