Cracking up….. I have been homeschooling for over 13 years. (7 kids and this is our 14th year.). And I have tried everything on your list and also hated it! 😂😂😂😂 The longer I homeschool, the more I just want to have a peaceful, relaxed school day and stop trying to do all “the extras”. Just do your schoolwork and tell me when you are done. You figured it out quickly! 😊
Love this video. When I first heard about poetry tea time, I said never in a million years! I hate poetry! Well... we sit down with mugs full of southern sweet tea or hot chocolate every week and we eat the delicious homemade treats we made together that morning and we read the heck outta some Shel Silverstein. I never thought my kids nor I would look forward to poetry, but that goes to show, do what works for you.
I love this video! I always thought I would be the creative, themed, Pinterest homeschool mom, which there is nothing wrong with, but I’m facing the reality that I’m just not 😅 Like you, I love the charlotte mason philosophy and we love going outside but we don’t do structured nature studies or a morning basket (at least not right now). My friend and I started a very chill, almost free co-op that meets once a month with our church homeschool crowd and we play games and do an art lesson, history or science, eat lunch together and sometimes a field trip - it has been just enough for us! I’m sure classical conversations is wonderful and our friends love it but I’m one of those people that it sounds like my worst nightmare 🤣
This is one of the reasons why I am subscribed to you 👍 This being our second year of homeschooling, trying to get advice from moms who've done it for a longer period of time, It looks like it's becoming a cult 😳 Of the things you have mentioned, I do not have time for and honestly I do not wish to participate in. Everyday and every hour that we spend together is a gift from God 🙏 and I thank God everyday for the opportunity and ability to homeschool 🙏💙 God bless you and your family 🙏
I don't like the "race" of being constantly on the go, either. I like being at home. I also feel no need to spend a very small amount of time on school...
I thought we were about the only homeschoolers on the planet who did not do nature walks/study/notebooking! Glad to know we have company. Yes we spend time outside but nothing formal. We also do not do coop or lots of extras. And school takes us much longer then 2 hours. I’ve heard a seasoned homeschool mom say if your kids are in elementary you should not be doing school for more then a couple hours. But we certainly can not get done in that time frame. I’m homeschooling 3 this year and it just takes time!!
@Dakk Family we spend a decent amount of time outside (well tbh I’m a fair weather outsider) . We just don’t do notebooking or specific nature walks etc. Its just organic, old fashioned playing outside.
Yes, 3 kids does take time! Especially in that kindergarten/1st grade stage because they’re just not really able to do anything independently yet so it’s very hands on still.
We just did our first homeschool hangout after homeschooling now for 3 years 😂. My kiddos definitely love home and our routine too. They are very sensitive to schedule changes too !!! And with two toddlers we are constantly interrupted and we take several breaks throughout the day. The time we spend on school work daily is about 4-5 hours 🙈.
Yeah no nature study here either. It's scorching hot and humid here in the summer. We spend lots of time outside in the fall and winter months but that's only a brief period of time. We just play or go for walks. No "studying".
We homeschooled for 6 years. My 15 year old enrolled at our local highschool earlier this year. My 11 year old will be attending school after the summer holidays (we're in New Zealand and the summer holidays are from mid December until the end of January). We did poetry teatime weekly for over a year. It was one of the highlights of our week. Fancy cups and saucers, a hot drink, sweet treats and taking turns reading poetry. We also did unit studies. It was a good approach for my autistic kids who liked to learn about topics in depth. I'm not sure about incorporating the topic into meals or maths though 🤔 Cicadas and WW2 were two of the topics 😂 We never did morning baskets or nature journaling. We didn't do a lot of activities outside the home either. I think children (and adults) benefit from ample time at home to relax and rest. Ultimately everyone has to fldo what works best for their family, not tie themselves in knots trying to copy the highlight reels of social media homeschooling families.
This video just spoke to me so much. We are entering our 5th year of homeschooling and I’m just now getting to the “No, thank you, I don’t want to do that” kind of mentality. We’ve tried the nature studies and the unit studies, poetry tea time, etc etc because all the big influencers were doing it and I have zero homeschooling experience before this so I kind of took it as advice…but we always fall back into our textbooks. My kids are very “just the facts please” so I’ve finally just let go of all the social media influence and realized this is fine. My kids are learning plenty. I appreciate hearing from you that you don’t do all these things and it’s totally ok.
My sons are in football and cheer a few months out of the year and you would be AMAZED at the amount of kids that they're on teams with that either play multiple sports at a time or never even have a break the entire year jumping from one sport to the next. It's so incredibly sad to see their childhood in the rat race already.
I’m not even finished with this video yet but YES! 🙌🏻 Poetry Tea Time… we have poetry books on the bookshelf and the kids grab them as they desire. If I want to slow down and relax, I grab a book and we read it together on the couch. The kids know where the snacks are and get them at snack time. I don’t have the time or desire for poetry tea time either. Nature studies…. I have never understood the point. My kids literally spend hours outside every day. They explore nature naturally. Why do I need to throw a journal at them and complicate their free play?! That’s how I feel 😅 So many of these trendy practices just feel like they are complicating things. Bottom line is we have a buffet of opportunities to bring in to our homeschool and as mom we need to be wise to bring in what works and leave the rest, guilt free!!
This was a great video. I'm in my 13th year of homeschooling and have been all over the map with three kids and trying to figure out what works for our family, for myself, and for each child. My son went to a private Christian school starting in 5th grade and it was the best thing that happened to him and our family of 5. I have homeschooled my two girls now and they are in 6th and 7th and have no desire to go to school. In fact they're both super creative types who are obsessed with dance. One is an artist, and one is a musician. They both already know what careers they'd like. It's a blessing because it's much easier to guide them, but at the same time it's a bit of a loss for this Mom who had homeschooling dreams of what things could be and what type of life I wanted homeschooling to be. So I'm working on acceptance and moving forward trusting God and his plan for these children. Certainly doesn't include read alouds, morning baskets, lap booking or nature walks. Instead we're doing what the state requires, and then attending theater practices, dance classes, voice lessons, studying ballet terms. Instead of reading literature we are reading and learning about how to run a small business. There is definitely no one size fits all for homeschooling families, instead, to each their own.
Yes I get that…Homeschool not looking exactly how you pictured in your mind. But I think you did the right thing for your son and that is most important!
I too do my own thing…it takes us 4-6 hours a day for my 4th grade son to complete all his work. We do unit studies cause he enjoys them but we also still incorporate all his main curriculum on top of it…I know they say unit studies are good for all subjects except math but for me it’s not going deep enough to progress to the standards I feel he should be at
@@thepracticalhomeschooler I homeschooled for 11 yrs up until this year, and I was the same way! Graduated two successful children so I guess it worked out, LOL.
