Overcoming the "Am I Doing Enough?" Homeschool Struggle
By Tracy Criswell
It’s a question that has plagued me since starting back with homeschooling our four children: "Am I doing enough?" This summer, our family faced a series of challenges, including three surgeries—my husband’s benign tumor removal, my oldest son’s wisdom teeth extraction, and my oldest daughter’s spinal fusion—along with jury duty, a loss of income since I had to forgo my summer job to care for everyone, and the stress of preparing for a new homeschool year. This has been the toughest start to a homeschool year in our eight years of experience.
A Rough Start
We decided to start homeschooling the Tuesday after Labor Day. I thought this would give us time to gauge how well my oldest daughter was recovering and help her siblings transition into their dual-enrolled classes at local schools. It seemed like a good plan, but as soon as we started, I felt overwhelmed, and the familiar question resurfaced: "Am I doing enough?"
Our days became packed with commitments—three different band practices (my youngest daughter weekly, my youngest son every other morning, and my oldest daughter every day), band lessons every other week, weekly therapy sessions for my middle two children to manage their anxiety, orthodontist visits, psychiatric evaluations for my oldest daughter, vision therapy appointments, doctor visits for anxiety medication, and, of course, homeschooling.
One Day at a Time
I don’t write lesson plans in advance (except for my oldest son, who is very independent), because I never know what each day will bring. My children have varying abilities and needs, and it’s a constant challenge to meet them all. But this past weekend, I noticed a pattern: every other week is chaotic. This is when band lessons, homeschool visits from our supervising teacher, and medical appointments tend to cluster. I’ve come to accept that on those hectic weeks, I’ll do my best to teach my children, even if that means schooling in the van between appointments. On the calmer weeks, we focus on catching up with any missed work.
My husband has been an incredible support. He helps with dinner, listens when I need to talk about how things are going, and occasionally takes the kids to activities, giving me some quiet time to catch up on paperwork. His help has made a big difference.
Other Strategies
In addition to my husband's support, I’ve found a few other strategies that help keep the "Am I doing enough?" question at bay:
Focus on completing three core subjects every day, no matter what.
Write down what we accomplish each day for a clear visual of what we’ve done and what still needs attention.
Use videos to supplement different subject areas like science, social studies, and literature.
Incorporate read-alouds or audiobooks to deepen our understanding of various topics as a family.
Take advantage of field trips, library activities, and volunteer opportunities as part of our learning.
Practice giving and receiving grace.
Don’t hesitate to ask for help from friends and family.
More Than Enough
At some point, most of us ask ourselves, "Am I doing enough?" The answer is, “Yes, I am.” I am providing a homeschool education tailored to my children’s unique needs and abilities. I’m teaching them life skills and values that will shape how they treat others. Life has seasons, and right now, ours is full of doctor’s appointments, therapy sessions, dual-enrollment classes, tumbling, scouting, 4-H, and more. But through it all, I’ve learned that I’m doing more than enough.
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