Homeschool Rescue from Only Passionate Curiosity: A TOS Crew Review

If you spend much time browsing around the various homeschool blogs you may begin to see a pattern. Lots of happy kids, lots of happy curriculum, and lots of happy homeschooling. You may even feel this blog can tend to be that way. I try to be open and honest about our reality, but it is hard sometimes to do that in a way that is respectful to my kids. Anyone who has homeschooled for more than a day can tell you that reality is very, very different. We are currently in a rather calm season. Things are running fairly smoothly, but it wasn't always that way. If you had talked to me a couple of years ago I would have told you just how unsuccessful I was feeling. Homeschool Rescue from Only Passionate Curiosity is exactly what every mom who has ever felt "less-than" in her homeschooling endeavor needs.  

   Heather Aliano, the creator of this wonderful course, hits right to the heart of things in each of the modules. You'll have opportunity to gauge your own personal state as well as as the state of your homeschool. When you watch these videos you will feel like you are sitting down with a good friend who genuinely understands all that you are going through and has sound, helpful advice to help you not only get through your difficult season, but come out on the other end with a plan to succeed. I really liked that the videos were also available as a pdf transcript and as audio only. Right now I'm at a place where I can sit and watch video courses, but when my kids were younger having these other options would have been the only way to complete it all the way through.  

 

 

One of the things I appreciate is addressing our emotional and physical health right away. The author encourages everyone to seek professional advice and help for those areas and acknowledges that if these are not handled, it will be very difficult to gain much from the course. We need to address our physical and emotional struggles in a very real way in order for our homeschool to succeed. This was the case for me a few years ago when I was struggling with managing everything. I had some unknown physical things happening that were causing me to feel like I was barely hanging on by a thread. Once those things were handled and beginning to settle down, I was much more able to assess the reality of our school and see how much of my struggle was school-related and how much was physically related.     The modules are simple and broken into smaller, bite-sized sections making it completely possible to do complete with just a little time invested each day. You may work at your own pace as well which is nice for those who may have unexpected things come up with your kids unexpectedly. The homework is in a printable pdf format and is both useful and reasonable. Sometimes it can be a little painful as you assess what is going well and what isn't in your life, but this is a necessary step in the process  

  I also liked the opportunity to talk about some of these things with my husband. Like the majority of homeschooling families I take on the majority of the responsibility. I choose the curriculum and write out the plans. However, my husband is very much involved as he teaches every Monday during the school-year. I also discuss any major changes with him. Even though he is not there all the time I like for him to know what is going on. I realize many moms are not blessed with this support, but I think many husbands would like to be more supportive, they just do not know how to go about doing so. This is a great opportunity for couples to assess together what is working, what isn't, and how the spouse can play a supportive part in schooling.    There are so very many resources included with this online course! I particularly liked the bonus videos at the end of the modules. My favorite was the one on learning styles. Another amazing resource is access to the online facebook group for those who are working through Homeschool Rescue. Sometimes we just need to work out our struggles in a safe place. My experience is the women in this group have been so very generous with grace and advice.

If you are struggling in any area of your homeschool I highly recommend this course. In fact, even if things are going well, I think you will find this is an excellent way to assess and review what you are doing. It is never a bad thing to evaluate your homeschool. Anyone who completes this course will find encouragement and hope for the any areas which do not come easy.    Take a look at what my Crewmates have to say!