What I Wish I Had Known My First Year

When I started homeschooling I didn't realize all of the variety available and about the different choices to be made. I thought that I had to find the one perfect way to homeschool and stick with it.

I wish I had known - I didn't have to commit our family to just one way of homeschooling. Now that we've been doing it for 9 years, I pick and choose what works best with our family and each of the kids. Sometimes, during the middle of the year, we even switch to a Unit Study or Unschool for awhile. I've found that the most important thing is to make learning enjoyable for the children.

I wish I had known - my children don't have to read by a certain age. I pushed one of my girls in reading. I should have gone slower at it and made reading more relaxed and less stressful for her. She reads fine now, but she doesn't really enjoy it.

I wish I had known - how enjoyable joining a homeschool group can be. I was reluctant about joining, because I thought that my homeschooling methods would be critiqued. Once we did join, I realized that it was a great opportunity to socialize with other homeschooling families. My kids were able to see that there are many other kids who learn at home. They had kids to relate to.