With 5th, 4th, and 2nd graders, we are entering a new phase of our homeschool. I’ve mentioned before that we are pretty laid back for the early elementary years and around 4th grade, we start structuring things more. I will show you how that looks in our day-to-day homeschool life later, but today I want to share the heart of the matter with you.
Stick around and be encouraged…or learn how to pray for me. I’m good with either. 😉
Routine? No, Thank You!
This is the biggest change for us and the focus of this post. I am a rather random person. Delight directed learning appeals to me because I am a squirrel chaser. And I have been very resistant to adhering to any sort of schedule. I don’t like being told what to do, and routines are bossy.
Now, I love planning things. I have sat down and made schedule after schedule, list after list, and change after change. The problem I have is that I get so stinking B.O.R.E.D. after a few days or weeks and drop it.
After seeing my many charts, someone (actually more than one someone) referred to me as Type-A and I laughed.
At each one of them. I am nothing if not gracious.
I am a Type-A wannabe. I WANT to be organized. I WANT to be a go-getter. But the truth is, I am messy and rather relaxed when it comes to time frames. Yes, that can be a nice way of saying I am frequently late, but it applies to much more (not all negative, thankfully).
How’s that for transparency? You’re lining up to hear my tips for walking in the spiritual discipline of diligence now, aren’t you? 😛 <—That’s me blowing a raspberry.
No Routine Gets You No Where
Well, that header kind of gives away where I have ended up. After the Holy Spirit’s forehead smacks nudging, I finally realized I needed to change. It happened overnight…HA! I wish.
Truth is, I am still struggling with it.
I have moved from the “why am I not getting anywhere?” and “alright something’s gotta give” stages. I’ve passed the “I know what I need to do” mark. I am now camped out in the “I have tasted change, want more, but can’t quite grasp it” part of the process.
I know that the path I’ve walked for many years no longer works. What I still struggle with is the want to…the motivation. Breaking the habit of letting things wait until the last possible moment has been tough. I’ve tried on the mantra “why wait when you can do it now” and, frankly, it fits like a crew neck t-shirt. (Suffocating, in case you are wondering.)
However I now realize that it truly is easier to maintain something than to do a major clean up every so often. So…slowly…that crew neck t-shirt is loosening it’s grip.
Routines Aren’t All Bad
Wondering when I’m getting to the homeschooling part? Well, I never left it. While this effected my housekeeping most, there was overflow into our homeschooling. It’s unavoidable, whatever effects your home is going to effect your HOMEschool.
Please don’t get me wrong, I do not regret our homeschooling choices. We have truly enjoyed our time learning as we went. I’ve learned things that I never would have simply because one of my children was interested in it. It is just time for a change.
I will be talking more about our daily routine in a guest post coming up at Upside Down Homeschooling, but basically it comes down to my decision to embrace change.
This makes me laugh because my very first One Word WAAAAY back in 2010 was Change. I’m a quick study, huh? Seriously, I’m sitting here with my headphones on laughing at myself. My kids think I’m nuts.
So be encouraged, homeschool mamas. God will bring the seeds He plants in your heart to fruition, no matter how slow of a learner you are. Just look at me. 😉
P.S. Head over to the Teach Them Diligently blog to see what changes others are making in their homeschool this year.
tereza crump aka mytreasuredcreations says
oh, my goodness! We are twins separated at birth!
No, seriously… now with a 5th, 3rd and 1st graders I HAVE and NEED more order, but like you I hate the routine/ schedule… so I have set up a plan to get my kids to do independent work… we will see how that plays out… I still want to fit in some random things like once a week co-op with show and tell… unit studies based on fun books and some other stuff I haven’t come up with yet! 🙂
enjoying your blog very much. 🙂
Vicki says
Thank you! It’s funny how kids will make you value order, lol. I was cruising along just fine until they started following in my footsteps. One persons mess? Manageable. Four people’s messes? Yeah, that’s not happening.
I am working on training my kids better, too. We actually started our school year last week and it has been rough in some ways, but very good in others. I like that when my husband gets home from work the house doesn’t look like a tornado went through it! I’ve also found how much I enjoy being in our house when it is orderly. This is surprising news to someone who didn’t think it mattered much before, lol.
tereza crump aka mytreasuredcreations says
I have no problem organizing the house, as a matter of fact, I need it clean and organized to be sane, so I keep it that way. But I really don’t like the school routine, but I know it’s necessary because the kids need the training in being diligent and consistent in the work even when they don’t want to do it.
I noticed that when I get overwhelmed because I am stressing and worrying about school or not doing school, I end up upsetting the whole household. So yeah, the routine would be good for the kids and easy on my mind.
I found a really cool and free website that I am enjoying the curriculum… it’s called allinonehomeschool.com – EAsy Peasy Homeschool… She kept it short and to the point. We never stopped doing school at all… we do our learning everyday, one way or the other.
Vicki says
It sounds like you are a little ahead of me, I am just now figuring this housekeeping thing out, lol.
I have heard great things about Easy Peasy Homeschool!
RebeccaTaberski says
Schedule – not so much for us. Rythym and routine – most definitely! Lovely post. We’re pretty passionate about interest-led and delight directed learning at our house too! 🙂
Nita says
Gosh, I don’t have the luxury of not having a concrete plan and routine since both of us work outside the home. The schedule allows all of us to be on the same page. But when the kids are in high school I know that rigid scheduling for homeschool can be freed up a bit with other options.
Linda says
Hi Vicki 🙂 oh I know what you are talking about! I’m wrestling with this myself. I’m also a Type-A wanna-be, realizing having that routine in place really does bring benefits to my family.
I’m going back to re-read this post, and then on to read your guest post at Upside Down homeschooling. Thanks for the encouragement!
Vicki says
Um, maybe this is further proof that I needed this change and it is a work in progress, but I haven’t gotten my post to her yet. I will let you know when it goes up! Sorry for the let down. :/
Linda says
LOL, apology accepted. I was wondering. It’s always nice to visit anyway 🙂 I’ll be checking back another day, then.