Homeschooling Parent Support
Homeschooling can be challenging! Whether you are brand new to it or have been homeschooling your children for years, sometimes things just aren’t going as smoothly as you’d like, or you are too overwhelmed to even begin.
I often hear “my daughter just won’t do school with me” or “he just gets so wiggly during our math time. It’s hard to keep him focused.”
Other parents get overwhelmed by there being just so many options for programs, curricula, strategies, philosophies, schedules…
Still other homeschooling parents find that their own neurology works against them. Issues that they had in school such as pacing out projects, or organizing and keeping track of physical materials can get in their way when they are trying to homeschool their children.
If you are just starting your homeschool journey, welcome! I’d love to help you develop a homeschooling strategy that works for both you and your child or children. If you have been homeschooling for a while, we can look under the hood together, and see what needs to be adjusted to make things run more smoothly.
These parent support sessions are for YOU, the homeschooling parent. Sometimes you need a little bit of help as well! During our sessions I can help you:
Plan and implement your curriculum
Refine your daily and weekly rhythm
Troubleshoot and course correct
Stay accountable to your goals
Reimagine and redefine your relationship to education
Curriculum planning and implementation:
We are so fortunate to live at a time when there are near-infinite resources available for our homeschooling journeys. All of those choices can be paralyzing and overwhelming, especially when the differences between the options aren’t clear right off the bat. This abundance can easily become overwhelming. I am happy to work with you to review the published curricula you are considering, discuss the differences between pedagogies and approaches, and to design a workable, low-stress plan for you and your family this year. I can also help you assemble and submit your homeschool paperwork.
Refine your daily and weekly rhythm:
Sometimes once you’ve selected your curricula for the year, it can still be difficult to plan and implement that curriculum over the weeks and months. I am happy to work with parents to plan out an age-appropriate daily/weekly/monthly schedule for your children so that nobody gets overwhelmed.
Troubleshoot and course correct:
If things just aren’t going well, or your child is resistant to “doing school”, it may be time to change your approach. Children are wonderful at telling us when something isn’t working for them. However, sometimes that communication comes in the form of shutting down, not focusing, or other forms of resistance. It is so important to listen to and interpret those cues. We are doing homeschooling with our children, not to them, and it is important for us to be flexible and shift when we need to. I will happily listen to your story of “he will only ever play Minecraft” and help you unpack what is going on, find strategies to help you shift gears, and help you to implement those strategies.
Stay accountable to your goals
“It is so much easier not to do things than to do them. That you would do anything is totally remarkable. Percentage-wise, it is 100% easier not to do things than to do them. And it’s so much fun not to do them, especially when you were supposed to do them.”—John Mulaney
Even with our best intentions, the most perfect curriculum, and most satisfying visual schedule on our whiteboard, a smushy morning can turn into a day off, which can turn into a week’s break, or a month’s vacation. I can help you stay accountable to the goals you’ve set for yourself and for your family. Sometimes, those goals aren’t working and need to change, but other times, providing some structure, support, and motivation can help keep you accountable to those amazing ideas that are lurking in your homeschool pinterest board or on the first two pages of that mostly blank notebook. (I see you because I’m one of you). I can help you get back on track.
Reimagine and redefine your relationship to education
One wonderful aspect of homeschooling is that you do not need to “do school” all day everyday. You can cover the necessary curriculum in a few hours each day, and let your children's natural curiosity lead them into topics and explorations that they may not have had time to pursue while in school all day. I love to support families throughout their educational journeys to find freedom and ownership of their school experience. Even if you have been homeschooling for years or decades, I am happy to help you design or redesign your homeschooling practice.
Please reach out if you feel that you would like some help. I can meet with you on the phone or via Zoom.
Please note: If this is our first session, I would prefer to have a full 50 min or 90 min session with you, so that we have plenty of time to chat. Coupon codes can also only be applied to 50 and 90 min sessions.