Homeschoolers are home most of the day, but we are BUSY.
Sure, we are home most of the day, but most homeschoolers have a schedule or plan for their day. Non-homeschoolers tend to think that being home means you are hanging around looking for something to do. For example:
It is hard, but sometimes necessary, to say “NO” when the women’s ministry leader from church calls to see if you can bake 3 dozen cookies for the meeting that night. She suggests it would be a good home economics lesson for the day. While that may be true, your children can make cookies from a recipe they’ve made so many times they’ve memorized it and they really need to spend time learning to find the area of a triangle. You are just as much of a teacher with a job to do as the local middle school teacher and last minute cookie making may be too much to ask.
I am not saying that homeschoolers should never volunteer or help with other activities they participate in, but quite the opposite. Homeschooling is a perfect opportunity for children to learn to pitch in to make everyone’s job easier. They should bake cookies for the ladies meeting at church, and should volunteer way ahead of time so it can be worked into the schedule.
Reminding well meaning friends that you can’t just sit and chat on the phone in the morning after they drop their children off at school can get redundant. Usually, I try to avoid this awkward moment by not answering the phone while we are working. Caller ID and voice mail are a homeschooler’s friend.
Homeschoolers are home most of the day, but we are BUSY. Non-homeschoolers tend to think that being home means you are hanging around looking for something to do.
It is hard, but sometimes necessary, to say “NO” when the women’s ministry leader from church calls to see if you can bake 3 dozen cookies for the meeting that night. She suggests it would be a good home economics lesson for the day. While that may be true, your children can make cookies from a recipe they’ve made so many times they’ve memorized it, plus they are in high school and their geometry lesson is giving them (and you) fits. You are just as much of a teacher/facilitator with a job to do as the local middle school teacher and last minute cookie making may be too much to ask.
I am not saying that homeschoolers should never volunteer or help with activities. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Homeschooling is a perfect opportunity for children to learn to pitch in to make everyone’s job easier. We should bake cookies for the ladies meeting at church, and should volunteer way ahead of time so it can be worked into the schedule.
If you have younger children who still require alot of “hands on” time, reminding well meaning friends that you can’t just sit and chat on the phone in the morning after they drop their children off at school can get old. Try to avoid this awkward moment by not answering the phone while you are working. Caller ID and voice mail are a homeschooler’s friend.
While it’s easy to get busy, don’t forget to take a deep breath, slow down and enjoy the little moments that make great memories.
