If you are thinking about homeschooling or just starting out, I bet you are pretty excited. I bet you are nervous too! After all, you are about to embark on a brand new journey; you are going into the unknown; you are about to do something you’ve never done before, and you may have some skeptics as well.
Well, I just have a few words for you – relax, have fun, and enjoy the ride! My advice to you may seem very laid back and casual, but that’s my advice in a nutshell. Put blinders on to those naysayers and focus on your kids. Tune into them – into their likes and dislikes, how they learn, and what makes them tick. I bet you already know most of that stuff, but now you’ll use it to your benefit as you become their teacher.
You may be a little scared. And you might be worried that you’ll fail, or that your kids will fail – after all, their future is in your hands, right? Right! And that’s a good thing. You know your child best and no one cares more about your child, their well-being, their education, or their future than you do!
You’ve got this! I’m excited for you. And I’m cheering you on!
Write down your homeschool philosophy
This doesn’t have to be anything formal or long. Just a few sentences about what you want your homeschool to look like, what the ultimate goal of your homeschool is, the reasons why you have chosen to homeschool, and the methods you will use to fulfill your vision and meet your goals. Yes, your answers may change over time and it’s quite alright to rewrite it if need be. Having this will give you a good foundation as you start out. Tuck it away in a safe place or even post it so you can see it everyday; either way, refer to it often to help you stay on track and keep you focused. I especially like to revisit mine on the difficult days (yes, you will have those, maybe a lot) to remind myself of why we decided to homeschool in the first place. So when I’m doubting this whole homeschool thing or feeling like I want to quit (yes, you’ll have those days too), to have these reminders in front of me gets me motivated again.
Don’t try to replicate public school at home
This is a mistake that a lot of homeschoolers make – they try to reproduce what goes in public school in their homeschool. While I’m sure there are some people that this works for, a lot of new homeschoolers that try to do this end up feeling inadequate. You chose to homeschool for a reason; you chose NOT to send your kids to public school for a reason, so why would you try to recreate the same place you don’t want them to be?
You don’t have to school 5 days a week from 9-3. You don’t have to teach the same subjects when the public school does. You don’t have to have your child sit at a desk to learn. And you don’t have to use textbooks or workbooks in order to teach your kids. Do what works for you and your family! You have the freedom to decide how your homeschool will look and run. And that might change from year to year.
Change is good
Speaking of change….. being able to make changes is one of the many blessings of homeschooling. Don’t be afraid to change your curriculum, schedule, or teaching method if it’s not working for you or your kids.
You may have thought a certain curriculum would be the perfect fit, only to find out once you started using it that it was not the right fit for your child. Or maybe even half way through the year you realize that your current curriculum isn’t measuring up; if that’s the case, make a change.
Your learning style might be different from your child’s, so it is likely that the way in which you planned to teach your child isn’t going to work. You need to adjust the way you teach and the homeschool method you choose to meet the needs of each child.
Your schedule will most definitely change from year to year (and possibly even more often than that) depending on your season of life. Perhaps you have a new baby one year, your family moves across the country, or you or a family member live with a chronic illness – all of these things will require you to change your schedule to fit your current needs. And that’s okay; you need to do what works for you and your family!
Be flexible
Because change is inevitable, you’ll need to be flexible. You’ll have days that don’t go as planned. Whether a child is sick, or you have an unexpected visitor, or the printer dies and you need it to print out activities you had planned for that day, or the baby has a huge diaper blowout that requires a load of laundry, a bath, and an hour of deep cleaning the carpet. Ensure clean carpets in your office building by entrusting the task to Arizona Commercial Carpet Cleaners. Their expertise will help maintain a professional and welcoming environment.
A wrench can be thrown into your day at anytime, so anticipate it and just roll with it. This is life. And children learn from life. What they learn from the life happening all around them is far more valuable than what they will gain from a textbook.
