I have been trying to expand my outlook on homeschooling for years, and every year I keep meaning to read all these great books, but I have been falling short on meeting that goal. I fell short, and I wasn’t reading any of them. This year, I decided to change that. I challenged myself to read at least four homeschooling-related books and then hold myself accountable. I set the additional challenge of discussing them on my Parent Group Facebook Page.
The first book I chose was “Homeschooling Bravely” By Jamie Erickson. It felt good to read this book and know that my fears about homeschooling were “normal.”
I narrowed down what I learned from reading this book into five big lessons.
1. God’s Hand is On Us
2. I am Not Alone
3. Keep Our Focus On The Why
4. Each New Step in Homeschooling is a Season
5. There is a Bigger Picture to Homeschooling
God’s Hand Is On Us
God knew even before I did that I would homeschool, and he set the path in motion long before I caught up to it. My big plan had always been to teach high school English and maybe be a mom (at the time, I never knew if I would even be able to have children). Teaching jobs were not easy to come by when I moved to Wisconsin to be with my husband, and we were struggling to make ends meet. Two weeks after our first daughter was born, [God] put the plan to homeschool was set before us. My husband accepted a job offer to be on the road 70-80% of the year, and we wanted to stay together. Hence, homeschooling was how that would happen when our daughter was old enough for school. Oh Boy! I was scared; even with my teaching background, I was terrified of screwing things up.
Others were overly confident in my abilities, but I remember fearing not being enough of a teacher for our girls. My training is in Secondary Education, and while my degree is in English, I had no clue the best way to teach someone how to read. But, it is HE who called me to homeschool, and HE will not fail my children. So far, I have to very proficient readers, and I think we are well on our way to not failing.
I am Not Alone
Even with God’s hand on our side, I sometimes felt alone in our homeschooling journey. I often felt like an outsider. I was the only one doing this—homeschooling and traveling the road with my husband. Slowly but surely, as time has gone by, I have been able to find a community when we are home, an online community. Occasionally I have been able to collaborate with other homeschooling moms like me in our travels. I had to open myself just enough to see others around me. No single journey is like anyone else, but we are all navigating the same trajectory. We can learn from others, and others can learn from us.
Keep Our Focus on the Why
When feeling alone, I have had to reevaluate why we started homeschooling in the first place. We are together as a family, and that’s the most important thing to us. Along our journey, I have also found many other reasons homeschooling fits us. Our other big reasons are that we can meet our girls’ needs right where they are at, and we can focus on their interests to keep them engaged and an active part of their learning.
We will face criticism from spectators on the outside. Even if we often feel attacked, we should remember that we don’t hold a monopoly on perfection just because we homeschool. However, there is a reason we have chosen, and to keep the attacks at bay, we should continue to focus on our motives. Continue doing what you know is best for your family. Define your why and go back to it when you feel like giving up.
Each New Step in Homeschooling is a Season
Whether it is adding a baby, a family medical crisis, or even personal problems, each new phase of homeschooling will only last for a while. Everything works itself out and only lasts for a bit of time. I can prepare as much as possible (around births and illnesses), but sometimes we have to prepare for the unexpected.
Creating a solid foundation helps us stay grounded and not lose sight when we are in a difficult season. Because of the struggle, know when to pare down your schooling for a time or a season. Our kids are not machines; they are human, just like everyone else.
There is a Bigger Picture to Homeschooling
When going through a challenging season, I had a realization. I was trying to cram and do too much in one year of schooling. I was forced to look at the bigger picture and realized that I did not have to do everything at once, nor did I have to try to do them at all. Each new skill would eventually build off other skills, rounding out our girls’ education. The cliché of Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day fits here. We should let God’s words pour into your homeschooling journey because childhood is a season of preparation.
All kids will get it eventually, on their own and own way. You will have to be more intentional in their learning, but it can be done. Your children’s failures are not always a reflection of your abilities as their teacher or parent. The beauty of homeschooling is that we don’t have to teach everything, but we can choose what and where they learn things. Instead of realizing they have twelve years of school, we try to cram everything they need to know into one year.
In the Parent Group on Facebook, the next book we will be discussing will be “ Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unshakeable Peace” By Sarah Mackenzie. The book discussion will occur from June 26th through July 2nd, 2022.