I run wild around the internet here and there and sometimes find myself adding my input when parents ask for help in their homeschooling adventure. I wrote this the other day and thought it was general enough for anyone who would just like a boost…

My first recommendation is to always, always remember that you have freedom as a homeschooler. You do not need to do anything that emulates school. If something is not working, dump it.

My second suggestion is to pay attention to what your child is telling you. Some kids might come right out and tell parents what they think about the program that parents set up for them if they are comfortable doing so. But all kids will communicate with you by their actions.

And she’s telling you that your program is not working. The beauty of homeschooling is that this isn’t such a big deal. You are not bound to it, no one is forcing you to stick to something that is not working. Take advantage of that.

Sit down with her and find out more about why she says she wants to continue homeschooling but does not do her school work. How much of her schoolwork is actually “busy work” that has little relevance to her life? Perhaps you could take a closer look at what she’d rather do than the program you are using and then use those interests to help her learn.

I would not want to fight with her everyday either. Homeschooling is not about you feeling you have to constantly work on getting a program done. It is not about you feeling defeated. It’s about you and your child working together on ideas to help her learn. And enjoy doing so.

I suggest you not wrap yourself too tightly with a desire to “get her to do her assignments without fighting.” Learning and education is not about fighting. Fighting her may be a clue that she wants to be a part of the planning process.

Consider the message you are sending when you tell her that she will not do “x, y, z” until she is finished with her schoolwork. What sort of message does that give about education and learning? Shouldn’t it be more enjoyable than that? It can be when you are not stuck in institutional school because you have so much more freedom to tailor learning to your individual child.

Subjects like History when done using a prescribed program are boring, boring, boring. I bet if you take a look at what she’s doing, you’d be bored too. I never taught history. We just ran into it as we lived our lives, museums, books, videos, etc. There are a million things you could do for history. It doesn’t have to be programmed at all. If you do anything structured, just create a timeline so they can get a sense of “when” certain things happened that you run into as you live your lives.

To your question about tests, if you know your child is not ready, then why make her take it and fail? And also, if you know your child is not ready, then why would you need a test at all?

Again, remember you have freedom now. You are homeschooling. Take advantage of that. And have fun!