I don’t necessarily have a struggle but a celebration to share and gratitude to lay at your feet, Julie! Early on in my homeschooling, say, 12ish years ago, you encouraged awesome adulting. You encouraged doing a bit of what I wanted to do right amidst the kids, smack dab in the middle of our day and living room! I took that advice and I am ever so grateful for the advice and my action! Now as my boys are older and so very independent I have a lot of time on my hands in between their calls for “MOOOOOMMMM!” and I’m not floundering. I did a little, at first as they were doing more of their own thing and needing me a tad less, but then I remembered I can just do MORE of what I want to do! I raised up a puppy! (Never really did that before, it was fun!) I took up watercolor painting.
All this to say to the new mamas, heed that advice to do the awesome adulting! Find something you enjoy and make it a priority! Even more than homeschooling! Take care of you first and the rest is easier, trust this veteran! (One graduated homeschooler, 25, a teen almost 16 and an 11 year old whose reading has just recently taken off)!
I tried to incorporate learning Italian into our homeschool because I wanted to learn. I eventually gave up when I saw my passion was not contagious and my kids offered up lackluster responses to “come stai?” day after day.
So, I decided to give it up and take an adult class by myself. That was two years ago and I'm still attending. Guess who decided learning a foreign language is fun and begged me to set up Duolingo?
Now my oldest is learning and my youngest two love to learn new words I teach them. I still haven't incorporated it into our homeschool and I don't think I ever will. It's a hobby, a personal project and those are far more exciting.
I’ve been feeling a bit lost at sea, in regard to what direction we are going in with this new era teen home schooling. My 12 yr old is doing much more on his own and wants to, but gauging the balance is tricky. I’ve noticed it’s become very easy for me to leave him with an online lesson or small project but I’m also beginning to feel it creeping in as ‘too much’ distance between us.
I notice when he’s done too much on his own it becomes harder to discuss those lessons, like I’m interfering when usually he’s happy to share his experiences.
Last night I listened to your podcast about ‘one on one time’ fantastic ideas on how to re connect in other ways too. I made lots of notes! :)
I am feeling this with my young teenager. In some ways I think I want him to Just Do The Thing! Specifically, I want him to do it by himself, because he is old enough. Maybe not my best homeschool season. We have enough going on until the end of March that I am giving myself a pass until spring, but I could use an injection of new homeschool energy.
I did a podcast this week about one on one time. It may be that your son just needs a dose of one on one time with you each day or each week to help him sustain his momentum. We think our kids are independent learners, but the truth is even in school, there is a teacher, there are assignments, there is a classroom of other students doing the same work. That companionship, supports motivation.
I don’t necessarily have a struggle but a celebration to share and gratitude to lay at your feet, Julie! Early on in my homeschooling, say, 12ish years ago, you encouraged awesome adulting. You encouraged doing a bit of what I wanted to do right amidst the kids, smack dab in the middle of our day and living room! I took that advice and I am ever so grateful for the advice and my action! Now as my boys are older and so very independent I have a lot of time on my hands in between their calls for “MOOOOOMMMM!” and I’m not floundering. I did a little, at first as they were doing more of their own thing and needing me a tad less, but then I remembered I can just do MORE of what I want to do! I raised up a puppy! (Never really did that before, it was fun!) I took up watercolor painting.
All this to say to the new mamas, heed that advice to do the awesome adulting! Find something you enjoy and make it a priority! Even more than homeschooling! Take care of you first and the rest is easier, trust this veteran! (One graduated homeschooler, 25, a teen almost 16 and an 11 year old whose reading has just recently taken off)!
With gratitude,
marci
This really makes my heart happy! Good for you
I tried to incorporate learning Italian into our homeschool because I wanted to learn. I eventually gave up when I saw my passion was not contagious and my kids offered up lackluster responses to “come stai?” day after day.
So, I decided to give it up and take an adult class by myself. That was two years ago and I'm still attending. Guess who decided learning a foreign language is fun and begged me to set up Duolingo?
Now my oldest is learning and my youngest two love to learn new words I teach them. I still haven't incorporated it into our homeschool and I don't think I ever will. It's a hobby, a personal project and those are far more exciting.
I’ve been feeling a bit lost at sea, in regard to what direction we are going in with this new era teen home schooling. My 12 yr old is doing much more on his own and wants to, but gauging the balance is tricky. I’ve noticed it’s become very easy for me to leave him with an online lesson or small project but I’m also beginning to feel it creeping in as ‘too much’ distance between us.
I notice when he’s done too much on his own it becomes harder to discuss those lessons, like I’m interfering when usually he’s happy to share his experiences.
Last night I listened to your podcast about ‘one on one time’ fantastic ideas on how to re connect in other ways too. I made lots of notes! :)
I’m so glad that’s helping. I really do believe in deliberate one on one time with teens. It seems essential in fact, but so easy to overlook.
I am feeling this with my young teenager. In some ways I think I want him to Just Do The Thing! Specifically, I want him to do it by himself, because he is old enough. Maybe not my best homeschool season. We have enough going on until the end of March that I am giving myself a pass until spring, but I could use an injection of new homeschool energy.
I did a podcast this week about one on one time. It may be that your son just needs a dose of one on one time with you each day or each week to help him sustain his momentum. We think our kids are independent learners, but the truth is even in school, there is a teacher, there are assignments, there is a classroom of other students doing the same work. That companionship, supports motivation.