When things fall apart — and they do — my impulse is always to grab the wheel and start steering. Don’t stop to think! JUST ACT!
This would be a good plan if I was in the driver’s seat of the minivan, but in the rest of life — it’s not always best. The better plan is the one that starts with me telling myself: Don’t panic. Deep breaths. This will be okay.
The bad news is, I don’t always believe it right off. The good news is, it takes so much energy to convince myself not to panic that I don’t have enough energy left over to jump in and do a lot of damage. So, phew.
I always mean to give things time, to wait on operating instructions, I do, I just have a tendency to forget that I meant to do that. So I’m reminding myself.
1. Don’t panic. No really. BREATHE.
2. Pay attention. Go into Observer Mode. What’s really going on? What does it all mean? Have aliens taken over, because that is always a possibility.
3. Ask questions. Ask good questions if you can possibly manage it. (Sometimes I can! Then there are other times.)
4. Repeat Step 1 as needed.
Everything falls apart sometimes. I’m pretty sure that’s just LIFE. It does that. But then we get to reevaluate, we get to notice what’s working, and what’s not, and why.
This week at Simple Homeschool, we’re talking about what to do when your homeschool plans go a little sideways.
It happens. It doesn’t mean you have to throw your ideals and philosophies and long-term goals out the window, it just means this is life. Thank goodness.
Some seasons, our interest-led learners are interested in everything. They read, they ask questions, they conduct experiments and plan projects.
But what do you during those other times, the times when inspiration has left the building? What do you do when no one seems interested in much of anything? What if it turns into all pajamas, all Legos, all day? You know what I’m talking about.
Well, first, you don’t panic.
(Sound familiar?) Get the whole story at Simple Homeschool.