How to Keep Your Cool When You Have To Homeschool
Are you your child's Teacher right now? Are you also working from home right now? And sometimes wondering if you're getting anything done at all? I feel you!
I was once a Homeschool Mom. I had three kids; the first two only 2 years apart, and the youngest 7 years younger than the first pair. Homeschooling isn't easy, even if the school is helping you with video classes and "just" wants you to help the kids with homework. It can be overwhelming to say the least.
Here are a few tips for helping you get through all this:
1. Keep your cool.
It's a lot of pressure to suddenly be responsible for your child's education. What if you don't do enough? Well, as a parent, isn't that always our guilt-ridden question about everything related raising these little people? It can feel like so much is at stake! The good news is that little people will grow on their own, and they will also learn on their own. They only really need a little help. Just try to do one task at a time in small bites and it will all get done eventually. The most effective learning is done in a peaceful environment.
2. Just read to them.
If you're struggling to get them to sit still and do schoolwork, stop. Take a "Run around" Break. Get them moving. Dance, sing, run around the yard. Then sit down for a little Story Time. That will help them to blow off some steam in a constructive way and then focus them on their main task: learning.
When you read to your children, you get their brains working and preparing to learn. It also calms them and changes the atmosphere in your home. Even the best parents can get frustrated when a child doesn't want to do their schoolwork. Reading together will help them feel that you care about them, and clear away the frustration. And then schoolwork won't seem as daunting.
3. Have some fun.
Make sure to spend a little time just having fun together. Everyone is working so hard. A little fun time will help the whole family to reconnect and enjoy this time of isolation from the rest of the world. Hopefully this will all end soon and we'll have the chance to reconnect with the friends and family we are all missing now. But for now, build your relationships with your immediate family even closer through having fun together.
You can do this! Believe it or not, someday we will all look back on this time with fond memories. Sure, we'll remember how we missed going to restaurants, and hanging out with friends. But we'll also remember all the fun things we did at home together. And someday when the kids are grown and living on their own, we'll even kinda wish we could do all the Social Isolation again and have more of that precious time with them. So keep cool, read, have fun, and build some long-lasting memories.
Questions? Ask them in the comments and I'll try to help!
If you are looking for some fun and a new book to read with your kiddos while you are all home, Book and Bear still has stock we can send you right away. Just stop by the website to see all the adorable Teddy Bear Stuffing Kits we have and their related Picture Books. 
Kymberly MacAgy is a former teacher and Homeschool Mom who helps Moms with young children nurture family time while fostering a lifetime love for reading and learning. Before starting Book and Bear, Kymberly was Activities Coordinator for her local Girl Scout Council, Business Owner, Teacher, Homeschool Mom and Curriculum Developer for Christian Education.