I’m new to homeschool and I began semi-homeschooling back in September. I can say this video is very realistic… I’ve gotten so overwhelmed looking all the unit studies, themes and other extras. I plan to focus only on handwriting, language&arts, and math. I mean she’s only 4 and I have a 9month old too😬
Check into what is required subjects for your state, and just do those. For mine, it's math, language arts, reading, science, social studies, and handwriting. But, language arts incorporates handwriting, and reading, so it's not bad at all. ♥️
This was such a refreshing video! Thank you for sharing. Social media can be a tricky thing and seeing all these families doing all the things can leave me second guessing if I'm giving my kids enough if we aren't reading "enough" chapter books or doing all the fun themed units. The two hour school day one really gets me hung up. We just cannot get our day cut down anywhere near that and I was starting to think I must be doing something wrong. I am so grateful for your perspective 💓
Thank you for this! Aside from the last one, I don’t do any of these things either and I didn’t realize that I was low key feeling inadequate or pressure or like I am missing something. This reminds me my kids aren’t suffering or behind because we don’t do any of this stuff either
Oh man! I have been feeling so overwhelmed by CM and trying to fit the whole feast into our days. I really do not enjoy things like nature study or test time, but feel so guilty about not doing them. I really needed to hear this. Thank you for this video.
Gosh, I didnt even know about themed morning basket...been homeschooling for...10 years. Tried lots of things, but simple is so much better. I have chronic illness which has recently gotten worse, and so lots of days I can hardly get through the devotional. Thanks for the video!
This was great to hear. I don’t do morning basket at all. So far we have not done any group coop things either. Generally it take us 4-5 and sometimes 6 hours to get finished. I am teaching one grandson that was diagnosed with ADHD, so there have been many challenging moments.
Ugh yes on the nature study. It was one of the things that kept me from fully committing to CM. Now, her views on living books… 100%. But there’s no way I’m going outside and painting a watercolor of an earthworm.
Homeschooling mama for 13 years here-we have never done poetry tea-time or nature study. My kids have tons of outdoor time as we live on a farm but also, we have 4 boys....no patience for writing down what we're doing when we're skinning a squirrel😂. Our "morning basket" is very short compared to most-a daily devotion that includes Bible reading and then I read aloud from a chapter book but I love to read out loud, especially to my kids.
@@thepracticalhomeschooler everyday is an adventure with this crew😂. Our oldest (and only girl) helps me keep them all in line-and alive-not sure what I'll do when she's not here, this is her senior year😩. But so happy we chose to homeschool, I love getting to do life with them everyday all day😁
Thanks for sharing! as a first year homeschool mom I needed this! now I don't feel so bad that we aren't doing a lot of these neither. Our work days normally takes us awhile as well so I'm so happy I'm not alone.
I feel so much better knowing that Im not the only homeschool mom who doesn’t do poetry teatime, unit studies, nature studies and putting my kids in a bunch of activities! Thank you so much for making this video. I tried a co-op our 1st year homeschooling and it was just too stressful for me and my kids.
i could hug you! I rarely hear anyone with our point of view. I appreciate someone else wanting a relaxed life with what WE want. Carefully curated for us.
I homeschool my first grader, we don’t have long lessons I kind am what you’d call “un-schooler”. We do have formal lessons 4 days a week but focus on core subjects such as math, phonics, reading and writing. I use UA-cam for other subjects such as geography, science and history. We study scripture too!
I very much appreciate your last point! I’ve felt a lot of pressure with the thought that we take too long to do school, we should be finished by such and such a time like other families and it makes a huge difference to take that pressure off and just do what works peacefully for your household. Thank you for putting that out there.
Amen! And amen! Could NOT have said this any better. It was the encouragement I needed to hear that others struggle, too, to not get school done in 2 hours! Thank you!
Oh my goodness, yes! I agree with you on so many of these! And it was so helpful to hear that someone else also does not do these popular things. Yay for everyone figuring out what works best for their families!
I’m the same with co op. I prefer to pick our curriculum! My kids are in a drop off class at the Y this year and it’s a nice quick break for me. But next year I don’t know if I’ll do it- I feel like after soccer, gymnastics and play dates we are busy enough!
We don’t do poetry tea time per se but on the weekends we will usually have a big breakfast and my husband will read a poem to the family. I love that he does that. We also don’t do nature study but I do love to forage! My children will tag along and either forage with me or just play in nature. We wouldn’t know about earth worms either, but we are good at spotting wild berries, nuts and certain mushrooms.
Our morning basket is the reading part of different curriculums!!! We don’t do poetry teatime as it’s not us!!! We do coffee sessions for me to catch up on my older kids school!!! I grew up with the traditional nature study yet I don’t do it we do it on the beach often!!!recording happens naturally so not often!!! We love our homeschool group but we started it when we got to Sydney!!! I’m glad we left it as we started homeschooling a couple of years before COVID!!! I don’t always go to the homeschool group with my kids as it depends on my schedule!!! My older daughter loves her gran to take her!!! We don’t do many read alouds!!! The reading we do is mainly curriculum based!!! Our main activity is surfing!!! We don’t do handwriting after my kids can write well enough!!!
Yes to all of this! We are in year 3 and just dipping our toes in going out with our field trip co-op. I hate unit studies and all the extra morning stuff lol. Also, on days I let my 8yr old take her time and expand on her stuff, we can take almost 3 hours for just her.
We don’t school 5 days a week. My husband and I homeschool our three granddaughters, (ages 7, 8, 11). We school MWT, 12 -4, and afternoon social co-op on Fri. afternoons. They only live 5 min from us. We may have to adjust days & time in the future but it’s worked well for the girls so far.🎉 We don’t teach money or time/clock skills until the third grade. We do have a timed schedule we keep, much like a traditional school, but our teaching style is eclectic and each girl is taught in the manner that she learns best. We all have a good time in our “school”. 😁
I just heard the words “Poetry Teatime”…. And my anxiety levels just rose. We tried it…. It was way more stressful than enjoyable. We ditched it quickly! 😂😂😂😂
I love all of these. My kids thrive off of social interactions so I try and do as much as I can for them because they always want to go meet new friends. I try not to do to much but we stick to baseball when that’s going on and 4-h once a month. I’ve also been trying to incorporate the library story times.
Loved this whole video! It is so important to cull what doesn’t work for your unique family. There are only so many hours in the day, and homeschool can be much more effective and enjoyable when we’re honest with ourselves about what resonates and what feels forced. 💚
No co op for us either takes to much time, energy and money. We don't do formal nature study. Also just because we homeschool doesn't mean we stay home all day and do nothing. Just because we homeschool mom the educator doesn't mean im going to teach everything to my kids I get tutors/professional or someone that knows their stuff well to learn from them no need to do this alone.
I call our read alouds time our morning basket though it's not in a basket. I don't do themes for our read alouds. I just pick books I think my son would like and all the books are different topics (not just one topic). We don't do tea time. It is not my thing nor do I think my son would enjoy that. I want to do nature studies but at five years old he's still young. We go outside a lot. We do a co-op and I'm ready for a break. We love it but I am tired.
We don't read lots of chapter books, we do t do co-ops or homeschool groups, we aren't in a lot of extra activities. My son plays basketball for a local Christian private school and my daughter is in 4H and it's because they LOVE it and not me trying to force it on them. We are at home a lot, but have a huge family and church family. I like to think it's more intentional and meaningful rather than trying to do it the way others do or try to keep up with others their age. We do what's best for us. Thanks again for your willingness to share.