So be flexible when it comes to your schedule; use it as a guide, not a strict regime. If you don’t get everything done one day, don’t beat yourself up about it; the undone stuff will still be there the next day. Make adjustments as needed and keep moving forward.
Be flexible with your curriculum and lesson plans too. It’s okay to skip a lesson, a project, an experiment, or to not do every math problem on the page. You don’t have the 2% iodine solution needed for the vitamin C experiment? It’s okay. Your child will be just fine if you skip the experiment. You forgot to buy glow-in-the-dark puffy paint to make constellations for class today – just move on!
Don’t compare
What works in your co-op leader’s homeschool might not work in yours. What your sister-in-law uses for curriculum (that she loves) might not work for your kids. Just because the homeschooler down the street has her kids enrolled in 10 different extracurricular activities, doesn’t mean you have to do the same, or any for that matter.
Don’t worry if your homeschool doesn’t look like someone else’s. Every family is different. Every homeschool is different. Every child is different. So don’t expect any of them to be alike. And that’s the beauty of it! Do what works for your and your family, not what works for others.
Start slow
I highly recommend easing into homeschooling. If you have your schedule all laid out and plan to jump right into every subject, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. Start off with the basics – math, language arts, and Bible. Then when you’ve got your groove after a week or two, add in some science and/or history. Once you’re adjusted to that, add in some electives like art or music.
Pray
Surrender your homeschool to the Lord. Everyday. Let Him be your guide and put Him first in your homeschool. I think one of the main worries homeschool moms have is that we will fail our kids. I will never forget these words that one of my very first homeschool mentors spoke to me – “If you don’t put God first in your homeschool, if you don’t teach your children about God, then you have failed.” I was so worried about getting in all of the requirements that God was being put on the back burner way too often.
Start your day with prayer, alone and with your children. Pray aloud with them, read from the Bible each day, memorize scripture together, sing His praises.
And be sure to give yourself grace – God does. You don’t have to be the perfect mother or teacher. God didn’t make you perfect. But He did make you to be your kids’ mom and He doesn’t make mistakes. He chose you for this role, and with His grace, strength, and help, you can do this!
What advice or wisdom do you have to offer new homeschool moms?
We are just starting our second year of homeschooling.
I’ve been homeschooling my kiddo for her whole 11 years.
We have been homeschooling for 12 years.
This will be our 4th year homeschooling. I can’t believe it!!
Thank You for a wonderful contest. Congratulation to the winners.
This is all very helpful! Thank you!
These a great suggestions!!
This is my second year “officially” homeschooling.
Thanks for the tips, they are needed.
We have been homeschooling for 20+ years. It is still nice to have these reminders. I tend to feel as if the younger three are behind, but have to remind myself that that they different people, and have different learning styles than the older three. Articles like this one remind me to step back, and realize they are right where they need to be for them.
We are new to homeschooling. I have one daughter in private school and will be homeschooling our second daughter.
We have been homeschooling for five years.
I’ve been homeschooling for 3 years
We have been homeschooling for 7 years now.
We have been homeschooling since our oldest was in the second grade – 15 years!
13 years
Starting our 16th year of homeschooling next month.
We are preparing for our third year!
We have been Homeschooling for 3 years now. My oldest will now be doing 1st grade!
We’re starting our second year!
We have been homeschooling for 5 years.
This school year will be our first year to homeschool. We are nervous but also very excited.
Great tips!
I’ve been homeschooling for 7yrs now. I have the privilege of having been HOMESCHOOLED myself =D Loving this!
I’m beginning my third year of homeschooling
About to start our fifth year homeschooling my trio. We started as a temporary solution but now we just can’t shake it! 😉
This will be my third year homeschooling 🙂 I have a kindergartener and a preschooler, as well as a toddler. Busy year! Haha
We’ve been homeschooling for 9 years; wow it goes by fast!
For almost 20 years.
33 years! 6 more to go 🙂
I am starting my 8th year homeschooling.
