Written by Melissa Camara Wilkins

You know what? I’m proud of my kids.

They’re creative and funny, they’re interesting and curious, and they pursue all kinds of ideas I would never have thought to investigate. I bet you feel the same way about your kids. I bet you even tell them that.

Maybe you don’t use those particular words, but I bet your face lights up when they show you their latest creations. I bet you ask thoughtful questions when they tell you what they’re reading or writing or puzzling over.

I bet you celebrate their projects and their accomplishments, because they’re pretty great. I bet you let them know that you’re proud of them in a zillion little ways.
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Written by Jamie Martin of Simple Homeschool and Steady Mom

Instead of focusing on giving our children a complete education, or a perfect education (neither of which are necessary or possible), let us strive to awaken in them a love of learning. If we can help them to develop an attitude of lifelong learning, we will have done enough.” ~ Suzie Andres, Homeschooling with Gentleness

There’s a homeschooling mom who lives in my head, and she is simply THE best.

She does all the things and does them well. As a result, her kids progress in a straight, forward-moving line. She is organized, unfazed by emotion, doubt, outward circumstance, or moody children.

She is my hero, though I also despise her.

I am not that woman. Oh every once in a while, I come close. The stars align and the inspiration flows…for a few hours, maybe a day or two. But inevitably real life signals to me from the sidelines: “Remember me?!”, and here we go again…back into the realm of imperfections and inadequacies.

Yet incredibly, even then I’m still on track.

When real life comes along with tough times, it’s not THE best I give to my children, but it’s MY best all the same.
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Written by Jamie Martin of Simple Homeschool and Steady Mom

As we prepare to close out 2015, I visited the archives of Simple Homeschool and chose one of the most popular posts for each month of the year to share today.

I want to send a sincere thanks to the amazing contributors and guest posters who have helped me fill this virtual space with so much quality content over the past twelve months.

I’ll be bookmarking this post to come back to in the future and I hope you’ll do the same!

The Best of Simple Homeschool 2015
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Written by Kris Bales of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers

It’s official. The Christmas season is upon us and many of us are already feeling the stress of the holiday crunch.

It’s a shame that the time of year that should be focused on Christ, peace, and hope becomes such a busy stressful time – but that’s reality for many of us.

The truth is that Christmas is not a holly jolly time for everyone. For many, it is one of the most difficult times of the year. [Read more…]

Written by Sarah Mackenzie of Amongst Lovely Things

I hear it all the time. I bet you do, too.

“I’m homeschooling because…

…I’m afraid the culture will destroy my kids.
…I want my kids to stay Christian.
…I don’t want them to be exposed to bad language or ideas or influences.”

These statements all share one thing in common- they’re based on fear, grounded in an overwhelming anxiety that unless we homeschool our kids, things will not end the way we want them to.

It’s a fear that we aren’t in control, and that things might not turn out as we planned.

Well.

Here’s an idea worth considering: homeschooling doesn’t guarantee that our kids will come out any particular way. It doesn’t ensure that they’ll embrace our religious beliefs, get into a good college, or make life choices we’ll be proud of.

Our kids are not ingredients in a recipe. Just because we prepare them in a particular way doesn’t mean that they’ll come out how we hope. In fact, I know plenty of loving, hard-working homeschooling parents whose kids live lives running a gamut of mistakes and missteps.

Kids are human, and humanity is messy.

If we’ve convinced ourselves that homeschooling ensures they’ll come out juuuuuust the way we want them to, we’ve taken on an impossible task.
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