Homeschool Flexibility

Again, I'm praising the joys of homeschooling!  There's nothing like a system that lets you do what you want, when you want to do it.  While this is also a potential recipe for disaster, it also allows a good deal more freedom than the regular school day.

Just the other day we had a really busy schedule.  There was so much to get done and there wouldn't be time to fit school in!  Of course, if my kids were in school I wouldn't need to worry about planning in learning time.  Even with that, I would still have to plan in the time for picking up the kids.  It wouldn't be nearly as easy as things turned out.

We decided to take a day off of conventional schooling.  We took our lessons on the road.  We talked about what things cost, did our shopping, ran our errands, and got a lot done!  It wasn't the same as our usual workbook schedule, but at the very least we did get something done.  Now on Monday we'll have a chance to start fresh.  Two days were taken out of our schedule, but you know what?  The world isn't going to end.  There's always going to be days like this.  There's always going to be occasions where things aren't always going to work the way they like.  Things will come up, but we roll with it.

That's one thing you can say for homeschooling families.  They learn to just roll with things.  Yes, sometimes life turns things on it's head.  Sometimes you don't get to follow your schedule.  So what?  You'll just get back on track.  A day or two off never hurt anyone.  A change of pace is sometimes nice.

In the end I hope that my children learn to be adaptable from this whole experience.  I hope that they learn life rarely ever goes as planned, and that's not always a bad thing.  I want to help them learn to think on the fly and change their pace as the road before them warrants.  Most importantly, I want them to see that just because there's a rock in your path doesn't mean you can't still find a way around it.

Every day I find new gifts that homeschooling gives my children.  With each passing day I'm learning that my children are learning valuable life lessons just by being exposed to it.  I don't need to teach them.  It just happens through experience.  It's like magic!  Simple as that!