Avoid homeschooling crises by reminding yourself of a few
basic principles that work throughout life but are especially important when
you're taking on a big project like the education of your children, says
homeschooling mom Barbara Danza, a mom of two kids.
Don't worry about being perfect. Perfection is not
only overrated, it's impossible. Aim for a process of trial-and-error, with the
successes celebrated and the errors supplying useful information going forward.
You and your kids are learning together, designing a grand new adventure.
There's no need to put a lot of pressure on yourselves.
Do be flexible. It's good to start with a plan, but
expect the plan to change. In fact, it might take a whole year before the
schedule falls into a pattern that feels right—and then it might change again.
There's no cookie-cutter arrangement or prescription to follow, so allow for
creativity and frequent adjustments to resources, approaches, and schedules.
READ MORE: Learn more about homeschooling
Don't compare yourselves to others. What gets posted
on Instagram might look more orderly and efficient than what you've got, or
more wild and free, but they're just pictures, and every family's homeschooling
needs and directions are different. As long as you're teaching your children to
be fair and kind, and you see evidence of academic learning over time, you can
congratulate yourself on doing a fine job.
Do avoid drudgery. If you buy an online syllabus and
find yourself wishing you didn't have to slog through it with your kids—maybe
you don't. Sometimes you have to put up with a certain amount of tedium in
life, but for the most part, homeschooling gives you the right to throw away
stuff that's boring. If it isn't working for you, it's probably not working for
you kids either. Stick to learning programs that excite your interest and
theirs.
Don't try to duplicate school. The point of
homeschooling is that you get to improve on school. Your kids don't have to sit
in rows and do what everyone else is doing. They can follow their curiosity
deep into a subject and learn at a level that's not available to them at
school. They get a learning experience tailored for them, in the context of
family and the world around them. So don't worry if it doesn't feel like
school. It's not supposed to.