Homeschool Do Over List

Inspired by this post over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, I decided to come up with my own list of Homeschool Do Overs. And here they are:

1. Engage less with the naysayers. This is what works best for our family. Period. No explaining, no justifying, no soothing ruffled feathers of people who insist on interpreting my choice as a criticism of theirs.
   
2. Trust the process more. Kids are naturally curious little sponges. They are always learning, even if it doesn’t look like conventional government school. Worry less, enjoy more.
   
3. More arithmetic practice earlier. I went so far in avoiding drill and kill and trying to make math fun that I didn’t insist on enough practicing. Once I did, things became much easier for him. We are still very far from endless meaningless repetition, but repetition isn’t a dirty word. There is value in practicing skills.
   
4. Don’t spend less time outdoors just because kids are older and more academically immersed. The break is even more important now! Nothing resets bad attitudes or refreshes more than going out to our river. It’s like a dose of spiritual medicine. Actually, it would be great if we managed to make it into more of a daily multi-vitamin.
   
5. More messy art days. There can never be too many.
   
6. Listen more, especially at the end of the day. I am only human. After a full day of engaging and learning together, with an extrovert child who never stops talking, this introvert mama is more than ready for some me time. Once I sit down at the computer or with a notebook or sketchbook, my ears tend to turn off. It’s hard to get my attention, harder than it should be, and I don’t focus as well on the long and winding tales my son (and my husband) tell as perhaps I should.
   
7. Balance. Now that my son is older, it is much easier to balance his needs with actually making my husband’s and mine a priority too. When my son was younger, he was the prizewinning orchid, and my marriage and my own intellectual life were the neglected weed grown garden surrounding him. Now I treat all of us as native plants, and the garden is full of bright spots and easier to maintain.
   
8. While I love our free wheeling, fun, and mostly unscheduled life, there are some things that do benefit from a regular schedule. Building in more music practice is something I intend to work on. Same with foreign language practice.
   
9. Avoid over- commitment and overscheduling. We used to be running to homeschool group classes and field trips 4 or 5 days a week. I have that dialed way back now, to 1 or 2 days maximum. Yes, socialization is important (for both of us-- I love seeing my homeschooling mama friends), but nothing eats up academic time quicker than a heavy travel schedule.
   
10. Being more organized. We spend too much time hunting down lost library books around here.