Great video! So relatable. We don't do co-ops either. We don't even do morning baskets. Both my boys are in 1st grade and it takes us about 1-1.5 hours/day. I really enjoy Durenda Wilson's podcast on homeschooling and having an "unhurried" approach.
I think I've found my tribe!!! OMG I've been thinking I'm a bad homeschool mom since we don't do all the extras and try to keep up with the ones who seems to "do it all". We are so laid back and probably mix traditional homeschooling with unschooling. We don't rush either but we do finish on a couple of hours. You rock and thanks for your honestly!!!
"This may or may not have actually happened once or twice" 😂😂😂😂 You sound like me! We live in the country and there's no telling what my girls will find out there. Just the other day, there was an opossum in one of our trash bins. And my husband (who knows I hate any and EVERYTHING that's not human) didn't even bother to invite me outside to look at it. He bypassed me and went straight to our girls to report "his findings" 😂😂
Honey, I think we’re living double lives here! Your homeschool attitude is just like mine! We are pretty much home bodies. Our kills LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being together as a family. My kids are 9 & 11, are they know the difference if something is just seat work. They’re even the type of learnings who rather read and discuss a topic than for us to buy all the pieces that amounts to notebooking/activities they really don’t get much from. They do love reading classical stories and history. We purchased Story Of The World along with the workbooks and they acted to just read the books. We don’t much because we only have one car right now and my husband use it for work. There are thinks like swimming classes that I would like to do. It’s rather hard to fit in sports since most of the games are held on Sundays (unless they played sports at the local school). I can go on! But thanks for this cool, transparent, and refreshing video!
It was really nice to hear you mention how long it takes you to school, 3-5 hours. I don’t understand how some families school for 2 hours either if they are touching try topic and subtopic unless it’s review. Review takes substantially less time, but on average, our school days last 3.5-4.5 hrs five days a week for 1st and 2nd grade (our current grade). I feel very satisfied with this number bc I appreciate the quality of learning that occurs in this time and how thorough I think this time allotment allows. However, with 2 children, and one being a toddler now, that does pose it’s own (typical) challenges. I also started my daughter on a Core Knowledge schoolbook for TK3 bc she asked for it and was ready, but she is so young so that only takes about 10 mins plus story time a couple times a week. Thank you again for posting.
We're 13 years into homeschooling and have always wondered how people finish in an hour or two. We enjoyed our time. We read, looked things up online, and did all the Saxon Math activities lol.
I thought I was the only one- or one of few thinking this. I’m so glad I found someone relatable. 😂 I will say we have too many (imo) activities and I’m gonna play the part where you discuss that to my husband because he just doesn’t get it.
I would have a request that has nothing to do with this video :) With you being a nutritionist, I would be very interested in seeing a video about just that: How you handle nutrition in your family, how to teach kids about nutrition, what you yourself observe (which is obviously working), etc. But of course I‘d understand it if you feel that that is too personal / too controversial or if you are just all talked out 😀
Great question! My nutrition journey has evolved over the years and I feel like I’m in the midst of another transition (I’m not even sure that makes sense). I might share more in the future, but nutrition, I’ve found, is a close second to politics and religion. Most are VERY passionate about their views and there is no room for anyone else’s.
We have a very low key co-op with about 12 families from my church. It is fantastic and just enough for us. It's enough families that not everyone has to be doing something the whole time, and I absolutely love the community it has created for my kids. But it's just as much as for me as it is for my children. I love getting together with other adults. 😂
We do Simply Charlotte Mason, emphasis on the SIMPLE. 😅 we also don’t do Nature Study. I also agree it’s so forced. Kids are naturally curious. We live on 19 acres of fields and forest, our daily life is a nature study.
Glad to hear it takes longer than 2 hrs. This never happened for us either. Sometimes six hours and now with high school, it’s definitely six hours plus. We listen to audiobooks bc I don’t like to read aloud. Such a comfort that I’m not alone. I quit almost all activities except PE and 4H. I’m a working single mom and I’ve had to accept that I’m still giving a lot of other amazing things to my kids and my limitations won’t limit my kids but form them into God has made them to be.
My state has an hourly requirement (amounts to 5 or so per day) but even without that there's no way I could do it in 2! Especially since that hourly requirement is PER KID. Yes, we multitask but it still takes time to work with them individually while another is reading or doing their own work. Maybe when my kids were at the 1st grade level or below but certainly not now!
I hear ya. We do some of these things but I try to weed out the things that are not truly beneficial. We go to 4-h homeschool club once a month, my daughter does Girl Scouts bi-weekly, and both kids go to youth group on Wednesday nights. I have no desire to do any more than that. I hate overcommitting...or maybe I've become a homebody 😅
It may be that those with shorter school hours simply have things divided up differently. Example - I would say that we "do school" in about two hours. That's the concentrated time we sit down together and focus together on our chosen curriculum. However, not counted in that is the math facts practice game my kids are required to do on the computer at a different time of the day, or the Bible lesson my husband does with them at snack time in the evening, or the science video that gets sent to my inbox every week that my kids enjoy watching on Monday afternoons, or the random bunny trail dives that happen when a child asks a question and we dig for information together, or the math/grammar/spelling games, typing practice, or story writing they like to do on the computer during some of their free hours etc. I suppose all of those could be counted as "school" but it's just not part of that set aside block of time we call by that name. :)
I like that you shared this. I like to split things up too and it feels less forced and less stressful. We listen to audiobooks in the car (currently story of the world) and we enjoy doing a chapter book read aloud before bed. My kids pick educational things to do in their free time like typing letters to relatives or writing stories, but overall I want them to enjoy being a kid of have play time. I don't want them to be stressed that we have to get a certain amount done. I homeschool with a 4th, 2nd and kinder (and then have 2 younger ones). I tried to first year to cram it all in and it was hard on my youngest two, so I have taken a more relaxed approach this year, which has been good for our family.
Love this video. I am about to start my second year homeschooling and work 2 days a week. It has definitely been a challenge especially feeling the pressure to get everything done and still take them to activities. I'm curious, what kind of social activiites you do? My girls are naturally shy, so I feel the need to take them to co-op but it definitely takes alot of time.
Depends on the year and time of year, but Awana, Bible study, play dates, homeschool book club at the library, and this fall will be our busiest yet…they’re gonna start softball, cheering and drama (they all won’t all be doing all of those activities though…That’s for everyone)
Every single thing you said!! Although we do the extra curriculur activities.....it's a way for my daughter to get our of the house and be around other kids and still learning (choir, girl scouts, etc). I will never know how anyone gets homeschool done in 2 hours.....we are in 5th and it can take up to 5 hours some days. On average probably around 4....but I dont worry about that any more because I know she is getting a great eduction and that's what we are here for.
I totally agree with this video!!! Especially how many hours it takes to finish our day. I have a 10th, 8th and 6th grader and it takes us 6-7 hours. I always wonder if the families who finish in 2 hours are teaching anything? Thanks!!
