Is Homeschooling Easy?

Is homeschooling easy you ask? Well...I'll get back to you on the easy part. Some days are good and some are bad. There are struggles everyday over something, I'm sure. I don't think there is one home-schooling parent that can say there isn't. For us it's reading, my child wants absolutely NOTHING to do with reading himself. He will sometimes, but 60% of the time it's not by choice. He loves having books read to him, answering questions about the story, or even writing a story similar to what has been read. Anything else he loves. Math, breezes through. History, let's learn more. Science, "Ooh, can we do that again?". Language Arts, not a favorite but he doesn't mind it. In my personal opinion, the key to home-schooling is learning your child's way of learning. Once that has been done, I think at times, yes, it is easy. Another thing is being able to change it up! Want to do learning outside? Go for it! Go to the zoo to learn about animals? Why not?!?! Finding what interests your child is also an option, I can't tell any of you how many times I've let him choose what he wants to learn about (I will be the same with my youngest) and he always chooses something fun! Volcanoes, sharks, toads, plants; struggles seem to subside when they choose. Of course there are the things that need to be taught (my opinion) that they may not want to learn, but they still need to. I also notice that with mine the warmer it gets, the less schoolwork he wants to do. He would rather be outside 100% of his time; he's definitely a country boy. One who enjoys fishing, hunting, trapping, playing in the dirt, riding his bike, swinging, bouncing on the trampoline, using his sling-shot, etc. (I'm by no means saying he doesn't enjoy playing video games or watching tv, but if he had to choose, he'd go outside in a heartbeat.) I've learned to choose my battles; if he wants to play outside we do our schoolwork in the morning so he can enjoy the afternoon outdoors. I've learned that learning is everywhere. Even when he's outside he's constantly learning, his imagination is incredible and with that he has a strong love of learning. I've seen him make piles of dirt into volcanoes and explain which type they are. I've seen him find bugs and tell me ALL about them. Playing by the pond, seeing the water life and his eyes lighting up as he tells me about tadpoles. It's amazing. Simply amazing. All of this is what makes the daily struggles worth it, to see that "light-bulb" go off, to see him teaching other kids what he's learned, the pride he shows in being a home-schooler. (Telling complete strangers how home-schooling is fun and that's something him and George Washington have in common, funny right?) My point is, LEARNING IS EVERYWHERE! Take advantage of your surroundings. Go to a park, let your kids find rocks and then look up stuff about gems and minerals. Rocks and soil. Let your kids throw a ball up in the air, discuss gravity, what goes up must come down, right? There are just so many things you can do as a home-schooler, most importantly being able to change-it up. Rather it, is your curriculum (if you use one), your surroundings, etc.

 Here my oldest is, working hard in his Handwriting Without Tears workbook. Notice the John Cena (WWE) book in the background, that's his journal. He writes about whatever he wants to write about in that daily. He picked out that book, so he loves to write in it. (Once again, less struggles when your kids are able to choose what interests them, my opinion.)

And here my youngest is, ready for summer (following in his brother's footsteps when it comes to being outdoors) wearing my flip-flops on a cold/blustery day.