Looking for that IG perfect homeschool? It’s not real! For every perfect chalkboard wall I see, I know there’s a closet stuffed with clutter and a parent who is too overwhelmed to even touch it. No shame! It's just sometimes I want to see the messy closet.
Don’t strive for perfect, strive for real! Strive for authentic. In our house, that means several projects are going simultaneously. Our dining room table is more of an art/science table. Our kitchen is circulating between being used for a cooking/baking endeavor and being on the brink of an activity. We’re particular about lighting, so we have dimmable light bulbs everywhere. We’re not particular about where blankets go. So blankets, comfort stuffies and fidgets are sprawled on couches and end tables. Shoes are in a pile in the entryway, and we’re fine with that, since the alternative is picking them up.
If you can translate our home to our homeschool schedule, it would match! We were interest-led, heavy on the interest. If you looked at what we did all day, you might not be impressed. We did very little “academics.” We learned through adventures and read-alouds, with some academics on the side. In the moment, you might not have identified much learning. But my kids learned through life. They learned to read, write, think mathematically, and think critically.
Also, there was fighting! Oh, the fighting. We talked through hard things together. We gave each other time to cool off. In the moment you might not have seen the connection and empathy and communication we were developing.
Oh, and at the heart of it all, there was definitely connection. SO. MUCH. CONNECTING. We laughed and talked and talked and laughed. We questioned and discussed. We cuddled and held hands a lot.
This was our real homeschool. It was not picture perfect. But it was real. It made our homeschool special. It made our homeschool sustainable.
What’s your real homeschool? What’s one thing you can do today, to make your homeschool more you?
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