Janelle Esker In the blink of an eye, my twenty-two-year homeschooling career is over. I am incredibly thankful to God for allowing me this amazingly beautiful privilege of spending hours upon hours with each one of my children, learning new and interesting things together. Here are 50 Christ-Centered Slow Living Homeschool Tips
A few words pop into my mind RELATIONSHIPS, JOY, AUTHENTIC, SOULFUL…
I have made my share of mistakes over the years, so many that I probably could write a book about it! I have learned many things too, many important truths, I wish I had known when I started my homeschooling career. It is my sincere hope that you will learn from my many mistakes and take encouragement from the things that I have grasped over the past 22 years.
50 Christ-Centered Slow Living
Homeschool Tips
1. Prayer is the key to successful homeschooling. Start your day off with prayer!
2. You can make any curriculum multi-sensory just by having your child hold a book and read from it aloud.
3. Write down goals about each one of your children. Yearly goals and the “END” goal upon graduation. Make sure you include more than academic goals. Spiritual, physical, and social/ emotional goals are just as important. With the “End’ goal in sight work backward. Pray that God will accomplish these goals in your children. KNOW WHY YOU HOMESCHOOL.
4. Get your kids outside every day, even if it is just making them run around the house 5x…:)
5. Use the library weekly.
6. Honest praise motivates children.
7. You do not have to be an expert in every subject. Ask for help when you need it or use a DVD-based course.
8. Homeschooling in high school is actually easier than in the elementary years! HOW TO HOMESCHOOL IN HIGH SCHOOL
9. Make it your goal to encourage independent learning at every age level.
10. Read aloud good literature as much as you possibly can! Young ones can color a picture of the story when they are reading to help them stay focused.
11. Interruptions are more often than not ministry opportunities with your children.
12. Coming to an understanding that you will never be a “good enough” homeschool teacher and that ultimately it is God’s work that He is allowing you to participate in is FREEING! Do your best but give all your inadequacies to God and sit back and let Him make something beautiful out of it.
13. There is no such thing as the perfect curriculum for your child.
14. It is OK to take a Grace Year if you are facing illness or family crisis. The kids will be OK.
15. Be patient…
16. Be content with your homeschooling situation. You don’t need a homeschool school room or fancy curriculum. I have homeschooled at my kitchen table for the past 20 years. Whatever your situation, be content and use some creativity to problem-solve. It is even possible to homeschool for FREE!
17. It is possible to successfully homeschool without a co-op. I have done both and have truly enjoyed both options.
18. Rewards do motivate children!
19. Incorporate your child’s interests into your homeschool plans. You will have more fun and so will they!
20. Spend some time encouraging your vision of homeschooling. Go to a conference or read an interesting book. Sometimes we need a little help to stay the course. To learn how to prevent the homeschool blues CLICK HERE.
21. Include Christian Worldview as one of your subjects, no matter what age your kids are.
22. One bad day is just that, ONE bad day.
23. Learn to laugh at your mistakes. Teach your kids to do the same.
24. Include your husband in the homeschooling process. Ask him for help when you need it.
25. Remember that building good character in you and your children is more important than finishing their school work.
26. Find out your child’s learning style. It will make homeschooling them much easier.
27. Plan FUN days away from the books.
28. Your children will still learn despite your poor teaching skills. This fact is truly amazing!
29. Remember, one hour of homeschooling (tutoring) is equivalent to 5 hours in the classroom.
30. Give your child time to pretend, play, and imagine daily.
31. Whether we like it or not good manners matter. Teach your children how to “behave”. It will be such a blessing to them as they grow older and are in new and different situations as an adult. To know how to dress and behave in many different situations is empowering. Have some fun with this one.
32. Making toddler play boxes is time well spent, including younger ones in the areas of homeschooling that you can benefit them in the long run.
33. You don’t always have to homeschool first thing in the morning. When my kids were little I homeschooled during the little one’s afternoon naps.
34. Discipline and training in homeschooling.
35. Learn how to cook using your freezer or crockpot cooking. This will save you!
36. When things are chaotic lower your voice or whisper, do not raise it.
37. If your child is having problems understanding something, take a break and pray.
38. Be careful not to add too many extracurricular activities. They eat up family time. Check out HOW TO MANAGE EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES.
