My Best Homeschool Advice...

Over the years, I've learned a great deal through homeschooling.  Many wise women who went before me shared tips, tricks, and other knowledge they gained from their experience as homeschooling moms.  A couple of things really stuck with me.  The first being,  "Don't compare my outsides with your insides."

As homeschool moms, I think it's easy for us to look at what others are doing and feel inadequate.  We all know those moms, who look like they have it together.  Their kids are studying three foreign languages, attending STEM camps, taking AP courses, reading every book under the sun, and starring in lead drama roles, all while volunteering to save the world.   You feel like you could never keep up.  I'm here to tell you, you were not made to keep up.

God has created you to be the perfect parent for your kid(s).  We get into great trouble when we start to compare ourselves with others.  Exodus 20:17 (ESV) says,

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.

There it is!...God's law, and it applies to our homeschools. Coveting what it appears someone else has in their homeschool is against God's command.  Therefore, comparing ourselves to that other "perfect" homeschool family will ultimately lead to failure. You will not and cannot measure up, because it is not the life God designed for you.  Instead, let us cling to 1 Kings 3:12-14, which says,

...behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.  I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.  And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.

When you're feeling inadequate regarding your homeschool, rather than compare, pray for discernment and wisdom, knowing that God will give you what you need to lead your family in truth, beauty, and goodness. 

The second thing I've learned and would like to share is, "Let your curriculum be your slave, not your master."

I remember first starting this homeschool journey and trying to create school at home.  I began with a very traditional textbook curriculum that was designed for a classroom.   I found out quickly that it was not going to work for my class of one unless I did some major tweaking.  It was so freeing when another homeschool mom told me, it was OK to tweak.  I have since come to tweak everything and it's very liberating. 

Our children are not cardboard cutouts.  Each one of them is a born person, created uniquely by God.  Therefore, what works for one will not work for everyone.  Most curriculum was designed and published because it worked for someone.  But in homeschooling, there is no one size fits all because we are all individual.  Being bound by your curriculum will surely cause burnout.  Rather, feel free to use what works and leave the rest!      

What's your best homeschool advice?  Leave a comment below and link up today to Sonlight's 25th Anniversary Blog Party...