Being a homeschool mom is not for the faint of heart! It’s challenging, demanding, and, at times, overwhelming. It’s also rewarding, exciting, and, at all times, filled with love.
We asked veteran homeschoolers to share their best tips for becoming the most awesome homeschool mom ever. Check out their advice below and know that you are not alone in this homeschool journey!
Tips for Homeschool Mom Awesomeness
1. Know that Every Child Is Unique
Know that your child is unique and they may not adapt well to every subject. But, they may soar in other subjects. That’s O.K. because in homeschool you can allow them to find the joy and beauty of learning what inspires them while balancing teaching what they need in order to prepare them to be productive adults.
– Renée, Great Peace Academy
2. Learn with Your Kids
Don’t spend all your time “teaching” your children. Learn alongside them, and let them see you reading, researching, and practicing things you’re interested in knowing more about. Being a role model for lifelong learning is powerful.
– Jennifer, Jennifer A. Janes
3. Remember that Perfection Is Overrated
No child will be perfect in everything. Encourage their strengths and shore up their weaknesses.
– Marsha, Other Such Happenings
4. Seek Answers
It’s a longer-lasting skill to teach someone how to seek out answers, how to
explore ideas, and how to form their own thoughts and opinions than it is to simply teach them facts.
– Angie, Real Life at Home
5. Remember that the Grass Isn’t Greener
Be CONTENT with your own unique and beautiful family.
– Dianna, The Kennedy Adventures
6. Savor the Learning
You can’t be behind if you set the schedule to match your child’s pace. So stop feeling pressured and savor the learning instead.
– Jimmie, Jimmie’s Collage
7. Seek God First as a Homeschool Mom
Seek God first in all things. When you feel unsure, anxious, angry, or happy, look to God. Ask Him daily for strength, patience, and grace.
– Amy
8. Live Life
A true love for learning doesn’t come from just sitting at a desk and doing book work all day – rather it comes from living life and learning along the way.
– Carly
9. Focus on the Fact that Homeschooling is Not a Contest
Homeschooling is not a contest, it is not a race and there are no “curriculum police“. You are blessed with the freedom to choose, adapt and change if necessary.
– Angie, Real Life at Home
10. Treasure the Tiny Moments
Embrace the tiny moments of learning. They add up. Learning happens all the time!
– Joan, Unschool Rules
11. Stay Flexibile
You’re going to need to be flexible. Every kid will need something different from you to help them learn, and it’s pretty much a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants figuring-out process for you both. Don’t just plan based on what you envision; actively seek their input and you may find that they have already created, in their minds, a learning plan that works for you both. Sometimes – often – you’ll have to set your ego aside and trust your child to know what they need. Also? Hide some chocolate. You’ll need it.
– Erin, The Usual Mayhem
12. Take it One Day at a Time
It takes many years to raise a child. Try not to worry if you mess up one day.
– Marie-Claire
13. Teach Them How to Live
Don’t let teaching them lessons get in the way of teaching them how to live
– Angie, Real Life at Home
14. Find Your Style
I quote the great philosopher Dr. Seuss “Today you are YOU, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than YOU.” You know yourself and your family so much better than any expert or administrator, and you know what will work for your family. Take that knowledge and find your style.
– Ticia, Adventures in Mommydom
15. Invest in Life Skills
Don’t overlook teaching life skills. They’re called life skills for a reason.
– Angie, Real Life at Home
16. Focus on Today
Focus on what your child needs most today, and stop trying to figure out what he might need in 5 or 10 years! You can’t see into the future anyway
(that’s God’s job!), and you’ll only stress yourself out in the present. There’s
such freedom in one day at a time.
– Jamie, Simple Homeschool
17. Take Care of Yourself
It’s easy to focus on the kids, but remember to take care of yourself as well.
– Eva, Eva Varga
18. Protect Your Quiet Time
Set aside a time every day to have quiet time. It allows you to relish good days, regroup on tough days and gives your children an opportunity to explore and grow as life-long lovers of learning.
– Lara, Everyday Graces
19. Take a Trip
An astounding amount can be learned by traveling. If you have the means to travel, do it.
– Angie, Real Life at Home
20. Realize that Everything Doesn’t Have to Be Awesome
One mistake I made at the beginning of my homeschooling journey was trying to make EVERY subject and lesson the most amazing (and fun) learning experience. That’s not practical or sustainable. It led to burnout. Everything doesn’t have to be the most amazing learning experience ever. Sometimes, or some days, you just have to get through the workbook without tying in a craft, book, game, and field trip. Doing so prepares your child for the ‘ ‘real world’ and their future job where every moment isn’t
about entertaining them.
– Karin, A Grateful Life
21. Stop the Comparisons
Relax. Stop comparing your homeschool to a traditional school setting or even other homeschooling families. Comparison kills contentment.
