Choosing to home school sometimes feels like a last resort. Here is what to consider in this scenario.
Here's what you'll learn in this article:
- Home school offers the freedom to tailor interventions and approaches to you help your child transition from traditional school or overcome educational challenges.
- Three insights to keep in mind when deciding to home school was more about overcoming learning challenges.
- Answers to common questions about homeschooling as a course correction.
- Key takeaways for flipping the script and making home school a positive learning experience.
- Next steps for creating an epic home school experience.
Starting Home School to Overcome a Challenge Can Add Stress to an Already Stressful Situation
Home school can feel like a positive or negative stressor depending on how you came to the decision to home school. If your child has never been in traditional school, and your family has made the decision to home school because you want to travel the world, then home school is likely a positive stressor. It is a change that will be stressful to sort and figure out, but you have largely welcomed this life change.
Conversely, if your child has been in traditional school, and your family has made the decision to home school because something hasn’t gone well, then there will be more negative feelings around the change. Not only will you have to deal with the stress of sorting and figuring out homeschooling, you will also have to deal with the stress from what necessitated the change.
3 Insights to Help You Manage the Extra Stress When Deciding to Home School to Overcome a Challenge
Homeschooling with an added layer of stress needs special care and support to make the transition positive. Here are three insights to help you overcome that extra stress:
1. Take the Time to Reset
You and your child will need time to reset if you are coming to homeschooling with negative stress. Whether your child had behavior challenges in school or was impacted by the negative behavior of classmates, it can cast a negative light on learning.
Likewise, if you discover that your child learns atypically, and you realize they may have a harder time navigating a world designed for typical learners. It will take time to adjust and transition to a new approach to learning.
If you have the natural break between school years, then use that to your advantage to reframe what learning can be and how home schooling will be different. Work together to find parts to get excited about.
If you are making the transition mid-year, then give time to restore your energy. This means homeschooling in as low stress a manner as possible (for example, with lots of outdoor activities), while still learning. In times of stress, let learning be a salve to offer something new to think about and engage with.
2. Home School is What You Make It
The good news about homeschooling is that it is what you make it. So, if you want to improve your and your child’s experience with learning, you can do it. Approach home school with an openness to finding what works for your family. If your child doesn’t test well, then you can approach testing differently.
Be prepared to experiment with different approaches, even within the day. If you want to home school at a desk each day, but realize your child is having a hard time with that on a particular day, then it is alright to pivot to a different setting. There is benefit in finding balance between what works typically, and what works today because there are different needs.
3. Follow Your Child’s Strengths, But Stay Attentive to Their Weaknesses
Homeschooling with full-day learning affords the space to let your child follow their passions, and also learn how to manage their weaknesses. The balance is to let your child excel where they can, but minimize falling behind. You want them to maintain what options they can and avoid having a harder time in adulthood. For example, if your child is focused on science and less interested in writing or social interactions, then make science a focus, but still help them build skills in the other areas too. Help them see how writing and social interactions help them share with others what they are learning in science.
FAQs: Making the Most of Your Transition to Homeschooling
What if I need more support for my child?
Whenever your child is making a transition, especially one that may be born out of challenging circumstances, then seek support in your community. There are licensed health professionals who can provide services in many areas from coping to movement therapy. There are also tutors and various extracurricular classes that might be a fit to help your child transition and enjoy learning again.
How do I get started mid-year?
Starting home school mid-year can be extra stressful because of the time pressure. Take it one step at a time. It will be stressful during the active time of unenrolling and reenrolling, but it will pass. Your child won’t get behind in a day or even a couple of weeks. Stick to the basics—reading, starting a journal for free writing, and workbooks—then build out a curriculums and start selecting materials as you develop your plan for what you want from homeschooling.
Key Takeaways
- Choosing to homeschool is sometimes the result of negative circumstances. Homeschooling isn’t always an entirely positive decision; when it isn’t, give yourself support to work through the added stress.
- Give the space to adjust. It takes time to process a transition, especially one that doesn’t feel entirely positive.
- Leverage the freedom of home school. Home school isn’t traditional school so be open to trying new approaches to find what works for your family.
- Get support. Whether licensed professionals or recreational coaches, find support in the community to help with the transition and making the most of homeschooling.
Next Steps
Take the time to read through our getting started guides to ground yourself and start your child on a new learning path.
If you would like more practical approaches and tips for improving your children's home school experience, consider becoming a member of Crush Home School! With our membership plan, you get monthly guidance delivered to your inbox with downloadable resources and much more. Learn more about becoming a Crush Home School member.