Inquiring Minds Homeschool

Learning is lifelong

Menu
  • Inquiring Minds Homeschool
  • About
  • Blog
  • History Planner Free Template
  • Homeschool Refresh
Menu
Homeschool Refresh Week 2

Homeschool Refresh WEEK 2

Posted on January 6, 2019February 4, 2019 by Lisa
Homeschool Refresh Week 2

Welcome back to the Homeschool Refresh series!

If you missed Part 1, Celebrate Successes, you can check that out here: Homeschool Refresh Week 1

This week, we’ll be taking an honest look at our homeschool challenges.

Before we go off setting goals and thinking about how to change things up, we need to first take an honest look at what exactly the difficulties ARE. That way, we can be sure that the changes we make will actually address the problem!

If you signed up for the Homeschool Refresh already, you got Week 2 sent straight to your email inbox. If you haven’t signed up yet, no worries! You can do that by clicking any image or link on this page, like this one: Send me my free worksheets!

Homeschool Refresh Week 2 Acknowledge Difficulties
Page 1 of the Homeschool Refresh workbook for Week 2
My Week 2, filled out in the PDF. You can also print out your worksheets and write directly on them. It’s up to you!
What next? from the Homeschool Refresh Week 2 workbook

In the worksheets for this week, you’ll identify areas of difficulty, and specific examples of progress or difficulties in these areas. The worksheet says “Progress” because even in these challenging areas, you might be seeing glimmers of improvement. We don’t want it to be all doom and gloom.

Why this week’s refresh task might be challenging…

Acknowledging that homeschooling isn’t 100% sunshine and unicorns is a tricky business. You may have people in your life who give you a hard time about your decision to homeschool. So, you might be in the mode of defending your homeschool against every possible attack.

The critics in your life (this includes online life, btw) might not get your decision making process or see the benefits that you wrote about in Week 1. But, amidst all their mistakes and confusion, it’s possible that they have stumbled upon a few grains of truth.

Banish the voice of the concern trolls

For example: your mother in law might ask you every time there’s a family gathering about why your older child isn’t reading yet. You know she isn’t a big fan of homeschooling and that she’s probably just asking to let you know of her disapproval, disguised as her “concern”. She doesn’t really want to know – she’s just concern trolling.

(This is not about my mother in law btw – she is very supportive of our homeschool! I’m just using MIL as an example because this is a common thing I see in people’s online posts)

If you’re really honest with yourself, it might legitimately bug you that your older child isn’t reading yet. Deep down, you might be worried about it. You can see that he’s getting bored with the books he can sound out on his own, but easily gets frustrated when he tries to read the books he really wants to read. You’ve even had stray thoughts about bringing it up with the pediatrician, or asking your teacher friend who works with struggling readers.

It’s just that every time you think about it, you remember the “concern” from your mother in law. It makes you want to roll your eyes and rattle off all the reasons why Finland doesn’t teach reading early, or all the other arguments that you’ve used thus far to push your worries away.

For Week 2 to work, we have to treat our concerns honestly, but not beat ourselves up. Or hear the concerns spoken in the voices of our critics.

It doesn’t matter whatsoever if a critical person in your life points out “concerns”. It does matter if YOU think it could be a problem, or if your child thinks it’s a problem!

Proceed gently!

The goal of this is to identify areas for problem solving and brainstorming, NOT to feel badly! The fact that you’re taking the time to do this process means that you are a wonderful homeschooler, despite whatever struggles you’re having.

Thanks for joining me on this journey!

If you’d like to share how the challenge is going for you, leave a comment below!

1 thought on “Homeschool Refresh WEEK 2”

  1. Pingback: Homeschool Refresh WEEK 5 - Inquiring Minds Homeschool

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Free Challenge

Free Planner

Free Unit Plan Chart

Recent Posts

  • Ready for camp today! @the_renaissance_child #stemlearning #stemeducation #electronicsforkids #summerstemcamp
  • Check out my new article on the @pandia_press blog (<—link in their bio) . As a science educator, I believe in giving students the most complete, accurate, up to date information that we can, in a developmentally appropriate way. Deciding not to mention topics that are “controversial” is not an educational strategy I support. . I have taught in religious environments and gotten pushback on evolution - and I’ll tell you what I told the kids: . Science is science, and religion is religion. I am not here to tell you what to believe in or argue with your pastor, rabbi, priest, imam etc. . Science is not a belief. You don’t have to believe anything in order to understand it or learn the information. There is no ultimate conclusion that science “wants” you to reach, which is why there are scientists from every religion, country, language, etc who can study and communicate about it. It’s not the purview of a specific culture, government, ethnicity or gender. It’s a method for learning about the world - above all, asking questions and trying to make sense of what can be observed directly or indirectly. . Science is not a moral code and has nothing to say about living a good life, though its outcomes (like antibiotics and higher crop yields) can benefit millions. It’s not a substitute for character development or moral instruction. Many scientists continue to believe in the religions they were born into. . Feel free to ask me anything about evolution or any other science topic - I love to research and explain, and I’m teaching an evolution course right now with the museum so I have access to great material and experts. So ask away (-: . But first go to @pandia_press profile and check out the article (-: #scienceeducation #scienceeducator #homeschoolscience #evolution #teachingevolution #whyteachevolution #homeschoolcurriculum #secularhomeschool #secularhomeschooling #secularhomeschooler
  • Book club – After many years of teaching children to read, I’m enjoying raising my own reader 📙📘📗📕 Books we’re currently enjoying: the Frank Einstein series, James and the Giant Peach (have lost count how many times he’s read it), and the Nick and Tesla series. The book in the picture is Greetings from Somewhere which is a good beginning chapter book series or a gentle intro to studying places around the world. #raisingareader #homeschoolreading #homeschool #secularhomeschool #booksofinstagram
  • Perler bead science – plant cell . My son loves perler beads, so they’re a natural modeling tool! I made this with his help, looking at various diagrams for guidance. It’s a conceit we will revisit many times, esp once we get a good microscope! #handsonscience #secularhomeschool #homeschoolscience #perlerbeadscience #plantcellmodel
  • Follow trains are a great way to connect with other homeschool families, and this one is for the secular homeschoolers out there. ✨ It can be hard to find secular families in the homeschool world, so here’s what you do: ✨Follow @that_secular_mom ✨Ask for image and script ✨ Follow accounts using this image with the tag #secularmomfollowtrain ✨Like and comment on images. That’s it!! #secularhomeschool #secularlife #homeschooling #homeeducation #hsmom #secularmoms

