Have you ever notice that when someone is trying to convince you of something that they think it amazing, they only tell you all the GOOD things about it, and not usually the ugly side or negative parts about (insert thing)?
It’s the same thing with homeschooling.
Many homeschooling parents don’t talk about the ugly side of homeschooling.
The bad days.
The rough moments.
Which is why I’m here to talk to you about not only the ugly side of homeschooling, but to also bring a positive light to it and tell you what you can do instead when those ugly moments creep up!
Two ugly sides of homeschooling no one usually talks about:
1. Frustrating Days
Hey friend, there will be frustrating days when you homeschool.
Maybe you’re having a rough day yourself so you get easily frustrated with the kids during school. Or maybe your child is frustrated with their math work and has a bad attitude.
Maybe even maybe, there’s some stress going on in the family, but you don’t want it to affect the homeschooling day, so you trudge on anyway, which then just makes things worse.
Whatever the reason or the trigger, frustrating days are going to happen, but be encouraged, because there are things you can do to help alleviate the frustration.
What to do when frustration kicks in:
1. First and foremost, stop everything. Breathe and pray.
2. Stop all school work.
3. Do something different that everyone loves! Maybe this is blasting music and singing together while coloring, maybe it would be taking a walk outside, or doing a random bike ride. Maybe even take the kids in the kitchen and go bake cookies… because we all know that fresh baked cookies still warm from the oven can cheer up even the grouchiest person’s soul, immediately.
So when frustration kicks in during your homeschool days, remember those tips!
2. Your Child’s Not Interested in Their Curriculum
It’s inevitable that sometimes your child will not like their curriculum.
**Now, let me disclaimer this by saying that I’m not talking about when our kids are just being lazy or confrontational, and just happen to “not like anything” at the moment. That’s not what I’m talking about here. You’re the parent and you should know when your kids are playing this game.
What I’m actually talking about is when your child just truly cannot get into the curriculum they’re using. Maybe it’s too wordy, maybe the format is just not making sense to them, or maybe it just doesn’t tailor to their specific and special style of learning.
And hey, sometimes even us mamas (or other parental figures who are doing the homeschooling) can’t get into the curriculum either.
Whatever the reason may be, sometimes a change needs to happen.
So, what to do when you or your child doesn’t like the chosen curriculum:
This is very simple… are you ready for it?!
1. STOP THE CURRICULUM.
As in:
✅ Stop using it
✅ Stop bringing it out
✅ Sell the one you don’t like
✅ …and change your curriculum
I know, I know. Sometimes we just want to tough it out until we’ve finished it, but that’s not always wise.
And yes, I know we pay a lot of money for curriculum at times, but sometimes, we just have to take a bit of a loss and either sell it or throw it out if it can’t be sold.
What’s more important— you and your child’s sanity and relationship, or the $43 you spent on the book? ?
I get it. Sometimes we spend so much money on one homeschool thing and then realize it wasn’t really all that great.
It stinks.
I really hate wasting money; I truly do. But again, it just happens and it’s going to be okay when it does. Life will go on and you WILL find something better to replace it.
Just remember, homeschool mama, there are some ugly sides to homeschooling sometimes, BUT, there are ways to turn them back to positives. And this can be applied to many other scenarios!
