Not Sure How to Homeschool? When in Doubt, Just Read!

One thing that most moms have in common, despite differences in any other areas of life, is a lack of confidence. Too often we doubt our abilities to be adequate parents. Raising children who will one day grow up to be adults is an enormous responsibility. Add to that the prospect of not only raising, but also educating our own kids, and the task seems ten times bigger than before.

As wonderful as it would be if every mother jumped into her homeschooling journey completely prepared, having read every home education book known to man, it just doesn’t work that way. Most of us begin not knowing what we’re supposed to do and how we’re supposed to do it whenever we figure out what it is. Confused? That’s exactly how it feels to be a newbie homeschool mom. 

Being a new homeschooler is scary, especially if you don’t know of any other families who may be doing it, as well. Making the decision to not send your kids to school can be an empowering feeling, but after the adrenaline starts decreasing, we oftentimes find ourselves thinking, Great. Now what are we supposed to do?

I could advise people with that question in any number of ways. I could give them a full on schedule to get them started. I could direct them to the best place for curriculum and wish them luck. Or I could just give them the most simple, yet effective, method of instilling knowledge in their children.

Reading.

Reading to, or even with, your children is enough to start off your journey. More importantly, it’s enough for anyone who is beginning to doubt their ability to homeschool in the first place.

Reading to your children is enough for those times when everything around you seems to be a blur and “school” begins to suffer as a repercussion.

Reading can be an escape from a stressful day when everybody’s cranky and nobody wants to even think about their math assignments.

Reading can be a comfort for those days when everyone is feeling under the weather and just wants to lie around.

When in doubt, just read.

Since it’s usually taught as a separate subject in traditional schools, many people fail to see the cross-curricular value in this pasttime. In this day and age, every single subject can be covered just by reading– even math, to a degree.

Eventually, you’ll find your footing and be ready to discover your own routine once you’ve gotten comfortable with the idea that you can, indeed, do it.

So I’m not going to give you a fancy algorithm for the perfect homeschool for your family. Only you can figure that out. What I am going to tell you is that a great start to a successful homeschool routine is reading, reading, and reading some more. Even if you, yourself, do not particularly enjoy it, there are a great many audio books available at most decent-sized libraries.

An assortment of quality literature can lay the right foundation for an excellent education. 

Seems simple, right? That’s what makes it so successful. 🙂