Some Homeschooling Advice and Encouragement

Homeschooling is on the rise. More and more I am hearing of parents who are fed up with the Public School System for one reason or another and are deciding to give homeschooling a try. Six years ago when I started homeschooling, I would still get a lot of ,"You're doing what?" kind of responses from friends, families, people at church, and even strangers. Lately, it seems like I am getting more of, "I know someone who homeschools." kind of responses or even people coming up to me (or even my husband sometimes) to find out where they can find out more information on homeschooling and what they need to do to get started. So for the homeschooler just starting out, or the veteran who just needs to be reminded (like me) here are 3 things that I think it is very important for you to remember. Give you and your child some time especially if pulling them out in the middle of the school year to de-school and adjust to being at home. It can make things a lot harder when you take a burnt out frustrated child and throw a full course load of material at them their first day at home. Give them time to adjust then ease into your schoolwork slowly. Sometimes the best laid plans that look and sound great on paper fail....bigtime. You spend alot of time researching curriculum planning and writing out a schedule. You are so excited to get started working with your child and for one reason or another it fails. The schedule doesn't work and the curriculum is not making sense at all to your child. It happens to all of us and you have not failed. The great thing about homeschooling is that it can be tailored to each individual child. This means a lot is trial and error. You really don't know what will work until you try it out. This is true for me every year. Give your child and yourself a lot of grace while you are figuring ot all out. No one said it was going to be easy. You ever notice that most of the time the right choice is not the easy choice. Homeschooling can be hard. Don't get me wrong, it is the best choice I ever made and I truly enjoy homeschooling my children and getting to watch them learn and grow. We have a lot of fun too. I thank God for every moment I get to be at home with them. That doesn't mean it's easy. Children get cranky, you get cranky, there is always housework that is behind, it takes up a good portion of your time, and every moment is worth it. We only have a few short years with our children to not only prepare them for adulthood but also for eternity and need to make the most of the time we have. The good news is you don't have to go through it alone. Jesus promises to be with us always, to give us everything we need for the things he calls us to do, and that we can do all things through him. Be encouraged that you do not walk alone and don't focus your time on the negative things. Enjoy the time you have. Oh, and keep a secret stash of chocolate just in case ;).