Have you ever bought anything on impulse thinking it would be the “be all end all” and would magically make your life infinitely easier or better or more beautiful?
I’m totally asking…for a friend…
You know, like those amazingly organic toasted coconut chips made with caramel sea salt…that would make you forget that it was a total health food?
That is until you actually tasted it and instantly wondered why you purchased salty cardboard with a hint of coconut…
Remember that planner that was going to magically make your life more organized?
It may or may not be stuffed under your bed or buried somewhere deep in a closet or lay forgotten on a shelf along with a stack of other planners and organizers that couldn’t handle your topsy-turvy life.
Or that time you impetuously signed up for a free sample of a skin cream that would make you look 10 years younger within four weeks, only to realize you signed up for a monthly auto ship of $100 and you really doubt your skin is ever going to look like it did in your 20’s EVER AGAIN…
This is all hypothetical of course…
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Homeschooling with Joy and Sometimes on Impulse
I find homeschooling to have its own set of phenomenal commodities, and philosophies! And believe me…we’ve tried out and discarded more wares than I’d care to admit. Some have been carefully and thoughtfully considered while others were impulse buys.
Although sometimes painful, I have no problems dropping a product or program, that isn’t working for us, especially if it doesn’t bring us joy….like a couple of years ago when we tried Saxon Math. I wanted to love it because it’s a solid program that works for so many others…but my son loathed it! Instead, we’ve discovered ways to make math fun.
Rosetta Stone was a flop for us too and the tears became very real for both my son and myself until we found another foreign language program that filled all of us with joy.
We are all about the joy these days and in my mind learning should be a fun experience. Make the process as enjoyable as possible.
Over the course of the spring and summer, we have been trying out some different rhythms, schedules, and products, fine tuning what already works for our family and discovering new ways of approaching topics that we’ve struggled with in the past. Sometimes it can be scary or daunting to change gears in your homeschool. That’s O.K. I’m not here to tell you that there is only one way to do this homeschool thing. It is a different journey for each family. Only you know what works best for your kids and sometimes what worked last year doesn’t work this year.
Trust me, it happens. Relax, trust, and have fun with your children!
In the words of Ms. Frizzle, “Get messy, make mistakes…” and I would add to allow you as a mom and homeschooler the grace to get messy and make mistakes too. I think sometimes we hold ourselves to impossible standards and while we may preach to our kids that mistakes are a normal part of life, we have trouble modeling and accepting them in our adult lives.
At least I do.
Mistakes are not a bad thing, especially if we learn something from them. I for one have learned a tremendous amount about my kids and their learning styles, their interests, and my own self-worth through trial and error…mistakes, and impulse decisions all the while seeking the joy and fun memories that come along with this journey we’re on.
I’ve found that, for our family, being flexible is of utmost importance. As well as letting our children help make decisions as to what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. It’s their education after all and they are voracious learners. Sometimes that means making impulse decisions. On occasion, it means trying something new and realizing quickly that this thing was not meant to be. Other times an impulsive act, like tossing the books and eating ice cream under the oak tree, is the perfect solution to a stifling difficulty!
I’m seriously fond of cashew milk salted caramel ice cream for those mommin‘ ain’t easy days…also coffee nut M&M’s. And guess what? Both of those were discovered on an impulse!
This is really encouraging, thank you so much. I was talking about something like this today with a fellow mum just starting the homeschooling journey as well. Already we’ve both changed, gone back, did something different – holding ourselves to standards we can’t live up to, but finding that watching and listening to the children makes all the difference in the world. Thank you so much, Erin!
I’m so glad you found encouragement! Watching and listening to our children, I believe, is really key to making this whole homeschool thing work. 🙂
So very very true! I find that impulse days can be a God send (like when we ditch the book and head to the ocean!). We tend to have a little less luck with impulsive curriculum but we do keep trying.