Archives

  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018

Categories

  • Blog
  • History
  • Homeschool Refresh
  • Homeschooling
  • Kindergarten
  • Math
  • Music
  • Play
  • Reading
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Writing

Recent Posts

  • Ready for camp today! @the_renaissance_child #stemlearning #stemeducation #electronicsforkids #summerstemcamp
  • Check out my new article on the @pandia_press blog (<—link in their bio) . As a science educator, I believe in giving students the most complete, accurate, up to date information that we can, in a developmentally appropriate way. Deciding not to mention topics that are “controversial” is not an educational strategy I support. . I have taught in religious environments and gotten pushback on evolution - and I’ll tell you what I told the kids: . Science is science, and religion is religion. I am not here to tell you what to believe in or argue with your pastor, rabbi, priest, imam etc. . Science is not a belief. You don’t have to believe anything in order to understand it or learn the information. There is no ultimate conclusion that science “wants” you to reach, which is why there are scientists from every religion, country, language, etc who can study and communicate about it. It’s not the purview of a specific culture, government, ethnicity or gender. It’s a method for learning about the world - above all, asking questions and trying to make sense of what can be observed directly or indirectly. . Science is not a moral code and has nothing to say about living a good life, though its outcomes (like antibiotics and higher crop yields) can benefit millions. It’s not a substitute for character development or moral instruction. Many scientists continue to believe in the religions they were born into. . Feel free to ask me anything about evolution or any other science topic - I love to research and explain, and I’m teaching an evolution course right now with the museum so I have access to great material and experts. So ask away (-: . But first go to @pandia_press profile and check out the article (-: #scienceeducation #scienceeducator #homeschoolscience #evolution #teachingevolution #whyteachevolution #homeschoolcurriculum #secularhomeschool #secularhomeschooling #secularhomeschooler
  • Book club – After many years of teaching children to read, I’m enjoying raising my own reader 📙📘📗📕 Books we’re currently enjoying: the Frank Einstein series, James and the Giant Peach (have lost count how many times he’s read it), and the Nick and Tesla series. The book in the picture is Greetings from Somewhere which is a good beginning chapter book series or a gentle intro to studying places around the world. #raisingareader #homeschoolreading #homeschool #secularhomeschool #booksofinstagram
  • Perler bead science – plant cell . My son loves perler beads, so they’re a natural modeling tool! I made this with his help, looking at various diagrams for guidance. It’s a conceit we will revisit many times, esp once we get a good microscope! #handsonscience #secularhomeschool #homeschoolscience #perlerbeadscience #plantcellmodel
  • Follow trains are a great way to connect with other homeschool families, and this one is for the secular homeschoolers out there. ✨ It can be hard to find secular families in the homeschool world, so here’s what you do: ✨Follow @that_secular_mom ✨Ask for image and script ✨ Follow accounts using this image with the tag #secularmomfollowtrain ✨Like and comment on images. That’s it!! #secularhomeschool #secularlife #homeschooling #homeeducation #hsmom #secularmoms

Recent Comments

  • LaDonna on Homeschool Kindergarten: Our Approach
  • LaDonna on Homeschool Kindergarten: Our Approach
  • autumn on Secular Homeschool History – Where to Start?
  • Hands on Pre-History: Make Your Own Dig Site - Part 1 - Inquiring Minds Homeschool on Homeschool Prehistory Study
  • Our Weekly Homeschool Routine - Inquiring Minds Homeschool on Poetry Teatime: Adding Joy to Homeschool Writing

Archives

  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018

Categories

  • Blog
  • History
  • Homeschool Refresh
  • Homeschooling
  • Kindergarten
  • Math
  • Music
  • Play
  • Reading
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Writing

Amazon Affiliate

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no cost to you. Thanks for supporting this site!

© 2021 Inquiring Minds Homeschool | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme