Feeling like no one understands my life experience leaves me weary. If I consistently feel, “I am different” and “my experiences aren’t like yours,” I am disheartened. None of us want to have to explain “why we’re doing this” or “what we do all day long.” We want empathy. We want camaraderie. We want to have friends that understand why we choose to homeschool. We all have stories to tell, feelings to confess and ideas to express to an audience uniquely situated to resonate with us.

EdChoice, in partnership with Hanover Research, conducted a survey of homeschooling families in 2021. Their results are summarized in the Homeschooling Captsone Report. The most salient obstacles to homeschooling cited by current homeschoolers in the survey include concerns about instructional quality and children’s future prospects, the time and financial burden of homeschooling, and difficulty accessing resources and support One of their questions was, “how problematic have the following obstacles to homeschooling your child been?

Recording from LDSHE 2018 “Deeper Focus Through Fewer Distractions” We Need to be Less Distracted “The ability to pay attention, to control the content of your consciousness, is critical to a good life. When you’re constantly interrupted by external things…by self-generated interruptions, or by your own efforts to multitask and juggle several tasks at once, the chronic distractions erode your sense of having control of your life. They don’t just derail your train of thought.

What does a good homeschool day look like? What does a bad homeschool day look like? What would it take to have more good days? This class discusses how to bring out the best in ourselves and others. The conversation will begin with our use of time, setting intentional direction for our day with clear priorities. We’ll focus on structuring routines for our families and ourselves, considering personal productivity that has deliberate downtime and clear boundaries.

The French term mise en place (pronounced meez-ahn-plahs) encompasses the idea of having all of your ingredients, tools and supplies ready to go before you start cooking. Chefs employ this method to streamline their workstations. The organizational system of mise en place is so rigorous that chefs should be able to find the ingredients they need even while blindfolded. Journalist and chef Dan Charnas explains that mise en place is more than just a system for getting things done well in the kitchen.

You already know it’s important to exercise. You’re familiar with the list of benefits to your strength, metabolism, and sleep. Here’s one advantage you may not be as familiar with: exercise makes a big difference for learning. As one of the world’s foremost authorities on the brain-fitness connection, Harvard neuropsychiatrist John Ratey wrote Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain to convince the world of the importance of exercise, and not for the cardiovascular benefits; he believes it makes a vital difference in our brains.

A child throws down his pencil in exasperation, and shoves the book away, shouting, “I hate this math, I can never learn to do it! The problems are always too hard! My schoolwork is impossible!” As homeschooling parents, we have all seen frustration like this begin to cloud the learning process. What can you say to help your child shift his attitude? In the book, The Optimistic Child, positive psychologist Martin Seligman has applicable tips to help change the tone of these kind of moments.

Describing the contrasting responses to the same naturally occurring phenomena, volatility specialist Nassim Nicholas Taleb begins his book Antifragile (Random House 2014) with this analogy, “wind extinguishes a candle and energizes fire.” He argues that rather than suffering from the effects of unpredictable shocks, chaos, and disorder, we must use them. Taleb continues the analogy by describing what it would be like to fully embrace this adventure: “you want to be the fire and wish for the wind.

Influential Organizational Development leader Peter Block writes about the questions we ask as we begin a journey or pursue a dream. Forcefully, he teaches, “How is the wrong question.” He continues, “The rush to a How [question and] answer runs the risk of skipping the profound question: Is this worth doing? And it skirts the equally tough corollary question: Is this something I want to do?” Block wants us to recognize that starting with the right question will yield the answers we seek.

Managing a Homeschool experience requires many of the same skills as managing a business. In her book, Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, Business management guru Liz Wiseman coined a term to describe effective managers. She calls them “multipliers.” Simply put, multipliers multiply the intelligence of others around them, enabling people to become smarter and more capable. The multiplier mindset can be a valuable addition to your homeschooling toolkit.