Tsutsie Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Do you sometimes feel like you can either be a good mom or a good teacher, but not both? :( When I feel that I'm doing a good job at homeschooling them, it's because I spend hour after hour or prepping, reading up, planning, etc. BUT they get no fun and games from me. When I'm all fun and playful - it feels like my "school" is sub-par and it will be better for them in school? How do YOU balance these two things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Do you sometimes feel like you can either be a good mom or a good teacher, but not both? :( When I feel that I'm doing a good job at homeschooling them, it's because I spend hour after hour or prepping, reading up, planning, etc. BUT they get no fun and games from me. When I'm all fun and playful - it feels like my "school" is sub-par and it will be better for them in school? How do YOU balance these two things? Your kids are so young....I would drop some of your programs and have more fun with your kids. They can still learn a lot that way. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvnlattes Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Do you sometimes feel like you can either be a good mom or a good teacher, but not both? Yes, I often feel the same way. Most often I feel like I do a fair job teaching them but then I'm ready for a break, so I don't spend as much time being "just Mom." We got home Saturday after a week in Disneyland and I realized that I didn't wear the teacher hat at all and was just Mom all the way. I loved that part about our vacation! So you're not alone and I'll be interested to hear replies to this one as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dulcimeramy Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Do you sometimes feel like you can either be a good mom or a good teacher, but not both? :( When I feel that I'm doing a good job at homeschooling them, it's because I spend hour after hour or prepping, reading up, planning, etc. BUT they get no fun and games from me. When I'm all fun and playful - it feels like my "school" is sub-par and it will be better for them in school? How do YOU balance these two things? Your oldest is only 6? Your Mommy hat needs to be much taller than your Teacher hat at this age! :grouphug: Discipline yourself to prep/plan for no longer than 1 hour per day during playtime or naptime, and save your educational reading for after your little ones are in bed at night. They need you to be Mommy right now. To make it even simpler, choose open-and-go curriculum so that your plan/prep time disappears. No excessively prepared lesson can ever take the place of cupcake-baking, jump-roping, nature-walking, storytime, hugs and kisses, visiting Grandma, or whatever else you aren't doing while you are writing schedules. Be Mommy first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukale Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I had to quit second guessing myself. I will take a couple of hours one Sunday a month to plan the whole month school and menus out. Then I had to let it go. I had to stop going back and changing my plan because I was always thinking I didn't plan it out perfect. I gave up cooking big meals on the weekends. We have pizza, burgers, cereal, frozen waffles, a bag of frozen ravioli and stuff like that. It keeps me out of the kitchen all weekend. Hubby is off Fri, Sat and Sun. So Thur night is my big cleaning night. That's it. I don't kill myself cleaning everyday, just picking up on the other days. We work hard on 4 days a week with school but 3 days I week I am only mom. I have to keep telling myself that I am doing enough and then just let the chips fall where the may and just be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dulcimeramy Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 This post rang a bell in my mind, ycoetzee, and I searched your posts to see if I was right. You asked a similar question back in March. You got some really, really good advice in that three-page thread! Why are you still persisting in this behavior? Please re-read this post from Rivka in the other thread. You might benefit from input from someone IRL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dulcimeramy Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Wow, you have an amazing memory. Maybe ycoetzee needs an intervention. :D (I say this lightheartedly in jest.) I promise I don't have an amazing memory! LOL I didn't remember the username but I remember feeling tremendous pity and concern about the other thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Do you sometimes feel like you can either be a good mom or a good teacher, but not both? :( When I feel that I'm doing a good job at homeschooling them, it's because I spend hour after hour or prepping, reading up, planning, etc. BUT they get no fun and games from me. When I'm all fun and playful - it feels like my "school" is sub-par and it will be better for them in school? How do YOU balance these two things? I don't feel that way--at least not anymore. I have a child with some learning challenges, and in my extensive research about special education, I've had to learn to set aside some of the "book learning" that people typically consider "school" and replace it with fun, multi-sensory activities. I plan "educational fun" into our school days--and that's been good for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I agree with the others. Your focus, with young children, should be on being the mom. Children learn through play, through listening to mom read aloud, through getting out of the house and visiting the library, museum and zoo. Through messy arts and crafts projects. Your children will be lanky, smelly teens in no time and trust me, you all will be a better family unit if you focus on BEING a family now. They will learn -- education does not only come from curricula. At this stage, school can simply be the next page in math and the next page in a handwriting and/or phonics workbook. If you are planning on homeschooling for the long haul you need to pace yourself because at this rate you will burn out in another year or two. Let it go. Be a mom. And -- it is June, for heaven's sake. Take a vacation from anything that looks like homeschooling and have fun. Keep a journal as WendyK suggests, then at the end of summer look over it and you will be amazed at what all your children learned without your planning getting in the way!! And, best of all, when your oldest leaves for college, you'll have that journal to look back on so you can remember this wonderful stage of childhood. Trust me on this!! I'm so glad I focused on being a mom and kept a journal, and my kids are well educated and successful young men who are glad I focused on being a mom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsutsie Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Funny, I did not even realize I posted the same thing before... I did go back an reread some of the replies - and I did make many changes. I moved my school out of the basement, dropped some "stuff" and as it is so-called-summer, things are better all and all. I have kinda a weird son. He does not play like other little boys. He'd rather just sit there and wait for me to do something with him. Please understand, I did not train him to be this way, I did not "spoil" him as a baby, always hovering, etc. He is been like this SINCE he was born. I have tried everything to try and get him to play by himself more, but he simply does not. This is a whole other topic, but I just have to say that it's tiring, tiring, tiring to have a boy like this. My daughter is the opposite. She is always in some imaginary world, playing, talking, etc. It's amazing to stand in the kitchen and see my son, sitting on the couch, staring out the window, and my little girl, having long conversations with her little purple pony. As she is getting older, they are playing more together - mostly games my daughter initiates. Anyway, it's kind of off topic, but I just can't seem to find a balance in all this. I'm also a neat freak, living with a husband who does not mind chaos! :w00t: So I do spend a lot of time cleaning up after every body else. (Well, son is neat and tidy, daughter is like dad!) I'm rambling, but still, thanks for your replies. I do appreciate it! Yvette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktkcb Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Really? No fun and games at ALL with the hard stuff? No m&m's for right answers, pretty stickers, slap/clap math drills? No donut shop school??????? You need to lighten up a little :o). You can learn to be playful with the hard stuff, too. If you are spending that much time prepping, spend some of it prepping for playfulness. JMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I don't really do fun and playful. It's not my personality. I don't think that is the issue though. No matter your parenting personality, the amount of time you spend WITH them when they are young is crucial. Spending the time with them, setting good habits, modeling a love of learning, etc. will payoff twenty times more than all the time spent planning and prepping. And I do mean academically. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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