This is our first year. We didn't do co-op because they wanted the alot of parental volunteers and I work fulltime. My mom does the teaching and she also has my 2 toddlers. We do go to a music school for music history, choir, and band. Plus my kids play soccer.
I am with you on all of these, except one. I love reading chapter books to my kids, plus we use Sonlight, which is very much chapter book heavy. I get SO tired of everyone asking my son what sports he plays. He doesn’t like sports. We don’t watch them, we don’t participate in organized sports (except my daughter takes a gym class). My son tells everyone, “I prefer Lego and reading.” Then I get the crazy looks. 😅 And seriously, how do people get everything done in 2 hours? Maybe if they only do LA and math?
I could have made this video! Haha I am EXACTLY the same! No chapter books being read ( I love the kid books instead and we read them allll day, I love doing voices and such haha), no co ops, nature studies, poetry teatimes BUT we still learn plenty and do plenty of FUN at home with other things and the kiddos love it!
What do kids do with all the “ down time” if you finish in a couple hours? My kids gravitate to screen time but I wouldn’t want my kids sucked into so many hours of idle time. What do you let your kids do when you finish with school?
It’s different for everyone but my kids play, have some quiet time where they can read, or play quietly. They usually find something to do. They do get to watch a show when I make dinner but otherwise we keep ourselves busy
Homeschool mom of 3 girls too here. I don't do morning baskets at all. But I'm very extra in other areas. I love customizing our school each year to my style of teaching and their individual style of learning. I've never done a co-op either because of the exact reasons you mentioned. I already have their curriculum. Can't we do an elective co-op?
I hire out nature study. We do a co-op, but my oldest is 15 and it's only our 2nd year. We had years of therapies and I couldn't do one more day gone. We don't do unit studies either. I love reading out loud, but I'm slow, we don't do library chapter book read alouds because r never can finish before it's due back. I only do long read alouds from books I own or borrow from someone who knows how long we take and doesn't mind.
I don’t do all the same things you don’t do, plus I don’t do morning basket. I’m the one that can’t be stretched thin. I have chronic fatigue and cannot commit to more than the daily minimum. We also have never been able to afford extra programs. I’m totally fine with the way we have it. We go to church twice a week with lots of homeschoolers and we have our own homeschool group at church for extra meet ups once a month. We do have a weekly Wild+Free walk but we don’t always make it. I currently homeschool my 2 boys, 8 and 11 YO. I have a 2.5 YO daughter and a baby boy on the way. My hands are full as it is but maybe someday I’ll feel better and we can add/change something.
I wanted to make a comment about your last video, about the big changes you've been making. You said that years ago when your family was younger, you and your husband moved across country with different things up in the air, and you couldn't believe you had made such big changes without planning every detail. But it worked out, because you were acting on intuition and what you knew was right for your family. This is true whenever we feel impelled to make a change - trust your internal guidance. =)
Yes, I call it the Holy Spirit (I understand not everyone is a Christian so they call it other things, but for my I go by the Holy Spirits leading to know where to go)
You are my spirit animal. I love you so much! lol. I homeschool my 8 year old and I have 3 in public school. I hate reading chapter books as well, but this year (this is our 3rd year) I thought maybe I should be reading more? So I marked down 12 chapter books for us to read, but I don't think her, and I know I'm not really, loving it. I'll reading kids books all day to her lol. But I guess I don't have to read her chapter books hey? We are still trying to find our groove also. Also, I fucking hate unit studies!! lol Like can I only do math and LA please?? lol We take the morning to do math and L.A and then lunch and then other subjects after lunch. Otherwise my daughter gets overwhelmed. So ya, 3-4 hours also.
For us morning basket is our group subjects (Bible, history and either art or music or geography, and science). It differs for everyone. And I have a video on all the curriculum choices I made for my 5th grader ☺️
I've been homeschooling forever..have graduated three kids from our homeschool.They are all in college.I have six kiddos left to graduate..12th grade down to 3rd grade.We have never spent longer than two hours per day on schooling.I don't think it's the amount of time you spend ..its the method of which you teach.To each his or her own.I love homeschooling my children..we conclude each day of school by praying together..Our Lords Prayer..
You’re my homeschool mom spirt animal!!😂 I’m the most chill, laidback, and non-extra homeschool mom and I feel your list 100%!!
🥰🥰🥰
Cracking up….. I have been homeschooling for over 13 years.
(7 kids and this is our 14th year.).
And I have tried everything on your list and also hated it! 😂😂😂😂
The longer I homeschool, the more I just want to have a peaceful, relaxed school day and stop trying to do all “the extras”. Just do your schoolwork and tell me when you are done. You figured it out quickly! 😊
Amen! The goal is peace, definitely not anxiety 🥴
Love this video. When I first heard about poetry tea time, I said never in a million years! I hate poetry! Well... we sit down with mugs full of southern sweet tea or hot chocolate every week and we eat the delicious homemade treats we made together that morning and we read the heck outta some Shel Silverstein. I never thought my kids nor I would look forward to poetry, but that goes to show, do what works for you.
Awww love it so much 🥰🥰 it’s so nice having something you all look forward to!
We did poetry teatime once per week for about a year. It was one of the highlights of our week.
I love this video! I always thought I would be the creative, themed, Pinterest homeschool mom, which there is nothing wrong with, but I’m facing the reality that I’m just not 😅 Like you, I love the charlotte mason philosophy and we love going outside but we don’t do structured nature studies or a morning basket (at least not right now).
My friend and I started a very chill, almost free co-op that meets once a month with our church homeschool crowd and we play games and do an art lesson, history or science, eat lunch together and sometimes a field trip - it has been just enough for us! I’m sure classical conversations is wonderful and our friends love it but I’m one of those people that it sounds like my worst nightmare 🤣
That sounds like a great compromise! Low key all the way here too 🙋🏻♀️
This is one of the reasons why I am subscribed to you 👍
This being our second year of homeschooling, trying to get advice from moms who've done it for a longer period of time, It looks like it's becoming a cult 😳
Of the things you have mentioned, I do not have time for and honestly I do not wish to participate in.
Everyday and every hour that we spend together is a gift from God 🙏 and I thank God everyday for the opportunity and ability to homeschool 🙏💙
God bless you and your family 🙏
Thank you! ❤
"I'm an inward 5 year old"...😂 Love it and can so relate! Thank you for posting this, made me feel sooo much better about myself!!
I don't like the "race" of being constantly on the go, either. I like being at home. I also feel no need to spend a very small amount of time on school...
Maybe it’s just the homebody in me?
I thought we were about the only homeschoolers on the planet who did not do nature walks/study/notebooking! Glad to know we have company. Yes we spend time outside but nothing formal. We also do not do coop or lots of extras. And school takes us much longer then 2 hours. I’ve heard a seasoned homeschool mom say if your kids are in elementary you should not be doing school for more then a couple hours. But we certainly can not get done in that time frame. I’m homeschooling 3 this year and it just takes time!!
