“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:5-9

I have many women from all aspects of my life reach out to me in the past three years since I’ve been homeschooling. They’ve all had the same questions…The main one being, “How Do You Do It?”

When I began my homeschool journey, I felt alone. I asked and asked people around me but everyone always seemed to say, “it will just work out…don’t worry about it.” Well, that doesn’t work for me. I need to know details, I need to know what I’m getting myself into. With that said, here are a couple of things I would like to share with mothers and fathers thinking about homeschooling their children.

First, you need full support from your spouse. As a couple you need to have the same family goals. Mark 3:25 “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

Second, you must be committed. When you make a commitment, you are making a pledge to not give up. Through stress, frustration, and rough times, you are dedicated to the decision you have made.

Third, know that it is normal to have days you will want to scream into your pillow, cry and kick like a three year old, and run around your house like a crazy person. On those days, stop what you are doing and take the kids outside to the park or the pool. It’s important to take the temperature of your “classroom”. If you’re, frustrated just think how your kids might feel.

Fourth, by making this decision to homeschool, you are making a sacrifice. You most likely will live off of one income, the house won’t always be clean, and you won’t be able to chase after a career (not a big deal to me at all, but to some it is a huge sacrifice).

Fifth, homeschooling is the best reward and achievement you could EVER have in this lifetime. To be able to teach your kids how to read and write then watch their world come to life in front of them, is amazing. To daily sit beside them and solve riddles, problems, and equations, to cuddle up with them during reading time on the couch, ahhhh…there is no greater reward!

If you can read these five things and feel confident in knowing God has placed this on your heart and you can make a commitment to not give up in this calling, then, Welcome to Homeschooling.  Feel free to write me any time…I will also take screams and tears 🙂