– Dianna, The Kennedy Adventures
22. Ask to Be Blessed
Remember to ask the Lord to bless. “…you do not have because you do not ask.” James 4:2. Ask Him to bless your homeschool. To bless your family. To bless those you are praying for. You will be surprised at how you will SEE those blessings in abundance. In the small ways. In glimpses of success. In encouragement. In accomplishing much learning.
– Tricia, Hodge Podge
23. Show Enthusiasm
When a homeschool parent shows enthusiasm for the topic the kids are
learning, that enthusiasm is contagious.
– Susan, Susan Evans
24. Cherish Your Unique Homeschool
We weren’t given the same tools in life, so don’t expect to build the same homeschool as someone else. Comparison only leads to feelings of failure and frustration.
– Jamie, The Unlikely Homeschool
25. Focus
Focus. Point your kids to Jesus and all your weakness will be covered in grace.
– Kendra
26. Help Your Children Discover Their Passions
If we can help our kids to learn about things they are passionate about, we
will be sure that they will actually internalize that knowledge… rather than just being able to check it off our list that we have “taught” them something.
– Michelle, Homeschool Your Boys
27. Change Is Okay
Allow yourself the freedom to change along with the seasons of your life. Let go of homeschool perfection and realize that your best is truly enough.
– Judy, Meaningful Homeschool
28. Create a Love of Learning
Develop a love of learning in your children. If they seek knowledge for the
sake of gaining knowledge, they’ll never stop educating themselves.
– Michelle, The Heart of Michelle
29. Ask Who Are You Growing?
Homeschooling is the ideal situation for growing your children into the adults they were meant to be. Be open to who they are, how they learn, and their individual interests. You may be growing a rocket scientist or mathematician. You may be growing a naturalist or artist. Whatever gifts your children have, help them pursue those interests and develop their skills to the fullest.
– Michelle, The Heart of Michelle
30. Be Your Awesome Homeschool Mom Self
The best way to be an awesome homeschooler is to be you. Your kids need you and all of your gifts, passions, interests, strengths, weaknesses, and blunders. Give yourself to your children, and you will be awesome.
– Ami, Walking by the Way
31. Have Fun
A mom’s mind plans her way but God directs her path. Be flexible, have fun, work hard, love your kids!
– Vicki, 7 Sisters Homeschool
32. Don’t Give Up
Many times that rough patch is not a because-we-homeschool issue, it’s a normal parenting problem. Don’t give up!
– Marsha, Other Such Happenings
33. Have the End in Mind
Have the end in mind. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 1:4
– Tricia, Hodge Podge
34. Show Love
It’s much more important to show love to your child than to finish the math
book.
– Sarah
35. Sleep and Spend Time with God
Get enough sleep and there’s never too much time with God.
– Chelli, The Planted Trees
36. Complaints Are Normal
Be prepared for your children to complain about school one day. One day
that kid who wanted to “do school” 7 days a week is going to complain about having to actually do their schoolwork. One day they aren’t going to be as excited as you are about that new learning game or curriculum you found. That’s normal. Try not to take it personally.
– Karin, A Grateful Life
37. Enjoy
Enjoy your kids. Period.
– Colleen, Raising Lifelong Learners
38. Remember That We All Have Those Days
Take things one day at a time. Don’t beat yourself up if the day doesn’t go as planned; we all have those days! The beauty of homeschooling is that we can be flexible and work around those tired or uninspired days. Just strive to do the best that you can and have a bit of grace for your children and yourself.
– Brandi, Mama Teaches
39. Focus on Character
It is more important to focus on the heart and the character. If that is
overlooked the best education in the world won’t make your children into the kind of person that makes a difference in this world.
– Mary, The Encouraging Home
40. Enjoy Your Path as a Homeschool Mom
Don’t ever compare your homeschool journey with your kids and someone else’s journey with their kids. We all have our own path!
– Erin, Royal Baloo
41. Have Realistic Goals
Don’t make unrealistic goals, otherwise, you will set yourself up for “failure”. Be flexible and have fun!!
– Heather, Growing Hands-on Kids
42. Toss the Pearls
What screws us up most in homeschool is the picture in our head of how it is supposed to be. It’s so easy to let this ideal image of perfection mess up our enjoyment of what we have now. You may not be baking bread and cookies every day and have a spotless home, all while wearing heels, makeup, and pearls, but you can still have a successful homeschool and home life.
– Rochelle, ASL Rochelle
43. Reflect … In Its Own Time
You can’t plan learning. It happens on its own when the student is ready to absorb the information presented. Keep teaching and loving your children, it will all soak in eventually.
– Carly
44. Make Memories
Make learning fun. Make memories every day. Cherish the moments and
realize that learning is happening all the time.
– Mary, The Encouraging Home
45. Make Learning Hands-on
If you make your children’s learning more hands-on, they are less likely to
forget what they’ve learned.
– Susan, Susan Evans
46. Appreciate Every Day
Appreciate every school day – even the tough ones.
– Selena, Look! We’re Learning
