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As if expressing your fears is not enough to make you want to turn and run from homeschooling, feelings of being overwhelmed can dominate each day.

In Top 10 Tips For New Homeschoolers – Curriculum, curriculum, curriculum – Isn’t that how to begin homeschooling? Part 1, I shared 5 homeschool tips and tools for the panic stricken.

Today I will be sharing 5 more tips.

From Panic Stricken to Empowered Educator

6. Long & Short Term Goals Equals Grounded Homeschooling.

Not just visualizing in your mind, but writing down what your goals are or what brought you to homeschooling jolts you back to reality not IF, but when homeschooling gets tough.

It is easy to forget what is so vivid now in your mind about what you want to change when you start to experience problems in your homeschool.

The very foundation of your homeschool journey will be determined by clear goals.

Keeping the end goal in mind by writing them down now will ensure you that you will not swerve.

Sure, you will make mistakes, but that is part of the adventure. However, you will always come back to your goals to stay grounded in homeschooling.

Pen your goals, draw your goals, record your goals – Goals are the foundation of our journey!

7. Your Family’s Rhythm is Unique.

I have seen and shared lots of homeschool schedules over the years.

The problem with following other people’s schedule, even seasoned veterans is that you don’t lead their life.

You need to determine your family’s rhythm first.

This takes some time because homeschooling is new. You may have a young household and 10:00 a.m. may be a more realistic time to start school when the baby is down for his first nap time.

You may have an older household where the children are somewhat independent, then you need to get started earlier like 9:00 a.m.

Every homeschool household is at different stages in homeschooling and has different ages, but don’t get me wrong there are some across the board tips for finding your family’s rhythm and turning that into a schedule.

Here are just two basic tips.

• Homeschool has to be the first in your day.

A simple research on this subject will show that a majority of children learn better when school is first in their day.

You notice I didn’t mention the time for what is “first” in your day.

Each of us will have to determine that, but it is safe to say that it is not after they are exhausted from a full day of activity.

• Consistency Over Abrupt Stop/Start.

Key to making the homeschool lifestyle and schedule feel part of our everyday is consistency.

Planning too much, answering the phone in the middle of teaching a lesson (not an important one anyway) and willy-nilly scheduling can create a resistant learner faster than us understanding what that means.

Taking time to understand the natural flow of your family now will help you to minimize any potential scheduling distress.

8. Understand what is NOT Homeschooling.

Many times you will hear seasoned veterans talk about the difference between homeschooling and schooling at home.

I too wondered when I started homeschooling if such a choice of words was enough to be concerned about.

I can tell you now that fully grasping the meaning behind them would have saved me some tears shed in my first year.

Schooling at home means that you have only changed the geography of where your children are learning at now.

You have duplicated the public school method of teaching at home. Your home may look like a mini version of public school. I agree it is probably cuter, but have you taken time to learn about delight-directed learning?

Read What is REAL Homeschooling? Homebound, Co-op or Public School at Home .

Homeschooling is about choosing a method of instruction that works for our family. When the only method we know is what is taught in the public school and we haven’t take time to research other homeschool methods we could be setting our self up for a homeschool crash and burn.

There are reasons prestigious colleges actively pursue homeschoolers and there are reasons why homeschoolers are in the news for being high achievers.

It certainly is not for staying in sync with the public school curriculum and schedule built for the masses.

9. Curriculum is a Tool – It won’t Love You Back.

I get plain giddy when I talk about the subject of curriculum because I absolutely loving poring over the catalogs or putting my hands on it at a homeschool convention.

After I buy it, I sit over in the corner someplace out of my sons’ view so they can’t see as I inhale all the fresh smelling pages. It is a sickness I tell you, but you too will be joining us soon.

Though choosing curriculum each year end ups being more entertaining now, it certainly is quite overwhelming for any new homeschooler.

Choosing curriculum is an equal opportunity offender. Whether you have a public school teacher background or if you are like me with no prior teaching experience, having a few pointers will help you to be selective when first choosing it.

• Curriculum does not teach anything.

You are the teacher now and that means you decide whether it is working for your children or not.

• Your children are each different so that means you could possibly be using a different program for each of your children.

This is not meant to over whelm you, but it is about making smarter choices.

• There is a difference between completing a curriculum and finishing it by using it to fit your purposes.

Completing a curriculum means having your child do every lesson plan and the other way you do every lesson plan that fits your child regardless if you finish the curriculum or not.

Simply put, curriculum does not hold some curative value.

Though using the right curriculum can help you to heal a child’s prior distaste about education and create a yearning for learning, your love and your finesse in wielding curriculum to help your children is of way more value. This too takes time to learn.

10. Relax – Easier said than Done.

As organized and prepared as I thought I was when I came to homeschooling, I wish I would have listened more when the few seasoned veteran homeschoolers I knew told me to relax and savor some of the journey.

The poor first born child seems to take the brunt of our over achieving learning because we feel that we have to prove to our family and of course to our self that we are doing this right.

Relax, find humor in all the things you will mess up and take comfort from the fact that unlike public school, you can change on a moment’s notice anything that is not working. You ARE the teacher now.

Adjusting expectations to survival mode the first year is much more realistic. Forgive yourself for what you cannot accomplish the first year while experiencing on the job training.

Just like parenting, homeschooling is accepting what you can accomplish to a point and then that progress and experience inspires you to work on being the best parent you can be to your child.

You can do it!

Also, be sure to go through my 31 Day Free Homeschool Boot Camp for New Homeschoolers and Homeschool Boot Camp Resources.

Hugs and love ya,