The Layers of Learning Podcast with Karen and Michelle is here to help you get your whole family learning together in your homeschool. We are the sisters behind Layers of Learning. We love getting together to chat about homeschooling and this podcast is just a series of our chats. We’re inviting you to listen in on our conversations.

We both have big families, but we teach almost all of our school subjects to everyone at once. We want to help you find the joy in that too, so we talk a lot about family homeschooling. To see all of our episodes, visit our Layers of Learning Podcast Page. Join us as we explore how to have a happy, hands-on, family-style homeschool.

We been homeschooling for several decades and the truth is, we don’t even know who we are without the role we’ve had as homeschool moms. It’s changed us in so many ways that it’s hard to articulate. Our day-to-day lives, our homes, our families…they have all been changed by homeschooling in countless ways. Along the way, we’ve learned a lot. In this episode, we talked about the lessons we’ve learned as homeschool moms.

We chat about how our perceptions of education have changed over the years and the misconceptions we had to let go of to finally feel successful. You’ll hear what we’ve learned about ourselves, the things we wish we knew when we were young homeschool moms, and the things we’ve internalized.

• Education can be relaxed and casual.
  
  
• Textbooks aren’t required!
  
  
• YOU ARE ENOUGH. You are smart enough and dedicated enough and capable of providing your kids with the exact education they need.
  
  
• The details of the schedule don’t matter nearly as much as just being consistent. Start your homeschooling day consistently, even if your school days aren’t perfect, be in the habit of being consistent.
  
  
• You can teach things even if you aren’t good at them or don’t know much about them. You just need a good guide.
  
  
• You have to make your homeschool fit your personality. If you’re a type-A organized mom, don’t try to be an unschooler. If you hate checklists and order, don’t try to be a classical homeschool. You will love this life if you accept who you are and thrive in it.
  
  
• You will never be a perfect homeschool parent or have a perfect homeschool. That doesn’t exist.
  
  
• Pace yourself. More is not always better. Take breaks and give yourself seasons of homeschool to keep fresh enthusiasm alive.
  
  
• You don’t have to teach every subject every year or every subject every school day. Adjusting the schedule can actually contribute to more success in your homeschool. Organize your homeschool in your own way instead of mimicking public education.
  
  
• The 4-year cycle is an easy system of organization for learning that allows you to learn things in an organized way that repeats itself for deeper learning. It also allows you to relax your planning and organization and lets you see the big picture of what you’re learning together.
  
  
• RELAX and enjoy learning together.
  

The post Episode 66: Lessons We’ve Learned As Homeschool Moms appeared first on Layers of Learning.