We all have those seasons when homeschooling gets difficult and becomes a struggle.

Maybe it’s the kids not wanting to do anything or you are burning out. We get it. We’ve all been there. Hang in there. It’s worth the struggle and pushing through. Here are some common struggles and how to handle them.

Common Struggle: The subjects or curriculum are too much

Struggling with a subject or many subjects in homeschool is common. Most go through a season or two of the curriculum just not fitting or being difficult. Here are some suggestions:

The first step is analyzing how important the subject is. If it is a core subject, reassess and restructure how the lessons are being distributed.

‘**Meaning: Redo how much you teach is until you can get a grasp of the issue in the subject. Like in math, sometimes there’s too many concepts at one time. Take two weeks for each chapter/unit until they understand it better. Find external resources to add in and help learn the content better.

**Meaning: Consider the expense of the books/curriculum and how cumbersome it is. If you are tirelessly reviewing worksheets, workbooks, resources, online resources and more, it’s time to take a break.

• Take a short break from that subject (not saying forever, just maybe a day to a week) OR
• Either pause the curriculum unit for a semester OR
• Try a new curriculum after a short break to research it OR
• Do a review of the older content to strengthen skills

Are you overwhelmed by the difficulty or amount of the content?

As adults we all have those subjects that we just weren’t good at. Maybe your child also struggles with a certain subject like math or reading. Or maybe the curriculum itself is just too much.

For our family, the first IEW writing curriculum we chose was a theme based writing series. It had too much going on. Too many confusing books and manuals and worksheets.

Solution:

• We took a semester off writing.
• We replaced writing with a deeper focus on journaling (detailed questions/analysis).
• Then we bought a different IEW curriculum with standard writing.
• It was a WIN! We loved it and the change made everyone happier and enjoy writing again!

Are you unsure of teaching the content because it’s more than you remember? For us, we are getting to algebra and geometry. It’s really confusing some days. We are teaching ourselves math again. Then teaching the child.

Solution: We made multiple changes.

• We had our son watch the math video for the subject in the morning.
• Then we reviewed the book lessons ahead of time and did a few practice problems on the board (husband and I) to work through the confusion.
• Then we slowed the lessons way down.
• We taught one little lesson on Mondays and reviewed again Wednesdays and Fridays to make sure it made sense for our son and ourselves. There were some weeks we really struggled. Some weeks we all did practice worksheets together. That’s okay. He eventually mastered the algebra. But it was a struggle.

Accomplishing that book did many things for our family: we learned, we adapted and we made a new plan for the next child to take on algebra.

Are the multiple children all at different levels and all need attention?

Teaching multiple children can seem overwhelming some days. But it is a common situation with homeschooling families. Especially when kids are young and they all need help at once. That’s okay.

If you have young kids: It’s a juggling act that you will figure out.

Is the schoolroom or learning area a mess?

Is life chaos and you are struggling to figure out how to organize again? All the paper everywhere and no idea what is going on? We’ve been there many times in the seasons of homeschool:

Solutions:

• Take a day or week to organize.
• Go to a limited/base schedule (core subjects) and just organize and sort materials.
• Buckets and baskets, cubbies, shelving, trays. Grab dollar tree items or IKEA or anything in between!
• It will make everything better once it is done. You will find your supplies and books.
• You will see what you need and what you don’t use.
• You will find out what curriculum is working and what is overwhelming.

It’s a good idea to do this anyways. But in truth, a little “spring cleaning” any season is cathartic and stress-relieving.

Are you all by yourself because of work or divorce or job loss?

It’s okay. You aren’t the only one making those changes or having forced changes. Many families who homeschool go through those struggles. The beauty of homeschooling is you can adjust quickly without the added stresses of school asking for attendance. Work with the ups and downs.

Solutions:

• Go to a shorter schedule for a time (math, reading and writing only for a few weeks)
• Make checklists (very important when life is crazy! Just keep it simple)
• Teach at night or during mornings -or anything in between with your schedule and interruptions.
• Teach child or children at different times in the day (to minimize the amount of teaching at one time)
• Allow for a lot of informal learning: researching a topic for a fun poster or book report, cooking a meal, cleaning or sorting a room, sewing, fixing a broken clock or sink, typing, coding, library trips, park walks, etc.

The Struggle is Real and It’s Relatable

Maybe you have gone through or are going through all of these struggles. Maybe you have a different struggle all together. However you see it, we as homeschoolers go through struggles. Hang tight. There are people in your corner. There are solutions. You will get through. It will be worth it.

Feel free to reach out if you have a struggle that I haven’t mentioned or need something else. I will get you the resources you need!