If Homeschool Mom Boredom Isn’t Real After 16 Years, Then I Am a Duck

 

A brisk diverted and mostly distracted walk in Homeschool life

I trudge downstairs.

I wake early most days to avoid the start curve of my littles needing things. My older kids drag their feet while they pull themselves out of their 10 hour teenage-hormone-induced-overnight comas. I have six kids ranging from 6 to 15 years old. I need/prefer to have an hour or two before the interruptions for the day start. It helps build up a tolerance reserve. I can get depleted fast if I am not mindful.

My kids are amazing but I need a morning buffer zone after all these years. The frenzy can pick up quick: a toilet overflows, someone is sick (large families are aware of this school stopping domino affect), a math meltdown is happening, or maybe I didn’t catch the fifth mess my six year old is spreading through the learning space.

Aaaaaaaah, the joys of homeschool life.

The routine is comforting like a pair of reject period underwear. (We must be clear, those are never referred to as lingerie or panties. Seriously.) It hugs in all the right spaces when you are uncomfortable but is flexible where it counts. I need flexibility at this age.

I can list my day to the minute. Hang ups and surprises are a part of the package. Some people can’t handle the pressure of being their own boss and being responsible for others. If this is you just starting out, keep going. Really. You will surprise yourself. You need to find your own flow and system. I have attempted so many over the years. My organic system that flows from my family’s weird whims and concerns inevitably works best time and time again. Don’t worry, this isn’t a plug for some course I’ve made on Teachable. ;)

I started this like most people attempted things 25 years ago, with a passion and little know how, much like my husband & I’s stint with urban farming. My passion filled in my knowledge gaps or inspired me to find answers. The answers were like deep diving for pearls. Many times, I searched and searched & felt like drowning was mere seconds away. Many times, I would come up for air without anything in my hands. The only answer was to keep diving because I had decided not to quit before I even began. Not having a Plan B is a good motivator for me.

I wanted to raise my kids, not have someone else do it for me. Now, with the turbulence of our current American society, I am thankful my husband and I made this sacrifice.

And it is a sacrifice. I was our main source of income for many years. I miss the itch and hustle of work life. At one point, I held down three jobs. Two jobs were management positions.

I don’t miss the power dynamics of office politics, the random guy sending me a private message on the company closed network for me to let my red toe nails stick out from the side of my desk, or the entrapment of a set pay rate and the time cage from 9 to 5.

I have managed to find what my kids need despite the odds. Most of the time, it was through trial and error or what felt like a drop of miraculous divinity.

You can find courses and curriculums now. 15 years ago, these were some entreprenuer’s start up or a teacher’s side hustle. Most were crap and all had the attention of my critical eye until I found proof of some kind of wonderful evil mastermind(s) with experience in the field of study. I won’t waste my time or my kid’s time on just any course.

And, I didn’t want to teach my kids. I wanted to teach my kids to learn.

If I could teach them to learn, use their resources, follow their curiosity, and to be self starters, I knew they would be 10 years ahead of where I was when I started college and didn’t finish.

My kids don’t speak Hebrew, write sanskrit, or volunteer at senior centers. Well, at least, not yet.

They do speak languages I don’t know how to speak and can hold a conversation in said language. They play instruments I cannot play and well for that matter. They have an understanding of history, one with a linear time frame and without gaps, that I never received being a military brat moved from city to city every two years. Each new city wanted to take a month to high center learning around their local history without connecting the dots to how that pertained to the grand scheme of things and why I or anyone else should care. American pride and all that.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am bored, not with my actual children but with the regularity and monotony of routine. I am rather fortunate in that I know how to shake things up a bit. When you get good at something, boredom is around the corner. The next corner though, is becoming great at “it.”

What does great look like in the homeschooling world?

Many parents tout their accomplishments like badges of honor they, and not the kids, have earned. Gross.

Most kids coming out of a homeschool environment would say success is being able to step foot into the world somewhere between 17 and 25ish? They should have all the skills required to be a functioning autonomous adult capable of contributing to society and being self reliant.

This cause is worthy of my boredom.

My family still has hope. We have new experiences ahead of us. I have never taught a sophomore. My daughter’s freshman year is pummeling to an end and on a high note. My six year old can read fluently, thank the stars! This is where I start as far as regimented learning goes. Kids are perpetual learners and soak things up devoid of discrimination.

We have discovered that playing and reading are the jump starts to self learning. A plethora of access to crayons, paper, dirt, grass, and swathes of time without glowing screens forces their little brains to mature in creative bents. I think chicken poop helps as well. I like that my kids are not lemmings and yet, are surprisingly more social than many of their public schooled peers. My kids are able to look an adult or a peer in the face and articulate without looking down at a screen or averting their eyes. I feel like that’s a decent accomplishment in this day in age when an Aldi cashier can barely make eye contact when telling you your total let alone make polite small talk. Lack of social skills is a common homeschool myth though I have met my share of these quirky odd balls. They are fun.

So, what’s the answer?

What I do every day, Pinkie. Try to take over the world!

And write more Medium articles, of course.

Quack!