I’ve been homeschooling 7 years now.
I’ve been homeschooling for 8 years.
I’ve been homeschooling for about 3+ years.
We are beginning our 10th year. Yea!!! Have a blessed day!
We’ve been homeschooling for two years, and while it has it’s challenges, it is SUCH a BLESSING!
We will be starting our fourth year of homeschooling this August 🙂
We have been homeschooling for 2 years.
This will be our first “formal” year homeschooling (Kindergarten for oldest) but our 3rd official year schooling.
We’ve been homeschooling 14 years
This will be my 2nd year homeschooling.
We are starting our 7th year of homeschooling!
I’ve been homeschooling for 2 years now, getting ready to start the 3rd year. I’m grateful for posts like this because I’m still learning what’s best for our homeschooling family. Thank you!
This will be our first year.
This is our first “official” year, but we did homeschool kindergarten unofficially and tot/preschool – my oldest is a little bookworm and has been interested in school since age 2! My other children aren’t as interested yet lol!
This will be our 3rd year homeschooling
Three years 🙂
This is our 3rd year homeschooling. I am finally starting to feel like I have a better handle on things and am actually able to accomplish everything we want to in a year at this point.
This is my second official year, although I did some preschool with my son before that. He’s going into first grade and my youngest will be doing preschool.
Starting year 4-ish. We homeschool cooperatively on our mission team so I’ve only actually taught my children part of the time.
This will be our 6th year of homeschooling and each year it is so good to go back and reasses.
We are starting our 2nd year of homeschool soon. We are so excited for the new year to start.
This will be our 6th year of homeschooling, it definitly doesnt feel like its been that long!
This will be our 9th year homeschooling. We have a 7th grader, 4th grader, 2nd and Kindergartner and a preschool who will play school as she wants!
I’ve homeschooled since 1988. My last child graduated in 2010 and now I live with and homeschool my grands.
This is so exciting! Thank you for your encouragement!
Looking forward to a great year!!
We’ve been homeschooling for 4 years. Two kids in, three more still to come!
This is our second year homeschooling!
We’ve been homeschooling going on 3 years now- we’ve “officially” (had to notify) for one year and this will be our second year notifying and first year having to notify for two children… I am so thankful we get to go on this crazy journey and that we get to have fun together doing it!
We will be starting our ninth year of homeschooling in August.
We also started off thinking our homeschooling journey would not last, but here we are about to begin our 6th year. God has blessed us by showing us it’s in HIs plans, at least for another year. 🙂 (We take it year by year, kid by kid…sometimes, day by day)
We have been homeschooling for 6 years! 🙂
We are starting our 2nd year!!!
We are starting our 5th year. Very excited!
This will be our 6th year homeschooling.
We are starting our first year of homeschooling, last year my son did online school but it just wasn’t the right fit for us. We are excited to get started.
This will be our first official year homeschooling. So excited and nervous to start this journey with my kindergartener (5.5), preschooler (3), and toddler (1.5)!
To answer your question, we’ve been homeschooling for four years.
Our 5th year! 5 students ages 9, 7, 5, 3 and seven months!
This will be our 5th year.
I’ve been homeschooling for three years, starting my fourth year on Monday.
Thank you!!
These are such good tips- we have been homeschooling for three years now but still need these reminders!
I still need these reminders too!
Just starting out with Kindergarten!
We are getting ready to start our 7th year (I can’t believe it!) and I am still as excited to teach and train my kiddos. I am growing right along with them.
We are just beginning our journey. I have two toddlers who will be homeschooled.
Starting our 24th year of homeschooling!
We will be starting our first year of homeschooling next month, with my oldest in preschool!
Wow! What a gift. Thank you!
My oldest is ten and we have been homeschooling from the beginning. The oldest two went to public school for one year, grade 1 and 3, and that’s it.
