5 Most Common Homeschool Challenges

The following are the most common challenges people face when considering or starting out homeschooling. Below I will briefly talk about each one and how to tackle them.

1. Reluctant Partner

When your spouse is not as enthusiastic or completely against homeschooling, this can be a huge obstacle as you’ll need all the support you can get.

• Firstly, this comes down to your marriage. Supporting each other and compromising is the base of any good relationship. Communicate why you want to homeschool, discuss and explain your reasons.
• If they are still not on board, share success stories of homeschool families. Many times, the reason for reluctance is that they are unaware of how it works.
• Find and meet homeschooling families – see it to believe it.
• Another option is to trial it first. Try homeschool for a year. Remember it doesn’t need to be a permanent decision.
• If all else fails, you can still homeschool around school time, weekends and holidays.

 2. How to Homeschool

When starting out it can be very overwhelming as there are no definite instructions.

Some tips to help you get started:

• research and create a list of 3 homeschool methods that stand out to you. (choosing less is better or it can get overwhelming)
• try out each one a week at a time to get a feel for it
• consider these questions: how old is my child? what is developmentally appropriate for them? What is their learning style?

Remember children aged 7 and under do not require formal learning but do require plenty of opportunities for play according to research

• make a list of resources you will like to use (websites, apps, Youtube channels, books, toys)
• discuss with your children what they would like to learn. If they are too young observe what they show interest in and plan activities for that

 3. Getting into the flow

Its normal to feel pressure, anxiety and doubt when starting out homeschool or even when you’ve been doing it for years! Your homeschool needs time and nurturing for it to eventually become natural and a part of your lifestyle.

• choose if you’d like structured/semi-structured/unstructured learning and plan your learning around that e.g. we prefer structured mornings for maths, English and writing and unstructured learning for science, history, geography, etc
• Make a list of 3 subjects you will like to focus on. Once you get into the flow then add more subjects to avoid overwhelm
• Plan the night before roughly what you would like to cover. With homeschooling it is very flexible and each day is different, therefore I would recommend ‘reverse planning’. (writing down what they learnt at the end of the day)
• At the end of each month review what is working, what needs improvement and what new elements would you like to add

 4. Time Management

Once you start homeschooling, you’ll need to make time for housework, groceries, outings, me time as well as homeschool! But don’t worry where there’s a will, there’s a way! Here are some time management tips:

• Create a system that works for you by making a list of what jobs needs completing each day
• Time block your day to see how much time you are spending on each activity and create a plan to rearrange to fit your daily tasks
• Look into the ‘urgent important’ paradigm
• If its ‘urgent and important’ get it done! If its ‘important but not urgent’ schedule it, if its urgent but not important’ delegate and finally if its ‘not urgent and not important’ cancel it!
• Merge daily life and learning: get your children to help with chores, turn a grocery errand into a learning trip, or watch your child’s favourite cartoon together and plan an activity based on it- you’ll find plenty of free printables online

 5. Criticism, anxiety and self-doubt

When choosing to be different you will naturally feel anxiety, doubt and – critics. Ultimately what matters is that you are doing what’s best for your family, for their success and their happiness.

• Critics may be from your own family, friends, neighbours or the lady at the till. Set boundaries respectfully and remember you don’t need to explain yourself to everyone
• Arm yourself with knowledge and legalities of homeschool (I recommend Education Otherwise website)
• Learn from other homeschooling families
• Create a statement or ethos of your homeschool and go back to it whenever you feel low or demotivated (consider why do I want to homeschool? What is my definition of education? What do I want to accomplish long term?)

Give yourself a chance to develop. Every new endeavour requires some effort at first but gets easier overtime.

Happy Homeschooling!