What is it that looks really good but can be a huge drain on finances, time and energy if it is allowed to get out of hand.
It’s the number of activities that your child attends out of the home. I will call these activities ‘out of home activities’. This includes all sorts of things like gym, team sports, dancing, French lessons, choir, homeschool co-op, writing classes, etc. Basically, it’s anything at all that your child leaves the house for.
Most homeschooling parents are concerned to give their child all the opportunities that they possibly can. This is normal because we do want to give our children a rich and full education.
And there can be pressure from friends and family who believe that if a child is not in school he will not be able to relate well to his peers, or socialise with friends, or co-operate in a group.
So how do you decide what’s enough, and how do you resist doing too many things?
First, decide how many activities a week a child will go to. Let it be a couple of things only. And if you can take your children to the same activities, all the better. For example, if you have three sons, they might all do soccer in winter and all go together to one venue.
Then be strong about this. Resist all the wonderful opportunities that might turn up unexpectedly during the term.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, consider a term of no activities. I’ve seen that work really well for families.
And then remember to enjoy home time. This is a sure sign of an experienced and a wise home schooling mother – she doesn’t take her children out too often. They have time to “be” at home. The children have time for PLAY; they have time to enjoy the home, to indulge in their interests, to relate to other family members, to grow in peace. So that home itself is a rich experience.
Sometimes we need to let go of good and worthy things to have the very best things in life.
This topic is studied in more detail in Lesson Eight of Successful Homeschooling Made Easy. www.successfulhomeschoolingmadeeasy.com