Encouragement for Your Homeschool Journey

It's tempting when you first start homeschooling to start following some blogger like us. (By the way, we have no real experience with blogs. We are just two moms with a passion for what we do and a desire to help others.) Maybe you friend someone on Facebook or check out other blogs and videos, and you start to feel inadequate. Perhaps a friend shares with you that their 4 year old is reading and you have a 6 year old that isn't. Let me tell you... it's OK! God gave you those children that you have because He knew what he was doing. Those children need YOU as their mom and not your friend as their mom. You know what works best for you, your kids, and your family. Each family circumstance is unique. One family may have a spouse that works 5 days a week for 40 hours just 9-5. Another family may have a spouse that works 12 hours 6 days a week. That will affect how you handle things in your home. It also makes a difference how involved your spouse is in the home and in your homeschool. Maybe he does a couple of the subjects in the evening with the kids or possibly if he works a later shift, he helps school in the morning. Maybe you have 5 kids 6 and under and your friend's kids are spread out so the older ones can help with the younger ones. Do you see how all these things may affect how your day goes?

I want to encourage you that YOU can do this! Start very simple. You can always add more later. Pick a book to read aloud to your kids and do reading and math, possibly handwriting. Just try that for a month. I even advocate starting with one thing at a time and do it for a week or two before adding the next one in. Maybe you get a month in and you are rocking it, so you buy a science or history book. Or maybe you are a month in and feel like you are drowning so you back off to just reading again. Make this journey work for you and your family. It's not fair to compare your journey to others. Comparison is a bully. Remember that most of us post only the highlights on Facebook. Know that Beth and I have many moments where life falls apart. Kids cry or argue, messes get made, or we just struggle to get through the day. We rely on God for strength in those moments because He will provide what we need to get through.

Jessica