{"id":57369,"date":"2017-10-15T06:31:28","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T06:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xenodochial-archimedes.45-76-20-142.plesk.page\/2017x110x15-things-ive-learned-in-9-weeks-of-homeschool\/"},"modified":"2022-11-29T18:15:06","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T18:15:06","slug":"5-things-ive-learned-in-9-weeks-of-homeschool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/2017\/10\/5-things-ive-learned-in-9-weeks-of-homeschool.html","title":{"rendered":"5 Things I’ve Learned in 9 Weeks of Homeschool – Mrs. Bishop"},"content":{"rendered":"

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*Disclaimer- I received the Bookshark curriculum in exchange for sharing my homeschool journey with you. As always, all opinions are my own.*<\/em><\/p>\n

When we decided to homeschool this year, I did it somewhat reluctantly. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and most of all, I was worried that I would somehow be hindering my son\u2019s future. There were just so many unknowns, and I was afraid.<\/p>\n

But, here we are 9 weeks in and I\u2019m loving it! Homeschool has become just as fun and informative for me as it has been for my 5 year old. I\u2019m learning things that I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve ever learned, and some I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve just forgotten. I\u2019m so glad we chose the Bookshark Kindergarten curriculum<\/a>, because it is reinforcing my love for reading, and passing the desire to read onto my son. He has even began choosing books over other forms of entertainment, and my Momma heart couldn\u2019t be happier about that.<\/p>\n

\"21690576_1888929571124285_8065907242827776000_n(1)\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now that we\u2019re 9 weeks in, I thought I\u2019d share with you what I\u2019ve learned along the way. After just a few short weeks, I\u2019m by no means an expert- but I want to make sure to document this journey and share it with you as we go along. So, here are some things I\u2019ve learned in 9 weeks of homeschool:<\/p>\n

1.) It doesn\u2019t have to take all day<\/strong>. The great thing about our Bookshark curriculum<\/a>, is that it\u2019s broken up into a 4 day week that\u00a0takes us\u00a0around 1 1\/2-2 hours a day. That\u2019s it! At first I was so worried that we were getting done\u00a0too quickly, so I was trying too hard to add in more stuff. But, once I realized how much my child was retaining, and how much we were actually learning every day, I stopped worrying. It doesn\u2019t take all day to learn- and we can reinforce what we\u2019ve learned with fun activities. I love that we can spend our morning learning, and then spend the rest of the day playing or doing whatever we feel like. And, I don\u2019t have to send my son to school for 6+ hours. It\u2019s definitely one of my favorite homeschool perks!<\/p>\n

2.) Everything can be a learning experience- but it doesn\u2019t HAVE to be<\/strong>. Another perk of homeschool is that we can turn just about everything into a learning experience. A trip to the grocery store can be turned into a reading or counting lesson. An antique store can be a history lesson. A park trip can be a physics lesson- see the pattern? I love that everything we do can be turned into a learning experience. But, the downside of this, is that sometimes I turn EVERYTHING into a teaching moment. So, I have to make sure that sometimes we are doing things just for the fun of it. I\u2019m learning how to juggle the role of Mommy and Teacher- it\u2019s just as much a new role for me as it is my son, who\u2019s\u00a0now my child and student.<\/p>\n

3.) Music and stickers are great motivators.<\/strong>\u00a0Sometimes our lessons don\u2019t go as planned. The assignment is too hard, or we get tired of learning and need a break. I\u2019ve found that upbeat music makes things easier. When a math lesson gets too boring- we turn up some fun tunes. Or sometimes we take a dance break in the middle of our reading. Keeping kiddos moving is sometimes just what they need to keep their brain on task. And stickers- every kid is obsessed with them. Just knowing he\u2019ll get a sticker on his paper once he completes it, is just the motivation my son needs to finish his assignment.<\/p>\n

4.) Seek out Community<\/strong>. I knew as a homeschool parent I would need to find some fellow homeschoolers to spend time with my son, as well as other parents that I could ask questions or to help ease my fears. I found an amazing homeschool support group in my community. They plan group events, field trips, and even Mom\u2019s Nights Out, just to help us with the process. Just because you\u2019re homeschooling, doesn\u2019t mean you have to do it alone. Check Facebook Groups or your local paper to find similar communities in your area.<\/p>\n

5.) If at first you don\u2019t succeed, try again tomorrow<\/strong>. Some days are hard. Lessons don\u2019t go as planned. Assignments take longer than expected. Life throws you a curve ball. Or maybe you both end up in tears. Homeschool is not always a picnic. But, the great thing about using a flexible curriculum like Bookshark<\/a>, is that we can take a break. We can go outside, run around, and even drop the work for the day and try again tomorrow. Because it\u2019s a 4 day week, we can take a day off from the book work for Field Trips, Taekwondo lessons, or fun art projects. I love a curriculum that I can make work for us, and supplement with other activities.<\/p>\n

Homeschool is not at all what I expected it to be, and I love it so much more than I thought I would. Last night I was even up late checking out Bookshark\u2019s 1st Grade Curriculum<\/a>, because I truly have it enjoyed it that much! I think it has definitely been the best choice for my son. And now, more than ever, I think we will actually continue with this homeschool thing.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we decided to homeschool this year, I did it somewhat reluctantly. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and most of all, I was worried that I would somehow be hindering my son’s future. There were just so many unknowns, and I was afraid. But, here we are 9 weeks in and I’m loving it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":58885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,14,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeschool","category-reviews","category-thoughts","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrsbishop.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}