© Beverley Paine

A while back a mum considering homeschooling said to me that she's really looking forward to it, thinks they're going to enjoy doing it, and was really excited at the prospect, thinking it would lots of fun, and then asked me if she was being realistic.
And I said Absolutely! What was happening was that she was flying high on a positive attitude. Everything becomes possible when we adopt that attitude!

Home educating WILL be lots of fun, but it won't ALWAYS be lots of fun. There are going to be some very bleak days: see my articles on managing homeschool life, burn out, feeling overwhelmed on www.theeducatingparent.com. Reading about how other families cope and the strategies they use will help minimise the incidence of not-so-fun days.

In our early years we are beset by incredible self-doubt, along with the worry that we're harming our kids, or feeling like we're letting the team down by not earning money instead... There will be times when life conspires against us and it all looks way too hard. We've all been there. It's may not be all fun, but it's life and eventually those pesky kids actually turn out to be our best friends.

I've always worked hard to put my relationship with my family first by asking 'what's most important?' It's easy to choose what to do when framed by that question. We kept life simple and cheap in those early years and I'm sure it helped.

Most of us end up picking up this resource and then another, rarely satisfied for long.We spend lots of time thinking that what we're doing and using with our children is inadequate. And we'll be tempted to cram in as much as we can - buy resources we won't use, take the kids places they're not interested in, spend hours organising elaborate unit studies only to have our plans waylaid by injured dogs, sick children, visitors, and lots more!

Home educating isn't a lot different from parenting, and we all know what that entails! So yes, it will be fun, but more than that, it will be immensely rewarding.

If you need more tips and advice from experienced home educators, or simply some lovely heartfelt encouragement to boost your confidence, don't forget to sign up for the 2020 Australian Homeschooling Summit in May: