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What do you fear most about homeschooling?  If we could see the list of others, whose list would be longer?

• Fear that I won’t prepare my kids for the world outside of my home.
• Fear that my extended family that is watching ever so close will inspect us at the end of the year to see if we failed.
• Fear that I won’t guide my children to fulfill their God given talents to the best of their ability.
• Fear of being a perfectionist on top of that being unorganized – is that possible?
• Fear that I will miss some vital subject.
• Fear that my children will get behind.
• Fear that I am the only one that loses patience with my kids.
• Fear that I am the only one where public school looks like the perfect solution on some days.

Does your list look similar?

What would make you more confident?

Knowing that you are not alone in your fears and knowing what worked and what did not work for others is encouraging.
However, there is one noteworthy step in my experience that stand outs among all others and that is goal setting.

Goals are not only essential but they are crucial.

Fears are normal in the beginning when homeschooling, but what is more important to remember is that you are now swimming upstream so to speak.  You are going against the norm and that requires hard work.

Goals energize us to stay focused on our family’s needs.

We will avoid just floating along, responding to the moment or jumping ship to adopt the newest trend in homeschooling when our goals are specific and measurable.

The second important thing to remember is that your journey will be unique.

This point is so important I want to say it again.

Though some of your experiences will mirror my experiences and other homeschoolers, they will not all be the same.

How to Make a Strong Start in Homeschooling

Bottom line is you have to be able to measure progress for your own unique journey and you need a way to do that.

Look at how setting goals reduces fears, gives you very specific ways to measure the progress of your unique family and fortifies you for each year.

• We make progress based on our family’s need.
• Instead of wasting time checking out all the latest trends in homeschooling, we are analyzing our own efforts and measuring progress within our own family.
• We avoid boredom and a stagnant year because we are focused on whether we need to speed up our homeschooling journey or slow it down to meet our family’s need.
• Homeschooling is more purposeful and inspirational because out time is focused on meeting goals instead of coasting along.

Though I have made some pretty pages for you to write your homeschool goals on, you can write them anywhere.

I tout it all the time and that is though goals may sound good in our mind, when we put them to paper they are concrete.

Don’t ever forget what brought you to homeschooling in the first place.

If our goals and reasons are not in plain sight each day we give in to fear.

As time passes, it happens to all us and that is we forget why we chose homeschooling as a superior education.  Those reasons quell any fears and keeps us plodding forward.

Like the subjects we teach our children, reminders are needed throughout the years when fears resurface.

Overcoming fears happens by not only arming yourself with homeschool knowledge but with goals.

When your goals are met each year, you don’t need the validation of others, either by testing or by family approval.

What are your fears about homeschooling? Where are your goals?

Hugs and love ya,

Also, check out these other posts.

When You Feel Like a Homeschool Failure

When does homeschooling become “normal”?