The following is a guest post written by Sarah Mackenzie of Amongst Lovely Things.

What if we’ve got it all wrong?

What if it doesn’t matter which books we use, which history projects we take on, how many lessons of math we accomplish in a year?

Homeschoolers spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about “curriculum,” but what if, when we compare spelling programs and choose math books, we aren’t really talking about curriculum at all?

Curriculum isn’t something we buy. It’s something we teach. Something we embody. Something we love.  It is the form and content of our children’s learning experiences.

Saxon Math isn’t the curriculum. It’s just the book that we use to teach the actual curriculum, which is: math.

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My youngest child is 20, so the homeschooling years are behind me. Looking back, I have very few regrets. I know that’s hard to believe, but honestly, I have few regrets.

My memories are sweet, even bittersweet these days because I am still in transition, trying to get used to life without my three children forging their lives around me. Now I just hear about it, if they remember to tell me!

As I look back, these are the things I’m glad we did:
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Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool, also blogs about motherhood at Steady Mom

“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace–only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.”
~ Anne Lamott

Good morning, hardworking mom.

I see you over there–forehead creased, shoulders slumped, tears on cheeks.

This homeschooling gig isn’t easy, but where did you get the idea that the whole thing is your responsibility? That their entire future depends solely on your ability to get it right?

You won’t get it all right and you can’t do it all, sweet mama, but here’s the thing:

You were never called to. That’s why there is grace.
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The following is a guest post written by Laura Thomas of This Eternal Moment.

 “I’m no more a wonder than anyone. And that’s what makes the world magical. Every baby’s a seed of wonder — that gets watered or it doesn’t.”
~ Dean Koontz, Relentless

I’ll never forget the day when my daughter Grace decided to get out of the jogging stroller and run with me. I was doing my regular 2½ mile jogging loop in our neighborhood and had only begun when she begged me to let her run with me.

At first I must admit that I hesitated: “Mommy might run too fast for you, honey,” and “If you get tired, you can’t just sit back down.”

She was undaunted and insisted. She wanted to run. I gave in.  She then proceeded to run the entire 2½ miles without stopping, whining or missing a beat.

She was three years old.
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Written by contributor Kari Patterson of Sacred Mundane.

I can feel my body tense up as I say the words with forced enthusiasm:

“Ok, time for school!”

They say what I know they’ll say: Do we have to? And if I’m honest, that’s exactly what I’m saying in my own mind. Do we have to?
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