This will be our 3rd year homeschool and so excited to get started back up! 🙂
I’m looking ahead to homeschooling our 3 sons, starting next year.
3 years
This is our first year homeschooling, and we’re really excited!
We will begin our 17th year next month!
This will be our third year homeschooling.
This is an amazing giveaway! Thanks for doing this!
I have been homeschooling for 2 years!
This will be our third year homeschooling.
It’s our second year being “official” with our oldest and we’re unofficially adding our next two this year?
This is year 2, organized year 1, lol! 🙂
We’ve been homeschooling for almost 2 years, started 2nd quarter of 2015-16. This will be our 2nd full school year!
This will be our second year of homeschool!
Thank you for this awesome give away. We just started our 6th year homeschooling.
This will be my first year homeschooling.
I have been homeschooling for 11 years.
We are going into our 12th year!
This is our sixth year and I’m really needing some joy to inspire me!
I have schooled my children for 6 years now.
We just finished our second year of homeschool, starting the third year soon.
2 years
We’ve been homeschooling a little over 2 years now and oh, what an adventure it has been so far! 🙂
This will be my 7th year homeschooling.
I’ve been homeschooling for 3 years.
What a great blog! I’m loving all of the information and tips
We’ve been homeschooling for 22 years. (Hard to believe!) The years fly by, so my advice is to make the most of every day! In just a few more years my homeschool journey will be complete, and then I hope to help and encourage my children to homeschool their own children.
My family has home schooled for 18 years.
I’ve been homeschooling for nearly 17 years.
We’ve homeschooled about nine years between my oldest 23, and now with our eight year old. We foster and have adopted so we have a 1, 2, and 3 year old to homeschool as well, so many many more years!
We are starting our first real year of homeschooling and I just love this blog post! I love your advice. Thanks so much….and to write down our homeschool philosophy to help remind me of the why!
I’ve been homeschooling for 10 years.
This article is just what this mama needed to read! Still on the fence, but I am feeling led to homeschool and we would be starting this year with Pre-K. I am feeling like it would be a great time to try it!
19. Years
We are going to start homeschooling (very unofficially) this year with our oldest who is 4.
This is our second year homeschooling.
This would be fantastic to be able to get materials to use with my mentally challenged son
We have been homes hopping for a few years now. My eldest is going into fourth, middle is in first and our youngest is starting in pre-k
We are going in to our 4th year homeschooling. I’d love to win and be able to share the materials with our local homeschool co-op.
We have been homeschooling for 9 years and having the time of our life!
This will be my first official year of homeschooling.
I am in my 16th year of home schooling
This is our first year officially homeschooling. We started a little last year, but needed to be more consistent – this yearstarts my eldest’s kindergarten year
This will be our 2nd year homeschooling. This year I’ll be schooling 2 instead of just 1. 🙂
Homeschooling my 12th year this year.
This will be our fifth year with our oldest.
This is my 6th year homeschooling and I now have 3 kiddos.
This will be our 8th year homeschooling and our last because my daughter will be graduating next spring. Then it’s off to college!
this will be our 10th year!
I have been homeschooling since 1999, 2 are already graduated & 7 more to go
We will be starting our 3rd year (3rd grade).
Love this information ❤️
10 years, 3 kids!
Wow, what an amazing blessing someone is going to receive. Thank you for the chance!
Homeschooling for 5 yrs.
We have been homeschooling for 5 yrs.
I’ve been homeschooling for four years. Love it!
We’ve been homeschooling for 7 years!
This will be our 2nd year of homeschooling.
These tips are spot on! Thank you for your advice, it serves as a reminder!
I feel so very honored to have been called to homeschool. God tugged on our hearts and wouldnt let go. There are challenging days, and super wonderful ones. Days that I think, “What have I done to my child”? Or, “Was God calling some one else”? I know I am thankful every day, I get a chance to learn things in the journey that I never knew or that I forgot. My God loves it when I put it in his hands daily, Im still learning. This has been my honor going on three years. He provides when we don’t know where its coming from. He leads me down paths I never thought possible and yet, I’m growing. So very blessed to be chosen for such a time as this, and so very thankful for mamas out there on FB, Youtube and blogs that have set the path before me. Though he leads me, I will follow. Blessings!
starting our 3rd year!
