It’s a good thing patience is not a prerequisite for being a homeschool mom. You don’t have to be patient to homeschool. God will give you grace!
“You homeschool? I could never do that! I’m not patient enough.” I hear that all the time. If they could only see me “in action.”
Patience is not always the trait I display during out homeschool lessons. Just today, I blew up when Emma didn’t write her geometry formulas on her math page – again. For real?? I’ve only been doing harping on her to write her formulas f.o.r.e.v.e.r! It wasn’t pretty. It definitely was not my finest moment, and I certainly didn’t display patience.
Some days, I’m rocking this homeschool journey! Some days, I’m really not! But, is my lack of patience a reason not to homeschool? I don’t think so.
I just need to regroup and reset my day {or week} – and my daughter’s. Every day that we wake up determined to homeschool another day is our own little do-over.
Do You Have To Be Patient To Homeschool?
I feel that God has called me to homeschool Em {and my sons before her}. And, even though we have days that are far from perfect, I have not felt the urging to call it quits.
I believe that God gives me grace on bad days, and that He gives me the strength I need to get up the next morning and start all over again on those days I’d rather curl up under the covers and hide.
Em and I have days when we butt heads. I’m passionate about homeschooling, and I want it to go well for us. She is a people pleaser, and she wants to do things ‘right.’
Learning new things is tough, and sometimes recalling old knowledge is, too. At times, I feel like she’s taking too long to master a concept, and I accuse her of goofing off.
Other times, she misunderstands instructions, and she thinks I’m being too hard when she has to do corrections. Some days, one or the other of us is grumpy because we didn’t get enough sleep the night before. Attitudes can clash. There are days that are so tough that we have to put the books away and have a heart-to-heart.
However, if I gave in to my impatience and sent her to school, I would miss out on so much. I would miss out on those moments when Emma pops her head up and says, “Mom, guess what?” I’d miss out on those little tidbits about her day and her friends and her outside classes that she wants to share with me.
I would miss out on those moments when she discovers something so interesting in her readings that she needs to share them with me right now. I would miss those moments when things begin to “click” for Emma after struggling with a new {or old} concept. I don’t want to miss out so I push on.
I will wake up in the morning ready to face another homeschool day. I will hope that I’ll be patient with Emma, and I will hope that she’ll be patient with me.
If so, I’ll give us each a mental high-five at the end of the day. If not, someone will need to apologize. We’ll need to regroup and reset. And, we’ll wake up the following day hoping all over again.
I’m dedicated to homeschooling on the good days and the bad. That is why my patience, or lack of it, will not stand in my way.
Encouragement for Homeschool Moms
Below, I’ve featured just a handful of books meant to encourage homeschool moms that will help your readers celebrate their favorite characters. You should be able to find them at your local library or bookstore. If you can’t find them locally, you can click each image cover to purchase them on Amazon. Creating Homeschool Balance – “Creating Homeschool Balance” will help you understand what balance looks like, feels like, and how to create it. Your Goals This Year – No matter which kind of homeschool parent you are, this book will help you understand the stages of homeschooling high school, put you on the path to success, and keep you from feeling overwhelmed. You can homeschool through high school, and here are the tools to help you. Scheduling: The Secret to Homeschool Sanity – When you homeschool, it’s important to take time to plan and rest, and not just work, work, work! Using schedules in your homeschool can help you avoid burnout.
Susan K. Stewart says
Before homeschooling I was a classroom teacher. Guess what? Some days I didn’t have the patience to be a teacher. I motored on through.
Only God has perfect patience — after all, he puts up with us sinful humans every day. More often than not I deserve a holy slap in the head. But God is continually patient with me.
Now that I’m active homeschooling days are finished, I still don’t have the patience some days to be a wife, grandmother, gardener, …..
I can only do things (be patient) through God who strengthens me.
Lisa Harris says
Love this article, as if putting my kids in public or private school would somehow give me more patience? No way! Every form of education is costly to our schedule, attitude, and many other ways. When we “count the cost” the awesome benefit of descipleship outweighs them all! I am thankful that God has allowed me to spend these last 12 years not giving my children to someone else for hours a day, and yes He has even refined my attitude and made me patient in ways I never would have thought!
Leah Courtney says
I hear this all the time too- “You must be so patient.” I think “If they only knew.” The other one I hear often is “Your kids are just so easy. My kids would never listen to me.” And I just want to laugh. Or scream. 🙂
Tara says
I totally get that! “You’re kids are so well-behaved…” Well, that’s because you haven’t seen them behind closed doors.. 😉
Tara says
Oh yes! There were definitely days I didn’t have the patience to be a public school teacher, too. It is definitely God’s grace which gets us through each day.