39. Take a yearly planning weekend with your husband. Being on the same page with your husband You don’t necessarily have to go away but if you can, go for it! You may prefer to stay home and send the kids to the grandparents for the weekend. 9 SIMPLE STEPS TO PREPARE FOR THE HOMESCHOOL YEAR
40. Include your children in the daily running of your home. First, include your young ones in the chores you do, and then give them their own. Children as young as 18 months can help clean up their toys. Doing chores together when they are young is critical and is the beginning of their homeschooling.
41. Look your children in the eye and have a pleasing tone of voice. Treat your children the way you would want to be treated.
42. Don’t compare your children or yourself to others.
43. Tell your children daily that they are TREASURES!
44. Do whatever it takes to make sure your children are each other’s best friends. My rule is, if you can’t play well and love your siblings then you can’t play with friends. Working on family friendships is way more important than neighborhood friends!
45. Figure out what method of homeschooling fits you and your children. Adapt it depending on the year and the ever-changing needs of your family.
46. Have fun with field trips!
47. There is real value in being at HOME. Home has the potential to be a reflection of heaven. Work toward that goal.
48. If you are feeling overwhelmed take a day off. It is ok to focus on time with God and get refreshed.
49. Make sure you have a daily quiet time with God. It is okay to start your schooling late in order to make sure you have your time with God. If you have little ones. Teach them to sit with you and “do” their own quiet time. Use picture Bibles or books about Jesus. Bring them in bed if you have to, nurse a baby while you pray. Get up early if that works for you but don’t skip it. Remember Jesus’s power is made perfect in your weakness. You are weak and you need Him! Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can homeschool and skip your time with God.
50. ENJOY! The time goes by quickly, treasure every single minute!
YOUR TURN…
What are your tips for successful homeschooling?
Blessings,
*This post may contain affiliate links. Thank you for supporting The Peaceful Haven!
Janelle, this is a great list. I’m bookmarking it to take another look at some of your links. I HAVEN’T found high school home school easier. Maybe I try to be too hands on. Overseas, we have no co-op options, but we’ve done a few Potter’s school classes and also used dvd’s for some classes. I definitely want to read your high school post! My first one just graduated!
Hi Betsy,
I can only imagine homeschooling in a foreign country brings challenges of its own! We don’t do a co-op in high school either. In high school I schedule them out in the beginning of the year…for example how many pages needs to be done a day to finish by the end of the year. I give them a syllabus for each subject and make a loose daily schedule. They are basically on their own. I help them troubleshoot and I grade but other than that they need to problem solve themselves… using God, me, resource materials and the internet. We have also hired a math tutor from time to time:) I have felt that having them responsible for their own leaning has made the transition to college easier. Now…if we are talking about my daughter Kylie with autism and how we homeschooled her…then it would be different:) I hope this list will be helpful! Thank you so much for your comment Betsy!
What a great list–so glad I read this. I’m going to print it out and keep it at my table to review from time to time. I can easily get caught up in all the deadlines that I forget WHY I’M DOING THIS! I want my kids to thrive and love learning.
Hi Courtney,
Thank you for your comment and I am just thrilled that this will be an encouragement to you!
Hey Janelle,
What a great list of tips for homeschooling. You have made so many good suggestions.
I really like this one, “11. Interruptions are more often than not ministry opportunities with your children.”
Some of the best days ever were days when we were interrupted!
I was “parked” by you on Modest Mom today. Glad to find your site.
I tweeted your articles here: https://twitter.com/MelanieRedd
Blessings,
Melanie
Melanie…I am so glad you stopped by and thank you so much for the tweets!!
So great to find somebody with some good ideas on homeschooling!
So glad you found The Peaceful Haven!
WOW! Thanks for all these amazing tips!
You are so welcome, Carol!
I have finished my homeschooling journey of 14 years with 4 children . I love your list!! So much wisdom and I heartily agree with it. I plan on trying to find a way to use it encourage homeschool mamas at our co-op which I still volunteer at.
Thank you so much, Melanie! I hope this will be an encouragement to other homeschool moms!