So you’ve made the decision to start homeschooling, and I bet you’re excited! And you should be!
But, before you get too carried away purchasing a bunch of curricula and making 6 months of lesson plans, read through what NOT to do.
You see, I was just like you. Eager and excited, reading all the great books about homeschooling (The Call of the Wild + Free, 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, and The Brave Learner), and watching lots of YouTube videos.
I knew all the possible mistakes and I tried to avoid them. But I still made them, after all my research! It’s almost like a rite of passage as a new homeschooling parent.
Without further ado, here’s what NOT to do.
Over Planning
When you first start out, especially if you’re a nerd like me, you tend to buy planners and lots of school supplies. Then you start working out lesson plans far in advance. Before you know it, you have a great plan. But here’s the thing about homeschooling. It rarely goes according to plan. Interests change, seasons change which limits some activities, and children learn at different speeds than expected.
So what should you do instead? Don’t plan farther than a week ahead, at first. In fact, I plan on a daily basis right now. It keeps me from feeling like we failed if we don’t accomplish everything we set out to. Plus, we can plan our next day based on our schedule, which is hard to do in advance.
Not Planning the Night Before
Starting the day without a plan is a surefire way to be frustrated. I get it. At the end of the day, the last thing you want to do is plan tomorrow’s day. But you should. If you don’t, you’ll wish you had.
It doesn’t have to be a big elaborate plan. In fact, ours is quite simple. I use a clipboard with storage and put all the pages, worksheets, flashcards, games, and books inside of the clipboard. We are ready to go when the morning rolls around.
You can also use a timeblocking method that many homeschoolers enjoy. If so, I highly recommend using an hourly daily planner. This is the one I use and love.
We use both methods depending on what is going on in our lives. If we’re home, we tend to time block. When we are traveling, we stick with the clipboard method.
For us, as long as there is a plan, no matter the method, our day goes more smoothly.
Not Enough Play
You don’t realize how much information your kids are soaking up just by living life with you. Some people think of play as something kids do for fun, which is partly true. But play is also necessary for learning. Kids don’t need a bunch of formal lessons, especially when they are in early elementary school. They will be better suited to play engaging, active games that incorporate educational topics.
For example, we used to do our school subjects by rigidly following a curriculum. I found that wasn’t the best way for my son to learn. He did much better with play, activity, exploration, and fun.
Now that I know better, I do better, and we play lots of games.
Snakes and Ladders help him learn his numbers 1-100. We play Monopoly Junior to learn about money management, investing, and money denominations. Sight Word Swat lets kids hold a fly swatter to smack the fly for the sight word card. Kids can build spelling, reading, and vocabulary skills while playing.
Not Changing Curriculum Quickly When Needed
I highly recommend reading 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum BEFORE selecting a curriculum. It has tons of information and self-assessments to help you understand and develop your homeschool style and teaching style according to your children’s learning styles. Once you know this information, you can better select a curriculum that meets your family’s needs.
However, even if you do your research, you may still select a curriculum that ends up not working out. I did. Give it an honest try, but if it’s not working, you shouldn’t stick with it indefinitely. Be willing to be flexible and adaptive and try something new. You, and your children, will be glad you did if the issue was the wrong curriculum.
Too Much Structure
Planning lessons takes a ton of time, and it’s easy to want things to go smoothly and stay on track. But rabbit trails are good!
When kids ask questions, it means they are interested and eager to learn.
So take the rabbit trails. And don’t worry about the lesson structure, as long as they are learning.
Not Following Child’s Interests
As a beginner homeschool mom, following lessons makes things so much easier…for the parent. That being said, if you find that the lessons are not interesting to your child, try something else.
Anytime you can apply your child’s interests and passions to their learning, they will be much happier to learn. For example, my son is a huge drone enthusiast. We incorporate drones when we teach lessons, and purchase books about drones so my son can “read” them during quiet time.
He is learning so much. Actually, last night, he approached a man at the beach who was flying a drone and impressed him by naming several different drone models, identifying what model the man was flying, and asking him about the drone’s picture quality.
Buying Too Much Curriculum
Curriculum overload is a real problem, especially for new homeschool parents eager to start! There are so many amazing options for curriculum. But don’t go crazy as I did and buy a bunch of different options. We do use some of them occasionally, but now, we have branched away from using a curriculum and he is still making the same progress.
So before you go nuts and buy a bunch of curricula, ease into homeschooling. You may find that you don’t even want to use a curriculum.
Comparing Our Homeschool to Others
One of the first things I heard from veteran homeschool parents is not to compare your homeschool to others. I still did. It’s hard not to compare homeschooling styles and wonder if your child would respond better to other styles. This is how we adopted the eclectic homeschooling style.
We took a little bit of each type of homeschooling style and used what works best for us.
Comparison really is the thief of joy.
Too Much Book Work
Let kids play! Young children especially learn so much through imaginative and active play. So ditch the books early on. In fact, research shows that children who don’t start formal school lessons until the age of 7 have more academic achievement and child well-being.
Children in Finland do not start school until the age of 7 and lead the United States in math, science, and reading!
