Moms that homeschool the children do not often have the luxury that other moms have when the kids head off to school each day. Homeschooling moms spend each and everyday involved with the kids. While this is a great thing for the family, it can often wear mom down—after all, even homeschooling moms need a break every now and then. How do you find the time to break free from the kids for a little while and take in some pampering? Here are my tips that will help you the next time you need a little “me” time.

Get up before the kids:

When you homeschool, you probably have a schedule that you follow with the kids each day. Instead of getting up and then getting the kids up for the day, try getting up earlier than the kids and enjoying an hour or so to yourself. Enjoy a leisurely breakfast and have coffee or tea while you read a devotion or see what's happening in the news. Or, you can take a relaxing shower and use the time to get ready for the day. Some moms even like to exercise or do yoga in the morning before the kids are ready to get up. When you get up before the kids each day, make sure that the time you spend is for you.

Stay up later in the evening:

Of course, if you are not a morning riser, then you should put the kids to bed on time each night and have your “me” time after the kids go to bed. Let your husband take over while you go to the gym, take in an occasional movie, or go to dinner with a fellow homeschool mom or friend. If you would rather not go out, then jump in the bubbly bathtub and do what you need to do the most…relax.

Start a homeschool co-op:

There are probably many homeschool co-ops in your area. This is where other homeschooling parents get together and help others. Some groups may meet once a week or once a month. You may even find a couple of moms that are willing to do a kid swap with you every now and so you each can have the day to yourself and let the kids enjoy being around other homeschooled children. If you do not have a co-op group in your area, then you might want to consider starting one. This is a great way to get some pampering time in while connecting with others.

Hire a sitter:

The whole idea of homeschooling your child is to spend quality time with them each day. Sometimes, however, you can get a little too much quality time with your kids! Never feel bad about hiring a sitter every now and then for your kids during the day. Use this time to get your nails done, enjoy a peaceful lunch with your husband, or just catch up on your errands.  Don't worry, your kids will probably be nice to the sitter, unlike in the picture above!

Homeschooling a preschool child is totally left up to the parents/guardians.  There is not one state in the U.S. that mandates teaching a preschooler by following a standard curriculum.  Many parents seem to want to start teaching their preschooler at home, though, and there are a great number of resources available to these families to start teaching skills that preschoolers should know.

I am going to start with the skills that preschoolers are learning when they attend a traditional preschool facility during the day.  These skills include:

• Learning the alphabet
• Learning their numbers
• Identifying shapes
• Identifying colors
• Learning to follow directions
• Learning patterns
• Working on fine motor and gross motor skills

There are other skills that they learn as well, but this list just includes the basics that encompass many other subsets of skills.

Now you need to know where to go and get the curriculum and activities that help teach these skills to your preschooler.  Curriculum designed specifically for preschoolers includes:

• New Horizons Preschool by Alpha Omega Publications
• Preschool Curriculum.com - Designed especially for homeschoolers
• Creative Discoveries
• The Learning Box
• Time4Learning

When I say "curriculum," I mean workbooks or online places that offer all subjects for preschoolers in one comprehensive package.  They include math, language arts, science, and other subjects as a bundle.

Now I will tell you about a few online resources that provide thousands of free preschool worksheets, online games and activities, and coloring pages galore.  This is a great option if you want to teach your preschooler by making your own curriculum, or to just go about teaching her in a relaxed, unstructured atmosphere (which is perfectly okay).  These resources can also be used to supplement a comprehensive curriculum, if you desire.

• Teaching Shapes to Preschoolers - Fun activities that teach
• Teaching Colors to Preschoolers - Fun activities that teach
• Shirley's Preschool Activities - Includes worksheets and lesson plans
• KidZone Preschool- Lots of printables
• Learning Treasures- Lots of printables and lesson plans

You will quickly come to see that there is no shortage of resources available to you, if you want to start homeschooling with your preschool child.  In fact, the choices are overwhelming, and my advice is to make a list of the skills that you want to teach, pick a few interesting topics that your preschooler might enjoy (like farm animals, "all about me" lessons, etc.), and stick with your goals.

My other suggestion is to remember that your child is a preschooler, so make lessons and activities short and fun.  They are not ready to sit and learn for hours on end.  In fact, about 30 minutes a day of instruction will teach your preschooler all he needs to know by the end of the year.  I know...I've tried it both ways, and learned the hard way.  At least I had three boys to practice on!

Have a great weekend.

Homeschooling is a growing trend. In fact, statistics indicated that it is the fastest growing form of education. It is estimated that 2.1 million children were being homeschooled in 2003. The number of homeschoolers is on the rise, growing 7% to 15% per year, according to Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute.

    Why is homeschooling becoming so popular? It probably has something to do with the fact that homeschooled students, or their parents, can set their own schedule. If a student, or parent decides that they want school to get out in April, then they can double up their efforts and get finished when they so choose.
    The popularity could also have something to do with the fact that homeschoolers are generally better socialized. This may come as a shock, because it seems ironic, however, Thomas Smedley, a graduate student at Radford University of Virginia, wrote a master's thesis indicating otherwise. He says that homeschoolers are, in general, better socialized than public-schoolers. Homeschoolers are usually more sociable around people that are not their age, both adults and young children. This has given homeschoolers a unique advantage when interviewing with prosepective employers.
    Lastly, homeschoolers, on average, score between 15-30 percentile points higher than children from public schools on standardized tests and also score above average on the SAT and ACT, according to Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute. Because of this, colleges are beginning to actively recruit homeschool students. Is that not enticing?

Of course, nothing is as easy as it sounds. What does it take to homeschool? What do you need to know to start homeschooling? Find out soon!