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FEELING OVERWHELMED AND DISCOURAGED WITH HOMESCHOOL?
You are not alone.
It’s been one month since we started homeschooling for the year. For the first two weeks, we were on a roll. The kids accomplished and completed all the assignments I had given them. I was feeling pretty good about myself and feeling more confident in my ability as their teacher. We were on track!
Then three weeks in, we had sick days, errands, and appointments that started to take us off course. Suddenly, my plans seemed to feel like a train wreck!
We skipped subjects just to catch up on others. The rhythm we had the first two weeks began to feel choppy and inconsistent. All the while, I wrestled with worrisome thoughts that my kids were going to be so far behind. My worst fear of not being capable enough to give my kids a good education painfully started to creep in. Sadly, the mom guilt came knocking on my door and I let it in.
Do you ever feel like that? Do you ever feel overwhelmed, defeated, and just utterly hopeless when it comes to the day in and day out of homeschooling? Despite your best efforts and intentions, it sometimes feels like you’re way over your head?
I’ve been there many times.
I’ve homeschooled my kids for five years and I still feel like I miss the mark.
The one thing I am sure of is that this journey of homeschooling, and motherhood, for that matter because you can roll it all together, is it will humble you. It will show your weaknesses and inadequacies. The greatest revelation I have discovered is that it showed me how much I truly needed to lean into God’s wisdom, guidance, and strength.
I’m here to tell you that there’s good news! What if I told you that you are equipped and fully capable of homeschooling your kids? You’re not only capable, but you’re going to thrive and find fulfillment.
5 Ways to Keep You Focused and Encouraged While Homeschooling
We all get discouraged and tired. It’s normal. It happens to the best of us. I’m going to share 5 Ways to Stay Focused and Encouraged While Homeschooling.
1. Find a Support Group
I used to feel like I was in this homeschooling journey alone. I felt isolated because most of my friends had their kids in a public or private school. And I couldn’t share my struggles because I felt like they wouldn’t understand.
When I finally had the courage to seek out a support group, I was glad I did. I only wish I had done it sooner. There are homeschool groups filled with moms like you and I who have the same struggles, challenges, and concerns. There are many who have successfully homeschooled their kids and have seen their kids off to college.
Connecting with other homeschool families is essential. In these groups, you’ll receive encouragement, healthy perspective, and helpful advice. You’ll even meet amazing families that may become great friends.
If you don’t know of any homeschool groups, get on Facebook and type “homeschool”. You will find A LOT of groups! If you can find a local homeschool group, even better!
If you’re not on social media, you can go to Homeschool World website and find a local homeschool group in your area.
2. Take Time to Regroup
The beauty of homeschool is flexibility. We get to set the tone, pace, and environment. We are not restricted by homework, a calendar, or even a curriculum. We get to pick and choose what is best for our kids.
Because we are less restricted, we can take a time out whenever we’re feeling overwhelmed and assess our kids attitudes, our teaching methods, what’s working and what’s not working, and what’s making us overly stressed.
Homeschool can be challenging. But when you get to the point of feeling overwhelmed, take a moment to stop. Maybe even take a day off from homeschool and take the kids somewhere fun.
Give yourself permission to take a breather and regroup. Trust me, your kids will be perfectly fine. 
3. Write Down Goals
Before we start homeschool for the year, I sit down and write goals for our school year. I would even take it a step further and recommend praying. Ask God for direction, wisdom, and peace! You definitely want to have a peace about your goals.
I’ll share some of my goals with you. I want to to do more field trips and less book work, to help my kids develop a love of learning and not just keeping them busy, to have more Bible devotion time, and to do at least one community service activity as a family. These are just a few examples of my homeschool goals.
Your goals may look different than mine and that’s perfectly ok!
The main point of writing goals is so when you start to feel overwhelmed and feeling like you can’t do it, go back to your goals and see if you’re on track.
What I have found is that I have a tendency to get distracted. Maybe it was because I read about a new curriculum that was highly recommended by others and I decided to try it only to discover that it stresses my kids out and then it stresses me out. Or maybe I was more focused on too much book work and the kids started pushing back with attitude.
We all get distracted and we veer off into a different direction only to feel frustrated and ready to give up.
Having goals helps us figure out if we’re on target or if we’re way off. Making adjustments is normal and part of providing what is best for you and your kids.
4. Start Your Day Off Right
Have you ever started your day off on the wrong foot and it set a precedence for the rest of your day? Maybe you or one of your kids woke up groggy or irritable. It happens.
A great way to start your day off right is to find out what sets the tone for peace in your home.
For me, it’s eating breakfast, having a cup of coffee, then it’s having the kids get themselves ready for the day (eat breakfast, make their beds). When we’ve done all those things, we meet in our homeschool room and we start with a Bible devotional. We read it together and then we discuss what we’ve read. Here’s a copy of the book we are using, More than Words: Level 1.
Then when we’re done, we move on to the other assignments we have planned for the day. I like being able to start our school day with the Bible.
Do whatever works for your family! Make it fun, intentional, and peaceful.
If you need more ideas on how to make your morning more productive and less stressful, a really good resource is Pam Barnhill’s article called, “Morning Time and How It Can Change Your Homeschool” She does a great job explaining the importance of morning times.
5. Tap Into Homeschool Resources
There are SO MANY homeschool resources available to us! From homeschool conventions, to workshops, to blogs, to Pinterest, we have access to tools that can help us in our homeschooling journey.
Part of feeling overwhelmed and stressed is not feeling equipped or adequate. With so much information available to us, you’ll be able to develop the skills and knowledge to teach your kids.
Here are a few resources for you to check out:
CONCLUSION
I hope you’ve been able to gain some new tips on how to stay encouraged and focused while homeschooling! I want to leave you with this last comment.
The fact that you are here, reading this post, is evidence that you are willing to do whatever it takes to give what your kids need.
The best teachers are those who never stop learning. You’re doing your research, you’re shifting your mindset, you’re willing to do what is necessary to give it your best. That’s what makes you pretty special.
So when you’re having a tough day, don’t quit. Know that you are equipped and that you can do this! Homeschooling is such a blessing. May you feel fulfilled and may your kids thrive!
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