Discipline & Homeschool

I read a blog post from someone else recently that said the biggest secret of homeschool is that it's hard. We're not quite at the "hard" part yet for homeschool, because honestly Kindergarten doesn't require all that much. But, I can see already that discipline is a very tricky tightrope to walk in homeschool.

I saw a post on Facebook from someone whose daughter wanted to go out and play at 3pm, but since they start school late because she goes to bed late and sleeps in, she still has school work to get done. In my opinion, there are two obvious options, and probably more secondary options for this situation. if she works better in the evening, I would let her do "homework" after supper (which is probably what the other kids are doing). If she works better with motivation, I would tell her that she can go outside to play when she gets her work done for the day, and set clear expectations for what that work is.

The tricky thing, is that, as homeschooling parents, we are both parent and teacher. So, we have to use our parent skills to determine what our kids need and want (play time, structured vs. unstructured activities, chores, allowances, toys, screen time) and yet
we also have an obligation to ensure that our children are receiving a solid education to the best of their abilities.

Yet, sometimes I think we can make it too hard on ourselves. We can provide our child the best education, at the expense of their childhood. We can provide our child the best childhood, at the expense of their education. Or we can take a more relaxed approach and aim somewhere in the middle, not freaking out too badly if we err on one side or the other from year to year. 

My husband likes to know that we will be "getting something done" during the school year, so he wants to see that we've "completed" a curriculum. However, I know that my child already knows 90% of what he needs to learn in Kindergarten, so I'm trying to just enjoy the ride.

Of course, as I write this, we're in the middle of our school day and he's taking an extended break. And they've already gotten into the toothpaste and a board game they weren't supposed to be playing with. This thing is so EASY, everyone should do it. No, I'm not saying it's easy, I'm just trying to take myself a little easier today.