In this post, I talked about our decision-making process as we were contemplating homeschooling. We continually prayed about the decision and ultimately saw, as God shut one door after another, that homeschooling was for us.

Where did we go from there, though? I prayed God would guide me at the appropriate time to the resources &/or people I would need to facilitate the decisions we had to make from there.

There were so many questions I had. Where did I start?

I needed to figure out what age we should start full-time schooling. How would we school? Would we school like “real” school at home? Was there a different way to school? What curriculum would we use? Will we be able to afford it? What about socialization? I had heard a LOT about that when talking to people about homeschooling. (None of whom, by the way, were homeschoolers.) Where there other homeschoolers I could talk to? Where did I find them? How would I know my children were learning what they needed to learn when they needed to learn it? What if I failed? I even started doubting my ability to teach them. I am fairly good at Algebra, but I made my first “C” ever in Geometry. And that wasn’t something I cared to relive. But I’d have to. Would I hurt my kids? Would they have friends? Would they get into college? How would they meet anyone else?

If you are considering homeschooling yourself or have just made the decision to homeschool, I’m sure you have asked all of the questions I listed above; possibly more. Over the next several weeks, I will attempt to answer many (if not all) of the questions you are having. If there is a particular question relating to homeschooling that you have, shoot me an e-mail or post in the comments section and I will either answer your question or refer you to someone who can.

Right now, before you do ANYTHING else, though, I want you to do this for me: Say, “I CAN educate my children. I will NOT hurt them. They will be socialized (who says the “public/private” school model is right anyway?) They will meet other people. Not only will they get into college, but homeschoolers have statistically performed better on the ACT & the SAT than their public and private school counterparts. As a result, homeschoolers aren’t just accepted into colleges, they’re RECRUITED by some of the TOP schools in the nation. Among those schools are Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and MIT. Many of these schools, Harvard included, have created a special department JUST for recruiting homeschoolers. I know I will have to give of myself. I know there will be a sacrifice of time and possibly money. I also know that my children are worth those sacrifices. My children, even though they are homeschooled (or perhaps because?) will still turn out “normal”.

Really. You CAN do this. You do know that, right? If not, shoot me or another homeschooling friend an e-mail and we’ll give you a swift kick in the tuckus to remind you that you can.

The other “stuff”: curriculum, method of schooling, friends, etc. It will all come. Trust me. There’s a saying, “Where God guides, God provides”. I’ve found that to be true. The Bible says that God will provide for all of our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He’s never let us down. Not in the arena of homeschooling, and not in any other area. We have always had what we needed (not always what we WANTED), but what we needed.

You should be prepared to handle “nay-sayers” when you start telling friends and family members that you plan to homeschool. Wouldn’t start telling people until you are ready to answer potential objections. There will be some you just KNEW would support you who don’t.
Let me encourage you, though. There will also be some who you just KNEW (or highly suspected) wouldn’t support you…who end up being your biggest advocates. My MIL is a professor of EDUCATION at a major university. Yet she is one of the biggest proponents of homeschooling that I have ever seen; especially from those in education! My sister-in-law (who also homeschools) and I were very blessed in that regard.

Hopefully, you have started to feel a little better about things now. It can get pretty overwhelming when you start thinking about everything at once. Anytime you start to feel overwhelmed, just step back, take a deep breath, and remember why you’re doing this. Then, put all of your planning down, put aside your research, and go spend time with your child. Read to him. Ask him if he wants to learn something…and then teach him. They’re what it’s all about anyway. What better a way to de-stress than to go spend a little time with them?

Next week? HELP! I Need to Choose a Curriculum!

-Me