Among new homeschool parents, there is often a tendency to want to do everything “right”.  Fearing the consequences (i.e., ruining the children), moms and dads may spend many hours on book selection, lesson planning, record-keeping, grading papers, plus any number of other activities needed to homeschool “right”.

The newness of the situation can cause worry and stress.  They wonder if things will all turn out alright.

Talk to parents who have been homeschooling for a while, however, and you’ll hear a different kind of story.  That’s because, while experienced families do the same things that new families do, they worry less than when they first started.

More years of experience earns parents a greater sense of confidence. And that confidence translates into a lot less worry and stress than they initially felt at first.

Take a look at these comparisons.  See the difference a few years of homeschooling can make?

New homeschoolers may worry that…

…we didn’t finish everything we planned today.

…we may have forgotten something important.

…lessons could “bomb” or experiments might fail.

…a bad day of school means we are bad homeschoolers.

…our homeschool isn’t perfect.

But experienced homeschoolers know that…

…anything not completed today will get finished tomorrow.

…our kids will probably learn that on their own anyhow.

…even though one doesn’t work, the others will probably work fine.

…one bad day doesn’t matter, when other days are all pretty good.

…our homeschool is good enough for us.

So, the next time you’re worried about homeschooling, take heart in knowing that one day you’ll be more confident, too.  It doesn’t take long for new homeschoolers to move from rigid to relaxed.

I promise — it will happen to you, too!

 

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