I’m so not a bug person 😂 And my daughter is having a hard time on the nature walks and study… she just doesn’t enjoy getting bug bites 🤷🏻♀️
@Dakk Family We do try though. I loved being outdoors as a child. It’s all I knew…
@Dakk Family we spend a decent amount of time outside (well tbh I’m a fair weather outsider) . We just don’t do notebooking or specific nature walks etc. Its just organic, old fashioned playing outside.
@@rangelchronicles296 bug bites are not fun for sure. I just tell my kids it’s time to go play outside and get some fresh air. Nothing formal.
Yes, 3 kids does take time! Especially in that kindergarten/1st grade stage because they’re just not really able to do anything independently yet so it’s very hands on still.
We just did our first homeschool hangout after homeschooling now for 3 years 😂. My kiddos definitely love home and our routine too. They are very sensitive to schedule changes too !!! And with two toddlers we are constantly interrupted and we take several breaks throughout the day. The time we spend on school work daily is about 4-5 hours 🙈.
Idk how you do it with 2 toddlers! One was very tough (but we did get through!)
Yeah no nature study here either. It's scorching hot and humid here in the summer. We spend lots of time outside in the fall and winter months but that's only a brief period of time. We just play or go for walks. No "studying".
We homeschooled for 6 years. My 15 year old enrolled at our local highschool earlier this year. My 11 year old will be attending school after the summer holidays (we're in New Zealand and the summer holidays are from mid December until the end of January). We did poetry teatime weekly for over a year. It was one of the highlights of our week. Fancy cups and saucers, a hot drink, sweet treats and taking turns reading poetry.
We also did unit studies. It was a good approach for my autistic kids who liked to learn about topics in depth. I'm not sure about incorporating the topic into meals or maths though 🤔 Cicadas and WW2 were two of the topics 😂
We never did morning baskets or nature journaling. We didn't do a lot of activities outside the home either. I think children (and adults) benefit from ample time at home to relax and rest.
Ultimately everyone has to fldo what works best for their family, not tie themselves in knots trying to copy the highlight reels of social media homeschooling families.
This video just spoke to me so much. We are entering our 5th year of homeschooling and I’m just now getting to the “No, thank you, I don’t want to do that” kind of mentality. We’ve tried the nature studies and the unit studies, poetry tea time, etc etc because all the big influencers were doing it and I have zero homeschooling experience before this so I kind of took it as advice…but we always fall back into our textbooks. My kids are very “just the facts please” so I’ve finally just let go of all the social media influence and realized this is fine. My kids are learning plenty. I appreciate hearing from you that you don’t do all these things and it’s totally ok.
My sons are in football and cheer a few months out of the year and you would be AMAZED at the amount of kids that they're on teams with that either play multiple sports at a time or never even have a break the entire year jumping from one sport to the next. It's so incredibly sad to see their childhood in the rat race already.
I know some people really really love that, and it works for them. But just not for us!
I’m not even finished with this video yet but YES! 🙌🏻
Poetry Tea Time… we have poetry books on the bookshelf and the kids grab them as they desire. If I want to slow down and relax, I grab a book and we read it together on the couch. The kids know where the snacks are and get them at snack time. I don’t have the time or desire for poetry tea time either.
Nature studies…. I have never understood the point. My kids literally spend hours outside every day. They explore nature naturally. Why do I need to throw a journal at them and complicate their free play?!
That’s how I feel 😅 So many of these trendy practices just feel like they are complicating things. Bottom line is we have a buffet of opportunities to bring in to our homeschool and as mom we need to be wise to bring in what works and leave the rest, guilt free!!
Exactly! Pick and choose what’s right for you!
This was a great video. I'm in my 13th year of homeschooling and have been all over the map with three kids and trying to figure out what works for our family, for myself, and for each child. My son went to a private Christian school starting in 5th grade and it was the best thing that happened to him and our family of 5. I have homeschooled my two girls now and they are in 6th and 7th and have no desire to go to school. In fact they're both super creative types who are obsessed with dance. One is an artist, and one is a musician. They both already know what careers they'd like. It's a blessing because it's much easier to guide them, but at the same time it's a bit of a loss for this Mom who had homeschooling dreams of what things could be and what type of life I wanted homeschooling to be. So I'm working on acceptance and moving forward trusting God and his plan for these children. Certainly doesn't include read alouds, morning baskets, lap booking or nature walks. Instead we're doing what the state requires, and then attending theater practices, dance classes, voice lessons, studying ballet terms. Instead of reading literature we are reading and learning about how to run a small business. There is definitely no one size fits all for homeschooling families, instead, to each their own.
Yes I get that…Homeschool not looking exactly how you pictured in your mind. But I think you did the right thing for your son and that is most important!
@@thepracticalhomeschooler thank you!
I too do my own thing…it takes us 4-6 hours a day for my 4th grade son to complete all his work. We do unit studies cause he enjoys them but we also still incorporate all his main curriculum on top of it…I know they say unit studies are good for all subjects except math but for me it’s not going deep enough to progress to the standards I feel he should be at
This is the BEST homeschool video I've seen in a long time. I love your Practical-ness 😉 ❤️❤️❤️
Aww thank you! I’m not a minimalist homeschooler but also not an “all the things” homeschooler…just somewhere in the middle
@@thepracticalhomeschooler I homeschooled for 11 yrs up until this year, and I was the same way! Graduated two successful children so I guess it worked out, LOL.
@@TheWhites6 nice! Love hearing that ☺️ it’s a relief!
I’m new to homeschool and I began semi-homeschooling back in September. I can say this video is very realistic… I’ve gotten so overwhelmed looking all the unit studies, themes and other extras. I plan to focus only on handwriting, language&arts, and math. I mean she’s only 4 and I have a 9month old too😬
Sounds perfect! ❤️
Check into what is required subjects for your state, and just do those. For mine, it's math, language arts, reading, science, social studies, and handwriting. But, language arts incorporates handwriting, and reading, so it's not bad at all. ♥️
This was such a refreshing video! Thank you for sharing. Social media can be a tricky thing and seeing all these families doing all the things can leave me second guessing if I'm giving my kids enough if we aren't reading "enough" chapter books or doing all the fun themed units. The two hour school day one really gets me hung up. We just cannot get our day cut down anywhere near that and I was starting to think I must be doing something wrong. I am so grateful for your perspective 💓
Yes, I can feel like this too! Instead of inspiring (which I think is the intent) social media can feel discouraging or even condemning.
I’m so glad I’m not the only mom in this season! I want to do all the things but I just can’t mentally.
I get it!!
Organic learning is my favourite. I think the things we learn stick with us better that way.
Thank you for this! Aside from the last one, I don’t do any of these things either and I didn’t realize that I was low key feeling inadequate or pressure or like I am missing something. This reminds me my kids aren’t suffering or behind because we don’t do any of this stuff either
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Oh man! I have been feeling so overwhelmed by CM and trying to fit the whole feast into our days. I really do not enjoy things like nature study or test time, but feel so guilty about not doing them. I really needed to hear this. Thank you for this video.
Aww, no guilt, no shame!
