 Hey everybody, welcome to the Blockway. I'm Jessica. In today's video, it's going to be 10 homeschool lessons I have learned. We are heading into, I believe, our fifth year of homeschooling now because we've been homeschooling since Emily was probably about three or four, pre-K-ish, and I have learned a few lessons along the way. So today I'm gonna be sharing with you the top 10 homeschool lessons I've learned in our homeschool career thus far. Lesson number one, school does not need to happen Monday through Friday from nine to three. That was probably the hardest lesson for me at first was to realize that I had 365 days a year, 24 hours a day to do school. It didn't matter that we weren't morning people we could school at night. It didn't matter that we had gone somewhere Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we could school on Saturday and Sunday. It was so hard for me to recognize that that was one of the huge benefits of homeschooling was that we could school whenever we wanted, whether that was Monday through Friday or Monday, Wednesday and Friday or at night instead of in the morning. It was also very difficult for me to remember that we didn't need to school six hours, especially because that's what the schools around you are doing. And when you come from a public school mindset, it is really, really hard to realize that you can get the same amount done in like a quarter of the time, if not less. Lesson number two, just because I wrote it down did not mean it needed to get done. I am type A. You guys, I'm recovering type A is what I say because I'm doing my best to not be a type A anymore. But before, if I had written it on a lesson plan, by goodness, I was checking that box. So if I wrote it down, we were getting it done. It was a very hard lesson to learn that just because I wrote it down didn't mean it needed to be written done. In fact, one of my absolute favorite homeschool items is erasable pens. So I write in erasable pens and then I erase it if we don't get it done. It doesn't have to be done. It's okay. It's okay that we didn't do it or it's okay if we did it in a different way. So erasable pens are your best friend or plan from behind. That is what I mostly do now, right? The things that I would kind of want us to do like a bare minimum and then anything extra we do I write in after the fact. So did we watch a documentary tonight? Oh, that's cool, write it down but write it from behind instead of before. That will eliminate you needing to check boxes. That is a lesson I learned. Lesson number three, I did not need curriculum or a co-op. When I first started homeschooling I felt like I needed a curriculum for every subject or especially because I have an only child that I needed to be part of a co-op. It was something that I just felt like you had to do as a homeschooler. Like you needed a curriculum and you needed a co-op. That's what homeschoolers needed and did, right? Wrong. I don't need a curriculum. I can literally teach with books and games and be good. I don't need any curriculum. I like it. I specifically like the curriculum that I write because I write it tailored to my daughter. So it works best for her but I don't need curriculum for any subject. And neither do you. And you definitely don't need a co-op. I certainly didn't. Our closest co-op was an hour drive and it was one of those where the parents had to be part of it or teach or do something. And while it was a wonderful co-op it was not the best fit for our family because it took away such a large chunk of our day. And then especially when we had some things happen I just made it not the right fit. Our family was too much. It was too big of a deal for us. It was not worth the investment that we were putting in. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with co-ops. If you wanna co-op, by all means, join one. But you don't need one to homeschool. Lesson number four. I did not need all the things. Now don't get it wrong. You guys know I like things. I specifically like books and games but I don't need all the things. I will never forget the first like two or three years when we were homeschooling and the back-to-school sales would happen and I would buy 10 boxes of crowns because they were five cent and five boxes of markers and I would buy all the spiral notebooks and Target, Dollar Spot, Man, it would get me every time. I would buy every workbook and every book. You guys know what? It's been five years. The covers change and the look changes but it's the same workbooks and the same books that they put in a Dollar Spot at Target every year. Target and Dollar Tree. They're gonna be there. They come out every year. And I've learned that. So if I'm not gonna use it right now, I walk away from it because it is more beneficial for me to wait and I promise you I could show you right now. I have enough crowns, markers and glue stick to run a small daycare in my house because I bought so many and we didn't need all of this stuff. We don't use all of it. We're not a school, you know? It's just different. What's the number five? It was okay to take a day off just because. We don't need a reason. We can take a day off any time we need to. It's okay if I wake up and I'm cranky and she's in a bad mood or we didn't get enough sleep to just say, we're gonna take today off. That is one of the benefits of homeschooling. That was a very difficult decision and kind of mindset for me to reach because I felt like I had planned that we were gonna do school today and we got it. No, but I just talked about the fact that I'm type A so it was difficult to deviate from that plan. So it was a hard lesson but I finally learned it was okay to just say, we're just gonna take today off. We're gonna call it a just because day. Lesson number six, to teach the child in front of me. All right, you guys, this was a difficult one because when you were in new homeschool, you were looking to other homeschool moms to tell you what to do. You want them to tell you what works for their family and I was no different. So I would find curriculum that worked for somebody else and expect it to work for us or