Top 10 homeschool regrets
- Checking boxes over relationships
So many times I let our curriculum set the tone for our homeschool over making relationships with my children. Now I try to put relationships over curriculum. I still fail, but am doing better.
- Too much, too soon
I planned on homeschooling my oldest while she was still in the womb, so of course I bought a complete curriculum for her when she was three and insisted we complete everything in it. With my boys, I let them lead when they ready to start more formal schooling.
- Pushing my special needs children to hard in the beginning
I didn’t realize my girls had autism and intellectual disability early on and pushed them too hard for reading and math. They were not developmentally ready for the material, and many times this ended with both of us crying daily. This one is my biggest regret.
- Working more on handwriting
This one seems silly, but all my kids have terrible handwriting. It never felt that important as I was trying to homeschool six kids, so I let it fall by the wayside. I still need to let this one go.
- Following my children’s readiness clues, instead of the curriculum
If a curriculum told me my children should be completing a certain skill, then they should be completing it, right? Well actually no. Sometimes children need more time or they aren’t developmentally ready for a concept.
- Not having a morning time in the early years
We have time now each morning, where we come together and complete Bible, read alouds, poetry, art or any of those subjects I couldn’t seem to fit in before. This is my favorite part of the day and I wish we would have started earlier. https://pambarnhill.com/category/morning-time/ Pam Barnhill has great ideas to start morning time.
- Making more time for real life skills
I didn’t really institute certain times for real life skills. This goes back to being a box checker. If it wasn’t on the curriculum, then it wasn’t important. As my kids are older now, they have picked up real life skills, ones I think are important and ones they are interested in. I just wish I had worked on this more throughout our homeschool.
- Worrying less about a clean house, and more about snuggling on the couch with a good book
This one can explain itself.
- Using the flexibility of homeschooling to help others more
I wish we had made more casseroles, muffins for neighbors and friends in need, I wish we would have visited people from church at rehab and nursing homes. We did some of that, but sometimes I was so overwhelmed with homeschooling so many little people I convinced myself we didn’t have time to do those things. Make time to do those things. My kids still remember the times we did and I wish we had done it more.
- Get help when needed!
I did homeschooling completely on my own for eight years. I wasn’t ever willing to ask for help and reach out and tell people I was overwhelmed. I waited until I had a mental health crisis to reach out. Now I have had help for the last three years and it has made a tremendous difference. Help can come in many forms. It can be grocery delivery, ladies from church playing games with your other kids so you can give one on one to to another child, tutoring, housecleaning. At the time I needed help, I didn’t have the funds to pay anyone and sweet ladies from church came over once a week. It ended up being a huge blessing for them and me.
I share this with you so that you can have fewer homeschooling regrets than I do. I have come to terms with all of these and asked for forgiveness and will strive to do better tomorrow.
What are your top 10 homeschool regrets?
