My children are going to back to school in January. Homeschooling at theTyrees, as we have known it, will be ending. Maybe just for now, or maybe forever.
To be honest, I have very mixed feelings about letting go of this responsibility and experience. I will miss so many great things about my journey, but on the flip side I am secretly a little relieved to be handing the torch to someone else!
Maybe, just maybe I will have a little bit of that thing…oh what do they call it? Oh, yeah I remember…free time!
So, yes, there are some reasons I DO NOT LOVE homeschooling. Here are my top 10 reasons. Believe it or not, it took me some time to come up with “10,” while on the other hand it was so easy to come up with my reasons for loving homeschooling.
- My house is a mess, now I might have a bit of OCD when it comes to my home, but it is challenging to let go of some of my standards due to the fact that there are four of us at home all of the time!
- I have to pretend like I know what I am teaching and I have realized I don’t know very much.
- It is challenging to motivate my own children, since they see me as “mom.”
- I am weak when it comes to my kids wanting to negotiate their amount of school work.
- There is a revolving door into our kitchen, it seems we are constantly finishing a meal, getting a snack, and/or prepping dinner. (The dishwasher is very busy.)
- Homeschooling in general requires focus, discipline, and organization by the teacher – which I have some of the time but not always – some days can be pretty ugly.
- A three to one teaching ratio is fabulous, but I still have the laundry, kitchen, cleaning, work, and other duties that tend to distract me all day long.
- It requires a ton of patience every.single.day.
- I am home a lot more, which for me can be a bit isolating and can give the kids too much down time, which can easily result in more tensions rising and/or fighting…
- While we have gained new social groups (through homeschooling resources) we have somewhat lost touch with our school and neighborhood community.
So…are you asking…would I do it again???
In a heartbeat! The pluses outweigh the negatives for sure. The months I have been able to spend with my kids and pour into them have been such a blessing. It is a time that I will never regret and overall it has been a huge blessing.
Maybe in the end I have learned more myself then they have. Go ahead, quiz me on the Continents or Countries…I’m ready!