even better, I would buy curriculum that appealed to me and I'm a visual learner and it didn't necessarily appeal to Emily, who was an auditory learner. I finally learned to stop wanting and coveting all the things, back off and teach Emily. Not child on the street, not myself, not my husband, not my niece, nephew, cousin or friend, but Emily, that is the child in my homeschool and that is the child I need to teach. I promise you, nine times out of 10, anytime our homeschool goes off the rails, it's because I have forgotten to teach the child in front of me and I am doing something to teach somebody else. Lesson number seven, gaps are inevitable. You guys have a video all about gaps, I will link up here, but honestly gaps are inevitable, they're gonna happen. There is no one person in the entire planet who does not have gaps in their education. There is going to be something, something in some subject that your child did not learn, something you didn't teach them, something they forgot. It's going to happen. A gap, it's inevitable, it's gonna be there. What I had to learn was what gaps I was gonna be okay with and what gaps I wasn't gonna be okay with and for us, the gap I'm not okay with is a relational gap. I want to know at the end of the year, at the end of our homeschool career, at the end of Emily living in our house, that she's gonna come back, that we're still gonna have a relation. We're gonna have a relationship that's going to be this glorious thing that she loved and that that's what she looks back on, this enjoying time of us being together and loving each other for our homeschool journey. That's the gap I'm not okay with. I'm not okay with there being this huge gap between me and her or in our family's relationship. So that is the gap I make sure isn't there. I prioritize our relationship over everything else. What you're gonna need to do in your homeschool is figure out what gap you are and aren't okay with. Are you not okay with your child not knowing everything in history? Then that needs to be a priority for you. Are you like, eh, I don't really like science, I don't really care about science, then that's a gap you're okay with. Gaps are inevitable. So you might as well go ahead and just accept that they're there. That was a hard lesson for me. Lesson number eight, that there is no wrong or right way to homeschool. When we first started homeschooling, I saw all of the things, all of the things you were supposed to do, the subjects you were supposed to teach, that you were supposed to wake up in the morning and do homeschool. You guys, I'm not a morning person, you know that. Waking up in the morning is not happening. It's just not, that's not for me, it's not for our family. But I tried and I tried to force it because I thought that that was the right way to homeschool, but there isn't a right way. There's also not a wrong way. The only wrong way to homeschool is a way that doesn't work for your family and the only right way to homeschool is the way that does work for your family. Lesson number nine, that I have learned was to be inspired, but not discouraged by looking at other homeschools, whether that be on social media or around us. It's kind of that whole thing comparison is the thief of joy and it totally is. And I found myself just constantly, I mean, we all do it, right? Let's just be honest, like, oh, they're a child already reading or oh, they're new multiplication facts or this or that, here's the thing, your child, your homeschool, it should all be unique. I have learned over the course of time to look at beautiful Instagram accounts or beautiful this or beautiful that and be inspired by it, be happy for them, but not be discouraged in our own homeschool. So I've talked before about the 10 things I don't do, which I will link up here. We don't bake from scratch. So now I have learned that I can look at that other homeschool family who's baking bread every week and go, man, that is awesome without saying, oh, I'm such a failure for not doing that. And that takes time and it takes being comfortable in your skin and who you are as a homeschooler. Definitely doesn't come naturally, but that is definitely one of the lessons I've learned is that comparison is the thief of joy and it's okay to be inspired, but by being inspired, don't feel discouraged or don't feel like your homeschool is any less than somebody else's. Everybody's homeschool is unique. And if you watch that 10 things I don't do video, you're gonna see that there's things I don't do so that there's other things I can make room for. And those homeschoolers are probably also not doing something in order to make room for the things they are doing. Homeschool lesson number 10 is loosen up and enjoy the ride. That was one that was probably the absolute hardest to run a type A personality, but at the end of the day, I don't wanna look back on our homeschool journey and have nothing but memories of us sitting at a table, doing something boring or yelling at each other or crying because we don't get it or pulling our hair out. I, especially because I only have one child, that means I only have one chance at this. I only get one homeschool journey. I'm only gonna get one ride down this path and I want to look back on this journey, on this time period and think of us, the memories I want are us cuddled up on the couch reading or laughing while we're playing a game or just connecting and enjoying and living life, experiencing life, going on field trips, doing school while we're at Disney World or going on a road trip as a family and turning it into a learning experience. That is the memories I wanna have. And so in order for those to be the memories, I had to make space for those things to happen. And that meant I had to loosen up. I had to let go of the plans. I had to loosen up on what I thought our homeschool needed to be and just kind of let it happen and enjoy it while it was happening. Now I wanna hear from you. Whether you are a new homeschool mom or whether you are a seasoned homeschool mom, leave some of the lessons that you have learned in your homeschool journey down in the comments.