As we close out our 5th year of homeschool, I’d like to reflect back on some mistakes I’ve made as a homeschool mom. I wouldn’t consider myself a veteran homeschool mom by any means, but I like to say that I am a seasoned one. Having 5 years of experience, I can now look back and see where I went wrong on some things. Today, I want to share those mistakes with you and hopefully they will help you in your own homeschooling journey.
Worrying that my kids wouldn’t learn to read
My oldest struggled to read as a kindergartener and First grader and I can’t tell you how much I worried and questioned my abilities as a homeschool mom because of this. But it was totally normal and I know that now. I think I got caught up in seeing other homeschool families with fluent readers at such an early age that I felt like my daughter was behind when she wasn’t. As soon as she started second grade, she amazed me with how she took off with her reading. Now in third grade, she is such a fluent reader that most days she surprises me with reading big words.
After struggling with mom quilt over my eldest’s reading abilities early on, now I’m the most laid back mom with reading. My second oldest is currently in first grade and reading very well for her age and I’m in no rush for her to be completely fluent in her abilities. She will take off when she’s ready.
Binge watching all the curriculum videos
I can’t tell you how many videos I watched on YouTube from moms in different eras of their homeschool journey, that shared all sorts of curriculum. Yes, they were all helpful videos to watch, but I a lot of times, I also felt lots of FOMO. The fear of missing out is real! Especially in the homeschool community. There are so many beautiful curriculums out there but the reality is that my kids might not need what your kid needs.
Watching all those videos, honestly led me to spend more than I needed to on books and resources that I didn’t even need at the time. Nowadays, I still watch curriculum videos but I’ve toned it down a bit. I think that once you get a groove on what you’re doing, you tend to watch less of those videos and lean more on what you know works for you and your family.
Trying to Emulate the public school room at home
When I first started homeschooling, I wanted so bad to have a school room in the house. My daughters were 4 and 2 so it really wasn’t even necessary, but I was adamant that we needed one. I ended up turning our extra bedroom into an entire homeschool room that we never even used. Eventually, I turned it back into a bedroom for my oldest son because there was no need for it. Most of our homeschooling has always been done at the kitchen table and as my children have gotten older, school has migrated to the floor, the couch, even my bed.
I won’t lie, I’d still love to have a separate space for our homeschool but definitely when my kids are older and need more table space. Only then will I spend the money on separate desks and storage and all that jazz for a school room. For now, we’ll continue enjoying the entire house as a homeschool space.
Comparing Myself to Other Homeschool Moms
I think that every homeschool mom will eventually compare themselves to another homeschooling mama to some degree. I personally have compared myself a lot in the last 5 years of our homeschool journey. The fear of not being a good enough teacher or having it all together all the time can really creep in when you consume a lot of content from people that are on similar journeys as you. Of course, not everything that you see online is real and raw. As a content creator myself, I know that for a fact, a lot of things are staged to get a good clip/video. Since my little hiatus from content creating, I have found that I’ve been a lot more confident in my abilities and trueness as a homeschool mom.
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Not Allowing Flexibility in our Day
When I first started homeschooling I became very strict with our daily schedules and routines. Everything I ever saw online was that you needed to have some sort of rhyme and rhythm to your day as a homeschool family and I abided by that. Honestly, it wasn’t until we sold our house at the end of 2023 that I started becoming more flexibility with our homeschool days and I can’t tell you how liberating that has been. There are days that we take the entire morning off from school and just homeschool in the evening. Some days, I don’t even bother and just throw in a school day on the weekend. I’ve learned that the beautiful of homeschool (at least one of them) is that you have so much flexibility!
Not Trusting God’s Soverignty Over Our Homeschool
Aside from anything that I can do or think of, God’s sovereignty reigns over our homeschool. That was something I disregarded a lot throughout the first few years of this journey. Although I love God, in my humanity, I put way too much trust in my own abilities to move our homeschool forward. I truly believe that if I would have trust God 100% in our homeschool, I would have avoided homeschool mom guilt in a lot of areas. But, we live and we learn. When God is put first in all things, yes including homeschool, we see things from a whole different perspective and have peace in every season.
The last 5 years of our homeschooling journey have truly been a learning experience for us as a family but more so, me as a mom and teacher. Yes, I have these regrets but at the end of the day, making these mistakes helped form me into the homeschool mom I am today. It’s truly humbling to see where I started and where I am today.
Have you made any mistakes as a homeschool mom? I’d love to chat about how you overcame them!
Let’s chat!