It would surprise most people how many parents consider switching to homeschool this time of year. For most, school started in late August/early September. Students have spent the last 3 or so month in school. Common themes start to arise. Over-tired. Behaviors. Illnesses. Stress. Activities. Remembering Spirit Week. Pick-Up Lines. Lunches. And you wonder- is THIS really it? Do we HAVE to do this? Maybe we could….
But many talk themselves out of it. “But it’s the middle of the school year!” “I have no idea what I’m doing.” “They’ll get behind.” Insert any number of insecurities here_____________. I have some news for you.
I haven’t had a parent pull their kid mid-year that regrets it, yet.”
Me
In Pennsylvania, you can pull your student ANY TIME you please. It can be the 3rd week of school, Christmas Break, or 2 weeks before school ends. But the idea of everything that entails can be quite overwhelming. So here are a few of my tips, having walked a few families through the process now.
-Take a break. Most kids coming out of the public school setting need time to decompress and reset more than you would ever believe. If you decide to pull your student mid-year, the homeschooling rules still apply to you. You have until the end of June to get your 180 days and unlike regular school, YOU have the option to include and utilize weekends. If you take an extra week, or two, you actually have that time. Seriously.
-Never stop reading. You may not have a curriculum picked out. You may not have an evaluator. You may not have a homeschool area set up. You may have 10,000 questions. No matter what, keep reading. Keep reading to your kids, keep reading with your kids, keep having your kids read. You can count that as time! And I mean, you should never stop reading anyway.
-Natural Integration: It can be hard to wrap your head around the fact that learning doesn’t HAVE to be classically academic book work. Does your 3rd grader love to help in the kitchen? Fractions. Telling time with the timer. Learning about temperature with the oven. Baking and cooking is one giant yummy science experiment every time. Do you have pets? Learn about them. What do you feed them? How much? Why? Does your child like to shadow your spouse that has their own business? That’s hands on, real-life training and education.
–Homeschool isn’t school at home. Stick with me here. It can be very hard for parents who went to public school themselves, or even already have child(ren) in public school to get out of the thought that they should be “doing school” at least 6hrs a day. You do not have to follow the same routine your child had at school. You don’t have to do every subject every day either. Homeschool affords you the ability to take as much time as you need on a subject, while moving through ones you can, at the speed of your child. You have the flexibility to go to the bathroom whenever, snack whenever, go outside any time, or decide to pick up and go on a field trip any time you want. If the chapter book you chose isn’t working, you can pivot and switch.
Have more questions? Overwhelmed by curriculum? Panicking about homeschooling your high schooler? Ready to take the next step?
Check out my consult, evaluation, tutoring, or contact page!
The Nurtured Bee 