What Does a Homeschool Look Like?

Melissa asked on Fasebook:

"What did your day/life look like when you first began homeschooling? My oldest (boy) will be 6 in September and will doing kindergarten. My middle child (boy) is 3 1/2 and my baby girl is almost 2. I am a little anxious about the management of it all. Also, how do you address anger in your children?"

Melissa, when we began I had a 4-year-old, a 2-year-old, and a newborn. I knew I would be in over my head in a heartbeat if I didn't put some sort of routine in place, however loose it was. I don't recall exactly how our days went at that time, but I'm sure I took advantage of naptime to do any reading lessons because they take concentration from mom and student.

It would be helpful if you were to make a list of all you need to accomplish in a day, and then begin to see how you can plug school into your day. Bookwork and lessons for a kindergartener shouldn't take more than about 45 minutes. Seriously. Unless your son has some learning disabilities, he should be able to get through kindergarten phonics, reading, math, and art/music/whatever in under an hour. That doesn't seem so daunting, does it?

It might also be helpful to take a good look at what you're doing every day and ask yourself which of those tasks your kids can be helping with. Emptying the dishwasher? Six-year-olds can do that! Unloading the dryer? Three-year-olds can do that! Need more ideas? What Chores Can Little Kids Do?

As for your second question, I've written on anger in children before. But I think this is a better answer to how we help our children with anything. Jesus is always the answer. ♥