My apologies readers and followers. I took some time off from blogging because my son and I started our home school journey this August. I have been dealing with him as a student and finding and refining the best ways to teach him.
Although I am an expert in my field, thus far, I have been advising you as an Instructional Designer and teacher. Now I am a home school mom. I looked forward to teaching my child with flex schools and programs as support. I represent and advise on building your own, homegrown curriculum for your child as opposed to piecing together workbooks and worksheets as a curriculum.
If you are a follower, you know by now, I strongly recommend DIY on the curriculum because your child is a unique learner and workbooks, worksheets, and the projects that come with them are designed for one-size-fits-all.
My son has severe, general anxiety. I knew it would be hard, but I didn’t know it would be this hard. So first off, hats off to all moms, dads, grandparents who homeschool.
That means he requires a different approach to doing a lesson. He can start off reading and answering questions, but immediately he faces a challenge or boredom or it just doesn’t fit he will find his own creative ways to back off of doing his school work. Even though I am an Instructional Designer who recycles the box for better use, he keeps me on my toes by figuring out ways to best teach him.
Somedays I have to tackle the anxiety first. We use to do breathing exercises but he began to claim it doesn’t work. So I have started him to learn about his chakras and do chakra alignment meditation. Of course, his mind tells him it is too much for him and he can’t do it. So I put on the binary beats as he sleeps. The Root Chakra is the chakra that can control and conquer anxiety. We start with Root Chakra meditation, even if he is sleep.
I have to ease things in on my son because he is very aware, very smart, yet very afraid. So getting him the medical attention he needs is a process. I make sure to tell him about things before we do them. He does not do well with surprises but that doctor’s visit is going to have to be labeled as a “field trip.”
With daily lessons, I tell him in advance what we will be working on and what time. I allow time for rest and time for work. I also give him a bit of day in the matter. We went to the library yesterday and he said he did not want to be there. I made him promise he will do his work at home and we left the library.
I have learned not to push hard because it could result in an anxiety attack which I do not want. I have also learned when it is good to push. So far, he has A’s in his flex program and is taking PE and Art at the local school. We also joined a Co-op for those days when he is ready to meet more homeschool students and not feel alone.
If you deal with anxiety on any level, you have to find what works best for your child. Anxiety manifests itself in many ways because it is fear and fear likes to hide. Fear hides behind the anger in my child. Fear may be non-interactive, or hyperactive, or depressed. Recognize the signs and move accordingly.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach for anxiety and no one-size-fits-all approach to education. No amount of yelling, crying, spanking, or punishing is going to make those situations change. Learn as much about it as you can and deal with your unique situation.
I am a Curriculum Consultant for home school families, I am here to guide you and walk you step by step through building a curriculum that meets your child’s specific learning needs and your state’s requirements for a portfolio. If you need me, contact me on my Contact page. This blog is turning into a business so look out for my upcoming online courses. Yay!
To all home school families, I hope you are in a group, a co-op, or an organization that reminds you that you are not in this alone.
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