Relying on Curriculum for All Learning
Another curriculum mistake. Don’t rely too heavily on a curriculum and think that is the only way your children are learning. Living life teaches children a multitude of things that books cannot easily teach.
So if you take a day off from homeschooling, that’s ok! Your children will still learn that day because living is learning. They watch everything we do.
Putting Too Much Pressure on Myself
We all want to be supermom who has it all together all the time, but that’s not reality. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself when things don’t go perfectly or according to plan.
If your children aren’t understanding a concept you are trying to convey, don’t beat yourself up about it. You’re doing a great job.
Going to Co-Ops
Many people love homeschool co-ops. I’m not one of them. I’ve tried it, but it’s just not for us. That doesn’t mean it’s a mistake. But if you try a homeschool co-op, and don’t enjoy it, that’s ok. Maybe it’s not your group of people. Or maybe you prefer to stick to your family and friends. Whatever works!
Not Using the Library
If you have a library card, you definitely don’t need a curriculum if you don’t want to purchase one. Let’s say that you are doing a unit study on dolphins. Find books on what dolphins eat, their behavior, and where they live.
If you do nothing else as a homeschooling parent at first, head to the library, let them pick books, and read aloud to them. The library can provide a completely free homeschooling education if you use this amazing resource.
Trying to Get it Done Quickly
School isn’t something to get done and over with. If you speak to your children about school and learning as if it is something to rush through so you can do fun things, they will dread school every day.
Make learning fun!
Not Asking for Help
We can’t do it all. I guess we can, but it’s a surefire way to get homeschool burnout.
Ask your spouse to help. Maybe you can teach English Language Arts, Reading, and History and your spouse can teach Math and Science.
Join a co-op if that is something that interests you.
Get a tutor.
Many grandparents want to help as well. My mom loves doing art with my son.
Don’t feel like you have to be your children’s only educator.
Comparing Progress to Others
All children learn at different speeds, have different interests, different energy levels, and will become completely different adults. And just because one homeschooling parent teaches their 5 year old how to do complex algebraic equations doesn’t mean your child should be doing the same.
It takes some time, but you’ll get confident that your child is right where he should be once you homeschool for a little bit.
Not Setting Expectations
We went the first 4 months without setting expectations. That didn’t go smoothly. He didn’t know what to expect the day to be like and he didn’t know what I expected of him. Turns out, he thought I expected perfection which turned into a whole extra set of issues. Read this if you have a perfectionist like me!
Once we set the expectation of trying his hardest, regardless of it being perfect, he was much more willing to participate. Now, we have a great morning routine, complete with expectations.
Not Going Outside Enough
Homeschool doesn’t mean that you have to do school at home. There are tons of great places to teach and learn. Especially outside! Explore nature!
When we are having a bad day, it’s almost always because we aren’t spending enough time outside.
Thinking That Learning is Done for the Day
Learning is everywhere, and it’s vital to have a learning mindset as a homeschooling parent. Even if you opt to use a curriculum, just because your children are finished with their lessons for the day doesn’t mean that learning is done for the day.
Trying to Teach Everything
Just because you have taken on the role of educator doesn’t mean that you have to teach your kids everything there is to learn! Use resources!
Get a tutor, watch YouTube documentaries, find workbooks and books, go to the library, or download a learning app.
Being Afraid of Screen Time
At first, I was against screen time. Now, we limit it. I do notice a negative change in my son’s behavior if we allow too much screen time. That being said, I think there are a lot of educational benefits from some YouTube and learning apps.
It’s funny, but I’ve actually noticed a huge improvement in my son’s vocabulary in the past few months by being able to watch educational videos on YouTube.
Just over the last week, he has learned what the words quality, edible, impressive, and in comparison mean by watching educational videos on YouTube.
Pushing Too Hard
I often think of that Friends episode when Chandler says “you have to stop the Q-tip when there’s resistance!” Homeschooling is no different. Instead of pushing too hard, stop when there’s resistance.
I don’t mean you should stop indefinitely, of course, but take a break. Be done with school for the day, or at least that subject.
Pushing too hard doesn’t help anyone. All it does is make learning seem like a chore. My goal is to instill a love of learning in my son.
Not Making it Fun
Workbooks just aren’t very fun for young children. There are lots of ways to make homeschooling fun.
For younger children, here are some ways to make homeschooling fun on a daily basis.
Here are some ways to make homeschooling in the winter more fun.
And if you’re a traveling homeschool family like us, here are some ways to make homeschooling while traveling fun and easy.
Wrong Teaching Style
Most people naturally tend to teach with their preferred learning style. For example, I am a reading and writing learner, meaning I learn best from reading information and taking notes. My son, on the other hand, is a kinesthetic learner. He learns best through activity and movement.
Trying to teach my son using my learning style is not effective. The sooner you learn this, the better homeschool experience you and your children will have.
Conclusion
So while I shared the mistakes I made as a new homeschooling mom in our first year in hopes to help someone have a smoother start, you may be just like me and make them anyway. And you know what? That’s ok – because we are all learning.
