Saturday, July 5, 2008

First Step: Are YOU Ready?

This should be something you should think about even before becoming a parent, but especially before you start homeschooling. This step isn’t “Do you have your curriculum?” or “Do you have a lesson plan?”, but “Are YOU spiritually ready to homeschool your children?”

As someone who has been through it I’m going to be honest with you. Homeschooling is NOT the easy way out. It will be hard. There will be days that you want to give up. There will be times you’ll get angry with your kids.

If you’re thinking about homeschooling, stop planning and start with prayer. Here are some other things to think about:

Can you put what YOU want aside for 12+ years and focus on what is best for your family?
Your home won’t look like the magazines. Can you deal with science experiments in the kitchen, art projects on the dining table, charts on the wall, etc?

This verse is one I turned to again and again during our homeschool years... and STILL do today! Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.”

More questions:
Are you and your husband on the same page?
Does he support homeschooling COMPLETELY?
Have you talked together about how this will affect you financially? (Does he agree that you won’t work or maybe just work part-time? Have you included homeschool in your budget?)

Here’s your homework: Pray. Pray with your husband. If your children are old enough pray with them about the decision, too. Ask God especially for wisdom, patience, and humility. Be prepared for Him to provide opportunities for you to practice your patience and humility!

1 comment:

Mary@notbefore7 said...

Your sister sent me over here as I am just beginning to homeschool :)

This hit home "can you deal with science experiments in the kitchen" etc. I have already found that my house isnt' looking very "decorator" these days :)