T.J. Wray asked Kendra E. Ardnek:

Howdy. I am home schooling my 11 yr old daughter for the first time this year. How do you do it? It is taking all of our time just to get through the lesson plans every day. We just started two weeks ago and we are already behind in nearly every class..LOL... I hope you are having a nice day..TJ

Kendra E. Ardnek Oi, that sounds about how my school year went, every year. I'm actually graduated now *realizes that I REALLY need to update my author bio,* and I don't have my own kids yet to teach. I'd actually recommend going to go talk to my mother: https://eaglenestmom.blogspot.com/

But, I think, the point about school is learning how to learn. Don't get so caught up in the list that you forget about the experience.

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Rachel After homeschooling for over 20 years, I can assure you that being behind is fairly "normal" ... even in a real school setting. It's just so easy to l After homeschooling for over 20 years, I can assure you that being behind is fairly "normal" ... even in a real school setting. It's just so easy to lesson plan more into a day than is realistically possible to cover!

So, what to do?

1. Start with core subjects. English, Math, Reading, Writing. ... and focus on learning how to learn and character. Find out the strengths and weaknesses. How does your child learn best? Can you find videos or library books to hellp make the concept easier? Have you started them in too high of a level? (This may be an indication that the text you chose works at a higher level or uses a different approach or order to present the material ... not so much that one curriculum is better than another. ) ... Supplement with library books and videos on a variety of interesting subjects, anything educational. No pressure. Keep it light and fun. And only if there is time at the end of the day.

2. Once you know where your child is in Math, English, what their writing skills look like, and what level that they read at .... After about 3 - 6 weeks, you should have some sort of schedule and understanding of your child's learning ability and your style of teaching. Now start to add back in the other subjects. It doesn't matter which order, whichever you choose. Every 2 or 3 weeks, add another one. As you bring each subject out, get a feel for what your child already knows, talk about it, ask questions. Any curriculum can be adapted to a child's best way to learn. We use our History text as a backbone and get books from the library and videos from online. My kids were not artsy, so we skipped projects. We find a ton of videos on Youtube and the library. Recently we signed up with SchoolHouseTeachers and have really enjoyed it.

3. The purpose of school has always been to learn how to learn. No curriculum will ever be able to teach every single concept that there is to learn. Sit down and write up a list of what you want you child to be as an adult .... I'll bet "be able to spout off every fact from ever book" is not on your list! But maybe "Knows how to complete a task" , "presents ideas in a clear manor both orally and written" and "good work ethic" will be among them. Use the list to decide whether what you are teaching is really that important. I decided learning tons of names and dates was not important, but knowing where things were in history was important ... so we did a LOT of timelines and maps (fewer than I would have liked, but still ) .... I wanted them to see which people in history lived at the same time, and during which time in history.

In the end, the moral character and understanding of how to learn new ideas and concepts and how to work with and treat others and how to communicate both written and spoken will be the key targets of adulthood. Holes are easily filled. But it is difficult to change a child's core values after they reach adulthood.

One thing you can do to help yourself ... find blogs, newsletters, or facebook groups (or local groups) of homeschoolers and make some friends and find some mentors. Don't try to go it alone, you'll get discouraged and burned out. You don't have to be a social butterfly by any means, and be careful that social doesn't take over the learning ... but have a place to get advice, discover new ideas, and know that others have the same struggles that you are having.

Hope that helps! ...more
Oct 02, 2018 08:40AM · flag