Why I Simplified Homeschool
It took me three weeks to realize I had overcomplicated preschool.
As a former classroom teacher, I had a lot of habits to break. In my defense, I had been planning to homeschool my children since before they were even born. I had my curriculums (yes there were two), my books, my memory board, everything all ready to go. I spent so much time each weekend planning out what we would do each week and somehow it wasn’t exactly checking all the boxes.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I did a lot of things right. But I quickly realized I was trying to do too much. And truthfully, I really wanted this year to be light, to be fun, to take no more than 30 minutes a day (if that). I wanted this to be a great introduction to what homeschooling could be.
Before I go any further, let me set a few things straight. I don’t think you actually need any curriculum to homeschool preschoolers. I don’t really even think it’s necessary if they’re spending a ton of time outside, reading lots of books and practicing those gross and fine motor skills. In my house, we were just ready for something a bit more formal. And by formal I don’t mean spend all day at a desk, I mean just more of a plan.
After giving it three weeks, I knew it wasn’t quite flowing and I was putting too much pressure on myself. I wanted to do all the cute things the curriculum (and let’s be real, Pinterest) had to offer, but it just wasn’t realistic. I was not about to take my child inside from looking at frogs or baby bunnies to craft or do a learning journal. So, the extras just kept getting pushed and I felt guilty.
And then, I happened to stumble upon a podcast reminding me that the important things were Reading, Math and Writing. Everything else could come later.
I have been listening to the Memoria Press podcast recently and came across an episode where they were talking about this very concept.
As much as I want to do the really cool shadows or clouds activity from the Science section of my preschool curriculum, we already talk about shadows and look at clouds whenever we’re outside. I don’t need a formal Bible curriculum, reading and discussing it during Breakfast and Books is perfect.
The plan I scratched out after deciding to go back to basics.
One of the best parts of homeschooling is you don’t have to do everything, you can do what is right for your children.
I had forgotten this. I spent almost a decade having instructional coaches and principles telling me to hit every single part of the curriculum, it was almost like I didn’t know how to take pieces out.
To go back to basics, I wrote out what my goals for the week were, what life skills or habits were were continuing to work on, what we needed to hit each day during Breakfast and Books, what the focus would be during Tea Time and then hit the main three - Reading, Writing and Math.
For each of the big three, there was a warm-up and a main activity. I made a list of warm-ups and then each day I choose one before going into the main activity. I don’t feel pressured to hit every little thing every day because I know if I keep this rhythm everything will get done and the crafts are a bonus. We may get to them, we may not. There’s plenty of free crafting going on around here, I’m not worried about it.
