Healthy Work at Home Tips For Homeschooling Families

I have to admit that I’ve been quite lax recently when it comes to our homeschooling. I tend to lean towards a “go with the flow” type of organization anyway…but lately the flow has bee far removed from our normal routine. We live in an area that received almost 400 inches of snow this winter and finally…IT’S MELTING!!

So we’ve been taking walks and sitting outside. Today a whole pile of sandbox tools appeared where yesterday there was still six inches of snow. It was a bonanza and stimulated a wonderful sand, snow and water stew. Small rock dams are being built to try and redirect the torrents of water cascading through our property from the mountains above.  Even on the days that it’s still too raw and windy to go out, we’ve been focused on staying late in bed and reading whole books out loud.

As a work-at-home mom, my business has been going crazy lately( in a good way) and that has added to the lack of focus on our “curriculum”.  I’ve frequently been inundated with phone calls and my daughter, realizing my inaccessibility, has been immersing herself in fantasy-land and playing happily for long periods of time. Occasionally I’ll realize that I’ve spent two hours on the phone and she’s gotten her own snacks, done an art project, put together some puzzles and created a lego masterpiece.

There is a part of me that feels some guilt. We spent many of the days since September in a fairly stable and predictable morning routine. But since early April that seems to have disappeared. I consistently have to remind myself that life happens and that is one of the reasons why we homeschool. Life happens and it’s OK. There’s work and springtime and an upcoming dance performance. My daughter, who was beginning to read every day, does not want to read at all lately, and it’s OK. She won’t forget how to read and how precious that she still can spend hours making soup from snow and sand.  I can focus on my work and know that she’s learning and doing exactly what’s important for her at that moment.