I never want this blog to make it seem like I’ve got it all together and my children are perfect, because that is the furthest thing from the truth. So, today, it’s time to talk about the ugly side of homeschooling for us, right now.

School has become such a struggle. Every single day. Bad attitudes. Complaining. Arguing. So much so, yesterday, I got up and went my bedroom, closing and locking the bedroom door behind me. I was just done. Done with the fight and struggle every.single.day of getting, especially one child, to do her work.

Now let me stop here and explain something.

I am a firm believer that homeschooling affords me the ability to choose curriculum and work for my children that meets them where they are academically. I am also a firm believer that formal learning time for a first grader needs to be short and sweet.

We’ve got the short down.

Formal learning time for my 1st grader involves: 10 minutes for handwriting, a 20 minute phonics lesson and 20-30 minutes of math. That’s it. She could get all her formal schooling done in less than an hour a day! It’s not like I am making her sit for 3-4 hours a day doing school work! AND. Her work is tailored to her. I’ve chosen a phonics program that doesn’t have her just doing boring worksheets. Her handwriting book has a coloring page with every lesson because art is her love language. Math is full of hands-on, interactive learning and we’ve stopped her core math curriculum because I saw a gap in her learning. We are currently filling that gap with another math curriculum and then will go back to our core curriculum. I know for a fact she would not be getting this kind of education and attention in a public school. There are simply not enough hours in the day or resources available for teachers to tailor each student’s learning to their specific needs and abilities.

The sweet is a struggle because of the bad attitude!!!!

So, yesterday, I had had enough. I needed a time-out. So I put myself in my bedroom and told the girls to do whatever they wanted. (Within reason, of course. I knew I would be able to hear them from my bedroom and could intervene if someone decided to do something dangerous.)

This is why I wanted to write about this today. I think all homeschool moms have been where I was yesterday. And if they say they haven’t ever had a day like I had yesterday, they are lying through their teeth!

Homeschooling is hard work. And yesterday I wanted to quit. I told Little Bug, “We will talk about enrolling you in school next week because homeschooling is obviously not working for you.”

Let me stop again here and explain something. I do not want our homeschool to constantly have “public school threats” made when we have Bad Homeschooling Days. But, yesterday, I was seriously questioning whether homeschooling was the best choice for our family!

Oh the tears when I told Little Bug that. She actually told me it was the worst day of her life.

Oh, really? I ran with that and started telling her that when she has a horrible attitude at school it makes me think she must not like being homeschooled and would much rather go to public school where she will be gone from home 7+ hours a day and be expected to sit at a desk or table for hours of the day and not talk and listen to the teacher. Oh, and she will have to read for real because 1st graders can read in public school because they are pushed to read at an early age, rather than let them read when they are developmentally ready to read. And, arts and crafts? Kids don’t know what that means in public school because there isn’t time for such thing at school.

Her eyes were big and wide and I was so tempted to enroll her for a week so she could see just how different the life of a homeschooler is compared to a child who goes to public school.

We had a Big Talk with the girls yesterday, Dave and I talked in great length about changes that need to be made, I revamped our homeschool schedule and woke up this morning to His new mercies ready for a fresh start.

I will write about the changes and if they made any difference in my Homeschool Highlights {September} post. Until then, just know Homeschooling is hard work, and despite my posts with lovely pictures, some days are just ugly…plain and simple.

But His mercies are new every morning and He will lead us on this journey if we allow Him.

**Disclaimer: This post is not meant to knock public school. For some families, public school works.

- Elaine