Loved this video! I often feel like I’m not doing “enough” in comparison to UA-cam homeschool mamas. This was encouraging and uplifting! ❤
I get that, girl! I totally get it! You’re good ☺️
Gosh, I didnt even know about themed morning basket...been homeschooling for...10 years. Tried lots of things, but simple is so much better. I have chronic illness which has recently gotten worse, and so lots of days I can hardly get through the devotional. Thanks for the video!
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This was great to hear. I don’t do morning basket at all. So far we have not done any group coop things either. Generally it take us 4-5 and sometimes 6 hours to get finished. I am teaching one grandson that was diagnosed with ADHD, so there have been many challenging moments.
Ugh yes on the nature study. It was one of the things that kept me from fully committing to CM. Now, her views on living books… 100%. But there’s no way I’m going outside and painting a watercolor of an earthworm.
Homeschooling mama for 13 years here-we have never done poetry tea-time or nature study. My kids have tons of outdoor time as we live on a farm but also, we have 4 boys....no patience for writing down what we're doing when we're skinning a squirrel😂. Our "morning basket" is very short compared to most-a daily devotion that includes Bible reading and then I read aloud from a chapter book but I love to read out loud, especially to my kids.
“Skinning a squirrel” is what I took away from this comment 😳 😂 your are a braver soul than I 🤣🥰
@@thepracticalhomeschooler everyday is an adventure with this crew😂. Our oldest (and only girl) helps me keep them all in line-and alive-not sure what I'll do when she's not here, this is her senior year😩. But so happy we chose to homeschool, I love getting to do life with them everyday all day😁
Same! Thank you for sharing this! 😊
I keep things simple, I’m not trying to school like public schooling I want them to learn things that are essential to life.
Thanks for sharing! as a first year homeschool mom I needed this! now I don't feel so bad that we aren't doing a lot of these neither. Our work days normally takes us awhile as well so I'm so happy I'm not alone.
You’re definitely not alone!
I feel so much better knowing that Im not the only homeschool mom who doesn’t do poetry teatime, unit studies, nature studies and putting my kids in a bunch of activities! Thank you so much for making this video. I tried a co-op our 1st year homeschooling and it was just too stressful for me and my kids.
Certainly not alone
We have tea time but don't do poetry! We just like drinking tea and eating snacks 😆
Haha nice!
i could hug you! I rarely hear anyone with our point of view. I appreciate someone else wanting a relaxed life with what WE want. Carefully curated for us.
Hugs to you! ❤️❤️❤️
I am nodding my head along with everything you said. Way to go, mama! You are doing great! ❤
Same. We learn straight to the point. 1-2 activities a week that’s it. Great video!
I homeschool my first grader, we don’t have long lessons I kind am what you’d call “un-schooler”. We do have formal lessons 4 days a week but focus on core subjects such as math, phonics, reading and writing. I use UA-cam for other subjects such as geography, science and history. We study scripture too!
I very much appreciate your last point! I’ve felt a lot of pressure with the thought that we take too long to do school, we should be finished by such and such a time like other families and it makes a huge difference to take that pressure off and just do what works peacefully for your household. Thank you for putting that out there.
❤️❤️❤️ so glad you feel better about knowing you’re not alone
As much as gas is these days, we don't get out much either. We've scaled back from our co-op group and will reevaluate what we'll do in the new year.
Ditto on almost everything 💜💜💜 Appreciate the video!! 😊
Amen! And amen! Could NOT have said this any better. It was the encouragement I needed to hear that others struggle, too, to not get school done in 2 hours! Thank you!
So glad your found it encouraging! And based on the comments, you’re certainly not alone 😌
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this video! Thank you for being honest.!
Oh my goodness, yes! I agree with you on so many of these! And it was so helpful to hear that someone else also does not do these popular things. Yay for everyone figuring out what works best for their families!
So grateful for this video! I swear I thought I must be the only homeschool mama that doesn’t want to read aloud big books! Lol!
Not alone 🙋🏻♀️😮💨❤️
I couldn't agree more with ALL of these items!
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Amen! Right there with you. Keep it simple, family time is premium.
I’m the same with co op. I prefer to pick our curriculum! My kids are in a drop off class at the Y this year and it’s a nice quick break for me. But next year I don’t know if I’ll do it- I feel like after soccer, gymnastics and play dates we are busy enough!
A drop off class at the Y sounds good…I’ll have to check into that at ours!
@@thepracticalhomeschooler yes our local Y has quite a few classes for homeschoolers!
We do a drop off class at the zoo. I need to check out the Y for the future.
We don’t do poetry tea time per se but on the weekends we will usually have a big breakfast and my husband will read a poem to the family. I love that he does that.
We also don’t do nature study but I do love to forage! My children will tag along and either forage with me or just play in nature. We wouldn’t know about earth worms either, but we are good at spotting wild berries, nuts and certain mushrooms.
That’s so sweet he does that ☺️
Our morning basket is the reading part of different curriculums!!! We don’t do poetry teatime as it’s not us!!! We do coffee sessions for me to catch up on my older kids school!!! I grew up with the traditional nature study yet I don’t do it we do it on the beach often!!!recording happens naturally so not often!!! We love our homeschool group but we started it when we got to Sydney!!! I’m glad we left it as we started homeschooling a couple of years before COVID!!! I don’t always go to the homeschool group with my kids as it depends on my schedule!!! My older daughter loves her gran to take her!!! We don’t do many read alouds!!! The reading we do is mainly curriculum based!!! Our main activity is surfing!!! We don’t do handwriting after my kids can write well enough!!!
I love coffee sessions to chat ❤️❤️ totally up my alley!
"Ooo you wanna learn more about that!?" .....
"No not really.."
Hahahhaa that was funny and relatable!!!
😂😂🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Yes!! This is so me.... we are definitely destined to be friends lol
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Yes to all of this! We are in year 3 and just dipping our toes in going out with our field trip co-op. I hate unit studies and all the extra morning stuff lol. Also, on days I let my 8yr old take her time and expand on her stuff, we can take almost 3 hours for just her.
We don’t school 5 days a week. My husband and I homeschool our three granddaughters, (ages 7, 8, 11).
We school MWT, 12 -4, and afternoon social co-op on Fri. afternoons.
They only live 5 min from us.
We may have to adjust days & time in the future but it’s worked well for the girls so far.🎉
We don’t teach money or time/clock skills until the third grade.
We do have a timed schedule we keep, much like a traditional school, but
our teaching style is eclectic and each girl is taught in the manner that she learns best.
We all have a good time in our “school”. 😁
I just heard the words “Poetry Teatime”…. And my anxiety levels just rose. We tried it…. It was way more stressful than enjoyable. We ditched it quickly! 😂😂😂😂
Bahaha sorry to be a trigger 🙈🙊❤️
I love all of these. My kids thrive off of social interactions so I try and do as much as I can for them because they always want to go meet new friends. I try not to do to much but we stick to baseball when that’s going on and 4-h once a month. I’ve also been trying to incorporate the library story times.
