Help
With Your Rule
What Do I Do?
Dear Holly,
I don't even know where to start! I have been homeschooling for 10 years and I have 8 children ranging in age from 19 years to 2 year old twins. I have had and am still struggling with character issues with three of my younger children (they don't mind, etc.). We are not into any set routines and I KNOW that is a huge part of the problem. By the end of the day I am so tired that all I want to do is crawl into bed, but then morning comes all too soon and I'm on that merry go round again. I am not even eating properly or taking care of myself anymore. I am wondering if I should stop schooling for awhile and try to get things up to speed at home first or if I should try to get things up to speed while still schooling. Maybe I should just do the three R's and work on the rest later (although chances are I won't get around to it later). I would go over the letters on your website to find some answers, but just don't have the time. Any help you can give would be appreciated.
Labels: About a Rule of Life, Homeschooling
posted by Holly at 5:57 AM
6 Comments:
I think the first thing to do would be to purchase or borrow "A Mother's Rule of LIfe" and read it and work your way through it. God will show you how to do this while continuing or stopping your schooling.
I agree but I also suggest, if at all possible to find a place to get away and read it. Maybe a friend's house, a hotel, a convent, the library (if it's quiet). Ideally going somewhere for a day or two will refresh you and you will be able to concentrate on prayer and reading Holly's uplifting, inspiring book. We were given that advice and didn't follow it for a few years. God finally answered my prayer when I read that there was a retreat space available that had been a certain woman's dream to where she could have people who wanted to get away and spend time with Jesus. I knew I could trust the lady since she writes for the Diocesan newspaper. Just being able to pray and rest was the most important thing to refresh my batteries. I belive most mothers need this and Holly suggests it. I found that about every 8 weeks is when I need a Friday night to Sunday evening retreat.
May Jesus' love, peace and joy be with you while you discover what He has in store for you!
I agree with other precious ladys' but for some immediate and really practical suggests about housework/schooling & routines in particular there is a wonderful website called Flylady that a lot of homeschoolers I know here in Australia subscribe to (free). Check it out it is very encouraging and helpful. Keep up the wonderful work.
Dear amazing lady, mother of 8,
First let me say, "you rock." I have 1 (so far) and find myself just as overwhelmed as you are! (yikes) I would suggest one, thing, and one thing only...if you can find 5 minutes at the same time each day, whether late at night, or early morning, or whatever works, to pray and beg our Lady to show you how to live your day, she will definitely guide you throughout the day, give you little reminders, help you over the rough spots, teach you what to do first and be with you in each task, one at a time, as it comes along. Just thinking "what would Mary do in my place, right now, in this moment, has helped me to make wise choices about time use many a time... hope this helps?
God bless your generous heart!
I just want to say thank you to those who have generous hearts to try and help me out. For the record I do want to say that when I wrote that note I had read all but two chapters of Holly's book and it was my second time reading it. So, I wasn't asking where to start but was asking if I should stop school while I tried to implement my rule. I have so many problems I just don't know where to start on them all. Also, we recently moved (a month ago)and that is also a cause for much stress at the moment. I have decided to stop school until the first of next year and find alternate things to do for school while we get organized and settled in. It will also give me time to get my kids trained in good habits and hopefully weed out what isn't so good. Please say a prayer that I can get my family back into the groove.
Regarding putting kids in school:
one problem you might encounter is that they might like it and want to stay.
Our oldest is in school (not my choice), and he gets good grades with little effort. Originally, he did not have any desire to go to school-- my dh insisted because he thought ds needed the "socialization. But now ds loves being able to get such positive feedback with such little effort. Halfway through ninth grade, he has been assigned jello projects, video projects, and posters, but not even one paper. This is a breeze compared to home school!
At home, I do always try to convey my love for our children, but I do not issue false praise. I would love to bring our son back home for the remainder of high school, but this would be an uphill battle at this point.
I am not telling you what to do one way or the other. I'm merely suggesting you think through what you will do if some of your children want to stay in school, and also that you try to evaluate the local schools to see what to expect there.
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