One of the first things many mothers express to me when they find out that I homeschool our children is that they simply do not have the patience to teach their children. This causes me to chuckle for two reasons. The first is that they think I have a special dispensation of grace that enables me to walk around with a halo on my head that causes me to never loose my patience. The second reason for the silent snicker is because what most woman are actually “saying” is that they DO NOT want to homeschool and this is their excuse. (another mystery I wonder is that do they think their child’s teacher at school is wearing the same halo they have bestowed me with?)It is with great certainty that the Lord calls children a blessing for many reasons. The birth of your first child will quickly require much responsibility and a sense of obligation and duty. Moreover, during this time the Lord will begin some serious shaping of your character in the area of patience with satisfying the needs of a newborn. Patience is not the virtue of a “homeschooling” Mom but should be the virtue every Mom is working hard to obtain through the grace and mercy bestowed upon us by the Lord. Sure our impatience will manifest itself and we will have to make redress of our grievances toward our children for behaving badly. Here is the occasion to live Christ in front of your children.
Having patience, however, is a concern most mothers who are considering homeschooling their children will have. Patience for those around us is certainly not something that comes “naturally.” Many of us raised in age segregated classrooms did not have the opportunity to learn from those younger or older than us so that it would instill some natural progression of patience by understanding child development. Further still, there are those of us who grew up with only one sibling or maybe none and we seldom saw or had to “deal with” others. Now here we are; wanting to homeschool and certainly clueless as to the natural growth and behaviour development of children.
My first recommendation would be to read a simple child development book. Learn the stages of growth in infants, toddlers, and young children. This helped me to not expect too much from my little ones ahead of time or pick up in area that I had been slacking. Be careful as you read not to buy into any pop psychology but always hold things to the light of scripture. Several books had a great impact on me as a new homeschooling mother in this area and I would highly recommend those books to every new homeschooling mother. Books like Better Late Than Early, The Moore Formula Handbook, and The Successful Homeschool Family. (all of these are by Dr. Raymond Moore)
Another feeling of inadequacy facing some mothers wishing to homeschool is their own lack of education. If I didn’t graduate should I even teach my child?! Sure! Did you potty train them? Sure you did! If you can do that than you can certainly teach. One of my first eye openers as a substitute teacher was that curriculum not only outlines the course of study but actually tells you every thing you need to do to say to teach. If you can read a curriculum book than you can teach it. What a waste of time to make public school teachers go through all that college! All that expense for naught. A good friend of mine educated all five of her children and didn’t even have her GED. Her first boy aced the GED and received many scholarship offers. I could go on with the success of her children but it is not necessary. Many times she mentioned how she felt inadequate for the job but she did it and an excellent job at that. Many times we feel inadequate for facing life so don’t let homeschooling daunt you for the lack of an education
