Just curious for some of you veteran homeschoolers, are there things that you are glad you did (subject, topic, skill, whatever) in homeschooling? Are there things you WISH you had done?
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It’s been several years since we had one of these topics and they are always great! I hope we can get some members to offer some of their wisdom. 
Here are a couple of links for inspiration:
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I wish I had started Apologia’s Exploring Creation Young learner series sooner! We used it for the first time this year and LOVED it!!!
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I wish that I would’ve been more relaxed! I tend to overload on school work and push too hard out of the fear of my kids not learning enough, or not doing as well as public school counterparts, fear of state testing, etc etc. The result of that mentality sapped the fun and kept us from exploring interests so we instead stayed with my lesson plans and loaded up on work. I honestly have a tendency to still be this way so I’m constantly reminding myself to relax and let learning be fun/appropriate/ properly measured versus overload. In the beginning I really let the worries I listed dominate our homeschool, it’s a big regret. It led to so much stress and struggle and quick burnout. Your kids will learn when they enjoy the learning process, and the work load is appropriate, and yes, there are some subjects/topics your kids won’t like that they have to do anyways and rough days in general, but, generally speaking it will kill the joy to let worries reign!
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I agree 100% with momof3. We just finished our 4th year of homeschool and I still feel like I’m brand new to everything. I wish I wouldn’t have tried to duplicate public school at home. It was so stressful and the complete opposite of the reason I wanted to homeschool in the first place. I was so afraid of “messing up” my children’s education that I went way overboard and sucked out all the fun of homeschooling. Honestly, I still have those fears but I’ve learned to relax a bit and that has helped so much. My son will be going into high school next year and that brings up a whole new set of fears since everything from now on will be on his transcript. I constantly have to remember why we started homeschool in the first place and that helps.
I highly recommend writing out a mission statement. When those doubts start to creep in (and they will) you can look back at your mission statement and remember why you started homeschooling.
Personally, God was our main reason to homeschool and I printed out scriptures to remind me I’m following His calling and I reread those and pray over them when needed. I’m so glad I took the time to research and print out the scriptures.
Just know, you will have doubts no matter how long you homeschool. It’s normal but don’t let those doubts take away the fun and experience of getting to see your kids thrive at home with you. God has qualified all moms to nurture and educate children at home. He wants children to be in this world but not of this world and we are the ones to do it.
Sorry, I kinda got off topic but I just want to encourage all moms that read this, you can do it and no one can love your children like you do.
Christina
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I’m glad that I didn’t stay with 1 supplier for subjects. I really liked being able to pick out curriculum from different companies. For example 2nd grade was BJU English & writing, Abeka for Math, All about spelling for spelling, easy peasy homeschool for computer class, etc. I also used the library for the reading books and had my kids choose what they wanted to read instead of buying the readers from homeschool companies. I point the kids in the right area for their level and let them choose, it kept them interested which helped foster a love for reading. I thought some of the readers from companies were boring and dated, but that’s just my opinion. But the library was free, so I saved some $ there!
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I wish I had tested my son for Dyslexia already
I wish I had limited screen time more earlier
I wish I had figured out a way to read more books to him earlier (he wasn’t interested…but I didn’t realize how much he was missing)
I am glad I didn’t push too hard at first and went gentle
I’m glad I looked into how long homeschool actually took and didn’t try to make a Kindergartener do work all day.
I’m glad I didn’t push sight words.
I’m actually glad I sent my older two to public school…because I wasn’t ready when they were little, and it’s worked for them, but I’m glad every day that I choose to homeschool my youngest.
I wish I had pulled him earlier…
I wish I had not tried to homeschool during summer WHILE trying to move year before last (yes, that’s specific)
I wish I would have been more consistant with All About Spelling Lessons…I took too long of a break from that.
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