It’s not going to be easy, but IT IS going to be worth it.
No one ever said homeschooling is easy…but very few people will say that it wasn’t worth the work it takes. Homeschooling is the hardest job I have ever had, but it’s also the most rewarding job I’ve ever had, even when my kids are being ungrateful brats.
Your students will be angels one day and Satan’s messengers the next day.
That may actually change from one hour to the next…or even minute by minute. For me, that’s the joy of homeschooling two teenagers. But the good times are great and they make for awesome memories when they’re older. The hard times make the perfect learning moments for all of us.
You don’t have to have a designated place, even though it helps.
Even if that designated space is just the kitchen table, it gives a little bit of structure to your school and work time. There are days where I take them out to the backyard and school at the picnic table or on a blanket, or we snuggle on the couch for literature in the cold months. But most of the time, we’re in our designated place.
A strong, already made curriculum is a game changer.
The first year I homeschooled, I found lesson plans and unit studies online. I bought math and phonics curriculum, and wrote the rest of our curriculum myself. My kids enjoyed it and learned a lot, but it was very time consuming for me and didn’t have a good, cohesive flow. Once I found an all-in-one curriculum, I saw how easy the publisher made it to teach, and how well everything flowed throughout the years. That’s when I decided having a curriculum, put together by people that know how to do that is the best choice I made.
Remember to make time for fun during the school days.
Not everyday has to be fun, or have some sort of excitement in it…hopefully some of that is within the curriculum itself. But make time to celebrate the holidays or historical events in history. Make science come alive with experiments. Get out and explore nature, especially when you’re studying it! Not only are these things fun, but they also make for very memorable learning experiences.
Make your homeschool work for you and your family. You homeschool for you and your children, no one else.
If you have to take time off because of doctor’s appointments, or you have a four day a week schedule because of a co-op one day, that’s fine. In our family we find homeschooling is perfect for us because my husband is a truck driver and does not have a set schedule. Being able to homeschool and have extra time for the kids to spend with dad when he’s home has been a God-send.
Have a set time to start the day.
Having a set time to start the school day makes for more of a routine and your students know what is expected. They know they have to be dressed, have already had breakfast, and at the homeschool table by 8 o’clock in the morning. That may be too early for some, but that’s what works here. My kids like to have the afternoons for them so we have to start early enough to be finished with school in the early afternoon.
You don’t have to, and cannot know everything.
We all make mistakes and get things wrong, even the professionals do. If, and when, you make a mistake while teaching, tell your kids, “hey, I taught this wrong. But I’ve learned and now I’m going to teach you the correct way.”
It’s okay if you don’t get to everything.
Even the public schools don’t get to everything before the summer begins. The perks about homeschooling is that you can continue some lessons into the summer if they have to be completed, or you can start with them at the beginning of the next year, and continue on when you’re finished. Ahh, the freedom of homeschooling.
You will want to find some kind of homeschool community.
There are many different kinds of homeschooling communities out there. If you use a specific curriculum, or parts of a curriculum, find a community of others who use the same one. They can help answer any questions you have or if you need advice specific to your program.
I also recommend finding a community just to be able to commiserate with when things are difficult for you, celebrate the joys with you, and anything else you may need.
Find a social community, which doesn’t have to be homeschool based. We have a large community at our church, small communities of sports, and pockets of friends that we find our community.
Don’t structure your homeschool like the public school system.
You’re doing school at home with a lot fewer childre, maybe with multiple grades. The model of a public school is not very enjoyable and doesn’t work well at home.
I definitely don’t have all of the answers for a successful homeschool. In fact, I still have my own questions. This year I will be trying a timed schedule. By timed I mean each subject has a set time each day and we work until the end of that time. If we didn’t finish the lesson that day, we will complete it the next time we have that subject. I am also struggling with scheduling field trip days and not having to drag the school year into the summer.
We all go through seasons in our lives and each one takes time to figure our what works for us. Always remember to give yourself grave, give your children grace. Enjoy this season you are in.
Ephesians1:7-8
In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.