For most homeschoolers, there isn’t much separation between “life” and “school”. This can be both hard and a blessing! No matter how much we plan (or not 🙂 ) “life” has a tendency to throw curve balls at us.
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Here are a few real-life experiences we’ve had in our homeschool journey.
– An extended time of illness or physical pain for Mom or Dad
– The birth of a new baby
– The whole family being sick
– A death of a loved one
– A move
– A change in season (added stressors, schedule changes, etc)
These on top of the regular strains of homeschooling can be a real challenge. So how are we to handle homeschooling when it gets hard?
Here are 4 Tips to Handle Homeschooling When It Gets Hard
Keep First Things First
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33
Don’t skimp on the most important things. Hint: I don’t mean cleaning, the dishes really can wait.😃 YOUR time with the Lord and Bible time with the kids should maintain (or become) first priority. If all you get done that day is your time with God and the general caretaking of your children – you can write that off as a win, Mom. I’m serious!
 Reduce Your Load
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
There are certain seasons in life where we have had to scale back to the main subjects and keep pressing on. Yes, it’s great to add in the others + the child’s interests + more when we can. But for homeschooling when it gets hard I’ve found I need to narrow in on the main subjects and add the others back in as we go. Don’t worry, you aren’t going to ruin your children 😃 They will pick things back up later!
Be Flexible
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
Be willing to try new things and let other things go. Don’t fight to hold onto something that is not working during this hard season of homeschooling. Be brave and bend. Need to try different curriculum? Enhance your homeschool with technology? Adjust to more time reading together and less “bookwork”? When we can be flexible during hard times it reduces stress on us all. You may be surprised when you find a whole new way to homeschool a certain area!
Keep Stepping Into Grace
Be intentional, take small steps. You can build on those steps as you start to come out of a hard homeschooling season. And let’s remember this. It’s is SO important…
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
Soak up the grace that has been given to you.
We have had times where we couldn’t homeschool subjects at all because of our circumstances. So we worked on character and their hearts. They learned how to care for our home and for each other. We built in the main subjects as “hands on” while helping mom because I couldn’t do it myself. They learned life skills and they took more steps towards Jesus.
Yes, that means we are currently homeschooling on a lighter, year-round schedule to stay on track. But there is grace. And when His grace is offered we shouldn’t take it back on ourselves.
He will help you homeschool during hard times. There is always a way. Hang on and keep taking those baby steps. Pretty soon, this season too will pass.
To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven Ecclesiastes  3:1
Now that I’ve shared some of what has helped us, it’s your turn! Let me know which tip you want to focus on to help handle homeschooling when it gets hard!
Talk to you soon,
Lee
O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.
Lamentations 3:58
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Lee is a Daily redeemed Christ follower, Wife of 18 yrs, Mom to 5 Treasures, an Unexpected Homeschooler and Avoider of Small Talk. She’s a Faith Based Blogger + Lifetime Encourager who writes and creates over at Like Minded Musings. Her passion is to Encourage + Equip Christian Women and Tween Girls to Embrace Imperfect & Radiate Christ!
This was really encouraging to me, particularly the part about returning to Grace. Despite my adamant opposition to traditional schooling/public schools, I constantly find it difficult to break away from the mindset that I need to meet someone else’s criteria of a “successful homeschool”. This is one reason Charlotte Mason style has been really appealing to me as a preschool mom, my boys simply aren’t ready for structure yet and that is OK, because everything they do is learning at this age.
That’s such great advice and encouragement, Lee. I’ve graduated two from homeschooling and I found it to be true for us too. Sometimes you can’t do everything you “‘need” to but scaling back and keeping first things first helps you make it through. Sometimes those are the sweetest times to look back on some ways.