Loved this whole video! It is so important to cull what doesn’t work for your unique family. There are only so many hours in the day, and homeschool can be much more effective and enjoyable when we’re honest with ourselves about what resonates and what feels forced. 💚
No co op for us either takes to much time, energy and money. We don't do formal nature study. Also just because we homeschool doesn't mean we stay home all day and do nothing. Just because we homeschool mom the educator doesn't mean im going to teach everything to my kids I get tutors/professional or someone that knows their stuff well to learn from them no need to do this alone.
I call our read alouds time our morning basket though it's not in a basket. I don't do themes for our read alouds. I just pick books I think my son would like and all the books are different topics (not just one topic).
We don't do tea time. It is not my thing nor do I think my son would enjoy that.
I want to do nature studies but at five years old he's still young. We go outside a lot.
We do a co-op and I'm ready for a break. We love it but I am tired.
Don’t wear yourself out mama!
Yes to pretty much all of this!
We don't read lots of chapter books, we do t do co-ops or homeschool groups, we aren't in a lot of extra activities. My son plays basketball for a local Christian private school and my daughter is in 4H and it's because they LOVE it and not me trying to force it on them. We are at home a lot, but have a huge family and church family. I like to think it's more intentional and meaningful rather than trying to do it the way others do or try to keep up with others their age. We do what's best for us. Thanks again for your willingness to share.
Great video! So relatable. We don't do co-ops either. We don't even do morning baskets. Both my boys are in 1st grade and it takes us about 1-1.5 hours/day. I really enjoy Durenda Wilson's podcast on homeschooling and having an "unhurried" approach.
“A bird themed meal”🤣🤣🤣
Hilarious 😆
I know I thought y’all eating little hens. 😂😂
Cornish hens, perhaps? 🥴😂
I think I've found my tribe!!! OMG I've been thinking I'm a bad homeschool mom since we don't do all the extras and try to keep up with the ones who seems to "do it all". We are so laid back and probably mix traditional homeschooling with unschooling. We don't rush either but we do finish on a couple of hours. You rock and thanks for your honestly!!!
So glad you can relate ☺️☺️
"This may or may not have actually happened once or twice" 😂😂😂😂
You sound like me! We live in the country and there's no telling what my girls will find out there. Just the other day, there was an opossum in one of our trash bins. And my husband (who knows I hate any and EVERYTHING that's not human) didn't even bother to invite me outside to look at it. He bypassed me and went straight to our girls to report "his findings" 😂😂
An opossum? Nope nope and nope! Lol. Mine would do the same…he’d show my girls and they would get a huge kick out of it!
@@thepracticalhomeschooler 🤭🤭
Comparison is the thief of joy.
You are a wise woman
Honey, I think we’re living double lives here! Your homeschool attitude is just like mine! We are pretty much home bodies. Our kills LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being together as a family. My kids are 9 & 11, are they know the difference if something is just seat work. They’re even the type of learnings who rather read and discuss a topic than for us to buy all the pieces that amounts to notebooking/activities they really don’t get much from. They do love reading classical stories and history. We purchased Story Of The World along with the workbooks and they acted to just read the books. We don’t much because we only have one car right now and my husband use it for work. There are thinks like swimming classes that I would like to do. It’s rather hard to fit in sports since most of the games are held on Sundays (unless they played sports at the local school). I can go on! But thanks for this cool, transparent, and refreshing video!
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It was really nice to hear you mention how long it takes you to school, 3-5 hours. I don’t understand how some families school for 2 hours either if they are touching try topic and subtopic unless it’s review. Review takes substantially less time, but on average, our school days last 3.5-4.5 hrs five days a week for 1st and 2nd grade (our current grade). I feel very satisfied with this number bc I appreciate the quality of learning that occurs in this time and how thorough I think this time allotment allows. However, with 2 children, and one being a toddler now, that does pose it’s own (typical) challenges. I also started my daughter on a Core Knowledge schoolbook for TK3 bc she asked for it and was ready, but she is so young so that only takes about 10 mins plus story time a couple times a week. Thank you again for posting.
We're 13 years into homeschooling and have always wondered how people finish in an hour or two. We enjoyed our time. We read, looked things up online, and did all the Saxon Math activities lol.
I thought I was the only one- or one of few thinking this. I’m so glad I found someone relatable. 😂 I will say we have too many (imo) activities and I’m gonna play the part where you discuss that to my husband because he just doesn’t get it.
Yes…some people love being on the go more than other others
I would have a request that has nothing to do with this video :)
With you being a nutritionist, I would be very interested in seeing a video about just that: How you handle nutrition in your family, how to teach kids about nutrition, what you yourself observe (which is obviously working), etc.
But of course I‘d understand it if you feel that that is too personal / too controversial or if you are just all talked out 😀
Ooo I agree! That would be good!
Great question! My nutrition journey has evolved over the years and I feel like I’m in the midst of another transition (I’m not even sure that makes sense). I might share more in the future, but nutrition, I’ve found, is a close second to politics and religion. Most are VERY passionate about their views and there is no room for anyone else’s.
My Lord. This is freeing!
We have a very low key co-op with about 12 families from my church. It is fantastic and just enough for us. It's enough families that not everyone has to be doing something the whole time, and I absolutely love the community it has created for my kids.
But it's just as much as for me as it is for my children. I love getting together with other adults. 😂
Sounds great! I get that… the needing adult interaction too ☺️☺️
We do Simply Charlotte Mason, emphasis on the SIMPLE. 😅 we also don’t do Nature Study. I also agree it’s so forced. Kids are naturally curious. We live on 19 acres of fields and forest, our daily life is a nature study.
19 acres! Lovely! 😍😍😍
Glad to hear it takes longer than 2 hrs. This never happened for us either. Sometimes six hours and now with high school, it’s definitely six hours plus.
We listen to audiobooks bc I don’t like to read aloud. Such a comfort that I’m not alone.
I quit almost all activities except PE and 4H. I’m a working single mom and I’ve had to accept that I’m still giving a lot of other amazing things to my kids and my limitations won’t limit my kids but form them into God has made them to be.
My state has an hourly requirement (amounts to 5 or so per day) but even without that there's no way I could do it in 2! Especially since that hourly requirement is PER KID. Yes, we multitask but it still takes time to work with them individually while another is reading or doing their own work. Maybe when my kids were at the 1st grade level or below but certainly not now!
Absolutely agree thank you for making this video sometimes we need to know other people are like us.
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11 years of homeschooling and I feel so seen right now! 💕
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I hear ya. We do some of these things but I try to weed out the things that are not truly beneficial. We go to 4-h homeschool club once a month, my daughter does Girl Scouts bi-weekly, and both kids go to youth group on Wednesday nights. I have no desire to do any more than that. I hate overcommitting...or maybe I've become a homebody 😅
I’m a homebody too 😅
It may be that those with shorter school hours simply have things divided up differently. Example - I would say that we "do school" in about two hours. That's the concentrated time we sit down together and focus together on our chosen curriculum. However, not counted in that is the math facts practice game my kids are required to do on the computer at a different time of the day, or the Bible lesson my husband does with them at snack time in the evening, or the science video that gets sent to my inbox every week that my kids enjoy watching on Monday afternoons, or the random bunny trail dives that happen when a child asks a question and we dig for information together, or the math/grammar/spelling games, typing practice, or story writing they like to do on the computer during some of their free hours etc. I suppose all of those could be counted as "school" but it's just not part of that set aside block of time we call by that name. :)
Aha, that makes sense! We do all of that at one concentrated time
I like that you shared this. I like to split things up too and it feels less forced and less stressful. We listen to audiobooks in the car (currently story of the world) and we enjoy doing a chapter book read aloud before bed. My kids pick educational things to do in their free time like typing letters to relatives or writing stories, but overall I want them to enjoy being a kid of have play time. I don't want them to be stressed that we have to get a certain amount done. I homeschool with a 4th, 2nd and kinder (and then have 2 younger ones).
