Welcome to our New Year Homeschool Restart Series! If you are just joining us, here’s what you’ve missed so far:
- HOMESCHOOLING GOT DERAILED BY THE HOLIDAYS? Let’s get Back On Track together!
- Overcoming the AFTER-CHRISTMAS-COMA before the Homeschool Restart!
- Printable FILL-IN-THE-BLANK, COLOR-ME THANK YOU NOTES!
- ~KIDS’ CALENDAR of Verses to Navigate a Volatile World~
- The Homeschool Morning Makeover Part 1: First, LET’S END THE PAJAMA WAR!
- The Homeschool Morning Makeover Part 2: LET’S FREE CINDERELLA (hint . . . she’s probably you)!
- The Homeschool Morning Makeover Part 3: Reining in “Screen-Time”
Dear reader, if you are CRAVING CALM for your Homeschool mornings, then this post is for you!
Today we are exploring our fourth and final morning trouble spot that is bound and determined to unravel the entire day, as well as potentially destroy the heart and soul of our Homeschools!
For our final Homeschool Morning Makeover . . .
~From RUSHED to RELISHING~
RESETTING OUR CLOCKS & BANISHING THE BELL
We have chosen the path less traveled, you and I. We are home makers and home educators. Our reasons for choosing this path may vary mama to mama / papa to papa. However, I believe the ultimate goal of most Homeschool parents to be very much aligned: to provide the absolute best, most inspired education we can for our children. We may disagree point to point about how to best accomplish this noble goal, but I think most of us recognize that in choosing to Homeschool we have chosen a journey for our family that will look very different from the “norm.”
And yet . . . the “norm” seems to haunt many a Homeschool; the “standard” stalks us . . . pressuring us to conform our styles, methods, schedules, and routines to that of the exact system we have rejected. Almost subconsciously we place our beams into the rigid confines of the jig that has been grooved into our minds from the very start. For some of us, it may be all we know. We have been told and shown and walked through just what “school” is—how it should look, how it should sound, how it should feel— since before we could even say our ABC’s. Books, movies, and our own childhood educations have together laid a framework that is almost impossible to escape. And so . . . we often pull our kids out of school only to end up partially recreating and re-enrolling them in what we have already said “no” to.
We set our tongues to roll off mimicked words of past teachers . . .
we align to the standards set up for us by “the man” . . .
and most of all,
we set our clocks and calendars to that of the local school.
There’s some kind of spirit-of-headmasters-past in our heads telling us that school must begin before 9am and that some form of dress code must be enforced. We need to jump right in and start off with a bang! We’ve got to set that early alarm and get this Homeschool thing going! We need to just knock it out already and get it “done with!” Take Homeschool by the early-morning horns! Watch out world! Let’s rush through so we can get ahead, or “have” the rest of the day.
It’s time to disable the loudspeaker. We don’t need to beat the bell. We don’t need to be saved by the bell. In actuality, we are freed *from* the bell! We are home . . . remember?
I invite you to break free with me, mamas and papas. Let’s set our clocks and calendars to our own unique schedules and routines. Let’s free ourselves to march to the beat of our own . . . tom-toms. Let’s set our compass to our own course! Let’s do what works for us and for our kids. It’s our home. It’s our school. And it’s our family. Most of all, let’s give ourselves permission to slow down, dear mamas and papas. This may even mean welcoming a late or “slow start” to the Homeschool day. And that’s more than ok.
Our Homeschooling is not a hurdle to jump . . .
a pill to swallow . . .
a box to check . . .
a band-aid to tear off . . .
a roadblock keeping us from paradise . . .
And neither is our parenting.
FIXING OUR (possibly) FAULTY COMPASS
In addition to often setting our clocks to the “standard,” sometimes we also forget that our choice to Homeschool needs be our “due north” on our compass. Our homes and our Homeschools are where we are supposed to be . . . right here, right now. Our kids are who we are supposed to hang with . . . today! This is the path and peak we have chosen. So why stray our course looking for the “main path” or shortcuts, or diversions in the bramble?
Education is not a sprint.
And truly inspired education is not even a marathon.
It’s a journey . . .
a wild, breathtaking, transformative journey;
a SLOW journey.
Let’s not forge mindlessly uphill . . .
envisioning that next peak . . .
forgetting we are already climbing a mountain
with struggle and beauty all its own.
It’s time to shift our perception and stay the course of our parenting and Home Education. We may have other commitments— such as a job, responsibilities in or outside the home, or other passions we wish to pursue. But if we are treating our kids and/or Homeschools like our east and west—treating the whole gig like a detour, a side-note, always giving it the short end of the stick, or tossing at it whatever scraps of energy we have leftover— we are doing our children (and ourselves) an incredible disservice.
Homeschooling isn’t keeping us from our path. Homeschooling isn’t in the way of the rest of our day or journey any more than . . . umm . . our kids are. Remember that old Native-American proverb? The child binds the feet of the mother and she limps all of her days until he removes the ties when he has finally grown? It may sound dark, but it’s also beautiful! Parenthood is initially a sacrificial undertaking. We “give up” much of our lives so that our kids can have every opportunity. And one day they will (hopefully) do the same for their own children. What an incredible inheritance of love and nurturing!
But the most perplexing and miraculous thing of all is that once we commit to this kind of parenting philosophy—willingly diverging from our own course and forging a new path with our children— we will only feel that we have gained everything for forging that new path, and only smile when we think of that old trail we have “lost” out on. For no longer will our paths be separate. As it turns out, this parenting thing, and this home education gig, is as much about our growth and development as it is about our children’s.
This parenting thing is a beautiful, multi-generational journey! If we want to pay proper homage to this privileged calling, then our kids, their holistic education, and our family’s journey with God MUST be our priority, or we will have completely lost (or never found) our way as parents. If only for the present season: Homeschooling IS our thing. Homeschooling IS our day. Homeschooling IS our journey. It may not be all we have on our plate (especially for those of us who are work-from-home parents) but it is not east, west, or less.
So, breathe.
Embrace.
Sip.
Observe.
Listen.
Stay your course.
Limp if you must.
Slow down.
Be still a moment.
And dare I say . . . ENJOY.
You’re invited . . .
Join us Monday for: 12 reasons to consider “SLOW STARTING” your day!
Thanks for reading!
Love, ~Our Holistic Homeschool~
