Homeschooling with Dr. B

The holiday season is a wonderful time to relax at home and avoid the crowds because sometimes, you just need a low-key time. For a homeschooling family like us, having flexibility over our calendar allows us to try different stuff during this time of the year, such as playing tourist in our hometown, volunteering at the local charity, or just exploring the world from home. There are such a plethora of options! The holiday season doesn't have to be all hustle and bustle.

Whether or not we choose to homeschool during the holidays, one of the things that we really enjoy is when we participate in community activities. We have participated in various holiday events such as costume parties, tree lighting ceremonies, theater, golf cart parades, and theme park festivities. Even during this pandemic, there are a plethora of events going on in your community. Just keep in mind that choosing what's interesting to your family is one of the benefits of homeschooling.

Sometimes my kids mentally check out during the holidays. At these times, we simply decide not to homeschool at all. What do we do then? Whatever we want to do! It's one of the benefits of homeschooling. Over the years, we have taken a Christmas Disney Cruise, participated in cultural celebrations, gone caroling from house to house, and even stayed at home. This year, we're going to Las Vegas! Whatever you do, don't take time off and feel guilty about it. Make it a time to reconnect and relax!

There are many options for homeschoolers during the holiday season. One option is to incorporate the holidays into our lessons. For example, at Christmas, I would look at where we were in our history book and talk about the holidays during that specific period. Science is an excellent subject for fun! Freeze bubbles! Make snow! The most important thing is to remember to use the flexibility of homeschooling during the holidays to your family's advantage.

When the family comes together during the holiday season, the questions about homeschooling start! No one can ruin the holiday season for a homeschooler faster than family! So how do we handle this situation? The key is to be prepared for the questioning. What I've found is the faster you nip this in the bud, the faster you will be enjoying your holiday with your family—because that's what really matters!

Just when we thought we had ADHD figured out, Tourettes emerged its ugly little head! How much of a challenge can this be when you can control so much of the homeschooling environment? Is this truly a challenge for a homeschooler? The answer is yes, it is! So what is a parent to do under these circumstances? How do we make our child feel that life can be absolutely beautiful despite the challenges? Here's how we accommodate our neurodivergent child.

As an abused child, I suffer from from severe anxiety. So do my twin daughters because one has anaphylaxis to tree nuts and the other has ADHD. When the three of us have anxiety attacks, this is when the anxiety queens take over the homeschool room! How do we meet their educational goals when we're full of anxiety? The key for us is that we accept that we're gonna have bad days, and we accept that we have the skills to deal with those bad days. We can improvise and adapt to thrive!

Many times, my ADHD child has taken over our homeschool room and caused my other homeschoolers to lose it because she was just completely out of control. It's just overwhelming at times. I wish I could tell you that I have all the answers to make your life easier because I already know everything you should be doing. But the reality is, I don't. But here are some of the things that we've done that have worked for our family. Hopefully, they will work for you.

I was terrified of teaching my ADHD child. We had worked with teachers who had the knowledge and experience working with special needs kids and struggled to work with my child. If they had difficulties, how would I be able to handle the teaching? Would I be a good homeschooling mom? Would my daughter be a good homeschooler? While not everybody has the patience, time, and resources to homeschool, I firmly believe that the pros of homeschooling our special needs children outweigh the cons.

As a homeschooling mom, what does it mean when I say improvise, adapt, thrive? As we enter our seventh year of being a homeschooling family, I look back on our ups and our downs. We've been through a lot. But it has been in our ability to pivot that has been a significant benefit to us in homeschooling—to improvise, adapt, so we could thrive. I welcome the opportunity to explore and continue growing up and be part of my homeschoolers' developmental journey.