6 Ways to Start Having Peace in Your Home school Today

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When I started out on this home schooling journey I knew very little about what teaching my children at home would entail. I just knew my husband and I had a desire to shape their education the way we knew God wanted us to, around his word. We also knew we wanted to keep them out of the public school system.

After a few months of home schooling our oldest, I quickly lost sight of the reasons we were heading down this path. Why not just send them to public school? It would be so much easier for our family, this thought crossed my mind so many times. I became easily frustrated with our oldest daughter. She liked to take her time, lolly gag is what I call it. I didn’t realize at the time but I was overstepping her learning style. I was rushing her just for the sake of checking something off of my to-do list.

Though I wanted to control our situation, I eventually relented to what needed to be done. I gave our home school over to God. I let go and trusted that he will guide me in teaching our children.

We took a break.

I read Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie.

I wanted peace in our home school. Teaching our children to love learning was one of our main priorities. So far, I wasn’t doing a great job of making sure that happened. We are now on our third year of home school and I have learned a couple of ways to create a more peaceful home school for my children and for myself as their teacher. Related: Our 2018 loop schedule.

Remember, you’re teaching individual children with different learning styles.

This was probably my biggest mistake because in the beginning I wanted to recreate the classroom for my kids. It didn’t work. Nor should it have worked. My daughters have different learning styles. Miss B is very kinesthetic learner. she learns by doing. This was one reason the curriculum we were using was just not working for us. It became evident when Miss B started falling behind in learning to reading.

I knew I needed a new curriculum even though the one we had I loved. Miss B did not love it. It was not in line with Miss B’s learning style. The lessons were losing her interest and there was not nearly enough hands on learning involved.

We took the summer off after her Kindergarten year. I was sure I would find the best curriculum for her by the start of August. But then August came and went and I still did not have a curriculum for her. I researched, read reviews, repeat, still nothing. She was eager to start school again, so I threw my own lessons together from free resources I found online. I knew I couldn’t do this forever though, it took up to much of my time. I researched some more.

Then I found Master books.

I was in love immediately. I loved everything about what I was seeing and hearing. But would Miss B love it as much as me? There was only one way to find out. In November I ordered her first grade curriculum from Master Books for every subject except Reading. I backed her up and we started over with Phonics again.

This time Miss B is excited to do her school work! The lessons are short, engaging, and more importantly they center around God’s word. Which is exactly the main reason we started home schooling to begin with.

I would encourage you, if you want peace in your home school, always remember that you are teaching individual children. No child learns the same way. Start with figuring out the way your child learns and then research curriculum.

Take the pressure off and remember your end goal.

What is your why? Figure out the main reason you and your spouse have decided to home school your children. Then write it down and hang it up to somewhere that you can see. It helps to be able to remind yourself when you’re having a rough day school day. I’ll be honest, there are days that I sometimes question if it would just be easier to put my kids in public school. Then I remember, we didn’t decide to home school because it’s easy.

I wrote down my mission statement and I use it as a daily reminder of what our end goals are. Our end goals for our child’s education may look different than yours. That is okay. Whatever your desire is, whatever your why is, remember it. Keep it at the forefront of your mind. This will make it easier not to throw in the towel when the days are rough.

Realize you may not get everything done that is on your list in a day. That is okay.

One thing that really frustrated me at the beginning of our home school journey was not getting everything done. I felt such pressure to make sure we were doing everything that I forgot I was teaching a little human who needed to set her own pace of learning.

When I started realizing that I won’t get everything done and I started reminding myself that it was indeed OKAY to slow down so she can learn at the right pace, our home school became more peaceful. Instead of pushing Miss B forward with her reading, keeping her on the same level as her other subjects, I held her back. It was the best decision I made for her because she was not yet ready to move up in that area. I love the fact that home school is flexible in this regard. Miss B just finished her Phonics class today! She was so proud of herself and I was ten times prouder. In four short months she has learned how to read and I can confidently say she is caught up and on level with the rest of her subjects in this one area.

Turn off your electronics.

I don’t mean for your children. I mean for you. Turn your phone off or put it away, so you are not distracted by every ding. Better yet, take your apps off your phone. Give your children your full attention. They can feel when they are not your priority. Having your electronics grabbing for your attention, creates chaos in your home school. It is simply better to turn them off until the school work is done. Your kids have your full attention and you’re focused and ready to teach them. Trust me, I know from experience.

Take a few minutes over the weekend to prepare for the following week.

I love the curriculum that are grab and go. I love that I do not have to prepare very much for our following week. It is easier if you set yourself and your children up for success by looking over what they will be learning the weekend before. If you have any extras that you do with your children like we do, then prepare those too. Trust me, you’ll be thanking yourself come Wednesday if you remembered to grab some construction paper or paint from the store! To many times have I gone to our school closet after telling our children we were doing a craft, only to be met with no paint or paper that came with the lack of preparedness on my part. So take those extra minutes to look over your lessons and plans! Related: 4 tips for homeschooling your creative child.

Have a routine and stick with it.

What is your home school routine? I work from home, so having a home school routine is essential for success. My children thrive on routine as well. Miss B gets up around 6 am and starts on her schoolwork. I know this sounds really early, it was by her choice that she started doing this. I am not a morning person, but I love that we have that one on one time and then her school work is done by 8:30 or 9 am and we have the rest of the day for other activities and work. That is what our routine looks like. But it will look different for every family. Once you have one set, you may be surprised at how peaceful your day starts becoming.

Having peace in every area of my life is so important to me. Especially when it comes to our home school.

What is a way you create peace in your home school?

Have a beautiful day!
Jenna Jury

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