Written by Jamie Martin of Simple Homeschool
A note from Jamie: We wrote this series last summer, but I thought that revisiting it at the start of a new school year might be an encouragement. So check out some of the posts below and remind yourself that even if you’re facing something tough, you can still make homeschooling work for you and yours. Be blessed!
Ya’ll, homeschooling ain’t always easy. And it isn’t always happier ever after.
Sometimes it’s downright tough. You know, don’t you?
This world has troubles and homeschooling families aren’t immune to them. Tough marriage seasons, rebellious children, cancer, miscarriages, depression, financial struggles, midlife crises.
You get the picture.
You don’t always read about these topics on blogs, because well, they’re personal. They often involve our dearly loved children, too, whose privacy we respect and want to protect.
The danger of not writing about these situations, however, is that it creates an illusion that our lives are all peaches and cream.
Roses and buttercups. Always well-behaved children and energetic moms and dads joyfully learning together 24/7.
Sharing our hard truths doesn’t have to be negative. I prefer the word authentic. We open up vulnerably so that others can do the same. We learn that we’re not alone, and that gives us courage to keep going.
It reminds me of what Brene Brown writes in her most recent book, Daring Greatly:
“Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.”
With all that in mind, welcome to a brand new blog series: The Hardest Part of My Homeschool Year.
Because here at Simple Homeschool, my inspiring contributors and I don’t just write about homeschooling — we also live it.
The good and bad, easy and challenging.
This summer, we want to pull back the curtain a bit on our struggles.
Don’t worry–our aim is not to depress but to encourage. We’ll also share how we’re coping with our hard places, changes we’ve made, and what things look like on the other side.
So please join us over the next month as we reveal some not-so-pretty, not-so-Pinteresty, but very REAL parts of our homeschooling lives.
This post will serve as a landing page for the series – feel free to bookmark it to refer back to as we go along. I will update it with links to each post as they publish.
Simple Homeschool’s
The Hardest Part of My Homeschool Year series:
* The hardest part of Kara’s homeschool year:
Working from home & homeschooling
* The hardest part of Jamie’s homeschool year:
Homeschooling an angry child
* The hardest part of Sarah’s homeschool year:
Being outnumbered by babies and toddlers
* The hardest part of Amida’s homeschool year:
Trying to do it all
* The hardest part of Kris’s homeschool year:
Homeschooling teens
* The hardest part of Shawna’s homeschool year:
Homeschooling with depression
* The hardest part of Kari’s homeschool year:
Homeschooling a child with Asperger’s
* The hardest part of Rachel’s homeschool year:
Homeschooling and homesteading
* The hardest part of Anne’s homeschool year:
Choosing the right path
* The hardest part of Melissa’s homeschool year:
Homeschooling through disruption
“Usually with life, you start wherever you are, and you flail around for a while.” ~ Anne Lamott
What’s been the toughest part of your last homeschool year?
Weekend homeschool links
The hardest part of my homeschooling is realizing that the goal that all homeschoolers have of handing your child the work, and expecting them to do it without me, is never going to happen. Homeschooling with learning disabilities may be the best for the children, but it is not easy on the mom. The emotional stress is incredible. The judgement from those on the outside that do not see the daily struggle to just get the work done, is horrible. Everything takes three to four times longer to learn, and sometimes it seems it will never click.
Martha Artyomenko’s latest post: Hope Harbor by Irene Hannon
Oh goodness, Martha, I could have written your comment myself! So my heart goes out for you. Have you looked into Leadership Education at all? For our family, especially with children who learn differently, I think the advantages are huge. But especially the way the phases of learning helps Mom keep her sanity. This might be a good place to start, since kids with special needs seem to progress more slowly through the phases: http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/core-phase/
I am so looking forward to this series. A great way to prepare for a new year – learning from the perspectives of others – their successes, failures, and all the nitty gritty of life.
Cara Thompson’s latest post: 10 Tips for Choosing the Best Curriculum (& 6 Encouragements)
Love this series! The hardest part of my homeschooling this last year is that it didn’t even really happen. We found out in July we were moving from Arizona to Washington, found out I was pregnant five days before my husband left for Seattle, was living with my family while being very sick and when we finally were able to make the move to join my husband I was still so sick that I was just needing to survive. It wouldn’t have been so bad but all of my family basically disagrees with our decision to homeschool so every time they would talk to my daughter they would ask her how school was. It just made it very stressful to allow myself the grace I needed to get through this last year. The amazing thing I saw though (and am now able to testify to) was that when our children are ready they can learn things so quickly. My daughter who just turned 6 is reading rather well, loves to do math and is very proficient at comprehension. This all happened without us even focusing on school and “teaching”. She has just picked it up in the everyday of life and I love that she loves learning all these things since there has been no forced education. We will get into a school routine in a month or so but it has been encouraging to see and to know that I don’t have to force it to make it happen. When they are ready it can just happen naturally.
I am already finding solace in the topics alone. Homeschooling an angry child, one with special needs, one with Asperger’s, teens, while moving…they all fit us to a tee. Sometimes I need the reminders that this merely is a season, that my wisdom isn’t what is pulling us through, but HIS and that my children will grow through all of this.
