Warning: Long term exposure to homeschooling can cause positive side effects on the homeschooling mum!
Do you spend hours and hours and hours and hours with your children? You could be at risk.
The more I exposed myself to educating my children at home, I started to experience the following positive side effects. Be warned, you too may experience these side effects if exposed for long periods of time……………
Positive Side Effect #1: Patience
One of the first things you hear when someone discovers you homeschool is, “I could never homeschool, I am not patient.” I get it. I was not patient either.
Live this life for several years and trust me, you will become patient.
Patience, like all character traits, can be learned. Nothing teaches you better than homeschooling your own children. I learned to embrace the difficult stuff and turn it into a teachable moment. Spilled milk – let’s learn how to clean that up. You can’t answer the question – let’s learn it. You are not interested in Science – (sigh) Oh well, we will learn the basics and move on. We are running late – I need to be more organised (OK, this one I am still working on, but hopefully you get the point).
Positive Side Effect #2: Contentment / Gratitude
When you have conversations with other homeschool mums you hear about all the amazing curriculum, outings, activities, and learning experiences they are doing. It is easy to want to do it all and add more to your day (don’t do it). I learned to appreciate the things that are working well for my family and be content that that is enough. If my 7-year-old is not reading chapter books yet, that is OK – he will. He will achieve in his own individual time frame. Enjoy his achievements and celebrate with him as they occur. Admittedly it took me until child #3 to really embrace this one, but I am there now. Being grateful is such a freeing feeling.
Positive Side effect #3: Embrace Imperfection
Not only was I impatient, but I was also a perfectionist. Growing up, my Dad’s mantra was, “If it is something worth doing, it is worth doing well.” As a perfectionist, this prevented me from beginning many new projects. In the early days, my children missed out on learning opportunities because I felt my plan was not perfect. Now I know better. A lot of the time something is better than nothing and I am amazed at how much more we are achieving. I have relaxed on housework (maybe too much at times), my children begin their own projects, and I am more realistic on the learning outcomes.
Positive Side Effect #4: Grammar
OK, I am still learning this one, but trust me, it has improved.
Positive Side Effect #5: Ask for Help
This was by far the most difficult for me. As an impatient perfectionist, asking for help was not something I liked to do. Nobody could do it like me! One of my boys also has this character trait. I would often hear myself telling him that he does not know everything and he never will. Asking for help is necessary at times and the strong, confident person recognises when to do so. After a while, I started to listen to myself and one day my son might listen to me as well.
When I took on homeschooling my children 15 years ago, it did not occur to me that I would grow from the experience. I love learning alongside my boys and these side effects are a blessing.
Have you experienced any positive side effects from homeschooling? If this post resonates with you please share your experience so we can encourage all homeschool mums together.
This post shares my experience and opinions only and is not professional advice. Please make your own decisions on what is right for your child and family given your individual circumstances.
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