I tried to first year to cram it all in and it was hard on my youngest two, so I have taken a more relaxed approach this year, which has been good for our family.
Love this video. I am about to start my second year homeschooling and work 2 days a week. It has definitely been a challenge especially feeling the pressure to get everything done and still take them to activities. I'm curious, what kind of social activiites you do? My girls are naturally shy, so I feel the need to take them to co-op but it definitely takes alot of time.
Depends on the year and time of year, but Awana, Bible study, play dates, homeschool book club at the library, and this fall will be our busiest yet…they’re gonna start softball, cheering and drama (they all won’t all be doing all of those activities though…That’s for everyone)
Yes Yes! Thank you for this 😊
Every single thing you said!! Although we do the extra curriculur activities.....it's a way for my daughter to get our of the house and be around other kids and still learning (choir, girl scouts, etc). I will never know how anyone gets homeschool done in 2 hours.....we are in 5th and it can take up to 5 hours some days. On average probably around 4....but I dont worry about that any more because I know she is getting a great eduction and that's what we are here for.
Awesome!! ❤️❤️
I totally agree with this video!!! Especially how many hours it takes to finish our day. I have a 10th, 8th and 6th grader and it takes us 6-7 hours. I always wonder if the families who finish in 2 hours are teaching anything? Thanks!!
This is our first year. We didn't do co-op because they wanted the alot of parental volunteers and I work fulltime. My mom does the teaching and she also has my 2 toddlers. We do go to a music school for music history, choir, and band. Plus my kids play soccer.
Working full time and coop and volunteering at coop? Yes that’s a LOT! You made the right choice…especially as this is your first year.
I am with you on all of these, except one. I love reading chapter books to my kids, plus we use Sonlight, which is very much chapter book heavy. I get SO tired of everyone asking my son what sports he plays. He doesn’t like sports. We don’t watch them, we don’t participate in organized sports (except my daughter takes a gym class). My son tells everyone, “I prefer Lego and reading.” Then I get the crazy looks. 😅 And seriously, how do people get everything done in 2 hours? Maybe if they only do LA and math?
Your kids are my spirit animals honestly
Bahaha 😹
I could have made this video! Haha I am EXACTLY the same! No chapter books being read ( I love the kid books instead and we read them allll day, I love doing voices and such haha), no co ops, nature studies, poetry teatimes BUT we still learn plenty and do plenty of FUN at home with other things and the kiddos love it!
That’s what’s most important! ☺️
What do kids do with all the “ down time” if you finish in a couple hours? My kids gravitate to screen time but I wouldn’t want my kids sucked into so many hours of idle time. What do you let your kids do when you finish with school?
It’s different for everyone but my kids play, have some quiet time where they can read, or play quietly. They usually find something to do. They do get to watch a show when I make dinner but otherwise we keep ourselves busy
Homeschool mom of 3 girls too here. I don't do morning baskets at all. But I'm very extra in other areas. I love customizing our school each year to my style of teaching and their individual style of learning. I've never done a co-op either because of the exact reasons you mentioned. I already have their curriculum. Can't we do an elective co-op?
New sub here! Fabulous comments and insight in regards to all the things! ♥
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Love this video concept ❤
Thanks for watching ❤️❤️
Love this!
Them: “so what do you do? Charlotte Mason? Classical? Co-ops?…”
Me: “…I do what I want”
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I hire out nature study.
We do a co-op, but my oldest is 15 and it's only our 2nd year. We had years of therapies and I couldn't do one more day gone.
We don't do unit studies either.
I love reading out loud, but I'm slow, we don't do library chapter book read alouds because r never can finish before it's due back. I only do long read alouds from books I own or borrow from someone who knows how long we take and doesn't mind.
Where can I find homeschool groups or co-ops around me?
I’ve just looked through Facebook groups honestly
Yep! Yep! Yep!
I don’t do all the same things you don’t do, plus I don’t do morning basket. I’m the one that can’t be stretched thin. I have chronic fatigue and cannot commit to more than the daily minimum. We also have never been able to afford extra programs. I’m totally fine with the way we have it. We go to church twice a week with lots of homeschoolers and we have our own homeschool group at church for extra meet ups once a month. We do have a weekly Wild+Free walk but we don’t always make it.
I currently homeschool my 2 boys, 8 and 11 YO. I have a 2.5 YO daughter and a baby boy on the way. My hands are full as it is but maybe someday I’ll feel better and we can add/change something.
Aww you’re busy. Do what you can and rest your body…sounds like you’re doing a great job ❤️
I wanted to make a comment about your last video, about the big changes you've been making. You said that years ago when your family was younger, you and your husband moved across country with different things up in the air, and you couldn't believe you had made such big changes without planning every detail. But it worked out, because you were acting on intuition and what you knew was right for your family. This is true whenever we feel impelled to make a change - trust your internal guidance. =)
Yes, I call it the Holy Spirit (I understand not everyone is a Christian so they call it other things, but for my I go by the Holy Spirits leading to know where to go)
@@thepracticalhomeschooler I am Christian as well! Raised a Roman Catholic, but now kind of in my own way. Be well! =)
You are my spirit animal. I love you so much! lol. I homeschool my 8 year old and I have 3 in public school. I hate reading chapter books as well, but this year (this is our 3rd year) I thought maybe I should be reading more? So I marked down 12 chapter books for us to read, but I don't think her, and I know I'm not really, loving it. I'll reading kids books all day to her lol. But I guess I don't have to read her chapter books hey? We are still trying to find our groove also. Also, I fucking hate unit studies!! lol Like can I only do math and LA please?? lol We take the morning to do math and L.A and then lunch and then other subjects after lunch. Otherwise my daughter gets overwhelmed. So ya, 3-4 hours also.
Aww thank you!!
I have a 5th grader too. What do you use for your 5th grade and what are morning baskets? Thank you
For us morning basket is our group subjects (Bible, history and either art or music or geography, and science). It differs for everyone. And I have a video on all the curriculum choices I made for my 5th grader ☺️
I've been homeschooling forever..have graduated three kids from our homeschool.They are all in college.I have six kiddos left to graduate..12th grade down to 3rd grade.We have never spent longer than two hours per day on schooling.I don't think it's the amount of time you spend ..its the method of which you teach.To each his or her own.I love homeschooling my children..we conclude each day of school by praying together..Our Lords Prayer..
That’s great that that works for you! But there is no method of teaching for us that we would be able to do the work needed to be done in 2 hours 😬