Homeschooling Hump Day Encouragement

If you are like many homeschooling families, you are starting school this month. Congratulations! Whether this is your first year homeschooling or fifth or even tenth or 15th year, it is important to know that each year is a time for reflection and evaluation.

• Is the curriculum you are using keeping your child engaged?
• Is your child being challenged academically?
• Is there a subject your child seems to excel in?
• Does your child enjoy the curriculum you are using?
• Do you like the curriculum?

You see, as you begin homeschooling each year, you are in control of the content and focus of the education your child is receiving. If you don't like something or a particular curriculum isn't working, change it. You have that freedom in homeschooling to change what isn't working and to learn new ways to engage your child that will make him or her want to learn more and more.
I remember an old story I heard in church once...

A young woman was getting married and so on her wedding day, her grandmother passed along her famous recipe for pot roast. The young woman read through the recipe and made plans to recreate everything in it. The grandmother passed away before the new bride could make the meal for her husband, but when she did, oh, did he really like it!
So she made it every month for him knowing she was carrying on the tradition of her grandmother. But one day, the young bride's mother came to visit while the woman was preparing the roast. She carefully took out the meat, cut it into two pieces and placed each half into its own pot. The bride's mother was a bit confused by this and stopped her daughter during the preparation.
"Why did you cut the roast and put it into two separate pots, dear," the mother asked.
"That's what Gram's recipe said to do. I always thought it was strange, but Gram was a wonderful cook, so I knew there was a reason," the young bride said with a smile.
Her mother began to chuckle, and the daughter was confused. "What's so funny, mother?"
"Oh, sweetheart. There was indeed a reason Gram cut the roast into two pieces and cooked it in two separate pots...she didn't have a pot big enough for the full sized roast!" The two enjoyed a laugh and from then on, the bride used her big pot to cook her grandmother's recipe.

The moral here is, just because someone has been doing something a certain way, doesn't mean you have to do it that way. Investigate, explore, and see what works best for you and your family rather than trying what worked for others. This school year make it a point to assess your curriculum and seek out recommendations from other homeschoolers.

Blessings!