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Take Calculated Risks

Many homeschoolers are risk-averse. When you’re raising a family on one middle-class income, finances can get a little tight. You don’t want to take any unnecessary risks that may hurt the checking account.

That may mean buying the same textbooks every year even if your kids hate it. This way, at least you know they’re “doing something”. When an enrichment opportunity arises that may stretch the budget you avoid it. You don’t want to waste money on something your kids might not like.

Don’t be afraid to take a calculated risk. You can try out a free week of Euka and enrol with confidence. Keep in mind that even with a full education program you can adapt it for your child. If your child wants to study Star Wars all year, find a way to incorporate Star Wars into your schooling. Adapt the art projects, Science lessons or English creative writing activity. This means that your kid will love learning all year long.

Have a vision for the future

Some homeschool parents are great at setting goals. Others, take homeschooling on a day-by-day basis. Goals are great, plans are great. What you need is a vision of the future.

Having a checklist of things you want to do this school year is not a vision. A vision is long-term and may not have any measurable goals. It’s your plans and checklists that help you to achieve your vision.

It’s a good idea to sit down every year and talk about the vision for your homeschooling. Do you want to produce mad scientists or artists that follow their muse? Talk about it and keep that vision in mind when planning to homeschool.

Use setbacks as an opportunity to learn

We all have setbacks. Every great inventor, successful business owner or star athlete has setbacks. Things like this are unavoidable. It is a huge part of Elon’s success that he uses opportunities to learn. Setbacks can happen for you as a parent, as well as for your kids.

But don’t let those setbacks stop you from homeschooling. If health issues arise, take time off. If you or your spouse are having employment problems, shift the schooling to the evening. Roll with it. The Euka team can adapt the program levels if your child has missed learning in a particular area.

Use those setbacks to reassess and come up with a plan to deal with problems in the future. Your kids will learn from the situation. They’ll be watching you to see how you deal with the situation.

Take your kids to work with you

Yes, Elon has his kids tag along in many areas of his work. If you work at home this is easy to do. More and more Euka families have parents working at home. With the online portal and new fillable activity sheets, it has never been simpler to let kids get on with their work, while you complete yours. But if you work in an office this isn’t so easy. Employers don’t want kids running around the office. People who work in a trade may have it far easier. The environment lends itself to having a “helper” tag along.

Start planning now to bring your children to work. Check with your employer to see if they are participating or have any activities planned. If they don’t have anything formal in place ask your manager or supervisor if it would be OK to have a kid or two tag along. Bringing their laptop and setting them up in a part of your office space is becoming much more common.