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Flexing
Being flexible! It's a term I use alot. Nothing to do with exercise, everything to do with home ed. Something I've learnt, actually, somthing I have to keep reminding myself to be. The kids get bored of the same thing all the time so a change up, as annoying as it can be, you just get used to doing things one way and then you have to scratch that and do something else; it is neccessary. So we've gone from part online curriculum, crafts, topics and projects, to workbooks rather than online curriculum and a more autonomous path. We have a cake maker/acrobat, a game vlogger/editor/girlguide, and a photographer/action quester/robot maker. I'm quite happy with that and so are the kids. Alot of home ed parents worry if their kids are learning enough, I know I do, but then I think that it's the whole idea of home ed, to take the pressure off. Gentle guidance and encouragement rather than panic and nagging. I must remember that!!! But there other parts of our lives I need to accept and flex rather than wallow in self pitty and dig my heels in. Our circumstances have dramatically changed recently. All our plans of roam schooling have disappeared, disintegrated, vapourised and never to return. It means we can no longer all be together full time. We sold our car, and are living frugle, mend and make do, getting on with jobs that we already have the materials to do, which isn't a bad thing. In fact it's made me realise just how much money we throw away on pointless things. We've cut down our carbon footprint too not going out in the car so much, and turning the heating down to what is needed rather than being over toastie. I'm trying very hard to be creative with free outings for the kids which mainly consists of taking the dog over to the forest and going to the park. Not particularly creative actually. We do have a large jungle gym that we got for free last autumn that needs putting together which I may have mentioned in a previous post. So that's a good project for us to all get stuck into. I also am trying to be helpful at home in terms of money makingfor the near future. I'm putting together online courses, writing stories ready for self publishing, thinking about going into coaching, both 1:1 and online. So I'm doing alot of reading and research. I think there's a good gap in the market for where I live in terms of coaching. I need to keep it nearby as I don't drive and public transport isn't an option here, apart from getting a cab which would be very costly going outside of my town. My husband has a few idea's should his plan A not work out. The biggest change will be for him from being at home with us to going back to working away everyday. The early mornings will absolutely be the biggest hurdle for him. That's why I'm going to try my best to ease the load, even if it just pays for school supplies or outings. So everything is changing. I can't say I'm looking forward to it, having your dreams smashed is really crap. But we still have a roof and food, and no debt (because of selling the car) so I must stop complaining. This could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. If Stacey Soloman can home ed and become a columnist without being a journalist or have a degree in english then why can't I have a bit of that too?