I have been homeschooling my girls for 3 years!
We’ve been homeschooling for 3 years
This is our 3rd year homeschooling independently. We did the virtual academy for the first 3yrs.
We are beginning our fourteenth year of homeschooling. I cannot believe we have been doing this for so many years, but God has blessed every bit of the journey.
School-teacher turned homeschool mom. Have homeschooled for 6 years now.
We have homeschooled for 8 total years!
This will be our first year homeschooling and we are excited (and nervous!).
Homeschooling for 8 yrs 🙂
Been homeschooling for 4 years! Entering the middle school years with my oldest! Excited to learn with him!
This is great. We are starting our 10th year of homeschooling.
I have been homeschooling for 6 years!
I’ve been homeschooling 7 years getting ready to start 8th year and I LOVE it! This article though is still so very helpful to read through and take things you need from. Thank you very much!
I feel old when I say I’ve been homeschooling 16 years! God is great and we now have 2 in college and I’m sad to think that my homeschool journey will end when my fifth graduates. I hope someday I can be a part to homeschooling future grandbabies.
Homeschooling for 12 years now and have 15 more to go 🙂
Thanks
This is our fourth year homeschooling and we are expecting our third child in two months. I love the homeschool life!
this is our second year 🙂
8 wonderful years!
We are just about to start our first year in a couple of weeks. Thank you for your words of encouragement.
We have been homeschooling for 14 years.
We have been homeschooling for several months! I’m starting to get my feet under me, but I still feel like a total newbie!
Thank you so much for these wonderful tips! My wife would definitely love these tips Ma’am. Thank you once again!
3 years, starting year 4 next month
This is our 9th year homeschooling – starting high school. Kind of nervous about how the year will go, but looking forward to it!
Homeschooling over 20 years 🙂
We are in our first year. Thank you for the opportunity and the reminder to be unique and flexible.
We have been homeschooling going on our third year. Our little one doesn’t officially begin kindergarten for another year but she seems more than ready so we are giving it a try.
Starting our 8th year of homeschooling!
We’re on our 5th year of homeschooling — thank you so much!!
Thank you very much for your tips for beginners. It is a little scary most of it because I am visually impaired, but I decided to Homeschool independently my now 14 (9th) and my 7 yr. old. Thank you again!
This will be our 5th year.
Not comparing yourself to the public school system is tough, especially if you taught in it. Thank you for good advice
This will be my 5th year homeschooling 🙂
This will be our first year officially homeschooling.
This will be our 7th year of full-time homeschool. I cannot believe it has been that long.
Going on 6 years of homeschooling now.
This is our 12th year of homeschooling.
This will be our third year and my first year with more than one!!
We are in our 2nd year of homeschooling, and still learning.
my first year trying to homeschool
This will be our 2nd year of homeschooling.
We are starting our 4th year.
Going on year 3. Thanks for the post!
Starting our second official year
I’ve been homeschooling for 12 years now! Quite a few left to go. 🙂
We’re starting up our sixth year of homeschooling!
We have been homeschooling for 8 years. We start high school this year.
I have been homeschooling for 4 years.
Just completed our first year!
I’ve homeschooled for 9 years!
I did a little homeschool preschool for 18 months but then life got in the way a year ago and we stopped. I’ll be starting our first “official” year this fall with my oldest, who will be doing kindergarten, and my middle who will be doing preschool. The baby will be along for the ride.
12 years! Just graduated my first and another 17 wonderful years to go to graduate my last!
This is our 6th year (counting kinder).
10 years
We are about to enter our second year of homeschooling!
