Monday Musings on the Creator in Me

Best Homeschool Tip

When I first read the theme for this week at Homeschool Blogger, I thought it said "best homeschool TRIP" and I was going to tell you I'M ON IT AS YOU READ THIS!!!! 


I'm in El Salvador with my daughter and a bunch of other great people!!!!! AND we're meeting Jeanci, our Compassion sponsored child, today!!!!!


{Are you praying for me????:)}

Anyway, you can be sure I'll write about that later, when I get back. (No technology with me! ;)


In the meantime, my best homeschool TIP is this:


Don't sweat it!


I won't tell you that I always follow my own advice, but I know it's good advice;) 


So . . .


Plan, but don't stress if things don't go as planned. Don't worry if you get blown waaaay off course and your plans end up having been for naught. I mean no disrespect when I say, the plan was made for man, not man for the plan -- KWIM? If we let the plans we create dictate our "success" as homeschoolers, we're bound to bomb! ( Proverbs 19:21 has something to say about the plans we make.)


See what others are doing, but don't set them as standards for your family. It's good to get ideas and learn from others about what works for them. The problem arises when we start thinking, "I should be doing that . . ." Comparison just breeds discontentment. (1 Timothy 6:6 reminds us that contentment is a far better place to dwell.)


Explore new curricula, but don't worry if you don't have the latest and greatest products on the market. Some of the most respected minds of history were home educated with just a few resources that were accessible to them. (Here are a few -- but you can skip #1 in our context;) The fact of the matter is, with a library card and a computer, we have access to far more educational resources than a large percentage of the rest of the world's learners. Relax and enjoy what God has brought your way. (Philippians 4:19 holds a promise that includes your curricular needs!:)


Look at standards and educational benchmarks and "measurements of success,"  but don't panic if your child does not conform to "the norm." You know -- with every fiber of your being -- that every child is different, so there is no accurate assessment of "normal." Academic success is important, but it is not what defines a person's value -- to a homeschooling family, to society, or to God. In the grand scheme of life, character is far more important than any kind of academic achievement. (1 Samuel 16:7  applies here.)


You get the picture, right? There is nothing wrong with organizing and planning and assessing and doing all manner of schoolish things. We are created to create and do and be industrious. But bottom line, only what matters for eternity really matters. 


Do you have any other homeschooling tips you'd like to share? Leave a comment below :)