Here's how we took our homeschool from dreaded to dreamy.

I used to be a very anxious person. Sometimes I still am, but believe me when I say the difference is like night and day. I was dealing with anxiety in general, plus I was dealing with some health problems all on top of babysitting and trying to homeschool my kids. Stress much? Y.E.S.

I was following curriculums and stressing over which one was best for my kids. Even when I bought a curriculum, I never really loved it and continued to search for something new. Add to this the stress of knowing how much you spent on these curriculums and boom. More anxiety. I felt defeated. I felt like I was failing.

I won't share what curriculums we were using because I don't want to throw them under the bus or make you think they weren't great. MANY people have used them successfully and loved them. I liked certain aspects of almost all of them, but something just never felt "right". We ended up going through a season of prioritizing our life/lifestyle, which led to us letting go of many ideas and things. When I heard someone mention the idea of "unschooling" I was hooked. Obsessed might be a better descriptor here lol. I dug into research. I was a little (a LOT) confused by what it meant or how it worked. I had SOOO many questions but no one to actually ask. 

Eventually, I decided to just give it a shot, and.... I loved it. I'm so glad I took the plunge. 

1- My first tip is to simply let go of what you think "school" is supposed to be. I know, I know, this sounds like craziness, but how do you learn? Seriously, right now, as an adult...how do you learn something new? Do you buy text books and follow a scheduled plan and take tests to prove you learned it? Or, do you Google it and figure it out for yourself? I realize the answer to this will vary depending on what you're wanting to learn, but that means your child's education can vary depending on that too! They want to learn to play the piano? Cool! Sign them up for lessons or buy a keyboard and youtube it. You can make this work for your child's learning style and your budget. They want to learn about Egypt? Google it. Go to the library and check out books all about Egypt. Look up some Egyptian recipes and cook it for dinner. Buy some kinetic sand and create a diorama with pyramids and all. Paint, draw, practice writing all about what they learn. They will be learning vocabulary, measurements (math), history, spelling, science, social studies, and art all without even trying.  

2- My second piece of advice is to learn along WITH your kids. Yep. You no longer have to be "smarter" than your kids in order to teach them. No more studying in advance to figure out how you're supposed to do this so that you can turn around and teach them. Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know". Your new phrase is, "I don't know, but let's find out together". (go to google and the library etc) Sit down with them and learn together!

3- Get outside. In our family, we call it "re-wilding". Go outside. Immerse yourselves in nature. Nature is the greatest classroom. Seriously. Even if it looks like your kids are "just playing" believe me...they are learning. Say it with me (yes really, say this out loud with me!) THEY ARE LEARNING.