We all have strengths and weaknesses. Things we are better at, and things real really have to work to achieve. The same goes for when you are a homeschool parent. There are going to be areas that you are better at and areas that you not. The important thing is that your children are receive an adequate education. So, identifying your strengths and weaknesses can really help you to create an effective learning environment for your children. Then you play to your strengths and find strategies to improve your weaknesses.
Here are my strengths and weaknesses and how I use them to help me create a better homeschooling for my kiddos:
Strengths
Flexibility / Willingness to make Adjustments
I am really good at being able to make adjustments to something if it is not working for us. For example, if a curriculum says we should do XYZ, but I know that ABC would work better for us, I make that adjustment. I'm A-Okay leaving things off that we don't like or adding in something if we feel it needs it. I'm really good at remembering curriculum is a tool and we don't have to follow it exactly or even finish it!
Another example is that I'm able to make adjustments to our routine if something is not working. We used to try and get up and get school going. That just did work for us. We don't have morning people around here and we weren't getting the best out of our schooling. So we switched to doing school after lunch. It works like a charm. It has given us a cue to know what to expect what comes next. Everyone is more awake, feed, and willing to get down to business.
Planning
I LOVE planning. It is (and was when I was a public-school teacher) one of my favorite parts about educating children. I love researching curriculum and thinking about all of the amazing things we can do. I love making charts to utilize in the process and having a pretty planner. It may be weird, but I do genuinely love it.
Creating Unit Studies
I love developing unit studies and pulling together resources to study a topic. I love books and using books to study things. I like finding or coming up with fun and engaging ways to explore more and help students make discoveries. And since this is one of my kiddos favorite ways to learn, I think I do a decent job at that.
Experience
Let's face it, experience helps. Not only are we in our 10th year of homeschooling, but I also taught in a public school for 5 years and have a BA in Secondary education. I've been around the block. And that experience is defiantly a strength for me.
Weaknesses
Consistency
I'm TERRIBLE with consistency. Unfortunately, this isn't just in homeschool. This is a personality trait for me. LOL. I cave way to easily when something makes getting to school slightly inconvenient. And then I feel like we are "behind" all the time which leads to added stress that we just don't need in our homeschool.
Following Through with My Plans
This ties into consistency as well. I love making all these wonderful plans, but I have a really hard time implementing them sometimes. I want to do all these amazing things, but because I'm not great with consistency I often times end up skipping things so we can "just get done".
One way I'm working on improving this is using Homeschool Planet on-line homeschool planner. It is really helping stay on track better and giving me a little bit more accountability which I do need to be successful. You can also get a 30 day free trial and a free lesson plan. Use this link to sign up (this is an affiliate link). If you want to learn more about Homeschool Planet, check out this video:
Patience
"You homeschool? I could never! I don't have the patience."
The number of times I've heard this sentence! LOL. Girl, I don't have patience. It is something I've been working on my entire life. My mom loves to tell about how when I was a kid, the second I finished eating at a restaurant (still chewing my last bite) I was ready to go. It is defiantly not a strong suit of mine, and I do struggle to keep my composer. But guys, we make it through. We take breaks if we start to get frustrated. We adjust curriculum if it's not working for us. Long story short, I don't have patience, but we make it work.
Planning Too Much
Because I love to plan and I want to do all the things, I tend to plan too many things. This leads to us feeling overwhelmed sometimes. Over planning is not necessary bad but letting yourselves go crazy trying to get everything is. And sometimes I have to try really hard to remember this.
Forgetting the Fun Things
Making things fun is really important. One of the most important things we want our children to leave our homes with is a love of learning. And if we only working on the "boring" things, that isn't really setting up the goal for success. I need help remembering this and not getting lost in the sea of doing all the things.
If you would like to hear more about my strengths and weaknesses, check out my YouTube video here:
What are some of your strengths and weaknesses as a homeschool parent? Share in the comments below.
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