Homeschooling Help part 1

There are many reasons some homeschool. Some say they love to be with their children and I have heard some say that public schools are getting bad. I have even heard that some children return home from a full day at school with three hours or four hours of homework. Whatever the reason for homeschooling we must calculate the cost first.

I am not talking here just about the monetary issue. Yes, money is an important issue but what matters is commitment. It can be a big thing to have your children at home all the time. I personally could not leave my children at school for someone else to instruct them what I knew I could do. I enjoy being with my children even tho sometimes I would like to just go and drop them off at my mom's house for a week or two. I think those that homeschool have felt that at one time or another during their homeschool venture. So you are not alone if you feel this way.

Whenever I start doubting myself or why we continue to do this I think of ancient times. Did they have schools to send the kids to? Who taught them? It was up to the parents to instruct their children. So for me I know I am doing what I want to do.

Most of us that homeschool are the only ones that do it and seems like our other family members feel we must be crazy for doing this. Some will openly say something and some just have an uncomfortable feeling when someone somehow gets onto the school conversation. At that point it's time to quickly get off the topic if there is any uncomfortableness. I know what I am doing is what is right for our family so I have no problem saying anything but prefer to just not bring it up with those that are not in favor of homeschooling.

A few things I've learned in all my years of homeschooling I will share now. First there is always feelings or thinking that maybe we are not doing the right thing. If you are new or have been homeschooling for years, every now and then these feelings pop up. This is nothing unusual. We all second guess ourselves on different things we do in our lives so why not in our homeschooling. This second guessing gives me the opportunity to look over our curriculum and to find help when I need it. This being said, groups and close homeschooling friends will help in this.

I will suggest that you find a yahoo group that helps give you ideas on the subject you are having problems with. Maybe you will find the answer to your problem there. How about finding friends that live in the same town or that live close by that homeschool and can share and listen to your concerns and even offer some advise. No matter what we do it is always better to do things with friends so why not homeschooling? This is definitely something we need to have a group of friends around us to help build us up when we are down same as we would do for them. We have to speak up about our concerns to them so that they may offer suggestions. It doesn't help to stay quiet because we feel bad for having feelings of not doing things right or feeling like we don't know what we are doing. Like I said before we all have these feelings at one time or another.

Next time I will talk about a few more things that will help us in our homeschooling career.