Tip FOUR - One Step at a Time

Welcome back to this weeks Tips for Homeschool Parents blog Hop. The first three tips for the week so far are:

1. Become Equipped: Know What You Think and Why.
2. Finding Your Rhythm  and keeping to it.
3. Buy some Ice Cream - Dealing with difficult days.

Today I would like to talk about the journey.  Homeschooling is more than education.  It's about a journey. It's a journey that you, your spouse, your children and extended family are on.  This journey is more like a marathon than a sprint and as such you need to learn to pace yourself.

Homeschooling is about one small step at a time.  It's about building precept upon precept.  There is no need to hurry. It is far better to do a limited amount with excellence than it is to hurry because you've got too much to do and miss the depth and breadth of the experience.  Your children will be adults a lot faster than you know. Take time to savor the moments.

When you're having a tough day remember that tomorrow is a fresh new day, it's a gift. When that new day dawns it's a an opportunity to build a better and stronger relationship.  As you walk this journey,  don't sweat the small stuff.

Look at the bigger picture. What are your long term goals? Now choose your top two or three priorities for YOUR homeschool. Write them down, decide what you need to do to fulfill them and then begin the journey of one step at time to achieve them.

Do NOT let other homeschool families personal priorities high jack yours and get in the way. Every single family has there own personalities, dreams, hopes and aspirations.  Do not try to follow their dreams. You are who you are and it's not wise to clone your homeschool on someone else dreams. When you do that you set yourself up to be disappointed, frustrated and burned out.  Learn to be TRUE to Yourselves and who you are. This is the key to ultimate freedom and enjoying your homeschool journey.

I encourage you to slow down and enjoy the journey.  Guard your time and your energy,  and that of your children.  Do not feel that you need to do everything there is out there.  Your time and your energy are a limited resource and if you over extend them you will become burned out or your children will.  Consider well what you commit yourselves to do and the consequence on the whole family.

Becoming burned out is a very real issue among homeschool families.  I would like to encourage you to read the following articles for some ideas on how to manage your journey so as to maintain your stamina for the long term. 

• Dear Mom Who is Feeling Overwhelmed
• How Important is Alone Time and Home Schooling ?  
• Homeschool Burnout 
• Overcoming Homeschool Burnout 

This post is part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents Blog Hop.  Blog posts from these bloggers will be going live between 8 am EST and Midday.

I invite you to grab a cup of tea and head on over to these bloggers to see their word of encouragement to you today.

• Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
• Latonya @ Joy in the Ordinary
• Laura @ Day by Day in Our World
• Leah @ As We Walk Along the Road
• Lisa @ Farm Fresh Adventures
• Lori @ At Home: where life happens
• Meg @ Adventures with Jude
• Megan @ My Full Heart
• Melanie (Wren) @ finchnwren
• Melissa @ Mom's Plans

Blessings
Chareen

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