The hardest part of my homeschool year…so many of these posts resonate. We moved out of state, my daughter got a 2E diagnosis, anxiety, SPD, and giftedness. And I am still dealing with anxiety and PTSD following the traumatic birth (I hemorraged severely and dangerously) of my son. We are struggling financially and with all the stressors, I question and second guess all the major decisions we made quickly. I am lonely and we miss our friends and family as well as the support of community. We love our new home and parts of our new life but adjusting takes time and all the stress can affect our family and homeschool. I am finessing a routine that allows flexibility for all of the big emotions in our home and sometimes it feels like everything is a thread away from falling apart. I am hopeful that with time and new friendships, the dust will settle but it has been a very mixed year for us!
The hardest part for me has been homeschooling (or not!) my 7 yr old daughter (only child left at home) on a limited budget, with no car and no close friends nearby for her to play with. She gets really lonely and we don’t always have enough money to take the bus to find playmates. We moved 2 months ago when our rental sold and the new place has no trampoline and no kids around to play with. She is struggling and it makes me feel sad and guilty! I am a lot older than most mums with 7 yr olds and struggle with arthritis which makes everything a little bit harder.
Thank you for this authentic series. I think because homeschooling goes against mainstream that when we have difficulties we can feel that there is no one to share with. We expect schooling parents will tell us to give it up, and that we’ll look like a failure in homeschooling circles. Reading the series makes me think “sure, there are challenges no matter our choice, so let’s support each other to walk our unique paths.” Thank you!
Jamie,
Thank you so much for being brave enough to share your difficulties with us. I have shared almost every issue with all the homeschool mothers and reading about your situation and theirs has just made a tremendous impact on me and it has been a tremendous relief to know that others are faced with similar, sometimes seemingly endless challenges. I like your mention of the idea of just letting go. I feel like there is some kind of unseen force out there that is so pervasive that it affects me at every moment- and I think it is coming from the pressures from society to achieve, making me feel like we are constantly and hopelessly behind in every way- having this endless “I’m not getting it done” feeling. Why not just let go and live life in the moment and enjoy what we can every day? Thank you, again, for the inspiration this week and throughout all the years I’ve been homeschooling.
“Why not just let go and live life in the moment and enjoy what we can every day?”
Love this thought so much, Virginia. So glad this series is speaking to you!
The hardest part of homeschooling for me is trying to work the homeschooling around my part-time, night shift nursing job!
And when a friend “throws in the towel” just about the time you are having thoughts about quitting youself….but I know I can’t….
I’m looking forward to this series as well. With five kids (the oldest a senior in high school), we’ve been through so many seasons. There are different struggles in each, but I think the flexibility of our homeschooling is what kept us successful through it all.
Alicia’s latest post: 25 Garden crops to plant in August for your fall garden
Heh, wow, does this resonate with a lot of ladies. Feels like a mass closet exodus, pardon the allusion. Gosh, like the mosquito in a nudist colony, where to begin? Homeschooling is great. Homeschooling is fine. I’m in my honeymoon year with one. It’s sometimes the only thing that seems to go right. The spousal depression, the marital stress, the constant friction between two wildly divergent personalities, the Dickensian financial hell of the past five years, bounced paychecks for years in a row, spouse so depressed he cannot motivate himself to get a real job, repressed rage, everything else put on the back burner, one crisis after another, two midlife crisis, the marital strain of husband working from home and never ever ever ever ever ever getting a break from each other? Not so right. Homeschooling’s a picnic. It’s the rest of it.
God bless you and yours, Imelda.
The hardest part of my homeschool year last year- and so far this year, too- has been finding the right path to education for my son with ADHD. There is hope, though! He seems to have gotten off to a better start this year. 🙂 I remember reading this series last year. I think now is the perfect time to read through it again.
Shelly’s latest post: Is College As Important As We Make It Out to Be?
The hardest part of homeschooling for me is confidence. I often second guess myself, wondering if I’m doing it “right.” I appreciate all of the support I get from forums and this blog along with others. Thank you for all of the insights and tips. I’m grateful for all of the homeschool moms who continue to share valuable information to help me learn and stay focused on the big picture. I was inspired by the article I read one of my favorite homeschooling resource sites, “Debunking the Talent Myth. Ignite Your Child’s Potential.” – https://www.myteachingstation.com/child-development/debunking-the-talent-myth-ignite-your-childs-potential
The funny thing is that although the article was probably written to inspire parents in raising their children, I felt encouraged that I CAN do all things. It’s a matter of perseverance. So here I am pressing on! To all homeschool moms: Keep up the great job you do every day!
The hardest part of homeschooling this year for me is dealing with intense therapy for Dissociative Identity Disorder (also anxiety and PTSD). My therapist told me I couldn’t homeschool so I almost put my kids in school but didn’t feel good about it. So my kids are having a do it yourself year while I deal with flashbacks and processing loads of hard stuff. We have been blessed with extra help in the form of a commonwealth and a friend who volunteered to tutor. my 7 year old in reading. Thanks for the great posts, did you ever announce the winners of the Give Your the World book club?
Not yet, Tosha, but soon!
I posted a question the other day about whether we could get an update from the women who graciously shared their stories last year. I don’t see my question up anymore. Did you take it down? Was there something wrong with asking?
No, I didn’t, Kristine, unless it was somehow deleted by mistake!