What They Don’t Tell You About Reaching the Finish Line of Homeschooling

What They Don’t Tell You About Reaching the Finish Line of Homeschooling ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool and Introverted Moms

Prefer to listen instead? Just have a tissue ready xo:

Our homeschooling days are numbered. He still leans his head against me on the sofa while we watch tv, but not for much longer. Now he talks about packing up, heading out, starting life.

He tells me in detail about the latest lighting design software, words I can’t always grasp but attempt to appreciate. I nod supportively, even when I don’t understand.

Back in the day after finishing a good book, he’d rush in to give me an unassigned book report. I’d look up as he described every character and plot twist from a Happy Hollister or Boxcar Children, his head bobbing up and down with eager delight.

I’m beyond grateful for the moments I paused and listened. I didn’t realize that those days were numbered, too. They seemed to stretch out before us for eternity.

At the time, I worried I was failing him. Isn’t that always the way? I was giving him the childhood I’d always longed for, but how was I to know it was the one he would choose?

We get one shot at raising our babes, and spend the rest of our lives praying that it was enough.

When a tsunami of worry looms overhead, threatening to crash and swallow me whole, I take my concerns, inadequacies, and failures to God. He patiently reminds me, yet again, that his grace plus my weakness is enough. I try to believe him.

I used to think homeschooling success looked a certain way. It involved proving to myself and others that this method of education worked, impressing an unknown someone with my ability to get this right.

But now I believe success in homeschooling looks less like crossing a finish line and more like spending a decade crafting a lighthouse on the shore, creating the solid foundation, noticing the cracks, going back to repair them, starting again. 

We might not have impressed anyone, but we have built a steady navigation system that will always point the way home. I couldn’t ask for more.

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!