Switching from the Deficit Mindset

Switching from the Deficit Mindset ~ Written by Lusi Austin

I love a good story. I love listening to them; singing them; writing them and bringing them to the theatre. But sometimes, the story I tell myself in my own mind is not helpful.

Sometimes I lean too hard into the land of the deficit: the place where I focus on what we HAVEN’T DONE. Or who we AREN’T. I concentrate on just how far SHORT we have come, of all the targets and goals I had.

Here in Australia, we are halfway through our learning year. And I find that my deficit mindset needs to be RESET about this time every single year.

I have to reset it from ‘deficit’ to ‘plenty’, reminding myself that we have done PLENTY! Yes, even in our 16^th year of homeschooling, I STILL need to do this.

Here’s how I reset the deficit mindset when I need to (in case you need to reset yours too!):

Switching from the Deficit Mindset in Your Homeschool

I stop and value what I AM doing

I can tell you right now a list of at least 15 things I had planned to do this year – that we have NOT done. Or the ways I feel like I’ve let down my kids, my husband, or our house. Why is it that we can more easily see the failures rather than the successes?

Surely this isn’t just me. I’m a pretty positive person but within myself, I can often easily default to seeing the deficit in my own efforts. The only way to combat this, is for me to STOP and intentionally make the shift.

I have to look at the things that HAVE been experienced, achieved or tried.

I’m not saying this is easy – but for me, it is necessary. While I’ve been working so hard to get my play Intertwined to the stage, I have sometimes felt like a failure – for not completing as much bookwork as I’d like to with the kids. I was talking about this with them recently and apologizing.

They both stopped me, with Miss 15 saying, “Mum! We have had the best year of learning! We’ve read awesome books together, made amazing projects, been involved in our community and gone on picnics by the river…there are SO many things we’ve had the chance to do this year and we’ve loved it.”

Chatting with the kids about this was helpful, but so was actually going through my learning photos (that I keep privately in a FB album). I looked back through and was shocked that I’d forgotten all the things we had already covered and experienced.

If you’re struggling with the deficit mindset too, go through photos, look at work samples or take stock of the books you’ve read. This may help jog your mind too.

I look at the unexpected lessons and experiences we’ve had

At the start of this learning year, I made plans. But I didn’t know some of what lay ahead of us then! We’ve had one son move away to begin a new chapter in his life. We’ve also had two unexpected trips to see him. This has come with its own lessons.

We had two trips trips to Sydney (five hours away from where we live) which meant we were able to visit big art exhibitions, and the beach. On our way there, our car broke down. This meant we had to learn patience while we waited hours for road side assistance!

Our daughter received her diabetes pump, which meant we had lots of extra appointments and learning around this new life-changing device. There were a couple of other unexpected issues and sometimes this meant we needed more time at home. This allowed Mr. 12 more time to create using his 3D printer.

I re-evaluate the goals we’ve set

Sometimes, I have to look at the goals I’ve set and ask myself why I set it in the first place. One of our goals this year was to work through a particular science book. And we have – a little here and there, but to be honest, the kids just aren’t that into it!

Setting it aside is a little hard (partly because I paid good money for the book!) But in doing so, I’m able to look at other ways to fill their science-learning-buckets up like: a good family friend came over and gave a heap of electrical circuitry to our son; the kids also loved using their monthly science kit; we read other books and articles that had science content; and we watched several documentaries too.

Letting go of our own goals can be liberating and helpful in allowing us to reset our mindset from ‘deficit’ to ‘plenty’.

So here is your reminder today to tell yourself a good story. See the good that you’ve done, the lessons you’ve learned and experiences you’ve had. Reset your goals if necessary and join me on the path of switching from the deficit mindset in your homeschool.

Hugs,
Lusi x

* Find all of Lusi’s inspirational posts on Simple Homeschool here!

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your type needs most!