19/08/2024
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜'𝗗 𝗗𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗜𝗙 𝗜 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡 (𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭/𝟱)
After 20 years of homeschooling four children —and seeing two of them now thriving in their careers—I've been thinking about the early years of homeschooling and reflecting on our family's life back then. As I look back, I realize that there are a few things that I wish I could have done differently.
𝗠𝗼𝗺 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁: I wish I did not allow guilt to overshadow the good that I was doing.
Starting out, I had mixed emotions of excitement and fear. I was excited because I was doing something new, and I was scared because I didn’t know how it would turn out. I wasn’t a trained teacher, nor was I a good student myself. But I was determined to teach our children. Along with that determination, though, came a heavy dose of guilt.
𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁
I remember that, at night, when I was alone, I constantly questioned myself if I was doing the right thing. Maybe I was harming my kids, probably even permanently, by not sending them to school. I was responsible if they fell behind in their studies and struggled to keep up. The guilt was always there—guilt for not sending them to school, guilt for not doing better, guilt for the days when life got in the way of our lessons. It weighed me down and made those early years so much more stressful than they needed to be. Plus, the stress affected the children. Take note: at this time, I wasn't so aware of the stress; I just accepted it as a part of my life.
𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲
As the years passed, I realized something important: homeschooling isn’t about bringing school home. I’m a wife and mom first, and life doesn’t stop just because it’s time for a math lesson. There will always be times when other priorities have to come first over teaching, such as going to the doctor, visiting our parents, or a family crisis.
I used to be so frustrated when I looked at my perfectly scheduled calendar and saw that we were behind on our lesson plans. Over time, I discovered the value of turning every experience into a learning opportunity for my children. When life got busy, I involved my kids by giving them tasks related to what I did. Happily, I discovered that they learned just as much, maybe even more, from those life experiences than from books. I was very happy to see them becoming book-smart and life-smart.
𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸
If I could go back, I'd tell myself not to be burdened by so much guilt. Guilt is fine if you are really guilty of wrongdoing. But if you feel guilty because you had to prioritize other things, then release yourself from the guilt. Every experience, especially the tough ones, became part of their education, and we all grew from it.
I'm still actively homeschooling my teens, so I'm still here with you on this journey!
Now, I’m curious—have any of you felt this way during your homeschooling journey? If you could start over, what would you do differently? Let’s share our experiences and support each other in the comments.
And if this resonates with you, I’d love to connect more. I’ll be sharing more reflections, tips, and resources on my page this week; feel free to follow along and join the conversation!
