Homeschooling isn’t always snuggling around a couch, reading a lovely book, or gathering around a table engaged in education. Often, it’s dirty laundry, refereeing fights between kids, keeping the preschooler busy so she doesn’t color on siblings’ spelling work, and other not-so-fun tasks that go along with living in the real world. Sometimes, it’s not the kids feeling less-than-excited about another day of learning adventures; sometimes, it’s me!
Here’s a list of things that help me when I’m feeling meh about the task ahead.
Re-Reading My Favorite Homeschooling Books
The first thing I do when I’m feeling “meh” is revisit the three books that have influenced me the most regarding homeschooling. These are The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise, The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart, and A Literary Education by Emily Cook.
Breaking Up Our Routine
When I feel things are stale, the kids usually also feel stale. This is when we change our routine. We might attend a park event we don’t usually attend or take our books into the backyard—or the local park.
Mystery Mondays
Every once in a while, I like to get some sort of a learning activity or craft kit, wrap it up, and present it on Mondays. We’ve done face painting, sun catchers, sun paper, and more to shake things up on Mondays. I don’t always do it, but it’s fun to shake things up.
Learn Alongside the Kids
I’ve learned with my kids two days into our homeschooling this year. Not only do I always bookmark news articles and new developments related to things we’re learning, but I also try to read recent books on the topics we’re studying. That way, we’re all learning together and can wonder about interesting facts and discoveries.
Those are the main things I do to help me stay inspired while homeschooling. I really do enjoy learning alongside the kids (and there’s always something new to learn about different subjects).
What inspires you?
Published by Ronda Bowen
Hello there, and welcome to my page! I have been working as a full-time freelance writer and editor since 2008 when I decided that while I rather enjoyed philosophy, the Ph.D. program I was in was not a good fit for my life goals. Since then, I have published many papers and articles, started two blogs, worked as a senior editor for a magazine, served on the board of a start-up non-profit organization, and walked across fire.
I strongly believe that it is important to work to make the world a better place – one project at a time. I’ve worked with Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program to construct living quarters for those in need, written content for Stonewall Alliance, and edited the newsletter for my local natural foods cooperative. One of the blogs I founded, Activism My Way is dedicated to helping people get involved with causes they feel passionate about.
Although my academic background is in philosophy and social and political theory, my heart has always been in writing fiction and poetry. I have a novel in progress, and I am working on putting together a collection of short stories to share with readers. I also worked as part of a creative team on a project with a hip hop artist that involved world-building and creating an amazing back story to a concept album. I have worked with several authors to edit their novels (as well as dissertations, children’s books, journal articles, and non-fiction projects).
Non-fiction topics I have written about include pop culture and philosophy, project management, business startups and management, insurance, technology, and much more. I also have created web content for a wide variety of clients (ranging from gas station owners to hotels to lawyers), and I’ve had an opportunity to interview some amazing people (Michele May, Kevin Sorbo, Barbara Taylor Bradford, and Mark Victor Hansen to name only a few). Needless to say, I love what I do.
I enjoy photography, and my subjects these days are usually my children as well as food, beverages, craft projects, and other such things for my blog, Wining Wife™. My favorite subjects are landscapes, nature (particularly clouds, flowers, and trees), and architecture.
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Just a Secular Homeschooler 