Tips For Avoiding Overwhelm

Homeschooling can be overwhelming. 

There are so many books, curriculum choices, philosophies and families doing things differently around every corner. Social media and targeted ads can make you think you need more, need less, need this, need that. (You probably don’t.)

Add to that the general responsibilities family brings like classes, appointments, meals and keeping the house looking relatively organized, you’ve got a simmering pot of overwhelm just waiting to happen.

It is exhausting to plan experiences for all your children while also trying to keep your head down and filter out all that noise!

So, how do we avoid this overwhelm?

Well, what I think is needed is an ounce of preparation, a cup of perspective and a pinch of objectivity.

On the homefront:

• Preparation and preplanning can make the world of difference because you don’t need to carry the reminders and to-do lists in your mind. The easiest reduction in overwhelm to create rhythm at home. Keeping on top of appointments, classes and responsibilities with a calendar so you can see the big picture is imperative if you want to also support the rhythm of your home through those transitions and additions. For those pesky household chores, I’m big on room rotation through the week (I don’t clean on the weekends unless absolutely necessary). For example, I clean my kitchen Mondays, washroom Tuesdays, living room Wednesday etc. This keeps things manageable and carries us through to the big cleans in summer and winter (I also don’t spring clean because at the first sign of spring we are outside and soaking in the warmth). Make sure everyone is helping! Even the littlest of hands can contribute! 
• Perspective – Realize that as homeschoolers you are in your home more often than others, and the home is going to represent that fact. There will be books and craft supplies and flour most everywhere at one point or another. It is life being lived. 
• Objectivity – If your time feels tight, look at all your activities and deem which hold importance in your family values and which do not. Step away from your wants and desires and find what truly feeds the soul of your family and keeps everyone healthy.

On the homeschool front

Things aren’t as easily divided into three “ingredient” categories because one carries into the other. So I wanted to share how I filter out all the noise and focus on what my children need.

The most important thing to remember when facing homeschool overwhelm is that all will be well if you look at the children in front of you and identify what THEY need, without your fears, biases or preconceived notions getting in the way. Doing this will give you perspective, will allow you to prepare properly, and help you make objective decisions. All those flash purchases and knee jerk changes usually come from a places of fear or feelings of our own inadequacy. Looking at our children allows us to make clear decisions.

Twice a year (typically July and January) I sit down and write a list of “what I know” about my children. Their interests, strengths, areas of need, things I’ve heard them say they wanted to do, and things I would like to introduce to them. I also add their age and signs of the phase of development they are currently moving through. What is really living in them in relation to their development that will affect their learning? I also jot things down in my notebook through the year that I’ve heard them say or that they have told me they would like to investigate further and gather them all for these “what I know” landscapes.

When we really know and see our children, we can more easily quiet all the noise and overwhelm and plan for what is needed.

After I’ve created this image of my child, then I look at the topics I would like to bring to them and fill out my planning sheet. I used to do this in a lined notebook, but with my children in high school I felt I needed something slightly more organized that I could file away by subject. Planning is preparation, and it can make or break a homeschool. Children know when you are unprepared and it reflects in their participation and interest during the lesson. When you are prepared, your energy changes and you can enjoy the time spent teaching.

Here are the headings on my planning sheet:

• Block/Unit/Topic/Subject – You get the idea, pretty straight forward
• Purpose – why am I bringing this? I go into detail here with my reasoning. It keeps me accountable to my children and the integrity and authenticity of our homeschool. If I don’t have a good reason, then is it necessary?
• How will the activities highlight a strength? – When I plan a lesson, I always want to be sure that it allows my children to tap into strengths. It helps keep interest and allows space for growth without all the stress of having everything fall into the “new skill” category.
• How will this support a need? – There are always skills that need working on, that is one of the purposes of education after all. So what will this block help build in my child?
• Specific details/categories of subject – Here I outline the broad strokes of information that will be covered. For example, for carpentry fractions math, it would be metric verses imperial, the inch, adding fractions of an inch etc.
• General details – times per week, materials needed, length of block, is it a main lesson or elective
• Lesson plans – on the flip side of the page I will outline the lesson for each day of the block, the books required, the activity for my children and any independent work that will complement the lesson.

I’ll give you an example of an upcoming main lesson I’ve created for my son called Written Communications. The purpose of the block is to build a life skill. Being able to effectively communicate through writing is an essential practical skill. From emails to “for sale” postings, from ordering construction supplies to inquiry letters, writing is something you can’t escape! His strength is that he is a keen historian and has studied both world wars in depth, so I’ll use them as the backdrop for his writing. My son’s needs lay in organizing his thoughts on paper, and that will definitely be worked on in this block. The shorter assignments and need for clear and concise wording will make this block feel more manageable than essay writing. We will cover all the writing listed above, as well as look at the difference between professional and personal writing, writing for clarification as well as writing for follow-up. There will be two lessons a week with an independent assignment for each lesson. The block will last eight weeks. I haven’t outlined all the individual lessons and resources yet (that’s on tomorrow’s to-do list!) so I can’t share that, but this gives you a general outline of the thought process that goes into planning a unit. The preparation, perspective and objectivity that goes into seeing and meeting needs takes away so much of the overwhelm that builds when you just wing it. And while it looks very detailed, it really doesn’t take long at all!

In choosing resources, less is always more. There is so much information out there! We don’t need to bombard our children with all of it. Choose the information that best suits the needs of your children and the unit you are presenting, and try and keep it to one or two really good resources. 

Lastly, be prepared for your lessons. Gather all the material before hand (if you’ve written a plan, this will be easy!), read over the lesson and any materials you will be sharing, and make sure all the supplies your children will need are on hand. I promise you the time spent doing this will be worth your while.

If you are feeling overwhelmed have a seat and take a look at what needs attention. It will make a world of difference!

Until next time,
Marina