Here we are – another year of homeschooling, or maybe for some of you: the first! What are some ingredients to make it successful?
I assume that you are doing this of your own free will, that you are not being forced to homeschool – that you are doing this for a reason or for many reasons. But even if you are being forced to homeschool your child(ren), the ingredients for a successful year still apply.
Let’s start with the first ingredient: Your attitude!
You might be confident, with great enthusiasm, or you might be a bit unsure and feel that this is a daunting task. You might look with envy at other moms who send their kids off to school and have some free hours, or you might feel grateful that you get to spend more time with your childen and disciple them. You might have all of these emotions at different points of the day, or you may have all these emotions in the space of a few minutes.
Attitudes are catchy, therefore we need to be intentional to cultivate helpful ones. Our children are more likely to have positive attitudes if we are positive, and are going to have a really hard time having a good attitude, if we don’t. And a huge part of having a succesful school year is our attitudes – ours first, and then our children’s. This is where self-control/discipline comes in.
Decide to have a good attitude. It’s pretty straightforward, although admittedly not always easy. Maybe you’re a natural good attitude type of person, or maybe you are more the type who sees all the negatives and stresses about them.
If you’re struggling with having a positive attitude, these things can help:
Write down why you are home schooling – and ask God to help you with those goals every day.
Write down the positives about homeschooling.
Begin each day with reading the Bible and praying – this doesn’t have to be a huge amount of time, but God is our loving Father and wants to help us. Reading His Word and encountering His Truth and Light, counters the darkness of the world (or our negative attitudes) and is food we need in order to be healthy.
I suggest that you begin your “school day” with your children by reading the Bible to/with them, and then as your first “subject” doing something that you all enjoy – it could be your reading to them all, taking a walk, jumping on a trampoline in your backyard…start with something fun, and together.
Make sure you do something each day that you personally enjoy – the possibilities are endless.
See the interruptions to your schedule/day (and they will come – whether you have to deal with a character issue in your child, or there’s an urgent phone call, or…) as educational opportunities.
Make sure that you connect with people who will encourage you in this journey – if there’s a person, even a friend, that after talking with them/being with them you feel discontent, then don’t spend much time with them. Choose to be with those who leave you feeling encouraged and hopeful.
A positive attitude will be a blessing to you and all those around you, especially your children and will help toward a successful school year.
I’ll write about how to help your children with their attitudes, in my next post.
