How to survive your first (or any!) year of homeschooling

I'm convinced - July is the worst month for homeschooling moms. Curriculum choices to make. Homeschooling rooms to clean out or set up or wish you had one. Lessons from the past year to mull over and wonder if you did it right. And multiple blogs and Facebook posts and Pinterest pictures to make you doubt yourself at every turn.

With that in mind, here are ten commandments I am following this year - some of which I did last year and some of which I wish I had! - to make my year better. If you are a first-year homeschooling mom, I know they will help. If you are a seasoned homeschooler, then please add to the list in the comments below! 

1. Keep it simple. Don't have five books for every subject. Don't do a project for every lesson. Don't try to do five math lessons a day to catch up from family sickness last week (I speak from experience.) Don't feel like you have to use the snazzy math website everyday. If you can, keep all your children on the same topic in history and science, even if they are working on it at different levels (the beauty of homeschooling). Choose the simplest route that you can. 
2. Be easy on yourself. That Pinterest-perfect picture of the children working cheerfully on their lessons at the kitchen table while mom churns butter a few feet away, her little ones playing contentedly at her feet? Yeah, don't hold your breath. Ninety-nine percent of us are trying to just hold it all together, so if you are, too, you are in good company. Don't stress out trying to be the June Cleaver of homeschooling.
3. Be easy on everyone else. Your children. Your husband. Your parents. Your friends who send their kids to public school. It can be easy to come into homeschooling with a "me against the world" mindset. We have a goal in mind and know how we want to get there, and we can get frustrated with those who get in our way, even our children. 
4. Keep it real. Don't fake it. Homeschooling is hard sometimes. Being with your kids all the time is hard sometimes. It is also full of blessings and joys. Like most of life, you have the good, the bad, and the ugly.
5. Find a group. Whether it's a co-op, a support group, a Facebook group, a sibling who is also homeschooling (I'm blessed to have two!), find others who will understand you on your most frustrating days and who will rejoice with you in the beautiful moments.
6. Don't be afraid of change. Is your choice for language arts, the one that has worked for three years, suddenly not working? It's okay to change it! Don't feel locked into a bad curriculum choice just because it's September and you feel like you should stick it out for the whole year.
7. Don't be enticed to change.  At the same time, don't feel like you have to go with the latest spelling program just because everyone is raving about it.  If something doesn't seem to be working in September, you might want to stick with it for another month and see if you can make it yours. P.S. You don't have to do everything in the teacher's manual or in the workbook. You are the teacher! You make the rules! 
8. Be confident. You are your child's first and best teacher. You can do it!
9. Be humble.  It's okay to admit that you need help or encouragement (see number 5). And don't forget to lean on God and his strength. If He has called you to do this, He will equip you to finish the race.
10. Invest in your own growth. Take time for yourself. Eat well. Exercise (note to self - must do this!). Especially, take time to invest in your relationship with God and to immerse yourself in the Scriptures. It is hard to pump water for others from a dry well.  Take care of yourself and God will give you the resources you need to not only survive your year, but to thrive in the process!

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