Welcome to part nine of my step by step guide to your Best Homeschool Year Yet!

 

Before we start looking any further at scheduling your year, we need to deal with your problems.

We all get off track sometimes but some of us (you know who you are 🙂 ) seem to lurch from crisis to crisis! Or at least problem to problem.

Having to deal with ‘stuff’ and not enjoying your life can really give you homeschool burnout. Who wants to be constantly ‘dealing with things’? Sometimes the problems are large and all-encompassing, but sometimes they are small and unremitting.

Kids fighting, the sink leaking and the dog chasing the cat do not lead to a peaceful and serene homeschooling experience!

Now I know that some people thrive on chaos. You people can go get yourselves a nice cup of coffee and reread my last blog post instead.

The rest of you – I have a solution!

I give you – The Book of Solutions.

This is a simple idea but trust me – it makes a HUGE amount of difference.

Get a large notebook and write each problem or crisis separately at the top of a double-sided page.

Write a little bit about what the problem is. If it is just a little problem write it down anyway – and make a note of how it makes you feel. You only get to write about the problem once – no going back to re-write more about it.

Now use the rest of the double-page to work on solutions.

Use the rest of the page to write about solutions. Write out how you would love this problem to be resolved. If it can’t be resolved then write how you would like to feel about it, instead of the way you feel about it now. Could you feel empowered? Calm? Strong? Understanding?

You can write as much as you like about potential solutions. Try brainstorming. Try to doodle a solution. Just keep focused on solutions and not the problem.

From now on, keep your ears and eyes open. It is amazing once you start doing this how answers or solutions seem to come at you from out of the blue.  If you read or hear anything that you think might help you with the problem then write it (or cut and paste) it onto the page.

The reason this works is that you are 

1. Acknowledging the problem and that it is affecting you.
2. Clarifying exactly what the problem is.
3. Taking a measure of responsibility for finding a solution.
4. Putting your brain on alert for solutions.

And once you are looking for solutions you generally start finding them! Or coming up with them yourself.

Use your Book of Solutions for any problems, niggles or crisis that are wearing you down. You might not solve them all but you will feel much more empowered and able to cope.

Finally, when a problem is resolved put a big  x through the whole of the page. This makes a big statement to yourself. As your book fills with x you will feel more confident about tackling major problems in the future.

Ps – If you read this blog you will know I love, love. love notebooks! Go on – tell me what notebook you are going to use for your Book of Solutions. Leave a comment!

 

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