It is so easy to get stressed.  Your children aren't listening. Your friends or family think your kids should be in school to be "socialized" as if any real life experience will have them 8 hours a day with others from the same neighborhood that are the exact same age. The curriculum says you need to do it this way and in this order. Relax. You will be great. Don't be afraid to mix things up if you are having one of those days. Do what is right for your child...that is why you made this difficult choice to go against mainstream and home school your child. Keep focused on Tip #1 as you get familiar with Patti's other tips ... they all are designed to make Tip #1 become a reality!

Your life now is busier than it ever has been and ever will be. Don't let it take over your life. If you do, before you know it you will look like that stereotype home school parent that is two decades behind in style and never has time to focus on herself ... you don't want to be her. Planning and Organizing is the key. Take control of your circumstances rather than your circumstances controlling you. Think about a calendar system and schedule that the whole family takes part in. Your kids will love knowing what the week looks like and when they should expect to focus on math and what day they are having peanut butter and jelly and when to get mentally prepared for brussel sprouts and when they get to meet their friends at the zoo.  When organizing, though, remember tip #1, Relax.  Don't get so organized and structured that you lose flexibility and start stressing.  Keeping it simple and communicating what is coming this week is the key. 

All the responsibilities can't be on the parent. When this happens, home school becomes impossible and you quickly begin dreaming of putting your kids back in school. Your children have to be able to share the load with you. This is part of teaching and training them for real life. Age appropriate chores should be well thought through.  For example, make a chore chart and keep it visible.  Laminate it so that chores can be checked off when they are completed.  Make it fun and have a mom chart and a kid chart.  See who can get done the fastest.  Give a reward to the kids if they win! One system we use is for reducing the amount of dishes we have.  Each family member has one plate, one bowl and one cup in their own color.  After your dish is used, you hand-wash it and put it away.  With the different colors, there is no mistake as to who left their dish out and we don’t have piles of dishes in the sink anymore. Whatever you decide, set the precedent early and it will go much smoother.

It won't be long before you are tempted to give up or start looking to re-enroll them in school. When this happens, take a break and reflect on all the reasons you made the difficult choice to home school.  Remember all the rewards you get every day by investing in your child and remember all you have learned from them.

 Stay the course as long as is right for your children. Home schooling through high school is not right for every child. When you do choose though to re-enroll, do it with much patience, reflection, and prayer. Be sure the school you are considering shares the same ideologies as you. You have been making a significant investment. If you were an investor that started with $500 and your investment has become worth $500,000, surely you wouldn't move the funds without being sure it was the right thing to do with your investment that you worked so hard for and watched grow over the years.  Be patient and only do what is right at the right time for your child.  Stay the course as long as it is right for your specific children. 

Consistency is very important for children-even older children.  Be sure that you make a plan and stick to it.  Your week should be structured in the same way as much as possible.  For example, don’t have History on Mondays sometimes and on Thursdays other times.  Or don’t switch up curriculums and resources every other week.  This confuses children and lends quickly to frustration.  Of course, there will be weeks when things are meshing well, doctor’s appointments are set, field trips are planned or children are sick.  But, as a general rule, the child should know what to expect. 

There are countless home school resources available today and each one is different.  Some families choose to purchase a curriculum packet, some pick and choose from a host of different places, and some even create their own.  I recommend, when possible, let others do some of the work.  Many of the curriculums have plans already done for you.  This saves a TON of time.  For example, Sonlight Curriculum has a binder, packed with 36 weeks of lessons in all subjects except for Math, which is purchased separately.  There are several other companies that do something similar. 

When home schooling, it is very easy to sleep in, get going at a slow pace and just start “whenever”.  Life does not work like this.  Not having a start time can lead to a lack of discipline in the child’s day to day activities.  Not having an end time can lead to the child AND parent getting burned out.  End the day on time and if you need to complete something the next day, don’t stress about it, get some rest and revisit it tomorrow. 

This may seem like a very insignificant point.  But, though it is quite tempting to stay in your jammies all day, it really is not conducive to learning.  If a child is too comfortable, it may lend to a very lax attitude and lack of desire to work.  Also, like the old saying goes, “If you look good, you feel good and perform well!” This goes for the parent as well.  Get up early, get dressed, take a shower, etc.  Do what you would do if you were going to a job.  This is a job.  You will earn more respect from your child as their teacher if you have taken that extra to take care of yourself and present yourself professionally. 

It is important for you and your child to keep the workspace clean.  This will keep both of you from feeling overwhelmed.  File papers away in a file box or tiered file holder or simply get rid of papers you will not need again.  There is no need to keep everything. Have a bulletin board up for your child to display papers of which he/she is particularly proud.  Make sure you each have your own space to work and then maybe a place where you can come together and work.  After cleaning up the space, be sure pencils are sharpened, erasers are out, and any other materials are readily accessible for the next morning. 

This can be the experience of your life for both you and your child, however long it may last.  Make sure that you cherish your child by majoring on the majors and minoring on the minors.  In other words, don’t have regrets.  Ultimately, you know what is best for your child and this experience is not only meant to better your child’s education but it can even better his/her relationship with you!