This is our 11th year!
I have been homeschooling since December 2014.
Eight years if you include preschool!
This is our 14th year.
This will be our first year of homeschooling our grandson… previously participated in a virtual school. Your blog has been a source of inspiration… thank you for all the wonderful information. I’m a bit anxious about our new venture, but I have faith that God pointed us in this direction for a reason… when you follow your heart and faith, good things happen.
This will be my first year homeschooling a 3 1/2 yr old and a 5 yr old. To say that I’m overwhelmed with all the curriculum choices and different ways to homeschool is an UNDERstatement! So glad I came across your blog. Its so full of encouragement and awesome resources!!
This is our first year of homeschooling as my daughter starts kindergarten! My son will follow in 2 years and the baby in 5!
We’re just finishing up my son’s 4K year.
My oldest starts kindergarten this year! I am pretty excited!!
This will be our 8th year of homeschooling, I believe. I am really bad with dates. We started when our 13 yr old started first grade. So he’s now ready for 8th grade. It’s been an awesome journey!
Homeshool – 6 years 🙂
I love the homeschool tips! This will be very helpful for homeschool as this will be the first time homeschooling and we are excited! ☺
This will be our 4th year homeschooling one elementary age and first year homeschooling an older high school student.
This will be a huge blessing to a homeschool family.
I am on my 2 year of homeschooling and feeling overwhelmed
Heading into year 3
This is our 10th year homeschooling.
I so appreciate you blog! thanks for sending it to me! love the contest too!!
We have been homeschooling for a total of 11 years. The biggest mistake I have made is to try to re-create school at home instead of making home a place of learning.
Thank you for this wonderful giveaway!
Thank you for this! this will be my 2nd year homeschooling. I will have two that im teaching and 2 other lil’s running around. it was refreshing and encouraging to read this!
I meant 3rd year!
20 years
We have been homeschooling for 7 years!
I will be starting my 15th year. My oldest graduated this year.
Starting our 2nd year! So exited! Thanks for the suggestions. ❤
Starting year 7 in our homeschool – it’s gone by fast!
Thanks for all the encouraging tips! I am a Elementary public eductor turned Stay-at-Home Mom/Homeschooling Mama. This will be our third year homeschooling and I am loving the experience!
These ideas aren’t just good for new homeschool moms they are good reminders even for seasoned ones. We are going into our 5th year of homeschool and starting our 3rd curriculum type/style. Even if you know it is a benefit of homeschooling, changing curriculum to try and tailor it and find the happiest medium between your teaching style and the kids’ learning style can still feel wishy washy and inconsistent. It also falls in that whole “don’t compare” category. You see those homeschool moms that have all their kids on the same curriculum, at or above “grade level”, and on schedule every day and wonder why you can’t get there. If that isn’t what works for you and your kids then you won’t ever get there…and that’s okay! Maybe they are wishing they could go with the flow or felt brave enough to change things up when they know they or the kids need it. 😉
So true Katrina! I need reminders after 10 years!
We love homeschooling!
This will be our first year homeschooling our 3 daughters.
Thanks for supplying us with so much wonderful information and your time!!!
We’ve been homeschooling about five years now.
Great tips!
We’ve been homeschooling going on 3 years! Thank you so much for the opportunity to win this amazing prize!
I have been homeschooling 7 years.
We’ve been homeschooling for 6 years.
Such great reminders thanks!
This is our 5th year homeschooling
This is our 11th year of homeschooling.
I have been homeschooling three years.
This will be our 6th year!
Looking forward to another year of homeschooling!
Love it! We’ve been homeschooling since 1997 (3 kids) till today (2 graduated already, 1 left). It was by no means an easy journey but it’s well worth it. Nothing beats the discipline, patience, sense of responsibility and organization skills learned. To top it off, it’s a great family bonding experience. We’d always go on trips during school-weeks and their school comes with us. It’s been a big blessing for us. 🙂