Homeschooling is possibly one of the biggest challenges faced by parents, children, and teachers during this pandemic. It was a big step in our educational system, but because we were left with only a few months of preparation, it was inevitable that there were a few snags here and there. Thankfully, parents, students, and teachers were eventually able to get into the rhythm of homeschooling. Just the same, homeschooling is no easy feat.

Technology has come a long way in making homeschooling possible but the truth is not a lot of families were financially ready to shell out extra funds for new gadgets and internet connection. It’s a good thing though that there are many affordable options in the market that allow families who are cash-strapped to buy the tools that they would need at home.

Internet signal still proves to be a stumbling block, especially in rural areas but that’s something that has no immediate solution because it involves infrastructure. As such, students in far-flung municipalities just have to make do with what they have.

While I was reading some parenting blogs online, I saw one particular blog that documented the homeschooling journey of a mom and her son. I was impressed and somehow felt a little envious of how systematic and organized their homeschooling sessions were. Their photos radiated with happiness and I can see that they were genuine.

Here's our little desk for our homeschool activities

That blog’s homeschooling section was like a well-curated Instagram page but, of course, it was more alive with stories and details. It wasn’t superficial and it wasn’t meant to show off, really. There was a lot of helpful information and even resource materials.

I know that a lot of parents would find that mom’s blog to be relatable. However, let’s not also discount the fact that there are a lot of parents like Mommy Khris and I who find homeschooling to be difficult. Yes, it’s difficult and I personally find it to be a chore.

Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching my kids but I do find it hard to implement when it’s something that is structured like in a formal school. I just find the preparations for the activities to be cumbersome.

Like many parents who are homeschooling their toddlers or small kids, we find it also a great hurdle in getting our son to concentrate and be attentive to our activities.

Anyway, here are some tips to help you reduce your homeschooling stress:

As a parent, I know that you also have an endless supply of patience. However, I know that it miraculously gets depleted from time to time and homeschooling is one of those moments when I seem to also run out of it. Well, we can’t do anything about it except to muster another ounce of patience.

When we were just starting to implement our home program, we wanted to keep it going because we thought that breaking the momentum might just lead to us slacking. However, my son’s teacher told us that we should take breaks and that we should take it frequently if we must.

We listened to her and it did wonders. We had more patience and our son would get his concentration back if we took breaks when he became cranky. Also, we found that we weren’t too drained after our home program sessions when we took breaks.

For older kids, I know that there are a number of activities and schoolwork set for the day. However, for small kids as in our case, we had the liberty to choose the activities to do in a session depending on our goal. Just the same, since we are dealing with a toddler, it’s best to keep the activities to a minimum to avoid tiring your child out easily.

Yes, make homeschooling fun. If you have big kids, try to give them space that will be conducive to learning. Give them a corner where there is enough lighting and ventilation. Allow them to play their favorite music so long as it won’t disrupt their activities.

For our toddler, we begin with his favorite nursery rhymes for our welcome song. We found that this is most often effective in setting his overall mood for our home program.

Saying words of encouragement to our kids does a lot of good for them. They will really appreciate it when they hear the words “Very good!” for the tasks that they finish. We also do the same for our little boy whenever he finishes his activities. It’s an amazing way to boost their confidence and cheer them to continue doing great.

Giving your kids their favorite snack after they finish their activities is a good way to reward them. You can order the food or drink that they like but it’s also superb if you can prepare a snack yourself. Either way, serving their favorite food is also another way of saying “You’re doing well.”

Homeschooling can be stressful for both parents and their children. However, there are simple things that you can do to reduce the anxiety and the challenges brought by this new setup.

You just have to be patient and a little creative to make homeschooling enjoyable and maybe even fun.