Welcome to Day five of our Not Back to School Blog Hop. I have been so encouraged by my fellow home school mom’s and co-workers here. So far this week they have shared:
- Homeschool Encouragement by Amanda
- 4 Tips for Your New (Home)School Year by Stephanie
- Before Back-to-School by Yvie
- Weaving Work at Home and Homeschool Together by Tess
I recently attended my very first Mum Heart Conference here in Australia and have spent some time this week pondering the talks and conversations I had during the course of the weekend.
I realised that one thing we had in common was the feeling of not being enough, inadequacy and being overwhelmed. Looking back over the years of my homeschooling journey I have come to realise that comparison brought on feelings of inadequacy, lack of motivation and the overwhelming feeling of drowning.
What can you do to combat feeling unworthy?
- Examine your personal expectations. Ask yourself some questions. Why do I have these homeschool expectations ? Are they realistic ? Is my perfection tendencies stealing my joy ? Why am I doing what I am doing ? .
- Find your families personal rhythm and keep to it. The most important part of finding your rhythm is that you do not play the comparison game. Stop comparing what you are doing with the next home school family in your group of friends or blog are doing. Your family is unique. It has it’s own set of needs. IF you are constantly changing up how you do things or adding to what you are doing because of what other families are doing you are going to wear yourself and your children out.
- Work in a time of daily rest for you and your children. They get tired too. Rest does not mean the children rest and you do housework. It means you all rest. That can look like finishing a cup of tea, watching a documentary together or reading a book for ten minutes. Do something that feeds your soul.
- Take time to replenish your own soul. Choose things that bring your refreshment. This is not a selfish act, it is something which benefits your whole family. Charlotte Mason advised the teacher to replenish her soul with a continual supply of ideas. Something that stimulates your educational thought in many directions and keeps you from drifting into mere routine… Do not think this is a selfish thing to do, because the advantage does not end with yourself.“
- Find your group and stick with them. We all need support, a shoulder to cry on or someone to bounce ideas off. Examine your friendships and make sure they are uplifting and inspiring. Friendships that inspire and encourage are what will help you homeschool for the long haul.
- Gentle exercise is a wonderful tonic for you and the whole family. Take a walk around the block in the fresh air once a day. It loads your cells with life-giving oxygen and clears away toxins.
Think seasonally. One interest per season, coupled with thirty minutes of reading a day, may be all that is needed to keep up the Mother Culture and regain any lost enthusiasm for living – Karen Andreola
In closing I would like to encourage you to know you are the perfect homeschool mom for your family. You are enough. You do enough. You were chosen for your family and your children. Rest in who you are and stop comparing yourself to the “Stereo typical homeschool Mom” image. You need to remain True to YOURSELF and your strengths.
For more encouragement read
- Overcoming Homeschool Burnout What is burnout and how do we combat it? Some practical tips from a Veteran Homeschool Mom
- Dear Homeschool Mom … a collection of encouragement letters to homeschool Mom’s from the Crew
- Staying On Top of It All – keeping up with all that needs to be done.
- Dear Mom Who is Feeling Overwhelmed – Be True to yourself. Let go of the things that entangle and weigh down your homeschool and go back to the basics. Homeschool unique to you and your family.
- Mother Culture – Time Out {Homeschooling Essentials} – Time to answer the question of What is Mother Culture and why you need to practice it daily in your Homeschool.
- Homeschool Burnout what is it? How do you deal with it? Practical steps to help you heal and set up ways to combat it.
- One Step at a Time – lets talk about the journey of homeschooling and how to take it one step at a time and prevent becoming overwhelmed and burnt out.
—oOo—
Chareen is a member of the Homeschool Review Crew Leadership and is married to Paul and mom to three. Two have graduated and she is currently home educating her youngest child. You can find her at Every Bed of Roses
Welcome to day FIVE of the Not Back to School Blog Hop for 2019. This year we have 25 home educating Mom’s writing daily encouragement to equip you for the year ahead. Each day we will introduce you to a few of our team and the topics they will be writing about and at the bottom of each post is a linky where all of our bloggers will be sharing their posts with you
- Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses – ABC of Homeschooling
- Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag – Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Day
- Erin @ For Him and My Family – Large Family Homeschooling
- Lori @ At Home Where Life Happens – Learning Life Skills
- Monique D. @ Early Learning Mom – Homeschooling With Autism
- Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range – 5 Days of Upper Grades Homeschooling
- Abby @ Making Room 4 One More – Time Management for Homeschool Moms
- Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool – 5 Days of Homeschool Questions
- Amy @ the WRITE Balance – Year-Round Schooling
- Annette @ A Net in Time – Homeschooling.
- Betty @ Lets Get Real – Homeschooling High School
- Cassandra @ My Blessed Mess – Eclectic Homeschooling
- Yvonne @ The Life We Build – 5 Days of Relaxed Homeschooling
- Destiny @ Some Call It Destiny – Encouragement for the Homeschooling Mom
- Karen @ Tots and Me…Growing Up Together – A Peek into Our Homeschool
- Cassie D @ Deputie Tribe – Homeschooling 6 Taking Care of YOU
- Kristen Heider @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach –Theme: A Quest for a Great Homeschool Year
- Patti Pierce – Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy – My Favorite Homeschooling Things
- Wendy @ Life on Chickadee Lane – 5 Days of Nature Study
- Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning – Homeschooling my final 4
- Sally M – Tell the Next Generation – Tips for Homeschooling Struggling Learners
- Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling – Homeschooling the High School Years
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